Temnos or Temnus (Ancient Greek: Τῆμνος; Aeolic Greek: Τᾶμνος[1]) was a small Greek polis (city-state) of ancient Aeolis, later incorporated in the Roman province of Asia, on the western coast of Anatolia. Its bishopric was a suffragan of Ephesus, the capital and metropolitan see of the province, and is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees.[2]
The little town was near the Hermus River, which is shown on its coins. Situated at elevation it commanded a view of the territories of Cyme, Phocaea, and Smyrna. Under Augustus it was already on the decline; under Tiberius it was destroyed by an earthquake;[3] and in the time of Pliny it was no longer inhabited. It was, however, rebuilt later.
One of the city's more noteworthy figures was the rhetorician Hermagoras.[4]
During the Byzantine period, most probably, it renamed to Archangelus. In 1413 the Turks seized the fortress of Archangelus, which they called Kaiadjik, i.e., small rock; this fortress was situated on the plains of Maenomenus, now known as Menemen.
Its site is located near Görece, Asiatic Turkey.[5][6]
- ^ As per coins dated to the fourth century BCE and Hellenistic inscriptions (I. Perg. 5) dated to the end of the third century BCE.
- ^ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 986
- ^ Tacitus. Annals. Vol. 2.47.
- ^ A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Hermagoras
- ^ Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 56, and directory notes accompanying. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.
- ^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.