View source for Selge

{{Short description|Human settlement}}
{{Infobox ancient site
  |name = Selge
  |native_name = Σέλγη
  |alternate_name = 
  |image = Selge 08 04 2015 Theater von Selge.jpg
  |alt = 
  |caption = [[Roman theatre (structure)|Roman theatre]] of Selge
  |map_type = Turkey
  |map_alt = 
  |map_size= 
  |coordinates = {{coord|37|13|46|N|31|07|38|E|display=inline,title}}
  |location = [[Antalya Province]], [[Turkey]]
  |region = [[Pisidia]]
  |type = Settlement
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  |cultures = [[Ancient Greece|Greek]], [[Ancient Rome|Roman]]
  |dependency_of = 
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  |archaeologists = 
  |condition = In ruins
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}}
'''Selge''' ({{langx|el|Σέλγη}}) was an important city in [[ancient Pisidia]] and later in [[ancient Pamphylia|Pamphylia]], on the southern slope of [[Mount Taurus]], modern [[Antalya Province]], [[Turkey]], at the part where the river [[Eurymedon River]] ({{langx|tr|Köprüçay}}) forces its way through the mountains towards the south.

==History==
The town was believed to be a [[Colonies in antiquity|Greek colony]], for [[Strabo]]<ref>Strabo, ''[[Geographica (Strabo)|Geographia]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Strab.+12.7.1 xii. 7]</ref> states that it was founded by [[Sparta]]ns, but adds the somewhat unintelligible remark that previously it had been founded by [[Calchas]]. [[Stephanus of Byzantium]], in the ''Ethnica'', also wrote that the city was a Lacedaemon colony.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/241#S560.1 STEPHANUS OF BYZANTIUM, ETHNICA, § S560.1]</ref> The [[acropolis]] of Selge bore the name of Kesbedion.<ref>[[Polybius]], ''Histories'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+5.76 v. 76]</ref> The district in which the town was situated was extremely fertile, producing abundance of oil and wine, but the town itself was difficult of access, being surrounded by precipices and beds of torrents flowing towards the Eurymedon and [[Cestrus River|Cestrus (today Aksu)]], and requiring bridges to make them passable. In consequence of its excellent laws and political constitution, Selge rose to the rank of the most powerful and populous city of Pisidia, and at one time was able to send an army of 20,000 men into the field. Owing to these circumstances, and the valour of its inhabitants, for which they were regarded as worthy kinsmen of the Spartans, the Selgians were never subject to any foreign power, but remained in the enjoyment of their own freedom and independence. When [[Alexander the Great]] passed through Pisidia (333 BC), Selge sent an embassy to him and gained his favour and friendship.<ref>[[Arrian]], ''[[Anabasis Alexandri]]'', [http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book1b.asp i. 28]</ref> At that time they were at war with [[Termessos]].

[[File:Eurymedon Bridge, Selge, Turkey. Pic 05.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[Eurymedon Bridge (Selge)|Eurymedon Bridge]] near Selge]]

At the period when [[Achaeus (general)|Achaeus]] had made himself master of Western Asia, Selge were at war with [[Pednelissus]], which was besieged by them; and Achaeus, on the invitation of Pednelissus, sent a large force against Selge (218 BC). After a long and vigorous siege, the Selgians, being betrayed and despairing of resisting Achaeus any longer, sent deputies to sue for peace, which was granted to them on the following terms: they agreed to pay immediately 400 [[talent (weight)|talents]], to restore the prisoners of Pednelissus, and after a time to pay 300 talents in addition.<ref>Polybius, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+5.72 v. 72-77]</ref> In the 5th century AD [[Zosimus (historian)|Zosimus]]<ref>Zosimus, ''Historia Nova'', [http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/zosimus05_book5.htm v. 15]</ref> calls it indeed a little town, but it was still strong enough to repel a body of [[Goths]]. It is strange that [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] does not notice Selge, for it is known from its coins that it was still a flourishing town in the time of [[Hadrian]]; and it is also mentioned in [[Ptolemy]]<ref>Ptolemy, ''[[Geographia (Ptolemy)|Geographia]]'', v. 5</ref> and [[Hierocles (author of Synecdemus)|Hierocles]]. Independently of wine and oil, the country about Selge was rich in timber, and a variety of trees, among which the [[storax]] was much valued from its yielding a strong perfume. Selge was also celebrated for an ointment prepared from the iris root.<ref>Strabo, ibid.; Pliny, ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Naturalis Historia]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+12.5 xii. 5], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+21.19 xxi. 19]</ref>

