- Ionian League
The Ionian League (
Ancient Greek Polytonic|Ἴωνες, Iōnes; Polytonic|κοινὸν Ίώνων, koinon Iōnōn; Polytonic|κοινὴ σύνοδος Ίώνων, koinē sunodos Iōnōn;Latin commune consilium; also called the Panionic League) was aconfederation formed at the end of the Meliac War in the mid-7th century BC [cite journal|author=Editors|title=Recent Finds in Archaeology: Panionion Sanctuary Discovered in Southwest Turkey|journal=Athena Review|volume=4|issue=2|pages=10–11|date=2005|url=http://www.athenapub.com/panionion.htm|accessdate=2008-02-02] comprising twelveIonia n cities (a dodecapolis, of which there were many others). These were listed byHerodotus ["Histories" Book I Section 142.] as
*Miletus ,Myus , andPriene , all inCaria (a region inAsia Minor ) and speaking the same dialect;
*Ephesus ,Colophon ,Lebedus ,Teos ,Clazomenae andPhocaea , inLydia and-or the region known today asIonia (both also in Asia Minor, Lydia extending inland much farther relative to Ionia), speaking another dialect;
*Chios (island) andErythrae (Asia Minor), with a common dialect; and
*Samos (island), with its own dialect.After 650 BCSmyrna , an originally Aeolic city, was invited to diminishAeolis and increaseIonia by joining the league, which it did.The earliest historian,
Herodotus , and early inscriptions refer to the legally constituted body customarily translated by "league" as "the Ionians" in the special sense of the cities incorporated by it. One therefore reads of the cities, council or decisions "of the Ionians." Writers and documents of theHellenistic Period explicitly use the term "koinon" ("common thing") or "synodos" ("synod ") of the Ionians, and byanachronism apply it to the early league when they mention it.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 Melian War was a final settlement between the ancient state of
Caria and theIonians who had been settlers on its land at the mouth of theMaeander for some centuries. Their last stronghold was the fortified settlement of Melia at the smaller peak of Dilek Daglari on the north slopes ofMycale , where the seat of their worship ofPoseidon Heliconius was located. The fort was constructed in the early 7th century BC.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 Iranian 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
Panionia , a religious festival and games ("panegyris ") dedicated toPoseidon Heliconius at the sanctuary of Poseidon called thePanionium . The Ionians (who had amalgamated with the Carians) had decided to continue the worship of Poseidon. Eventually a new temple to the god was erected about 540 BC. Its ruins and the location of Melia were part of the Lohmann et al. discoveries of 2004. Prior to then other theories of the location had been prevalent.Role in Ionian history
The Ionian League was the first alliance of city-states in the region.
Dissolution and resurrection
Notes
References
*cite book
last= Bean
first= George E.
title = Aegean Turkey
publisher = Ernest Benn
location = London
date = 1979
id = ISBN 0-510-03200-1
*Herodotus ; "Histories",A. D. Godley (translator), Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1920; ISBN 0-674-99133-8. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hdt.+1.1.0 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library] .
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