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IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ

Authoring : Beshevliev Boyan


Translation : Beshevliev Boyan , Kaisheva Radmila
For citation : Beshevliev Boyan , "Callatis / Pangalia", Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic
World, Black Sea
URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=12385>

Summary :
Callatis was founded in the 6th century BC on the north-western shore of the Black Sea by the Greek colony of Heraclea Pontica. The
city was well fortified and developed as a centre and port for the trade with both the hinterland and other Greek cities along the
Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean. In 72 BC, the city came under the Roman Empire. It was frequently raided by Goths,
Avars, and Slavs. Eventually it declined, at the end of the 6th century, becoming a minor port for wheat trade.

OTHER NAMES
Pangalia, Mangalia

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION
Romania

ADMINISTRATIVE DEPENDENCE
Roman empire

1. Name

Callatis was founded on the north-western shore of the Black Sea, on an isthmus between the sea and a lake. Powerful earthquakes
have sent much of the ancient city’s eastern part beneath the waters. It is assumed that the city was originally called Acerbatis or
Cerbatis. Known forms of the toponym are Kallatis and Callatis, as written in Greek and Latin manuscripts and stone carvings. From
the late 14th century, in Italian portulans and documents referring to inshore navigation, the names Pangalia, Pankalia, Mangala and
derivatives are attested, later coalescing into the current Romanian name of Mangalia.

2. Foundation - Helenistic period

Callatis was founded as a colony of Herаklea Pontica, with the first mention of it relating to a revolt against the Thracian King
Lysimachos in 313BC. After the revolt had failed, part of Callatis’ approximately 1000 inhabitants left the besieged city by sea to
settle in Chersonesus near modern-day Sevastopol in the Crimea in what was the kingdom of Bosporus. The remaining citizens began
trading and governing themselves jointly with the local populace. In 260BC Callatis and Histria waged an unsuccessful war on
Byzantium for economic dominance over the neighbouring city of Tomis (Constanţa). From the latter half of the 4th century BC
Callatis made significant social, economic and cultural advances which endured for the rest of the Hellenic period. As the many
amphoras, ceramics and coins imply, the city traded with its hinterland and also by sea with, inter alia, Heraclea Pontica, Sinope,
Athens, Rhodes, and Thassos. The minting of bronze, silver and gold coinage began in the late 4th century BC, continuing until the
middle of the 1st century AD. Coins bore Greek inscriptions and the image of thе city’s patron god Heracles, as well as those of
Dionysus, Apollo, Demeter, Cybele and other deities.

3. Roman period and Middle Ages

In 72 BC Callatis fell to the legions of Marcus Lucullus but did not succumb until 29-28 BC, when it was included into the Roman
Empire despite an earlier pact and alliance as witnessed by a stone inscription. For a short time in the middle of the 1st century BC,
the city fell to the Getae’s King Byrebistas. As the Goths sacked the city, coins minted there depicted Roman emperors up to Philip
the Arab (244-249). From this juncture Callatis entered a decline, and the share of its Greek population began to fall.

Though the city was the seat of a bishop by the late 6th century, Avar and Slav migrations and raids had brought about the demise of
its ancient civilisation.

Callatis was gradually deserted and reduced to an insignificant harbour. Between the late 13th and 15th centuries, the town was an

Created on 24/10/2010 Page 1/4


IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
Authoring : Beshevliev Boyan
Translation : Beshevliev Boyan , Kaisheva Radmila
For citation : Beshevliev Boyan , "Callatis / Pangalia", Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic
World, Black Sea
URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=12385>

intermediate station for mainly Genovese wheat trade. Contemporary documents such as portulans, inshore navigation manuals,
registers and contracts mention the name Pangalia which has subsequently altered to today’s Romanian Mangalia.

4. Daily life

Ancient Callatis was governed, as were other Pontic colonies, by a council of citizens (boule) and a council of magistrates.

