In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

        Any place on the shores of the Mediterranean where a protected harbor lies near a flat and fertile valley must have served the purposes of man long before the beginning of recorded history. No organized excavation has been undertaken on land near Serçe Limanı, however; only nautical archaeology has been systematically pursued. For this reason our knowledge of the history of the area must be drawn primarily from the written record; still, this may allow us to reconstruct a reasonable picture of its situation during what was probably its most prosperous period. Serçe Limanı has been accepted as the Portus Cressa of Pliny (Nat.Hist. .) and the Κρη Vσα Λιµηvν of Ptolemy (.). On modern maps it appears as Port Sersa, Sertcheh, and Serçe. During the classical period it was the harbor for the town of Kasara. Whether a slow word shift took place from Kasara through Cressa and Sersa to Serçe, the Turkish word for “sparrow ,” or whether the word Serçe was applied independently by the Turks, suggested by the resemblance of the harbor plan to a sparrow in flight, is uncertain. Turkish geographical names are commonly descriptive. The harbor may also have served as a port for Phoinix, a larger community situated on a mountain some three miles to the northeast of Serçe Limanı, as the landings closer to Phoinix are but poor harbors. Kasara (spelled also Casara, Kasarea, and, incorrectly, Kaisarea) lay in the low valley that here cuts across the Loryma chapter 2 The Region of Serçe Limanı in Classical Times Robert S. Carter Peninsula from Serçe Limanı to Sög¨üt Limanı (Saranta Bay) on its northern side (Figs. - and -, and -). There are few structural remains, but the Turkish name for this place, Asardibi, meaning “beneath the old works” or “at the foot of the ruins,” reflects their existence when the Turks arrived. Today the most conspicuous objects are the remains of primitive Byzantine chapels, not yet precisely dated, and the numerous and massive grave stelae bases that have been the object of comment of all visitors to this area.1 A few inscriptions have been found, both at the site and on the island of Rhodes, that indicate that Kasara was a deme center, thought to have been attached to the Rhodian city of Kamiros.2 Kamiros, Lindos, and Ialysos were the three principal cities of the island of Rhodes prior to their union and the founding of the present city of Rhodes itself in  B.C. The history of Kasara and Serçe Limanı must be inextricably tied up with that of the Rhodian Peraea, that portion of the mainland opposite the island of Rhodes and under Rhodian control. Several Greek islands, including Samos, Chios, and Lesbos, had such mainland holdings from an early date, and Rhodes was no exception, although the initial date for Rhodian mainland acquisitions is unknown. No archaeological evidence bearing on this question has been uncovered, nor do the classical authors offer us any clues. Modern authorities express slightly differing views: P. M. Fraser and G. Bean believe that the Peraea was Rhodian before the #   ,  ,    synoecism, the union of the cities of Rhodes, and may or may not have been independent under the Athenian Empire in the fifth century B.C.3 According to R. Meiggs, a Rhodian Peraea very probably existed as early as the archaic period and was temporarily independent of Rhodes under the Athenian Empire .4 Here we are concerned only with the incorporated Peraea, an integral part of the Rhodian state, populated by Rhodian citizens, of which the Loryma Peninsula was always the heart. The later addition of the subject Peraea, a temporary and extensive domination—and apparently an unwelcome one—over much of Caria and Lycia, does not directly concern us. Except for brief periods of enemy occupation or political separation by outside force, the Loryma Peninsula remained Rhodian until final liquidation of this control by Rome in the third century A.D. Since we are dealing with seven centuries of history and have only occasional references, it must be clear that any generalizations or conjectures here could have applied only for a part of that period. In studying the immediate area we should bear in mind the proximity of Serçe Limanı to Loryma. Both are commodious harbors; their mouths are just two nautical miles apart, and it is an easy walk overland between the two. Together these are the best harbors of the peninsula...

Share