The Romans in Turkey

This article is one in the Cultural History of Turkey series. For the description of any cultures or tribes please read that article.

Asia Minor was an important part of the Roman empire. It rivaled Rome in art, culture, and power while preserving its own traditions. It was in fact a big rival. When the Roman Empire was split, Constantinople in Asia Minor became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire in 395 AD. Although the exact time for the downfall of the western Roman Empire is a scholarly dispute, 476AD is accepted as the symbolic date, which is the date the Germanic general Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustus. However, the actual demise of the empire might be dated much earlier. Some sources suggest 395 AD. Some assume even more than a century earlier. The Eastern Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, on the other hand survived till 1453 AD.

The death of Alexander the Great brought more wars and bloodshed into Asia Minor. The claimants to the throne of the Hellene Empire started fighting with each other. One of the kingdoms founded as a result of the break up of this vast empire was the Seleucid. The Antiochus III of Seleucid had extended his territory and influence into Asia Minor. However, the Roman power was rising and its borders were expanding. The Roman general Lucius Cornelius Scipio defeated Antiochus near Magnesia ad Sipylum, on the plains of Lydia6 in 190BC, and Antiochus abandoned all his claims on Asia Minor. Rome divided the Seleucid empire into two. Part of the territory is given to the king Eumenes of Pergamum and the other part to some other Roman allies.

The Galatians, the invaders from the northern Europe who attacked the Greek peninsula and crossed to Asia Minor and were hired by the king Nicomedes of Bithynia as mercenaries to fight against the Seleucids around 278/277 BC. However, they were first defeated by Antigonus at Lysimachia in 278BC and later by the Seleucid Antiochus I in 275BC. The Seleucids allowed them to settle in the Halys river arc around Ancyra and Pessinus, covering parts of Phrygia and Cappadocia in 274/272BC. The Galatians were defeated by Attalus I of Pergamum in 230BC and by the Roman Consul Gnaeus Manlius Vulso in the battle of Mons Olympus in 189BC in central Asia Minor and forced to accept the Roman domination. Antonius granted the Galatian kingdom to Amyntas, who reigned as the King of Galatia between 36-25BC. Finally, Galatia is annexed by the Roman Emperor Augustus in 25BC and became a Roman province. The King Amyntas was killed by the Homonadeis during the battle in Psidia.

After the death of Alexander, the Great the western Asia Minor was controlled by the Pergamum Kingdom13 and the Romans inherited the lands of the Pergamum kingdom as a result of the will of the Pergamum King Attalus I in 129BC.

Nicomedes of Bithynia bequeathed his kingdom to the Roman Empire. Rome accepted the bequest but also wanted to remove the thread of Mithradates, one of the formidable enemies of the Roman Empire in the north eastern territory14 of Asia Minor. The Roman generals Sulla, Lucullus, and Pompey defeated the Pontus king Mithridates VI between 87-66BC and Pontus became part of the Roman territory in Asia Minor. The struggle between the king Mithridates VI of Pontus and the Romans continued a period of thirty years. At the end Mithridates retreated to the Crimean Bosphorus and died (suicide in 63BC) there while trying to build a new force to fight against the Romans.

Bithynia, Pontus, Cilicia, and Syria were reshaped as Provinces by Pompey in 64-63BC. Cato the Younger made Cyprus a Roman province in 58-57BC. And the emperor Tiberius reduced Cappadocia to a Roman province in AD 17.

The Romans, as they advanced towards east and south in Asia Minor, came in contact with the Parthians. The military struggle between the Romans and Parthians and later with the more organized and powerful Sasanids, who replaced the Parthians, was long and protracted (53BC – AD298). The Romans succeeded in extending their borders into south east of Asia Minor and Syria and made Mesopotamia, Osroene, Armenia (annexed in AD 114-115), and Assyria as their provinces. Eventually, the Parthians revolted and Rome could not hold on to these territories for long. In this struggle various generals and emperors were involved, such as Crassus, Antony, Trajan, Lucius Verus, Septimius Severus, Caracalla, Valerian, and Galerius.

During the years of decline the Roman Empire was attacked by different people, such as, the Vandals, Goths, and Huns. The Romans started losing the battles and the territories. The Goths, a Germanic people, assaulted the Roman provinces in Asia Minor, and sacked Trapezus in the north. The Sasanids’ invasion reached Antioch16. The emperor Valerian is captured, humiliated, and killed by the Great King of Kings, Shapur I of the Sasanids at Edessa in 260 AD.

In the Roman period Asia Minor kept its prominence. Pergamum, Magnesia, Miletus, Priene, Nysa, Hierapolis, Aphrodisias, and Erythrae were the centers of art and culture. Agoras, stoae, gymnasia, theaters, Odeons, libraries, fountains, and public baths were as beautiful as the Roman counterparts.

