It is the year after creation 6,074, or 566 years after the Incarnation. You are either a visitor to or a resident of the village of Eugenia, near the heart of the province of Phrygia Saloutaris. The village is known for the fountain around which it was founded: one spout produces pink water, the other light blue, and drinking from either is said to change the body of the imbiber….
HOLY EUGENIA
A NOVEL
But what kind of roleplay will this be?Historical.
I'm not a professional scholar of Late Antiquity, and in a few cases I want to be deliberately anachronistic, but as much as possible I want a strong sense of verisimilitude in our story. A resource I recommend, if not for this roleplay then for reading in general, is Kristine Sessa's Daily Life in Late Antiquity (2018), though a great deal of helpful information is contained further below.
Queer.
The sort of "change" noted in the very brief introduction is what we moderns call gender affirmation. A general theme I hope we tackle in this story is the tension between gender, religion, and patriarchy, even if the village itself is supposed to be a kind of refuge, since the residents all take queerness for granted.
Slice-of-Life...
...although I prefer the term Realist. Aside from the fountain, and perhaps the forests of nearby Mount Dindymos, we must try and refrain from the supernatural, or at least from what people outside of our story would unequivocally interpret as the supernatural: the villagers, of course, have mindsets steeped in the supernatural, if not the superstitious.
Sandbox.
You'll notice, in the list of characters, the plots I have in mind. Some are well-defined, and thus effectively closed, while others are vague, and thus open to inclusion, but that they are legion implies my openness over you, the player, coming up with plots of your own. Just keep in mind that, for the foreseeable future, no big events, e.g. wars or famines, are likely to occur.
As I have historically done a lot of growing up on this site, I'll be much more lenient about being rude or argumentative, but I can't say the same for other players, and I'll respect their requests as much as I'll respect yours.
For "literacy", I don't think I'm the best writer, and sometimes I do agree a response only needs one or two paragraphs, so I won't impose any hard limits, but the general vibe of one's IC posts should fit the level of commitment you see in, well, this initial post. I suggest that if your characters are going to have a rapid back-and-forth, flood the OOC thread, then compile everything into a smaller number of posts for the IC thread.
For "power levels", the usual stipulations against godmodding and uninteresting characters apply. The fact that this game master is not going to mainly play the Emperor, or even the local governor, should give you a good idea of how rich and powerful your characters can be.
All ages are welcome, both players and characters, which means adult situations are going to be restricted, at least for both IC and OOC threads. Keep in mind the site's rules!
Some Characters
Players are encouraged to play multiple characters. If you mainly want to play a resident, try to conceptualize the household of which your character will be a part (see the extensive setting notes for something of a guide). Likewise, if you mainly want to play a visitor, try to conceptualize the household of which your character will be a guest, since the limited capacity of either the inn or the monastery means that few pilgrims end up as their guests.I keep my character profiles short, preferring to better describe them as I go along. Feel free to expand on the following template. Also, if you want to play with any of the character concepts below, I'm open to giving some of these characters away, even the ones with fully written profiles.
Visitors from Afar.
Maria's Household.
Dioscorides' Household.
Visitors from Nearby.
Other Noteworthy Residents.
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Michael of Constantinople.
Age. A few years older than Dionysius.
Appearance. Of both locality and gender, difficult to pinpoint.
Birthday. 6 June.
Name Day. 8 November.
Gender. Unsure.
Temperament. Melancholic.
Role. Michael was born a "full man", but he often believes it would have been better were he born a "eunuch", or even an outright woman. He has come to Eugenia with his best friend, Dionysius of Attica, to discover himself by partaking of the village's mysterious fountain.Dionysius of Attica
Age. Mid 20s.
Appearance. A touch schlubby, with his unkempt auburn hair and beard.
Birthday. 21 April.
Name Day. 3 October.
Gender. Man.
Temperament. Phlegmatic.
Role. He and Michael met when they were both children. Dionysius, a country prodigy, had been sent by his parents to be educated by Proklos, a grammatikos in Constantinople, one of whose students was Michael. Soon enough, Dionysius and Michael became inseparable, with the two becoming the followers of Photios, a philosophos, although they've recently had to part ways with their master due to Michael's crisis of identity. Both consider the other to be their "better half": Dionysius, certainly, is smarter than Michael, but Michael has more of his vices under control. -
Maria.
Age. Mid 40s, something she will never admit.
Appearance. An ageing beauty with reddish-brown hair.
Birthday. 13 November.
Name Day. Officially, 21 November, but she also celebrates 1 April.
Gender. Woman.
Temperament. Somewhere between phlegmatic and sanguine.
Role. More than a decade ago, one of Eugenia's wealthier leaseholders died without any known relatives, but instead of having his land default either to the government or to his neighbors, he bequeathed it to a certain stranger—Maria—whom the villagers soon realized had been his favorite prostitute. By the time she arrived to claim her inheritance, however, Maria seemed to have "reformed", bringing along a well-cared-for daughter, and she soon won enough of the village's respect to frequent its de facto council.
Maria, though what we moderns would call a cis woman, partakes of the fountain, as treatment for her menopause.Theodora.
Age. Early 40s.
Appearance. Rugged and butch.
Birthday. 17 February.
Name Day. 23 April.
Gender. Less sensitive strangers are surprised to find she is a woman, a phenomenon she deeply, deeply resents.
Temperament. Choleric.
Role. When Maria, her partner, received news of her inheritance, Theodora openly gave up her job as a wandering mercenary, especially for the sake of Maria's daughter—and her own, since Theodora always adopted every one of Maria's children as she gave birth to them, with only this one daughter surviving past early childhood. On establishing themselves at Eugenia, Theodora established the institution of the decarchy, only her tendency towards various vices, especially those stemming from intemperance, jealousy, and wrath, means she disturbs the peace as much as she tries to keep it.Georgia.
Age. Early teen.
Appearance. She resembles her mother in beauty and her biological father in disposition.
Birthday. 24 December.
Name Day. 23 April.
Gender. Girl.
Temperament. Melancholic.
Role. The biological daughter of Maria and the adoptive daughter of Theodora, Georgia doesn't seem to care about anything except spending time with her friends, especially the one friend for whom she has a special interest. Both her mothers want her to continue her education, but which kind is a source of debate: Theodora is content with Georgia receiving a vocational education, but Maria wishes for her daughter to receive a full paideia.Manuela.
Age. Early teen.
Appearance. Scrappy, with big bushy hair.
Birthday. 14 August.
Name Day. 24 December.
Gender. Girl.
Temperament. Somewhere between sanguine and choleric.
Role. Born to one of Eugenia's poorest families, she was given up for fostering by her parents, and Maria and Theodora readily took her in. She adores the decarchy, especially their leader Theodora, much more than she pays attention to her education.Evangelos.
Theodora's lieutenant, who followed Theodora and Maria when they chose to retire to Eugenia.Nonna.
One of the stipulations for Maria to receive her inheritance was that the previous owner's slaves keep their jobs and remain attached to the rest of the property; Maria did him one better, freeing them even as she retained their services. Nonna, the former slaves' matron, works as Maria's steward.Artemidorus.
The nondescript foreman of the laborers working for Maria.Barbara.
Manuela's mother, an aged maidservant. She works for other, less well-off households than Maria's. -
Dioscorides the Arcadian.
Age. Mid 50s.
Appearance. In general, he is reminiscent of the pagan god Silenus, though his physique is less than ideal.
