Editing Perga (section)

==History==

[[File:PergeTheater1.jpg|left|thumb|The Roman theatre]]
[[File:Perge_0010.jpg|left|thumb|The stadium]]

Perge was situated on the coastal plain between the Rivers Catarrhactes (Düden Nehri) and [[Aksu River (Turkey)|Cestrus (Aksu)]], about 11&nbsp;km from the mouth of the latter.<ref>[[Strabo|Strab]]. xiv. p. 667</ref><ref>[[Pliny the Elder|Plin]]. v. 26</ref><ref>[[Pomponius Mela|Pomp. Mel.]] i. 14</ref><ref>[[Ptolemy|Ptol]]. v. 5. § 7.</ref>

===Early Bronze===
The history of the city dates back to the Late Chalcolitic Era or Early Bronze Age.<ref>{{cite book |last=Aşkım |first= Özdizbay |editor-last1= Tekin |editor-first1= Oğuz|editor-last2=Roosevelt |editor-first2= Christopher H. |editor-last3=Akyürek  |editor-first3=Engin <!--DUPLICATE |title=Tarih Boyunca Anadolu’da Hayırseverlik: Birinci Uluslararası Suna & İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Uygarlıkları Sempozyumu --> |date= 2020 |chapter= Perge’nin İtalik Kökenli Hayırseverleri ve Kent Gelişimine Katkıları |title= Anadolu Kültürlerine Bir Bakış Some Observations on Anatolian Cultures Armağan Erkanal'a Armağan Compiled in Honor of Armağan Erkanal |url=https://www.academia.edu/44341593 |publisher= Koç Üniversitesi |page= 83}}</ref> Excavations in the original settlement on the [[acropolis]] date it to the early [[Bronze Age]], 4000-3000 BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Middle_East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Antalya/photo494664.htm|title=Perge|access-date=2006-10-30}}</ref> Pottery found in the Perga Acropolis is linked to the Early Bronze Age pottery traditions in Western Anatolia.<ref>{{cite book |last=Umurtak |first= Gülsun |editor-last1= Abbasoğlu |editor-first1= Haluk |editor-last2= Martini |editor-first2= Wolfram |title= Die Akropolis von Perge. Band 1: Survey und Sondagen 1994-1997 |url=http://nek.istanbul.edu.tr:4444/ekos/MAKALE/M2912.pdf |date= 2004 |chapter= A short report on a group of prehistoric pottery |publisher= wbg Philipp von Zabern in Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft |page=82}}</ref>

===Late Bronze===
From a bronze tablet discovered in 1986 in [[Hattusas]], a treaty between the [[Hittites|Hittite]] Great King [[Tudhaliya IV]] and his vassal, the king of [[Tarhuntassa]], defined the latter's western border at the city "Parha" and the "Kastaraya River".<ref>{{cite book|author=G. Beckman| title=Hittite diplomatic texts |location= Atlanta | year=1996}}, no. 18C</ref> The river is assumed to be the classical Cestrus. West of Parha were the "Lukka Lands".<ref>{{cite journal | journal=British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan |volume=14 | title=The Arzawa letters in recent perspective |author=J. David Hawkins | year=2009 |pages=73–83}}, 75</ref> Parha likely spoke a late Luwian dialect like Lycian and that of the neo-Hittite kingdoms.

===Iron Age===
The settlement probably became a Greek colony of [[Rhodes]] in the 7th c. BC. Perge was later a Pamphylian Greek city, and came under successive rule by Persians, Athenians, and Persians again.

