Ionian League
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The Ionian League (
Overview
The twelve ancient city-states were listed by Herodotus as:[2]
- Asia Minor). The three Greek cities spoke the same Ionic subdialect. Starting from the 7th century BC, Greek-Carian bilinguals in Caria suggest the Carians shared their former ancestral land amicably with the Greeks. The Carian languageis not Greek but is a remnant of the Anatolian language group that dominated Anatolia before being pushed out by peoples from the Balkans. They seemed to get along well with the Greeks since the Bronze Age. Carian disappeared in the 1st century BC, suggesting their complete Hellenization by that date. They are known to have been partners of the Ionians in their sea-going business ventures.
- (both also in Asia Minor, Lydia extending inland much farther relative to Ionia), speaking another dialect;
- Chios (island) and Erythrae (Asia Minor) — with a common dialect; and
- Samos(island) — with its own dialect.
After 650 BC, Smyrna, an originally Aeolic city bordering the Ionians, was invited to diminish Aeolis and increase Ionia by joining the league, which it did.
One of the earliest known historical sources, the
The league was dissolved a few times and reconstituted a few times and in between its actual power varied. Under the Roman Empire it was allowed to issue its own coinage under the name koinon Iōnōn on one side with the face of the emperor on the other.
Foundation
The
Carians and Ionians had been intermarrying for generations but a Carian state persisted until a coalition of Ionian cities defeated it and divided its lands among them. In view of the rising Persian threat, they decided to continue the coalition as the Ionian League, building a new religious and political center at Melia.
Delegates (theoroi) of the league gathered to celebrate the
See also
- Amphictyonic League
- List of ancient Greek alliances
- Ionia (satrapy)
- Ionian Revolt
Notes
- ^ "Recent Finds in Archaeology: Panionion Sanctuary Discovered in Southwest Turkey". Athena Review. 4 (2): 10–11. 2005. Archived from the original on 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
- ^ Herodotus. The Histories, 1.142.
References
- Bean, George E. (1979). Aegean Turkey. London: Ernest Benn. ISBN 0-510-03200-1.
- .
External links
Media related to Ionian league at Wikimedia Commons