Birthday. 29 November.
Name Day. (He prefers not to celebrate it, but it's 28 May)
Gender. Man.
Temperament. Melancholic.
Role. He joined village society as one of the poor (or seemingly poor) hunters that worked the woods around the village, especially those on the slopes of nearby Mount Dindymus, though his knowledge of both the wilderness and the fine art of medicine soon secured him his place in the de facto council. Insofar as his ageing body would allow him, he is presently focused on his work as a public official, with his work as a hunter and as a doctor instead performed by his two adoptive children.
He is what we moderns would call intersex, a condition for which he partakes of the fountain.Ariadne.
Age. Mid 20s.
Appearance. A rugged country beauty, though she takes no particular care for her appearance.
Birthday. Unknown.
Name Day. 18 September.
Gender. Woman.
Temperament. Somewhere between melancholic and choleric.
Role. Dioscorides had discovered his two children, Ariadne and her brother Castor, at the height of the plague: the two were among its very few survivors in the village where they were born. Much later, the twins were sent out of Eugenia to further learn about their chosen trades. Ariadne most enjoyed their time in the hunting grounds of Mysia, Bithynia, Thracia, and Achaia, while Kastor most appreciated the time they spent with the esteemed physicians Alexander of Tralles and Aëtios of Amida, as well as at the birthplace of the old genius Galen of Pergamon. Indeed, Kastor had hoped the two would visit Galen's principal workplaces of Rome and Egyptian Alexandria, but then Ariadne had a crisis of identity: she finally articulated her long-maintained identity as a woman.Castor.
Age. Mid 20s.
Appearance. Another country beauty.
Birthday. Unknown.
Name Day. 18 September.
Gender. Man.
Temperament. A balance of the humors, but with occasional bursts of choler.
Role. Having returned to where the family had resolved to settle down, Castor is comfortable enough serving as the village doctor, especially with his beloved Michael living so close, but part of him wishes he and his sister were able to continue their travels, perhaps to visit the two great cities where Galen most developed his trade: Alexandria and Rome. -
Michael of Akmonia.
Age. A few years older than Castor.
Appearance. As handsome as he is chic, with an impeccably well-kept beard.
Birthday. 21 December.
Name Day. 8 November.
Gender. Man.
Temperament. Sanguine.
Role. A frequent visitor to the village, ostensibly because of his devotion to its resident miracle, in an actuality obscure to no one this young bouleutic from nearby Akmonia visits because of his far less religious (though, he insists, no less pious) devotion to the village doctor, Castor, something resented by his rather conservative grandmother Georgia. Still, he does not answer this resentment with even more resentment, not least because the calculus of power, of belonging to the bouleutic class in the empire of Justin and Justinian, forever remains in his mind.Georgia of Akmonia.
Michael's crotchety grandmother. As a reflection of Hellenic naming practices, it was her husband after which Michael was named, but it was after her eldest son that the family was named.Junia.
Georgia's longsuffering, if rather snooty, steward.Theophilus of Antiocheia.
The sponsor of the two visitors from afar; in essence, the local philosopher. -
Elder Celestine.
Age. Mid 60s to early 70s.
Appearance. He bears the very image of an experienced monastic, with his balding white hair and long flowing beard.
Birthday. Unknown.
Name Day. 8 April.
Gender. Man.
Temperament. Phlegmatic.
Role. Not only does he bear the very image of an experienced monastic, but he is himself the same, although he is not a member of the local monastery. This is by choice: after arriving to Eugenia and partaking of its mysterious waters (a fact which few of Eugenia's residents remember), he asked the abbot if he could join said community, and when the abbot said he would have to consult the bishops of his synod, the elder decided to remain as he was.Basilissa.
Age. Early teen.
Appearance. A more conventional beauty.
Birthday. 6 August.
Name Day. 1 January.
Gender. Girl.
Temperament. Nearer to a balance of the humours than her peers.
Role. The third of the six living Bennion children, one cannot be sure whether Basileia's obliviousness to the infatuation felt for her by Georgia, one of her best friends, is willful or otherwise.Bennios.
The Benniones were supposed to follow the Hellenic pattern of alternating names. The present head of the family, Bennios, had named his eldest child after his father, Soter, but then the child died. Trying again with the second, that child, too, died. The third child, they decided to name after the saint on the day wherein he was born, and this child is presently a young man being educated in Prymnessos. The fourth child again died, at which point he realized the pattern had to be broken.Euphrosyne.
Bennios' wife and Basilissa's mother.Basil.
Basilissa's twin brother. Note that all the Bennion children after the twins yet live.Theodulus.
Basilissa's chaperone. A eunuch.Berenice.
One of the more active members of the local vintagers, she is considered something of a prodigy, though she finds it lamentable she does not have a full paideia.Imeneia.
Veronica's assistant.Porcius.
The village advocate.The Right Reverend Bishop, John.
The village bishop.Archdeacon Pantaleon.
Bishop John's hyperactive, near-omnipresent assistant, especially with matters concerning the monastery.Archpriest Paschal.
The somewhat vain, though not at all callous, archpriest, and head of services at Sts. Protus and Hyacinth specifically.Father Julius.
The more sanguine head of services at St. Michael the Archangel, and Porcius' colleague when they both studied in Synnada.Nerissa.
Porcius' clerk, Father Julius' wife, and Barbara's employer.Joanna.
Father Julius and Nerissa's infant daughter.
On the Setting.
It would be better to describe the setting over the course of the story, rather than to dump all such exposition out-of-character, but there would be much less fun if I wrote all such description alone. Some preliminary information, therefore, is necessary, for which I've gone with a top-down approach.Part One details information that applies to Late Antiquity in general.
Part Two elaborates on our region, Phrygia.
Part Three focuses on our village, Eugenia: its history, its geography, and its society.
Part One: Late Antiquity.
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This period in European, North African, and Middle Eastern history runs from around 250 A.D., when the Empire that united much of these three regions was in crisis, to around 600 A.D., when the Western portion of said Empire was mostly in the hands of various foreign powers, while the Eastern portion was on the cusp of falling to the Sassanid Persians and the Rashidun Arabs.
We deal here mostly with its Eastern portion, which for the most part was governed by an Emperor based in the city of Constantinople.
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Much of the wealth of late antique society was derived from agriculture. At the top of the price chain were equines—these were never eaten and rarely processed into leather and glue—as well as oxen, but they both demanded so much forage as to be raised in large herds only by the upper classes or those in territories difficult to cultivate. Next were pigs, which the Romans rarely fed slop: instead, these were raised in wetlands or woodlands, and so their relative cost.
What were most often kept in great flocks were sheep and goats, with wool being the usual material for clothing and goatskin being the usual source of leather; if crop rotation were practiced, then such flocks could be raised even on arable land. At the bottom of the scale for meat, which was universally more expensive than vegetable products, were chickens and pigeons, as these animals could be raised even within a city. Note that all the above notes apply to raising such animals in bulk, with most independent farms probably having a few asses to carry goods, a few oxen to till the earth, a few goats to produce milk, a few chickens to lay eggs, and a few dogs to keep guard.
After meat and meat products was good wine, although this commodity was something of a gamble: not only were winemakers limited by vintage, but because germ theory was still more than a millennium from being codified, the fermentation process was essentially uncontrolled. A more stable source of income was found in fruits and nuts, but like with meat, these required a sizeable initial investment to grow, especially if one were to plant an orchard anew. Olives tended to grow both more quickly and in a greater variety of environments, but the use of olive oil as an industrial product, coupled with olive trees' somewhat uneven yield, made these a commodity whose prices were fixed by the highest levels of government.
