The collapse of empire at Gordion in the transition from the Achaemenid to the Hellenistic world

Abstract

Gordion, ancient capital of Phrygia, was a large and thriving city of secondary importance during the period of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (ca. 550-330 BCE). Recent work makes possible a reconsideration of the site: evaluating its architecture, finds and use of landscape within and after the socioeconomic and administrative context of the Achaemenid imperial system enables the following new overview. During the Achaemenid period, Gordion s populace participated in the broad cultural exchanges enabled by the imperial system and may have emphasised animal husbandry. When Alexander s conquest led to the collapse of Achaemenid administrative infrastructure, the impact on Gordion s economy and cultural circumstance was profound. Its population plummeted, the architectural and spatial organisation of the site changed dramatically, and new directions and means of trade and cultural interaction developed. Gordion s archaeological remains reflect and emphasise the tremendous historical and political changes attending the end of empire and the beginning of the Hellenistic period. Ozet: Frigya nın antik başkenti Gordion, Akhaimenid Pers İmparatorluğu döneminde (MÖ. 550-330) ikincil öneme sahip büyük ve gelişen bir şehirdi. Yapılan son çalışmalar bu bölgenin tekrardan değerlendirilmesine imkan vermiştir. Mimari özelliklerinin incelenmesi, bulgular ve arazinin Akhaimenid İmparatorluk sisteminin sosyoekonomik ve idari bağlamı süresince ve öncesinde kullanımının gözlenmesi yeni bir genel bakış açısı sağlamıştır. Akhaimenid döneminde Gordion nüfusu, imparatorluk sisteminin sağladığı imkan ile, geniş kültür alışverişinde bulunmuş ve hayvancılığına önem vermiş olabilir. İskender in fethi ise Akhaimenid idari altyapısının çökmesine ve Gordion ekonomisi ile kültürel durumu üzerinde derin etkiler bırakmasına sebep olmuştur. Gordion un nüfusu oldukça düşmüş; bölgenin mimari ve mekansal organizasyonu önemli ölçüde değişmiş ve ticaret ile kültürel etkileşim için yeni yollar ve yöntemler ortaya çıkmıştır. Gordion un arkeolojik kalıntıları, bir imparatorluğun bitişine ve Helenistik dönemin başlangıcına ait süreçten muazzam tarihi ve politik değişimleri yansıtır ve onlara vurgu yapar. Gordion was the capital of ancient Phrygia, and what happened there at the end of the Achaemenid Persian Empire after Alexander the Great sliced the Gordian Knot in 333 BCE is unusually well documented in the archaeological record. The site of Gordion had had an illustrious historical past, one that was also embellished into a mythic past that could be revisited and reused in succeeding eras. The golden glories of King Midas were legendary, and the vast tumuli on the ridges and roads approaching the site certainly served as reminders of his power and wealth. But by the time the Achaemenid Persian armies arrived in central Anatolia in the mid-sixth century BCE, Gordion had already been subsumed into the expanding Lydian kingdom and had lost its position as an international player in political-military terms (Figure 1). Achaemenid Gordion: An Overview During the Achaemenid Persian period, ca. 550-333 BCE, Gordion was not a regional or satrapal capital, but it was large and productive, with opportunity to draw on many cultural influences and ideas in the life and behaviours of its inhabitants. It was on a branch of the road network that linked the different areas of the Achaemenid empire to each other, and it participated vigorously in the political economy of the empire. Dusinberre: The Collapse of Empire at Gordion in the Transition from the Achaemenid to the Hellenistic World 110 Because there is minimal textual evidence either at or about Gordion during this period or the following Hellenistic period, we are primarily reliant upon the material record to understand the nature and development of the site and the behaviours and concerns of its inhabitants. The inhabited parts of Gordion in the Achaemenid period included a fortified Citadel Mound as well as two walled residential districts, the Lower Town and Outer Town (Figure 2). The city may have reached its greatest extent during this time, and indeed the three districts together have a combined area of ca. 100 ha, roughly comparable to contemporary Athens or the regional imperial capital of Sardis in western Anatolia with 120 ha each (Rose 2017: 147 for the combined area; for the size during the Achaemenid period see Voigt, Young 1999). Both the Citadel Mound and Lower Town at Gordion show an increase in domestic architecture during this time. The western part of the Citadel Mound and the Lower Town seem to have been quite extensively built with pit houses during the Achaemenid period, generally small structures with cellars often lined with stones (Voigt, Young 1999) (Figure 3). The fortification wall surrounding the Citadel Mound at Gordion during the Achaemenid/Late Phrygian period had been built long before, at the beginning