Elegeia was a city of ancient Armenia located in modern

Erzurum Province Erzurum Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Its area is 25,006 km2, and its population is 749,754 (2022). The capital of the province is the city of Erzurum. It is the fourth lar ...

in northeastern

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

; several important episodes between the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and the

Parthians Parthia ( ''Parθava''; ''Parθaw''; ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Medes during the 7th century BC, was incorporated into the subsequent Achaemen ...

took place there.

Location

The exact location of Elegeia is not known. It is usually located near Ilıca, between

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

and Askale.

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

located Elegeia at roughly the same latitude as

Artaxata Artashat (), Greek language, Hellenized as Artaxata () and Artaxiasata (), was a major city and commercial center of ancient Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Armenia that served as the capital of the Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Kingdom of Ar ...

;

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

placed it on the

Euphrates river The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through S ...

;

Stephen of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephen of Byzantium (; , ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD) was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethnica'' (). Only meagre fragments of the dictionary survive, but the epit ...

indicates that Elegeia was beyond the Euphrates and that it was mentioned in book VIII of the ''Parthica'' of

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; ; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander, and philosopher of the Roman period. '' The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best source on the campaigns of ...

.Bosworth, "Arrian at the Caspian Gates", pp. 265-276 In any case, Elegeia was an important stage in the road to

Satala Located in Turkey, the settlement of Satala ( ''Satał'', ), according to the ancient geographers, was situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, a little north of the Euphrates, where the road from Trapezus to Samosata crossed the boundary o ...

at the heart of the kingdom of Armenia.

History

Due to its strategic location, Elegeia was often the scene of confrontations between Rome, Armenia and the Parthian or

Persian empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larg ...

. At least two important episodes took place there. In 114, King

Parthamasiris of Armenia Parthamasiris, also known as Partamasir or Parthomasiris (flourished second half of the 1st century and first half of the 2nd century, died 114) was a Parthian prince who served as a Roman client king of Armenia. Parthamasiris was one of the t ...

came to meet Emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

there to receive his investiture. Trajan refused to make him king, and instead conquered Armenia. It was also from Elegeia that Trajan led campaigns against the northern neighbors of Armenia. It was also in Elegeia that at the end of 161

Marcus Sedatius Severianus Marcus Sedatius Severianus (105–161 or 162) was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, suffect consul, and general during the 2nd century AD, originally from Gaul. Severianus was a Roman province, provincial governor and later a provincial ...

was defeated by the Parthian army of

Vologases IV of Parthia Vologases IV ( ''Walagash'') was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 147 to 191. He was the son of Mithridates V of Parthia, Mithridates V (). Vologases spent the early years of his reign re-asserting Parthian control over the Characene, Ki ...

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Armenia Minor Roman towns and cities in Turkey Populated places in ancient Cappadocia