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{{Short description|Ancient city in Phrygia}}
[[File:Roman - Garland Sarcophagus - Walters 2329.jpg|thumb|Sarcophagus dated between 150 and 180 in Dokimeion marble]]
'''Docimium''', '''Docimia''' or '''Docimeium''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|Δοκίμια}} and {{lang|grc|Δοκίμειον}}) was an ancient city of [[Phrygia]], [[Asia Minor]] where there were famous marble quarries.<ref>[[Stephanus of Byzantium|Steph. B.]] ''s. v.'' {{lang|grc|Σύνναδα}}.</ref> The exact site of Docimium was a matter of some dispute until recently; it is now fixed at the modern [[Turkey|Turkish]] town [[İscehisar]], in [[Afyonkarahisar|Afyonkarahisar Province]].<ref>{{Barrington|62 & notes}}</ref>

==History==
This city, as appears from its coins &ndash; which bear the epigraph {{lang|grc|Δημος}} or {{lang|grc|Ιερα Συνκλητος Δοκιμεων Μακεδονεν}} &ndash; where the inhabitants are called [[Macedon]]ians, may have been founded by [[Antigonos Dokimos]].<ref name=CathEnc>{{Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=Docimium |volume=5 |first=Sophron |last=Pétridès |inline=1}}</ref><ref>Smith raises doubt whether the coins are genuine.</ref> The city's name in Greek is Romanized as '''Dokimeion, Dokimia Kome, Dokimaion''', and later '''Dokimion'''.

[[Strabo]] places Docimium somewhere about [[Synnada in Phrygia|Synnada]]: he calls it a village, and says that there is there a quarry of Synnadic stone,<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Kara-Hissar |volume=15 |page=674}}</ref> as the [[ancient Rome|Romans]] call it, but the people of the country call it Docimites and Docimaea; the quarry at first yielded only small pieces of the stone, but owing to the later efforts of the Romans large columns of one piece are taken out, which in variety come near the Alabastrites, so that, though the transport to the sea of such weights is troublesome, still both columns and slabs were brought to Rome of wondrous size and beauty. The word ''Docimaea'' ({{lang|grc|Δοκιμαίαν}}) in this passage of Strabo appears to be corrupt. It should be either {{lang|grc|Δοκιμαῖον}} or {{lang|grc|Δοκιμέα}}. Strabo says that the plain of Synnada is about 60 [[Stadion (unit)|stadia]] long, and beyond it is Docimium. The [[Catholic Encyclopedia]] infers from this that he supposed Docimium to be not far from the limit of the plain. The Table makes it 32 M. P. between Synnada and Docimium, and Docimium is on the road from Synnada to [[Dorylaeum]]; but the number is certainly erroneous. 

Docimium was the most important marble quarry and workshop for [[Sarcophagus|sarcophagi]] until around the late third century when the production of the famous columnar sarcophagi ended.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Niewöhner |first1=Philipp |title=The Archaeology of Byzantine Anatolia From the End of Late Antiquity Until the Coming of the Turks |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190610463 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cgUmDwAAQBAJ |access-date=28 September 2023}}</ref>

== Episcopal see ==
 
Many Christian inscriptions have been found at this site, dating to the time after Constantine. 

Docimium was a [[suffragan]] of [[Synnada in Phrygia|Synnada]] in [[Phrygia Salutaris]]. Six or seven bishops are known, from 344 to 879 ([[Lequien]], ''Oriens Christianus'', I, 853); another bishop is mentioned in an inscription.<ref name=CathEnc/> Docimium is included in the [[Catholic Church]]'s list of [[titular see]]s.<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 882</ref>

== Docimeaen Marble ==
{{main|Pavonazzo marble}}
[[File:Pantheon11111.jpg|thumb|right|Pantheon, Rome. White Docimian marble is used on the floor and some of the columns such as the two protruding columns of the main apse. The white Docimian color on the floor is very dominant.]]

Historically marble from Docimium was generally referred to as "Docimeaen marble" or "Synnadic marble".<ref name="Strabo">{{cite book|author=Strabo|title=Geography|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D5%3Asection%3D16}} "Book 9, chapter 5, section 16"</ref> Docimian marble was highly admired and valued for its unique colors and fine grained quality by ancient people such as the Romans.<ref>{{cite book|author=Donato Attanasio |title=Ancient White Marbles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=08gOUB2qRcQC&q=docimian+marble+church|page=154|year=2003 |isbn=9788882652470}}</ref> When the Romans took control over Docimian quarries, they were impressed by the beautiful color combinations of Docimian Pavonazzetto, which is a type of white marble with purple veins. These colours which streaked the white marble, taken from the city's holy mountain, were attributed to the drops of blood from the dying god [[Attis]].<ref>Robin Lane Fox, ''Pagans and Christians'', p41</ref> Emperors such as [[Augustus]], [[Trajan]] and [[Hadrian]] made extensive use of Docimaean marble to many of their major building projects.<ref>{{cite book|author=Donato Attanasio |title=Ancient White Marbles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=08gOUB2qRcQC&q=ancient+white+marbles|page=157|year=2003 |isbn=9788882652470 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Strabo|title=Geography|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D12%3Achapter%3D8%3Asection%3D14}} Book 12, 8, 14</ref> These include the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]],<ref>{{cite book|author=Anthony Grafton|title=Classical Tradition, Harvard University|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LbqF8z2bq3sC&q=pantheon+pavonazzetto|page=842|year=2010|isbn=9780674035720}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=William Lloyd Macdonald|title=The Pantheon, Harvard University|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vjKDS_XoPXQC&q=The+Pantheon:+Design,+Meaning,+and+Progeny|page=86|year=2002|isbn=9780674010192}}</ref> [[Trajan's Forum]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Gaynor Aaltonen|title=The History of Architecture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Q0EAwAAQBAJ&q=forum+romanum+pavonazzetto&pg=PT92|year=2008|isbn=9781782127970}}chapter, ROME: CROSSING CONTINENTS</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=James E. Packer|title=The Forum of Trajan in Rome |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tn7zf3ecm2wC&q=pavonazzetto|page=120|year=2001|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520226739 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ben Russell|title=The Economics of Roman Stone Trade, Oxford University|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=na0JAgAAQBAJ&q=basilica+ulpia+pavonazzetto|page=229|year=2013|publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780199656394}}</ref> and the [[Basilica Aemilia]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Max Schvoerer|title=ASMOSIA 4, University of Bordeaux|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=51vdxp7FUdwC&q=basilica+aemilia+phrygian|page=278|year=1999|publisher=Presses Univ de Bordeaux |isbn=9782867812446}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Gilbert J. Gorski|title=The Roman Forum, Cambridge University|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6U4QCAAAQBAJ&q=basilica+aemilia+pavonazzetto|page=19|year=2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521192446}}</ref> (see the main article on [[Pavonazzo marble]] for a list of buildings including Docimaean marble).

==References==
*{{SmithDGRG|title=Docimia}}
<references/>

{{coord|38|52|N|30|45|E|region:TR_type:city|display=title}}
{{Former settlements in Turkey|state=collapsed}}

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[[Category:Hellenistic colonies in Anatolia]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey]]
[[Category:Roman towns and cities in Turkey]]
[[Category:Catholic titular sees in Asia]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Turkey]]
[[Category:Geography of Afyonkarahisar Province]]
[[Category:History of Afyonkarahisar Province]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Afyonkarahisar Province]]
[[Category:Populated places of the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Populated places in Phrygia]]
[[Category:Populated places in ancient Galatia]]
[[Category:İscehisar District]]


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