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Asia Minor

Asian part of Turkey

84 dated entries naming Asia Minor, drawn from 78 separate years between 644 BCE and 1488 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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7th century BC

  • 644 BCECimmerian forces from Anatolia conquer Sardis and reach the peak of their power. King Gyges of Lydia has spent most of his 28-year reign fighting his southern and western neighbors in an effort to gain suzerainty over all of Western Asia Minor. He has helped the rebellion of Psamtik I, but he receives no support from his erstwhile Assyrian ally Ashurbanipal. Gyges falls in a battle against the Cimmerians under king Tugdamme (approximate date).source

6th century BC

  • 507 BCEAthenians send an embassy to the Achaemenid satrap of Asia Minor - in the capital city of Sardis - for help in defending against Spartan threats, but refuse to accept Persian terms, which demanded the return of Hippias' tyranny.source

5th century BC

  • 499 BCEAfter a failed attack on the rebellious island of Naxos in c. 501 BC (on behalf of the Persians), Aristagoras, tyrant of Miletus, to save himself from the wrath of Persia, plans a revolt with the Milesians and the other Ionians. With the encouragement of Histiaeus (his father-in-law and former tyrant of Miletus), Aristagoras induces the Ionian cities of Asia Minor to revolt against Persia, thus instigating the Ionian Revolt and beginning the Greco-Persian Wars between Greece and Persia. The pro-Persian tyrant of Mytilene is stoned to death.source
  • 466 BCECimon carries the war against Persia into Asia Minor and wins the Battle of the Eurymedon in Pamphylia. This is a decisive defeat of the Persians as Cimon's land and sea forces capture the Persian camp and destroy or capture the entire Persian fleet of 200 triremes (manned by Phoenicians). Many new allies of Athens are now recruited, such as the trading city of Phaselis on the Lycian-Pamphylian border.source
  • 412 BCEAlcibiades helps stir up revolts amongst Athens' allies in Ionia, on the west coast of Asia Minor. However, Alcibiades loses the confidence of the Spartans and antagonises their king Agis II. As a result, he flees to the court of the Persian satrap Tissaphernes. Alcibiades advises Tissaphernes to withdraw his support from Sparta while conspiring with the oligarchic party in Athens, as Sparta's allied cities break away in a series of revolts.source
  • 412 BCEThe Persians under Darius II see their opportunity to play off one Greek city-state against another and to recover control of the Greek cities of Asia Minor, which have been under Athenian control since 449 BC. The satraps of Asia Minor, Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus, are ordered to collect overdue tribute.source
  • 408 BCEKing Darius II of Persia decides to continue the war against Athens and give support to the Spartans. His wife, Parysatis, persuades him to appoint his younger son, Cyrus, as satrap (governor) of Lydia, Phrygia, and Cappadocia and commander in chief of the Achaemenian forces in Asia Minor in place of Tissaphernes.source
  • 404 BCEEmerging after the Spartan victory at Aegospotami, the former Athenian leader, Alcibiades, takes refuge in Phrygia in northwestern Asia Minor with the Persian satrap, Pharnabazus, and seeks their assistance for the Athenians. The Spartans discover his plans and arrange with Pharnabazus to have him assassinated.source

