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Patara
Patara
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Ancient Patara A city of Lycia on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey mentioned in the Bible in Acts 21:1
as the place where Paul of Tarsus and Luke changed ships. In New Testament times
Patara had a natural harbour and was
known for its temple and worship of Apollo and a celebrated oracle.
Acts 21:1 - And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the [day] following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara:
Patara (τὰ Πάταρα). One of the chief cities of Lycia, situated on the
coast a few miles east of the mouth of the Xanthus. It was early colonized by
Dorians from Crete, and became a chief seat of the worship of Apollo, who had
here a very celebrated oracle, which uttered responses in the winter only. Hence
Apollo is called by Horace Delius et Patareus Apollo (Carm. iii. 4, 64). - Harry Thurston Peck. Harpers Dictionary
of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers. 1898.
Patara (Lycian: Pttara), later renamed Arsinoe (Greek: Ἀρσινόη), was a
flourishing maritime and commercial city on the south-west coast of Lycia on the
Mediterranean coast of Turkey near the modern small town of Gelemiş, in Antalya
Province. It is the birth place of St. Nicholas, who lived most of his life in
the nearby town of Myra (Demre)... Possessing a natural harbour, Patara was said
to have been founded by Patarus, a son of Apollo.[1] It was situated at a
distance of 60 stadia to the southeast of the mouth of the river Xanthos.[2]
Patara was noted in antiquity for its temple and oracle of Apollo, second only
to that of Delphi. The god is often mentioned with the surname Patareus.[3]
Herodotus[4] says that the oracle of Apollo was delivered by a priestess only
during a certain period of the year; and from Servius[5] we learn that this
period was the six winter months. It seems certain that Patara received Dorian
settlers from Crete; and the worship of Apollo was certainly Dorian. Ancient
writers mentioned Patara as one of the principal cities of Lycia.[6] It was
Lycia's primary seaport, and a leading city of the Lycian League, having 3
votes, the maximum. The city, with the rest of Lycia, surrendered to Alexander
the Great in 333 BC. During the Wars of the Diadochi, it was occupied in turn by
Antigonus and Demetrius, before finally falling to the Ptolemies. Strabo informs
us that Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt, who enlarged the city, gave it the name
of Arsinoe (Arsinoë) after Arsinoe II of Egypt, his wife and sister, but it
continued to be called by its ancient name, Patara. Antiochus III captured
Patara in 196 BC. The Rhodians occupied the city, and as a Roman ally, the city
with the rest of Lycia was granted its freedom in 167 BC. In 88 BC, the city
suffered siege by Mithridates IV, king of Pontus and was captured by Brutus and
Cassius, during their campaign against Mark Antony and Augustus. It was spared
the massacres that were inflicted on nearby Xanthos. Patara was formally annexed
by the Roman Empire in 43 AD and attached to Pamphylia. Patara is mentioned in
the New Testament as the place where Paul of Tarsus and Luke changed ships.
- Wikipedia
Patara
PATARA (??ta?a : Eth. ?ata?e??, Patarensis or Pataranus). A flourishing maritime
and commercial city on the south-west coast of Lycia. The place was large,
possessed a good harbour, and was said to have been founded by Patarus, a son of
Apollo. (Strab. xiv. p.666; Steph. B. sub voce It was situated at a distance of
60 stadia to the south-east of the mouth of the river Xanthus. (Stadiasm. Mar.
Mag. § 219.) Patara was most celebrated in antiquity for its temple and oracle
of Apollo, whose renown was inferior only to that of Delphi; and the god is
often mentioned with the surname Patareus (?ata?e??, Strab. l.c.; Lycoph. 920;
Hor. Carm. 3.4.64; Stat. Theb. 1.696; Ov. Met. 1.515; Verg. A. 4.143; Pomp. Mela,
1.15.) Herodotus (1.182) says that the oracle of Apollo was delivered by a
priestess only during a certain period of the year; and from Servius (ad Aen.
l.c.) we learn that this period was the six winter months. . It has been
supposed that the town was of Phoenician or Semitic origin; but whatever may be
thought on this point, it seems certain that at a later period it received
Dorian settlers from Crete; and the worship of Apollo was certainly Dorian.
Strabo informs us that Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt, who enlarged the city,
gave it the name of Arsinoë, but that it nevertheless continued to be called by
its ancient name, Patara. The place is often noticed by ancient writers as one
of the principal cities of Lycia, as by Livy, 33.41, 37.15--17, 38.39; Plb.
22.26; Cic. p. Flacc. 32; Appian, App. BC 4.52, 81, Mithr. 27; Plin. Nat. 2.112,
5.28; Ptol. 5.3.3, 8.17.22; Dionys. Per. 129, 507. Patara is mentioned among the
Lycian bishoprics in the Acts of Councils (Hierocl. p. 684), and the name Patera
is still attached to its numerous ruins. These, according to the survey of Capt.
Beaufort, are situated on the sea-shore, a little to [2.556] the eastward of the
river Xanthus, and consist “of a theatre excavated in the northern side of a
small hill, a ruined temple on the side of the same hill, and a deep circular
pit, of singular appearance, which may have been the seat of the oracle. The
town walls surrounded an area of considerable extent; they may easily be traced,
as well as the situation of a castle which commanded the harbour, and of several
towers which flanked the walls. On the outside of the walls there is a multitude
of stone sarcophagi, most of them bearing inscriptions, but all open and empty;
and within the walls, temples, altars, pedestals, and fragments of sculpture
appear in profusion, but ruined and mutilated. The situation of the harbour is
still apparent, but at present it is a swamp, choked up with sand and bushes.”
(Beaufort, Karmania, pp. 2, 6.) The theatre, of which a plan is given in Leake's
Asia Minor (p. 320), was built in the reign of Antoninus Pius; its diameter is
265 feet, and has about 30 rows of seats. There are also ruins of thermae,
which, according to an inscription upon them, were built by Vespasian. (Comp.
Sir C. Fellows, Tour in Asia Min. p. 222, foll.; Discov. in Lycia, p. 179,
foil.; Texier, Descript. de l'Asie Min., which contains numerous representations
of the ancient remains of Patara; Spratt and Forbes, Travels in Lycia, i. p. 31;
foll.) [L.S]
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed.