1. Introduction

Assos (present day Behramkale) is a city of the Troad, on the north coast of the gulf of Adramytti (Edremit), across Methymna of Lesbos. Some writers (like Strabo), also mention the name Assós. The alternative names Apollonia and Kekropeia are also mentioned.¹ It was the second most important Aeolian city. In Antiquity it was near Lamponeia and Gargara. These two cities possibly belonged to the Assos territory. Gargara was a colony of Assos.²

2. History of Assos

The city was inhabited from the Copper Age by unknown people.³ According to Hellanicus, Assos was founded by Aeolians from Lesbos around 700 BC, while Myrsilos is more specific and attributes the foundation of Assos to Methymna natives.⁴

In the beginning of the 6th century the city was under Lydian occupation. It was the most important city of the region, with considerable wealth thanks to the rich iron and argent deposits. After 546 BC, it was under Persian control, as it happened with all coastal cities. In 478 BC it joined the Delian League, paying a contribution of one talent, which indicates the size of the city.⁵

In 412 BC, with the help of the Spartans, the Persians temporarily regained control of the city, which was given to them under Antalcidas' Peace. In 366/365 BC the mutineer Ariobarzanes was besieged there by Autophradates andMausolus. He was rescued thanks to the intervention of old Agesilaus.⁶ Immediately afterwards, Assos became autonomous, although not completely. The banker Eubulus, who was self-proclaimed tyrant around 360 BC, assumed power. Later on, his servant, the eunuch Hermeias from Bithynia, murdered him and took over. He remained in power from 348 until 345 BC.

However, in 345 BC the general of the Persian army, Memnon of Rhodes, managed to deceive and capture Hermeias, who was later executed in Susa. Therefore, Assos was once again under Persian control until 334 BC, when Alexander the Great liberated Asia Minor.⁷ When Alexander died, the city experienced the dispute among the successors.

Assos, as well as the largest part of the Troad, came under the Galatian control for 60 years from the beginning of the 3rd century BC. In 241 BC, after communication with the Attalid dynasty, Assos refused to pay taxes to the Galatians and was integrated into the kingdom of Pergamon. It remained subordinate until 130 BC, when Attalus III passed his kingdom over to the Romans, who made it the basis of the province of Asia. Assos was very prosperous in Roman years.

In 17 AD, the Senate assigned Germanicus with the administration of the Eastern Provinces. He visited Assos and was hailed by the citizens as a new god. In 37 AD the city was overzealous in worshipping Germanicus’ son, Caligula, believing that the year he would ascend the throne would be the beginning of a new era.⁸ Christianity came to the city somewhat early. St. Paul visited the city with St. Loukas, before their journey to Mytilene.⁹

In Roman years Assos remained integrated in the administration of Adramyttium, while along with other cities formed the conventus of Adramyttium. The city also belonged to the Koinon of Athena Ilias, possibly since 306 BC, when the Koinon was formed, but it was definitely on 77 BC, when an inscription refers to both the difficulties the members had in paying their debts to the goddess and their meeting with the treasurer L. Julius Caesar, in order to re-examine the manner of quittance.¹⁰

3. Economy and Coins

Assos did not have enough arable land to cover the needs of the city. They had fruits, olives and vineyards. They exported wool and its carpets were very famous.
Metal mining played an important role in the economy of Assos. Iron and argent helped the city develop significantly. Remains of kilns have been found, which indicate the existence of smithies.

A local andesite stone was quarried in Assos, which, according to Pliny, accelerated the decomposition of the dead. The famous sarcophagi of antiquity were manufactured from this stone. It was this very property of the sarcophagi that made the stone caskets known under this name (‘sarcophagus’ in Greek means the thing that eats flesh). The sarcophagi of Assos were produced and exported in large numbers in Roman years and competed with those of Proconnesus. The stone from Assos was also believed to have some pharmaceutical properties.¹¹

Assos must have had a commercial harbour for the goods it merchandised. Even when the harbour fell into decline, it continued its commercial activity through Lesbos.¹²

