Lebedos
LE´BEDOS (Λέβεδος: Eth. Λεβέδιος), an ancient city on the western coast of Asia Minor, 90 stadia to the east of Cape Myonnesus, and 120 to the north-west of Colophon. (Strab. 14. p. 643.) The place was originally inhabited by Carians, until, on the immigration of the Ionians into Asia, it was taken possession of by them under the guidance of Andraemon, a son of Codrus. (Paus. 7.3.2.) Strabo (14. p. 633), however, in speaking of the foundation of the Ionian cities, states that it was colonised by Andropompus and his followers, having previously borne the name of Artis: the tomb of Andraemon, moreover, was shown in the neighbourhood of Colophon, on the road crossing the river Hales. (Paus. l. c.) For a long time Lebedos continued to be a city flourishing by its commerce, the fertility of its territory, and the excellent hot mineral springs in its neighbourhood, which still exist. (Hecat. Fragm. 219; Hdt. 1.142; Thucyd. 8.19.) It was afterwards nearly destroyed by Lysimachus, who transplanted its population to Ephesus (Paus. l. c. 1.9.8); after which time Lebedos appears to have fallen more and more into decay, so that in the days of Horace it was more deserted than Gabii or Fidenae. (Epist. 1.11. 7.) It is mentioned, however, as late as the 7th century of the Christian era (Aelian, Ael. VH 8.5; Ptol. 5.2.7; Mela, 1.17; Plin. Nat. 5.31; Hierocles, p. 660); and the Romans, in order to raise the place in some measure, established there the company of actors (τεχνῖται περὶ τὸν Δίονυσον) who had formerly dwelt in Teos, whence during a civil commotion they withdrew to Ephesus. Attalus afterwards transplanted them to Myonnesus; and the Romans, at the request of the Teians, transferred them to Lebedos, where they were very welcome, as the place was very thinly inhabited. At Lebedos the actors of all Ionia as far as the Hellespont had ever after an annual meeting, at which games were celebrated in honour of Dionysus. (Strab. 14. p. 643.) The site of Lebedos is marked by some ruins, now called Ecclesia or Xingi, and consisting of masses of naked stone and bricks, with cement. There also exists the basement and an entire floor of a small temple; and nearer the sea there are traces of ancient walls, and a few fragments of Doric columns. (Chandler's Asia Minor, p. 125.)
[L.S]City in Ionia, on the Kisik (formerly Xingi) peninsula 36 km NW of Ephesos. Founded according to tradition by a son of Kodros named variously as Andraimon or Andropompos. The city was among the poorest of those in the Ionian League; in the Delian Confederacy it was assessed at first at three talents, but this was soon reduced to one. Antigonos, ca. 303 B.C., planned to transfer the inhabitants of Lebedos to Teos and to merge the two cities into one, but the plan was never carried out; instead, Lysimachos used the populations to man his new city at Ephesos. About 266 B.C. Ptolemy II refounded Lebedos under the name of Ptolemais, but the old name soon revived. The Ionian branch of the Artists of Dionysos, originally settled at Teos, moved finally to Lebedos in the 2d c. B.C. Horace's reference to Lebedos as a deserted village is plainly an error; the coinage continues down to the time of M. Aurelius, and a bishop of Lebedos is recorded in the Byzantine lists.
The little peninsula, low and flat, is surrounded by a wall of regular ashlar 2 m thick, with four towers and three gates; a rock-cut ramp leads up from the water to the SE gate, but little else survives. Some foundations of buildings may be discerned on the peninsula, but the acropolis hill is on the mainland opposite. Here sherds are abundant, and there are numerous fragments of unidentifiable walls and foundations.
There are thermal springs on the shore W of the city and at a spot called Karakoç to the N, where substantial ruins of ancient baths are still standing.
BIBLIOGRAPHYG. Weber, AthMitt 29 (1904) 228; SIG 344; G. E. Bean, Aegean Turkey (1966) 149-53.
G. E. BEAN- Hdt. 1.142
- destroyed by Lysimachus: Paus. 1.9.7, Paus. 7.3.5
- its warm baths: Paus. 7.3.5, Paus. 7.5.10