Kolonai
Encyclopedia
Kolonai was a Greek
city in the south-west of the Troad region of Anatolia
. It has been located on a hill by the coast known as Beşiktepe ('cradle hill'), about equidistant between Larisa
to the south and Alexandreia Troas
to the north. It is 3.3 km east of the modern village of Alemşah in the Ezine district of Çanakkale
province, Turkey
. Its name in Ancient Greek
is the plural
from of (kolōnē), 'hill, mound', a common name for promontories with hills on them in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is not to be confused with 'Lampsacene
' Kolonai, a settlement situated in the hills above Lampsacus
in the north-east of the Troad.
with Alexandreia Troas
; his floruit
is therefore likely to have been in the 4th century BC. The Augustan
geographer Strabo
provides our only information on Daës in a brief quotation from his work on the history of Kolonai: "Daës of Kolonai says that the temple of Apollo Killaios was first founded in Kolonai by the Aeolians who sailed from Greece". The cult of Apollo Killaios was local to the southern Troad and Lesbos and is first mentioned in Homer's
Iliad
. The reference to the foundation of Kolonai by Aeolians
indicates both that the inhabitants of Kolonai in the 4th century BC considered themselves to be ethnically Aeolian
and that Daës' work dealt with the early history of his polis
. The Aeolian
identity of 4th century BC Kolonai is independently confirmed by the legends on their coins which were spelt in the Aeolic Greek
dialect.
, the king of Kolonai during the Trojan Wars was Cycnus
. He was killed on the first day of the Trojan Wars by Achilles
. This story does not appear in the Iliad
, but does in the Cypria, which is thought to have been composed slightly later than the Iliad
in the latter half of the 7th century BC. Cycnus appears on two separate occasions in Pindar
, suggesting that by the early 5th century BC the myth had some currency. The mid 1st century BC historian Diodorus Siculus
related a story about Cycnus which he attributed to the inhabitants of Tenedos
, an island not far north of Kolonai, in which Cycnus' son Tennes founded Tenedos and gave it has name. A similar connection between the mythical king of Kolonai and the foundation of Tenedos
was made two centuries later by the travel writer Pausanias.
Greeks. Given that Lesbos was also ethnically Aeolian
and Kolonai was one of the so-called Actaean cities which Athens
took from Mytilene
following the end of the Mytilenean revolt
in 427
BC, it is likely that Mytilene founded Kolonai and subsequently controlled it. A corrupt passage of the geographer Strabo
suggests instead that Kolonai belonged to the peraia
of Tenedos
, but there is now a consensus among consensus that the manuscripts should refer to it belonging to the peraia
of Lesbos.
References to Kolonai in written sources from Classical Antiquity
are extremely rare. The Spartan
general Pausanias
may have fled from Byzantium
to Kolonai in 478
BC if it is this Kolonai rather than 'Lampsacene
' Kolonai which is meant by Thucydides
. Following the end of Mytilenaean control in 427 BC, it became part of the Delian League
, and in 425/4 BC is recorded as paying a tribute of 1,000 drachmas, relatively small compared to the 3 talents which its neighbour Larisa
paid in the same year.
In 399
BC Kolonai was forcibly reincorporated into the Persian Empire
by the local dynast Mania, but in the following year it was freed again by the Spartan
general Dercyllidas. During the 4th century BC the city minted coins depicting a head of Athena
on the obverse
. Its relationship with neighbouring Larisa
is unclear throughout the Classical
period, but appears to be one of semi-dependence. In c. 310 BC Kolonai is thought to have been part of the synoecism
with Antigoneia Troas
, at which point the settlement is presumed to have been abandoned.
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
city in the south-west of the Troad region of Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
. It has been located on a hill by the coast known as Beşiktepe ('cradle hill'), about equidistant between Larisa
Larisa (Troad)
Larisa was a Greek city in the south-west of the Troad region of Anatolia. Its surrounding territory was known in Greek as the...
to the south and Alexandreia Troas
Alexandria Troas
Alexandria Troas is an ancient Greek city situated on the Aegean Sea near the northern tip of Turkey's western coast, a little south of Tenedos . It is located in the modern Turkish province of Çanakkale...
to the north. It is 3.3 km east of the modern village of Alemşah in the Ezine district of Çanakkale
Çanakkale
Çanakkale is a town and seaport in Turkey, in Çanakkale Province, on the southern coast of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. The population of the town is 106,116 . The mayor is Ülgür Gökhan ....
province, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. Its name in Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
is the plural
Plural
In linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
from of (kolōnē), 'hill, mound', a common name for promontories with hills on them in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is not to be confused with 'Lampsacene
Lampsacus
Lampsacus was an ancient Greek city strategically located on the eastern side of the Hellespont in the northern Troad. An inhabitant of Lampsacus was called a Lampsacene. The name has been transmitted in the nearby modern town of Lapseki.-Ancient history:...
