Asia (Roman province)

Provincia Asia
ἐπαρχία Ἀσίας
Provincia Asia; ἐπαρχία Ἀσίας
Provinceof theRoman Empire
133 BC–7th century
	; The province of Asia highlighted within the Roman Empire.
Capital	Pergamon; (modernBergama,Turkey), later moved toEphesus; (modernSelçuk,Turkey)
Historical era	Classical Antiquity-Late Antiquity
• Conquest ofPergamon	133 BC
• Division byDiocletian	c. 293
•Anatolic Themeestablished	7th century
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Attalid kingdom
Anatolic Theme
Thracesian Theme
Aegean Sea (theme)
Samos (theme)
Opsikion
Today part of	Turkey; Greece

Asia(Ancient Greek:Ἀσία) was aRoman provincecovering most of westernAsia Minor(Anatolia), which was created following theRoman Republic's annexation of theAttalid Kingdomin 133 BC. After the establishment of theRoman EmpirebyAugustus,it was the most prestigioussenatorial provinceand was governed by aproconsul.That arrangement endured until the province was subdivided in the fourth century AD.

The province was one of the richest of the Empire and was at peace for most of the Imperial period. It contained hundreds of largely self-governing Greekcity-states,who competed fiercely with one another for status, through appeals to the Imperial authorities and the cultivation of prestigious cultural institutions such as festival games, religious cults, and oratory.

Geography

The province of Asia originally consisted of the territories ofMysia,theTroad,Aeolis,Lydia,Ionia,Caria,and the land corridor throughPisidiatoPamphylia.TheAegean islands,with the exception ofCrete,were part of the province of Asia. The western part ofPhrygiawas added to Asia in 116 BC.Lycaoniawas added before 100 BC, while the area aroundCibyrawas added in 82 BC. The southeast region of Asia province was later reassigned to theprovince of Cilicia.During the Empire, the province of Asia was bounded byBithyniato the north,Lyciato the south, andGalatiato the east.^[1]

History

Background

The word "Asia" comes from theGreekwordἈσία,originally only applied to the eastern shore of theAegean Sea,^[2]which is attested inMycenaean Greektexts asaswiaand probably derives fromAssuwa,the name of the region in theBronze Age.^[3]After theGreco-Persian Warsof the early 5th century BC, Greek sources often use it to refer to thewhole continent,^[4]

The territory was ruled by various Macedonian kingdoms following the conquests ofAlexander the Great.In 190 BC, the Romans crushedAntiochus III the Greatat thebattle of Magnesia.In the subsequentTreaty of Apamea(188 BC), he surrendered the entire territory to the Romans, who placed most of it under the control of theAttalid dynastybased atPergamum.The western part ofPhrygiawas given toMithridates V,King ofPontus,whileCariaandLyciawere given toRhodes.

Annexation

With no legitimate heir, KingAttalus IIIofPergamum,having been a close ally of Rome, chose to bequeath his kingdom to Rome. Upon his death in 133 BC, thepretender Eumenes IIIstaged a rebellion. He defeated one of the consuls of 131 BC,Crassus Mucianus.The following year, the consulMarcus Perpernabrought the war to a close by defeating Eumenes in the first engagement. He followed up his victory by laying siege toStratonikeia,whither Eumenes had fled. The town was compelled by famine to surrender and the pretender fell into the consul's hands.Manius Aquilliusformally established the region as the province of Asia.^[5]The bequest of the Attalid kingdom to Rome presented serious implications for neighbouring territories. It was during this period that theKingdom of Pontusrose in status under the rule ofMithridates VI.He would prove to be a formidable foe to Rome's success in Asia and beyond.^[6]

Mithridates and Sulla

By 88 BC,Mithridates VI of Pontushad conquered virtually all of Asia. Capitalizing on the hatred of corrupt Roman practices, Mithridates instigated a mass revolt against Rome, ordering the slaughter of all Romans and Italians in the province.^[7]Contemporary estimates of casualties ranged from 80,000 up to 150,000.^[5]

Three years later,Lucius Cornelius Sulladefeated Mithridates in theFirst Mithridatic Warand in 85 BC reorganized the province into eleven assize districts, each central to a number of smaller, subordinate cities. These assize centers, which developed into theRoman dioceses,includedEphesus,Pergamum - the old Attalid capital,Smyrna,Adramyttium,Cyzicus,Synnada,Apamea,Miletus,andHalicarnassus.The first three cities - Ephesus, Pergamum, and Smyrna - competed to be the dominant city-state in Asia province.^[5]Age-old inter-city rivalry continued to inhibit any sort of progress towards provincial unity.

Augustus

After Augustus came to power, he established aproconsulshipfor the province of Asia, embracing the regions ofMysia,Lydia,Caria,andPhrygia.To its east, the province ofGalatiawas established. The proconsul spent much of his year-long term traveling throughout the province hearing cases and conducting other judicial business at each of the assize centers.^[5]Rome's transition from the Republic to the early Empire saw an important change in the role of existing provincial cities, which evolved from autonomous city-states to Imperial administrative centers.^[8]

The beginning of the principate ofAugustusalso signaled the rise of new cities in Mysia, Lydia and Phrygia. The province grew to be an elaborate system of self-governing cities, each responsible for its own economics, taxes, and law in its territory. The reign of Augustus further signaled the start of urbanization of Asia province, as public building became the defining characteristic of a city.^[8]

Decline

The 3rd century AD marked a serious decline in Asia stemming in part from epidemic disease, beginning with theAntonine plague,the indiscipline of local soldiers and also the diminishing instances of voluntary civic generosity. The Gothic invasions of the 250s and 260s, part of theCrisis of the Third Century,contributed to failing feelings of security. Furthermore, as political and strategic emphasis shifted away from Asia proconsularis, it lost much of its former prominence.

