Though written as an academic text this paper has a stand between fiction and facts. It is a tribute to the history of the places I live, surely in the way that I dream. So I thought it might be possible to publish it here on the blog due to its narrative qualities. It was originally produced in English maybe if I have the time, one day I will translate it to Turkish as well.
On
the dawn of May 12 in
147 AD Senator Quintus reached
the plain of Pergamon with his men, eight weeks after departing from Rome,
heading off to Ostia, getting on a ship of his majesty Antoninus Pius and
reaching the western shores of Asia Minor in Ephesos to deliver a letter from
the emperor himself to the governor. Quintus was assigned to hand in the orders
of the emperor for the upcoming celebrations of the nine-hundredth anniversary of the foundation of Rome
as well as to control the state of the important cities of western Asia Minor
and make sure they had contributed to the celebrations aptly. Though Quintus
had travelled outside Italy more than once, it was his first journey to Asia
Minor. Thus, he was a bit anxious on his set out from Ephesos. Finding one's
way in an unknown province and leading his squad at the same time would be a
challenge. After all, this land was not Rome.
Soon
after Senator Quintus and his squad had left the city, the marble paved road
turned into cut limestone and then to slate, the villas and privately owned
gardens were taken over by regularly lined fertile
fields,
which were only pierced by the finely paved roads they were following on. To
Quintus' surprise, they had no time to get lost for each junction they came
across employed a well executed milestone showing the distances and directions
to the neighbouring cities as well as the distance and directions to Rome. The
junctions closer to the cities were sometimes marked with gates, triumphal
arches and the more rural ones sometimes had fountains. Without ever noticing,
thousands of miles away from his homeland, the capital of the Empire, Senator
Quintus started to feel a familiarity in this foreign land. For in his mind, he
could clearly make a connection with Rome through this centralized network of
roads; regardless of his position in the world, he could visualize himself
departing from a known point – Miliarum Aureum column in the Capitol,
having all his journey, controlling the conquered land and then turning back
home safely as all roads would finally lead to Rome.
During the first day of the ride from Ephesos to
Pergamon, the group came along several cities. Quintus realized that just like
Ephesus these cities were still using Greek in their daily life. The people
were dressed differently than the citizens in Rome. The majority of
architecture was mostly several hundred years old executed in a local style. He
could observe that this land had had a long tradition, much older than the
Empire. Yet, in many ways these cities felt as Roman as Rome itself. “What is
it then...” he thought, “...that we call Roman in this land?”. It wasn't until
they reached Smyrna the very same night that Senator Quintus could put forward
an answer to his question. Being midway on their route, Smyrna was the ideal
place to camp overnight. Surely, long before he started his travel Quintus was
well informed about the three important cities of Asia; namely Ephesos, Smyrna
and Pergamon, which were competing with each other to receive the title of “the
greatest city of Asia”. Yet, he thought the
“greatness” of these cities were a bit exaggurated and their “Roman” nature was
questionable. So on his way, Quintus wanted to gather as much information as he
could and validate his ideas. That was why he accepted to meet Aelius Aristides of Smyrna, the orator,
in his camp.Aristides
told him that the city was founded by Alexander the Great and each Smyrnian was
proud of this history. But it was no guarantee for a long term peace in the
territory. The city had willingly entered the Roman rule
350 years ago and for each day they had spent under the empire they were beyond
pleased. As Rome bestowed freedom (the city was free of garrisons or any kind
of military force) and citizenship to the city it was only “a fair price to pay
annual taxes” he added. Senator Quintus was aware
that Smyrna or the other western Asia Minor cities were not as free as their
inhabitants would have liked to think. It was true that the territory was
divided into provinces ruled by local governors. They were few in number and an
ordinary citizen would hardly meet one in his lifetime. But each of the
governors was responsible to the senate in Rome.
And the cities themselves had municipial officials instead of the former
priests and tyrants. It was Rome's choice to make
use of the local heritages and values for her own good which was perceived as
“freedom” by the cities themselves.
