page_title: History of Anatolia
section_title: Anatolia before the 4th century: Peace and the Goths
hierarchical_section_title: History of Anatolia / Classical Antiquity / Roman period / Anatolia before the 4th century: Peace and the Goths
caption_attribution_description: Source: English Wikipedia, original upload 8 June 2005 by Panairjdde Description: Valerian. 253-260 AD. AV Aureus (2.82 gm). Struck 255-256 AD. Rome mint.&#160;:IMP C P LIC VALERIANVS P F AVG, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right&#160;:FELICI-TAS AVGG, Felicitas standing left, holding long caduceus and cornucopia. RIC V pt. 1, 34; Göbl 20a; Cohen 52.
context_page_description: The history of Anatolia can be roughly subdivided into prehistory, Ancient Near East, Classical Anatolia, Hellenistic Anatolia, Byzantine Anatolia, followed by the gradual Seljuk/Ottoman conquest in the 13th to 14th centuries, Ottoman Anatolia and the modern history of the Republic of Turkey.
context_section_description: From the rule of Augustus onwards until that of Constantine I, Anatolia enjoyed relative peace that allowed itself to grow as a region. The emperor Augustus removed all debts owed to the Roman Empire by the provinces and protectorates there, making advanced progress possible. Roads were built to connect the larger cities in order to improve trade and transportation, and the abundance of high outputs in agricultural pursuits made more money for everyone involved. Settlement was encouraged, and local governors did not place a heavy burden upon the people with regards to taxation. The wealth gained from the peace and prosperity prevented great tragedy as powerful earthquakes tore through the region, and help was given from the Roman government and other parties. Through it all was produced some of the most respected scientific men of that period- the philosopher Dio of Bithynia, the medical mind of Galen from Pergamon, and the historians Memnon of Heraclea and Cassius Dio of Nicaea.
  By the middle of the 3rd century, everything that had been built by peace was being threatened by a new enemy, the Goths. As the inroads to central Europe through Macedonia, Italy, and Germania were all defended successfully by the Romans, the Goths found Anatolia to be irresistible due to its wealth and deteriorating defenses. Using a captured fleet of ships from the Bosphorus and flat-bottomed boats to cross the Black Sea, they sailed in 256 around the eastern shores, landing in the coastal city of Trebizond. What ensued was a huge embarrassment for Pontus — the wealth of the city was absconded, a larger number of ships were confiscated, and they entered the interior without much to turn them back. A second invasion of Anatolia through Bithynia brought even more terror inland and wanton destruction. The Goths entered Chalcedon and used it as a base by which to expand their operations, sacking Nicomedia, Prusa, Apamea, Cius, and Nice in turn. Only the turn of the weather during a fall season kept them from doing any more harm to those outside the realm of the province. The Goths managed a third attack upon not only the coastline of western Anatolia, but in Greece and Italy as well. Despite the Romans under their emperor Valerian finally turning them away, it did not stop the Goths from first destroying the Temple of Diana in Ephesus and the city itself in 263.
caption: Aureus of emperor Valerian.
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