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{{short description|Ancient Greek city}}
{{about|the ancient Greek city|Roman fort in Moesia|Cius (castrum)|tablet device from Cisco|Cisco Cius}}
{{Infobox ancient site
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  |region = [[Bursa Province]]
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'''Cius''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|aɪ|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Kίος or Κῖος}} ''Kios''), later renamed '''Prusias on the Sea''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|r|uː|ʒ|ə|s}}; {{langx|la|Prusias ad Mare}}) after king [[Prusias I of Bithynia]], was an [[ancient Greek]] city bordering the Propontis (now known as the [[Sea of Marmara]]), in [[ancient Bithynia|Bithynia]] and in [[ancient Mysia|Mysia]] (in modern northwestern Turkey), and had a long history, being mentioned by [[Herodotus]], [[Xenophon]], [[Aristotle]], [[Strabo]] and [[Apollonius Rhodius]].

== Geography ==
Cius was strategically placed at the head of a gulf in the Propontis, called the gulf of Cius, or ''Cianus Sinus''. Herodotus calls it '''Cius of Mysia''';<ref name=Herodotus>{{Cite Herodotus|5.122}}</ref> and also [[Xenophon]],<ref>{{Cite Hellenica|1.4.7}}</ref> from which it appears that Mysia, even in Xenophon's time, extended at least as far east as the head of the gulf of Cius. [[Pliny the Elder]] reports that Cius was a [[Milesians (Greek)|Milesian]] colony.<ref>{{Cite Pliny|5.32}}</ref> It was at the foot of [[Mount Arganthonius]], and there was a myth that [[Hylas]], one of the companions of [[Heracles]] on the voyage to [[Colchis]], was carried off by the nymphs when he went to get water here; and also that [[Cius (mythology)|Cius]], another companion of Heracles, on his return from Colchis, stayed here and founded the city, to which he gave his name.<ref>{{Cite Strabo|p. 564}}</ref> Pliny mentions a river Hylas and a river Cius here, one of which reminds us of the name of the youth who was stolen by the nymphs, and the other of the mythical founder. 

The Cius may be the channel by which the lake Ascania discharges its waters into the gulf of Cius; though Pliny speaks of the ''Ascanium flumen'' as flowing into the gulf, and we must assume that he gives this name to the channel which connects the lake and the sea. If the river Cius is not identical with this channel, it must be a small stream near Cius. As [[Ptolemy]] speaks of the outlets of the Ascanius,<ref>{{Cite Ptolemy|5.1}}</ref> it has been conjectured that there may have been two, and that they may be the Hylas and Cius of Pliny; but the plural ἐκβολαί does not necessarily mean more than a single mouth; and Pliny certainly says that the Ascanius flows into the gulf. However, his geography is a constant cause of difficulty. The position of Cius made it the port for the inland parts, and it became a place of much commercial importance. [[Pomponius Mela]] calls it the most convenient emporium of [[ancient Phrygia|Phrygia]], which was at no great distance from it.

== History ==
Cius was taken by the [[ancient Persia|Persians]], after the burning of [[Sardis]], in 499&nbsp;BC.<ref name=Herodotus/> It joined the [[Aetolian League]], and was destroyed by [[Philip V of Macedon]] in the [[Second Macedonian War]] (200-197), and given by him to [[Prusias I of Bithynia]]. Prusias, who had assisted Philip in ruining Cius, restored it under the name of '''Prusias''' (Προυσιάς).<ref>{{Cite Strabo|p. 563}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Polybius|16.21}}</ref> It was sometimes called Prusias ἐπιθαλασσίη, or "on the sea," to distinguish it from other towns of the same name,<ref>{{Cite Stephanus|''s.v.'' Προῦσα}}</ref><ref name=Memnon>[[Memnon of Heraclea|Memnon]], ''ap. Phot. Cod.'' 224 c.43; Hoeschel's ed. of Photius</ref> or πρὸς θάλασσαν. In the text of [[Memnon of Heraclea|Memnon]] the reading is ''Cierus'';<ref name=Memnon/> but Memnon, both in this and other passages, has confounded Cius and [[Cierus]]. But it is remarked that Cius must either have still existed by the side of the new city, or must have recovered its old name; for Pliny mentions Cius, and also Mela,<ref>{{Cite Mela|1.19}}</ref> [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]],<ref>[[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]], ''Historia Nova'', 1.35</ref> and writers of a still later date. It was a member of the [[Delian League]].<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/32#259 Athenian Tribute Lists]</ref>

It was an important chain in the ancient [[Silk Road]] and became known as a wealthy town.

== Coins ==
[[File:Moneta_di_cius,_350-330_ac_ca,_inv._601.jpg|thumb|Coin of Cius]]
There are coins of Cius, with the legend Κιανων, belonging to the [[Roman Empire|Roman imperial period]]; and there are coins of Prusias with the epigraph, Προυσιεων των προς θαλασσαν.

== Bishopric ==
Cius became an early Christian [[bishopric]]. Its bishop, Cyrillus, took part in the [[First Council of Nicaea]] in 325, and Theosebius attended the [[Council of Ephesus]]. The names of many of his successors in the first millennium are known from extant contemporary documents. At first a [[suffragan]] of [[Nicomedia]], it soon became an autocephalous [[archdiocese]], being listed as such in ''[[Notitiae Episcopatuum]]'' from the 7th century onward.<ref>Michel Lequien, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0agp0mJFG_sC ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus''], Paris 1740, Vol. I, coll. 631-636</ref><ref>Raymond Janin, v. ''Cius'',  in [https://archive.org/stream/dictionnairedhis12baud#page/522/mode/2up ''Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques''], vol. XII, Paris 1953, coll. 1024-1026</ref><ref>Pius Bonifacius Gams, [http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=65154&dirids=1 ''Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae''], Leipzig 1931, p.&nbsp;443</ref> No longer a residential bishopric, Cius is today listed by the [[Catholic Church]] as a [[titular see]].<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 870</ref>

== Modern history==
Following the [[Population exchange between Greece and Turkey|population exchange]] in 1923, the [[Greeks|Greek]] refugees from Cius established the town of [[Nea Kios]], in [[Argolis]], [[Greece]] and the village of [[Paralia, Pieria|Paralia]], in [[Pieria (regional unit)|Pieria]], [[Greece]]. There are only few remnants of the ancient town and its harbour today. Somewhat more to the west, the new modern town of [[Gemlik]], [[Bursa Province]], [[Turkey]] is found.

== See also ==
* [[List of ancient Greek cities]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{DGRG|title=Cius}}

==References==
*[[Richard Talbert]], [[Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World]] ({{ISBN|0-691-03169-X}}), p.&nbsp;52.

==External links==
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070305072521/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/gazetteer/0114.html Hazlitt, Classical Gazetteer, "Cius"]}}
*[http://www.musesnet.gr/pages/kios/ Kios (Gemlik) - The Greek City in Asia Minor]
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03794a.htm Catholic Encuclopedia - Cius]

{{Former settlements in Turkey|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places in Bithynia]]
[[Category:Populated places in ancient Mysia]]
[[Category:Greek colonies in Bithynia]]
[[Category:Places in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Catholic titular sees in Asia]]
[[Category:Milesian colonies]]
[[Category:Populated places along the Silk Road]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey]]
[[Category:Ruins in Turkey]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Turkey]]
[[Category:History of Bursa Province]]
[[Category:Geography of Bursa Province]]
[[Category:Roman fortifications in Roman Asia]]
[[Category:Members of the Delian League]]