4th century BC

  • 400 BCEArtaxerxes II, king of Persia, appoints Tissaphernes to take over all the districts in Asia Minor over which Artaxerxes II's brother Cyrus had been governor before his revolt.source
  • 400 BCETheodorus from Phokaia in Asia Minor, builds the Tholos of Delphi, the sanctuary of Athena Pronaia in Delphi (approximate date).source
  • 397 BCECalled on by the Ionians to assist them against the Persian King Artaxerxes II, King Agesilaus II of Sparta launches an ambitious campaign in Asia Minor.source
  • 396 BCEAgesilaus II, the King of Sparta, campaigns successfully in Asia Minor against the Persian satraps Pharnabazus and Tissaphernes and inflicts a major defeat on Tissaphernes at Sardis. Agesilaus agrees to a three months' truce with the Persians under Tissaphernes, the satrap of Lydia and Caria. Negotiations conducted during that time prove fruitless, and on its termination, Agesilaus raids Phrygia, where he easily captures an immense amount of booty, since Tissaphernes has concentrated his troops in Caria.source
  • 355 BCEKing Artaxerxes III of Persia forces Athens to conclude a peace which requires the city to leave Asia Minor and to acknowledge the independence of its rebellious allies.source
  • 347 BCEAristotle leaves Athens due to the anti-Macedonian feeling that arises in Athens after Philip II of Macedon has sacked the Greek city-state of Olynthus in 348 BC. With him goes another Academy member of note, Xenocrates of Chalcedon. They establish a new academy on the Asia Minor side of the Aegean Sea at the newly built town of Assus.source
  • 336 BCEFollowing his assassination, Philip II of Macedon is succeeded by his son Alexander III. Suspecting the princes of the Lynkestis region of killing Phillip II, Alexander executes them all. The League of Corinth promotes Alexander to general of a unified Greek army for its planned invasion of Asia Minor.source
  • 336 BCEMacedonian troops, commanded by Parmenion, trusted lieutenant of Philip II, arrive in Asia Minor, but are driven back by Persian forces under the command of the Greek mercenary Memnon of Rhodes.source
  • 334 BCEAlexander's victory exposes western Asia Minor to the Macedonians, and most of the cities in the region hasten to open their gates. The Ionian city of Miletus defies Alexander and he has to subdue it through a siege.source
  • 333 BCEKing Alexander of Macedonia conquers western Asia Minor, subduing the hill tribes of Lycia and Pisidia.source
  • 321 BCEAntipater appoints Antigonus commander in chief of his army in Asia Minor and sends him with Craterus to fight against Eumenes, the satrap of Cappadocia and a supporter of Perdiccas.source
  • 321 BCELeaving Eumenes to hold Asia Minor against Craterus and Antigonus, Perdiccas marches against Ptolemy, but when he fails to cross the Nile he is murdered by mutinous officers. Prominent among the mutineers is Seleucus. A truce is arranged, leaving Ptolemy in power in Egypt and Seleucus in power in Babylon.source
  • 320 BCEAlexander the Great's various generals control different parts of Alexander's empire. Ptolemy controls Egypt, Seleucus controls Babylon and Syria, Antipater and his son Cassander control Macedon and Greece, Antigonus controls Phrygia and other parts of Asia Minor, Lysimachus controls Thrace and Pergamum and Eumenes controls the Cappadocia and Pontus areas.source
  • 319 BCEEumenes allies himself with the regent Polyperchon. He manages to escape from the siege of Nora, and his forces soon threaten Syria and Phoenicia. Polyperchon recognises Eumenes as the royal general in Asia Minor.source
  • 313 BCEWith his western border thus strengthened, Cassander sends Prepelaus, one of his top generals, with an army to Asia Minor to aid his ally Asander.source
  • 313 BCEPrepelaus arrives in Caria and starts making plans with Asander. They decide on a surprise attack on Ptolemy, the commander of Antigonus' forces in western Asia Minor. Eupolemus, one of Prepelaus' lieutenants, is sent with 8,000 infantry and 200 cavalry. However, some deserters from Eupolemus' strike force betray their plans to Ptolemy who quickly gathers 8,300 infantry and 600 cavalry from their winter quarters and marches against Eupolemus. In the middle of the night Ptolemy launches a surprise attack on Eupolemus' camp capturing the entire force with ease.source
  • 313 BCEAntigonus, after finding a pass across the Taurus Mountains that was still open, marches his main army into Asia Minor and goes into winter quarters in Celaenae in Phrygia. Meanwhile, Antigonus' admiral Medius is ordered to sail the new Antigonid fleet from Phoenicia into the Aegean. On route he captures one of Cassander's fleets (the one that had escorted Prepelaus to Asia Minor).source
  • 312 BCETelesphorus comes to the aid of Oreus from the Peloponnese with 20 ships and 1,000 infantry, while Antigonid admiral Medius sails to relieve Oreus with a 100 ships from Asia Minor; they break Cassander's blockade.source
  • 311 BCEIn view of the threat by Seleucus to his control of the East, Antigonus decides to make peace with all of his adversaries, except Seleucus, who now holds Babylon. All of the diadochi confirm the existing boundaries and the freedom of the Greek cities. Ptolemy and Lysimachus are confirmed as satraps of Egypt and Thrace, respectively, and Antigonus and Cassander are confirmed as commanders of the army in Asia and Europe. Antigonus, no longer regent but now titled the strategos (officer in charge) of the whole of Asia, rules in Syria from the Hellespont to the Euphrates, including Asia Minor.source
  • 308 BCEPtolemy crosses from Asia Minor into Greece, where he takes possession of Corinth, Sicyon and Megara.source
  • 306 BCEAntigonus I Monophthalmus proclaims himself king of Asia Minor and northern Syria thus commencing the Antigonid dynasty. He appoints his son Demetrius king and co-regent.source
  • 302 BCEFollowing their agreement to work together to defeat Antigonus, Seleucus invades Asia Minor from Babylonia, while Ptolemy attacks Syria and Lysimachus moves into the western part of Asia Minor.source
  • 301 BCEIn the Battle of Ipsus in Phrygia, the armies of Antigonus, the ruler of Syria, Asia Minor, Phoenicia and Judea, and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes are defeated by the forces of Lysimachus and Seleucus. Antigonus is killed in the battle.source

