Pontic Athens: an Athenian Emporion in Its Geo-Historical Context
Abstract
The least significant of all ancient settlements called Athenai was located east of Trapezous on the Pontic coast. It maintained its name well into the 20th century, when its successor was renamed Pazar. That Arrian provides us with the first (surviving) description of this chorion is due to a storm that compelled him to anchor parts of the Roman fleet in its little harbour (AD 132). In the 6th century, Prokopios mentions the village only to refute the local tradition that it had been founded by its more famous namesake. Scholars have shared this skepticism and thus largely relegated Pontic Athens to footnotes or condemned it to complete oblivion. But nothing is more plausible than regarding it as a result of Perikles’ expedition to the Euxine (ca. 437/35 BC). Athenai may have a pre-history as a Milesian apoikia called Limne. Less certain is the role it played after the breakdown of Athenian thalassocracy (405 BC). It probably stood under Sinopean hegemony, before being absorbed into the Pontic kingdom in the early-2nd century BC. By then, however, Pontic Athens had shared the economic downturn of the area between Trapezous and Phasis. It lived on as a village regardless, and thus demonstrates that a polichnion could escape the historical record for centuries without ceasing to exist.
Keywords
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
-
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
Publication Date
November 15, 2019
Submission Date
August 6, 2019
Acceptance Date
October 18, 2019
Published in Issue
Year 2019 Volume: 18
Cited By
BİR KARADENİZ ŞEHRİNİN TARİHİNDEN KESİTLER VI. YÜZYILDA TRAPEZUS
Genel Türk Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi
https://doi.org/10.53718/gttad.1347460