History of Side

Strabo and Arrianos both record that Side was settled from Cyme (Aeolis), city in Aeolia, a region of western Anatolia. Most probably, this colonization occurred in the seventh century B.C.. According to Arrianos, when settlers from Kyme came to Side, they could not understand the dialect. After a short while, the influence of this indigenous tongue was so great that the newcomers forgot their native Greek and started using the language of Side. Excavations have revealed several inscriptions written in this language. The inscriptions, dating from the third and second centuries B.C., remain undeciphered, but testify that the local language was still use several centuries after colonization. Another object found in Side excavations, a basalt column base from the seventh century B.C. and attributable to the Neo-Hittites, provides other evidence of the site s early history. The word "side" is Anatolian in origin and means pomegranate.
Next to no information exists concerning Side under Lydia and Persian Empire sovereignty. Nevertheless, the fact that Side minted its own coins during the 547 BC while under Persian dominion shows that it still possessed a great measure of independence.

Romans

The consul Servilius Vatia defeated these brigands in 78 BC and later the Roman general Pompey in 67 BC, bringing Side under the control of the Roman Empire. Side s second peak period started around 2C BC when it established and maintained a good working relationship with the Roman Empire. Emperor Augustus reformed the state administration and placed Pamphylia and Side in the Roman province of Galatia in 25 BC, after the short reign by the king Amyntas of Galatia between 36 and 25 BC. Side began another prosperous period as a commercial center in Asia Minor through its trade in olive oil. Its population grew to 60,000 inhabitants. This period would last well into the third century AD. Side established itself as a slave trading center in the Mediterranean. Its large commercial fleet engaged in acts of piracy. Wealthy merchants paid for such tributes as public works, monuments, and competitions as well as the games and gladiator fights. The significance of this period for Side is evident in its ruins today. Most of the present day ruins found in Side date from this period of prosperity.

 

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For more information about Side we recommend the following sources:

Wikipedia, Side DMOZ, Links over Side