Tyriaeum

Not to be confused with Toriaeum.

Tyriaeum or Tyriaion, also spelled Tyraion, was a Roman and Byzantine era civitas in the Roman Province of Pisidia, ^[1] located ten parasangs from Iconium ^[2] It was mentioned by Xenophon, and Pliny and Strabo tell us it was between Philomelium (Akshehr) and Laodicea Combusta. ^{[3] [4]} It is thought to be near modern Ilgın. ^[5]

History

Cyrus the Younger reviewed his troops for the Cilician queen ^[6] at Tyriaeum in Phrygia. ^[7] The town was recognized as a polis by Eumenes II of Pergamon in a set of royal letters found inscribed in the schoolyard of Mahmuthisar village south of Ilgin. ^[8] It then formed part of the Roman Empire and later the Byzantine Empire.

During the 11th century, had a substantial Christian population and was so well fortified that even after the defeat at Mantzikert 1071 the Turks were unable to capture it. ^[9]

The town was taken by Suleiman the Magnificent and Tamerlane. ^[10] In 1308 during the Crusades there was a massacre of refugees from Ephesus in this town by Sultan Abu Zayyan I. ^[11]

Bishopric

The city was the seat of an ancient Bishopric. Bishop Theotececnus ^[12] cast a vote at the Council of Chalcedon. No longer a residential bishopric, it remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church. ^[13] Tyriaeum was long mistaken as the site of Thyatira of the Apocalypse.

References

1. John Anthony Cramer, A Geographical and Historical Description of Asia Minor, With a Map, Volume 2 (At the University Press, 1832), p. 314.
2. Xenophon. Anabasis . Vol. 1.2.13.
3. Strabo. Geographica . Vol. 14. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon 's edition.
4. Charles Anthon, A Classical Dictionary: Containing ... Proper Names Mentioned in Ancient Authors (Harper & Bros., 1841) p 768.
5. Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
6. Xenophon. Anabasis . Vol. 1.1.14.
7. Travels in the Track of the Ten Thousand Greeks: being a geographical and descriptive account of the expedition of Cyrus, and of the retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks, as related by Xenophon (J. W. Parker, 1844). page 33.
8. Jonnes, L.; Ricl, M. (1997). "A New Royal Inscription from Phrygia Paroreios". Epigraphica Anatolia: 1.
9. Bernard Bachrach (April 2016). Jeffreys, Elizabeth; Gertwagen, Ruthy (eds.). "The Crusader March from Dorylaion to Herakleia". Shipping, Trade and Crusade in the Medieval Mediterranean Studies in Honour of John Pryor. Taylor & Francis: 243. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
10. Francis-Vyiyan-Jago Arundell, Visit to the Seven Churches of Asia, with an Excursion Into Pisidia (John Rodwell, 1828) p203.
11. Francis-Vyiyan-Jago Arundell, Visit to the Seven Churches of Asia, with an Excursion Into Pisidia (John Rodwell, 1828) p54.
12. Richard Price, Michael Gaddis, The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, Volume 1 (Liverpool University Press, 2005)p 84.
13. Catholic Hierarchy

38°16′45″N31°54′50″E / 38.2791667°N 31.9138889°E / 38.2791667; 31.9138889