3rd century BC

  • 297 BCEDemetrius Poliorcetes returns to Greece with the aim of becoming master of Macedonia. While Demetrius is in Greece, Lysimachus seizes his possessions in Asia Minor.source
  • 288 BCEThe Macedonian King, Demetrius Poliorcetes, faces a combined attack from Lysimachus and Phyrrhus, king of Epirus, after Seleucus, Ptolemy and Lysimachus form a coalition to block plans by Demetrius to invade Asia Minor.source
  • 287 BCEDemetrius besieges Athens without success. He leaves Antigonus in charge of the war in Greece, assembles all his ships and embarks with his troops to attack Caria and Lydia, provinces in Asia Minor controlled by Lysimachus.source
  • 286 BCEAs Demetrius Poliorcetes and his army are chased across Asia Minor to the Taurus Mountains by the armies of Lysimachus and Seleucus, in Greece his son Antigonus meets with success. Ptolemy's fleet is driven off and Athens surrenders to Antigonus.source
  • 284 BCEPtolemy I's eldest (legitimate) son, Ptolemy Keraunos, whose mother, Eurydice, the daughter of Antipater, had been repudiated by the new King Ptolemy II, flees Egypt to the court of Lysimachus, the king of Thrace, Macedon and Asia Minor.source
  • 282 BCEThe city of Pergamum in Asia Minor ends its allegiance to Lysimachus. Its ruler, Philetaerus, transfers his allegiance, as well as the important fortress of Pergamon and his treasury, to Seleucus, who allows him a far larger measure of independence than he had hitherto enjoyed.source
  • 278 BCEAfter their defeats in Greece, the Gauls move into Asia Minor. The Seleucid king Antiochus wins a major battle over the Gauls leading to his being given the title of Soter (Greek for "saviour"). The Gauls settle down to become the "Galatians" and are paid 2,000 talents annually by the Seleucid kings to keep the peace.source
  • 263 BCEPhiletaerus, founder (reigned from 282 BC) of the Attalid kingdom of Pergamum, in northwest Asia Minor (b. c. 343 BC)source
  • 261 BCEThe new Seleucid king Antiochus II reaches an agreement with the king of Macedonia, Antigonus II Gonatas, to work together in trying to push Ptolemy II's fleet and armies out of the Aegean Sea. With Macedonia's support, Antiochus II launches an attack on Ptolemaic outposts in Asia Minor.source
  • 244 BCEThe war in Asia Minor and the Aegean Sea intensifies as the Achaean League allies itself to Ptolemy III Euergetes of Egypt, while Seleucus II secures two allies in the Black Sea region. Ptolemy III's armies reach as far as Bactria and the borders of India in their attacks on the Seleucid Empire.source
  • 241 BCEPeace is finally reached between Ptolemy III and Seleucus II. Ptolemy manages to keep the Orontes River region in Syria and Antioch as well as Ephesus in Asia Minor and Thrace and Cilicia.source

1st century BC

  • 88 BCEAugust: The consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla becomes the first Roman commander to march on Rome with his army and to capture the city by force. This extraordinary act is prompted by his desire to maintain his proconsular command for the First Mithridatic War in Asia Minor. Sulla then murdered his enemy P. Sulpicius Rufus and forced Gaius Marius to flee to Africa.source
  • 66 BCEThe lex Manilia, supported by Cicero gives Pompey command over all of Asia.source
  • 42 BCEMarcus Brutus begins to plunder the cities of Asia Minor, in order to obtain money and soldiers. The inhabitants of Lycia refuse to submit to Rome, and Brutus besieges Xanthus. After destroying their suburbs, the Xanthians withdraw into the heavily fortified city. The Roman legionaries (2,000 men) force the gate and fight their way into the forum. The citizens make a last stand by the temple of Sarpedon and, as night falls, the Roman army conquers the city.source
  • 40 BCEQuintus Labienus occupies Cilicia and marches, with an army, into Anatolia. Most cities surrender without resistance, except for Alabanda and Mylasa. The Parthians restore their territory to nearly the limits of the old Achaemenid Empire. Labienus proclaims himself "Parthian Emperor" of Asia Minor.source
  • 39 BCEMarcus Antonius dispatches Publius Ventidius Bassus with 11 legions to the East and drives Quintus Labienus out of Asia Minor. Labienus retreats into Syria, where he receives Parthian reinforcements. Ventidius finally defeats him in the battle at the Taurus Mountains.source
  • 37 BCEAntony reorganizes Asia Minor under strongmen loyal to him. He raises troops from his allies: Amyntas and Archelaus, kings of Galatia and Cappadocia. The old kingdom of Pontus is restored, from Armenia to the River Halys under Polemon I.source
  • 36 BCESeptember 3 – Battle of Naulochus: Agrippa defeats Sextus Pompeius, a son of Pompeius, in a naval engagement off Naulochus. Sextus escapes with 17 ships to Messana and then to Asia Minor.source
  • 35 BCEMarcus Titius arrives in Syria with a large army and marches to Asia Minor. Sextus is caught in Miletus and executed without trial.source
  • 30 BCESpring – Octavian leads his army to the Dardanelles, ships them across to Asia Minor and marches into Syria where Herod the Great sends him vows of loyalty and thousands of his own troops in support.source

