Samosata
Samosata, also known as Samsat, is an ancient city located on the western bank of the Euphrates River in Commagene, present-day southeastern Turkey. Historically significant, it served as a crucial crossing point and a station on major routes connecting the eastern and western parts of the region, including links to Damascus and Lesser Armenia. Founded around 150 BC by King Samos as the royal capital of Commagene, Samosata experienced notable changes throughout its history, including Roman annexation in 17 AD. The city was later renamed Flavia and became the center of an autonomous religious union within the Roman province of Syria.
Samosata is also recognized as the birthplace of the philosopher and satirist Lucian, who contributed significantly to literature during the second century AD. Over time, the city faced various challenges, including sieges and plunder during conflicts with the Sassanian Persians. Archaeological findings reveal remnants of its rich history, including a prehistoric mound, city gates, and structures such as baths and storerooms. Today, Samosata's historical significance continues to draw interest from scholars and visitors alike, highlighting its role in the complex tapestry of ancient civilizations in the region.
Subject Terms
Samosata
Samosate (Samsat)
A city on the west (right) bank of the Euphrates in Commagene, on the northern border of Syria (now southeastern Turkey). The place guarded an important crossing of the river on a principal thoroughfare from west to east, and was a station on another route running from Damascus, Palmyra and Sura up to Lesser Armenia and the Euxine (Black) Sea.
Samosata was inhabited from the sixth millennium BC onward. When Commagene became independent in 162, the town was founded by King Samos as his royal capital (c 150). After the Roman annexation of the kingdom by Tiberius (AD 17), Strabo comments on the fertile, though limited, territory of the city, and indicates that it possessed a bridge over the Euphrates (which now flows five hundred yards away). The kingdom was revived (38) but reannexed by Vespasian (72), whereupon Samosata, compelled to acquiesce, assumed the name of Flavia, inaugurated a new civic era, and became the capital of an autonomous Commagenian religious union (koinon) within the Roman province of Syria. It was the birthplace of one of the leading authors of the age, the popular philosopher and satirist Lucian (c 120–c 180), who wrote in Greek, though his mother tongue was probably Aramaic.
When the eastern empire was overrun by the Sassanian Persian Sapor (Shapur) I, Samosata's garrison was withdrawn (c 256) and the city was plundered, but then Valerian chose it as his headquarters and place of refuge before falling into Persian hands (260). After his capture, the quartermaster general Macrianus lodged himself and his staff there in an attempt to rally and reorganize the army, setting up his sons Macrianus the Younger and Quietus as emperors. During the later empire Samosata was capital of the province of Euphratensis.
The eastern side of the town is dominated by a mound that is largely of prehistoric origin. Soundings elsewhere have located a city gate; and halls, storerooms and baths are revealed by excavations. A coin shows the figure of a seated city goddess (Tyche) within a temple.