Fiber crops, such as flax or hemp, went below olives, due to being used purely for industry; on the same level were certain herbs, seeds, and spices, like myrtle, poppy, sesame, licorice, and cardamom. Next came mediocre wine, which was neither a luxury nor a strict necessity, however ubiquitous it was. Finally, the Roman staples of legumes and cereals lay at the very bottom of the scale, with legumes being planted to replenish the soil where crop rotation is practiced, and cereals being freely distributed by the government in the great cities of Constantinople, Rome, Syrian Antioch, and Egyptian Alexandria.
Scattered across the scale were rare meats, bees and bee products, flowers, and vegetables. Rare meats, such as geese, ducks, hares, mice, and snails, required a sizeable initial investment, much like orchards or herds of horses and cattle, despite the much smaller yields they produced. Apiculture did not require much of an investment, and it yielded products that are both ubiquitous and expensive, but it required a lot of specialized knowledge. Flowers were only traded between regions for certain specific holidays, such as Pentecost, while vegetables were simply too ubiquitous to trade, as even functionally landless laborers kept vegetable gardens in their backyards. Other sources of wealth were hunting, logging, fishing, mining, quarrying, trade, and pilgrimages.
Every part of Phrygia consistently benefitted from growing chickens, pigeons, poppies, wine-grapes, wheat, and barley.
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One will have noticed two dates being given every time a year is mentioned. When using a more universal system for writing out dates—that is, when they didn't merely note who the consuls or emperor at a given year were—the Romans before the advent of Christianity counted from the founding of Rome, while those who wrote once Christianity was the Empire's official religion counted from the year of Creation. Reckoning from the birth of Christ only went into official use a couple of centuries after Late Antiquity's provisional end date, and only in those states succeeding the Empire in the West.
It must be noted, however, that there were two competing estimates for the date of Creation. The estimate originating from Alexandria was used across the Empire until after the reign of Justinian, when it was replaced by the estimate originating from Constantinople—the estimate used somewhat anachronistically in this story, as it reckoned the new year to start by 1 September, the same date by which properties were reassessed for taxation every 15 years (i.e., the Indiction).
Consequently, the Late Antique Year is often said to begin with autumn. With September began the sowing of wheat, barley, and poppy, as well as the harvesting of grapes.
As October ended, so did the grape harvest. In the middle of November, the olive harvest began; with its end also ended the sowing of cereals and poppies. By the start of December—the start of winter—came the harvesting of fruit and nuts, the sowing of cold-tolerant vegetables, and the mending of tools.
The roots of vines and trees were dug up at the start of January. Ploughing and the sowing of spring crops, like flax, began with February. Spring itself began at March; here, millet (the poor man's cereal) and fruit trees were planted. Here also began the barley harvest and the collection of eggs, while the hunting and fishing seasons, at the very latest, came to their respective ends.
For April and May, calves, kids, and lambs were either birthed or purchased, while vines were shaped and supported; during May specifically was when the poppy began to flower. With June came summer and the harvesting of wheat.
The barley harvest ended with July, when most legumes simultaneously began to be sown. In August, the hunting season began, though the best hunting and fishing often came with the following month.
The Phrygian climate was harsh, especially its winters: there, all of the events described above occurred about a fortnight later than in most other regions across the Mediterranean.
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A typical unit of area during Late Antiquity was the iugerum, which is about 0.623 acres or 0.25 hectares. Note that there are 640 acres in a square mile, which is about 1,030 iugera or 260 hectares.
25 iugera of lands where only cereals, legumes, and vegetables were grown required 1 laborer to work, though half the area was always left fallow.
Orchards and groves may be classed into three kinds: those where trees were spaced far enough that intercropping can never be practiced, with up to 36 trees per iugerum; those where intercropping may or may not be practiced, with up to 25 trees per iugerum; and those where intercropping was always understood to be practiced, with up to 10 trees per iugerum. Orchards and groves of the second kind may be intercropped either with cereals and legumes or with grapevines. 22 iugera of orchards and groves intercropped with cereals and legumes required 1 laborer, as opposed to 18 iugera for those intercropped with grapevines, though in both cases, half of each plot was always kept free of any intercropping.
Grapevines could also be propped up on stakes or even left to grow on the ground, though the latter uniformly produced mediocre wine. 1 laborer could manage about 8 iugera of such vineyards.
Finally, the livestock supported by at least 240 iugera of land could be herded by 1 swineherd, 1 shepherd, or both.
Laborers themselves may be classed into three groups. Tenants were laborers whose work was not under the direct control of whoever owns the land. Wage Laborers were laborers whose work was controlled by the land's owners, but who weren't themselves owned by their employers. Slaves were laborers whose work was controlled by the land's owners and who were themselves owned by their employers, such that their initial price may be higher than those merely hired, and that they continued to cost their employers even when they did no work. In other words, when it came to agricultural work, the employment of slaves was balanced against the employment of either tenants or wage laborers, and the economic situation of Late Antiquity meant that the institution of slavery was in decline.
This isn't to say that slavery was no longer ubiquitous. The typical household would house about 6 members; for poorer households, this meant they supplied the equivalent of 2 laborers, while wealthier households had at least an equal number of slaves or freedmen attached to the household as paid domestic servants. At this point in history, most slaves born into the status expected eventual manumission, few slaves were employed to work the land, and no slaves received their status because of their race.
During Late Antiquity, the institution of slavery differed little between Phrygia and its neighbors, but in the not-so-distant past the region was an important source of slaves.
Part Two: Phrygia.
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The following map covers the entirety of the Phrygian cultural sphere.
View attachment Phrygia Review Copy Shrunken.png
At the heart of the Mediterranean peninsula of Asia Minor, known today as Anatolia or Asiatic Turkey, is a plateau, on the western half of which was the historical region of Phrygia. Much of this plateau—the area painted white—rises between 2,500 and 4,500 feet above sea level, with areas painted yellow lying below the range, and areas painted pink lying above it.
Light blue lines denote streams and minor tributaries. Blue lines and areas denote major (i.e., named) rivers and lakes. Dark blue spots denote hot springs. Areas with bluish-green "v"s denote wetlands.
Brown lines denote well-used highways. Green lines denote dilapidated or unmaintained highways. Orange lines denote certain minor roads.
Red dots denote settlements, of which there are five kinds. Cities are settlements with a population of 5,000 to 30,000 souls. Cities-by-status, like cities, have the right to mint their own coinage, but they don't exceed the size of a large town. Towns are settlements with a population of 1,000 to 10,000 souls. Villages are settlements with a population of 50 to 2,000 souls. Fortresses are settlements where an area's imperial garrison is based.
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As the map clearly showed, Phrygia was entirely landlocked, so itineraries whose final destination was the region itself were rare. The three most important routes which passed through the region went in a predominantly longitudinal direction. These were a highway connecting Nikaia and Ankyra (Route A; the other highway connecting the two cities lies entirely to the north), the highway connecting Smyrna and Koloneia (Route B), and the highway connecting Ephesos and Ikonion (Route C; note that these designations were never used by those who actually followed these routes). Settlements in parentheses lay entirely outside the region, here being noted for reference.
