Temnos

Temnos or Temnus (Ancient Greek: Τῆμνος; Aeolic Greek: Τᾶμνος^[1]) was a small Greek polis (city-state) of ancient Aeolis, later incorporated in the Roman province of Asia, on the western coast of Anatolia. Its bishopric was a suffragan of Ephesus, the capital and metropolitan see of the province, and is included in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees.^[2]

The little town was near the Hermus River, which is shown on its coins. Situated at elevation it commanded a view of the territories of Cyme, Phocaea, and Smyrna. Under Augustus it was already on the decline; under Tiberius it was destroyed by an earthquake;^[3] and in the time of Pliny it was no longer inhabited. It was, however, rebuilt later.

One of the city's more noteworthy figures was the rhetorician Hermagoras.^[4]

During the Byzantine period, most probably, it renamed to Archangelus. In 1413 the Turks seized the fortress of Archangelus, which they called Kaiadjik, i.e., small rock; this fortress was situated on the plains of Maenomenus, now known as Menemen.

Its site is located near Görece, Asiatic Turkey.^[5]^[6]

Bishops

Le Quien mentions three bishops:^[7]

Eustathius, who lived in 451;
Theophilus, present at the Council of Nice (787);
Ignatius, at Constantinople (869).

This see is not mentioned in the Notitiae Episcopatuum. Ramsay (Asia Minor, 108) thought the diocese of Temnus identical with that of Archangelus, which from the tenth to the thirteenth century the Notitiae Episcopatuum assigns to Smyrna.

References

^ As per coins dated to the fourth century BCE and Hellenistic inscriptions (I. Perg. 5) dated to the end of the third century BCE.
^ Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2013, ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 986
^ Tacitus. Annals. Vol. 2.47.
^ A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Hermagoras
^ Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 56, and directory notes accompanying. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.
^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
^ Le Quien, Michel (1740). Oriens Christianus, in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus: quo exhibentur ecclesiæ, patriarchæ, cæterique præsules totius Orientis. Tomus primus: tres magnas complectens diœceses Ponti, Asiæ & Thraciæ, Patriarchatui Constantinopolitano subjectas (in Latin). Paris: Ex Typographia Regia. col. 707. OCLC 955922585.

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Temnus". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Temnus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.