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SATALA (Ancient city) ARMENIA
Satala, an important town of Armenia Minor, as may be inferred from
the numerous routes which branched off from thence to Pontus and Cappadocia. Its
distance from Caesareia was 325 miles, and 124 or 135 from Trapezus. The town
was situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, a little to the north of the
Euphrates, and was of importance, being the key to the mountain passes leading
into Pontus; whence we find that in later times the Legio xv. Apollinaris was
stationed there. In the time of Justinian its walls had fallen into decay, but
that emperor restored them. (Ptol. i. 15. § 9, v. 7. § 3, viii. 17. § 41; Dion
Cass. lxviii. 18; Procop. de Aed. iv. 3; It. Ant. pp. 181, 183, 206, 207,216,
217; Notit. Imp.; Tab. Peut.) The site of this town has not yet been discovered
with certainty, though ruins found in various parts of the country have been identified
with it by conjecture. (Tournefort, Voyages, Letter 21, c. 2. p. 17; Rennell,
Asia Minor, ii. p. 219; Cramer, Asia Minor, ii, p. 152, foll.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited August 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
The site came into prominence when the Legio XV Apollinaris was placed
there, probably by Trajan, to control the N sector of the E limes between the
Euphrates and Trabzon (Trapezos). The legion was still there in the 4th c. A.D.
(Not. Dig. or. 38.13). The city growing out of the civil settlement connected
with the legionary camp is thought to have been founded in the 2d or 3d c. A.D.
but the first evidence of it is provided by Basil in A.D. 372 (Ep. 102). From
Theodosius (Nov. v.3, A.D. 441) it can be inferred that the territory was very
extensive, reaching to the Euphrates and the border with Greater Armenia. In A.D.
530 the Persians were defeated before the walls of Satala (Procop. Bell. Pers.
1.15) and it was subsequently refortified by Justinian.
"It lies in a low lying plain and is dominated by many hills
which tower around it" (Procop., De aed. 3.4). The massive roughly rectangular
walls partly survive and surround the village of Sadak on the sloping floor of
the Sadak cay valley, tributary of the Kelkit (Lycus) river. Within the walls
only insignificant ruins stand out. The interior level stands high above the plain,
squared stones abound and occasional inscriptions can be seen. To the S stand
the meager remains of an aqueduct. On the hill to the W are traces of perhaps
an earlier auxiliary fort.
R. P. Harper, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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