So, there was a mutualistic relationship between the centre and the provinces
as long as the cities behaved well. In other words, Rome's invisible sword was
always hanging upon the provinces. The only surprise here for Quintus was to
see the enthusiasm put forward by the cities to become “Roman” by honouring the
Emperor and showing their loyalty to the Empire in every way they could find.
Peculiarly in the case of Smyrna this effort was taken to the extreme as the
city was one of the earliest places in Asia Minor to accept Roman rule and
start the cult of goddess “Roma”.
During
their second day on the road the group passed by several other cities when they
finally reached the Atarneus plain to camp overnight. Atarneus was Pergamon's
harbour and Quintus felt a relief as he knew they were only a few hours away
from Pergamon.
Thus,
on the dawn of May
12 in
147 AD, following the paved road from the Atarneus plain northeast into the
Pergamon plain; the group was greeted by the acropolis of the town high in the
distance. Here and there the old, strong fortifications were visible following
the natural outlines of the topography but they were mostly obscured by the
outer quarters of the city overflowing and encircling them. Two big tumuli
along with several tombs were marking the entrance to the city.
Soon the group passed under the arches of the southern city gate. Quintus
raised his head and saw the one building clad in white marble, crowning the
hill of the acropolis at the highest spot, shining in the morning light to gaze
at the newcomers. This
was the Temple of Trajan. Trajan as Jupiter Amicalis, along with his successor
Hadrian, was overseeing, ruling and protecting the city of Pergamon just as
much as any other city of the Empire. For Quintus and his men this was Rome in
idea and flesh: The Capitol was watching the capital of the Empire, at the
crossing of the roads, with its Temples of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva.
The Traianeum was standing at the end of all the roads converging north, rising
on the ancient Temple of Dionysos to his left and Athena to his right. As
Aelius Aristides had told Quintus, there was no army, not even a soldier in
sight.
Yet, the power of the system and the essence of this power, the Roman army, was
existent in the body of this single building dominating the whole landscape,
for Jupiter was the main deity of the Empire and the patron of the Roman army.
Quintus silently hailed his emperors/deities and proceeded.
The
colonnaded street, lined with shops selling all sorts of Pergamene goods, was slowly awakening. The smell of the
freshly baked bread and cooking food was enticing but Quintus had to find the
noble Aulus Julius Quadratus. He was
sure that Quadratus would welcome them well. So the road had led them through
the baths onto the Forum. The Forum was
an open space of roughly 300 by 600 roman feet, surrounded by colonnades on all
sides alike.
To the east Quintus realized an even longer colonnade of granite columns and
marble capitals serving to the Sanctuary of
Egyptian Gods. Behind the propylon rose the round temples themselves
with a rectangular one in between, totally clad with marble and finished with
architectural details of Egyptian tradition. For the Roman of the second
century it was not surprising to find the Egyptian gods in the heart of a city
in Asia.
The Empire was celebrating the eastern gods as much as the -mostly converted to
Roman- members of the Greek Pantheon along with deified emperors.
Quintus knew both the Traianeum and the Temples of the Egyptian Gods were built
during the reign of Hadrian. Though the outcome was different, for the Senator
both served the same purpose: These edifices stood there to visualize the power
of Rome. They were the solid evidence of “compromise between subjectivities and
the effort to build something new out of the potential conflicts of identity
between conquering Rome and her provinces”.
So it wasn't the content but the siting of the Sanctuary itself over the line
of the river Selinus that made the whole ensemble remarkable for the Senator.
In
the Forum, Quintus and his men were immediately recognized and a few minutes
later they were greeted by Quadratus. He took them to his house on the street
overlooking the Forum. The entrance facade of the house was far from attractive
(a plain wall with the only opening being the entrance door flanked by shops on
both sides) and Quintus was frustrated for a moment. But this moment only
lasted a few seconds until he stepped into the house. The group was welcomed by
an atrium filled with light and the sound of the flowing water, extending to
the right and left with symmetrical exedras, embellished with the masks of
Quadratus’ ancestors, and
reaching as far as the lush green peristyle garden on the same line at the back
of the house.