of the Middle Phrygian period. It was part of the major reconstruction and renovation that happened around 800 and continued into the eighth century (for the date, see the contributions to Rose, Darbyshire 2012 and Rose 2013; for the Unfinished Project, see Voigt 2012) (Figure 4). The wall seems to have remained standing throughout the era of Achaemenid rule. The enormous gate complex of the Middle Phrygian period was probably still in use at the time the Spartan king Agesilaos attacked the citadel in 395 BCE, as Dusinberre: The Collapse of Empire at Gordion in the Transition from the Achaemenid to the Hellenistic World 111 Dusinberre: The Collapse of Empire at Gordion in the Transition from the Achaemenid to the Hellenistic World 112 suggested by the host of arrowheads found by Rodney Young just outside the main citadel gate (Gönen et al. 2018 and refs). The gate collapsed at some point later in the fourth century, however, and the collapse of other buildings on the Citadel Mound probably in the early fourth century has led some to suggest an earthquake (deVries 1990: 388-391; Rose n.d.). The megarons of the Middle Phrygian period on the eastern side of the Citadel Mound at Gordion had apparently housed public and ceremonial functions: Megaron 2, for instance, may possibly have served as a religious or cult centre (Rose n.d. and refs). They were altered in various ways in Achaemenid times, mostly to make them smaller and sometimes to change their orientation (Fields 2011; Rose n.d.). In some places the function of the Middle Phrygian megarons seems to have been adopted by smaller buildings in the Achaemenid period (Figure 5). The Painted House, constructed ca. 500 BCE, exemplifies this process (see Rose n.d., who establishes the date on stratigraphic grounds as well as stylistic. Suzanne Berndt-Ersöz is completing the definitive publication of the Painted House. This description draws on Young 1955, 1956, 1957; Mellink 1980; Fields 2011; http://sites.museum.upenn.edu/gordion/history/achaemenid Dusinberre: The Collapse of Empire at Gordion in the Transition from the Achaemenid to the Hellenistic World 113 -gordion/; Rose, Darbyshire 2016; Rose n.d.). The Painted House was highly unusual — a very small, partly subterranean building inserted between the back-ends of two pre-existing (Middle Phrygian) megarons, Buildings C and G, both of which fronted onto the Outer Court just within the citadel gate. The entrance of the Painted House was unlike any other in the citadel. Instead of being oriented toward the courtyard, it faced the opposite direction. The main room, measuring 4.50 x 3.75 m with a floor ca. 1 m below ground level, was reached by descending a twisting flight of steps to a vestibule, before turning into the room. The narrow, crooked approach and sunken nature of the room, sandwiched as it was between the megarons, meant that it probably had little or no natural light (Figures 5 and 6). The walls of the vestibule were originally decorated with a mosaic of terracotta pegs, nearly 1,000 of which were found on the grey-blue stucco floor. The walls of the main room were originally covered with painted frescoes that included several figural friezes. The largest of these was about 60 cm high and featured a procession of human figures, probably arranged in two groups moving along the walls at left and right and meeting on the back wall opposite the door. The majority of the figures appear to be women dressed in brightly coloured garments with elaborate jewellery, at least one of whom is holding her hand before her mouth (Figure 7). The building clearly had some specialised function, possibly cultic based on its approach and decorations. Its location, above the Early Phrygian Megaron 2 that may also have had some sort of ritual purpose, may also be telling. The style of its paintings provides a clear visual link to the wall paintings of Achaemenid Lydia (Mellink 1980; for the paintings of Achaemenid Lydia at, e.g., Harta, see Özgen, Öztürk 1996: 36-39). The Painted House suggests wide-ranging contacts and close interaction with western Anatolia. It also demonstrates how much we do NOT know about life — and cult — at Gordion in the Achaemenid period. The elaborate Mosaic Building, built over part of the Middle Phrygian Building A atop the fortification wall, also dates to the Achaemenid period and apparently also housed activities previously conducted in a megaron. It probably had some public administrative function (see esp. Rose n.d, and also, e.g., Young 1953: 11, 14, Fig. 10; Dusinberre 2008, 2013: 60-62, 284; for its date, see Glendinning 1996: 23-25; Sams 1994: 825; Roller 1991: 134 n. 37; for Building A, see Burke 2012 and refs). The Mosaic Building had a multi-room layout with an axial approach: a paved court of large, worked andesite blocks led to rooms roofed with painted tiles and decorated with colourful pebble mosaics in maeander patterns, first an anteroom and then a possible throne room (Figure 8). One red-painted column base still stood in its original