Μαραθήσιον (toponym), Μαραθήσιος (city-ethnic)[1] | |
 The first hypothesis of the first modern investigator, J. Keil, is that Marathesion was southwest of Nuova Scala, but not as far as Ambar Tepe. He draws a map placing Marathesion at the port of Kuşadası[2] and gives a picture of Kese Dağı with Pigeon Island.[3] A modern photograph is given above. He places Ambar Tepe, not otherwise known in this region, on the south of the promontory and recuses himself from identifying it.[4] A century later, H. Lohmann suggested that Ambar Tepe was Marathesium.[5] This view is currently in favor with the encyclopedists.[6][7] The coordinates given above are therefore those of Ambar Tepe. | |
 This map shows not only poleis of the Ionian League but dependent poleis as well. | |
| Location | Aydın Province, Turkey |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°49′45″N 27°15′16″E / 37.829287°N 27.254483°E |
| Type | Dependent polis |
| Part of | Ionia |
| Satellite of | Melia, then Samos, then Ephesos |
| Site notes | |
| Ownership | Republic of Turkey |
Marathesium or Marathesion (Ancient Greek: Μαραθήσιον)[8] was a polis of ancient Ionia on the coast south of Ephesus, which was a member of the Ionian League. Marathesium was too small to be a member of the League or even to stand independently on its own. It has been classified recently as a dependent polis[1][a] of one of the members of the League, first of Melia, then of Miletus after Melia had been defeated in the Meliac War, then of Samos, by lawsuit based on its occupation, and finally of Ephesus by a treaty involving the swap of cities.
Marathesium had something Ephesus did not, a harbor. The date of foundation of Ephesus is back in the bronze age under the Hittite state of Arzawa. During that time it came into contact with the Achaean Greeks. At some point after the fall of Arzawa it was invested by the Ionians. No doubt Ionian Ephesus was founded on the coast of the Aegean, like all the other Ionian cities. Since then the Küçük Menderes River, at the mouth of which it was placed, prograded to such an extent in parallel to the progradation of the Büyük Menderes River that Ephesus was left inland, like Priene and Myus on the other side of Mycale. Ionian ascendancy then passed to the Ionian cites still on the ocean: Miletus and Samos.
Ephesus needed a harbor. It found that by trekking across the alluvial plain to the southwest it had easy access to the one natural harbor on the long stretch of beach opposite Samos: the port today held by the Turkish city of Kuşadası, a strong candidate for the location of Marathesium. There was literally no other choice. Ephesus therefore fought to obtain the port, doing so finally by a swap with Samos.
That entire coast along with Mycale had been the territory of Melia. Melia was thus far too large to have been one of 13 equal cities of the Ionian League. It owned the land on which those cities were placed. They took it away from Melia during the Meliac War, dated about 700 BC, and divided the land among them. Melia was razed and never rebuilt. The best explanation is that Melia had owned the land because it was Carian, and its land was then part of Caria. There was often a close comradeship between Greeks and Carians, despite the fact that the Greeks often referred to them as barbarians.
The exact locality of Marathesion has not been determined for certain. The first investigator there concluded it was the port of Kuşadası. Its harbor was and is the best of the entire shore that extends from Mount Mycale to the River Cayster. It is situated under shelter of a headland consisting mainly of a large hill, or tepe, now the very center of Kuşadası. A statue of Mustafa Kemal graces the top. A large sign, Kuşadasi, like the Hollywood sign of Los Angeles, has been placed on the seaward side of the hill. An island, Pigeon Island, containing a fort, is connected to the hill by a causeway. Kuşadası means "Pigeon Island." This harbor is in the north angle of the promontory. If Marathesium was at the location of the port of Kuşadası, then it is probably under a closely-packed, much-valued city and as such may never be discovered.
There is, however, a second theory proposed by H. Lohmann after a study of the toponyms of north Ionia and the archaeological evidence of the 21st century. In the south angle of the same promontory on which Kuşadası is located, there is another harbor inland from which stood another hill, Ambar Tepe. It has been mainly destroyed by modern development. Lohmann's proposal is that Ambar Tepe was Marathesium. This theory leaves the problem of what to call the north harbor settlement.
- ^ a b Rubinstein 2004, p. 1082
- ^ Keil 1908, p. 136, Figure 92 Die ionische Küste südlich von Ephesos
- ^ Keil 1908, p. 145, Figure 97 Marathesion von Südost.
- ^ Keil 1908, p. 152, "I therefore prefer today not to name the walled location of the Ambartepe."
- ^ Lohmann 2007, p. 83
- ^ Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 61, and directory notes accompanying. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.
- ^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
- ^ Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica, §M431.16
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