Arisba or Arisbe ( grc, Ἀρίσβη; Eth. Ἀρισβαἰος), was a town of
Mysia, mentioned by
Homer in the same line with
Sestos
Sestos ( el, Σηστός, la, Sestus) was an ancient city in Thrace. It was located at the Thracian Chersonese peninsula on the European coast of the Hellespont, opposite the ancient city of Abydos, and near the town of Eceabat in Turkey.
In ...
and
Abydus. It was between
Percote and Abydus,
Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...
, ''Ethnica'' Ἀρίσβη a colony of
Mytilene, founded by
Scamandrius and
Ascanius
Ascanius (; Ancient Greek: Ἀσκάνιος) (said to have reigned 1176-1138 BC) was a legendary king of Alba Longa and is the son of the Trojan hero Aeneas and Creusa, daughter of Priam. He is a character in Roman mythology, and has a divine ...
, son of
Aeneas. It was a member of the
Delian League
The Delian League, founded in 478 BC, was an association of Greek city-states, numbering between 150 and 330, under the leadership of Athens, whose purpose was to continue fighting the Persian Empire after the Greek victory in the Battle of Pl ...
.
The army of
Alexander the Great mustered here after crossing the
Hellespont
The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...
. When the wandering
Gauls passed over into Asia, on the invitation of
Attalus I, they occupied Arisba, but were soon defeated, in 216 BCE, by
Prusias I of Bithynia. In
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 see ...
's time the place was almost forgotten.
There are coins of Arisbe from the Roman emperor
Trajan's time (early 2nd century), and also autonomous coins.
Its site is tentatively located at
Musakoy in
Asiatic Turkey.
References
Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey
Former populated places in Turkey
Greek colonies in Mysia
Milesian colonies
Cities in ancient Troad
Populated places in ancient Mysia
Locations in the Iliad
Members of the Delian League
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