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Nearchus the Cretan and the Foundation of Cretopolis1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2013

Nicholas Victor Sekunda
Nicholas Victor Sekunda
Affiliation:
Nicholas Copernicus University, Poland
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Extract

The clarification of when and in what circumstances the various Hellenistic cities of Pisidia were founded is an important undertaking. Through the microcosm of Pisidia, such study throws valuable light upon the way in which Anatolia became hellenized. Pisidia is especially important because at the beginning of the Hellenistic period the Pisidians were hardly touched by either hellenism or urbanism. They were bellicose raiders who constituted a threat to their more urbanised neighbours. Many of the cities of Hellenistic Pisidia seem to have been established with the deliberate intention of pacifying the region.

In a recent issue of Anatolian Studies Stephen Mitchell dealt with, among others, the Pisidian city of Cretopolis. Cretopolis is of interest for several reasons, in particular because it seems to be one of the earliest military foundations of the Hellenistic period, and because the name informs us that the city was settled by Cretans. Cretans were frequently employed as mercenaries throughout the Hellenistic period, but in antiquity, as in more recent periods, Cretans made very reluctant colonists. There are very few individual Cretans attested as colonists in Egypt or elsewhere, and very few attested Cretan colonies indeed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Anatolian Studies , Volume 47 , December 1997 , pp. 217 - 223
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute at Ankara 1997

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References

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