Kélainai – Apamée Kibôtos : Développement urbain dans le contexte anatolien

KELAINAI - APAMEIA KIBOTOS

Prof. Dr. Margaret C. MILLER

University of Sydney, Department of Archaeology, SOPHI

margaret.miller@usyd.edu.au



Town and Country in the Satrapies of Western Anatolia


Traces of Achaemenid acculturation among the local peoples of Western Anatolia are increasingly found, some even dating not long after the Persian conquest. It might reasonably be supposed that the population most susceptible to impact owing to greater exposure would have been at the satrapal centres, Daskyleion, Sardis and Kelainai.

The wide pattern of distribution of Achaemenid acculturation in the region is noteworthy; in some cases, such as the stelai of Daskylitis, proximity to a satrapal centre may explain the strength of the phenomenon. In other cases, such as the rich burials of eastern Lydia, the phenomenon is observed at some distance from the satrapal capital. This spread corresponds to the testimony of Greek literary sources’ mention of estates (nomoi) scattered around the countryside, whose owners – some Persian, some natives, some other peoples of the empire – were liable to raise military forces when called upon. One might posit therefore two foci of acculturation: the urban centres, with their satrapal court (both the physical structure and its associated personnel), and the country estates whose land-owners were judged by Lewis, doubtless correctly, to have regularly attended the satrapal court. Those very land-owners may be associated the wealthier burials that so conspicuously combine local funerary idiom in tomb construction and presumably ritual with Achaemenid ideals of lifestyle and prestige artefacts.