| Caria (Καρία) | |
|---|---|
| Ancient region of Anatolia | |
 Theater inKaunos | |
| Location | SouthwesternAnatolia,Turkey |
| State existed | 11th–6th century BC |
| Language | Carian |
| Biggest city | Halicarnassus (modern-dayBodrum,Muğla,Turkey) |
| Roman province | Asia |
 | |
Caria (/ˈkɛəriə/; fromGreek: Καρία,Karia;Turkish:Karya) was a region of westernAnatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south toLycia and east toPhrygia.[1] TheCarians were described byHerodotus as being Anatolian mainlanders and they called themselves Caria because of the name of their king.[2] He reports the Carians themselves maintained that they were Anatolian mainlanders intensely engaged inseafaring and were akin to theMysians and theLydians.[2] The Carians spokeCarian, a nativeAnatolian language closely related toLuwian. Also closely associated with the Carians were theLeleges, which could be an earlier name for Carians.
Cramer's detailed catalog of Carian towns is based entirely on ancient sources.[3] The multiple names of towns and geomorphic features, such as bays and headlands, reveal an ethnic layering consistent with the known colonization.
Coastal Caria begins withDidyma south ofMiletus,[4] but Miletus had been placed in the pre-Ion Caria. South of it is the Iassicus Sinus (Güllük Körfezi) and the towns ofIassus andBargylia, giving an alternative name of Bargyleticus Sinus to Güllük Körfezi, and nearby Cindye, which the Carians calledAndanus. After Bargylia isCaryanda or Caryinda, and then on theBodrum PeninsulaMyndus (Mentecha or Muntecha), 56 miles (90 km) from Miletus. In the vicinity is Naziandus, exact location unknown.
On the tip of the Bodrum Peninsula (Cape Termerium) is Termera (Telmera, Termerea), and on the other side Ceramicus Sinus (Gökova Körfezi). It "was formerly crowded with numerous towns."[5]Halicarnassus, a Dorian Greek city, was planted there among six Carian towns:Theangela,Sibde,Medmasa,Euranium,Pedasa or Pedasum, andTelmissus. These with Myndus andSyangela (or Syagela or Souagela) constitute the eight Lelege towns. Also on the north coast of the Ceramicus Sinus isCeramus and Bargasus.
On the south of the Ceramicus Sinus is the Carian Chersonnese, or Triopium Promontory (Cape Krio), also called Doris after theDorian colony ofCnidus. At the base of the peninsula (Datça Peninsula) is Bybassus or Bybastus from which an earlier names, the Bybassia Chersonnese, had been derived. It was now Acanthus and Doulopolis ("slave city").
South of the Carian Chersonnese is Doridis Sinus, the "Gulf of Doris" (Gulf ofSymi), the locale of the Dorian Confederacy. There are three bays in it: Bubassius,Thymnias and Schoenus, the last enclosing the town of Hyda. In the gulf somewhere are Euthene or Eutane, Pitaeum, and an island:Elaeus or Elaeussa nearLoryma. On the south shore is the Cynossema, or Onugnathos Promontory, oppositeSymi.
South of there is theRhodian Peraea, a section of the coast underRhodes. It includesLoryma or Larymna in Oedimus Bay, Gelos, Tisanusa, the headland of Paridion, Panydon or Pandion (Cape Marmorice) with Physicus,Amos, Physca or Physcus, also called Cressa (Marmaris). Beyond Cressa is the Calbis River (Dalyan River). On the other side isCaunus (near Dalyan), withPisilis or Pilisis andPyrnos between.
Then follow some cities that some assign to Lycia and some to Caria:Calynda on the Indus River,Crya and Alina in the Gulf of Glaucus (Katranci Bay or the Gulf ofMakri), the Glaucus River being the border. Other Carian towns in the gulf are Clydae or Lydae and Aenus.
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At the base of the east end ofLatmus nearEuromus, and near Milas where the current villageSelimiye is, was the district of Euromus or Eurome, possibly Europus, formerly Idrieus and Chrysaoris (Stratonicea). The name Chrysaoris once applied to all of Caria;[citation needed] moreover, Euromus was originally settled fromLycia. Its towns are Tauropolis,Plarasa and Chrysaoris. These were all incorporated later intoMylasa. Connected to the latter by a sacred way areLabraunda andSinuri. Around Stratonicea is alsoLagina as well asPanamara,Tendeba andAstragon.
Further inland towardsAydın isAlabanda, noted for itsmarble and itsscorpions,Orthosia,Coscinia or Coscinus on the upperMaeander andAlinda. To the east is the religious centreHyllarima. At theconfluence of the Maeander and the Harpasus isHarpasa (Arpaz). At the confluence of the Maeander and the Orsinus, Corsymus or Corsynus isAntioch on the Maeander and on the Orsinus in the mountains a border town withPhrygia, Gordiutichos ("Gordius' Fort") nearGeyre. Founded by theLeleges and called Ninoe it became Megalopolis ("Big City") andAphrodisias, sometime capital of Caria.[citation needed]
Other towns on the Orsinus are Timeles and Plarasa.Tabae was at various times attributed to Phrygia, Lydia and Caria and seems to have been occupied by mixed nationals. Caria also comprises the headwaters of the Indus and Eriya or Eriyus and Thabusion on the border with the small state ofCibyra.
