Editing Xanthos (section)

==History==

The acropolis of Xanthos dates from the 8th century BCE.{{sfn|Fried|2004|p=148}} The city was mentioned by [[ancient Greek]] and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] writers. The Greek historian [[Strabo]] noted that Xanthos was the largest city in [[Lycia]].<ref name="Pli2">{{cite web |title=Strabo, Geography: 6 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D14%3Achapter%3D3%3Asection%3D6 |website=Perseus Digital Library |publisher=[[Tufts University]] |access-date=15 May 2023}}</ref> The important religious sanctuary of [[Leto]] at [[Letoon]], {{convert|4|km}} south of Xanthos, dates from the late 6th century BC,{{sfn|Dusinberre|2013|p=219}} and was closely associated with the city and linked by a sacred road.{{sfn|Kinsey|2012|p=173}}

===Under the Persian Empire===
The Greek historians [[Herodotus]] and [[Appian]] both described the conquest of the city by the [[Medes|Median]] general [[Harpagus]] on behalf of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]], According to Herodotus, the [[Persians]] defeated a small Lycian army in the flatlands to the north of the city in {{circa|540 BC}}.<ref name="Pli1">{{cite web |title=Herodotus, The Histories, A.D. Godley, ed.: 176 |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.%201.176&lang=original |website=Perseus Digital Library |publisher=[[Tufts University]] |access-date=15 May 2023}}</ref> The Lycians retreated into the city, which Harpagus then besieged. The Lycians destroyed their [[acropolis]], and killed their wives, children and slaves, before engaging the enemy in a suicidal attack.{{sfn|Akşit|2006|p=56}} 

During the Persian occupation, a local leadership was installed and by 520&nbsp;BC it was [[Mint (facility)|minting]] coins.{{sfn|Keen|1992|p=58}} By 516&nbsp;BC Xanthos had been included in the first ''Nomos'' of [[Darius I]] in the tribute list.{{sfn|Fitzpatrick-McKinley|2015|p=98}}

=== Conquest by Alexander the Great ===
From [[Telmessos]] the army of [[Alexander the Great]] marched over the mountains to Xanthos. There representatives from each of the cities of the Lycian League, including the port of [[Phaselis]], personally offered the Lycians' submission, which was accepted. Alexander was encouraged when he found a sacred spring close to the River Xanthus, and obtained from there an inscribed bronze tablet that predicted that the Greeks would destroy the Persian Empire.{{sfn|Freeman|2011|p=98}}

Reports on the city's surrender to [[Alexander the Great]] differ: [[Arrian]] reports a peaceful surrender, but [[Appian]] claims that the city was sacked.{{sfn|Akşit|2006|p=56}} After Alexander's death, Xanthos was captured by [[Ptolemy I Soter]] from [[Antigonus I Monophthalmus|Antigonos]].{{sfn|Akşit|2006|p=58}}

=== Roman period ===
Xanthus was in the [[Roman province]] of [[Lycia]].{{sfn|Bunson|2014|p=335}} In 42 BC [[Brutus]] came to Lycia in the [[Roman Civil War]]s, to obtain funds for his campaign in that year before the [[Battle of Philippi]]. The Lycian League refused to contribute; Brutus besieged Xanthos and the city was once again destroyed and only 150 Xanthian men survived the carnage. But Plutarch describes the carnage as self-inflicted, with Brutus and his Romans trying but unable to save the city from flames. In his words, 150 “did not escape having their lives saved.” Plutarch explains such suicidal behavior by the city’s similar response to Persian conquest generations earlier.{{sfn|Tempest|2017|pp=246{{ndash}}247}} It was rebuilt under [[Mark Antony]].{{sfn|Akşit|2006|p=60}}

Most of the buildings visible today were built during the later Empire. The town took on a grid plan. A large piazza with porticoes was built in the west, probably where the classical agora was. There was also a triple-naved building which may have started as a pagan basilica and then become a church. There was probably a large porticoed avenue terminated with a gateway.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Jacques |first1=des Courtils |last2=Cavalier |first2=Laurence |title=The City of Xanthos from Archaic to Byzantine Times |url=https://www.academia.edu/10481469 |journal=}}</ref>

===Byzantine period===
Xanthos, like the rest of Lycia, prospered in the later Roman period. Luxury houses were built on the Lycian acropolis. Several churches were also built, including a large basilica (74m x 29m), a small chapel, and another large basilica on the acropolis. In the sixth century, earthquakes damaged many buildings, and they were repaired. The city wall was also reinforced because of the Arab threat. The city was subsequently destroyed and deserted.<ref name=":0" /> 

===Ecclesiastical history===

Xanthus was a [[suffragan]] of the Metropolitan Archbishopric of [[Myra]].{{sfn|Akşit|2006|p=60}}

In the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]], Xanthoupolis was a titular diocese under the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]], whose bishop assisted the Metropolitan Province of Smyrna, part of the larger Province of Asia Minor. Its last known bishop was Father Ignatios, later Metropolitan of Libya under the [[Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria|Patriarchate of Alexandria]], who presided over this diocese from 1863 to 1884.{{citation required|date=May 2023}}

In the Catholic Church, the diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as the [[Titular bishopric]] of {{lang|la|Xanthus}}.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Donovan |first1=Ned |title=The bishops who've never seen their dioceses |url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/issues/oct-5th-2018/bishops-whove-never-seen-their-dioceses/ |access-date=15 May 2023 |work=Catholic Herald |date=4 October 2018 |ref=Don |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724230510/https://catholicherald.co.uk/issues/oct-5th-2018/bishops-whove-never-seen-their-dioceses/ |archive-date=24 July 2019}}</ref>