17 October AD 117 – Hadrian arrives in Tyana (#Hadrian1900)

On 17 October 117, Hadrian reached the city of Tyana, situated at the foot of the Taurus mountains near the Cilician Gates.

Thanks to epigraphical evidence, a fragment of an itinerary found in Rome, we know that Hadrian left Antioch at the beginning of October of 117 and travelled northwards towards Ancyra (modern Ankara). The inscription contains the places and dates of Hadrian’s journey in southern Asia Minor.

Fragmentary inscription (CIL VI 5076) found in Rome registering the names of the stations along the route from Mopsucrene to Andabalis in Western Asia Minor.

The Emperor was travelling from Tarsus to Andabalis via Panhormos (Pozantı), Aquae Calidae (Çiftehan), Tynna (Zeyve) and Tyana (Kemerhisar). On 17 October, Hadrian entered Tyana, the main city of southern Cappadocia.

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Situated on a fertile plain along the main land route to Cilicia and Syria, Tyana was already an important settlement at the time of Hadrian’s visit, with a history going back to the time of the Hittites. The ancient city was one of the most important cities of Central Anatolia for centuries and was known by several names. It was first reported in the Hittite archives under the name of Tuwanuwa and Tawuna in the Assyrian sources. Xenophon, who visited the city and described it as a “worldwide, big and blessed city” (Anabasis 1.2.20), mentions it under the name of Dana.

Its situation on that road and close to so important a pass must have rendered Tyana a place of great consequence, both in a commercial and a military point of view. The plain around it moreover, was extensive and fertile, and the whole district received from the town of Tyana the name of Tyanitis (Τυανῖτις, Strab. l.c.).

The name Tyana was first reported on coins minted by the Cappadocian ruler Αriaramnes (c. 255-220 BC) when it became the second most important city of the Cappadocian Kingdom. According to Strabo, the city was later renamed “Eusebeia near the Taurus“ by King Ariarathes IV in the 2nd century BC. The new name remained in use until the Cappadocian Kingdom became a Roman province in AD 17, when the former name of Tyana was restored and established. Finally, in AD 213, Tyana was renamed Colonia (Aureliana) Antoniana Tyanorum when Emperor Caracalla made the city a Roman colony, perhaps due to the Emperor’s admiration for the native philosopher and orator, Apollonius.

Tyana is today located in the village of Kemerhisar (“castle of the aqueduct” in Turkish), ten miles south of Nigde. The site is currently being excavated, and public baths and an early Christian baptistery have been identified. In AD 372, the province of Cappadocia was split, and Tyana became the capital of Cappadocia Secunda. The first Christian bishop is attested in AD 325. Tyana became a frontier city after the Muslim conquest of Cilicia but lost much of its former importance.

On leaving Tyana, Hadrian continued to march north towards the mansio of Andabalis, which he reached the following day, on 18 October. The route he followed appears on the Tabula Peutingeriana and other ancient itineraries. The Itinerarium Burdigalense (“Bordeaux Itinerary”) places it XVIII miles from Tyana on the road to Caesarea (modern Kayseri). Nothing is known about the ancient city of Andabalis at the time of Hadrian’s visit, but during the Early Christian period, a timber-roof church dedicated to St. Constantine was built in the town that was then known as Andaval.

Hadrian’s itinerary on the fragmented inscription found in Rome is cut after Andabalis, so the next station is unknown. Did Hadrian continue northwestward towards Colonia Archelais (Aksaray) or northeastwards towards Caesarea (Kayseri)? A stop at Archelais seems more plausible as it was the shortest route to Ancyra, which he probably reached by the end of October 117. Latinius Alexander, a local magnate, would help quarter the troops in the capital of Galatia.

Sources & references:

• A. Birley, Hadrian, the Restless Emperor, Londres-New York 1997. p. 83
• D. Magie, Roman Rule in Asia Minor, Volume 1 (Text): To the End of the Third Century, Princeton University Press, 1950.
• Berges, D. – Nollé, J., Tyana. Archäologisch – historische Untersuchungen zum südwestlichen Kappadokien 1-2 (IK 55.1, Bonn 2000)

Links:

• ORBIS
• Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire
• Pleiades
• Bordeaux Pilgrim – Map II: Asia
• Tabula Peutingeriana (Bibliotheca Augustana)