==Remains==
The remains of the city consist mainly of parts of the encircling wall and of the acropolis. A few traces have survived of the [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|gymnasium]], the [[stoa]], the [[stadium]] and the [[basilica]]. There are also the outlines of two temples, but the best conserved monument is the [[theater]], restored in the 3rd century AD. Selge was the seat of a [[bishop]]; it remains a [[titular see]] of the [[Roman Catholic Church]].<ref>[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2s77.html Catholic Hierarchy]</ref>
<gallery>
File:Selge panorama.jpg|Selge Theatre and surroundings panorama
File:Selge Theatre from far 5088.jpg|Selge Theatre from far
File:Selge Theatre from side 5101.jpg|Selge Theatre from side
File:Selge Theatre Inside 5112.jpg|Selge Theatre Inside
File:Selge Theatre Inside 5113.jpg|Selge Theatre Inside
File:Selge Theatre and countryside 5114.jpg|Selge Theatre and countryside
File:Selge Unknown structure 5128.jpg|Selge Unknown structure
File:Selge Unknown structure 5134.jpg|Selge Unknown structure
File:Selge Rubble 5117.jpg|Selge Rubble
File:Selge Aquaduct 5150.jpg|Selge Aqueduct
</gallery>

==Nearby==
Halfway on the road to Selge from the [[Pamphylia]]n coastal plain, [[Eurymedon Bridge (Selge)|a well-preserved Roman Bridge]] crosses the deep [[Eurymedon Bridge (Selge)|Eurymedon]] valley.

==Bishopric==
Selge was a [[cathedra|see]] of an ancient bishopric of the Roman province of Pamphylia Prima in the civil diocese of Asia which today survives only as a suppressed seat of the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]] and a [[titular see]] of the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]].<ref>[[Pius Bonifacius Gams]], Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae, (Leipzig, 1931), p. 450</ref><ref>{{Oriens Christianus|volume=1|at=cols. 1011-1012}}</ref>

The Bishopric is documented in the ''[[Notitiae Episcopatuum]]'' of the Patriarchate of Constantinople until the fourteenth century.<ref>Jean Darrouzès, Notitiae episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae. Texte critique, introduction et notes, Parigi 1981: indice page. 513.</ref> Its lapse is probably due to the Islamic conquest of Turkey.

Since the nineteenth century Selge has been counted among the titular archbishopric headquarters of the Catholic Church; the title has not been assigned since September 13, 1969.

===Byzantine-era residential bishops===
* Uranion (mentioned in 325)<ref>Gelzer, Patrum Nicaenorum nomina, Lipsia 1898, pp. LX-LIV. </ref>
* Nunechius  (mentioned in 431)<ref>Sylvain Destephen, Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire 3. Prosopographie du diocèse d'Asie (325-641), Paris 2008, p. 727</ref> 
* Marcianus  (mentioned in 869) who intervened in the [[Fourth Council of Constantinople (Catholic Church)|Council of Constantinople]] of 869-870 
* Gregory  (mentioned in 879)
* Basil  (around 10th century)
* Theodore  (around 11th century)<ref>{{Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art|volume=2|page= 177}}</ref>

===Titular Catholic Archbishops===
* [[Antoine-Marie-Joseph Usse]],  (1893 -  1905) 
* [[Eduardo Solar Vicuña]]  (1914 - 1920) 
* [[Raymond-René Lerouge]], (1920-1949) 
* [[João Batista Portocarrero Costa]]  (1953-1959) 
* [[Bernard James Sheil]] (1959-1969)

==See also==
*[[Perga]]

==References==
* Hellenkemper, Hansgerd; Hild, Friedrich (2004). ''Tabula Imperii Byzantini 8: Lykien und Pamphylien.'' Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, pp. 835–838.
* Machatschek, Alois; Schwarz, Mario (1981). ''Bauforschungen in Selge.'' Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
* Nollé, Johannes; Schindler, Friedel (1991). ''Die Inschriften von Selge.'' Bonn: Dr. Rudolf Habelt.
* Nollé, Johannes (2015). ''Münzen, Bäume und Gelehrte. Zum ‹Naturheiligtum› der pisidischen Bergstadt Selge.'' München.
*[[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]] (editor); ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064&layout=&loc=selge-geo "Selge"], [[London]], (1854)
*Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister (editors); ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0006&layout=&loc=&query=toc The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0006&layout=&loc=selge "Selge"], [[Princeton, New Jersey|Princeton]], (1976)
*''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'', [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13692a.htm "Selge"], [[New York City]], (1913)

==Notes==
{{Commons category|Selge}}
{{reflist}}

{{SmithDGRG|title=Selge}}
{{Former settlements in Turkey}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Greek colonies in Anatolia]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Antalya Province]]
[[Category:Populated places in Pisidia]]
[[Category:Populated places in ancient Pamphylia]]
[[Category:Former populated places in Turkey]]
[[Category:Geography of Antalya Province]]
[[Category:History of Antalya Province]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey]]
[[Category:Roman towns and cities in Turkey]]
[[Category:Catholic titular sees in Asia]]
[[Category:Manavgat District]]