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Modern Description: An old Pisidian foundation on Gulluk Dag, 25 km NW of Antalya, more or less Hellenized by the 3d c. B.C. In poetic inscriptions the Termessians call themselves Solymians (TAM III.1.103, 127, 135; cf. Strab. 650), and probably they originally spoke a language which Strabo (631) calls Solymian and distinguishes from Pisidian; later this dialect died out, apart from personal names. The Solymi appear in Homer in the tale of Bellerophon (Il. 6.184).
In 333 B.C. Alexander, having completed his business in Pamphylia, contemplated an attack on Termessos, but decided to march directly to Sagalassos (Arr. 1.27-28). In 319 Alketas, defeated by Antigonos, took refuge in Termessos; Antigonos demanded his surrender. To avoid falling into his enemy's hands Alketas killed himself.
In 189 B.C. Termessos besieged neighboring Isinda, but the siege was raised by Manlius Vulso in response to an appeal from the Isindians and Termessos was fined 50 talents (Livy 38.15; cf. Polyb. 21.35). Probably at about the same time the city became involved in a war with the Lycian League (SEG XVIII 570), of which the outcome is unknown. At some time during the 2d c. Termessos concluded an alliance with Adada (TAM III.1.2) in which reference is made to the democracy in each of the cities. About 70 B.C. a treaty of friendship was made with Rome (CIL I2, 589 = ILS 38), apparently as a reward for the city's opposition to Mithridates. From 36 to 25 B.C. Termessos, with the rest of Pisidia, was governed by Amyntas of Galatia; later, under the Empire, Termessian coins claim the title of Autonomous.
The city was approached by a Royal Road leading up the valley from the NE to a gate through the outer fortification wall; higher up is a second wall still standing in part to its full height. The site has never been excavated and is heavily overgrown, but the ruins are considerable. The agora, in a central position, is a paved area flanked on NW and NE by the stoas of Attalos II and of a citizen named Osbaras. The latter apparently dates from the 1st c. A.D., and both are in poor condition. Under the paving is a row of five large stone-vaulted cisterns with circular mouths, and in the SW corner is a remarkable heroon cut in an outcrop of rock. A flight of steps leads up to a platform with a semicircular bench, above which is a wall containing a plain grave lacking its lid. There is no inscription or other indication of the owner's identity, nor is the monument datable. In the W face of the rock are three large semicircular niches which may be connected with the heroon.
A little to the E is the theater, small but well preserved. It dates from Hellenistic times, with some later alterations. The stage building is simple, a long narrow chamber with five doors opening onto the stage; between the doors were columns, but only the supports remain in place. Below the stage is a hyposcaenium, with five doors into the orchestra. The parodoi were open in the Greek manner, but the S one was later replaced by a vaulted passage with a loggia above it in the Roman style; above this again the rows of seats have been extended to join the stage building. The cavea, facing E, is more than a semicircle, and has 24 rows of seats, 8 above and 16 below the single diazoma. Six stairways divide it into five cunei; these are doubled above the diazoma. At the top of the central stairway is a door 2.5 m wide.
Some 100 m SW of the theater is a well-preserved building identified as an odeion, with walls standing up to 10 m high. It is thought to date from the 1st c. B.C. It is rectangular in plan and faces roughly E; the upper part of the walls is decorated on the outside with pilasters, and on the S and E sides are 11 large windows. In the E front are two rectangular doors, and in the back wall is a third. In the interior are some remains of rows of seats with a shallow curve, forming an arc much less than a semicircle.
Close to the odeion on the S is the Temple of Artemis, identified by an inscription at the door. This door stands complete with lintel and statue bases at either side. The temple apparently dates from the 3d c. A.D. and probably replaced an earlier temple the foundations of which still exist a few paces to the SE, and in which a dedication to Artemis was found. Behind the odeion is another small building, standing 5 m high, which may have been connected with the cult of Solymian Zeus; it consists of a single chamber, beautifully built, with a bench across the back wall.
To the SW of the agora is a large, ruined building which has been called the Founder's House, a splendid villa of Roman type. The front door is over 5 m high, with a window to its left; inside is a vestibule leading to the central atrium, where the impluvium is surrounded by columns.
Heavy overgrowth impedes the investigation of other features, notably a large and handsome gymnasium N of the theater, several large cisterns, and a street in the W part of the city lined with stoas and shops and adorned with statues.
The necropolis is vast; there are tombs on all sides of the city, but the main concentration is on the higher ground to the W and S. No fewer than 650 epitaphs have been published. The rock tombs in the NW quarter are the earliest; they include a tomb of Lycian type with round beam ends, a pediment, and akroteria; a group of five tombs including three arcosolia; and a remarkable tomb which has been thought to be that of Alketas. The grave is cut in a ledge in an angle of the rock face, with a bench below; above is trellis-work in relief between pilasters, and above that a pediment and an eagle with spread wings holding a snake. Various damaged rock-cuttings and reliefs, on either side of the tomb, include figures of Hermes and Aphrodite, and in particular a fine relief of a horseman, with a suit of infantryman's armor just below. The main mass of later tombs consists of built tombs and sarcophagi, some very handsome.
Arrian, in his account of Alexander's visit, observes that the hills below Termessos come down close to the road on either side, leaving only a narrow passage easily defensible. This spot is identifiable on the present main road about 1 km E of the Yenice Kahve, close to the new road leading to the site. Here a wall bars the valley; it is built of excellent ashlar masonry, with 10 towers and a gate, and is thought to date from the 2d c. B.C. The towers, surprisingly, are on the W side of the wall, so as to halt an enemy only after he had passed the foot of the city; but it may be that the wall served as much for the purpose of exacting tolls as for military defense (G. E. BEAN)
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Termessos
Wikidata ID: Q599462
Trismegistos Geo: 2319

Info: Princeton Encyclopedia

(Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, from Perseus Project)

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