1st century

  • 43Claudius annexes Lycia in Asia Minor, combining it with Pamphylia as a Roman province.source

2nd century

  • 128Hadrian begins his inspection of the provinces of Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt.source
  • 193Battle of Cyzicus and Battle of Nicaea (Asia Minor): Septimius Severus defeats the army under Pescennius.source

3rd century

  • 220The Goths invade Asia Minor and the Balkans.source
  • 256The Goths invade Asia Minor. Dacia is lost for the Roman Empire, and the Goths appear at the walls of Thessalonica.source
  • 258The Goths ravage Asia Minor and Trapezus.source
  • 260Persian king Shapur I destroys Caesarea Mazaca in Asia Minor.source
  • 261Gallienus usurpers: The rebellion of Macrianus Major, Macrianus Minor, and Quietus against Gallienus comes to an end. They march from Asia to Europe but they are defeated in Thrace by Gallienus' general Aureolus, and both Macrianus Major and Macrianus Minor are killed. Quietus flees to Emesa, where he is killed by Odaenathus of Palmyra.source
  • 262The Goths invade Asia Minor and destroy the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.source
  • 276Tacitus campaigns successfully against the Goths who have invaded Asia Minor, and his half-brother, the praetorian prefect Marcus Annius Florianus, continues the campaign.source
  • 280Emperor Probus drives the Alans off to Asia Minor and suppresses the revolt in Gaul; Proculus is executed.source
  • 284Emperor Numerian travels through Bithynia (Asia Minor) on his way home to Rome. Suffering from an inflammation of the eyes, he travels in a closed litter in which soldiers find his decaying corpse.source

4th century

  • 318Emperor Constantine the Great gives the ancient Roman town Drepana (Asia Minor) the name Helenopolis, after his mother Helena, and builds a church in honour of the martyr St. Lucian.source
  • 364February 17 – Emperor Jovian dies after a reign of eight months. He is found dead in his tent at Tyana (Asia Minor) en route back to Constantinople, in suspicious circumstances.source

5th century

  • 497Isaurian War: Anastasius I regains control of the Isauria region (Asia Minor) and has the rebel leaders executed. Anastasius I pacifies the mountain strongholds of the Isaurians, ending the revolt that they began upon his ascension to the throne 6 years ago.source

7th century

  • 621Emperor Heraclius concludes a peace agreement (in exchange for an annual tribute) with the Avars on the Balkan Peninsula, giving him a free hand to assemble Byzantine forces in Asia Minor, for non-military expenditure against the Persian Empire.source
  • 625Battle of Sarus: Heraclius is victorious in a Byzantine assault river crossing. The reinforced Persians under Shahrbaraz are defeated along the Sarus River, near Adana (modern Turkey). Heraclius recaptures Cappadocia and Pontus, and returns to Trapezus to spend the winter. Shahrbaraz retreats in good order, and is able to continue his advance through Asia Minor towards Constantinople.source
  • 638Emperor Heraclius creates a buffer zone (or no man's land) in the heartland of Asia Minor. In the mountainous terrain of Anatolia, the Byzantine forces develop a system of defensive guerrilla warfare. The strategy is known as ‘shadowing warfare’, as it avoids battle with major Muslim invaders, and instead attacks raiding parties on their return when they are laden with booty, captured livestock or prisoners.source
  • 655Battle of the Masts: Emperor Constans II personally commands the Byzantine fleet (500 ships), and sets off to challenge the Arab navy. He sails to the province of Lycia (now in Turkey) in the southern region of Asia Minor. The two forces meet off the coast of Mount Phoenix, near the harbour of Phoenix (modern Finike). The Arabs under Abdullah ibn Sa'ad are victorious in battle, although losses are heavy for both sides. Constans barely escapes to Constantinople.source
  • 688Byzantine–Bulgarian War: Emperor Justinian II carries out a Balkan campaign and marches through Thrace, where he restores Byzantine rule. He establishes a theme administration, and migrates many Bulgars and Slavs to the Opsician Theme (Asia Minor).source

