.
Obv: bearded Persian archer, testing arrow held in right hand, left hand holding bow, seated on a
tunny.
Rev: Quadripartite incuse square. According to some numismatists, the archer may represent
Pharnabazus II. The representation of the archer later became the canonical form used on the
drachms of the
Parthian Empire stater of Cyzicus, mid 4th century BC. On the obverse is a possible portrait of
Timotheos, wearing a victory wreath, with a tuna fish below.
Ancient The city was said to have been founded by
Pelasgians from
Thessaly, according to tradition at the coming of the
Argonauts; later it received many colonies from
Miletus, allegedly in 756 BC, but its importance began near the end of the
Peloponnesian War when the conflict centered on the sea routes connecting Greece to the Black Sea. At this time, the cities of Athens and Miletus diminished in importance while Cyzicus began to prosper. Commander of the Athenian fleet
Alcibiades defeated the Spartan fleet in a major naval engagement near Cyzicus known as the
Battle of Cyzicus in 410 BC. Famed ancient philosopher
Eudoxus of Cnidus established a school at Cyzicus and went with his pupils to Athens, visiting
Plato. Later he returned to Anatolia to his hometown of
Cnidus, and died circa 350 BC. The era of
Olympiads in Cyzicus was reckoned from 135 or 139. Owing to its advantageous position it speedily acquired commercial importance, and the gold
staters of Cyzicus were a staple currency in the ancient world till they were superseded by those of
Philip of Macedon. Its unique and characteristic coin, the
cyzicenus, was worth 28 drachmae. During the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) Cyzicus was subject to the
Athenians and
Lacedaemonians alternately. In the naval
Battle of Cyzicus in 410 during the
Peloponnesian War, an Athenian fleet routed and completely destroyed a Spartan fleet. At the peace of
Antalcidas (387 BC), like the other Greek cities in Asia, it was made over to
Persia.
Alexander the Great later captured it from the Persians in 334 BC and was later claimed to be responsible for connecting the island to the mainland. The history of the town in
Hellenistic times is closely connected with that of the
Attalids of
Pergamon, with whose extinction it came into direct relations with
Rome. Cyzicus was held for the Romans against King
Mithridates VI of Pontus who besieged it with 300,000 men in 74 BC, the
Siege of Cyzicus, but it withstood him stoutly, and the siege was raised by
Lucullus: the loyalty of the city was rewarded by an extension of territory and other privileges. The Romans favored it and recognized its municipal independence. Cyzicus was the leading city of Northern
Mysia as far as
Troas. Under
Tiberius, it was incorporated into the
Roman Empire but remained the capital of
Mysia (afterwards,
Hellespontus) and became one of the great cities of the ancient world. There was a women's cult at Cyzicus worshiping the goddess
Artemis, which was called Dolon (Δόλων).
Medieval Cyzicus was
captured temporarily by the Arabs led by
Muawiyah I in AD 675. It appears to have been ruined by a series of earthquakes beginning in 443, with the last in 1063. Although its population was transferred to
Artake before the 13th century when the peninsula was occupied by the
Crusaders, in 1324 the metropolitan of Cyzicus was one of three sees in Anatolia which was able to contribute a temporary annual subsidy to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. Following its conquest by the Ottomans it underwent hard times. From a point between 1370 and 1372 until 1387, the metropolitan was empty; Speros Vryonis speculates this was due to financial difficulties. Later in the 14th century, the sees of
Chalcedon and certain patriarchal possessions in Bithynia and Hellespont were bestowed on the metropolitan of Cyzicus. In the
Ottoman era, it was part of the
kaza of Erdek in the
province of Brusa. == Ecclesiastical history ==