In the 4th century,Diocletiandivided Asia province into seven smaller provinces. During the 5th century and, until the mid-6th century the cities and provinces of western Anatolia experienced an economic renaissance. But after the great plague of 543 many cities towards the interior of the province declined to the point where they were indistinguishable from common villages by the time of the Persian and Arab invasions of the 7th century. On the other hand, leading cities from the early empire includingEphesus,Sardis,andAphrodisiasretained much of their former glory and came to serve as the new provincial capitals.^[5]Asia remained a center of the dominantHellenisticculture in the east for centuries. The territory remained part of the (Eastern) Roman Empire until the end of the 14th century when it was conquered by theOttoman Empire.

Government

Taxation

Rome had always been very reluctant to involve itself in matters to the east. It typically relied on allies to arbitrate in the case of a conflict. Very rarely would Rome send delegations to the east, much less have a strong governmental presence. This apathy did not change much even after the gift from Attalus in 133 BC. In fact, parts of the Pergamene kingdom were voluntarily relinquished to different nations. For example, Great Phrygia was given toMithridates V of Pontus.^[9]

While the Senate was hesitant in involving itself in Asian affairs, others had no such reluctance. A law passed byGaius Gracchusin 123 BC gave theright to collect taxesin Asia to members of theequestrian order.The privilege of collecting taxes was almost certainly exploited by individuals from the Republic.^[10]

In case a community was unable to pay taxes, they borrowed from Roman lenders but at exorbitant rates. This more often than not resulted in default on said loans and consequently led Roman lenders to seize the borrower's land, their last remaining asset of value. In this way and by outright purchase, Romans dispersed throughout the province of Asia.^[10]

Military presence

Other than to quell occasional revolts, there was minimal military presence in Asia province, until forces led by Sulla set forth in their campaign against Mithridates VI. In fact, Asia province was unique in that it was one of the few ungarrisoned provinces of the empire. While nofull legionswere ever stationed inside the province, that is not to say that there was no military presence whatsoever.^[11]

Legionary detachments were present in the Phrygian cities ofApameaandAmorium.Auxiliary cohortswere stationed in Phrygian Eumeneia while smaller groups of soldiers regularly patrolled the mountainous regions. High military presence in rural regions around 3rd century AD caused great civil unrest in the province.^[11]

Imperial cult

Imperial cultwas prevalent in provincial communities during the Roman empire. Soon after Augustus came to power, temples erected in his honor sprang up across Asia province. The establishment of provincial centers of imperial cult further spawned local cults. These sites served as models followed by other provinces throughout the empire.^[12]

Imperial cult served as a way for subjects of Asia province to come to terms with imperial rule within the framework of their communities. Religious practices were very much a public affair and involved citizens in all its aspects including prayer, sacrifice, and processions. Rituals held in honor of a particular emperor frequently outnumbered those of other gods. No other cult matched the imperial cult in terms of dispersion and commonality.^[13]

References

^"Asia, Roman province."The Oxford Classical Dictionary.3rd ed. 1996: p. 189-90
^"asia - Search Online Etymology Dictionary".etymonline.
^Collins, Billie Jean; Bachvarova, Mary R.; Rutherford, Ian (28 March 2010).Anatolian Interfaces: Hittites, Greeks and their Neighbours.Oxbow Books. p. 120.ISBN 978-1-78297-475-8.assuwa pylos "aswia" = Linear B A-si-wi-ja
^Thomas, Rosalind (2000).Herodotus in context: Ethnography, Science & the Art of Persuasion.pp. 75–134.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eThe Oxford Classical Dictionary.pp. 189f
^Mitchell, Stephen.Anatolia.Volume 1. (New York: Oxford University Press), 1993. p. 29
^Appian,History of Rome:The Mithridatic Wars Archived2015-09-12 at theWayback Machine.
^^a ^bAnatoliap. 198
^Anatolia.p. 29
^^a ^bAnatolia p. 30
^^a ^bAnatoliap. 121
^Anatoliap. 100
^Anatoliap. 112

External links

Unrv: Asia Minor

[1] "Asia, Roman province."The Oxford Classical Dictionary.3rd ed. 1996: p. 189-90

[2] "asia - Search Online Etymology Dictionary".etymonline.

[3] Collins, Billie Jean; Bachvarova, Mary R.; Rutherford, Ian (28 March 2010).Anatolian Interfaces: Hittites, Greeks and their Neighbours.Oxbow Books. p. 120.ISBN 978-1-78297-475-8.assuwa pylos "aswia" = Linear B A-si-wi-ja

[4] Thomas, Rosalind (2000).Herodotus in context: Ethnography, Science & the Art of Persuasion.pp. 75–134.

[The_Oxford_Classical_Dictionary_p._189-90-5] The Oxford Classical Dictionary.pp. 189f

[6] Mitchell, Stephen.Anatolia.Volume 1. (New York: Oxford University Press), 1993. p. 29

[7] Appian,History of Rome:The Mithridatic Wars Archived2015-09-12 at theWayback Machine.

[Anatolia_p._198-8] Anatoliap. 198

[9] Anatolia.p. 29

[Anatolia_p._30-10] Anatolia p. 30

[Anatolia_p._121-11] Anatoliap. 121

[12] Anatoliap. 100

[13] Anatoliap. 112

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