The Romans improved the Hellene architecture. They borrowed the concept of arch and vault from the Etruscans1 and used concrete to build theaters sitting on vaults in addition to the ones built on the side of the hills, like the ones built by the Hellenes. They skillfully introduced many inventions and innovations into civil engineering and combined them with the traditional styles. Using cement and wide arches enabled them to construct taller buildings without support columns. They also built basilicas2. They constructed buildings with columns, vaults, and big domes, to create large indoor spaces. Their temples were built on raised platforms, which were nine to ten feet above the ground and hence needed stairs. The Hellene temples, on the other hand, sit on platforms raised only a few feet. The newly invented mortar mix is used to attach the bricks. Used andesite instead of stone and coated walls with plaster or marble plates, and decorated with rare stones. They built theaters with more closed space to keep the audience’s attention focused on the play instead of being distracted by the surroundings. Another innovation was the porticos3. Many beautiful examples of these were unearthed in Asia Minor. The Romans built 80,000Km (50,000 miles) of road. Riders used to change their horses frequently to cover long distances in shortest time possible. Still it used to take fourteen days to travel from one end of the empire to the other. Most roads have a slight hump so that when it rained the water goes to the side ditches. The Ionian cities, Ephesus, Miletus, and Smyrna became richest cities with populations exceeding 100,000. In addition to civil engineering, the Romans made great advances in other technical areas. A rudimentary steam engine and variety of measurement tools were a few accomplishments to mention.

The Central heating for the public baths, with their integrated gymnasia, were developed. The technique was to pass forced hot air through the holes in the bricks laid under floor (hypocaust) and inside the walls. There are many examples of these in Asia Minor. This technique of central heating was also used in reach people’s houses. Mosaic was used to decorate the walls and floors. The Romans were clean people. Most of them bathed once a day, some of them more than once. Bathing and the related activities were an important part of the daily life. Many public baths were built throughout the empire. Typically, the baths had three sections. These were called tepidarium, calidarium, and frigidarium. As the names imply tepidarium had a warm water pool, calidarium, on the other hand, had the hottest pool, and finally, frigidarium had a pool with cold water. After exercise the Romans used to go the tepidarium, next to the calidarium, and then, at the end, to the frigidarium to cool off. Baths were not only bathing. They, together with its extensions, served many other needs. There were libraries, laundry rooms, barbers, gymnasia, and much more. The Roman bath in the middle of old Ankara — Ulus — is a good example. Aqueducts were also built in Asia Minor, which were simpler looking than the ones in other Roman lands.

The Roman architects and engineers built aqueducts to bring water to the cities and towns. Water was brought to big settlements from nearby rivers. The gravity was used to move the water. Depending on the topography of the area aqueducts were either raised by multi-tiered row of arches or run under ground. Construction of aqueducts required expertise and maintenance was needed to keep them operational. Then, there was water theft, so they should be monitored and protected. Due to the lack of maintenance many aqueducts became unusable during and after the decline and downfall of the Roman empire.

Before adopting Christianity the Romans believed in many gods4, majority of which were of the Hellene origin. And like the Hellenes they believed in the Hades, the underworld. However, they also adopted gods from Asia Minor, Egypt, and Persia. Like the Hellenes, The burial and cremation were practiced in the Roman lands. The discovery of various artifacts in the graves suggests that they believed in after life even before Christianity.

Some of the Roman Deities

Jupiter, the god of light, the king of immortals, (Greek Zeus)
Juno, the queen of the goddess (Greek Hera)
Saturn, the god of agriculture and harvest
Ceres, the goddess of plants and motherly relationship (Greek Demeter).
Minerva, the goddess of wisdom (Greek Athena)
Mercury, the messenger God (Greek Hermes)
Venus, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility.
Vulcan, the god of fire (of volcanoes).
Neptune, the god of water and the sea (similar to Poseidon)
Diana, the god of hunt (of wild animals) and the moon (Greek Artemis)
Apollo, the god of light and the sun
Mars, the god of wars (Ares)
Vesta, the goddess of domestic hearth, home, and family, associated with the Greek goddess Hestia
Manes, the god of dead
Janus, the god of doors, doorways, and gates
Lares, protective deity who looks after home, (Personal and family god)
Penates, a household deity
Cybele, Magna Mater, adopted from Asia Minor, the goddess of nature, some times referred as Great Mother
Mitras adopted from Persia
Isis, a goddess adopted from Egypt
Sarapis, a god adopted from Egypt.
Bacchus, may refer to the Hellene god Dionysus, the god of wine and intoxication.
Sibyl, a priestess
Lua Mater, an earth and pestilence goddess, a partner of Saturn.

The Roman army was organized into units called legions, which consisted of 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers. Until 4th and 5th century BC the legions were arranged in the phalanx formation borrowed from the Hellenes and Macedonians. Later though the phalanx formation was abandoned and legions were split into maniples forming manipular legions. Maniples were made of three rows of soldiers. The soldiers in the first two row carried two six-foot javelins, a two-foot iron sword, and a shield. The last row consisted of experienced soldiers with spears. Grouping the Legions into cohorts was also another approach the Roman army took.

Sources

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Starr, Chester G., “The Ancient Romans,” Professor of Ancient History, University of Michigan, Oxford University Press, London 1971 Toronto.,
Nardo, Don, “The Roman Empire,” World History Series, ISBN 1-56006-231-2, by Lucent Books, Inc. P.O, Box 289011, San Diego, California, 92198-9011.
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