Peraia, and Peraea or Peræa (from grc, ἡ περαία, ''hē peraia'', "land across") in
Classical Antiquity referred to "a community's territory lying 'opposite', predominantly (but not exclusively) a mainland possession of an island state" according to
Karl-Wilhelm Welwei
Karl-Wilhelm Welwei (17 October 1930 – 25 August 2013) was a German people, German historian. He was regarded as one of the most notable experts on the history of Ancient Greece.
Biography
Welwei was born on 17 October 1930 in Witten. He studie ...
.
Notable examples include:
* the ''peraia'' of
Mytilene, which already in the 8th and 7th centuries BC comprised a number of coastal towns from the mouth of 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 (; ...
to the southern end of the
Bay of Adramyttium. It lost this territory to
Athens after its failed rebellion in 427 BC against
Athenian domination, but appears to have re-acquired a ''peraia'' by the mid-4th century BC.
* the
Rhodian Peraia, the possessions of
Rhodes in southwestern
Asia Minor between the 5th century BC and the 1st century BC. Originally comprising parts of coastal
Caria, after the
Treaty of Apamea this briefly expanded to cover most of Caria and
Lycia.
* the ''peraia'' of
Samos, which established control in ca. 700 BC over the opposite Asian coast from
Marathesium to
Trogilium and the town of
Thebes at
Mycale. Possession of the settlements of Carium and Dryussa on Mycale was disputed with
Priene until the 2nd century BC, when it was settled through the arbitration of Rhodes.
* the ''peraia'' of
Samothrace, established by the 5th century BC and stretching from
Mesembria to the mouth of the
Evros River on the coast of
Thrace. It partly survived into the
Roman period
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...
.
* the ''peraia'' of
Tenedos, originally south of
Sigeum. It survived into the Roman period, but was very limited.
* the ''peraia'' of
Thasos, established on the coast of Thrace in the 8th century BC and expanded until it comprised the coast between the
Strymon and
Nestos rivers, as well as the colony of
Stryme. It lost control following its failed uprising against Athenian hegemony in 464 BC, but recovered it after the defeat of Athens in the
Peloponnesian War
The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world. The war remained undecided for a long time until the decisive intervention of th ...
and retained it until the late 4th century BC, when the
Macedonians took it over. In the 1st century BC, however, the Romans returned it to Thasos.
* the city of
Myus was disputed as a ''peraia'' between
Miletus
Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...
and
Magnesia on the Maeander.
* the
Perachora peninsula in Greece, which took its name from its location across from
Corinth.
*
Perateia was used in the late Middle Ages for the
Crimean possessions of the
Empire of Trebizond
The Empire of Trebizond, or Trapezuntine Empire, was a monarchy and one of three successor rump states of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Despotate of the Morea and the Principality of Theodoro, that flourished during the 13th through to t ...
.
*
Perea, also called Peraea, part of the
Herodian Kingdom, now in modern
Jordan.
References
Sources
* {{cite book , last = Constantakopoulou , first = Christy , title = The Dance of the Islands: Insularity, Networks, the Athenian Empire, and the Aegean World , url = https://archive.org/details/danceislandsinsu00cons , url-access = limited , chapter = 7. Beyond insularity: islands and their ''peraiai'' , pages
228��253 , publisher = Oxford University Press , year = 2007 , isbn = 978-0-199215959
Ancient Greek geography