View source for Elaeus

{{Short description|Ancient city of the Thracian Chersonnese}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name           = Elaeus
| native_name    = Ἐλεοῦς
| alternate_name =
| image          = Thracian Chersonese.svg
| alt   =
| caption        = Elaeus and the [[Hellespont]]
| map_type       = Turkey
| map_alt        =
| map_size       = 275
| relief         =
| coordinates    = {{coord|40|3|35|N|26|13|50|E|display=inline,title}}
| location       = Seddülbahir, [[Çanakkale Province]], [[Turkey]]
| region         = [[Thracian Chersonese]]
| type           = Settlement
| part_of        =
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| width          =
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| height         =
| builder        = Colonists from [[Teos]]
| material       =
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}}
'''Elaeus''' ({{langx|grc|Ἐλαιοῦς}} ''Elaious'', later {{lang|grc|Ἐλεοῦς}} ''Elaeus''), the “Olive City”, was an [[ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] city located in [[Thrace]], on the [[Thracian Chersonese]]. Elaeus was located at the southern end of the Hellespont (now the [[Dardanelles]]) near the southernmost point of the Thracian Chersonese (now the [[Gallipoli|Gallipoli peninsula]]) in modern-day [[Turkey]]. According to the geographer [[Scymnus]], Elaeus was founded by settlers from [[Ionia]]n [[Teos]], while the [[Pseudo-Scymnus]] writes that it was a colony of [[Athens]] and was founded by Phorbas<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/130#696 Pseudo Scymnus or Pausanias of Damascus, Circuit of the Earth, § 696]</ref>
== History ==
[[Image:Globular aryballos Louvre Ele357.jpg|thumb|left|alt=pottery|[[Hoplite]]s on a globular [[aryballos]] from Elaeus.]]
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Extra picture of a vase if needed:
[[Image:Lydion Elaeus Louvre CA4061.jpg|thumb|left|alt=pottery|Broken [[lydion]] from Elaeus.]]
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The most important cities of the Chersonese were [[Lysimachia (Thrace)|Lysimachia]], [[Pactya]], [[Gelibolu|Gallipoli]], [[Alokopennesos]], [[Sestos]], [[Madytos (Colony)|Madytos]] and Elaeus. The peninsula was renowned for its wheat. It also profited from its strategic location on the main trade route between Europe and Asia, as well as the possibility of controlling shipping to [[Crimea]]. For these reasons, Elaeus later received colonists from [[Athens]], who built fortifications there.
According to [[Plutarch]], the city was founded by an [[Ephesian]] who was called Hegesistratus, after he consulted the [[oracle at Delphi]].<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg085.perseus-grc1:41 Plutarch, Parallela minora, 41]</ref>
The last resting place of the [[Greek mythology|mythological hero]] [[Protesilaus]] was said to be at Elaeus, near a steep coastal cliff. According to Homer’s ''[[Iliad]]'',<ref>{{Citation|last=[[Homer]]|title=Iliad|volume=2|url=http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomerIliad2.html|at=Line 695}}</ref> Protesilaus was the first Greek to set foot on land during the [[Trojan War]], for which - according to the will of the gods - he was also the first to die. His [[Heroon|tomb]] at Elaeus lay on the European coast opposite [[Troy]], and became a destination for pilgrimages by members of the [[Protesilaus#Cult of Protesilaus|cult of Protesilaus]]. Later, the temple housed [[votive offering]]s, and was surrounded by a settlement. In antiquity, the location was variously under Athenian, Persian, Spartan and later Macedonian control.
During the [[second Persian invasion of Greece]] (480 - 479&nbsp;BCE), the Persian headquarters was temporarily located at Elaeus.<ref>{{Citation|last=[[Herodotus]]|title=Histories|volume=7|pages=[http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/hh7020.htm 22–24]}}</ref> Under Persian occupation, the governor [[Artayctes]] desecrated the sacred grove of Protesilaus.<ref>{{Cite DGRG|title=Elaeus}}</ref> For this, he was captured and crucified in 479&nbsp;BCE by the Athenian general [[Xanthippos]], the father of [[Pericles]].
