Adramyttium

Adramyttium (Greek: Ἀδραμύττιον Adramyttion, Ἀδραμύττειον Adramytteion, or Ἀτραμύττιον Atramyttion) was an ancient city and bishopric in Aeolis, in modern-day Turkey. It was originally located at the head of the Gulf of Adramyttium, at Ören in the Plain of Thebe, 4 kilometres west of the modern town of Burhaniye, but later moved 13 kilometres northeast to its current location and became known as Edremit.

The site of Adramyttium was originally settled by Leleges, the indigenous inhabitants of the Aegean littoral, and people from the neighbouring region of Mysia. The area was later settled by Lydians, Cimmerians, and Aeolian Greeks, who gave their name to the region of Aeolis. The area became part of the peraia (mainland territory) of the city-state of Mytilene in the 8th century BC, and the city of Adramyttium was founded in the 6th century BC. According to Aristotle, Adramyttium was founded by, and named after, Adramytos, the son of King Alyattes of Lydia. Prior to his ascension to the throne, Croesus, Alyattes' successor, was governor of a district centred on Adramyttium. Following the fall of the kingdom of Lydia in 546 BC Adramyttium came under the rule of the Persian Empire and was administered as part of the satrapy (province) of Hellespontine Phrygia from the early 5th century BC onward. In 422 BC, Pharnaces, the satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, offered asylum to exiles from the island of Delos, who settled in the city. Thereafter Adramyttium was considered a Greek city. Arsaces, a general subordinate to Tissaphernes, the satrap of Lydia and Caria, massacred a number of the Delian exiles. The Delians returned to Delos in 421/420 BC when the Athenians permitted them to do so.

Following the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC, Adramyttium came again under the control of Mytilene. The Ten Thousand, a Greek mercenary force, travelled through Adramyttium during their march along the coast. Mytilene retained control of Adramyttium until 386 BC, after which the city formed again part of the Persian Empire by the terms of the Peace of Antalcidas. During the Great Satraps' Revolt, Ariobarzanes, satrap of Hellespontine Phygia, joined the revolt against Artaxerxes II in 367 BC. Autophradates, satrap of Lydia, and Mausolus, satrap of Caria, besieged Ariobarzanes at Adramyttium in 366 BC. However, the siege of Adramyttium was abandoned following the arrival of Agesilaus II, King of Sparta, in 365 BC.

Following his victory at the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BC, Adramyttium came under the control of Alexander the Great. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, his empire was divided among the Diadochi at the Partition of Babylon, and Leonnatus was appointed satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia. At the Partition of Triparadisus in 321 BC, Arrhidaeus succeeded Leonnatus as satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia. In 319 BC, Adramyttium and Hellespontine Phrygia were seized by Antigonus I Monophthalmus, satrap of Greater Phrygia. Adramyttium and Hellespontine Phrygia remained under the control of Antigonus until the Fourth War of the Diadochi; the city was taken by force by Prepelaus, a general of Lysimachus, Basileus of Thrace, in 302 BC. Adramyttium and Lysimachus' other Anatolian territories were annexed to the Seleucid Empire after Lysimachus' defeat at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC. An artificial port was constructed at Adramyttium in the early third century BC, which subsequently allowed the city to overshadow the neighbouring port of Cisthene.

Adramyttium came under the control of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon during the rule of Eumenes I, a nominal vassal of the Seleucid Empire, in the mid-third century BC. The alliance between Attalus I, Eumenes's successor, and Rhodes during the Cretan War led Philip V, King of Macedonia, to invade Attalid Pergamon and pillage the countryside surrounding Adramyttium in 201 BC. As an ally of Rome, Pergamon fought in the Roman–Seleucid War against the Seleucid Empire. In 190 BC, Antiochus III plundered the countryside surrounding Adramyttium, but the appearance of a Roman–Pergamene fleet prevented him from taking the city. In the second century BC, cistophori, the coinage of Attalid Pergamon, were minted at Adramyttium. Attalus III, the last king of Pergamon, bestowed his kingdom to the Romans in his will, and thus, in 133 BC, Adramyttium came under Roman control. The city became part of the province of Asia.

Manius Aquillius, governor of the province of Asia from 129 to 126 BC, rebuilt the road that connected Adramyttium and Smyrna. In the 1st century BC, a famous school of oratory was located in Adramyttium. Adramyttium was the centre of a conventus iuridicus, and its jurisdiction included the Troad and the western half of Mysia. Adramyttium was also the centre of a conventus civium Romanorum in the second or early first century BC.

During the First Mithridatic War, Diodorus, a strategos and supporter of Mithridates VI, King of Pontus, had the members of the city council killed and granted control of the city to Mithridates. Following the completion of the conquest of the province of Asia in 88 BC, Mithridates ordered the execution of all Roman settlers. At Adramyttium, the Romans were driven into the sea, where they were slaughtered. At the conclusion of the war, the province of Asia returned to Roman control and Xenocles of Adramyttium, a prominent orator, was sent to Rome to defend the actions of the city during the war. Adramyttium, however, was deprived of its autonomy, and was henceforth obligated to pay regular taxes to Rome.

According to the Acts of the Apostles, whilst en route to Rome, St. Paul departed Caesarea Maritima on a ship from the city of Adramyttium which took him to Myra in Lycia.