The coinage of Assos started in the second quarter of the 5th century BC, with silver coins showing a griffin on the front side and a lion’s head on the back. After 450 BC, when an Athenian decree on coins created a homogenous numismatic framework for the Aegean and Asia Minor, small quantities of silver coins were minted, showing Athena’s helmeted head on the front side and a lion’s head or the figure of the archaic statue of Athena holding a spear and bands, as well as the inscription ΑΣΣΙΟΝ, ΑΣΣΟΟΝ or ΑΣΣΙ on the back. Finally, after the apostasy from the Athenian League, possibly from 400 BC until its integration to the Attalid kingdom in 241 BC, Assos minted silver and bronze coins showing Athena’ s head on the front side and various motifs on the back side, as well as the inscription ΑΣΣΙ or ΑΣΣΙΩΝ.¹³

In the Hellenistic period Assos was included in the cities that minted coins in the name of Alexander, in both the 3rd century BC and the period between 188 and 160 BC.¹⁴ In the 1st century BC Assos was among the cities that minted the coin of the so-called Koinon of the Aeolians, with the inscription ΑΙΟΛΕΙ, which is probably identified with the Koinon of the Athena of Ilion.¹⁵ In the Roman Imperial period Assos minted a bronze coin from the reign of Augustus (30 BC – 14 AD) until the reign of Alexander Severus (222-235 AD). The figures shown are Athena, Zeus, Asclepius, a snake curled around an altar, a griffin and a male or female figure holding a vessel.¹⁶

4. Important Persons

The tyrant Hermeias was a student of Plato and Aristotle. His court was a centre for philosophical pursuits. After Plato died, Aristotle lived and taught in this city for three years. He married the niece (or adopted daughter, according to others) of Hermeias, Pythias,¹⁷ while platonic Xenocrates also lived in the court of Hermeias for some time.

One of the most important figures of the city, who must have been activated in the first half of the 3rd century BC, is the stoic philosopher Cleanthes, successor of Zeno in the headship of the Stoa.¹⁸

5. Topography – Excavations

Assos is one of the privileged positions of classical archaeology in Asia Minor. The importance of its ruins was known to the various travellers already from the beginning of the 19th century. Excavations and architectural studies began in 1881 by the then newly established American Archaeological Institute. They continued in the 1980s and 1990s by a German mission.¹⁹

The ancient city is at a close distance from the harbour of Behramkale, on top of a cone-shaped hill and its foots.²⁰ A great part of the wall of the Archaic period (3200 m long) has survived, built in the polygonal Lesbian masonry. The fortifications went through many later stages, with the addition of round and square towers, some of which remain in good condition. Its height is about 14 metres. The city had two main gates, one to the west and one to the east, fortified with strong towers, as well as many secondary gates.²¹ In total, it surrounded an area of 55 hectares, while the acropolis had a separate fortification.

A stone-paved street starts from the western gate to the city centre. The Gymnasium complex was built in the 2nd century BC, possibly in the position where Aristotle taught in the 4th century. It is a rectangular structure, measuring 40 X 31.25 m, which included the palaestra that was surrounded by porticoes on the north, south and west side. The columns of the porticoes were monolithic and made of basalt. In the 1st century AD the north portico was reconstructed by Quintus Lollius Philetarius, priest of Augustus, as testified by an inscription.²² Behind the north portico there is a small rectangular structure, the ephebeum. Various other rooms located in the other porticoes must have been operated as classrooms and changing rooms of the young men who exercised at the palaestra. Later, on the northeast corner of the complex, a circular bath was built, whose diameter was 8.5 m. In the south part of the palaestra there was a water tank carved on the rock for the collection of rainwater; the tank was later covered by a vault. To a great extent, this monumental complex, whose main entrance was on the south side, was ruined in the 5th century and was replaced by a medium sized early Christian basilica made mostly from material used in the previous building.²³

The Agora of Assos is at the foot of the Acropolis and is a typical example of utilising the sloping soil constracting terraces, which was the dominant practice in Asia Minor city-planning of the Hellenistic period. At the same time, it is also one of the best-preserved examples of architectural design of the Hellenistic Agora, as this was formulated in the kingdom of Pergamon in the 2nd century BC.

