Magnesia ad Sipylum
Magnesia ad Sipylum was a city of
Lydia, situated about 65 km northeast of
Smyrna on the river
Hermus at the foot of
Mount Sipylus. Nowadays this is the location of
Manisa in
Turkey.
No mention of the town is found till
190 BC, when
Antiochus the Great was defeated in the
battle of Magnesia by the Roman consul
Lucius Scipio Asiaticus. It became a city of importance under the Roman dominion and, though nearly destroyed by an earthquake in the reign of
Tiberius, was restored by that emperor and flourished through the Roman empire. It was one of the few towns in this part of
Asia Minor which remained prosperous under the Turkish rule. The most famous relic of antiquity is the
Niobe of Sipylus (Suratlu Tash) on the lowest slopes of the mountain about 6 km east of the town. This is a colossal seated image cut in a niche of the rock, of
Hittite origin, and perhaps that called by
Pausanias the very ancient statue of the Mother of the Gods, carved by
Broteas, son of
Tantalus, and sung by
Homer. Near it lie many remains of a primitive city, and about a kilometer east is the rock-seat conjecturally identified with Pausanias'
Throne of Pelops. There are also hot springs and a sacred grotto of
Apollo. The whole site seems to be that of the early Tantalus city.
