Everything about Side totally explained
» This page is about the town Side on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. For other uses of "Side", see Side (disambiguation).
Side is one of the best-known classical sites in
Turkey, and was an ancient harbour whose name meant pomegranate. Side is a resort town on the southern coast of
Turkey, near the villages of
Manavgat and
Selimiye, 75 km from
Antalya) in the
province of Antalya. It is located on the eastern part of the
Pamphylian coast, which lies about 20 km east of the mouth of the
Eurymedon River.
Settlers from
Cyme (Cumæans) in
Aeolis, an ancient region of northwestern
Asia Minor, founded the city in the
seventh century BC. Possessing a good harbor for small-craft boats, Side's natural geography made it the most important place in
Pamphylia – the region in the south of Asia Minor between
Lycia and
Cilicia, from the
Mediterranean to
Mount Taurus. This location made Side one of the most important trade centers in its time. Today, as in yesteryear, the ancient city of Side is situated on a small north-south
peninsula about 1 km long and 400
m across.
History
Strabo and
Arrianos both record that Side was settled from
Cyme (Aeolis), city in Aeolia, a region of western
Anatolia. Most probably, this colonization occurred in the seventh century B.C.. According to
Arrianos, when settlers from Kyme came to Side, they couldn't understand the dialect. After a short while, the influence of this indigenous tongue was so great that the newcomers forgot their native Greek and started using the language of Side. Excavations have revealed several inscriptions written in this language. The inscriptions, dating from the third and second centuries B.C., remain undeciphered, but testify that the local language was still use several centuries after colonization. Another object found in Side excavations, a basalt column base from the seventh century B.C. and attributable to the
Neo-Hittites, provides other evidence of the site's early history. The word "side" is Anatolian in origin and means
pomegranate.
Next to no information exists concerning Side under
Lydia and
Persian Empire sovereignty. Nevertheless, the fact that Side minted its own coins during the
547 BC while under Persian dominion, shows that it still possessed a great measure of independence.
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great occupied Side without a struggle in
333 BC. Alexander left only a single garrison behind to occupy the city. This occupation, in turn, introduced the people of Side to
Hellenistic culture of the Greek Civilization, which flourished from the
fourth century to the
first century BC. After Alexander's death, Side fell under the control of one of Alexander's generals,
Ptolemy I Soter, who declared himself king of
Egypt in
305 BC. The
Ptolemaic dynasty controlled Side until it was captured by the
Seleucid Empire in the
second century BC. Yet, despite these occupations, in the following years of the second century BC, Side managed to preserve some autonomy, grew prosperous, and became an important cultural center.
In
190 BC a fleet from the Greek island
city-state of
Rhodes, supported by
Rome and
Pergamum, defeated the Seleucid King
Antiochus the Great's fleet, which was under the command of the fugitive
Carthaginian general,
Hannibal. The defeat of Hannibal and Antiochus the Great meant that Side freed itself from the overlordship of the
Seleucid Empire. The embarrassing
Treaty of Apamea (188 BC) forced Antiochus the Great to abandon all European territories and to cede all of Asia Minor north of the Taurus Mountains to
Pergamum. However, the dominion of Pergamum only reached
de facto as far as
Perga, leaving Eastern
Pamphylia semi-free. This led
Attalus II Philadelphus to construct a new harbour in the city
Attalia (the present Antalya), even though Side already had an important harbour. Between 188 and 36 BC Side minted their own money,
tetradrachms showing
Nike and a laurel wreath (the sign of victory).
In the
first century BC, Side reached a peak when the Cilician
pirates established their chief naval base and a
slave-trade center.
Romans
The consul
Servilius Vatia defeated these brigands in 78 BC and later the
Roman general
Pompey in
67 BC, bringing Side under the control of the Roman Empire. Side's second peak period started around 2C BC when it established and maintained a good working relationship with the Roman Empire.
Emperor
Augustus reformed the state administration and placed Pamphylia and Side in the Roman province of
Galatia in
25 BC, after the short reign by the king
Amyntas of Galatia between 36 and 25 BC. Side began another prosperous period as a commercial center in
Asia Minor through its trade in olive oil. Its population grew to 60,000 inhabitants. This period would last well into the third century AD. Side established itself as a slave-trading center in the
Mediterranean. Its large commercial fleet engaged in acts of piracy. Wealthy merchants paid for such tributes as public works, monuments, and competitions as well as the games and gladiator fights. The significance of this period for Side is evident in its ruins today. Most of the present-day ruins found in Side date from this period of prosperity.
Decline
Side began to steady decline from the
fourth century on. Even defensive walls couldn't stop successive invasions from highlanders from the Taurus Mountains. During the
fifth and
sixth centuries, Side experienced a revival and became the seat of the Bishopric of Eastern Pamphylia. Arab fleets, nevertheless, raided and burned Side during the
seventh century, contributing to its steady decline. The combination of earthquakes, Christian zealots and Arab raids, left the site completely abandoned by the 10th century.
Today
In
1895 Greek Muslim refugees from
Crete moved to the ruined town and called it Selimiye. Today Side has become a popular vacation destination and experiences a new revival.
It was a favorite spot for watching the
solar eclipse of March 29, 2006.
Due to previously being the seat of the Bishopric of Eastern Pamphylia it's still a
titular see of the
Roman Catholic church.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Side'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://side.totallyexplained.com">Side Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