Route A. (Nikaia, city)—(…)—Lamounia, town—Dorylaion, city—Midaion, city-by-status—Akkilaion, city-by-status—Trokmades, village—Germa, city—Gordion, town—(…)—(Ankyra, city)
Route B. (Smyrna, city)—(…)—(Sardeis, city)—Maionia, city-by-status—Nisyra, village—Kollyda, town—Thermai Theseos, village—Tabala, city-by-status—Bagis, city-by-status—Temenouthyrai, city—Traianoupolis, city-by-status—Alioi, town—Akroinos, fortress—Prymnessos, city—Iulia, city-by-status—Mesanakta, village—Aurokra, village—Philomelion, city—Tyriaion, town—Lageina, village—Laodikeia Katakekaumene, city-by-status—Kabala, fortress—Perta, city-by-status—Komitanassos, village—(Koropassos, village)—(Koloneia, city)
Route C. (Ephesos, city)—(Magnesia he pros Maiandro, city)—(Tralleis, city)—(Nysa, city)—(…)—(Antiocheia tou Maiandrou, city)—(Brioula, city-by-status)—(Karoura, town)—Laodikeia pros tou Lykou, city—Bonita, fortress—Sanaos, city-by-status—Lakerion, village—Apameia, city—Aporidoskome, village—Auloutrene, fortress—Sozopolis, city—Antiocheia, city—Neapolis, city-by-status—(Pappa, city-by-status)—(Siniandos, village)—(Ikonion, city)
No alternate routes of importance to Phrygia during the time of our story connected from the north to Route A. Routes A and B, however, were connected within Phrygia by the following five routes.
Route AB1. Near Lamounia—Kotiaion, city—Meiros, city-by-status—between Soa, city-by-status, and Appia, town—Kone, city-by-status—Lankena, village, or near Eugenia, village—northeast of Alioi or near Kidyessos, city
Route AB2. Dorylaion—Limne, village—Nakoleia, city—Meiros—…
Route AB3. South of Germa—Pessinous, city—Orkistos, city-by-status—Neokometon, village—Kedreia, fortress—Dokimeion, city—Antimacheia, village—Between Prymnessos and Augustoupolis
Route AB4. …—Pessinous, city—Abrostola, village—Amorion, city—Phyteia, village—Iulia, city-by-status
Route AB5. …—Amorion, city—Miskamos, village—Aralla, village—Pithoi
Routes B and C were connected by the following 6 routes.
Route BC1. (Near Sardeis)—(…)—Philadelpheia, city—Tripolis, city—Hierapolis, city—Laodikeia pros tou Lykou
Route BC2. Between Traianoupolis and Alioi—Soublaion, town—Eumeneia, city—Homadena, town—Peltai
Route BC3. East of Kidyessos—east of Hierapolis, city-by-status—Apameia
Route BC4. Prymnessos—Synnada, city—Euphorbion, town—Apameia
Route BC5. Near Iulia—Euphorbion—…
Route BC6. Laodikeia Katakekaumene—(Ikonion)
The following 4 routes connected from the south to Route C.
Route C1. (Xanthos, city)—(Kibyra, city)—(…)—Laodikeia pros-tou-Lykou
Route C2. (Attaleia, city)—(…)—Near Bonita
Route C3. (Attaleia)—(…)—(Lysinia, city-by-status)—Either Auloutrene or between Aporidoskome and Sozopolis
Route C4. (Side, city)—(…)—Mistheia, city-by-status—Either Neapolis or Pappa
Before the Mediterranean slave trade, which normally transported slaves from east to west, reversed directions, it was the route between Prousa and Ankyra, rather than between Nikaia and Ankyra, that was most important for the region.
Route A1. (Prousa, city)—(…)—West of Lamounia—…
Before the establishment of Route B, the following was seen as more important.
Route D. (Pergamon, city)—(…)—Synaos, city-by-status—Kadoi, city—Aizanoi, city—Spore, village—Kotiaion—Dorylaion
While the primacy of routes was shifting southwards, the following connections between Routes B and E were considered important.
Route DB1. Near Ankyra Sidera, city-by-status—Ariandos, town—Tamasis, village—Tarsis, village—Saittai, city-by-status—Beudena, village— Kerbia, village—Iaza, village—Nysira
Route DB2. Synaos—Silandos, city-by-status—Thermai Theseos
Route DB3. Between Synaos and Kadoi—Lyendos, town—Between Bagis and Temenouthyrai
Route DB4. Spore—Mantalos, town—Soa, city-by-status—Between Kidyessos and Akroinos
Route DB5. Kotiaion—Meiros—Leontos Thermon, village—Ipsos, town—Akroinos
Alternate routes between Kotiaion and Adramyttion and between Synaos and Prousa crossed each other at Hadrianeia.
Route E. (Adramyttion, city)—(…)—(Hadrianeia, town)—Kotiaion
Route F. (Prousa)—(Basilika Therma, village)—(Hadrianoi, town)—(Hadrianeia)—Skodrena, village—Synaos
That highways between Nakoleia and Amorion and between Pessinous and Dokimeion crossed each other at Orkistos was the reason for its elevated status, though one of these highways had since diminished in importance.
Route AB6. Nakoleia—Kaborkion, village—Orkistos, city-by-status—Amorion
Additional connections existed between routes B and C, one directly connecting Kolossai and Eumeneia, and the other passing through Akmonia and the rest of the Phrygian Pentapolis.
Route BC7. …—Eumeneia—Between Laodikeia pros tou Lykou and Bonita
Route BC8. Alioi—Akmonia, city—Diokleia, town—Kleros Politikes, village—Kleros Orines, village—Eukarpia, city-by-status——Hierapolis—…
Finally, there was a complex of old highways that went south from the Via Sebaste—the ancient name for Route C3 and the rest of Route C continuing east—as alternative routes to Attaleia.
Route C5. North of Baris, city-by-status—(Saparta, city-by-status)—(Sagalassos, city)—(…)—(Attaleia)
Route C6. South of Antiocheia—(Prostanna, city-by-status)—(Limenai, town)—(Saparta)—(…)
Route C7. (…)—(Prostanna)—(Adada, city)—(…)—(Attaleia)
And then there are those roads which, while never highways, were of some importance to the region. First are major alternate connections.
Route G1. Dorylaion—Kaborkion—Neokometon
Route G2. Abrostola—Tolastochora, village—(Ouetissos, village)—(Gdanmaa, town)—(Pegella, village)—(Koggoustos, village)—(Perta)
Route G3. Eukarpia—Otrous, city-by-status—Eumeneia
Route G4. North of Soublaion—Bria—Blaundos, city-by-status—East of Philadelpheia
Then there are the roads which provided access to certain important settlements.
