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27-580: Phocaea was the northernmost of the Ionian cities, on the boundary with Aeolis . It was located near the mouth of the river Hermus (now Gediz ), and situated on the coast of the peninsula separating the Gulf of Cyme to the north, named for the largest of the Aeolian cities, and the Gulf of Smyrna (now İzmir ) to the south. Phocaea had two natural harbours within close range of the settlement, both containing

54-527: A hereditary lordship ; Zaccaria and his descendants amassed a considerable fortune from his properties there, especially the rich alum mines. It remained a Genoese colony until it was taken by the Turks in 1455. It is a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church . In 1914, Phocaea was the location of a massacre against ethnic Greek civilians by Turkish irregular bands. Probably following

81-716: A great sum of money to build a wall around their city. Their sea travel was extensive. To the south they probably conducted trade with the Greek colony of Naucratis in Egypt , which was the colony of their fellow Ionian city Miletus . To the north, they probably helped settle Amisos (Samsun) on the Black Sea , and Lampsacus at the north end of the Hellespont (now the Dardanelles ). However Phocaea's major colonies were to

108-407: A main road. This funerary monument was carved out of solid rock with a lower 2.7 meters (8 ft 10 in) high rectangular story (9 by 6 meters (30 ft × 20 ft)) surmounted by a second 1.9 meters (6 ft 3 in) high story (3 by 3 meters (9.8 ft × 9.8 ft)). Four steps between the two levels suggest strong Persian influence and most archaeologists believe this tomb

135-628: A number of small islands. Phocaea's harbours allowed it to develop a thriving seafaring economy, and to become a great naval power, which greatly influenced its culture. Recent archaeological surveys have shown that the city of Phocaea was large for the archaic period. Herodotus gives an idea of the size of Phocaea by describing the walls of Phocaea as having a length of several stadia . A 4th century BC Persian tomb, known as Tas Kule (rock tower), stands ( 38°39′37″N 26°49′2″E  /  38.66028°N 26.81722°E  / 38.66028; 26.81722 ) 7 km (4.3 mi) east of Phocaea along

162-784: A part. The site of the acropolis of ancient Elea was once a promontory called Castello a Mare, meaning "castle on the sea" in Italian. It now lies inland and was renamed Castellammare della Bruca in the Middle Ages . The city later developed on the coastal plain below. According to Herodotus , in 545 BC Ionian Greeks fled Phocaea , in modern Turkey, which was being besieged by the Persians. After some wanderings (8 to 10 years) at sea, they stopped in Reggio Calabria , where they were probably joined by Xenophanes , who

189-433: A unique shape, each having two rectangular channels on one side. There are remains of cisterns. In 2022, excavations led to the discovery of the archaic temple of Athena on the acropolis of Velia. The oldest temple dates to 540-530 BC, the years following the battle of Alalia. Two well-preserved bronze Greek helmets with Etruscan design found there including metal fragments from weapons are thought to be offerings to

216-469: The Ionian Revolt against Persia. Indicative of its naval prowess, Dionysius , a Phocaean was chosen to command the Ionian fleet at the decisive Battle of Lade , in 494 BC. However, indicative of its declining fortunes, Phocaea was only able to contribute three ships, out of a total of "three hundred and fifty three". The Ionian fleet was defeated and the revolt ended shortly thereafter. After

243-641: The Ottoman Turks occupied the area. [REDACTED] Media related to Aeolis at Wikimedia Commons 39°12′N 26°42′E  /  39.2°N 26.7°E  / 39.2; 26.7 Velia Velia was the Roman name of an ancient city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea . It is located near the modern village of Novi Velia near Ascea in the Province of Salerno , Italy . It

270-647: The Persians , Macedonians , Seleucids , and Pergamenes. Attalus III , the last king of Pergamum , bequeathed Aeolis to the Roman Republic in 133 BC. Shortly afterwards it became part of the Roman province of Asia . At the partition of the Roman Empire (395 AD), Aeolis was assigned to the East Roman (Byzantine) empire and remained largely under Byzantine rule until the early 15th century, when

297-401: The 1st century BC it served as a naval base, first for Brutus (44 BC) and then for Octavian (38 BC). The prosperity of the city continued until the end of the 1st century AD, when numerous villas and small settlements were built, together with new public buildings and thermae, but the progressive silting up of the port led the city to progressive isolation and impoverishment. From the end of

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324-522: The 4th century it entered the league of cities committed to stopping the advance of the Lucanians , who had already occupied nearby Poseidonia (Paestum) and were threatening Elea. It joined an alliance with Rome in 273 BC and was included in the ancient province of Lucania . Elea had excellent relations with Rome: it supplied ships for the Punic wars (3rd-2nd century) and sent young priestesses for

351-640: The 9th century BC, and Ionian presence as early as the end of the 9th century BC. From this an approximate date of settlement for Phocaea can be inferred. According to Herodotus the Phocaeans were the first Greeks to make long sea-voyages, having discovered the coasts of the Adriatic , Tyrrhenia and Spain. Herodotus relates that they so impressed Arganthonios , king of Tartessus in Spain , that he invited them to settle there, and, when they declined, gave them

