Nicomedia (Izmit)
Nicomedia (modern Izmit in Turkey)
was
founded
by
Nicomedes
I of
Bithynia
at
the
head
of
the
Gulf
of
Astacus
which
opens
to
the
Propontis.
The
city
was
founded
in
712/11
BC
as a
Megarian
colony
and,
in
early
Antiquity,
was
called
Astacus
(lobster).
After
being
destroyed
by
Lysimachus,
it
was
rebuilt
by
Nicomedes
I of
Bithynia
in
264
BC
under
the
name
of
Nicomedia,
and
has
ever
since
been
one
of
the
most
important
cities
in
northwestern
Asia
Minor.
Hannibal
came
to
Nicomedia
in
his
final
years
and
committed
suicide
in
nearby
Libyssa
(Diliskelesi,
Gebze).
The
historian
Arrian
was
born
there.
Nicomedia
was
the
metropolis
of
Bithynia
under
the
Roman
Empire,
and
Diocletian
made
it
the
eastern
capital
city
of
the
Roman
Empire
in
286
when
he
introduced
the
Tetrarchy
system.
Nicomedia
remained
as
the
eastern
(and
most
senior)
capital
of
the
Roman
Empire
until
co-emperor
Licinius
was
defeated
by
Constantine
the
Great
at
the
Battle
of
Chrysopolis
(Uskudar)
in
324.
Constantine
mainly resided
in
Nicomedia
as
his
interim
capital
city
for
the
next
six
years,
until
in
330
he
declared
the
nearby Byzantium (which
was
renamed
Constantinople
(present-day Istanbul))
the
new
capital.
Constantine
died
in a
royal
villa
at
the
vicinity
of
Nicomedia
in
337.
Owing
to
its
position
at
the
convergence
of
the
Asiatic
roads
leading
to
the
new
capital,
Nicomedia
retained
its
importance
even
after
the
foundation
of
Constantinople.
However, a major earthquake on 24 August 358 caused extensive devastation to Nicomedia and was followed by a fire which completed the catastrophe. Nicomedia was rebuilt, but on a smaller scale. In the sixth century under Emperor Justinian the city was extended with new public buildings. Situated on the roads leading to the capital, the city remained a major military center, playing an important role in the Byzantine campaigns against the Caliphate. From the 840s on, Nicomedia was the capital of the thema of the Optimatoi. By that time, most of the old, seawards city had been abandoned and is described by the Arab geographer Ibn Khurdadhbeh as lying in ruins. The settlement had obviously been restricted to the hilltop citadel. In the 1080s, the city served as the main military base for Alexios I Komnenos in his campaigns against the Seljuk Turks, and the First and Second Crusades both encamped there. The city was held by the Latin Empire between 1204 and ca. 1240, when it was recovered by John III Vatatzes. It remained in Byzantine control for a further century, but following the Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Bapheus in 1302, it was threatened by the rising Ottoman beylik. The city was twice blockaded by the Ottomans (in 1304 and 1330) before finally succumbing in 1337. |