The Ancient City Of Soloi In Cilicia

The Cilician city of Soloi [Soli Pompeipolis-Mersin/Mezitli/Viranşehir] was inhabited by an indigenous Luwian people during the Bronze Age, but may have been destroyed by the Sea Peoples during the Bronze Age Collapse around 1200 BC. The site, which had access to the Mediterranean Sea, as well as to the timber-rich Taurus Mountains and the fertile plains of Cilicia Pedias, was resettled in the seventh century BC by Greek colonists, variously claimed to have been of Athenian, Argive and Rhodian origin.

However, Soloi became part of a vassal Cilician kingdom subject to the Great Kings of Persia under Cyrus the Great. After 401 BC, Cilicia was reorganized as a Persian satrapy [province] to which Soloi also belonged. The coinage struck by the city in the fifth century BC reflects its orientation towards the Persian Empire in its use of the Persian weight standard of c. 5.6 g to the siglos or shekel, which makes the present stater essentially a double siglos.

The grape bunch on the reverse is the badge of the city and probably reflects Soli's involvement in the wine trade. Archaeological evidence shows that wine amphora continued to be produced for export at Soli well into the Roman period. The Amazonian obverse type probably refers to a myth associated with the foundation of the city that has not been recorded in the surviving Greek literary sources. Amazonian foundation myths are known for cities as far afield as Cyme, Ephesos, Magnesia on the Meander, Myrina, Pygela, Sinope, and Smyrna. It is unclear whether these claims of Amazonian foundation may perhaps reflect memories of historical raiding by the Scythians and Cimmerians in the seventh century BC. The Amazons were closely associated with the Scythians in Greek thought.