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Cyzicus

Western Asia

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Cyzicus was an ancient Greek city of Mysia on the Kapidag Peninsula on the Sea of Marmara, in what is now Balikesir Province, Turkey, traditionally founded by Pelasgian settlers with later colonization from Miletus said to date to 756 BC. It became a major commercial and naval power, defeating a Spartan fleet at the Battle of Cyzicus in 410 BC and minting gold staters that served as a standard currency across the ancient world, and it withstood a massive siege by Mithridates VI in 74 BC. The city built a colossal temple to Hadrian with some of the tallest columns known from antiquity, and was abandoned around the 11th century AD after repeated earthquakes.

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