Gergis (), also known as Gergithus (Γέργιθος) or Gergitha (Γέργιθα) or Gergithes (Γέργιθες), and later Kerge, was a town in

ancient Troad The Troad ( or ; , ''Troáda'') or Troas (; , ''Trōiás'' or , ''Trōïás'') is a historical region in northwestern Anatolia. It corresponds with the Biga Peninsula (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Biga Yarımadası'') in the Çanakkale Provinc ...

, on the north of the

Scamander River Karamenderes is a river located entirely within the Çanakkale Province of Turkey. It flows west from Mount Ida (Turkey), Mount Ida and empties into the Aegean Sea near the Troy#Troy_Historical_National_Park, Troy Historical National Park. Acco ...

. It was inhabited, according to

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

, by descendants of the mythical Teucrians. Herodotus also records that it was passed by the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

army of

Xerxes I Xerxes I ( – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was a List of monarchs of Persia, Persian ruler who served as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was ...

on the way to Abydos in 480 BCE. In the time of

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

Gergis is called a strong place; it had an acropolis and strong walls, and was one of the chief towns of the Dardanian princess

Mania Mania, also known as manic syndrome, is a Psychiatry, psychiatric Abnormality (behavior), behavioral syndrome defined as a state of Abnormality (behavior), abnormally elevated arousal, affect (psychology), affect, and energy level. During a mani ...

. King Attalus of Pergamus transplanted the inhabitants of Gergis to a place near the sources of the Caicus, whence we afterwards find a place called Gergetha or Gergithion, near Larissa Phrikonis, in the territory of Cyme. The old town of Gergis was believed by some to have been the birthplace of the

Sibyl The sibyls were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophet, prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by Pausanias (geographer), PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he desc ...

, whence coins found there have the image of the prophetess impressed upon them. Cephalion (Κεφαλίων) or Cephalon (Κεφάλων) of Gergis was a rhetor and historian during the reign of

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

. He left his city because of enmity with its rulers and went to

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. He wrote many works in

Ionic Greek Ionic or Ionian Greek () was a subdialect of the Eastern or Attic–Ionic dialect group of Ancient Greek. The Ionic group traditionally comprises three dialectal varieties that were spoken in Euboea (West Ionic), the northern Cyclades (Centr ...

. A Cephalon of Gergis, author of a ''Troica'', is mentioned as a very ancient historian by

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus (, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary style was ''atticistic'' – imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime. ...

; Athenaeus calls him Cephalion and remarks that the Troica under his name was the work of Hegesianax of Alexandria. Its site is located near Karıncalı, a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the

Bayramiç District Bayramiç District is a district of the Çanakkale Province of Turkey. Its seat is the town of Bayramiç.Çanakkale Province Çanakkale Province () is a province of Turkey, located in the northwestern part of the country. It takes its name from the city of Çanakkale. Its area is 9,817 km2, and its population is 559,383 (2022). Like Istanbul, Çanakkale province ...

in Asiatic Turkey.

References

Populated places in ancient Troad Former populated places in Turkey Places in Greek mythology History of Çanakkale Province Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey {{AncientTroad-geo-stub