On Herodotus 5.121

Where Did the Karians Defeat the Persians in 497/6 BCE, at Lelegian Pedasa/Gökçeler, at Her Colony Pidasa-on-Grion, or at Karian Pidasos/Pidason Near Stratonikeia? And Where Runs the ‘Karian Highway’

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21550810
AutoresAlexander Herda (0000-1234-5567-8900, autor de correspondencia)
Año2025
Número51
Páginas113-192
Fecha de publicación2025-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAnadolu (Anatolia) (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0570-0116
EditorialAnadolu, Ankara University (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.36891/anatolia.1717114
OpenAlexW4416909792
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas98

According to Herodotos (5.117‒121), in 497/6 BCE in the course of the Ionian Revolt, the freedom-loving Karians fought the invading Persian army three times. After two devastating defeats in open battles in the northern Marsyas/Çine Çayı valley, a third nighttime ambush was victorious and resulted in the total annihilation of the Persians, leading to a stalemate which lasted until 494 BCE. The place of this battle is contested to date. As argued here, it is neither on the road at LelegianPedasa/Gökçeler near Halikarnassos, nor at her colony Pidasa-on-Grion near today’s Danişment, but at Karian Pedasos/Pedason on the ‘Karian Highway’ north of Atriya-Idrias-Stratonikeia. The site is once mentioned by Strabo (13.1.59 [611]) as a ‘very little city’ (polychnion). It is likely to be identified with today’s Börükçü, where rescue excavations in an open lignite mining area have revealed a small settlement dating from Geometric until the early Byzantine Period (8th century BCE‒7th century CE). Consequently, the wording in Herodotos’ Histories 5.121 τὴν ἐν Πηδάσωι ὁδόν, first conjectured by the French printer and philologist Henri Estienne (Henricus Stephanus, ca. 1530‒1598 CE) in his 1570 edition of Herodotos’ Histories, is to be preferred to all later alternative readings. In the course of this article, the historical topography of central Karia since the Late Bronze Age is critically reviewed by reconstructing the main north-south running ‘Karian Highway’ with the help of Hittite and later ancient Greek texts and the archaeological evidence. In its first part this ‘highway’ followed the Marsyas river/Çine Çayı up to Atriya-Idrias-Stratonikeia, from where it continued as far south as the Lukka-lands, ancient Lykia. Former identifications of Alinda with Hittite Iyalanda, Alabanda with Waliwanda (Çine-Tepecik Höyüğü), Idrias-Stratonikeia with Atriya (Boz(h)üyükAzarı/Kale Tepesi?), and Hyllarima with Wallarima (Asarcık Tepe) are confirmed or proposed, as also the identification of the Karian national sanctuary of Leukai Stelai (Herodotos 5.118) with the site of Gerga(s)/Gergakome. The Marsyas river route was also used by the Persians in 497/6 BCE. Further note the here argued emendation of Thucydides 3.19.2 Σανδίου λόφου (‘Sandios Hill’) to ανδίου λόφου (‘Hybandios Hill’), named after the former island of Hybanda at the Maiandros mouth, as well as reconstructing the entry in the ‘Attic Tribute List’ of 445/4 BCE, ATL I, 136, no. 10.III.29 (= IG I3 267.III.29) not as Ναχσία παρὰ Μ[υδ](όνα), ‘Naxia-at-Mydon’, but as Ναχσία παρὰ Μ[υō](ντα), ‘Naxia-at-Myous’

Assyria · Battle · Bronze Age · Byzantine architecture · Excavation · Hittite language · Stalemate · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Byzantine Studies and History · Classical Antiquity Studies