Map of the Roman Empire - Tripolis
Tripolis
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Tripolis - Hellenistic city in the maritime district of Phoenicia, formed from three older cities on the coast of Syria: Tyre, Sidon and Arados. Modern Lebanese city of Tripoli.
Tripŏlis (Τρίπολις). Now Tripoli, Tarabulus; on the coast of Phnicia, consisted of three distinct cities, one stadium (600 feet) apart, each having its own walls, but all united in a common constitution, having one place of assembly, and forming in reality one city. They were colonies of Tyre, Sidon, and Aradus respectively. - Harry Thurston Peck. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers.
Tripolis (Greek: Τρίπολις; meaning "three cities") was a maritime
district in ancient Phoenicia. The center of the confederation of the three
Phoenician cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Aradus. Through the ages, it evolved to
become the present Lebanese city of Tripoli.
Tripoli (Standard Arabic: طرابلس Ṭarābulus, and Arabic: طَرَابُلُس
Trāblous, Greek: Τρίπολις Tripolis) is a city in Lebanon. Situated north of
Batroun and the cape of Lithoprosopon, Tripoli is the capital of the North
Governorate and the Tripoli District (in Lebanon the districts are subunits of
governorates). The city is located 85 km north of the capital Beirut, and is the
easternmost port of Lebanon. In ancient times, it was the center of a Phoenician
confederation which included Tyre, Sidon and Arados, hence the name Tripoli,
meaning "triple city" in Greek. Later, it was controlled successively by the
Assyrian Empire, Persian Empire, Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the
Caliphate, the Seljuk Empire, Crusader States, the Mamluks, the Ottoman Empire
and France. Tripoli had a number of different names as far back as the
Phoenician age. In the Amarna letters the name "Derbly" was mentioned, and in
other places "Ahlia" or "Wahlia" are mentioned (14th century BC). In an
engraving concerning the invasion of Tripoli by the Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal
II (888-859 BC), it is called Mahallata or Mahlata, Mayza, and Kayza. Under the
Phoenicians, the name Athar was used to refer to Tripoli. When the Greeks
settled in the city they called it "Tripoli", meaning "three cities".
Ancient History of Tripolis. There is evidence of settlement in Tripoli
that dates back as early as 1400 BC. In the 9th century BC, the Phoenicians
established a trading station in Tripoli and later, under Persian rule, the city
became the center of a confederation of the Phoenician city states of Sidon,
Tyre, and Arados Island. Under Hellenistic rule, Tripoli was used as a naval
shipyard and the city enjoyed a period of autonomy. It came under Roman rule
around 64 BC. In 551, an earthquake and tidal wave destroyed the Byzantine city
of Tripoli along with other Mediterranean coastal cities. During the Roman and
Byzantine periods, Tripoli witnessed the construction of important public
buildings including municipal stadium or gymnasium due to strategic position of
the city midway on the imperial coastal highway leading from Antioch to
Ptolemais. In addition, Tripoli retained the same configuration of three
distinct and administratively independent quarters (Aradians, Sidonians, and
Tyrians). The territory outside the city was divided between the three quarters. - Wikipedia
Tripolis (Tripolitana), A maritime district of Phoenicia, comprehending the territories of the three towns, Tyre, Sidon, and Aradus. - Classical Gazetteer
Tripolis
TRI“POLIS (Τρίπολις, Ptol. 5.15.4: Eth. Τριπολίτης: Adj. Tripoliticus, Plin.
Nat. 14.7. s. 9), an important maritime town of Phoenicia, situated on the N.
side of the promontory of Theuprosopon. (Strab. xvi. p.754.) The site of
Tripolis has been already described, and it has been mentioned that it derived
its name, which literally signifies the three cities, from its being the
metropolis of the three confederate towns, Tyre, Sidon, and Aradus [PHOENICIA,
Vol. II. p. 606]. Each of those cities had here its peculiar quarter, separated
from the rest by a wall. Tripolis possessed a good harbour, and, like the rest
of the Phoenician towns, had a large maritime commerce. (Cf. Joannes Phocas,
100.4; Wesseling, ad Itin. Ant., p. 149.) Respecting the modern Tripoli (Tarablus
or Tripoli di Soria); see Pococke, vol. ii. p. 146, seq.; Maundrell, p. 26;
Burckhardt, p. 163, seq., &c.; cf. Scylax, p. 42; Mela, 1.12; Plin. Nat. 5.20.
s. 17; Diod. 16.41; Steph. B. sub voce Eckhel, vol. iii. p. 372.)
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed.