Cremna (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

Κρῆμνα), or Kremna, was an ancient town in Pisidia. It is situated in the district of Bucak. It stands in a remote valley on a high plateau dominating the ancient Cestrus River (today Aksu), with limited access and good defensive features. It was first taken by Amyntas, commander of the

Galatia Galatia (; grc, Γαλατία, ''Galatía'', "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace ...

n auxiliary army of

Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...

and Cassius, who became king of Galatia and Pisidia on going over to the side of

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...

Octavian Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

allowed him to remain king until his death in 25 BC. After this it became a

Roman colony A Roman (plural ) was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It is also the origin of the modern term '' colony''. Character ...

, as

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...

says; and there are imperial coins with the epigraph COL. IVL. AVG. CREMNA, which stands for ''Colonia Iulia Augusta elixCremnena''. Its first coins appear to have been minted under

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

mentions the ''Cremna Colonia'', and according to him it is in the same longitude as Sagalassus. Its water supply posed particular problems and the aqueduct had to include complex and novel solutions. The ''donatio'' given by the emperor

Aurelian Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited ...

(270–275) promised a period of great prosperity for Cremna; but in 276 the town was taken by an

Isauria Isauria ( or ; grc, Ἰσαυρία), in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated, district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surro ...

n robber, named Lydius, who used it as a base for looting the region, giving rise to the only visit of a Roman Emperor to the region, that of

Marcus Claudius Tacitus Marcus Claudius Tacitus (; died June 276) was Roman emperor from 275 to 276. During his short reign he campaigned against the Goths and the Heruli, for which he received the title ''Gothicus Maximus''. Early life His early life is largely un ...

. Later, the town was inserted in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

of Pamphylia Secunda. The name of only one of its bishops is known: Theodorus, present at the

Second Council of Nicaea The Second Council of Nicaea is recognized as the last of the first seven ecumenical councils by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. In addition, it is also recognized as such by the Old Catholics, the Anglican Communion, an ...

in 787. No longer a residential bishopric, Cremna is today listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

as a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 876 At some time in the high Middle Ages the ancient site of the town was abandoned, the population transferring itself to the present village of Çamlık. The ancient site was identified in 1874 and excavations began in 1970.

References

* Smith, William (editor); ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography'' is the last in a series of classical dictionaries edited by the English scholar William Smith (1813–1893), following ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' and the ''Dictionary of Gr ...

''
"Cremna"

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, (1854) * Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister (editors);
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites
'
"Kremna"

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...

, (1976) * Mitchell, Stephen, with Sarah Cormack, Robin Fursdon, Eddie Owens and Jean Öztürk, ''Cremna in Pisidia. An Ancient City in Peace and in War'' (Duckworth Press, London, 1995)

Notes

Gallery

File:KremnaAntikKenti2.jpg File:KremnaAntikKenti3.jpg File:KremnaAntikKenti1.jpg File:KremnaAntikKenti4.jpg {{Authority control Populated places in Pisidia Archaeological sites in the Mediterranean Region, Turkey Former populated places in Turkey History of Burdur Province Catholic titular sees in Asia Roman towns and cities in Turkey Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Coloniae (Roman) Bucak District