DOLICHĒ

 

DOLICHĒ, city in the Roman province of Syria conquered together with the surrounding area by Šāpūr I (240-70) during his second campaign against Rome in 252 or 253 (Back, p. 303, ŠKZ, Parth. l. 7, Gk. l. 17; for the date see DICHŌR). The name is no longer legible in the Middle Persian version of Šāpūr’s Res Gestae (cf. Sprengling, pl. 7 l. 10), and the Parthian form dwrhw is mysterious. The identification of Dolichē, on the ancient trade route from Antioch to Edessa, with Dülük in modern Turkey is certain (see Wagner, 1976, sketch 3; on the various forms of the name, see Honigmann, 1923, p. 182 n. 264). Also enigmatic is the sequence Dura (Parth. dwl’y), Dolichē in the Greek version, which complicates reconstruction of the route followed by the Sasanian army (see DURA-EUROPOS). It is often assumed that after the capture of Antioch Dolichē was taken, together with Germanikeia and Batna, which are also mentioned, on Šāpūr’s return march (cf. Baldus, p. 265), but absolute certainty is not possible. The city is known as the birthplace of the local deity Baʿal, who became famous as Jupiter Dolichenus.

 

Bibliography:

(For abbreviations found here, see “Short References.”) M. Back, Die sassanidischen Staatsinschriften, Acta Iranica 18, Tehran and Liège, 1978.

H. R. Baldus, Uranius Antoninus. Münzprägung und Geschichte, Antiquitas3/11, Bonn, 1971, esp. pp. 263-65.

I. Benzinger, “Doliche 4,” in Pauly-Wissowa V/1, col. 1276.

F. Cumont, Études syriennes, Paris, 1917, pp. 173-202.

M. H. Dodgeon and S. N. C. Lieu, eds., The Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars (AD 226-363), London, 1991, p. 362.

F. K. Dörner, Der Thron der Götter auf dem Nemrud Daḡ, 2nd ed., Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, 1987, pp. 147-48, 216 ff.

R. Dussaud, Topographie historique de la Syrie antique et médiévale, Paris, 1927, pp. 229, 434, 445, 472, 478-79.

W. Ensslin, Zu den Kriegen des Sassaniden Schapur,Sitzb. der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Phil.-hist. Kl., 1947/5, Munich, 1949, p. 103 and n. 4.

P. Gignoux, Glossaire des inscriptions pehlevies et parthes, Corpus Inscr. Iran., Suppl.1, London, 1972, p. 50.

H. Hellenkamper, Der Limes am nordsyrischen Euphrat in Studien zu den Mili-tärgrenzen Roms II, Cologne and Bonn, 1977, p. 470.

E. Honigmann, “Historische Topographie von Nordsyrien im Altertum,” Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 46, 1923.

Idem, Recherches sur les Res Gestae Divi Saporis, Académie Royale de Belgique, Classe des lettres, 47/4, Brussels, 1953, pp. 147, 154.

E. Kettenhofen, Die römisch- persischen Kriege des 3. Jahrhunderts n. Chr., TAVO BeihefteB 55, Wiesbaden, 1982, pp. 74-77.

D. O. A. Klose, “Nikopolis und Doliche,” Jahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte 34, 1984, p. 66.

D. J. MacDonald, “The Genesis of the ‘Res Gestae Divi Sapori,’” Berytus 27, 1979, pp. 77-83.

A. T. Olmstead, “The Mid-Third Century of the Christian Era,” Classical Philology 37, 1942, pp. 409, 414.

M. I. Rostovtzeff, “Res Gestae Divi Saporis and Dura,” Berytus 8, 1943, p. 26.

M. Sprengling, Third Century Iran. Sapor and Kartir, Chicago, 1953, pl. 2 l. 13, pp. 95-96.

J. Wagner, Seleukeia am Euphrat/Zeugma, TAVO, Beihefte B 10, Wiesbaden, 1976.

Idem, “Neue Denkmäler aus Doliche,” Bonner Jahrbücher 182, 1982, pp. 133-66.

(Erich Kettenhofen)

Originally Published: December 15, 1995

Last Updated: November 29, 2011

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Vol. VII, Fasc. 5, p. 478