Telmessus
Encyclopedia
Telmessos or Telmessus , later Anastasiopolis, then Makri or Macre, was the largest city in Lycia
, near the Caria
n border, and is sometimes confused with Telmessos in Caria
. The well-protected harbor of Telmessos is separated from the Gulf of Telmessos
by an island.
The modern town of Fethiye
is located on its site.
Telmessos (or incorrectly Telmissis) was a flourishing city west of Lycia, on the Gulf of Fethiye
. It was famed for its school of diviners, consulted among others by the Lydian king Croesus
, prior to declaring war against Cyrus
, and by Alexander the Great, when he came to the town after the siege of Halicarnassus
.
Telmessos was a member of the Delian League
in the 5th century BC. It was taken by Alexander in 334 BC.
Telmessos was renamed Anastasiopolis in the 8th century AD, apparently in honour of Emperor Anastasios II
, but this name did not persist. By the 10th century, it came to be called Makri, after the name of the island at the entrance to the harbor.
Its ruins are located at Fethiye
.
(451). The latter is called "Bishop of the Metropolis of Telmessaei and the Isle of Macra". The Notitiae episcopatuum
mentions Telmessus among the suffragans of Myra
until the tenth century, when it is no longer called Macra; in 1316 mention is made of the See of "Macra and Lybysium". Lybysium or Levissi, about four miles south-west of Makri, had in Ottoman days 3000 inhabitants, nearly all Greeks (Orthodox).
Under the name 'Telmessus', it is a Roman Catholic titular bishopric in the former Roman province
of Lycia
, suffragan of Myra
.
Lycia
Lycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...
, near the Caria
Caria
Caria was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionian and Dorian Greeks colonized the west of it and joined the Carian population in forming Greek-dominated states there...
n border, and is sometimes confused with Telmessos in Caria
Telmessos (Caria)
Telmessos or Telmessus, also Telmissos , was a city in Caria. It was called Telebehi in the Lycian language.There was a shrine dedicated to Daphne in Telmessos....
. The well-protected harbor of Telmessos is separated from the Gulf of Telmessos
Gulf of Fethiye
The Gulf of Fethiye is a branch of the Mediterranean Sea in southwest Turkey. The cities of Fethiye and Göcek lie on it. It is bounded on the west by the Kurdoğlu cape and on the east by İlbis cape/Cape Angistro...
by an island.
The modern town of Fethiye
Fethiye
Fethiye is a city and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean region of Turkey with about 68,000 inhabitants .-History:...
is located on its site.
History
Gulf of Fethiye
The Gulf of Fethiye is a branch of the Mediterranean Sea in southwest Turkey. The cities of Fethiye and Göcek lie on it. It is bounded on the west by the Kurdoğlu cape and on the east by İlbis cape/Cape Angistro...
. It was famed for its school of diviners, consulted among others by the Lydian king Croesus
Croesus
Croesus was the king of Lydia from 560 to 547 BC until his defeat by the Persians. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Hellenes, providing a fixed point in their calendar. "By the fifth century at least," J.A.S...
, prior to declaring war against Cyrus
Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
, and by Alexander the Great, when he came to the town after the siege of Halicarnassus
Halicarnassus
Halicarnassus was an ancient Greek city at the site of modern Bodrum in Turkey. It was located in southwest Caria on a picturesque, advantageous site on the Ceramic Gulf. The city was famous for the tomb of Mausolus, the origin of the word mausoleum, built between 353 BC and 350 BC, and...
.
Telmessos was a member 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...
in the 5th century BC. It was taken by Alexander in 334 BC.
Telmessos was renamed Anastasiopolis in the 8th century AD, apparently in honour of Emperor Anastasios II
Anastasios II (emperor)
Artemius Anastasius , known in English as Anastasios II or Anastasius II, , was Byzantine emperor from 713 to 715....
, but this name did not persist. By the 10th century, it came to be called Makri, after the name of the island at the entrance to the harbor.
Its ruins are located at Fethiye
Fethiye
Fethiye is a city and district of Muğla Province in the Aegean region of Turkey with about 68,000 inhabitants .-History:...
.
Church history
Le Quien (Oriens christianus, I, 971) mentions two bishops of Telmessus: Hilary (370) and Zenodotus, at the Council of ChalcedonCouncil of Chalcedon
The Council of Chalcedon was a church council held from 8 October to 1 November, 451 AD, at Chalcedon , on the Asian side of the Bosporus. The council marked a significant turning point in the Christological debates that led to the separation of the church of the Eastern Roman Empire in the 5th...
(451). The latter is called "Bishop of the Metropolis of Telmessaei and the Isle of Macra". The Notitiae episcopatuum
Notitiae Episcopatuum
The Notitiae Episcopatuum are official documents that furnish Eastern countries the list and hierarchical rank of the metropolitan and suffragan bishoprics of a church....
mentions Telmessus among the suffragans of Myra
Myra (titular see)
-History:The Acta Pauli probably testify as to the existence of a Christian community at Myra in the second century). Le Quien opens his list of the bishops of this city with St. Nicander, martyred under Domitian about A.D. 95, and whose feast is celebrated 4 November. As to St...
until the tenth century, when it is no longer called Macra; in 1316 mention is made of the See of "Macra and Lybysium". Lybysium or Levissi, about four miles south-west of Makri, had in Ottoman days 3000 inhabitants, nearly all Greeks (Orthodox).
Under the name 'Telmessus', it is a Roman Catholic titular bishopric in the former Roman province
Roman province
In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and, until the Tetrarchy , largest territorial and administrative unit of the empire's territorial possessions outside of Italy...
of Lycia
Lycia
Lycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...
, suffragan of Myra
Myra
Myra is an ancient town in Lycia, where the small town of Kale is situated today in present day Antalya Province of Turkey. It was located on the river Myros , in the fertile alluvial plain between Alaca Dağ, the Massikytos range and the Aegean Sea.- Historical evidence :Although some scholars...
.
See also
- Aristander of Telmessus, seer to Alexander the Great
- Birds Without WingsBirds Without Wings (novel)Birds Without Wings is a novel by Louis de Bernières, written in 2004. Narrated by various characters, it tells the tragic love story of Philothei and Ibrahim. It also chronicles the rise of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the 'Father of the Turkish Nation'...
2004 novel by Louis de BernièresLouis de BernièresLouis de Bernières is a British novelist most famous for his fourth novel, Captain Corelli's Mandolin. In 1993 de Bernières was selected as one of the "20 Best of Young British Novelists", part of a promotion in Granta magazine...
set in the early 1900s in a fictional Anatolian village called Eskibahçe where Telmessos is the nearest town.
Sources
- Archaeological World
- Clive Foss, "The Lycian Coast in the Byzantine Age", Dumbarton Oaks Papers 48:1-52 (1994). at JSTOR