Route H1. Synaos—Tiberioupolis, city-by-status—Near Palox, village
Route H2. Kadoi—Tiberioupolis—…
Route H3. Aizanoi—Tiberioupolis—…
Route H4. West of Soa—Appia—South of Kone
Route H5. Bria—Near Motella, city-by-status—Dionysoupolis, city-by-status—Atyochorion, village—Mossyna, city-by-status—Near Thiounta, village—Hierapolis
Route H7. Soublaion—Choma, fortress—Southwest of Eumeneia, at the old highway nearby
Route H8. East of Prymnessos—Augustoupolis, city-by-status—West of Iulia
Route H9. Southwest of Iulia—Myriokephalon, fortress—West of Antiocheia
Route H10. Apameia—North of Baris—(Agrai, town)—(Bindaios)
Those settlements outside the map that are noted in this itinerary but are not further described below were decidedly outside the Phrygian cultural sphere. Nikaia, a city in Bithynia, provided access to the important port cities of Nikomedia and Chalkedon, the latter being just across the Hellespont from Constantinople. Prousa, Adramyttion, Smyrna, Ephesos, Attaleia, Side, Anemourion, and Korykos were all important port cities, with the most important of them by far being Ephesos. Prousa was also in the region of Bithynia; Adramyttion and Pergamon were in Aiolia; Smyrna, Ephesos, and Magnesia he pros Maiandro were in Ionia; Sardeis was in Lydia; Tralleis was in Karia; Attaleia, Perge, and Side were in Pamphylia; Sagalassos was in Pisidia; Anemourion and Korykos were in Kilikia; Ikonion was in Lykaonia; Tyana and Koloneia were in Kappadokia; and Ankyra was in Galatia.
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Epiktetos was the vast steppe-like sub-region bounded by woody highlands to the north and south, while Arginousa, literally "shining white", was named after the remarkable limestone cones that dot its landscape. The former sub-region was administered from Dorylaion, the most important trading hub in Phrygia's northwest quadrant, while the latter was administered by the trading hubs Kotiaion and Nakoleia, which both answered to Dorylaion. Also of note were the cities-by-status Midaion (named after King Midas, who was said to have once ruled over the entire region), Akkilaion, and Metropolis (named after the Phrygian mother-goddess Meter).
Aside from the aforementioned trading hubs, Epiktetos derived its wealth from the raising of asses and from the bounty of fish caught from the river Tembris. The clearing north-northeast of Kotiaion was fertile enough, being known to grow hemp, horses, sheep, and goats, while the territory immediately surrounding Nakoleia grew similar crops and raised similar livestock, bar hemp; all this was in contrast to the rest of the Arginousa, which was too forested not to be best enriched by the raising of pigs, the felling of trees, the mining of silver, and the quarrying of limestone.
Finally, Dorylaion, Kotiaion, and Nakoleia once drew plenty of pagan pilgrims. Near and within Dorylaion were sanctuaries to Meter, often conflated with Agdistis or Kybele, and to the more famous Hellenic god Zeus; southwest of Kotiaion was a sanctuary to the gods Hosios and Dikaios (literally "Holy and Just; these were conflated with Helios and Apollo); and west and south of Nakoleia were more sanctuaries to Zeus, Meter, and Meter's consort Papas. By the time of our story, pilgrims still flocked Kotiaion, the city being the site of the death of Saint Menas the Great-martyr, while the village of Pazon was the center of the Novatian Schism in Phrygia.
Pandemos, Abbaeitis, Aizanitis, Mokadene and Katakekaumene were together known as Phrygian Mysia, their residents being a mixture of Phrygian and Mysian cultures. Phrygian Mysia's trading hub was Temenouthyrai; other important cities were Philadelpheia, which like with most of Katakekaumene is not shown in this map, Aizanoi, which administered over its namesake sub-region, and Kadoi, which administered over Abbaeitis. Pandemos, with its affinity to the more sparsely populated sub-regions to the north, was administered from a mere city-by-status, Aristeia; other important settlements of that kind within Phrygian Mysia were Ankyra Sidera, Synaos, Tiberioupolis, Sebaste, and Traianoupolis. Sebaste, along with the nearby towns of Elouza and Bria, are known to service the stations along the nearby north-south highway, while the imperial garrison over most of these five sub-regions is stationed in the fortress of Akrokos.
Pandemos was predominantly forest: its wealth was principally derived from logging, hunting, and the raising of pigs, rather than from agriculture. Besides the usual crops, the four other sub-regions of Phrygian Mysia were also known for growing hemp, with Temenouthyrai being a center of the local textile trade. Abbaeitis in particular bred horses, while Aizanitis and Mokadene both bred sheep and goats. Near Aizanoi, Spore, Skodrena, and Lyendos were quarries servicing their respective sub-regions.
Kadoi contained a major sanctuary to Zeus, although his most noteworthy sanctuaries across Phrygian Mysia were found just north of Aristeia and, especially, within Aizanoi, where Meter was said to have given birth to the god in a cave three miles west of the city. By the time of our story, pilgrims only visited Philadelpheia, due to its brief mention in the Apocalypse of St. John, or Synaos, due to the rather obscure Saint Agapetos of Synaos. Temenouthyrai would have achieved a greater status had the Montanist Heresy met with any success; instead, of the villages that were its centers, Ardabau had largely been abandoned, Tymion had largely forgotten its heretical past, and Pepouza, which had grown into a town through Montanist influence, had largely been razed by the very last of the heretics.
The three sub-regions of Galatia—Trokmoi, Tektosagioi, and Tolistobogioi—were named after the three Gallic tribes that invaded the region around 800 to 900 years ago, with the first also lending their name to the village of Trokmades, and the last retaining plenty of the cultural characteristics of the sub-region's earlier residents. Gordion was one of the oldest settlements in the entire region, having once been King Midas' residence. Germa began life as a Roman colony; like the city of Eudoxias and the village of Myriangeloi, it was founded near some hot springs. Germa was also the most important trading hub of Phrygia's northeast quadrant, along with Pessinous, the sub-region's administrative center.
The highlands far to the north of Mount Aligetes were mostly woodland, dedicated to quarrying, logging, and rearing swine. The lands along the river Tembris, aside from growing the usual Phrygian crops, also benefitted from the stocks of fish that occupied the river itself, much as in neighbouring Epiktetos. The lands west of Mount Dindymos were mostly steppe: they were employed mainly to support large flocks of sheep and goats. Finaly, the lands east of Mount Dindymos produced vintages famous even outside of the Empire.
Pessinous contained the most important sanctuaries to Kybele and Attis, who was typically conflated with Papas, with the ancient city having been founded right next to the river after which these two gods' priests were named. Making up for the advent of Christianity was the dedication of the medicinal hot springs at Myriangeloi, once called Germia, to Saint Michael the Archangel. Let it also be noted that Lagania, found well outside the sub-region but located just on the edge of the map, was the former bishopric of Saint Theodore of Sykeon.
The name Axylos, like Arginousa, refers to the terrain, the sub-region being a somewhat desolate and treeless expanse. Its Phrygian portion was administered from the major trading hub of Amorion; Orkistos was historically another trading hub, though it has since declined in importance. Other notable settlements were the city of Klaneos, supplied from nearby Miskamos; the town of Keissia, supplied from nearby Aralla; and the fortress of Kedreia, where the sub-region's imperial garrison was stationed.
Here, cultivation was generally difficult, and thus somewhat rare, but because the sub-region was so large as to have half its territory be considered part of Galatia, large herds of horses, asses, and cattle were able to enrich the sub-region. Here also were there no religious sites of note, whether pagan or Christian.
The sub-regions Moeteana and Ipsina have been historically associated with each other ever since the Romans, taking over Phrygia, had the town of Ipsos administer over both. Ipsos had since gone into decline, with the administration of the two sub-regions shifting southward to Synnada, a city of similar importance to the entire region as Dorylaion, Germa, and Pessinous, despite not being a major trading hub. Indeed, none of the settlements in either Ipsina or Moeteana were major trading hubs—the closest they have are Prymnessos, Kidyessos, Kone, Soa, and Meiros—though the central position of Akroinos, the fortress where the local imperial garrison was stationed, eventually changed this.
