Selymbria (Greek:Σηλυμβρία),[1] orSelybria (Σηλυβρία),[2][3][4] orSelybrie (Σηλυβρίη),[5] was a town ofancient Thrace on thePropontis, 22Roman miles east fromPerinthus, and 44 Roman miles west fromConstantinople,[6] near the southern end of the wall built byAnastasius I Dicorus for the protection of his capital.[7] Its site is located atSilivri inEuropean Turkey.[8][9]
According toStrabo, its name signifies "the town of Selys;"[3] from which it has been inferred that Selys was the name of its founder, or of the leader of the colony fromMegara, which founded it at an earlier period than the establishment ofByzantium, another colony of the same Greek city-state.[10] In honour ofEudoxia, the wife of the emperorArcadius, its name was changed toEudoxiopolis orEudoxioupolis (Εὐδοξιούπολις),[11] which it bore for a considerable time. It was still its official name in the seventh century, but the modern name shows that it subsequently resumed its original designation.[12]
Respecting the history of Selymbria, only detached and fragmentary notices occur in the Greek writers. In Latin authors, it is merely named;[13][14] althoughPliny the Elder reports that it was said to have been the birthplace of Prodicus, a disciple ofHippocrates.[15] It was here thatXenophon metMedosades, the envoy ofSeuthes II,[16] whose forces afterwards encamped in its neighbourhood.[17] WhenAlcibiades was commanding for theAthenians in the Propontis (410 BCE), the people of Selymbria refused to admit his army into the town, but gave him money, probably in order to induce him to abstain from forcing an entrance.[18] Some time after this, however, he gained possession of the place through the treachery of some of the townspeople, and, having levied a contribution upon its inhabitants, left a garrison in it.[19] Selymbria is mentioned byDemosthenes in 351 BCE, as in alliance with the Athenians;[1] and it was no doubt at that time a member of the Byzantine confederacy. According to a letter ofPhilip II of Macedon, quoted in the orationde Corona,[20] it was blockaded by him about 343 BCE; but others consider that this mention of Selymbria is one of the numerous proofs that the documents inserted in that speech are not authentic.[21]
Polyidos (Πολύιδος) of Selymbria won with adithyramb a contest at Athens.[22]
Athenaeus in theDeipnosophistae wrote that Cleisophus (Κλείσοφος) of Selymbria fell in love with a statue ofParian marble while he was atSamos.[23]
Works ofFavorinus includes the "Letters of Selymbrians" (Σηλυμβρίων ἐπιστολαί).[24]
Selymbria had a small, but significant mint, researched byEdith Schönert-Geiß.[25]
In Christian times, Selymbria was the seat of a bishop.[26] In the tenth century, it became anautocephalousarchbishopric and under Marcus Comnenus ametropolis withoutsuffragan sees. The oldest known bishop is Theophilus, transferred fromApamea.[12] Other known bishops include:
Under the EmperorMichael VIII Palaiologos, the metropolitan of Selymbria, whose name is unknown, was one of the prelates who signed a letter to the pope on theunion of the churches. In 1347, Methodius was one of the signatories at theFifth Council of Constantinople which deposed the patriarchJohn XIV, the adversary of thePalamites. Philotheus, who lived about 1365, was the author of the panegyric on SaintAgathonicus, a martyr who suffered at Selymbria underMaximian, and of the panegyric on Saint Macarius, a monk of Constantinople towards the end of the thirteenth century.[12]John Chortasmenos, who took the name Ignatius, served from 1431 to 1439.[28]
No longer a residential see, it remains atitular see of theRoman Catholic Church.[26]
The list of the autonomous rulers of Selymbria in theByzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty:[29]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: S. Pétridès (1913). "Selymbria". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Selymbria".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.| Geographic | |
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41°04′49″N28°16′06″E / 41.080158°N 28.26829°E /41.080158; 28.26829
