High in the mountains above the coastal city of Antalya, the ruins of the ancient Pisidian city of Termessos nestle in a tranquil forest. On a visit in 1995 our guide had almost succeeded in convincing us of the tranquil nature of its inhabitants until he made a chance remark which gave us pause. It was, he mentioned, the only city which Alexander the Great had never managed to conquer.
Although Termessos is only about 30 kilometres by road from Antalya, it is less visited than other more accessible and better known places in the region which, in Biblical times, was called Pamphylia. The nearby city of Perge is named in the Book of Acts as a place where Saint Paul once preached. Other locations in the area are connected with Saint Nicholas (yes, that Saint Nick). As far as I can tell there is still no public transport all the way there from Antalya. But one thing that hasn’t changed since I visited; it’s still a matter of clambering on foot around the hilly ruins at an elevation of over 1,000 metres.
A “Nest of Eagles”
Despite what some assume, the ruins are neither Greek nor Roman. The people of this place, first recorded in Homer’s Iliad, called themselves Solymi. They may not have been warlike, but they were certainly fiercely independent and capable of defending themselves. They had built their city on imposing heights commanding a significant trading route and created a “gymnasium” which was a training school for warriors, as well as serving as a sort of “international campus” for students throughout the region, including a school for girls.
When Alexander of Macedon (“the Great”) led his conquering army into the valley below Termessos in the spring of 333 BCE he assessed the place as being too impregnable to waste valuable time in besieging. Calling it a “nest of eagles” he decided to pass it by on his way to the conquests of Egypt, Persia, and all the way to the Indus river in today’s Pakistan. Even mighty Rome didn’t try to conquer the place but, in 71 BCE, granted it autonomous status as a “friend and ally”, free to make its own laws and mint its own coins.
But while Termessos may have been able to withstand human assaults it was no match for nature and had to be abandoned in the 5th century CE after a devastating earthquake destroyed much of the city and particularly the aqueduct on which it had depended to replenish its cisterns. Until last year there had never been a serious archaeological exploration of the place, so it has retained its mellow, ancient ambience undisturbed for the past two millennia.
Working for Peace in the Middle East
I was fortunate to be visiting as part of a bespoke tour organized by the government of Türkiye (or, as it was spelled then, Turkey) for a group of maritime security professionals from across the Middle East and North Africa, including both Israelis and Palestinians, along with others from outside the region. Unlikely as it seems today, there were significant prospects for peace in the Middle East thirty years ago. What was known as the “Madrid Conference” was bringing Israel and its Arab neighbours together to explore ways to build confidence and security, in parallel with bilateral “Oslo Accords” between Israelis and Palestinians.
As part of an “Arms Control and Regional Security” working group, Canada facilitated negotiations on maritime issues. This was our second meeting in Antalya and seventh in a series which had included a preliminary meeting at the Canadian Coast Guard College in 1993 and an at-sea demonstration aboard a Canadian warship off Venice in 1994. Sadly, the process was overtaken by renewed tensions and was paused indefinitely in late 1995. Even so, it did prove that when there is political will, professionals can make considerable progress at the non-political operational level. In this case, in addition to a lot of useful work on coordinating marine search and rescue, the process produced a multilateral agreement for preventing incidents at sea in the Middle East which, as far as I know, was the only agreement to have been completed and ready for political approval by the time the process ground to a halt. Furthermore, Canada continued to lead a colloquium on maritime safety, especially cooperative search and rescue, at a “Track Two” level for another nine years.
The Perspective of Time
It would be easy to feel discouraged by the failure of that process and to be depressed by events around the globe today. Nonetheless, stories of ancient ruins like Termessos can help keep things in perspective. After all, our individual lives may be short but the history of our species is long.
Admittedly, much of that history has been – and still is – what historian Barbara Tuchman described as “The March of Folly“. Nonetheless, it is worth reflecting on how far we have come in the intervals between follies, as long as we manage to restrain egotistical, narcissistic and ambitious individuals aspiring to be remembered as “Great”. In any case, no matter what happens, Termessos should remind us that no matter what we do, Nature always gets the final say.
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The feature photo and photos of the ruined walls and theatre are in the public domain from Wikimedia Commons. Photo of the ACRS Working Group is from the cover of “An Oral History of the Arms Control and Regional Security (ACRS) Working Group“. If you want to play a game of “Where’s Waldo?“, I’m in the back row, sporting a beard that’s less grey than today.
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