In 540 BC Perga, along with the other cities in Pamphylia was captured by the [[Achaemenid Empire]]. During the reign of [[Darius the Great|Darius I]], it was a part of the [[Ionia (satrapy)|Satrapy of Ionia]]. There is no archeological evidence that shows the Achaemenid rule over [[Pamphylia]] but some classical sources do exist. [[Herodotus]] mentions that Pamphlyians sent aid to the military campaign of [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]] against the Greeks, so it must have been under the control of the Achaemenids. According to [[Diodorus Siculus]], Perge was one of the cities that rebelled against the Achaemenid rule during the [[Great Satraps' Revolt]] in 360 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last=Axel |first=Filges |editor-last1=Delemen |editor-first1=İnci | editor-last2=Çokay-Kepçe |editor-first2=Sedef |editor-last3=Özdizbay |editor-first3=Aşkım |editor-last4=Turak |editor-first4=Özgür |title= Euergetes: Prof. Dr. Haluk Abbasoğlu'na 65. Yaş Armağanı. Festschrift für Prof. Dr. Haluk Abbasoğlu zum 65. Geburtstag |url=http://nek.istanbul.edu.tr:4444/ekos/MAKALE/M2912.pdf |date= 2008 |chapter= Pamphylia - Perge Tarihi ve Roma İmparatorluk Dönemi Öncesi Perge’nin Gelişimi: Güncel Araştırmalar Işığında Genel bir Değerlendirme |publisher= Suna - İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma Enstitüsü |page=845}}</ref>

[[Alexander the Great]], after taking [[Phaselis]], was welcomed in Perge with his army in 334 BC. Alexander's rule was followed by the [[Diadochi]] empire of the [[Seleucids]]. The walls around the lower city were built in the period starting from 223 BC. In the 2nd century BC the city became prosperous and started minting its own coins with the image of Artemis and her temple.<ref name=SmithDGRG>{{SmithDGRG|title=Perge|inline=1}}</ref> Perge became renowned for the worship of [[Artemis]], whose temple stood on a hill outside the town, and in whose honour annual festivals were celebrated.<ref>Strab. xiv. p. 667</ref><ref>Callim. Hymn. in Dian. 187</ref><ref>[[Scylax]], p. 39</ref><ref>Dionys. Per. 854.</ref>

Following the defeat of the Seleucids by the Romans in 188 BC, the wider area was gifted by the Romans to the [[Attalid kingdom]]. When its last king died without heirs in 133 BC, he bequeathed his kingdom, including Perga, to the [[Roman Republic]]. After 25 BC, the Romans built the [[Via Sebaste]] linking Pisidian [[Antioch, Pisidia|Antioch]] in [[Galatia]] with Perge. When the Romans first incorporated Perga into the Empire, the city was a part of the Province of [[Galatia]]. After the [[Flavian Dynasty]] was founded by Emperor [[Vespasian]], the city became a part of the [[Lycia et Pamphylia]] province. Vespasian also granted the city the rank of [[neocorate]] which made the city in charge of the [[Roman imperial cult|imperial cult]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Şahin |first=Sencer |date= 1999|title= Çağlar Boyunca Anadolu'da Konut Sempozyumu Bildirileri |chapter= Perge territoriumundaki antik Varsak yerleşimi: Lyrboton Kome-Elaibari |url= https://www.academia.edu/1076935|location= |publisher=Ege Yayınları |page=İstanbul |isbn=}}</ref>

During the 2nd century AD there was a construction boom in the city, fueled by [[Pax Romana]] and excessive wealth. The city center was expanded to the South side of the city and new monuments were erected. Perga also had many philanthropists during the Roman Empire period who financed the construction of monumental structures.<ref>{{cite book |last=Aşkım |first= Özdizbay |editor-last1= Tekin |editor-first1= Oğuz|editor-last2=Roosevelt |editor-first2= Christopher H. |editor-last3=Akyürek  |editor-first3=Engin <!-- DUPLICATE |title=Tarih Boyunca Anadolu’da Hayırseverlik: Birinci Uluslararası Suna & İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Uygarlıkları Sempozyumu --> |date= 2020 |chapter= Perge’nin İtalik Kökenli Hayırseverleri ve Kent Gelişimine Katkıları |title= Anadolu Kültürlerine Bir Bakış Some Observations on Anatolian Cultures Armağan Erkanal'a Armağan Compiled in Honor of Armağan Erkanal |url=https://www.academia.edu/44341593 |publisher= Koç Üniversitesi |pages= 83–85}}</ref>