Moeteana derived its wealth from the same sources as neighbouring Arginousa, sans hemp. Ipsina's wetlands were employed to feed swine; the rest of the valley around the river Kaystros was employed to breed other kinds of livestock, most notably horses. The valley around Synnada was one of Phrygia's very, very few sub-regions able to grow olives, and the quarries around Dokimeion were the primary source of polychrome pavonazzetto marble across the entire Empire.
Numerous sanctuaries to Zeus and Hekate, including the hot springs atop which Kone had been founded, were found across Moeteana. Ipsina, on the other hand, never had any important pagan sanctuaries, but pilgrims devoted to Saint Ariadne the Martyr had Prymnessos as their destination, while those devoted to Saints Trophimus and Dorymedon, Martyrs had Synnada.
When Phrygia first came under Roman rule, Akmonia was flocked by emigrees from Italy; before that, a great number of Jews settled down in the city through the influence of the Seleukids; and before even that, it may have been founded by the legendary Amazons, testifying to the general fame of the sub-region it administered, Doias. The city was not, however, a major trading hub, and the same goes for the sub-region's other notable settlements, Alioi and Diokleia.
Instead, the sub-region derived its wealth almost exclusively from agriculture, which the most influential families of Akmonia ensured was dedicated to a fair balance of crops, insisting as they did on the Ancient Roman virtue of self-sufficiency. There were also a great number of quarries just south of both Akmonia and Diokleia, with the lands surrounding the latter being somewhat more hostile to cultivation than the lands immediately flanking the river Sindros. Sanctuaries to Hekate and Apollo were found on the southern and eastern slopes of nearby Mount Dindymos, while Akmonia itself was known for its dedications to the idiosyncratic god Theos Hypsistos, understood by pagans to be Zeus, but by Jews and Christians to be their God.
Brouzos, Hierapolis, Stektorion, Otrous, and Eukarpia formed the five constituent settlements of the Phrygian Pentapolis, a sub-region that was generally as poor as the eastern portion of Doias. Again, none of the settlements are trading hubs, though Eukarpia and Hierapolis came close, both cities-by-status being near a crossroads and the hot springs at the village of Agros Thermon. Eukarpia had also been known since before Christianity for its abundance of grapes, while Hierapolis had for its patron saint the famous Saint Aberkios the Wonderworker.
Unlike the similarly named city-by-status at Arginousa, the Metropolis just south of both Ipsina and the Phrygian Pentapolis was named as such according to proverbial usage, the eventual city-by-status having been founded as the "mother" of the settlements around it. Its namesake sub-region was too marshy for any significant amount of cultivation, so most of the sub-region's wealth was derived either from trade or from the raising of pigs: no pilgrims, pagan or Christian, thought of the sub-region as a destination.
The sub-region of Paroreios was simply the wealthiest sub-region in all Phrygia. It had three major trading hubs—Philomelion, Sozopolis, and Antiocheia—with the last not only being sub-region's administrative center but also the most important trading hub in the entire region's southeastern quadrant. Antiocheia itself was known for all manner of livestock; Sozopolis and the nearby city-by-status Tymandos were known for flax, fruit, nuts, and, like Antiocheia, all manner of livestock, but mainly quinces and horses; the town Polybotos and the city-by-status Iulia were known for their fish and swine; Philomelion was known for its wine, fruit, nuts, fish, and marble; and Tyriaion was known for wine, fish, and horses, with the town itself having been founded atop some hot springs.
As for religious significance, Antiocheia had been a destination for pilgrims since before the Christian era. Near Myriokephalon, or the fortress where the sub-region's imperial garrison was stationed, was a sanctuary to the lunar goddess Artemis, while overlooking Antiocheia itself was a sanctuary to the more obscure lunar god Men. Come the advent of Christianity, however, and Antiocheia itself continued to welcome pilgrims, this time those devoted to Saint Sabbatios the Martyr and Saint Marina the Great-martyr.
Closely associated with Paroreios were the sub-regions Killanion and Obizene. The former was a mixture of Phrygian and Pisidian cultures; the latter, which is not fully depicted in the map, of Phrygian, Galatian, and Lykaonian. Neapolis, the administrative center of Killanion, was a mere city-by-status; the same goes with Laodikeia Katakekaumene, the administrative center of Obizene's more Phrygian western portion, and Perta, the center of its more Lykaonian east, although the more strategic positions of these two settlements ensured they saw a bit more wealth through trade. Between Laodikeia Katakekaumene and Perta was the fortress of Kaballa, where the sub-region's imperial garrison was stationed.
Killanion had the same soil type and climate as the lands surrounding Antiocheia: while it only grew Phrygia's usual crops, it grew them in great abundance. Obizene as a whole, on the other hand, was poor and treeless, with most of its crops growing only in its western portion. This was made up for by "Burnt" Laodikeia's namesake, since around that settlement, as well as near the villages of Kindyria and Zizima, were numerous deposits of mercury, lead, copper, and even gold.
Neither sub-region possessed major pilgrimage sites, but Laodikeia Katakekaumene was a known center for the Sabbatian and Quartodecimian Heterodox. Distinguishing between the various alternative religious groups of Phrygia, the Novatians were doctrinally the same as the prevailing Orthodox, but they were a little more strict about who got to remain in communion with them; the Sabbatians and Quartodecimians were generally the same, except that they also pushed to be more in common with the local Jews, such as through the keeping of the Sabbath or the celebration of Pesach; and the Montanists subscribed in some markedly out-there beliefs, like an imminent end of the world or an emphasis on ecstatic prophecy.
Three additional areas were considered to be divided between Phrygia and some neighbouring region. The division of Hyrgaleis between its supposed Lydian portion, centered around Blaundos, and its Phrygian portion, centered around Dionysoupolis, Mossyna, and Motella, was rather artificial, as the sub-region was uniformly Phrygian in character. Note that the sub-region's imperial garrison was stationed at Klannouda; this fortress, along with the town which supplied it (Naeis), were all in the sub-region's Lydian portion.
If Hyrgaleis had any highways passing through it, at least one of its cities-by-status would instead be a city proper, while the sub-region as a whole would be among the richest in all Phrygia. Not only was it another of the few Phrygian sub-regions able to grow olives, but the variety of crops it grew was similar to those grown in the sub-regions immediately to the east and south, while Thiounta was another of Phrygia's major sources of marble. Even when Motella and its sanctuary to Apollo, however, were major pilgrimage sites, the sub-region never had enough traffic to justify the construction of a highway.
On the other hand, the sub-region Lampe, which was understood to be shared between Phrygia and Pisidia, did have a major highway passing through it: the problem was its administrative center, Sanaos, was no great enough distance from the major trading hubs to the west and to the northeast, despite meriting the imperial occupation of a fortress (Bonita). Otherwise, the sub-region's lands were, again, fairly rich, being known for flax, fruit, nuts, herbs, spices, and most kinds of livestock, but especially those crops and beasts which produced textiles. As with Hyrgaleis, the sub-region hosted no major religious centers at present.
Culturally, Kapatiana is a difficult sub-region to classify. Hierapolis was so named because, like Pessinous, it had been a center of the priesthood of the Phrygian goddess Kybele since before even Alexander the Great, but the nearby cities of Laodikeia pros tou Lykou and Tripolis, having been established much later by the Seleukids, had since transformed the sub-region enough that only in Late Antiquity could it be called Phyrgian once again, and even so, only for administrative purposes. By the time of our story, the sub-region was much more like neighbouring Lydia or Karia in character.