The town had fortification walls, the first of which was erected by the middle of the 4th century BC. The second wall was built partly
upon the first during the Roman period in the late 2nd century and had three gates and four square towers. Along the wall ran an earth
mound and a moat. The ruins of the well-built harbour are today submerged under the sea.

Several necropolises were located outside the city walls and served for interring Greeks, Romans and local people. Some were
buried in stone tombs, others in timber sarcophagi or simply interred, and yet others were cremated. Excavations have uncovered
diverse objects which accompanied the dead and which testify to the ethnic mix of the population. In 1959, a Scythian burial yielded
part of a papyrus inscribed in Greek, which remains the only one of its type in this part of Europe.

The ancient city was bisected by its main street, along which large public and private buildings were erected. This is evident from the
many marble columns, friezes, capitals and stone foundations excavated within the town wall as well as outside of it, to the east. Clay
pipes have been found too, suggesting the existence of a water supply system in the city.

After the adoption of Christianity, around the 3rd century, basilicas began to be erected after the Byzantine model.

Despite the archaeological findings, including artefacts, material evidence and inscriptions (many of which are kept in the local
museum), the city’s history has still to be completely clarified.

Bibliography :
Asdracha C., "L’apport du témoignage épigraphique a l’histoire Médiévale de la Thrace", Byzantinobulgarica,
1981, 445-454

Balard M., "Les Génois et les régions bulgares au XIVe s.", Byzantinobulgarica, 7, 1981, 43-72

Khristchev Kh., Georgiev V., Tchotchov S., "Salt Production in Ancient Anhialo – Geological evidence",
Acta Thracia Pontica I, Premier symposium international – Sozopol 1979, Sofia 1982, 201-206

Koledarov P., "West Black sea coast ports in the late middle ages (14th-16th c.) listed on nautical charts",
Études historiques, 5, 1970, 253-254

Laiou A.E., "Byzantium and the Black Sea, 13th-15th c.: Trade and the Native Populations of the Black Sea
Area", Fol, A.N. (ed.), Bulgaria Pontica Medii Aevi 2, Sofia 1988, 164-201

Milanova A., "Le renouveau urbain en Bulgarie sous la domination Byzantine (fin Xe-fin XIIe s.): Le cas des
villes antiques", Studia Slavico-byzantina et mediaevalia europensia 8, 2004, 189-213

Todorova E., "Medieval Genoese nautical cartography on the west Black Sea coast", Études balkaniques, 2,
1981, 118-131

Todorova E., "One of the Black Sea Routes, 13th-15th c.", Le pouvoir central et les villes en Europe de

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IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
Authoring : Beshevliev Boyan
Translation : Beshevliev Boyan , Kaisheva Radmila
For citation : Beshevliev Boyan , "Callatis / Pangalia", Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic
World, Black Sea
URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=12385>

l’Est et du Sud-Est du XVe siècle aux débuts de la révolution industrielle: Les villes portuaires, Sofia 1985,
156-162

Velkov V., Roman Cities in Bulgaria. Collected Studies, Amsterdam 1980

Димитров М., "Ранновизантийски укрепления по Западния бряг на Черно море V-VІІ век",
Добруджа 2, 1985, 120-128

Коледаров П., Политическа география на средновековната българска държава, 1-2, София 1979,


1989

Рашев Р., "Първото българско царство и морето", Средновековна България и морето, Варна 1982,


47-56

Avram A., Inscriptiones Scythiae Minoris Graecae et Latinae, III Callatis et territorium, Bucarest – Paris
1999

Avram A., "Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Territoriums von Kallatis in griechischer Zeit", Dacia, 35, 1991,
103-138

Beševliev B., "Die italienische und osmanische Seekartographie des Westküste des Schwarzen Meeres bis 18
Jh", Bulgaria Pontica Medii Aevi 2, Sofia 1988, 666-689

Canarache V., Rădulescu A., Callaltis, Constanţa 1986

Cosma V., "Prosperări arheologice submarine (Callatis)", Buletinul Comisiei Monumentelor Istorice, 42,
1971, 31-38

