Mastaura (Caria) Explained

Mastaura
Pushpin Map:Turkey
Coordinates:37.9563°N 28.3418°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Turkey
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:İzmir

Mastaura (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Μάσταυρα), was an ancient Greek town near Dereağzı, Nazilli in northern Caria, not to be confused with ancient Mastaura (Lycia).

Some sources speak of the town as originally belonging to Lydia, a kingdom into which Croesus (560-546 BC) briefly incorporated Caria.[1] [2]

Pliny the Elder mentions the town as dependent on Ephesus as its provincial capital and thus as belonging in his time (1st century AD) to the Roman province of Asia[3] which, under the Roman Empire, incorporated Caria.

In Severan times the city became rich as evidenced by the impressive buildings.[4]

Location

Mastaura was situated in the north of ancient Caria, at the foot of Mount Messogis, on the small river Chrysaoras, between Tralles and Tripolis.[5] [6]

The geographer Strabo mentions the town as being in the valley of the Maeander River.[7]

Its site is located near Mastavra in Asian Turkey. On 16 October 1836, William Hamilton visited the ruins, then overgrown with ilex trees, brush and brambles.[8]

Remains

Recently the remains of a Roman-era amphitheatre dating from about 200 AD[9] and holding up to 20,000 spectators have been discovered still standing to a considerable height.[10] It is only the third amphitheatre to be found in Turkey.

Coinage

Mastaura had the privilege of having a mint and some of its coins are extant.[5] [2]

Bishopric

Le Quien assigns to the city four named bishops. Theodosius attended both the Council of Ephesus in 431 and the Robber Council of Ephesus in 449. His replacement Sabatius asked Bishop Hesperius of Pitanae to represent him at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. Theodorus took part in the Third Council of Constantinople in 680. Constantinus was one of the fathers of the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. To these four may be added a Baanes who was at the Photian Council of Constantinople (879), but it is unclear whether he was bishop of Mastaura in Asia or of Mastaura in Lycia.[11]

No longer a residential bishopric, Mastaura in Asia is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[12]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Nisbet, Gideon. Greek Epigram in the Roman Empire: Martial's Forgotten Rivals. 11 December 2003. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-926337-0. 11 December 2021. Google Books.
  2. Web site: Our objects and artworks. The Fitzwilliam Museum. 11 December 2021.
  3. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:abo:phi,0978,001:5:31#note-link55 Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, Book V, chapter 31
  4. Web site: In Ancient Turkey, Gladiators Fought at This Colosseum-Like Amphitheater. Smithsonian. Magazine. Livia. Gershon. Smithsonian Magazine. 11 December 2021.
  5. Web site: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), MAACAH, MASSICYTES, MASTAURA. Perseus.tufts.edu. 11 December 2021.
  6. Web site: Istanbul Guide, "Carie ... Mastaura & Harpasa". Istanbulguide.net. 11 December 2021. 3 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202737/http://www.istanbulguide.net/insolite/info/francais/turquie_occidentale/mastaura.htm. dead.
  7. Web site: Strabo, Geography, Book 14, chapter 1. Perseus.tufts.edu. 11 December 2021.
  8. Web site: Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus and Armenia: With Some Account of Their Antiquities and Geology. William John. Hamilton. 11 December 1842. J. Murray. 11 December 2021. Google Books.
  9. Web site: Encuentran un anfiteatro romano en la antigua ciudad de Mastaura en Anatolia. Terraeantiqvae.com. 11 December 2021.
  10. Web site: Gladiator arena from Roman era unearthed in Turkey. Laura Geggel. 20 April 2021. Livescience.com. 11 December 2021.
  11. Pascal Culerrier, Les évêchés suffragants d'Éphèse aux 5e-13e siècles, in Revue des études byzantines, vol. 45, 1987, p. 157
  12. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013), p. 925