Laodikeia itself was one of the most important trading hubs in Phrygia's southwestern quadrant, while just south of the city were a number of quarries. The hot springs near Hierapolis were famous, not just to bathe in, but also simply to look at, because of their travertine terrace formations. The sub-region as a whole was known for the same set of crops as nearby Lampe, only with the coveted ability to also grow olives, and its four cities—Kolossai, which may be older than Hierapolis, must now be included—each rival Temenouthyrai as centers for textiles.
With the change in the sub-region's cultural character came a change in the sub-region's religious character, Hierapolis' original worship of Kybele soon being displaced by the cults of the gods Apollo, Plouto, and Persephone: the first was closely associated with the healing powers of the local hot springs, while the latter two were associated with the noxious fumes of the local complex of caves. Christianity's arrival was ultimately no shocking change, except that now, it is not only Hierapolis that is a major religious center. Hierapolis is associated with The Holy and All-Praised Apostle Saint Philip and the Apostolic Fathers Saint Papias and Saint Apollinarios Klaudios. Laodikeia, which is another of the cities mentioned in the Apocalypse of Saint John, is associated with Saint Archippos the Apostle, Saint Sagaris the Hieromartyr, and Saint Artemon of Seleukeia Sidera (the settlement after which he was named is where he eventually became bishop). Kolossai, to whose residents Saint Paul addressed one of his letters, is associated with Saint Philemon the Apostle, his wife Saint Apphia, Equal-to-the-Apostles, and his former slave Saint Onesimos the Apostle, along with the already-mentioned Saint Archippos: Saint Archippos was bishop of Laodikeia, Saint Onesimos was bishop of Ephesos, and Saint Philemon was bishop of Kolossai itself, where he, his wife, and his friend Saint Archippos were all martyred. Even Chonai, the fortress where the sub-region's imperial garrison is stationed, is a pilgrimage site, an important miracle of Saint Michael the Archangel once having been witnessed in the area.
The city of Ikonion, on the far side of the map and entirely outside of Phrygia, was closely associated with Kapatiana's holy cities, as it was here where Saint Philip's sister and companion, Saint Mariamne, retired in peace. Other saints of this Lykaonian city included Saint Thekla, Equal-to-the-Apostles, a companion of Saint Paul; Saint Paraskeve the Great-Martyr; Saints Ioulitta and her son, Saint Kerykos, Martyrs, although they were martyred in Tarsos; Saint Konon and his son, Saint Konon, Martyrs; and the holy hierarch Saint Amphilochios.
The other great trading hub of Phrygia's southwest quadrant was Apameia, the administrative center of the sub-region Aulutrene. This sub-region, which shares its name with the local fortress, was not in itself particularly wealthy, its lands being used mainly to feed horses, cattle, sheep, and goats than to grow significant quantities of crops. Most of its wealth was instead derived, not just from trade, but also from Apameia's control of the nearby village of Sampsados, where the patron of viticulture Saint Tryphon the Great-martyr was born.
Of course, that the village was almost entirely within the neighbouring sub-region of Choma rendered inevitable the present dispute between Apameia and Eumeneia, Choma's administrative center. Eumeneia was another trading hub, though one more like Temenouthyrai than Apameia in importance. Its intrinsic sources of wealth were identical to those of nearby Lampe, except that the textile trade was not particularly pronounced here, and the large patch of wetland between it and Sampsados necessitated the substitution of horses, asses, and cattle with swine. The local imperial garrison resided in the sub-region's namesake fortress, which was mainly supplied from nearby Soublaion, just as Aulutrene was mainly supplied from nearby Aporidoskome.
Sub-regions well outside of Phrygia which were sometimes considered part of it were Olympene, Abrettene, Mygdonia, Bebrykia, and Kibyratis. The ancient kingdom of Phrygia once extended northwest to the now Mysian sub-regions of Abrettene, Olympene, and Mygdonia, with Mygdonia sometimes being said to have been named after the Phrygian king Mygdon; Bebrykia, meanwhile, was named after the Thrakian peoples which were said to have eventually become the Phrygians.
As for Kibyratis, now is the appropriate time to note the division of Phrygia into provinces, with the system in use during the time of our story having been devised under the recently-deceased emperor Justinian. Phrygia I, or Phrygia Kapatiana, had for its political capital the city of Laodikeia pros tou Lykou, and for its ecclesiastical capital the cities of Laodikeia and Hierapolis. Under this province were the sub-regions Kapatiana, Kibyratis, Lampe, Choma, Mokadene, Aizanitis, Abbaeitis, and Pandemos, as well as most of Hyrgaleis, most of Doias, half of Moeteana, and part of Ipsina. Kibyratis had been under a province named Phrygia since at least two centuries before Justinian, so doubtless it had come to fall under the region's cultural sphere, though for the most part it remained predominantly Pisidian, Lykian, and Lydian.
Phrygia II, or Phrygia Saloutaris, had the single capital Synnada. Under this province were the sub-regions Epiktetos, Arginousa, Pentapolis, and Metropolis, as well as most of Ipsina, half of Moeteana, and part of Doias.
The region of Galatia, like the region of Phrygia, was divided into two provinces. Galatia I included the sub-regions Trokmoi and Tektosagioi; Galatia II, also known as Galatia Saloutaris, had the sub-regions Tolistobogioi, Axylos, and Proseilemmene (the wilderness of Proseilemmene, like Axylos and Tolistobogioi, was also originally Phrygian, but because of how desolate it was, it was more easily let go by its earlier residents). The capital of the former was Ankyra; that of the latter, Pessinous.
The sub-regions Paroreios, Killanion, and Aulutrene, as well as part of Obizene, were all a part of the province Pisidia, although considering how Antiocheia was the sub-region's capital, as well as the general importance of both Antiocheia and Apameia, it might as well have been called Phrygia III. The definitively Pisidian sub-regions of this province were Sagalasseis, Makropedeiteis, and Moulasseis, as well as part of Orondeis.
The historical region of Pisidia had been carved up much worse, owing to its more belligerent history: its sub-regions Ormeleis, Milyadeis, Selgeis, Katenneis, and Homonadeis were all incorporated into the province of Pamphylia (capitals: Side and Perge), while the southern portion of Orondeis went to Lykaonia (capital: Ikonion). Also to Lykaonia went the more Lykaonian portions of Obizene, while part of Hyrgaleis and the whole of Katakekaumene went to the province of Lydia (capital: Sardeis). Abrettene and Mygdonia were in the province of Hellespont (capital: Kyzikos), while Olympene and Bebrykia were in the province of Bithynia (capital: either Nikomedia or Nikaia).
Part Three: Eugenia.
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All this was unknown to everyone in the village and the vast majority of its visitors.
The earliest record of Eugenia's fountain predates even the conquest of Alexander the Great. The Galli, or the eunuch-priests of the ancient cult of Cybele, were both surprised and disappointed to discover a fountain which rendered unnecessary the elaborate rituals by which they arrived at their non-binary state. To those laypeople in the deepest of physical-psychological crises, they gave easy access to the fountain, but for their fellow priests, those who partook of the fountain were assigned a much lower status than those who made use of the knife.
