Priene, one of the twelve cities of the lonian League, was, with its well-ordered streets, its beautiful buildings, temples and gym- nasiums, and its market place, theater and stadium, the most perfect and elegant City of ancient times.
The development of Priene took place in the same period as that of Pergamum. Pergamum, with its many magnificent buildings and monuments and artistic masterpieces, situated on an uneven stretch of high ground dominating valiey and sea, was an arrogant royal City. Priene, however, built on a ridge overlooking its valiey, the Meander River [now the Büyük Menderes), and beyond it the famous lonian City of Miletus and Mt. Latmos, was never arrogant. But its inhabitants were justly proud of their independence. İn spite of its small size, its elegance and maturity were the envy even of the greatest cities.
HISTORY OF PRİENE
İt is thought that Priene was first founded in the tenth century B.C. by the Carians, who inhabited this region before the great lonian migration. İn the ninth century B.C. a group of immigrants from Greece conquered Priene with the help of the Ephesians. According to Strabo, the city was founded by Aipythus, son of the Athenian Neleus. İn the seventh century B.C. the Prienians were obliged to accept the domination of the Lydians, but, thanks to the freedom allowed them by the king of Lydia, the commercial and cultural life of the City was in no way hampered. After the Persians’ victories över the Lydians in 546 B.C., the city was plundered and the Prienians came under the Persian yoke. At the beginning of the fifth century B.C. the Persian tyranny provoked the lonian Revolt, and Priene, jonining the uprising, sent 12 ships to the battle of the Island of Lade in 494 B.C.
The city of Priene was founded again under an Athenian protec- torate, in 350 B.C. on four terraces on the Southern slope of Mycale (Samsun Dağ). But she continued her commercial activities by means of a small harbor four kilometers away. (Priene is now fifteen kllo- meters from the sea). The most important remains of this last city have been excavated on the two middle terraces.
Alexander the Great, who conquered the Persians at the battle of Granicus (Biga Çayı) in 334 B.C., invaded Asia Minör and, despite the resistance of Miletus and certain others, liberated the lonian cities. Thanks to the gold obtained from the Pactolus River, a tri- butary of the Hermes, the Macedonian King was able to rebuiid the temple of Athena in Priene at his own expense.
Priene, subject to the Kings of Pergamun after the defeat of Antiochus III in 190 B.C., fell under Roman domination in 129 B.C- and was annexed to the province of Asia. Later Priene, like many cities of Asia Minör, was occupied by the Pontic King Mithridates in the years 88 – 84 B.C. The city then regained her former luxury under Augustus, and for this reason he was honored in the Temple of Athena.
Like Ephesus and Miletus, Priene became further and further from the sea as a result of the alluvial deposit of the Meander, and a decline set in. İn Byzantine days, her position as the çenter of one of the important churches did not suffice to change her fortunes and the decline continued. At the beginning of the 14 th century, when Turkish domination was firmly estabiished, Priene was reduced to the status of an insignificant town.
Bias, one of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece, was born in Priene, in the 6th century B.C. According to PJutarch, this man was sent as an ambassador to Samos during the struggle betvveen Priene. Miletus and Samos. Again according to Plutarch, the King of Egypt sent a wicked subject to the philosopher and requested that he should cut off his most harmful limb: Bias cut out his tongue and sent him back to the King. When Cyrus’ generals captured Priene, the inhabitants escaped with their most valuable possesions. But Bias felt no sorrovv at leaving. «Ali I have I carry with me», he said, explaining that his most valuable possessions were «VVisdom and Thought».
RUINS OF PRİENE
Priene, in the Hellenistic period a small city of 4,000 inhabitants, is situated near the village of Güllübahçe in the southwest of the district of Söke. İt was discovered in the 19th century. After the excavation of the English in 1868 and those of Thomas and Rayet in 1873, its steets and buildings were finally brought to light by the thorough excavations carried out for the Berlin Museum by C. Hümann and later T. Weigand from 1895-8.
If the statues, reliefs, fragments of decoration, friezes, earthen- ware vessels, ceramics, weapons, various tools, marble vases, tablete, medallions and coins vvhich were found at Priene and are now İn the museums of London Paris, Berlin and İstanbul, could be reassembled in Priene itself, they would constitute the most interesting museum of the Classical Orient.
The Walls: If one walks from the German Tower in the village of Güllübahçe towards the mountain, one sees that the city walls, well-preserved in places, have a front and rear face of smooth- hewn rectangular stones. The space betvveen is filled in with rubble and clay.
İn accordance with the techniques of fortification of the times, there are also two-storied towers built independently of the walls. İn the walls, 2,5 kilometers in length, there are 4 gates, the Eastern Gate, the Fountain Gate, the Westem Gate and the Southern Gate.
