DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.748#0089
74 ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.
during the period of Roman dominion that the greater part
of the lower town of Assos, now in ruins, was built, the long-
continued peace favoring the extension of the commerce upon
which its existence depended.
A number of the coins of Assos, Adramyttion, and Per-
gamon, preserved in the numismatical collection of Munich,
bear the counter-stamp of an owl, which appears to have been
given them during this period to regulate the value of the
different mintages and to facilitate their circulation through-
out the province. The owl was naturally chosen as a com-
mon emblem, the worship of Athena having been predominant
in the cities mentioned.
During the wars of the Romans with Mithridates, that
ruler occupied Pergamon, the Romans being dislodged from
Adramyttion and possibly also from Assos (88 to 85 b. a).
Mytilene remained in a state of constant revolt between
the first and second Mithridatic wars, and the situation of
Assos must have led to constant disturbance during those
years. Upon the whole, however, the powerful domination of
Rome secured a long period of tranquillity to the city.
Assos seems to have become Christian at an early date,
perhaps in some measure as a result of the visit of St. Paul
and St. Luke, while on their way from Alexandria Troas
to Mytilene,1 but more probably from the proximity of the
seven churches of Asia, the influence of which was felt
especially at the north. The disciple of St. Peter or St.
John, St. Ignatius, — that great upholder of the prerogatives
of the clergy, — dwelt for some time in the Troad. Marinus,
Bishop of the Troad, was present at the first (Ecumenical
Council of Nicaea (325 a. d.), and in the lists of the third
council of Ephesus (431 a. d.) occurs the name of Maximus,
Bishop of Assos.
1 Acts of the Apostles, xx. 13, 14,
during the period of Roman dominion that the greater part
of the lower town of Assos, now in ruins, was built, the long-
continued peace favoring the extension of the commerce upon
which its existence depended.
A number of the coins of Assos, Adramyttion, and Per-
gamon, preserved in the numismatical collection of Munich,
bear the counter-stamp of an owl, which appears to have been
given them during this period to regulate the value of the
different mintages and to facilitate their circulation through-
out the province. The owl was naturally chosen as a com-
mon emblem, the worship of Athena having been predominant
in the cities mentioned.
During the wars of the Romans with Mithridates, that
ruler occupied Pergamon, the Romans being dislodged from
Adramyttion and possibly also from Assos (88 to 85 b. a).
Mytilene remained in a state of constant revolt between
the first and second Mithridatic wars, and the situation of
Assos must have led to constant disturbance during those
years. Upon the whole, however, the powerful domination of
Rome secured a long period of tranquillity to the city.
Assos seems to have become Christian at an early date,
perhaps in some measure as a result of the visit of St. Paul
and St. Luke, while on their way from Alexandria Troas
to Mytilene,1 but more probably from the proximity of the
seven churches of Asia, the influence of which was felt
especially at the north. The disciple of St. Peter or St.
John, St. Ignatius, — that great upholder of the prerogatives
of the clergy, — dwelt for some time in the Troad. Marinus,
Bishop of the Troad, was present at the first (Ecumenical
Council of Nicaea (325 a. d.), and in the lists of the third
council of Ephesus (431 a. d.) occurs the name of Maximus,
Bishop of Assos.
1 Acts of the Apostles, xx. 13, 14,