ANTIOCHIA AD CRAGUM IN WESTERN ROUGH CILICIA
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2020-12-20

In the mid-first century CE, Antiochus IV of Commagene founded several cities along the coast of western Rough Cilicia. One of these foundations was Antiochia ad Cragum, a city whose territory was once occupied by the infamous Cilician pirates. Few traces of the site’s pirate past survive. More information of the city’s later history is becoming known as a result of 12 years of excavation. Ceramic and scientific dating of several of the large, still well-preserved public structures, such as a Temple, Bath and Bouleuterion indicate construction dates from the late first century CE into the early third century CE. The seeming tranquility of the city was interrupted in 260 by Sasanian raids led by King Shapur I. Many of the cities along the Rough Cilician coast were affected by the razzia, including Antiochia. We observe that these Cilician cities—Antiochia among them—become fortified in the later third century likely as an afterthought following these raids, and the architectural fabric of the city appears to have changed as well. This paper traces the history of the site, from its pirate origins in the late Hellenistic era into Late Antiquity, and also documents the 13 years of archaeological investigations, including the major discoveries of the Great Bath Mosaic and the Civic Bouleuterion.


Author(s): Hoff, Michael (University of Nebraska)