The Temple of Apollonis was built at Cyzicus in modern Turkey in the 2nd century BC, in order to honor Apollonis of Cyzicus. The Cyzicene epigrams were inscribed in this temple.
Location Located on the southern Propontis coast of modern-day northwest Turkey, Cyzicus was an important port for the rulers of Pergamon, and friendship was maintained since the beginning of the Attalid dynasty.OGIS 748 : Philetairos is recorded to have given donations to the city between 280–275 B.C.E., including military aid, tax privileges, and oil to be used in athletic competitions and received a festival in thanks (the Philetaireia) (Dana 2014:206–08). C.f. Zanon 2009, Hasluck 1910 & Hansen 1971. Founded in the 8th century B.C.E.Founded by Ionian Greek colonists and city-states, those new cities in the Delian League would retain their Greek characteristics despite the presence of the native Asia Minor culture, to the point that the “use of Greek as the primary language was never displaced” (Kearsley 2005:102). and retaining its independence throughout the Hellenistic period, it grew to be a center of trade connecting Europe and Asia, comparable in power to the later Byzantium Empire. The city was also a renowned center for education in various fields,Dana 2014 illustrates the vastness of Cyzicus’ contributions to ancient knowledge, with its emergence as a center of mathematics even before Alexandria, the movement of historians and philosophers between Cyzicus and Athens, and a long tradition of novel architecture, which may have been imported into the Pergamonian style through Apollonis’ connections (see note 19). with its location allowing for a vast cultural network.
Influence of Apollonis at Cyzicus With Cyzicus as a major trading hub and potential naval power,Such an aspect came into play during the rule of Eumenes II and Attalus II, in which Cyzicus provided a large quantity of warships and aide (Van Looy 1976:152 ; Polyb. 25.2.13, 33.13.1). Such an action also prevented the need of Pergamon to rely on paid mercenaries during these conflicts, with strong patriotism amongst the Cyzicenes equalling greater willingness and effort to fight (Fehr 1997:57). the marriage of Apollonis created a strong allianceAt the time of the marriage, Attalus I was still in the midst of establishing Pergamon as a kingdom able to compete with the Macedonians and Seleukids; this involved the issue of political legitimacy, territorial expansion, and winning the support of other cities in Asia Minor. Cyzicus, with its prime location at the mouth of the Black Sea, offered a strategic alliance with a foundation of friendship already set by his ancestor (Mirón 2020:212). between her hometown and Pergamon and engendered a stronger form of loyalty by the citizens of Cyzicus through their identification with one of their own. She also imported various aspects of Cyzicus to Pergamon, including iconography styles and political allies, creating a symbiotic exchange of material and cultural trade.Apollonis thus symbolized not only familial unity, but the unity of the empire as well. Carney 2011:208 writes of ancient queens: “We need to recognize them as dynastic go-betweens with enduring ties to the oikos of their birth.” Her prestige as an heir-bearing queen would further establish a sense of pride in her hometown, as evidenced by the construction of a temple after her death in which the focus was parent-child mythology. This favourable image of Apollonis by the polis was maintained through royal visits with her sons,Polyb. 22.20 recounts her visit to Cyzicus with two of her sons (Attalus and one other not mentioned by name) after the war against Prussia (184 B.C.E.), in which Cyzicus provided a quarter of the naval ships (twenty out of eighty total; Hasluck 1910:177). He states that she toured the city and its temples and was supported by her sons, who placed her between them and held her hands. He notes that the Cyzicenes applauded this sign of respect and affection of the sons towards their mother, one of their most distinguished citizens, comparing them to the mythical brothers Cleobis and Biton helping their mother up the stairs to the temple of Hera. This myth was one of the reliefs included at the Temple of Apollonis at Cyzicus. Such a visit likely also reflects Apollonis’ nostalgia and strong emotional connection to her birthplace, and her desire to thank them for their help. Both the visit and the subsequent relief were very likely carefully orchestrated political acts reflecting true emotional attachments. to the point they would be invoked in the reliefs of her temple. Her popularity was strong enough that her sons used her name to lay claim to their “origin”Strabo 14.1.6; In a letter to the Ionian League, Eumenes II mentions his connection with the Milesians through Cyzicus, i.e. through his mother (OGIS 763, l. 65; RC 52). at Cyzicus, despite having been born elsewhere, with later generations maintaining the friendship-alliance. She received a dedicated temple, likely near the harbour.
