Notion or Notium (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

, 'southern') was a

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 ...

city-state on the west coast of

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

; it is about south of Izmir in modern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, on the Gulf of Kuşadası. Notion was located on a hill from which the sea was visible; it served as a port for nearby Colophon and

Claros Claros (; el, Κλάρος, ''Klaros''; la, Clarus) was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia. It contained a temple and oracle of Apollo, honored here as Apollo Clarius. It was located in the territory of Colophon, which lay twelv ...

, and pilgrims frequently passed through on their way to the oracle of

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

at Claros. There are still remains of the defense walls, necropolis, temple, agora, and theater. The ruins of the city are now found east of the modern town Ahmetbeyli in the Menderes district of Izmir Province,

. The earliest reference to Notion is in

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

, who includes it among the cities of

Aeolis Aeolis (; grc, Αἰολίς, Aiolís), or Aeolia (; grc, Αἰολία, Aiolía, link=no), was an area that comprised the west and northwestern region of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), mostly along the coast, and also several offshore islan ...

(of which it is the southernmost): "Kyme, which is called Phriconis, Larisai, Neon-teichos, Temnos, Killa, Notion, Aigiroëssa, Pitane, Aigaiai, Myrina, Grynei" (I:149). Its proximity to the Ionian city of Colophon needs explanation; we may "suppose either that the Ionian settlers negotiated their rights of passage up to their inland site or more probably that they reached it originally up one of the other river valleys."

Robin Lane Fox Robin James Lane Fox, (born 5 October 1946) is an English classicist, ancient historian, and gardening writer known for his works on Alexander the Great. Lane Fox is an Emeritus Fellow of New College, Oxford and Reader in Ancient History, Un ...

, discussing the early rivalry between the cities, writes:

Relations between Colophon and nearby Notion were never easy and their bitter rivalry may help to explain the story of a quarrel between the two prophets at Claros. The Aeolian Greeks at Notion had a special relationship with Aeolian
Mopsus Mopsus (; Ancient Greek: Μόψος, ''Mopsos'') was the name of one of two famous seers in Greek mythology; his rival being Calchas. A historical or legendary ''Mopsos'' or ''Mukšuš'' may have been the founder of a house in power at widespread ...
, but the Ionian Greeks at Colophon had a special relationship with Calchas. It was, then, particularly appealing for the Aeolian controllers of Claros to claim that Mopsus had outwitted Calchas and caused his death on the site.

H. W. Parke suggests that in the seventh century BC "Claros was in the control of Notion, which must have remained a small Aeolian town dominated by its more powerful inland neighbour olophon but also protected by it against the threat of Lydia. Notion itself was not big enough to send out colonies on its own." Persia conquered Colophon and Notion in the mid-sixth century BC, but they were liberated in the

Greco–Persian Wars The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of the ...

and joined the Delian League separately (Colophon paying three talents a year, the smaller Notion only a third of a talent). During the first years of the Peloponnesian War, Notion was split into factions, one of which called in mercenaries under Persian command; the Athenian admiral Paches ruthlessly restored the pro-Athenian faction to power, "and settlers were afterwards sent out from Athens, and the place colonized according to Athenian laws" (

Thucydides Thucydides (; grc, , }; BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His '' History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of " scienti ...

III:34). Thereafter it served as an Athenian base. In 406 BC it was the site of the Spartan victory at the

Battle of Notium The Battle of Notium (or Battle of Ephesus) in 406 BC was a Spartan naval victory in the Peloponnesian War. Prior to the battle, the Athenian commander, Alcibiades, left his helmsman, Antiochus, in command of the Athenian fleet, which was blocka ...

. By the late fourth century BC it was joined in a '' sympoliteia'' (federal league) with Colophon and "by the Roman period the name of Notion dropped out of use completely."Parke, ''The Oracles of Apollo in Asia Minor'', p. 126.

References

{{Authority control Cities in ancient Aeolis Cities in ancient Ionia Former populated places in Turkey Buildings and structures in İzmir Province History of İzmir Province Members of the Delian League Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Populated places in ancient Aeolis Populated places in ancient Ionia Menderes (Cumaovası) District