Achilleion (Troad)
| Ἀχίλλειον | |
 Shown within Turkey
|
|
| Location | Yeniköy, Çanakkale Province, Turkey |
|---|---|
| Region | Troad |
| Coordinates | 39°54′54″N 26°9′9″E / 39.91500°N 26.15250°ECoordinates: 39°54′54″N 26°9′9″E / 39.91500°N 26.15250°E |
| Type | Settlement |
Achilleion (Ancient Greek: Ἀχίλλειον Achilleion) was an ancient Greek city in the south-west of the Troad region of Anatolia. It has been located on a promontory known as Beşika Burnu ('cradle promontory') about 8 km south of Sigeion. Beşika Burnu is 2 km south of the modern village of Yeniköy in the Ezine district of Çanakkale Province, Turkey. The site considered in classical antiquity to be the tomb of Achilles is a short distance inland at a tumulus known as Beşiktepe. Achilleion in the Troad is not to be confused with Achilleion near Smyrna and Achilleion in the territory of Tanagra.
The otherwise obscure polis of Achilleion was most famous in classical antiquity for its association with Achilles, after whom it was named ('the place of Achilles'). According to some sources, while passing by Ilion in 334 BC Alexander the Great sacrificed at the Tomb of Achilles. This story became famous, and in the mid-1st century BC it is mentioned by the politician and writer Cicero in his Pro Archia Poeta. In AD 216 the Emperor Caracalla emulated Alexander when, on passing Ilion on his way to a war against Parthia, he held funeral games around the tumulus. Following the abandonment of the settlement at Achilleion in the late Hellenistic period, writers began to associate the tomb with nearby Sigeion to the north.
...
Wikipedia