The Water Supply: The water installations of Priene were extremely good. The water which now powers the milis of Güllübahçe, was the water supply of the ancient city. The installations are to the east of the city. The water was brought to the city by earthen- ware pipes and stored in a water tower. İt then passed into the three pools which can be seen west of the water tower. This water was distributed to ali the buildings and fountains of the city. The present pools are from the Byzantine era, but there were also similar ones in the Hellenistic period.
The Streets.- The streets of the city, built in the period up to the fourth century B.C. açcording to the principles of Hippodamus of Miletus, were laid out regularly in draughtboard pattern, pointing to the four Cardinal points and Crossing one another at right-angles. The main streets are 5-7 meters wide, the subsidiary streets are narrower (3,5-4,5 meters). Under these streets, which are paved with regular stones, is the drainage system. The pavements of this extremely clean city were well-paved, and the terraces, rising from south to north; were connected by steps. The blocks girded by these streets were about 35 by 47 metres. The houses cover an eighth of the area of these blocks.
The Houses: The architect of Priene was Pytheos, and the buildings conform to the rules of proportion and harmony known as Aristos principles. The houses of Priene were so well-built that even our large modern cities might envy them, and were endowed with every comfort even in the Hellenistic era. No house was vvithout a bath, and the plentiful water supply was distributed to the bath- rooms, toilets and kitchens. As many of the houses gave out onto somewhat dark streets, the doors and windows of the rooms opened out onto a Central patio. They were thus able to get plenty of air and light from the patio, and keep out the noise of the Street.
From one side of the patio one could enter the reception room, from the other side the private rooms. The inside walls were not laden with muilti-coloured decoration like those in Pompeii, but merely dlstempered in white. The doors were double-leafed, and the doorways paved with marble. Among the ruins of the houses were found marble reliefs, statues, and bronze and earthenware statues, together with many domestic articles of artistle value. İt is believed
and had along the base of the wall seven foundatlon stones which served as benches. The names of hundreds of youths were inscribed on the walls and columns. To the right and left of the hail were various halis supplementary to the gymnasium… Among these were the Gorybeion, reserved for exercise with big leather balls; the Conisterion, where the body was rubbed with fine sand before being exposed to the sun, and the Elaiothesion, where it was rubbed with olive oil for the same purpose. Aport from these, there were baths for the athletes in a hail (Lutron) decoraied with the heads of lions, from whose mouths water spurted into basins. There are also two marble troughs sunk into the ground for washing feet.
The Stadium: Athletic exhibitions and the contests held on important holidays took place in the City stadium, situated in the Southern part of the town. İt measured 191 x 20 meters, and on one side there was a large area, surrounded by columns to protect it from the rain, and entered by wide steps. İt was built in 130 B.C. There are only seating accomodations on one side. The youths of Priene spent their time playing games in natural surroundings, de- veloping their bodies, and taking part in contests in the stadium.
These exercises were not an end in themselves: they were intended to make the body beautiful with strength and agility. Thus physical training was interpreted as a means to beauty.
The Temple of Athena Polias.- This temple is situated south of the main Street which divides the town in two from the çenter. Of this building, the most famous in the City, only the foundations remain. The architect and sculptor of this building was Pytheus, the theorist of the lonic style, and at the same time a man of letters, sculptor and architect. The temple was built with the financial aid of Alexander the Great. İt was one of the finest examples of lonian architecture in Asia Minör. The long sides each had eleven columns,
Plan of the Temple of Athena, built in classic model by Pytheos.
The Theater: The theater of Priene, next to the Temple of Athena, is, with its eight tiers of seats, the armchairs for those at the front of the orchestra, the side-entrances (Parodoi), and its doors, proscenium and stage in excellent condition, the best- preserved of ali ancient Greek theaters. İt is also important as a source of definite information on where the actors made their
speeches. The stage sectlon comprlsed a rectangular building (skene) with a single storied gallery (proskenion) in front of it
Passing under the proscenium, one reaches the orchestra, paved with regular stones. The orchestra is surrounded by eight rows of seats for the audience. Between the seats and the orchestra there were statues, whose pedestals can stili be seen in their original positions.
There were also five places of honor for the most important men of the City, simple but of beautiful design. As in Athens, the statue of Dionysus stood in their çenter. Before the second century the actors and chorus had performed in the orchestra, and only certain special piays were produced on the actual proscenium. But in Roman times the stage was widened by having its wall taken back two meters. İn this way it was made possible for piays with a large number of actors to be performed on the proscenium. As the new stage could not be seen from the seats of honor (proedrie) in the front row, the place of honor was moved back to the fifth tier, a little above the level of the new stage.
The importance of this new stage was that it clearly showed the relationship between the actors and the chorus in the ancient Greek piays.
İn their time, art, now often reduced to a mere entertainment, occupied a much more important position. They lived in the same world as the characters of the tragedies and comedies. They sought natural beauty and poetry rather than luxury and magnificent decors.