Perinthus

Stand still for a moment and listen. Small waves break against the rocks below, and gulls call over the water. The air carries salt and the faint smell of fishing boats. Under your feet, the ground feels uneven, as if something lies just beneath the grass and the pavement. It does. You are standing on the site of Perinthus, an ancient Greek city on the northern shore of the Sea of Marmara. Today the modern town of Marmaraereğlisi sits on top of it.

First, picture the geography, because it explains almost everything here. The Sea of Marmara is the small inland sea between the Black Sea and the Aegean. The ancient Greeks called it the Propontis, which means the sea before the Pontus, their name for the Black Sea. Every ship moving between those two seas passed along this coast. A city on a rocky headland here could watch the traffic, trade with it, and offer harbour. That was the plan when Perinthus was founded.

The founders came from Samos, a Greek island off the coast of what is now western Turkey. Ancient writers place the founding around the start of the sixth century before Christ. That was a period when many Greek cities sent settlers across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea region. They looked for good harbours, farmland, and trading partners. This headland gave them a natural fortress with water on several sides. The land behind it belonged to the Thracians, the local peoples of the region.

Life here was never fully calm. The Greek settlers lived between the sea and the Thracian interior. They traded with their neighbours, and sometimes they fought them. The city also sat in the path of larger powers. Persians, Athenians, and later Macedonians all took an interest in this stretch of coast. For a small city, Perinthus survived for a very long time. Part of the reason is the ground you are standing on, a defensible rise above the water.

The most famous moment in its story came in 340 BC. Philip the Second of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, laid siege to the city. Ancient historians describe a fierce attack with siege towers and heavy assaults on the walls. Here is the part many visitors do not expect. Perinthus did not fall. Help came by sea from its neighbour Byzantium, and support also came from the Persian side. Philip gave up and turned his army toward Byzantium instead.

That neighbour matters for the rest of this story. Byzantium stood further east along this same coast. Centuries later it became Constantinople, and later still Istanbul. For a long time, Perinthus and Byzantium were rivals of roughly equal weight. Today one is a world city of many millions, and the other is a quiet seaside town. It is worth remembering, as you look east along the shore, that history could have gone the other way.

In the Roman period, Perinthus had a strong moment of good fortune. At the end of the second century, a civil war divided the Roman Empire. Byzantium supported the losing side. The winner, the emperor Septimius Severus, punished Byzantium hard. Perinthus had backed him, and it received honours in return. The city gained prestige and the right to temples connected with the cult of the emperors. For a time, this small city stood above its famous neighbour.

Later in the Roman era the city received a new name. It became known as Heraclea, after the hero Heracles, whom the Romans called Hercules. Many ancient cities carried that name, so you will sometimes hear it as Heraclea in Thrace or Heraclea Perinthus. The modern Turkish name keeps the memory. Ereğli comes from Heraclea, and Marmara was added to show which coast it stands on. So the town name you see on road signs carries nearly two thousand years of history.

Here is a second surprise. In the early Christian church, Heraclea was an important religious centre for the region of Thrace. Its bishop held authority over a wide area, including Byzantium, before Byzantium became Constantinople. Even after Constantinople rose to the top, a tradition remained. The bishop of Heraclea had a special role in the consecration of the bishop of the new capital. A small town on this shore once had a hand in choosing the leaders of a great city.

What can you actually see today? Honestly, much less than the story suggests. The modern town grew directly over the ancient one, so most of Perinthus lies under houses, streets, and gardens. Archaeologists have worked here, and fragments come to light from time to time. Look for stretches of old stone wall, worked blocks reused in later buildings, and the shape of the headland itself. Much of the experience here is reading the landscape rather than walking through a complete ruin.

So look closely at the stone. Ancient builders cut large, square blocks and fitted them together with care. Later builders often used smaller, rougher stones, with mortar and sometimes brick between them. Where you see these styles mixed in one wall, you are looking at repairs from different centuries. Notice too how the land rises toward the end of the headland. That high point was the safest part of the city, the place defenders would hold to the last.

Then turn toward the water. On a clear day the Sea of Marmara stretches wide and blue, with ships passing far out. Some of those ships follow the same route that ancient merchants used between the Black Sea and the Aegean. The small boats in the harbour below continue the oldest local trade of all, which is fishing. In the evening, the light falls low across the water from the west, and the old stones turn a warm colour.

Before you leave, stand at the edge of the headland once more. Behind you is a modern Turkish town with cafés, traffic, and the sounds of daily life. Beneath you lie layers of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine settlement. Philip of Macedon looked at this same rise and could not take it. As you walk back through the streets, watch the walls and doorsteps. Now and then, an old cut stone may still be there, holding up a newer house.