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Caria is often identified with the Bronze Age region ofKarkiya (orKarkisa) known from Hittite texts, though this identification is uncertain.[6][7][8]
Caria was settled by Greek immigrants in theEarly Iron Age[citation needed]. Their presence is attested byprotogeometric pottery[citation needed] which appears in the area around 1100 BC, along with other markers of Greek material culture.[9]
The coast of Caria was part of theDoric hexapolis ("six-cities").[citation needed]
An account also cited thatAristotle claimed Caria, as a naval empire, occupiedEpidaurus and Hermione and that this was confirmed when the Athenians discovered the graves of the dead fromDelos.[10] Half of it were identified as Carians based on the characteristics of the weapons they were buried with.[10]
The expansionism ofLydia underCroesus (560-546 BC) incorporated Caria briefly into Lydia before it fell before the Achaemenid advance.
Caria was then incorporated into the PersianAchaemenid Empire as asatrapy (province) in 545 BC. The most important town wasHalicarnassus, from where its sovereigns, the tyrants of theLygdamid dynasty (c.520-450 BC), reigned. Other major towns wereLatmus, refounded as Heracleia under Latmus,Antiochia,Myndus,Laodicea,Alinda andAlabanda. Caria participated in theIonian Revolt (499–493 BC) against the Persian rule.[11]
During theSecond Persian invasion of Greece (480-479 BC), the cities of Caria were allies ofXerxes I and they fought at theBattle of Artemisium and theBattle of Salamis, where the Queen ofHalicarnassusArtemisia commanded the contingent of 70 Carian ships.Themistocles, before the battles of Artemisium and Salamis, tried to split the Ionians and Carians from the Persian coalition. He told them to come and be on his side or not to participate at the battles, but if they were bound down by too strong a compulsion to be able to make revolt, when the battles begin, to be purposely slack.[13] Plutarch in his work, The Parallel Lives, at The Life of Themistocles wrote that: "Phanias (Greek:Φαινίας), writes that the mother of Themistocles was not aThracian, but a Carian woman and her name was Euterpe (Eυτέρπη), and Neanthes (Νεάνθης) adds that she was from Halicarnassus in Caria.".[14]
After the unsuccessful Persian invasion of Greece in 479 BC, the cities of Caria became members of the Athenian-ledDelian League, but then returned to Achaemenid rule for about one century, from around 428 BC. Under Achaemenid rule, the Carian dynastMausolus took control of neighbouringLycia, a territory which was still held byPixodarus as shown by theXanthos trilingual inscription.
Halicarnassus was the location of the famedMausoleum dedicated toMausolus, asatrap of Caria between 377–353 BC, by his wife,Artemisia II of Caria. The monument became one of theSeven Wonders of the Ancient World, and from which the Romans named any grand tomb amausoleum.
The Carians were incorporated into theMacedonian Empire following the conquests ofAlexander the Great and theSiege of Halicarnassus in 334 BC.[15]
Caria was conquered byAlexander IIIof Macedon in 334 BC with the help of the former queen of the landAda of Caria who had been dethroned by thePersian Empire and actively helped Alexander in his conquest of Caria on condition of being reinstated as queen. After their capture of Caria, she declared Alexander as her heir.[15]
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As part of theRoman Empire the name of Caria was still used for the geographic region. The territory administratively belonged to the province ofAsia. During the administrative reforms of the 4th century this province was abolished and divided into smaller units. Caria became a separate province as part of the Diocese of Asia.
Christianity was on the whole slow to take hold in Caria. The region was not visited bySt. Paul, and the only early churches seem to be those ofLaodicea andColossae (Chonae) on the extreme inland fringe of the country, which itself pursued itspagan customs. It appears that it was not until Christianity was officially adopted inConstantinople that the new religion made any real headway in Caria.[16]
In the 7th century, Byzantine provinces were abolished and the new militarytheme system was introduced. The region corresponding to ancient Caria was captured by theTurks under theMenteşe Dynasty in the early 13th century.
There are only indirect clues regarding the population structure under the Menteşe and the parts played in it by Turkish migration from inland regions and by local conversions. The firstOttoman Empire census records indicate, in a situation not atypical for the region as a whole, a largeMuslim (practically exclusively Turkish) majority reaching as high as 99% and a non-Muslim minority (practically exclusivelyCarian supplemented with a smallJewish community in Milas) as low as one per cent.[17] One of the first acts of the Ottomans after their takeover was to transfer the administrative center of the region from its millenary seat in Milas to the then much smallerMuğla, which was nevertheless better suited for controlling the southern fringes of the province. Still named Menteşe until the early decades of the 20th century, thekazas corresponding to ancient Caria are recorded by sources such as G. Sotiriadis (1918) and S. Anagiostopoulou (1997) as having a Greek population averaging at around ten per cent of the total, ranging somewhere between twelve and eighteen thousand, many of them reportedly recent immigrants from the islands. Most chose to leave in 1919, before thepopulation exchange.
In July 2021, archaeologists led by Abuzer Kızıl have announced the discovery of two 2,500-year-oldmarble statues and aninscription during excavations at the Temple of Zeus Lepsynos inEuromus. According to Abuzer Kızıl, one of the statues was naked while other was wearing armor made of leather and a short skirt. Both of the statues were depicted with a lion in their hands.[18][19][20]
37°30′N28°00′E / 37.5°N 28.0°E /37.5; 28.0
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See alsoTaxation districts of the Achaemenid Empire(according toHerodotus) | ||
| Bronze Age | |
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| Iron Age | |
| Classical Age | |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