8th century

  • 707Arab–Byzantine War: An Umayyad army under Maslamah ibn Abd al-Malik invades Asia Minor, and lays siege to Tyana (Cappadocia). The fortress city resists, dragging the siege through the winter and into 708.source
  • 712The Bulgars under Tervel, ruler (khagan) of the Bulgarian Empire, raid Thrace and reach the city walls of Constantinople. Skirmishes continue until 716; Emperor Philippicus transfers a Byzantine army from the Opsikion Theme in Asia Minor, to police the Balkan Peninsula.source
  • 720Summer – Emperor Leo III secures the Byzantine frontier, by inviting Slavic settlers into the depopulated districts of the Thracesian Theme (western Asia Minor). He undertakes a set of civil reforms, and reorganizes the theme structure in the Aegean region. Leo's 2-year-old son Constantine V is associated on the throne, and married to Tzitzak, daughter of the Khazar ruler (khagan) Bihar.source
  • 727Siege of Nicaea: Muslim forces under Mu'awiya ibn Hisham (son of Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik) penetrate deep into Asia Minor, and sack the fortress city of Gangra, but unsuccessfully lay siege to Nicaea (northwestern Anatolia).source
  • 745Bubonic plague in Asia Minor kills 1/3 of the population, and subsequently sweeps through the Peloponnese (Balkan Peninsula) (approximate date).source
  • 782Arab–Byzantine War: Arab forces (95,000 men) under Harun al-Rashid, son of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mahdi, cross the Taurus Mountains and capture the Byzantine border fortress of Magida. Harun leaves his lieutenant Al-Rabi' ibn Yunus to besiege the city of Nakoleia (Phrygia), while another force (30,000 men), probably under Yahya ibn Khalid, is sent to raid the western coastlands of Asia Minor. Harun himself, with the main army, advances to the Opsician Theme.source

9th century

  • 804Battle of Krasos: Emperor Nikephoros I refuses to pay the tribute imposed by Caliph Harun al-Rashid of the Abbasid Caliphate. A Muslim-Arab expeditionary force invades Asia Minor. During a surprise attack, Nikephoros suffers a major defeat against the Saracens at Krasos in Phrygia. According to Arabian sources, the Byzantines lose 40,700 men and 4,000 pack animals, while Nikephoros himself is almost killed, but saved by the bravery of his officers.source
  • 824February – A major earthquake strikes Byzantium in Asia Minor (now part of western Turkey) and part of Greece, damaging the city walls of Theodosiopolis (now Barbaros in Turkey) and Heraclea Perinthus at the same time that the forces of Byzantine Emperor Michael II the Amorian are suppressing the rebellion by Thomas the Slav. Both cities surrender after the natural event.source

10th century

  • 948Arab–Byzantine War: Hamdanid forces under Sayf al-Dawla raid into Asia Minor. The Byzantines respond with reprisals led by Leo Phokas the Younger, taking captives and razing the walls of Hadath (modern Turkey).source
  • 960November 8 – Battle of Andrassos: The Byzantines under Leo Phokas the Younger defeat the Hamdanid army (30,000 men) in an ambush in the passages of the Cilician mountains, in south Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Emir Sayf al-Dawla barely manages to escape, and returns to Aleppo with only 300 horsemen. The Hamdanids can no longer afford to raid in Anatolia, which is a turning point in the Arab-Byzantine wars in the East.source
  • 995Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Basil II launches a counter-campaign against the Fatimid Caliphate. He leads a Byzantine expeditionary army (13,000 men) to aid the Hamdanid emir Sa'id al-Dawla, and crosses Asia Minor in only sixteen days. Basil lifts the siege of Aleppo, and takes over the Orontes Valley. He incorporates Syria into the Byzantine Empire (including the larger city of Antioch) which is the seat of its eponymous Patriarch.source

11th century

  • 1032Spring – Emperor Romanos III (Argyros) sends a Byzantine expeditionary army under General Michael Protospatharios, which includes Western auxiliaries and elite troops of Asia Minor, to reinforce the Byzantine position in Calabria (Southern Italy).source

15th century

  • 1488August 17 – The Mamluk Sultanate defeats the Ottoman Empire Army in the Battle of Aga-Cayiri fought in the Cilicia region of Asia Minor, now in Turkey.source

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