Myrina () was one of the Aeolian cities on the western coast of

Mysia Mysia (UK , US or ; ; ; ) was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia, Asian part of modern Turkey). It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on the east, Phrygia on the southeast, Lyd ...

, about 40 stadia to the southwest of Gryneion. The former bishopric is now a Latin Catholic

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 ...

. Its site is believed to be occupied by the modern Sandarlik at the mouth of the Koca Çay, near the town of Aliağa in İzmir Province, in the Aegean Region of

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 ...

, near Kalavasari.

History

It was said that the city was founded by one Myrinus before the other Aeolian cities, or by the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

Myrina. Artaxerxes gave Gryneium and Myrina to Gongylus, an

Eretria Eretria (; , , , , literally 'city of the rowers') is a town in Euboea, Greece, facing the coast of Attica across the narrow South Euboean Gulf. It was an important Greek polis in the 6th and 5th century BC, mentioned by many famous writers ...

n, who had been banished from his native city for favoring the interests of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Myrina was a very strong place, though not very large, and had a good harbor.

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 ...

mentions the fame of its oysters and that it bore the surname of Sebastopolis; while, according to Syncellus, it was also called Smyrna. An inscription (''Bulletin de correspondance hellenique'', V, 283) tells that Myrina formed part of the

Attalid kingdom The Kingdom of Pergamon, Pergamene Kingdom, or Attalid kingdom was a Greek state during the Hellenistic period that ruled much of the Western part of Asia Minor from its capital city of Pergamon. It was ruled by the Attalid dynasty (; ). The ...

in the 3rd century BC. For some time Myrina was occupied by

Philip V of Macedon Philip V (; 238–179 BC) was king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by the Social War (220–217 BC), Social War in Greece (220-217 BC) ...

; but the Romans compelled him to evacuate it, and declared the place free. Under Roman rule, Myrina was part of the

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) 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 ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

of Asia Prima. It suffered severe earthquakes twice; first in the reign of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Cl ...

, on which occasion it received a remission of duties on account of the loss it had sustained, and a second time in the reign of

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 ...

. The town was restored each time, and continued to exist until a late period. It was the birthplace of Agathias, a Byzantine poet and historian of the 6th century. Myrina minted coins in Antiquity, some of which survive. Around 20 AD, Myrina minted a coin celebrating the betrothal of Claudius Drusus, son of the future emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; ; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54), or Claudius, was a Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusus and Ant ...

, to a daughter of

Sejanus Lucius Aelius Sejanus ( – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Guard, the imperia ...

, commander of the

Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin language, Latin: ''cohortes praetoriae'') was the imperial guard of the Imperial Roman army that served various roles for the Roman emperor including being a bodyguard unit, counterintelligence, crowd control and ga ...

under

Remains

The site of Myrina was discovered at the mouth of the river that was the ancient Pythicos, whose alluvia have covered what was the city's harbour. Excavations (1880–1882) brought to light about four thousand tombs, dating from the last two centuries BC, in which were found numerous objects representing the divinities of the Greek pantheon; children's toys, reproductions of famous works, etc.: most of these may be seen today in the Museum of the Louvre. Archaeologist

Dorothy Burr Thompson Dorothy Burr Thompson (August 19, 1900 – May 10, 2001) was an American classical archaeologist and art historian at Bryn Mawr College and a leading authority on Hellenistic terracotta figurines. Early life Thompson was the elder of two da ...

carried out a study of the 117 Hellenistic terracotta figures from Myrina in the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

Ecclesiastical history

Under Roman rule, Myrina was part of the

of Asia Prima and its bishopric was a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

of the capital's

Metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ...

Ephesus Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...

. The names of some of its bishops are known: Dorotheus, 431 AD; Proterius, 451; John, 553; Cosmas, 787. It still existed as a residential see in the 14th century, but was suppressed.

Titular see

It is now included in 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 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

's list of

titular bishopric 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 archbish ...

s,''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ), p. 931 nominally restored in the 18th century. It is vacant, having had the following incumbents, of the lowest (episcopal) rank: * Matthaeus Prichard, Recollect Fathers ( O.F.M. Rec.) (1713.09.20 – 1750.05.22) * Karl Aloys von Königsegg und Rothenfels (1770.03.12 – 1796.02.24) * John Ryan (1825.09.31 – 1828.03.17) * Pietro India (1836.02.01 – 1837?) * François-Alexis Rameaux (穆導沅), Vincentians (C.M.) (1838.12.11 – 1845.07.14) * Pierre Lavaissière (石伯鐸), C.M. (1846.03.27 – 1849.12.19) * Raffaele Bacchettoni (1880.12.13 – 1881) * Giovanni Rosati (1882.03.30 – 1884.03.14) * Joseph-André Boyer (包), Paris Foreign Missions Society (M.E.P.) (1886.04.13 – 1887.03.08) * Isidorus Barriga (1890.06.26 – 1894?) * Maximilian Gereon Graf von Galen (1895.07.16 – 1908.11.05) * Joseph Gaudentius Anderson (1909.04.29 – 1927.07.02) * Edward John Galvin (高爾文), Missionary Society of St. Columban (S.S.C.M.E., founder) (1927.07.14 – 1946.04.11), as first Apostolic Vicar of Hanyang (China); previously first Apostolic Prefect of Hanyang (November 1, 1924 – July 14, 1927), later first bishop of Hanyang (April 11, 1946 – February 23, 1956) * Alfred-Jean-Félix Ancel, Prado (1947.02.17 – 1984.09.11)

Notable residents

* Agathias, Byzantine historian and poet

References

* *

External links

asiaminorcoins.com
ancient coins of Myrina

{{Authority control Aeolian dodecapolis Greek colonies in Mysia Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Roman towns and cities in Turkey Catholic titular sees in Asia Former populated places in Turkey Members of the Delian League Populated places in ancient Aeolis Greek city-states Aliağa District History of İzmir Province