À l'Est d'Halicarnasse

The book presents the results of a survey carried out by the Ausonius Institute of the University of Bordeaux-Montaigne between 2003 and 2009 in the south-west of Asia Minor. The study area lies in Caria, between the Ceramic Gulf and the Mylasa plain, and extends for 40 km from west to east and 30 km from north to south. The area of some ​​1200 km² is demarcated by the cities of Halicarnassus, Bargylia, Mylasa and Keramos.

Now, the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World in 2000 shows an area void of ancient sites. The truth is completely different. Our exploration revealed that more than thirty communities of different sizes settled in the area in ancient times. A number of these communities have been identified or likely sites found such as Telmessos, Anastasiupolis, Amynanda, Silus, Kodapa, Bargasa, Kasolaba, Kindye, Erine, Kildara. Other hypotheses are proposed making it possible, as far as the available sources permit, to follow more closely a historical thread running from archaic times through to the Byzantine period.

The study shows that the area opened up very early on to relations with the outside world. This explains the complex history of Carian communities that experienced various periods of prosperity amid hegemonic power struggles of royal Achaemenids and the Athenian “empire”, with local Hecatomnid rule and rivalries among the Hellenistic monarchies until the Roman conquest and the 6th-century Byzantine revival. Finally, this research opens up the little-known field of the Carian structure of government, involving the existence of small communities and larger encompassing regional entities.