' Kolonai, a settlement situated in the hills above Lampsacus
Lampsacus
Lampsacus was an ancient Greek city strategically located on the eastern side of the Hellespont in the northern Troad. An inhabitant of Lampsacus was called a Lampsacene. The name has been transmitted in the nearby modern town of Lapseki.-Ancient history:...
in the north-east of the Troad.
Daës of Kolonai
The obscure local historian Daës of Kolonai is the only literary figure from Kolonai of whom we know. As a writer of local history he can date no earlier than the late 5th century BC, and as a citizen of Kolonai he must date before c. 310 BC when Kolonai became synoecizedSynoecism
Synoecism or synecism , also spelled synoikism , was originally the amalgamation of villages in Ancient Hellas into poleis, or city-states. Etymologically the word means "dwelling together in the same house ." Subsequently any act of civic union between polities of any size was described by the...
with Alexandreia Troas
Alexandria Troas
Alexandria Troas is an ancient Greek city situated on the Aegean Sea near the northern tip of Turkey's western coast, a little south of Tenedos . It is located in the modern Turkish province of Çanakkale...
; his floruit
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
is therefore likely to have been in the 4th century BC. The Augustan
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
geographer Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
provides our only information on Daës in a brief quotation from his work on the history of Kolonai: "Daës of Kolonai says that the temple of Apollo Killaios was first founded in Kolonai by the Aeolians who sailed from Greece". The cult of Apollo Killaios was local to the southern Troad and Lesbos and is first mentioned in Homer's
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
. The reference to the foundation of Kolonai by Aeolians
Aeolians
The Aeolians were one of the four major ancient Greek tribes comprising Ancient Greeks. Their name derives from Aeolus, the mythical ancestor of the Aeolic branch and son of Hellen, the mythical patriarch of the Greek nation...
indicates both that the inhabitants of Kolonai in the 4th century BC considered themselves to be ethnically Aeolian
Aeolians
The Aeolians were one of the four major ancient Greek tribes comprising Ancient Greeks. Their name derives from Aeolus, the mythical ancestor of the Aeolic branch and son of Hellen, the mythical patriarch of the Greek nation...
and that Daës' work dealt with the early history of his polis
Polis
Polis , plural poleis , literally means city in Greek. It could also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography "polis" is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-states, like Classical Athens and its contemporaries, so polis is often translated as "city-state."The...
. The Aeolian
Aeolians
The Aeolians were one of the four major ancient Greek tribes comprising Ancient Greeks. Their name derives from Aeolus, the mythical ancestor of the Aeolic branch and son of Hellen, the mythical patriarch of the Greek nation...
identity of 4th century BC Kolonai is independently confirmed by the legends on their coins which were spelt in the Aeolic Greek
Aeolic Greek
Aeolic Greek is a linguistic term used to describe a set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia , Thessaly, and in the Aegean island of Lesbos and the Greek colonies of Asia Minor ....
dialect.
Cycnus
In Greek mythologyGreek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, the king of Kolonai during the Trojan Wars was Cycnus
Cycnus
In Greek mythology, four people were known as Cycnus or Cygnus. Most of them ended up being transformed into swans. The most famous Cycnus however, was the son of Ares.-Son of Ares:Cycnus was sired upon Pelopia or Pyrene...
. He was killed on the first day of the Trojan Wars by Achilles
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....
. This story does not appear in the Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
, but does in the Cypria, which is thought to have been composed slightly later than the Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
in the latter half of the 7th century BC. Cycnus appears on two separate occasions in Pindar
Pindar
Pindar , was an Ancient Greek lyric poet. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian described him as "by far the greatest of the nine lyric poets, in virtue of his inspired magnificence, the beauty of his thoughts and figures, the rich...
, suggesting that by the early 5th century BC the myth had some currency. The mid 1st century BC historian Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
related a story about Cycnus which he attributed to the inhabitants of Tenedos
Tenedos
Tenedos or Bozcaada or Bozdja-Ada is a small island in the Aegean Sea, part of the Bozcaada district of Çanakkale province in Turkey. , Tenedos has a population of about 2,354. The main industries are tourism, wine production and fishing...
, an island not far north of Kolonai, in which Cycnus' son Tennes founded Tenedos and gave it has name. A similar connection between the mythical king of Kolonai and the foundation of Tenedos
Tenedos
Tenedos or Bozcaada or Bozdja-Ada is a small island in the Aegean Sea, part of the Bozcaada district of Çanakkale province in Turkey. , Tenedos has a population of about 2,354. The main industries are tourism, wine production and fishing...
was made two centuries later by the travel writer Pausanias.
History
Pottery finds suggest that Kolonai was inhabited in prehistoric times, but it is unknown whether there was any continuity between these period of its settlement and the Greek period. Greek ceramic material appears on the site from the 7th century BC, marking its foundation as a Greek settlement. At the period in which Daës of Kolonai was writing (probably the 4th century BC), the inhabitants of Kolonai thought they had been founded by AeolianAeolians
The Aeolians were one of the four major ancient Greek tribes comprising Ancient Greeks. Their name derives from Aeolus, the mythical ancestor of the Aeolic branch and son of Hellen, the mythical patriarch of the Greek nation...