Ditten H., "Die Veränderungen auf dem Balkan in der Zeit vom 6. bis zum 10 Jh. Im Spiegel der veränderten
Bedeutung von “Thrakien” und der Namen der Provinzen der Thrakischen Diözese", Byzantinobulgarica, 7,
1981, 157-180

Eskenasy V., "Izvoare cartografice medievale despre teritoriul românesc", Revista de istorie, 33: 4, 1980, 120-
128

Martin-Hisard Β., "La domination byzantine sur le littoral oriental du Pont Euxin (milieu du VIIe-VIIIe siècles)",
Byzantinobulgarica, 7, 1981, 141-156

Petropoulos E.K., Grammenos D.V., Ancient Greek Colonies in the Black Sea, Thessaloniki 2003

Pippidi D.M., "În jurul papilor de la Derveni şí Callatis", Studii Clasice, 9, 1967, 203-220

Pistarino G., "Le fonti Genovesi per la storia del Mar Nero", Byzantinobulgarica, 7, 1981, 68-72

Popescu-Spineni M., România în izvoare geografice şi cartografice (Din antichitate până în pragul
veacului nostru), Bucureşti 1978

Preda C., "Archaeological discoveries in the greek cemetery of Callatis (IVth-IIIrd centuries before our era)",
Dacia, 5, 275-304

Bitoleanu I., Istoria românilor dintre Dunăre şi Mare: Dobrogea, Bucureşti 1979

Scarlat C., "Portul antic Callatis. Cercetări de arheologie submarina", Acta Musei Napocensis, 10, 1973, 529-

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IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ
Authoring : Beshevliev Boyan
Translation : Beshevliev Boyan , Kaisheva Radmila
For citation : Beshevliev Boyan , "Callatis / Pangalia", Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic
World, Black Sea
URL: <http://www.ehw.gr/l.aspx?id=12385>

540

Todorova E., Mitchkovska P., Bibliografia delle fonti e delle ricerche sui rapporti tra Genova e le regioni
del Mar Nero durante il medioevo, Sofia 1982

Vulpe A., "La limite méridionale de la province romaine de Scythie", Studia balcanica, 1 Recherches de
Géographie historique, 1970, 43-77

Vulpe A., "Deux terres cuites grecques de Callatis", Dacia, 5-6, 1938, 329-340

Angelov D., "Wichtigste Momente in der politischen Geschichte des Schwarzmeergebietes vom 4. bis zur Mitte
des 15. Jh.", Byzantinobulgarica, 7, 1981, 25-42

Webliography :
Deux terres cuites grecques de Callatis
http://www.cimec.ro/Arheologie/dacia.digital/1938-5-6/imagepages/image194.html
Istros
http://www.pontos.dk/publications/books/bbs4-files/BSS4_04_Avram.pdf

Glossary :
capital
The uppermost part of a column or pillar crowning the shaft and supporting the entablature. The decoration of the capital characteristizes the ancient
greek orders of architecture. In Doric order the capitals are decorated with abacus and echinus, in Ionic with spiral scrolls (volutes), while the
corinthian capitals are composed of small corner volutes and a basket-shaped body decorated with rows of acanthus leaves.
frieze (1. architecture), (2. painting)
1. The part of the entablature resting on the architrave and below the cornice. In the Doric order the frieze is decorated with two alternative motives,
namely the triglyph and metope, while in the Ionic order the frieze is a decoratively carved band.
2. Decorative horizontal band that sweeps parts of a vessel or the highest part of the walls in a room.
portolan, portulan
(from latin word “portus”, port) a book with nautical instructions (today called “a pilot book”) which gives a description of the coastline and
indicates the sailing directions which were to be followed in order to reach a given point of orientation (a port, promontory, island, estuary etc.). It
also depicts the ports and anchorages with their navigational peculiarities and the possible approaches to them. The portulan is an achievement of
the medieval navigation and could be considered as a result from the application of the compass in seafaring during the 12th C.

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