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Nicomedia
Nicomedia
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Ancient Nicomedia A Graeco-Roman metropolis in Bithynia (Northwest
Asia Minor) and capital of Bithynia during Roman Empire times. Later it became a
naval headquarters. Diocletian made it the eastern capital city of the Roman
Empire. The famous Hannibal came to Nicomedia in his final years and committed
suicide in the nearby city of Libyssa. Nicomedia was also the birthplace of the
historian Arrian, and it was at Nicomedia that Constantine died. Modern name is Izmit.
Nicomedia. A celebrated city of Bithynia, built by King Nicomedes I.
(B.C. 264), at the northeastern corner of the Sinus Astacenus. Under the Romans
it was a colony, and a favourite residence of several of the later emperors,
especially of Diocletian and Constantine the Great. It is memorable in history
as the scene of Hannibal's death, and was the birthplace of the historian Arrian.
- Harry Thurston Peck. Harpers Dictionary
of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers. 1898.
Nicomedia (Greek: Νικομήδεια, modern İzmit in Turkey) was founded in
712/11 BC as a Megarian colony and, in early Antiquity, was called Astacus
(lobster).[1] After being destroyed by Lysimachus,[2] it was rebuilt by
Nicomedes I of Bithynia in 264 BC under the name of Nicomedia, and has ever
since been one of the most important cities in northwestern Asia Minor. Hannibal
came to Nicomedia in his final years and committed suicide in nearby Libyssa (Diliskelesi,
Gebze). The historian Arrian was born there. Nicomedia was the metropolis of
Bithynia under the Roman Empire, and Diocletian made it the eastern capital city
of the Roman Empire in 286 when he introduced the Tetrarchy system. Nicomedia
remained as the eastern (and most senior) capital of the Roman Empire until
co-emperor Licinius was defeated by Constantine the Great at the Battle of
Chrysopolis (Üsküdar) in 324. Constantine mainly resided in Nicomedia as his
interim capital city for the next six years, until in 330 he declared the nearby
Byzantium (which was renamed Constantinople (present-day Istanbul)) the new
capital. Constantine died in a royal villa in the vicinity of Nicomedia in 337.
Owing to its position at the convergence of the Asiatic roads leading to the new
capital, Nicomedia retained its importance even after the foundation of
Constantinople. However, a major earthquake on 24 August 358 caused extensive
devastation to Nicomedia and was followed by a fire which completed the
catastrophe. - Wikipedia
Nicomedia NICOMEDEIA
NICOMEDEIA (Isnikmid or Ismid), the capital of Bithynia, situated on the
north-eastern coast of the Sinus Astacenus, a part of the Propontis. The town of
Astacus, a little to the south-east of Nicomedeia, was destroyed, or greatly
damaged, by Lysimachus; and some time after, B.C. 264, Nicomedes I. built the
town of Nicomedeia, to which the inhabitants of Astacus were transferred (Steph.
B. sub voce Strab. xii. p.563; Paus. 5.12.5; Euseb. Ckron. Ol. 129. 1). The
founder of the new city made it the capital of his kingdom, and in a short time
it became one of the largest and most flourishing cities, and continued to
prosper for more than six centuries. Pliny, in his letters to the emperor
Trajan, mentions several public buildings of the city, such as a senate-house,
an aqueduct, a forum, a temple of Cybele, &c., and speaks of a great fire,
during which the place suffered much (Epist. 10.42, 46). Respecting its rivalry
with Nicaea, see NICAEA. According to Pliny (5.43), Nicomedeia was 62 1/2 miles
to the south-east of Chalcedon, while according to others it was only 60 or 61
miles distant (It. Ant. pp. 124, 140; It. Hieros. p. 572; Tab. Peut.) Under the
Roman Empire Nicomedeia was often the residence of the emperors, such as
Diocletian and Constantine, especially when they were engaged in war against the
Parthians or Persians. (Aurel. Vict. de Caes. 39; Nicephor. vii. in fin.) The
city often suffered from earthquakes, but owing to the munificence of the
emperors it was always restored (Ammian. 17.7; Philostorg. iv. p. 506). It also
suffered much from an invasion of the Scythians (Ammian. 22.9, 12, 13). The
orator Libanius (Orat. 62, tom. iii. p. 337, ed. Reiske) mourns the loss of its
thermae, basilicae, temples, gymnasia, schools, public gardens, &c., some of
which were afterwards restored by Justinian (Procop. de Aed. 5.1; comp. Ptol.
5.1.3, 8.17.4; Hierocl. p. 691). From inscriptions we learn that in the later
period of the empire Nicomedeia enjoyed the honour of a Roman colony (Orelli,
Inscript. No. 1060). The city is also remarkable as being the native place of
Arrian, the historian of Alexander the Great, and as the place where Hannibal
put an end to his chequered life. Constantine breathed his last at his villa
Ancyron, near Nicomedeia (Cassiod. Chron. Const.; Philostorg. ii. p. 484). The
modern Ismid still contains many interesting remains of antiquity, respecting
which see Pococke, vol. iii. p. 143, &c.; Description de l'Asie Mizneure, tom. i.;
comp. Rasche, Lexic. Rei Num. 3.1. p. 1435, &c.
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed.