Chrysaorium

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Chrysaorium (Greek:Χρυσαορίδα) was an ancient city in Caria, Anatolia, between Euromus (also Eunomus) and Stratonicea. In Seleucid times, Chrysaorium was the seat of the Chrysaorian League. The League's assembly met here, in a temple of Zeus Chrysaorius.

 τὸ Χρυσαορέων ἔθνος a natione Carum (Steph. Byz. Χρυσαορίς· Ἐπαφρόδιτος δὲ τὴν Καρίαν πᾶσαν Χρυσαορίδα λέγεσθαι); quae cum antiquitus oppida nondum haberet, sed κατὰ·κώμας habitaret, foedus pago- rum (κωμῶν) constitutum est circa lovis Chrysaorei (not. i 9) delubrum. Cf. quae post W. Η. Waddingtonum ad Lebas Inscr. III 399 aliosque exposuit Holleaux ad hunc tltulum (vide etiam n. iil^). Post Alexandri Magni vero aetatem cum oppida Graeca in illa regione conderentur, pagi Carici ex parte his oppidis attributi sunt, quo factum est ut quaeque civitas tot suffragia ferret in communi concilio, quot pagos antiquos systematis Chrysaorei eius ager comprehenderet. Cf. Strabo XIV, 2, 25 p. 660 Cas. καλεῖται δὲ τὸ σύστημα αὐτῶν Χρυσαορέων, συνεστηκὸς ἐκ κωμῶν· οἱ δὲ πλείστας παρεχόμενοι κώμας προέχουσι τῇ ψήφῳ, καθάπερ Κεραμιῆται· καὶ Στρατονικεῖς δὲ τοῦ συσψτἡ μάτος μετέχουσιν, οὐκ ὄντες τοῦ Καρικοῦ γένους, ἀλλ' ὅτι κώμας ἔχουσι τοῦ

 

In Greek mythology, Chrysaor (Greek: Χρυσάωρ, Khrusaōr, gen.: Χρυσάορος; English translation: "He who has a golden sword" (from χρυσός, "golden" and ἄορ, "sword")), the brother of the winged horse Pegasus, was often depicted as a young man, the son of Poseidon and Medusa. Chrysaor and Pegasus were not born until Perseus chopped off Medusa's head.

Chrysaor, married to Callirrhoe, daughter of glorious Oceanus, was father to the triple-headed Geryon, but Geryon was killed by the great strength of Heracles at sea-circled Erytheis beside his own shambling cattle on that day when Heracles drove those broad-faced cattle toward holy Tiryns, when he crossed the stream of Okeanos and had killed Orthos and the oxherd Eurytion out in the gloomy meadow beyond fabulous Oceanos.
—Hesiod, Theogony 287

In art Chrysaor's earliest appearance seems to be on the great pediment of the early 6th century BC Doric Temple of Artemis at Corfu, where he is shown beside his mother, Medusa.

The Chrysaorian League (Greek: Systema Chrysaorikon) was an informal loose federation of several cities in ancient region of Caria, Anatolia that was apparently formed in the early Seleucid period and lasted at least until 203 BC. The League had its primary focus on unified defense, and secondarily on trade, and may have been linked by ethnic bonds (the Chrysaorians). It had an assembly and financial institutions, and a form of reciprocal citizenship whereby a citizen of a member city was entitled to certain rights and privileges in any other member city. The capital of the League was Chrysaorium where the assembly met. 

Other member cities included: Alabanda (renamed Antiochia of the Chrysaorians), Alinda, Amyzon, Ceramus, Mylasa, Peræa Rhodiorum, Stratonicea, Thera.

For periods of time, some of the member cities were subject to Rhodes.

Sources / Bibliography

• Hazlitt, Classical Gazetteer, "Chrysaorium"
• https://www.wikipedia.org
  http://www.ancientlibrary.com
• J. Ma, Antiochos III and the Cities of Western Asia Minor
• Hesiod, Theogony 
• G. G. Aperghis, The Seleukid Royal Economy. The Finances and Financial Administration of the Seleukid Empire, Cambridge
• Apollodorus Library 2, 4, 2
• Ovid Metamorphoses 4, 784
• Tatian Address to the Greeks 8, 3, 1
• Strabo, Geography 14.2.25 /14.2.26