A CRITICAL VIEW ON THE ARGUMENTS OF STRABO AND PLINY ABOUT THE FOUNDATION OF PRUSA

Yıl 2022, Cilt: 10 Sayı: 31, 296 - 312, 25.06.2022

Alper Can

https://doi.org/10.33692/avrasyad.1131692

Öz

Prusa ad Olympum, a settlement in south Bithynia was not a remarkable city throughout
antiquity. It did not attract attention even its name is mentioned with the relentless enemy of
Roman Republic, Hannibal of Carthage. Our knowledge about how the city looked like is very
limited, if some orations of one of its citizens, Dion Chrysostomos are excluded. Very few
authors mention it with very few sentences. Some authors confuse it with other cities carrying
similar names, while others repeat what previous authors had written. Two authors, Strabo and
Pliny the Elder express genuine views on the foundation of Prusa but they claim different
founders and ages. According to Strabo it is founded by a Prusias who made war against
Croesus, king of Lydia, while Pliny said it to be founded by Hannibal, who took refuge to king
Prusias I of Bithynia. Since a founder named Prusias, contemporary of Croesus is unknown,
attempts have been made to correct Strabo’s sentence and Pliny is regarded as the correct
source for the foundation of Prusa. However to make a fair judgment it is necessary to analyse
the lives, styles, sources and historiography of two authors. Such an analysis leads to the
conclusion that Pliny's statements about Prusa should be approached more skeptically. He is
not considered as a reliable source on history and geography, the natural sciences sections of
his work attracted more attention. Since Plinius' credibility was seriously damaged, the
possibility that Prusa was founded in the 6th century BC should be reevaluated in the light of
new findings.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Bithynia, Hannibal, city foundation, historiography, Prusias

Kaynakça

• Apoll. Rhod. 1912. (Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautika). Ed. Page & Rousse. New York: William Heinemann.
• App. Mith. 1955. (Appianus, Romaika Historia, Mithridatus). Ed. H. White. London: Loeb Classical Library.
• App. Syr. 1955. (Appianus, Romaika Historia, Syriaca). Ed. H. White. London: Loeb Classical Library