It is essentially a complex of buildings surrounding a stone-paved courtyard, of a total area of 6000 square metres. A small temple was built on the west side, the bouleuterion on the east side, the Agora baths and the South Stoa with the Heroon on the south, while the monumental North Stoa was on the north side.

The Bouleuterion, on the northeast side of the Agora, is a one-story square building measuring 20.62 x 21 m, the greatest part of which is now in ruins. Five great gates opened to the Agora, so that the access of the almost 150 members of the Bouleuterion, who convened there, could be facilitated. Four columns supported the roof (the two were found during the excavation), while around the walls there were stone seats for the members of the Bouleuterion.²⁴

The small prostyle temple in the western part of the Agora measured 16.5 x 10 m. It was built on a low sill and dates from the Hellenistic period; it was transformed into a church in the 5th century, while few traces of the foundation have survived.

The North Stoa, 115.5 m in length and 12.42 m in width, had two floors, while entrance was through a five-step staircase on the south side. On the south side of the ground floor there was a colonnade with 37 columns, while inside the building there was a wooden colonnade, which supported the floor of the first storey. The north wall of the stoa was built according to the pseudo-isodomic system. The height of the ground floor was 6.90 m, while the first floor was significantly lower (4.40 m). The architrave was supported by marble half-columns. In front of the ground floor entrance there was a water reservoir. Today, the area is sparse with architectural components and columns, while the north wall remains in rather good condition.

The South Stoa was smaller in dimensions but had three floors, in order to balance the height difference between the paved Agora and the point were it was built. The third floor of the building measured 69 x 12 m. Looking on the inside of the Agora, one might have thought that it was a one-story building, the only part of the south stoa with access to the Agora. The middle floor had 13 rooms, while it is considered that it served as a bath. Access was through an internal colonnade on the west side and an external colonnade on the east side. In front of the stoa there were reservoirs, some of which are related with the Agora baths, which date from the Roman period. This stoa has survived in better condition, especially the back wall which is build according to the isodomic system in the external and most carelessly built masonry of the internal side. In the west wall of the south stoa, a temple-like, Doric prostyle, four-column house was built, which was used as a heroon dedicated to two citizens, Kallistenos and Aristias, sons of Hephaestogenes.²⁵

The paved road leads to the theatre, which is built at the foot of the hill where the Agora is built. It has an amazing view of the sea and the island of Lesbos. It dates from the Late Hellenistic Period (2nd century BC), but it is almost certain that it replaced an earlier building. It is in bad condition, as it was destroyed in subsequent years by an earthquake, while the ruins were later used as construction material in other buildings. The German traveller Prokesh, who saw it almost intact with 40 statuettes, first described the city’s theatre. In 1881, when the excavations began, the situation was not good and only some testing incisions were made. Today, the theatre of Assos is undergoing restoration works.

Two passageways separate the cavea in three parts, with 13, 12 and 8 rows of seats respectively. The lower part of the cavea was decorated with a relief frieze. The skene had two floors, while access was through roofed corridors that were recently excavated. The stage was 19.14 m long, had three gateways and a proscenium with Doric half-columns and decorated panels in the intercolumnar space. The orchestra is 20.5 m in diameter. It is calculated that the theatre had a seating capacity of 5000 people.²⁶

The archaic temple of Athena was the only Doric temple in Asia Minor. Built at the top of the acropolis from local stone, this imposing temple could be seen by the travellers who approached Assos either by land or by sea. Despite its Doric character, the temple demonstrates in both its architectural and sculptural decorations the intense influence of Asia Minor art, as well as the influence of Attica, at least as regards the motifs of the sculptural decorations.

The temple soon attracted the interest of researchers, leading to the most sculptures being extracted. The ones that were found in 1838 are now in the Louvre, while those brought into light by the excavations of the American Archaeological Institute were taken to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. On location still remain fragments of metopes brought to light recently, while the temple’s facade has been restored and is exhibited at the Museum of Constantinople.²⁷

The temple rested on a two-stepped crepidoma. The stylobate measured 30.31 x 14.4 m. The main temple was distyle in antis and consisted of an ante-chamber (pronaos) and a sacred chamber (cella). The floor of the cella was decorated with a mosaic unearthed in 1881. The building was surrounded by a colonnade (pteron), with 6 columns on the narrow and 13 columns on the long sides. There were 34 columns in total, 4.78 m in height, with 16 flutes on the main body. Five of these columns have been restored by using mostly previously used material collected in the area around the temple.