In 411&nbsp;BCE, the Athenian squadron under [[Thrasyllus]] escaped with difficulty from [[Sestus]] to Elaeus;<ref>{{Cite Thucydides|8.102}}</ref> and it was here, just before the fatal [[Battle of Aegospotami]] (405&nbsp;BCE), that the 180 Athenian [[trireme]]s arrived in time to hear that [[Lysander]] was master of [[Lampsacus]].<ref>{{cite Hellenica|2.1.20}}</ref> A [[stele]] dating from the year 340&nbsp;BCE, at which time Elaeus was governed by Athens, contains an inscription in [[Ionic Greek|Ionian script]].<ref>''[[Inscriptiones Graecae]]'' [http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions/oi?ikey=2446&bookid=5&region=1 II², 228], Retrieved on 4 January 2013.</ref> The stele proclaimed that the Athenians gave certain privileges, such as political rights and ownership of property, to the people of Elaeus, and that the Athenian general [[Chares of Athens|Chares]] was charged with watching over them. Elaeus belonged to the [[Delian League]], and from 375&nbsp;BCE to the [[Second Athenian League]].
[[Alexander the Great]] is said to have visited Elaeus at the start of his Persian campaign in the spring of 334&nbsp;BCE, in order to visit the temple of Protesilaus. Here he made an offering, before crossing the Dardanelles, and himself becoming the first of his army to set foot in Asia. In 200&nbsp;BCE, Elaeus surrendered voluntarily to [[Philip V of Macedon]].<ref>{{Cite Livy|31.16}}</ref> but in 190&nbsp;BCE the citizens made overtures to the [[ancient Rome|Romans]].<ref>{{Cite Livy|37.9}}</ref>
Imperial coins were struck at Elaeus in the time of the Roman emperor [[Commodus]], of which a few remain. They depict Protesilaus as a warrior standing on the bow of a ship, ready to be the first to spring onto the enemy shore.<ref>[http://snible.org/coins/hn/thrace.html#Elaeus Ancient coinage of Thrace], Retrieved on 4 January 2013.</ref> [[Constantine I|Constantine's]] fleet in the [[Civil wars of the Tetrarchy]], 323&nbsp;CE, took up its moorings at Elaeus, while that of [[Licinius]] was anchored off the tomb of Ajax, in the [[Troad]].<ref>Zosim. 2.23; Le Beau, ''Bas Empire'', vol. i. p. 216.</ref> [[Justinian]] fortified this important position.<ref>Procop. ''Aed.'' 4.16</ref>
During the [[World War I|First World War]], French and British troops temporarily occupied [[Cape Helles]] and [[Morto Bay]]. The French Army encountered ancient remains while digging trenches. Fortuitous excavations were thus undertook under fire;<ref>{{Citation
| author  =
| last    = Courby
| first   = Fernand
| authorlink = Fernand_Courby
| author2 =
| last2   = Chamonard
| first2  = Joseph
| authorlink2 = Joseph_Chamonard
| author3 =
| last3   = Dhorme
| first3  = Édouard
| authorlink3 = Édouard_Paul_Dhorme
| title = Fouilles archéologiques sur l’emplacement de la nécropole d’Éléonte de Thrace (juillet-décembre 1915). Rapport présenté au nom de l’état-major du Corps expéditionnaire d’Orient à l’Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres
| periodical = Bulletin de correspondance hellénique
| issue = 39
| date = 1915
| language = fr
| pages = 151-154
| url = https://www.persee.fr/doc/bch_0007-4217_1915_num_39_1_3109
| doi = 10.3406/bch.1915.3109}}.</ref> operations were mainly supervised by Assyriologist [[Édouard_Paul_Dhorme|Édouard Dhorme]] and exhumed artefacts were sent to the [[Louvre]]. French excavations resumed from 1920 to 1923.<ref>{{Citation
| title = Chronique des fouilles. Éléonte
| periodical = Bulletin de correspondance hellénique
| issue = 44
| date = 1920
| page = 411
| url = https://www.persee.fr/doc/bch_0007-4217_1920_num_44_1_8998
