CILICIA, Anazarbus. Trajan and Marciana

CILICIA, Anazarbus. Trajan and Marciana. 98-117 AD. Æ Trihemiassaria Year 132 (113/4 AD). Laureate head of Trajan right/ Draped bust of Marciana right. Ziegler 107 (Vs1/Rs1); SNG Levante 1383 (same dies);

It was situated in Anatolia in modern Turkey, in the present Çukurova (or classical Aleian plain) about 15 km west of the main stream of the present Ceyhan River (or classical Pyramus river) and near its tributary the Sempas Su.

A lofty isolated ridge formed its acropolis. Though some of the masonry in the ruins is certainly pre-Roman, the Suda's identification of it with Cyinda, famous as a treasure city in the wars of Eumenes of Cardia, cannot be accepted in the face of Strabo's express location of Cyinda in western Cilicia.

It was founded by Assyrians. Under the early Roman Empire the place was known as Caesarea (Greek: Καισάρεια), and was the Metropolis (capital) of Late Roman province Cilicia Secunda. It was the home of the poet Oppian.

Rebuilt by the Eastern Roman emperor Justin I after an earthquake in the 6th century, it became Justinopolis (525); but the old native name persisted, and when Thoros I, king of Lesser Armenia, made it his capital early in the 12th century, it was known as Anazarva.

Its great natural strength and situation, not far from the mouth of the Sis pass, and near the great road which debouched from the Cilician Gates, made Anazarbus play a considerable part in the struggles between the Eastern Roman Empire and the early Muslim invaders. It had been rebuilt by Harun al-Rashid in 796, refortified at great expense by the HamdanidSayf al-Dawla (mid-10th century) and again destroyed in 962 by Nikephoros II Phokas.

In late 1097 or early 1098 it was captured by the armies of the First Crusade and was incorporated into Bohemond's Principality of Antioch. The Crusaders are probably responsible for the construction of an impressive donjon atop the center of the outcrop. Most of the remaining fortifications, including the curtain walls, massive horse-shaped towers, undercrofts, cisterns, and free-standing structures date from the Armenian periods of occupation, which began with the arrival of the Rubenid Baron T‛oros I, c. 1111. The site briefly exchanged hands between the Greeks and Armenians, until it was formally part of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Within the fortress are two Armenian chapels and the magnificent (but severely damaged) three-aisle church built by T‛oros I to celebrate his conquests. The church was once surrounded by a continuous, well-executed dedicatory inscription in Armenian.

The Mamluk Empire of Egypt finally destroyed the city in 1374.

Collection : Ancient Places