Under the Romans from the 1st to the 3rd century AD the town became a magnificent city with many impressive buildings. It became one of the most beautiful towns in Anatolia, competing with [[Side, Turkey|Side]] for the status of most important town in Pamphylia. [[Plancia Magna]] (d. 122), daughter of the governor [[Marcus Plancius Varus]], was the greatest benefactor and instigator of public buildings and was honoured with statues erected by the town council. In 46 AD, according to the [[Acts of the Apostles]], [[St. Paul]] journeyed to Perga. Paul and [[Barnabas]] came to Perge during their [[Paul the Apostle#First missionary journey|first missionary journey]], but probably stayed there only a short time, and do not seem to have preached there;<ref>Acts 13:13.</ref><ref name=Catholic/> it was there that [[John Mark]] left Paul to return to [[Jerusalem]]. On his return from [[Pisidia]], Paul preached at Perge.<ref>Acts 14:24.</ref><ref name=Catholic/>
As the Cestrus silted up over the late Roman era, Perga declined as a secular city.<ref name="silt">{{cite web | url=http://www.anatolia.luwo.be/destinations/perge.html | title=Perge}}</ref> In the first half of the 4th century, during the reign of [[Constantine the Great]] (324-337), Perga became an important centre of Christianity, which soon became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The city retained its status as a Christian centre in the 5th and 6th centuries.
St. [[Matrona of Perge]] of the 6th century was a female [[saint]] known for temporarily [[cross-dressing]] to avoid her abusive husband.<ref>[https://konutkurdu.com/antalya/daire]</ref> She also is known for opposing the [[Monophysite]] policy of the emperor [[Anastasius I Dicorus|Anastasios I]].<ref name="Holy Women of Byzantine">{{cite web|last1=Talbot|first1=Alice-Mary|author-link=Alice-Mary Talbot |title=Holy Women of Byzantium: Ten saints lives' in English translation|url=http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/doaks-online-publications/holy-women-of-byzantium/talbch2.pdf|website=doaks.org|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection|access-date=19 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513043701/http://www.doaks.org/resources/publications/doaks-online-publications/holy-women-of-byzantium/talbch2.pdf|archive-date=13 May 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> Matrona hid in the [[monastery of St. Bassion]] as the enuch Babylos. Once revealed, she was sent to a woman's monastery where she was head of the convent. She was famous for her miraculous gift of healing. She went on to found a nunnery in [[Constantinople]]. St Matrona died at the age of 100. Her life was told through a ''vita prima'' whose author and exact time period remains a mystery.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/matrona.asp |title=vita prima |access-date=2014-11-19 |archive-date=2014-09-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925022558/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/matrona.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Greek Language|Greek]] ''[[Notitiae episcopatuum]]'' mentions the city as [[Metropolis (religious jurisdiction)|metropolis]] of [[Pamphylia Secunda]] until the 13th century. [[Le Quien]] gives the names of 11 of its bishops:<ref name="Le Quien">{{Oriens Christianus|volume=1|article=Ecclesia Perges|at=cols. 1013–1016}}</ref> Epidaurus, present at the [[Council of Ancyra]] in 312; Callicles at the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325; Berenianus, at Constantinople (426); Epiphanius at the [[Second Council of Ephesus]] (449), at the First [[Council of Chalcedon]] (451),<ref>Richard Price, Michael Gaddis, The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, Volume 1 (University of Liverpool Press, 2005)[https://books.google.com/books?id=6IUaOOT1G3UC&q=Perge&pg=RA2-PA157 p94].</ref> and a signatory of the letter from the bishops of the province to Emperor Leo (458); Hilarianus, at a [[Council of Constantinople (536)|council at Constantinople]] in 536; Eulogius, at the [[Second Council of Constantinople]] in 553; Apergius, condemned as a [[Monothelite]] at the [[Third Council of Constantinople]] in 680; John, at the [[Trullan council]] in 692; Sisinnius Pastillas about 754 (an [[Byzantine iconoclasm|iconoclast]] who was condemned at the [[Second Council of Nicaea]] in 787); Constans, at the same council of that condemned his predecessor; John, at the [[Fourth Council of Constantinople (Catholic)|Council of Constantinople of 869–70]].<ref name=Catholic/>

No longer a residential, the bishopric is included in the [[Catholic Church]]'s list of [[titular see]]s.<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 952</ref>

Perga remained inhabited until the foundation of the [[Seljuk Empire]] in roughly 1100.<ref name="silt"/>