Canae

Not to be confused with Cannae or Cana.

39°2′N 26°48′E / 39.033°N 26.800°E / 39.033; 26.800

Canae
Κάναι
Canae is located in Turkey
Canae
Location within Turkey
Place in the Roman world
ProvinceAsia
Nearby waterAegean Sea (Dikili Gulf)
EventsBattle of Arginusae
Location
Coordinates39°2′19″N 26°48′53″E / 39.03861°N 26.81472°E / 39.03861; 26.81472
Place nameKane Promontory (Cane)
TownBademli
Countyİzmir
StateDikili District
CountryTurkey
Site notes
Discovery year2015

Canae /ˈkeɪ.niː/ (Ancient Greek: Κάναι; Turkish: Kane) was, in classical antiquity, a city in ancient Aeolis, on the island of Argennusa in the Aegean Sea off the modern Dikili Peninsula on the coast of modern-day Turkey, near the modern village of Bademli.[1][2] Today Argennusa has joined the mainland as the Kane Promontory off the Dikili Peninsula. Canae is famous as the site of the Battle of Arginusae in 406 B.C.[1][3][4]

Canae is mentioned by the ancient writers Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny, Livy, Ptolemy, Sappho, Thucydides, and Mela.[5][6]

History

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According to the first-century Greek geographer Strabo, Canae was founded by Locrians coming from Cynus in eastern Greece.[5][7] Canae was built on the island of Argennusa (also spelt Arginusa), beside a small promontory hill variously called Mount Cane /ˈkeɪ.niː/ (Ancient Greek: Κάνη), Aega /ˈiːɡə/ (Αἰγᾶ), or Argennon /ɑːrˈdʒɛnən/ (Ἄργεννον).[5][7][8] The name Canae (Κάναι) means "(city) of Mount Cane"; the district that included Argennusa and the neighboring two islands of Garip and Kalem was called Canaea.[5]

According to the 5th-century B.C. Greek historian Herodotus, the massive Achaemenid army of Xerxes I passed Mount Cane on its way from Sardis to the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.[5][9][10]

During the Peloponnesian War, an Athenian fleet commanded by eight strategoi unexpectedly defeated a Spartan fleet under Callicratidas off the coast of Canae in 406 B.C. in the Battle of Arginusae.[6]

During the Roman–Seleucid War, fought between the Roman Republic and Antiochus the Great in 192–188 B.C., the Roman navy wintered in Canae on their way to Chios.[5] Livy writes that "the ships were hauled on shore and surrounded with a trench and rampart."[11]

By the time of Pliny the Elder in the first century A.D., the city was deserted.[5][12]

Archaeology

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Goldhill, Olivia (16 November 2015). "Researchers just unearthed a lost island in the Aegean". Quartz. İzmir. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  2. ^ Hamel, Debra (21 May 2015). The Battle of Arginusae: Victory at Sea and Its Tragic Aftermath in the Final Years of the Peloponnesian War. U.S.A.: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-4214-1680-9.
  3. ^ "Lost ancient island found in the Aegean". Hurriyet Daily News. İzmir. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  4. ^ Crew, Bec (20 November 2015). "An entire ancient island has been rediscovered in the Aegean: Have we finally found the long-lost city of Kane?". Science Alert. İzmir. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Long, George (1878). "Canae". In William Smith (ed.). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Vol. I. London: John Murray.
  6. ^ a b Long, George (1878). "Arginusae". In William Smith (ed.). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. Vol. I. London: John Murray.
  7. ^ a b Strabo (1903). The Geography of Strabo. Vol. II. Translated by H. C. Hamilton and W. Falconer. London: George Bell & Sons. p. 388.
  8. ^ Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica
  9. ^ Herodotus, Histories 7.42
  10. ^ Barkworth, 1993. The Organization of Xerxes' Army. Iranica Antiqua Vol. 27, pp. 149–167
  11. ^ Livy, Foundation of the City 36.45, 37.8
  12. ^ Pliny, Natural History 5.30

Classical sources

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