Olba
Olba, located in southeastern Asia Minor, specifically in the region of Cilicia Tracheia, is an ancient city that played a significant role in the local history and culture of the area. Situated about 3,000 feet above sea level, Olba was likely the capital of the local state of Pirindu during the sixth century. The city is historically notable for its association with the shrine of Zeus Olbios, a deity linked to local weather gods, and was believed to have been founded by the Trojan war hero Ajax.
By the first century BC, Olba had developed an organized city structure and local coinage, governed by high priests known as toparchs. The city underwent various political changes, including periods of displacement and restoration of its ruling class. Noteworthy archaeological remains of Olba include a theater, a nymphaeum, sections of an aqueduct, and the ruins of a temple dedicated to Zeus. These structures reflect the city’s prominence during the Roman Empire when it was incorporated into the province of Cilicia. The legacy of Olba continues to be of interest to historians and archaeologists, showcasing its rich cultural heritage and historical significance in the region.
Olba
Olbe (Uǧura or Ura)
A city in Cilicia Tracheia or Aspera (Rough Cilicia) in southeastern Asia Minor, situated thirteen miles inland at a height of about 3,000 feet, west of the river Lamus.
In the sixth century Olba was probably the capital of a local state, Pirindu; later it became associated with a powerful shrine of Zeus Olbios (heir to a native weather-god) which lay at what was later known as Diocaesarea and perhaps earlier as Prateana (Uzuncaburç), both centers having been founded, according to tradition, by the Trojan war hero Ajax, son of Telamon and brother of Teucer. By the first century BC, Olba possessed a city organization (and local coinage) under the supervision of princely high priests (toparchs). This dynasty, in which the first known ruler was Taracyaris (Teucer), suffered temporary displacement from a certain Zenophanes. He was deposed, however, in 41 by Antony and Cleopatra in favor of his own daughter Aba, whose husband had belonged to the ruling house; later, she, too, was removed, but according to Strabo her descendants continued to reign.
Coinage was issued by the high priest and toparch Ajax, son of Teucer (from cAD 10/11), who describes his subjects as the people of Cennatis (a region to the west of Olba) and Lalassis (which probably lay further north). Subsequently, perhaps from the reign of Claudius (41–54), a certain Marcus Antonius Polemo—who was perhaps the son of Julius Polemo, King Polemo I of Pontus, though Dio Cassius confuses the men bearing this name—coined as `dynast’ of the people of sacred Olba and of the Cennateis and Lalasseis; and this may be the Polemo who describes himself as king (basileus) on coins naming the League (koinon) on the Lalasseis and Cennateis, and on other pieces bearing the head of Galba (68–69). Later coinage of Olba, after its principality had been incorporated by Vespasian in his new province of Cilicia (c 72), invested the city with the titles of Hadriane and Antoniniane, and described it as the metropolis of Cennatis and of Cetis, a district in the interior of Rough Cilicia which was understood to include Olba and part of the coast.
The remains of Olba include a theater and nymphaeum (fountain house) of the second century AD and a section of an aqueduct dated to 199–211, that brought water from the upper Lamus and spanned one of the ravines, riddled with rock-cut graves, that surround Olba's hill. A coin of the early second century AD depicts a crenellated tower, of a type still to be seen at the place; some of these strong points guarded the approaches of the city, and others served as tombs in its cemeteries.
When Vespasian abolished and annexed the priestly state of Olba he raised the adjacent sanctuary of Diocaesarea (of which the Turkish name Uzuncaburç means high tower) to the status of an independent city, and it issued coinage on which it describes itself as Hadriane and the metropolis of Cennatis or the Cennateis, in addition to identifying itself with Olba's heritage by the depiction of a personification of `Olbos’ (prosperity). Coins of Septimius Severus (193–211) show his temple and altar. The site of this Hellenistic shrine—one of a number to be seen in the city—has been identified and its platform cleared. Beside it stand the remains of an ornamental gateway, which may be the arch (surmounted by statues) displayed on a coin of Otacilia Severa, wife of Philip the Arab (244–49). Other buildings to be seen on the site include a theater (with an inscription of 164/5) and a long rectangular Roman gymnasium (?). A triple-arched second-century gate in the city wall records repairs (of the gate or wall) in the joint reign of Arcadius and Honorius (395–408).