The design of the sculptural decorations is a significant characteristic of the temple: the narrow sides of the architrave are decorated with a continuous Ionic frieze depicting various mythological scenes, while at the centre of each side there are two sphinxes facing each other. On the east side of the temple is Herakles aiming his arrows towards the Centaurs of Pholos on the right side, while the right side shows horsemen, worshipping figures and Herakles fighting with Triton. On the west side there are lions attacking great mammals on the left and a banquet scene on the right. Over the decorated architrave there is the typical Doric frieze with the triglyphs and the metopes showing athletes, wild boars, centaurs, sphinxes, horsemen, two male figures facing each other and bulls. The somewhat naïve, unsophisticated but also solemn style of the sculptures makes it one of the most important monuments of Asia Minor, which dates from about 525 BC.

A number of houses were located during the researches carried out to the south of the Gymnasium between 1993 and 1994. This quarter shows that Hellenistic Assos and its Roman successor were designed according to the Hippodamian system. The findings date from the 1st century to the 3rd century AD.²⁸ Houses of the same period have been unearthed in the plateaus and the foot of the acropolis.

Following the stone-paved road that leads outside the west gate of the city, and within about 300 m, there is the extensive necropolis of the city, dating from the Archaic to the Roman period.²⁹ Some of the most important Roman monuments were already brought to light between 1881 and 1884. Research during the past decades has been more intense regarding excavations and publication of the archaic tombs and their rich offerings.³⁰ During that time, Assos seemed to have been enjoying a wide network of contacts with cities of metropolitan Greece but also South Asia Minor, as revealed by vessels in the Fikellura style, panels from eastern Greece decorated with roses and meanders, Corinthian and Attic vessels, as well as statuettes, clay female heads and busts. Moreover, there are local vessels in the typical Aeolian grey bucchero style and a plethora of cooking utensils. The earliest findings (kylixes decorated with birds) date from the mid-7th century BC.³¹

In the 6th century the usual burial tradition was to burn the dead. The ashes and the bones were placed in an urn (usually a local vessel) along with the offerings before they were placed in a jar, which was buried into the soil, covered with a rectangular plaque or stone or a reversed vessel and marked with a simple stone column. In the Classical period, the tombs were mostly like boxes: in the 5th century BC they were made from carved stones, while in the 4th century they were more luxurious, as the walls and the lid were made from rectangular slabs. Sepulchral steles like the ones common in the Classical and the Hellenistic period are relatively rare. In the Roman period people were often buried in the well-known sarcophaguses, while a series of particularly carefully made burial monuments, which obviously belonged to esteemed citizens, most characteristic being the monument of Poplius, were placed in the so-called Mausoleum type.³²

6. Assos after Antiquity

In the Byzantine period Assos was the seat of a bishopric, whose leaders were present in the Councils of Nicaea (325) and Ephesus (431). Assos was occupied by the Seljuk Suleyman Shah in 1080, before being recaptured by Alexios Komnenos. In the Third Crusade it was looted by Frederic Barbarossa, while after the Fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, the wider area of Adramyttium was ceded to Baldwin’s brother, Henri de Hainault. The Latin domination continued for 20 years. Osman I occupied Assos in 1288 after his victory in Lemnos. At the time, the city had already declined and was reduced to a small village.³³

Assos (Behramkale) is today one of the most popular archaeological sites of Asia Minor, but also one of the most well-studied ancient Greek cities in the Troad. Already known since the 18th century, the city was the gate of the Troad to the West thanks to its organised harbour, which dates from the 19th century, but is built on the ruins of the ancient harbour. In the second half of the 19th century, many of the monuments (such as the main gate, parts of the wall and the theatre) were dilapidated and their material was used for reconstructing Constantinople.