Temple Following her death and deification in the mid-second century B.C.E.,The lack of an exact date of death results in a large range of possible dates of building the temple, which remains debated. Hansen 1971:100 puts it after 184/183 B.C.E., Van Looy 1976:161 and Looy-Demoen 1986:134 put it between 175 and 159 B.C.E., and Massa-Pairault 1981–1982:182-4 thinks 172 B.C. to coincide with the false death of Eumenes II. a temple to Apollonis was built at Cyzicus. It's debated whether the construction was organised by her sons or the polis of Cyzicus;Polybius 22.20 is cited by Mirón 2018b and Zanon 2009 as stating that Attalus II and his brother built the temple, but there's no actual mention in the text beyond her visit whilst alive. The Cleobis and Biton myth connect the visit in Apollonis’ life with the reliefs in her temple, but this could have easily been an aspect a city official noticed and thus included, considering its apparent popularity. The surviving epigrams of the temple offer no information regarding its commissioning patron/provenance, simply dedicating it to “Apollonis, mother of Attalus and Eumenes,” rather than “Attalus and Eumenes built this for their mother” or something to that effect. Sève 2014:160–61, rejects either a funerary or dynastic cult for Apollonis at Cyzicus, stating that the construction of a temple by the royal family of Pergamon would not be appropriate in an independent city-state. He concludes that if a temple was indeed constructed, it would be due to the polis of Cyzicus deciding on doing so, as an act of gratefulness to the Attalids and to honour one of their own citizens, thus making it a civic cult. Ballestrazzi 2017 hypothesizes that the inclusion of the names is an artificial inclusion by a later writer, due to the memory of Apollonis and her sons having faded. It is also possible the temple and its inscriptions were indirectly built on behalf of the brothers, as Livingstone & Nisbet 2008 believe. if it was indeed built by her sons, it takes on a characteristically complex motivation.In creating a temple for their mother at her birthplace, her sons would cement their own power and connection to the area, as well as a favourable reputation amongst its people. The sons regularly used the figure of their mother to highlight their commitment to family and “democratic” (Van Looy 1976:151) virtues and ideals, a mission Apollonis herself endorsed and cooperated to create, whilst also having a true attachment to and respect for their mother as a figure of authority in their lives (Mirón 2018a). One side to the motivation was to benefit their own reputation as sons, as a site of public propaganda; another is the likelihood of its attraction as a type of ancient “tourist” site; still one more is a genuine desire to preserve the memory of their mother and their relationship in a place important to her. It was allegedly known by simple reference for several centuries afterwards,This recognition is based on its inclusion in the Palatine Anthology of the 10th century. though its location is lost today.Hasluck 1910:177 theorized that it was near the “north-west corner of the central harbour, where there are ruins (De Rustafjaell marks "Temple"?),” upon the basis of her Teos epithet “apobateria.” Ruins were found in that location; however, Hansen 1971:289 argues against it being the Temple of Apollonis, on account that the ruins face east or west, and the Temple of Apollonis has largely been agreed up to face south. The inclusion of mythology along the theme of child-parent and brotherly love in reliefs at the temple fixed the image of Apollonis and her sons in the collective memory of the Cyzicenes, and throughout the kingdom of Pergamon by way of visitors to the city.The temple cemented the link of Cyzicus with the Attalids through Apollonis; thus, the temple became a “place of memory of the queen mother, as well as an affirmation of loyal relations both within the royal family and between Cyzicus and Pergamon. The expression of these ideas through an architectural monument commemorated the importance they had for the Attalids, and of their intention for these relations to last through the generations. [...] Beyond this, the orderly and complex iconographic program of the temple, which included myths from around the Greek world, seemed to connect the free Greek cities with the monarchy of Pergamon, embodied by the mother. In this sense, Apollonis not only linked the Attalids with Cyzicus, but also, through mythic and real kinships, with all the Greek cities, especially Ionian ones, since Cyzicus was a colony of Miletus.” (Mirón 2018a:25).
Lack of archaeological evidence There is no record or decree dedicated to the creation of a temple at Cyzicus to Apollonis. The only evidence of its existence comes from the Palatine Anthology.Such a lack of evidence causes controversy amongst scholars as to whether the information is not a fictional exercise of an ancient storyteller. Certain elements are too specific to have been anything but someone citing an existing structure, which will be covered in section Architecture, Location, and Other Spatial Information. Ballestrazzi 2017:129 admits their doubts, but also supports the idea that it's probable that some sort of monument to Apollonis was indeed constructed in her hometown, considering her status as an important symbol in propaganda and the number of post-death cults and statuary dedicated to her. The book is based on a series of stone epigrams, since lost. No systematic excavations have been done at Cyzicus, much less specifically in search of her temple. The lack of literary or archaeological parallels thus make it difficult to authenticate the limited existing information regarding its existence.
Epigrams of Cyzicus