378-545: The Great of Persia in 546 BC, in one of the opening skirmishes of the great Greco-Persian conflict . Rather than submit to Persian rule, the Phocaeans abandoned their city. Some may have fled to Chios , others to their colonies on Corsica and elsewhere in the Mediterranean , with some eventually returning to Phocaea. Many however became the founders of Elea , around 540 BC. In 500 BC, Phocaea joined

405-569: The Lydians, the Phocaeans were among the earliest in the world to make and use coins as money. Its earliest coins were made of electrum , a naturally occurring alloy of silver and gold. The British Museum has a Phocaean coin containing the image of a seal dating from 600 to 550 BC. Aeolis Aeolis ( / ˈ iː ə l ɪ s / ; Ancient Greek : Αἰολίς , romanized :  Aiolís ), or Aeolia ( / iː ˈ oʊ l i ə / ; Ancient Greek: Αἰολία , romanized:  Aiolía ),

432-520: The Phocaeans unsuccessfully laid siege to Kydonia on the island of Crete . During the Hellenistic period it fell under Seleucid , then Attalid rule. In the Roman period, the town was a manufacturing center for ceramic vessels, including the late Roman Phocaean red slip . It was later under the control of Benedetto Zaccaria , the Genoese ambassador to Byzantium , who received the town as

459-583: The cities was Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey ), but in 699 BC, Smyrna became part of an Ionian confederacy. This league or confederation , known as the Ionian League , also called the Panionic League , was formed at the end of the Meliac War in the mid-7th century BC. Croesus , king of Lydia (reigned 560-546 BC), conquered the remaining cities. Later they were held successively by

486-471: The cult of Demeter (Ceres), coming from the local aristocratic families. It became a holiday and health resort for Roman aristocrats, perhaps also thanks to the presence of the medical-philosophical school. In 88 BC Elea was ascribed to the Romilia tribe, becoming a Roman municipium with the name of Velia, but with the right to maintain the Greek language and to mint its own coins. In the second half of

513-673: The defeat of Xerxes I by the Greeks in 480 BC and the subsequent rise of Athenian power, Phocaea joined the Delian League , paying tribute to Athens of two talents . In 412 BC, during the Peloponnesian War , with the help of Sparta , Phocaea rebelled along with the rest of Ionia. The Peace of Antalcidas , which ended the Corinthian War , returned nominal control to Persia in 387 BC. In 343 BC,

540-489: The imperial age, the last inhabitants were forced to take refuge in the upper part of the Acropolis to escape the advancement of marshy land. Remains of the city walls can be seen, with traces of one gate and several towers, of a total length of over three miles, and belong to three different periods, in all of which the local crystalline limestone is used. Bricks with Greek brick-stamps were also employed in later times of

567-673: The larger northwest region of Mysia. According to Homer's Odyssey , Odysseus , after his stay with the Cyclopes , reached the floating island of Aeolia , where Aeolus son of Hippotas provided him with the west wind Zephyrus . By the 8th century BC the Aeolians' twelve most important cities were independent. They formed a league of twelve cities (a Dodecapolis ): Cyme (also called Phriconis), Larissa , Neonteichos , Temnus , Cilla , Notion , Aegiroessa , Pitane , Aegae , Myrina , Gryneion , and Smyrna . The most celebrated of

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594-616: The west. These included Alalia in Corsica , Emporiae and Rhoda in Spain, and especially Massalia ( Marseille ) in France. Phocaea remained independent until the reign of the Lydian king Croesus (circa 560–545 BC), when they, along with the rest of mainland Ionia, first, fell under Lydian control and then, along with Lydia (who had allied itself with Sparta ) were conquered by Cyrus

621-584: The western coast of Asia Minor . It extended along the Aegean Sea from the entrance of the Hellespont (now the Dardanelles ) south to the Hermus River (now the Gediz River). It was named for the Aeolians, some of whom migrated there from Greece before 1000 BC. Aeolis was, however, an ethnological and linguistic enclave rather than a geographical unit. The district often was considered part of

648-466: Was an area that comprised the west and northwestern region of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey ), mostly along the coast, and also several offshore islands (particularly Lesbos ), where the Aeolian Greek city-states were located. Aeolis incorporated the southern parts of Mysia , and is bounded by it to the north, Ionia to the south, and Lydia to the east. Aeolis was an ancient district on

675-555: Was at the time at Messina , and then moved north along the coast and founded the town of Hyele. According to Virgil , Velia is the place where the body of Palinurus washed ashore. Around the 5th century BC, the city was known for its flourishing trade relations. It also took on considerable cultural importance for its pre-Socratic philosophical school, known as the Eleatic School , founded by Parmenides and carried forward by his student Zeno , famous for his paradoxes. In

702-561: Was built for a Persian aristocrat or local leader serving the Persians. Compare the style of the tomb of Cyrus . The ancient Greek geographer Pausanias says that Phocaea was founded by Phocians under Athenian leadership, on land given to them by the Aeolian Cymaeans , and that they were admitted into the Ionian League after accepting as kings the line of Codrus . Pottery remains indicate Aeolian presence as late as

729-481: Was founded by Greeks from Phocaea as Hyele ( Ancient Greek : Ὑέλη ) around 538–535 BC. The name later changed to Ele and then Elea ( / ˈ ɛ l i ə / ; Ancient Greek : Ἐλέα ) before it became known by its current Latin and Italian name during the Roman era. The city was known for being the home of the philosophers Parmenides and Zeno of Elea , as well as the Eleatic school of which they were

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