Thynias
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (Retd.) |
Thynias (Ancient Greek: Θυνίας) was a town of ancient Thrace on the coast of the Pontus Euxinus on a promontory of the same name (modern İğneada Burnu),[1] mentioned by numerous ancient authors.[2]
Variants
Jat Gotras Namesake
- Thin = Thynias (Pliny.vi.13)
Mention by Pliny
Pliny[3] mentions The Islands of the Euxine (Black Sea).... The islands of the Euxine are the Placate or Cyaneæ1, otherwise called Symplegades, and Apollonia, surnamed Thynias2, to distinguish it from the island of that name3 in Europe; it is four miles in circumference, and one mile distant from the mainland. Opposite to Pharnacea4 is Chalceritis, to which the Greeks have given the name of Aria5, and consecrated it to Mars; here, they say, there were birds that used to attack strangers with blows of their wings.
1 Already mentioned in B. iv. c. 27.
2 Mentioned in c. 44 of the last Book.
3 The one lying at the mouth of the Danube, and mentioned in B. iv. c. 27.
4 Mentioned in c. 4 of the present Book. See p. 9.
5 Or "Mars' Island," also called Aretias; at this island, in the south of the Euxine, the two queens of the Amazons, Otrere and Antiope, built a temple in honour of Ares or Mars. It is thought to be the rocky islet called by the Turks Kerasunt Ada, between three and four miles from Kerasunt, the ancient Pharnacea.
History
It was located north of Salmydessus, which was probably at one time in the territories of the Thyni, although Strabo speaks of the district as belonging to the people of Apollonia.[4] According to Pliny the Elder, the town was placed a little to the south of the promontory.[5]
Its site is located near İğneada in European Turkey.[6]
Mention by Pliny
Pliny[7] mentions 'The Islands of the Euxine'...The islands of the Euxine are the Placate or Cyaneæ1, otherwise called Symplegades, and Apollonia, surnamed Thynias2, to distinguish it from the island of that name3 in Europe; it is four miles in circumference, and one mile distant from the mainland. Opposite to Pharnacea4 is Chalceritis, to which the Greeks have given the name of Aria5, and consecrated it to Mars; here, they say, there were birds that used to attack strangers with blows of their wings.
1 Already mentioned in B. iv. c. 27.
2 Mentioned in c. 44 of the last Book.
3 The one lying at the mouth of the Danube, and mentioned in B. iv. c. 27.
4 Mentioned in c. 4 of the present Book. See p. 9.
5 Or "Mars' Island," also called Aretias; at this island, in the south of the Euxine, the two queens of the Amazons, Otrere and Antiope, built a temple in honour of Ares or Mars. It is thought to be the rocky islet called by the Turks Kerasunt Ada, between three and four miles from Kerasunt, the ancient Pharnacea.
References
- ↑ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
- ↑ Pomponius Mela. De situ orbis. Vol. 2.2.5. 2. Pliny. Naturalis Historia. Vol. 4.11.18. 3. Strabo. Geographica. Vol. vii. p.319, xii. p. 541. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition. 4. Scymn. 727; Arrian, Periplus Ponti Euxini, p 24; Anon. Per. P. Eux. p. 15; Ptolemy. The Geography. Vol. 3.11.4. 5. Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. Vol. s.v.
- ↑ Natural History by Pliny Book VI/Chapter 13
- ↑ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. vii. p. 319. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
- ↑ Pliny. Naturalis Historia. Vol. 4.11.18.
- ↑ Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 52, and directory notes accompanying; Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
- ↑ Natural History by Pliny Book VI/Chapter 13