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KRIMNA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Cremna (he Kremna or Kremna), a place in Pisidia, and, as its name
imports, a strong post on an eminence. It was taken by the Galatian king Amyntas,
a contemporary of Strabo. It became a Roman colony, as Strabo says; and there
are imperial coins with the epigraph COL. IVL. AVG. CREMNA. The passage of Strabo
about Cremna has caused great difficulty. He says that Amyntas did not take Sandalium,
which is situated between Cremna and Sagalassus. Strabo adds, Sagalassus is distant
from Apameia a day's journey, having a descent of about 30 stadia from the fort
(tou erumatos), and they call it also Selgessus. Cramer (Asia Minor, vol. ii.
p. 299) supposes Strabo to mean that at the distance of 30 stadia from Sagalassus,
in a northerly direction, was the important fortress of Cremna; on which it may
be useful to some readers to observe, that where a Greek text presents a difficulty,
Cramer is often wrong in explaining it. But there is no difficulty here. The French
translation of Strabo makes a like mistake; and Groskurd the same, for he translates
it hat fast dreissig stadien hinabsteigung von jener veste, by which
it appears that he means Cremna. Arundell (Asia Minor, vol. ii. p. 81) properly
remarks that, if there were only 30 stadia between Cremna and Sagalassus, it is
hardly conceivable that Sandalium should be between them. It is not conceivable
at all; and Strabo's text, whatever fault there may be in it, clearly places Cremna
at some distance from Sagalassus, and the fort is not Cremna. But there is nothing
in the passage of Strabo from which we can determine the distance between Sagalassus
and Cremna, nor their relative position. Ptolemy (v. 5) mentions the Cremna Colonia,
and according to him it is in the same longitude as Sagalassus. Arundell found
a place called Germe fifteen miles SSE. of the village of Allahsun, which is near
the ruins of Sagalassus. There is a view of Germe in Arundell‘s work. It is a
striking position, a terrific precipice on three sides. The ruins are described
by Arundell. There are the remains of a theatre, of temples, of a colonnade, and
of what is supposed to be a triumphal arch. Most of the buildings seemed to be
of the Roman period.
There is a story in Zosimus (i. 69) of an Isaurian robber, named Lydius,
who seized Cremna, a city of Lycia, as he calls it. There is no doubt that he
means the same place which Strabo does.
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
Near the village of Camlik in the district of Bucak in the province
of Burdur. The village is situated on the Tauros 60 km SE of Burdur and 15 km
from Bucak. According to Strabo (12.569), Kremna and the other cities of Pisidia
were first captured by Amyntas, the commander of the Galatian auxiliary army of
Brutus and Cassius, who became king of Galatia and Pisidia on going over to the
side of Antonius. Octavian allowed him to remain king until his death in 25 B.C.,
after which Kremna (Mon.Anc. 28; Strab. 12.569) was made into a Roman colony (Colonia
Iulia Augusta [Felix] Cremnena,CIL III, 6873). Coins of the Imperial period were
first minted at Kremna during the reign of Hadrian. The donatio given by the emperor
Aurelian (270-75) was followed by a period of brilliant prosperity in Kremna,
but not long after, in A.D. 276, during the reign of the emperor Probus, the acropolis
was occupied by the Isaurian bandit leader Lydios, who used it as a fortress against
the Romans, and was thus able to hold out for a considerable time (Zosimos 1.67).
Kremna was included in the Byzantine province of Pamphylia, and it is clear that
settlement continued there uninterrupted, though on a smaller scale. In 787 Kremna
sent a representative to the Second Council of Nicaea. Meanwhile the inhabitants
had probably left the steep slopes and settled in what is now the village of Camlik,
which had been a village or suburb of the ancient city, bringing the name of their
city with them. Thus Girme, the old name of the Turkish village, is derived from
Kremna. According to the last information regarding the city (Not. Dig. 10) Kremna
was the administrative center of the province.
In 1874 the site was definitely identified as Kremna by the discovery
of a dedicatory inscription containing the name. Excavations were begun in 1970.
Kremna is situated on a hill dominating the valley of the Kastros
(Aksu) and extending from E to W across a plateau 1000 m above sea level. The
hill is 250 m above the level of the plateau, with sheer slopes on the N, E, and
S, so that the city can be approached only from the W. Although on this side it
is connected with the plateau by gentle slopes the hill is isolated by a deep
ravine formed by flood waters. Thus the topographical situation of the acropolis
makes it almost impregnable. The acropolis itself is not level for there are a
number of small hills on the N, E, and SE. Most of the public buildings are concentrated
within two small valleys, the forum and the basilica situated at the junction
of the two valleys. To the N of the forum are cisterns, and to the S the library
(?). The theater is situated on the slopes of the E hill, with the stoa and the
gymnasium to the E of this. To the NE of the gymnasium lies the macellum, to the
W of the forum a colonnaded street, and to the W of the basilica a monumental
propylon. There are temples on the high hills on the acropolis, while houses are
scattered around the center of the city and other suitable parts of the site.
Churches of the Christian period are to be found both inside and outside the city.
Tombs are outside the city, especially on the W and S slopes of the acropolis.
The finest and best-preserved rock tomb is to be found on the S. The W city gate
is in ruins, and only sections of the W defense walls and towers are still standing.
The second gate of the city is a gate with courtyard in a better state of preservation.
Walking from here towards the E, one reaches first arcades and later a second
theater. Kremna was built on a grid plan. The uneven surface of the acropolis
is unsuitable for the application of such a plan, but instead of leveling the
ground the main buildings were placed in the valleys, while the perpendicularly
intersecting streets were led straight over the hills.
Very few of the buildings of the ancient city are still standing,
most of them now consisting of mere heaps of stone and architectural fragments.
The coins and sculpture found in Kremna are preserved in the Burdur Museum.
J. Inan, 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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