It was a piece of nature captured inside. Yet, it was not pure nature itself,
it was modified and challenged under the hands of the Roman. Just like the
regular grids of the roads that had taken Quintus so easily from the plain into
the city and the Forum, the house was designed to lead its visitors from the
entrance to its interior. The
Senator had the same familiar feeling again: This house was so new to him, yet
if he closed his eyes he could have imagined that he was in his house back in
the skirts of the Capitol.
After
a long breakfast and good rest Quadratus had offered to take the group to Asklepion in the afternoon. Quintus was very eager to
go as he wanted to meet Gallieanus,
the doctor there and see the famous Sanctuary of Asclepius. The sacred way
leading to the Asclepion was not far from Quadratus’ house. Soon they were
walking on the busy road towards southwest shaded with vaults overhead. They
passed by the theater and as they approached the Sanctuary, Quintus realized
the votives being sold in the shops. He bought some for himself and his family.
At the end of the colonnaded street, turning abrubtly to the west, the group
entered the propylea of the Sanctuary. Down the steps was the courtyard
surrounded with colonnades on three sides. Everywhere were people walking, praying
and talking. As they went on, Quintus could see the round temple of Asclepius,
almost a copy of the Pantheon. They had spent a lot of time
at different parts of the Sanctuary, talked with Gallieanus about Quintus’
rheumatism, worshipped to Asclepius and made offerings until the sun was ready
to set down.
When
the evening came along it was time to go to the Amphitheatre to watch the naval
games. Walking back the sacred way, proceeding to the north of the theater,
Quintus could hear the roaring crowd as they approached the Amphitheater set on
the Selinus. The senator did not care much about the details of the structure.
Pergamon was bestowed an amphitheater and it was a priviledge to be granted to
only three cities in Asia. Still, he thought, “nothing like the Colosseum”.
But he was really entertained that evening.
The
next day Quintus and his men went to the Acropolis and paid visits to Traianeum
and other sacred sites. From the terrace of the Traianeum, Quintus could see
Pergamon more clearly. They were close to the heart of the ancient Pergamon,
yet everywhere was the stamp of Rome. It was a fountain and colonnade here, a
triumphal arch and a statue there.
The acropolis was the head of Pergamon. Down the hill was lying the body,
complete with the forum, baths, theater, amphitheater, stadium and several
temples. Streets, colonnades, gates and bridges were connecting them, which
were embraced with houses and shops, too. “Perfect...” said Quintus, “Pergamon
will contribute to the games beyond our expectations”.
Surely it was not an easy
task to take a deep rooted Hellenistic town like Pergamon and turn it into a
Roman city like the one Quintus was experiencing and enjoying. If we were to
ask the people of Pergamon, they would say that they have worked hard. And true
it was.
When Pergamon first chose to
be Roman the city was flourishing but the land was not enough as the city was
contained within the fortifications. Not every person had the same reach to all
amenities. So the people were in need of the peace that would be brought on by
Rome and develop Pergamon. Yet, financially they were on their own. They had to
pay taxes and make the necessary adjustments. Their approach to architecture
had to be flexible, free of fixed rules or recipes but dependent on principles.
Indeed, if Quintus had a second look at even the most “perfect” structure in
town, the Traianeum, he would detect many flaws.
The construction was pressured under the decreasing time before the visit of
Hadrian, so the latest parts to be added were either unfinished, semi-finished
or wrongly executed. Similarly, the structures of Asclepion were indeed far
from being perfect.
Actually, almost all the
cities Quintus had visited had to go through a similar transformation. None of
the western Anatolian cities were alike, each employed different buildings and
programmes. Yet, Quintus would easily call them Roman. It wasn't the single
buildings themselves that made a city Roman in character. It was the way how
they were bound together. The city armature/ skeleton of the city, formed by
roads, streets, supported by gates and arches, dressed with columns/pilasters
of several orders was the unifying element and the secret of “Romanization”.
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