| doi = }}; {{Citation
| title = Chronique des fouilles. Éléonte
| periodical = Bulletin de correspondance hellénique
| issue = 45
| date = 1921
| page = 554
| url = https://www.persee.fr/doc/bch_0007-4217_1921_num_45_1_9036
| doi = }}; {{Citation
| title = Chronique des fouilles. Éléonte
| periodical = Bulletin de correspondance hellénique
| issue = 46
| date = 1922
| pages = 539-541
| url = https://www.persee.fr/doc/bch_0007-4217_1922_num_46_1_8162
| doi = }}; {{Citation
| title = Chronique des fouilles. Éléonte
| periodical = Bulletin de correspondance hellénique
| issue = 47
| date = 1923
| pages = 541-542
| url = https://www.persee.fr/doc/bch_0007-4217_1923_num_47_1_9146
| doi = }}.</ref>
== See also ==
*[[List of ancient cities in Thrace and Dacia#Greek|Greek colonies in Thrace]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== Sources ==
* {{Citation|last=[[Pseudo-Scymnus]]|title=Periodos to Nicomedes ("Periegesis")|at=Line 707|url=https://archive.org/stream/scymnichiiperie00dittgoog#page/n51/mode/2up |language=Ancient Greek}}
* {{Citation|last=[[Procopius]]|title=Buildings of Justinian|volume=4|chapter=Ch. 10|at=Lines 3 and 26|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Procopius/Buildings/4C*.html}}
* {{Citation|last=Herodotus|title=Histories|volume=7|pages=[http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/hh7020.htm 22–24] and [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hh/hh7030.htm 33]}}
* {{Citation|last=[[Arrian]]|title=The Campaigns of Alexander|volume=1|chapter=11. Alexander Crosses the Hellespont and Visits Troy|url=http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book1a.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107042445/http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book1a.asp|archive-date=7 November 2015}}
* {{Citation|last1=Hansen|first1=M. H.|last2=Nielsen|first2=T. H.|title=An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|chapter=Thracian Chersonesos|display-authors=etal}}
* {{Citation|last=Freely|first=John|title=The Western Shores of Turkey|publisher=Tauris Parke Paperbacks|year=2004|page=19}}
* {{Citation|last=Harding|first=Philipp|title=From the End of the Peloponnesian War to the Battle of Ipsus|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1985|page=118|chapter=Section 94}}
* {{Citation|last=Danoff|first=Christo M.|title=Elaius|series=[[Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft#Der Kleine Pauly and Der Neue Pauly|Der Kleine Pauly]] (KlP)|volume=2|place=Stuttgart|year=1967|pages=231–232|language=German}}
* {{Citation|last=Instinsky|first=H. U.|title=Alexander der Große am Hellespont|publisher=Helmut Küpper Verlag|place=Bad Godesberg|year=1949|language=German}}
* {{Citation|last=Choiseul-Gouffier|title=Voyage pittoresque dans l'Empire Ottoman|volume=3|edition=2nd|place=Paris|year=1842|page=373f|language=French}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=71968 Elaiousion coin example 1]
* [http://hourmo.eu/26_Thracian_Chersonesos_&_Islands/Elaious/3530_Elaious_AE.html Elaiousion coin example 2]
{{Former settlements in Turkey}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Greek colonies in the Thracian Chersonese]]
[[Category:Ionian colonies in Thrace]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in the Marmara Region]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey]]
[[Category:Members of the Delian League]]
[[Category:Populated places in ancient Thrace]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Turkey]]
[[Category:History of Çanakkale Province]]