Greeks. Given that Lesbos was also ethnically Aeolian
Aeolian
Aeolian or Eolian may refer to:* things related to Aeolus, the Greek God of wind or the patriarch of Greeks of Aeolia* Aeolian harp, a harp that is played by the wind* Aeolian processes, wind generated geologic processes...
and Kolonai was one of the so-called Actaean cities which Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
took from Mytilene
Mytilene
Mytilene is a town and a former municipality on the island of Lesbos, North Aegean, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lesbos, of which it is a municipal unit. It is the capital of the island of Lesbos. Mytilene, whose name is pre-Greek, is built on the...
following the end of the Mytilenean revolt
Mytilenean revolt
The Mytilenean revolt was an incident in the Peloponnesian War in which the city of Mytilene attempted to unify the island of Lesbos under its control and revolt from the Athenian Empire...
in 427
427
Year 427 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Hierus and Ardabur...
BC, it is likely that Mytilene founded Kolonai and subsequently controlled it. A corrupt passage of the geographer Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
suggests instead that Kolonai belonged to the peraia
Peraia
Peraia , also written as Perea, has the meaning of "place opposite", usually a place lying across the sea from a city or an island, and may refer to any of several places, including:in Greece:...
of Tenedos
Tenedos
Tenedos or Bozcaada or Bozdja-Ada is a small island in the Aegean Sea, part of the Bozcaada district of Çanakkale province in Turkey. , Tenedos has a population of about 2,354. The main industries are tourism, wine production and fishing...
, but there is now a consensus among consensus that the manuscripts should refer to it belonging to the peraia
Peraia
Peraia , also written as Perea, has the meaning of "place opposite", usually a place lying across the sea from a city or an island, and may refer to any of several places, including:in Greece:...
of Lesbos.
References to Kolonai in written sources from Classical Antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
are extremely rare. The Spartan
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
general Pausanias
Pausanias (general)
Pausanias was a Spartan general of the 5th century BC. He was the son of Cleombrotus and nephew of Leonidas I, serving as regent after the latter's death, since Leonidas' son Pleistarchus was still under-age. Pausanias was also the father of Pleistoanax, who later became king, and Cleomenes...
may have fled from Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
to Kolonai in 478
478
Year 478 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Illus without colleague...
BC if it is this Kolonai rather than 'Lampsacene
Lampsacus
Lampsacus was an ancient Greek city strategically located on the eastern side of the Hellespont in the northern Troad. An inhabitant of Lampsacus was called a Lampsacene. The name has been transmitted in the nearby modern town of Lapseki.-Ancient history:...
' Kolonai which is meant by Thucydides
Thucydides
Thucydides was a Greek historian and author from Alimos. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC...
. Following the end of Mytilenaean control in 427 BC, it became part of the Delian League
Delian League
The Delian League, founded in circa 477 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, members numbering between 150 to 173, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Plataea at the end of the Greco–Persian Wars...
, and in 425/4 BC is recorded as paying a tribute of 1,000 drachmas, relatively small compared to the 3 talents which its neighbour Larisa
Larisa (Troad)
Larisa was a Greek city in the south-west of the Troad region of Anatolia. Its surrounding territory was known in Greek as the...
paid in the same year.
In 399
399
Year 399 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Eutropius and Theodorus...
BC Kolonai was forcibly reincorporated into the Persian Empire
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
by the local dynast Mania, but in the following year it was freed again by the Spartan
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
general Dercyllidas. During the 4th century BC the city minted coins depicting a head of Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
on the obverse
Obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
. Its relationship with neighbouring Larisa
Larisa (Troad)
Larisa was a Greek city in the south-west of the Troad region of Anatolia. Its surrounding territory was known in Greek as the...
is unclear throughout the Classical
Classical Greece
Classical Greece was a 200 year period in Greek culture lasting from the 5th through 4th centuries BC. This classical period had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire and greatly influenced the foundation of Western civilizations. Much of modern Western politics, artistic thought, such as...
period, but appears to be one of semi-dependence. In c. 310 BC Kolonai is thought to have been part of the synoecism
Synoecism
Synoecism or synecism , also spelled synoikism , was originally the amalgamation of villages in Ancient Hellas into poleis, or city-states. Etymologically the word means "dwelling together in the same house ." Subsequently any act of civic union between polities of any size was described by the...
with Antigoneia Troas
Alexandria Troas
Alexandria Troas is an ancient Greek city situated on the Aegean Sea near the northern tip of Turkey's western coast, a little south of Tenedos . It is located in the modern Turkish province of Çanakkale...
, at which point the settlement is presumed to have been abandoned.