Phaselis
Phaselis is an ancient city located on the eastern coast of Lycia in southern Asia Minor, now part of modern-day Turkey. Founded around 690/688 BC by colonists from Lindus, Rhodes, it has a rich history marked by its strategic position as a harbor town. The city was notable for its rectangular acropolis and three harbors, which played a significant role in trade and military activities throughout its existence. Phaselis was involved in several historical events, including participation in the Delian League and encounters with figures like Alexander the Great and the pirate Zenicetes.
Over the centuries, it changed hands multiple times, being controlled by Persian, Athenian, and Seleucid powers before eventually becoming a member of the Lycian League. The city's architecture reflects its historical significance, with remnants of a theater, streets, and a marketplace. Modern archaeological studies have revealed details about its fortifications and harbor works, offering insights into its past. Phaselis is not only an important historical site but also a point of interest for those exploring the ancient Mediterranean world.
Subject Terms
Phaselis
(Tekirova)
A city on the east coast of Lycia in southern Asia Minor (subsequently, for a time, it was considered to belong to Pamphylia). Phaselis possessed a flat-topped, rectangular acropolis on a ninety-foot high promontory projecting into the sea. The place was reputedly founded in 690/688 BC by colonists from Lindus on the island of Rhodes, and Herodotus regarded its population as of Dorian origin (like the Rhodians) although the tradition is confused. The colonists were said to have presented a local shepherd with some fish in payment for the land.
In the sixth century the Phaselians are named among the Greek communities participating in the market of Naucratis in Egypt. After a period of Persian suzerainty, the town was detached from this allegiance, against its will, by an Athenian expedition under Cimon (468), who enrolled it in the Delian League. When Mausolus of Halicarnassus (Bodrum) occupied Lycia, Phaselis helped him against the Lycians and concluded a treaty with him (c 360), of which passages still survive. The city surrendered without a fight to Alexander the Great, who resided there for a time in 333. After his death it belonged to Antigonus I Monophthalmos, from whom Ptolemy I Soter captured it following a siege (309).
During the third century Phaselis became the most important harbor town in the area. The Seleucid Antiochus III the Great took it over in 197, but after his defeat by the Romans (190/88) it was given to Rhodes, and then liberated to become a member of the free Lycian League (169). Early in the first century, however, the city came under the control of the pirate Zenicetes until his suppression by Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus—who allowed it to be sacked (177/76). Resuming coinage, which resembled that of the League but lacked the phrase `of the Lycians’ (for Strabo recorded that it was no longer a League member), Phaselis was twice visited by Hadrian (AD 129, 131), and briefly revived its monetary issues under Gordian III (238–44).
Strabo records its three harbors, which have now been carefully examined. On the north slope of the acropolis stands a theater, and traces of houses, streets and cisterns can be seen. The town center, lying at the foot of the headland, contained a paved avenue linking two of the harbors and terminating in a triple-arched gateway commemorating one of Hadrian's visits. Not far away is one of three marketplaces, the Rectangular Agora (identifiable by an inscription), into which a small early Christian church was subsequently inserted. A detailed modern description of the fortifications, sea walls and harbor works is now available. North of the city lies an extensive marsh, identifiable with a lake recorded by Strabo (though Livy had already recorded that its swampy nature caused smells and disease). On an adjoining hill there was a spring, now dried up, from which aqueducts (of late and poor construction) led into the city; a Hellenistic fortress rose nearby.