Σίγειον | |
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  Shown within Turkey | |
| Alternative name | Sigeum |
|---|---|
| Location | Kumkale,Çanakkale Province,Turkey |
| Region | Troad |
| Coordinates | 39°59′24″N26°10′50″E / 39.99000°N 26.18056°E /39.99000; 26.18056 |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Builder | Colonists fromMytilene |
| Founded | 8th or 7th century BC |
| Abandoned | Between 168 BC and 23 AD |
| Periods | Archaic Greece toHellenistic period |
Sigeion[pronunciation?] (Ancient Greek:Σίγειον,Sigeion;Latin:Sigeum) was anancient Greek city in the north-west of theTroad region ofAnatolia located at the mouth of theScamander (the modernKaramenderes River).[1] Sigeion commanded a ridge between theAegean Sea and the Scamander which is now known as Yenişehir and is a part of theÇanakkale district inÇanakkale province,Turkey.[2] The surrounding region was referred to as the Sigean Promonotory, which was frequently used as a point of reference by ancient geographers since it marked the mouth of theHellespont.[3] The outline of this promontory is no longer visible due to the alluvial activity of the Karamenderes which has filled in the embayment east of Yenişehir.[4] The name 'Sigeion' means 'silent place' and is derived fromAncient Greekσιγή (sigē), 'silence'; inClassical Antiquity, the name was assumed to beantiphrastic, i.e. indicating a characteristic of the place contrary to reality, since the seas in this region are known for their fierce storms.[5]
Sigeion was founded by theMytilenaeans from nearbyLesbos in the 8th or 7th century BC.[6] Towards the end of the 7th century BC, theAthenians sent the Olympic victor Phrynon to conquer Sigeion. According to tradition, Phrynon and the Mytilenaean aristocratPittacus fought a duel in which Pittacus won by outwitting his opponent by using a net.[7] During this war the aristocrat and poetAlcaeus of Mytilene wrote several poems about the conflict in which he related how he had fled from battle, lost his shield, and endured the shame of the Athenians hanging it up as a trophy in their temple toAthena.[8] Most of these poems are lost except for a few lines, and it is thought that they constituted the major source of information about the conflict for writers inClassical Antiquity.[9]
The Athenians appealed to theCorinthian tyrantPeriander to arbitrate between the two sides as to who should rightfully control Sigeion. Periander found in favour of Athens, accepting their argument that whereas they had taken part in the Trojan Wars and helped destroy nearbyIlion, the Mytilenaeans wereAeolians and so had only arrived in the region at a later date and therefore did not have the prior claim to the land.[10] Two inscriptions written inAttic Greek, dating to c. 575-550 BC, and attributed to Sigeion indicate that Athenians continued to live at Sigeion for the next half century.[11] Archaeological remains at the Mytilenaean fort ofAchilleion 7–8 km south of Sigeion indicate that throughout this period the Mytilenaeans maintained a hostile presence nearby, and in the 540s this resulted in Mytilene's recapture of Sigeion.[12] The Athenian tyrant Peisistratus responded by recapturing Sigeion and making his illegitimate son Hegesistratus tyrant of the city.[13] Sigeion remained important to the Peisistratids. After Peisistratos' son,Hippias, was banished from Athens in 510/9 BC, he spent his exile at Sigeion and minted coins which displayed the Athenian symbol of the owl and his own name as the legend.[14]
Sigeion maintained close relations with Athens throughout theClassical period. The Sigeans were loyal allies whom we find praised by the Athenians in an inscription from either 451/0 and 418/17 BC,[15] and throughout the 5th century Sigeion was a member of the Athenian runDelian League. In the tribute assessments Sigeion belonged to the Hellespontine District, and in the tribute lists which survive Sigeion appears a total of 15 times between 450/49 and 418/17 BC; at the beginning of this period its tribute was a modest 1,000drachmas, but by the end its tribute assessment had risen to 1talent.[16] According to the contemporary historianTheopompus ofChios, Sigeion was the favourite residence of the Athenian generalChares, who spent time there in the late 340s and late 330s BC.[17] The 4th century BC coinage of Sigeion may belong to the period of his rule (335-334 BC).[18] Continuing links with Athens, indicated by Chares' relationship with Sigeion, are also evident from the iconography of this coinage, which displayed a head ofAthena on the obverse and an owl on the reverse.[19] At some point in the 4th century BC (Aristotle simply saysἔναγχος, 'recently'), Sigeion became embroiled in a land dispute with the nearby island ofTenedos to the south, although we know no further details.[20]
Damastes of Sigeum was a famous Greek geographer and historian of the 5th century BC.[21][22]
In 302 BC KingLysimachus took Sigeion by force when it refused to come over willingly from the side ofAntigonus I Monophthalmus.[23] In 168 BC Sigeion sheltered the Macedonian fleet of Antigonus' descendantPerseus of Macedon.[24] At some point after this, Sigeion was abandoned: in the latter part ofAugustus' reign, the geographerStrabo described Sigeion asκατεσπασμένη πόλις, 'a city which has been torn down', and in the mid 1st century AD bothPomponius Mela andPliny the Elder likewise referred to Sigeion as abandoned.[25] However, references in later sources indicate that the promontory continued to be known as 'Sigeion' for many centuries to come.[26]
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