Attaleia
ATTALEIA or ATTALIA (Ἀττάλεια, Ἀτταλία: Eth. Ἀτταλεύς).
1.A city of Pamphylia. After mentioning Phaselis in Lycia, Strabo mentions Olbia as the first town in Pamphylia, then the river Catarrhactes, and then Attalia, a city founded by Attalus II. Philadelphus, king of Pergamum. Accordingly he places the Catarrhactes west of Attalia. Ptolemy mentions Phaselis, Olbia, and Attaleia, and then the Catarrhactes. Pliny mentions Olbia, but not Attalia (5.27), though he mentions the Catarrhactes. The modern town of Adalia, now the largest place on the south coast of Asia Minor, corresponds in name to Attalia; but it is west of the Catarrhactes, now the Duden Su. Strabo describes the Catarrhactes as falling from a high rock, and the noise of the cataract was heard to a distance. It is generally assumed that Strabo means that it falls over a rock into the sea; but he does not say so, though this may be his meaning. Beaufort (Karamania, p. 135) observes, that on the west side of the town there are only two small rivers, both of which glide quietly into the sea through the sandy beach, and can by no means answer the description of the Catarrhactes.B ut there are many small rivulets which turn the mills near Adalia, and rush directly over the cliff into the sea; and if these rivulets were united, they would form a large body of water. (Beaufort.) The water of these streams is full of calcareous particles, and near some of the mouths stalactites were observed. It is very probable, then, that the lower course of this river may have undergone great changes since Strabo's time, and these changes are still going on. D'Anville considered Adalia to represent Olbia, and Attalia to be further east at a place called Laara, and he has been followed by others in identifying Adalia and Olbia; but this erroneous opinion is founded entirely on the order of the names in Strabo, who is contradicted in this matter by Ptolemy and the Stadiasmus. Spratt and his associates visited Adalia. The houses and walls contain many fragments of sculpture and columns: the cemeteries which are outside of the city also contain marble fragments and columns. The style of all the remains, it is said, is invariably Roman. Fourteen inscriptions were found, but not one of them contains the name of the place. As Adalia is now the chief port of the south coast of Asia Minor, it is probable that it was so in former times; and it is an excellent site for a city. Paul and Barnabas after leaving Perga went to Attalia, and thence sailed to Antioch.( Acts, 14.25.) The church of Attalia was afterwards an episcopal see. There are imperial coins of Attalia, with the epigraph Ἀτταλέων.
Leake, who fixes Attalia at Adalia, supposed that Olbia might be found in the plain which extends from Adalia to the foot of Solyma; and it ought to be found here, according to Strabo's authority. About 3 1/2 miles west of Adalia, near the coast, there are the remains of an ancient city, on an elevated flat with three precipitous sides, one side of which is bounded by the Arab Su. This agrees with Strabo's description of Olbia as a great fort.T he country between these ruins and Adalia is a rocky tract, incapable of cultivation, but the country west of them to the mountains of Solyma, is very fertile. This, as it is well observed in Spratt's Lycia (vol. 1. p. 217), will explain Stephanus (s. v. Ὀλβία), who finds fault with Philo for saying that Olbia belongs to Pamphylia: he adds, it is not in Pamphylia, but in the land of the Solymi;a nd his remark is conformable to the physical character of the country. He says, also, that the true name is Olba. Mannert's conjecture of Olbia and Attalia being the same place, cannot be admitted. Strabo, in an obscure passage (p. 667), speaks of Corycus and Attalia together. Leake (Asia Minor, p. 192) interprets Strabo, by comparing with his text Stephanus (s. v. Ἀττάλεια) and Suidas (s. v. Κωρυκαῖος), to mean that Attalus fixed Attalia near a small town called Corycus, and that he inclosed Corycus and the new settlement within the same walls. This does not appear to be exactly Strabo's meaning; but Corycus was at least near Attalia, and received a colony and was fortified when Attalia was built.
2.A city of Lydia, originally named Agroeira or Alloeira. (Steph. s. v. Ἀττάλεια.) There is a place called Adala on the river Hermus, but Hamilton (Researches, &c. vol. 1. p. 143) found no ancient remains there. [ATTEA] [G.L]
City in Pamphylia founded by Attalos II Philadelphos, probably before 150 B.C. After the end of the Pergamene kingdom in 133 Attaleia seems to have been left free; it remained so even after the formation of the province of Cilicia, but was finally annexed to Rome by Servilius Isauricus in 77. Proof is lacking that the city had been involved with the pirates to any considerable extent. Attalein served as a base for Pompey in assembling his fleet in 67 B.C., and a visit by Hadrian in A.D. 130 was the occasion for much restoration and embellishment. At a comparatively late date Attaleia appears with the title Colonia. In Byzantine times, when much more mention is made of the city, the bishop of Attaleia came under the metropolitan of Perge-Sillyon, until in 1042 he was raised to the rank of metropolitan.
Whether Attaleia was founded on the site of an earlier town or city is disputed. Strabo's words (667) are none too clear, but certainly do not imply that Attaleia replaced a town of Korykos; and the old idea that Antalya is the site of Olbia is quite untenable. The harbor, though small, is nevertheless the best natural harbor on this coast, and it is likely enough that there was some earlier habitation. If so, however, the name is unknown.
Nothing is standing today apart from the fortifications. No theater, stadium, temple, or any public building has ever been located. The wall circuit remains virtually whole, but only a few sections in the N part have been dubiously attributed to Attalos' original foundation. The rest, as it now stands, dates from the time of Hadrian or later, with much subsequent repair and reconstruction, including many reused stones, some sculptured or inscribed. Many of the towers are well preserved and contain more ancient work. Seven gates are identifiable; the Gate of Hadrian, on the E side of the circuit, is the most impressive.
At the extreme end of the wall on the S side stands a tower quite unlike the rest; it is known today as Hidirlik Kulesi. It is thought to have always been isolated and not to have formed part of the wall circuit. It is in two stories, the lower square, the upper round, both excellently preserved. The total height is 14 m. The lower story consists of a nearly solid mass of masonry, in which a passage leads from the door on the E to a small room in the center; short passages lead off from this towards the other three sides. At ground level on the outside a door in the N wall leads to a narrow staircase ascending in the thickness of the wall to the foot of the round upper story; a second similar stairway leads to the top of the building. Here a circular wall with crenelations surrounds a platform open to the sky; in the center is a solid rectangular base 4.56 m thick, resting on a vaulted substructure. Its purpose has been disputed; it may have served as a base for a lighthouse or for artillery. A suggestion that the whole building is a mausoleum is clearly improbable.
The Gate of Hadrian has recently been cleared and reconstructed. It is a triple-arched gateway of familiar form and carried two dedications to Hadrian. One was on the architrave in letters of bronze and was evidently the dedication of the gate itself; the other, seen only by early travelers, seems to have been placed on the upper story of the gate, related perhaps to a statue of the emperor. There can hardly be a doubt that the building was erected on the occasion of Hadrian's visit in A.D. 130.
The three arches are all the same size, their undersides decorated with cassettes containing shallow-cut rosettes and flowers. In front of each of the four piers of the gate, on the inner and outer sides, stood an unfluted granite column on a high plinth; the rest of the building was of white marble. The capitals are in the Composite order, the bases Attic, and the epistyle was richly decorated with ovolo and leaf moldings. The upper story has disappeared.
The new museum in Antalya houses sarcophagi from Perge, epichoric epitaphs from Aspendos, and reliefs of the twelve gods from Lycia.
BIBLIOGRAPHYK. Lanckoronski, Die Städte Pamphyliens (1890) 7-32.
G. E. BEAN