Balbura (Lycia)

Balbura or Balboura (Ancient Greek: Βάλβουρα) was a town of ancient Lycia, the site of which is at Çölkayiği. The acropolis hill is about 90 metres above the plain of Katara, and the plain is 1,500 feet (460 m) above the level of the sea. The ruins occupy a considerable space on both sides of the stream. There are two theatres at Balbura; one is on the south side of the acropolis hill, and the other is in a hollow in the front of the mountain on the south side of the stream: the hollow in the mountain formed the cavea. There are also remains of several temples at Katara; and of Christian churches. The ethnic name Βαλβουρεύς occurs on two inscriptions at least at Katara. The site was discovered by Hoskyn and Forbes. Balbura was part of a district called Cabalia,[1] named Cabalis by Strabo with two other cities, Bubon and Oenoanda.

Balbura minted coins during the Hellenistic Age and during the reign of Caligula.[2]

Bishopric

Balbura was a bishopric early, a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Myra, the capital of the Roman province of Lycia. The names of four of its bishops are recorded in extant documents. Hermaeus was at the First Council of Constantinople in 381.[3] Philippus took part the Council of Chalcedon in 351.[4][5] Nicolaus was a signatory of the protest letter that the bishops of the province of Lycia sent in 458 to Byzantine Emperor Leo I the Thracian over the killing of Proterius of Alexandria.[6] Ioannes was a participant in the Photian Council of Constantinople (879).[7][8][9]

No longer a residential bishopric, Balbura is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[10]

References
  1. Pliny. Naturalis Historia. 5.27.
  2. Stillwell, Richard; MacDonald, William L.; McAlister, Marian Holland (1976). "The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites". Princeton University Press. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
  3. Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, vol. III, col. 571.
  4. Richard Price; Michael Gaddis (2005). The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon. p. 105.
  5. Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, vol. VI, coll. 948 and 1086.
  6. Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, vol. VII, col. 580.
  7. Mansi, Sacrorum conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, vol. XVII-XVIII, col. 377.
  8. Michel Lequien, Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus, Paris 1740, Vol. I, coll. 987-988
  9. Raymond Janin, v. Balbura, in Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Géographie ecclésiastiques, vol. VI, 1932, col. 322
  10. Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1), p. 845

Further reading
  • C. Naour: Nouvelles inscriptions de Balboura. In: Ancient Society 9 (1978) 165–185.
  • Kent J. Rigsby An imperial letter at Balbura. In: American Journal of Philology 100 (1979) 401–407.
  • J. J. Coulton, N. P. Milner, A. T. Reyes: Balboura survey. Onesimos and Meleager. Part 1. In: Anatolian Studies 38 (1988) 121–145. Part 2: In: Anatolian Studies 39 (1989) 41–62.
  • Lionel Bier: The lower theatre at Balboura. In: Anatolian Studies 40 (1990) 69-79
  • A. S. Hall, J. J. Coulton: A Hellenistic allotment list from Balboura in the Kibyratis. In: Chiron 20 (1990) 109–153.
  • D. K. Money: Lions of the mountains. The sarcophagi of Balboura. In: Anatolian Studies 40 (1990) 29–54.
  • N. P. Milner: Victors in the Meleagria and the Balbouran élite. In: Anatolian Studies 41 (1991) 23–62.
  • C. H. Hallett, J. J. Coulton: The east tomb and other tomb buildings at Balboura. In: Anatolian Studies 43 (1993) 41–68.
  • Lionel Bier: The upper theatre at Balboura. In: Anatolian Studies 44 (1994) 27–46.
  • J. J. Coulton: The fortifications of Balboura. In: Revue des études anciennes 96 (1994) 329–335.
  • Tyler Jo Smith: The Votive Reliefs from Balboura and its Environs, In: Anatolian Studies (1997) 3-49.
  • Hansgerd Hellenkemper, Friedrich Hild: Lykien und Pamphylien, Tabula Imperii Byzantini 8. Wien 2004, S. 477-479.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Balbura". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.


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