Once the Greeks took over, the successors to Alexander the Great quickly learned about the fountain. With their more rigid patriarchy, they banned the use of the waters which affirmed the identity of men, completely suppressing all knowledge of this aspect of the fountain, although this was nothing to the Galli, whose hierarchy was restricted to those considered male at birth.
The alliance between the Romans and the cult of Cybele initially led to no great change in the fountain's usage, as the cult remained fundamentally "exotic", but as the Republic became more cosmopolitan—as Phrygia itself became a part of their dominions—the Italian elites were further and further scandalised. Once the Republic began its transition to Empire, the moralistic Augustus quietly restricted the use of the fountain to the Phrygian priesthood.
This did not utterly deny access of the fountain to the most knowledgeable of Rome's elites. The principal Emperor to be associated with the fountains was Hadrian, especially when he was with his famous partner Antinous. The less scandalous narrative is that Hadrian asked Antinous to transform his body into that of a woman—perhaps Hadrian had more sexual desire for women than for men? or he wanted to legitimise their relationship? or he wanted to secure an heir, and he thought having his partner try to be a woman would help?—while the more scandalous narrative is that Hadrian was himself a woman, or rather a man born in the body of a woman. Either narrative, of course, was only ever known through rumours, rumours which led to the greater suppression of all knowledge of the fountains under Hadrian's immediate successors.
The last nail in the coffin for the fountains' association with Hellenism was the reign of Elagabalus. The eccentricity of this emperor was interpreted by some as his preferring to be a her, although the truth of the matter, like with the relationship between Hadrian and Antinous, will never be known. The elites that supported Elagabalus did not want their "eccentricity" to reach the point of scandal, should they complete such a transition, while those elites which despised them typically despised them because of their eccentricity. Thus, by this far-reaching if somewhat shallow conspiracy—recall that, by this point, general knowledge of the fountain had been contained for over 500 years—Elagabalus never even learned of the fountain's existence, even as they signed into law its full and final suppression.
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The fountain was rediscovered by the Christians within half a century after Elagabalus' death. This narrative is better detailed in the story itself, but for now: a priest from Synnada named Clement had gone into the wilderness northwest of his native city due to his failure to prevent the suicide of one of his parishioners. During this hermitage, he encountered a shepherd, Eugenius, who led him to the fountain. The fountain's pink waters seemed to him like poison; the fountain's blue waters seemed to him like a clean-enough source of drink.
7 days after finding this fountain, much of his body had become that of a woman. 40 days after this initial week, and the initial changes to his body were confirmed—what he thought were mere hallucinations now forced him to pee sitting down, if he wished to pee cleanly—forcing him to end his hermitage. 40 days without access to the fountain, and the "confirmation" reverted. 7 days after this initial "Lent", and the rest of the changes to his body reverted.
Some time later, he and his bishop entertained a guest from Alexandria, who recognized in Eugenios the great Egyptian ascetic of the same name, one who had recently been martyred as a woman. Recognizing the miracle in what had happened with the fountain, Father Clement, a deacon, and 40 other parishioners immediately returned to the site of the fountain, at which point records became considerably more concrete. By 273 A.D., or 5,781 A.M., a collection of emphyteutic leases for the lands right next to the fountain had been purchased from the Roman state, marking the village's establishment. These initial villagers, who were either queer seekers or devout Christians, sustained themselves by growing cereals, legumes, and vegetables, as well as by herding livestock otherwise based in nearby Kone.
The village's demographics were shifted radically, however, with the beginning of the Great Persecution (303-313 A.D., or 5,811-5,821 A.M.) under Diocletian, Maximian, Galerian, and Maximinus II. The persecution forced the villagers to sell their leases to the Roupiliones, a pagan family from Prymnessos, although they otherwise continued to work and live as they normally would, merely paying their taxes through their newfound patron. Such an arrangement was viewed with suspicion by the Tertylliones, a rival family, who blackmailed the villagers into helping them purchase much of the land around Eugenia suitable for cultivating orchards.
Once the Persecution came to an end, the Tertylliones' suspicion of the Roupiliones was confirmed, as the Roupiliones returned all the leases they had acquired to their original owners. Out of gratitude, the villagers gave enough gifts to the Roupiliones for them to purchase lands near Eugenia for themselves, lands which, again, could support various fruit and nut trees.
Finally, by the year 325 A.D. (5,833 A.M.), Constantine's convocation of the First Ecumenical Council convinced the villagers that a case against their former extortioners could succeed. The clincher for their petition, which ultimately succeeded, was that everyone holding leases in Eugenia was a Christian, aside from the Tertylliones: apparently, the Roupiliones had converted shortly before the Persecution's end.
Most of the leases held by the Tertylliones were purchased by the Roupiliones; the rest were purchased by an upstart merchant family who wanted to augment their wealth with some status. The Roupiliones did not like that this family converted solely to purchase their leases, and so categorically refused to sponsor their entry into Prymnessos' boule, but they were quick to find a family who were just as mercenary as themselves, the Nikostratones, who in exchange asked for a few of the leases they had just purchased.
The merchant family, on joining Prymnessos' boule, became known as the Benniones, after their dubious ancestral association with the sanctuary to Zeus near Kone. The Nikostratones, on the other hand, claimed to have established themselves in Phrygia through the Seleukids, while both the Roupiliones and the Tertylliones clearly came from Italy.
Only the Benniones spent much time in Eugenia—the Roupiliones were based in the village of Roupilion, south of Lankena and Kidyessos, while the Nikostratones preferred to oversee their holdings between Prymnessos and Synnada—but the laborers these families assigned to Eugenia ultimately made the village's population more representative of the Empire as a whole. Fortunately, this did not translate into the village becoming somewhat more hostile to queer individuals, but it did lead to a sharper distinction between residents, who came to prefer the services at the Church of Saints Protus and Hyacinthus, and pilgrims, who continued to attend at the older Church of Saint Eugenia.
Per the advice of the Nikostratones, the Benniones immediately diversified their holdings in Eugenia, leading to another, less significant demographic shift. First, they built into their nearby villa the infrastructure needed to process pigs; they then convinced the Nikostratones and even the Roupiliones to help purchase as many of the pigs based in surrounding settlements as they could; last, the three families purchased the leases for those lands near the village too rough for any significant development, where they moved both their swine and the swineherds they employed. By this point, which was some time between the civil wars of Procopius the Usurper (365-366 A.D., or 5,874 A.M.) and Tribigild the Goth (399-400 A.D., or 5,907-5,908 A.M.), the only lands now considered part of the village which hadn't been leased were those of the ancient forests at Mount Dindymos' upper slopes, which were effectively kept in common by the villagers.
Concerning these civil wars, that of Procopius had very little effect, since his armies were just as restrained as those of his rival Valens, but that of the Goths saw many of Eugenia's indigents follow Tribigild. Among laborers, the majority at the time were employed either by the Roupiliones or the Nikostratones, the two leaseholding families that didn't maintain a presence in the village, and it was this alienated majority which consisted the bulk of the rebels; the rest were those slaves whose masters were stingy or cruel enough to force them to work the fields, what with all of the village's leaseholders each owning at least as many slaves as there were free members of each household, but none of them regularly employing their slaves to work outside the household.
The Roupiliones and the Nikostratones, who owned properties across all of Phrygia Saloutaris, were wealthy enough to withstand this temporary loss of workers. The Benniones, who lost nothing, euergetically recouped the losses of their non-bouleutic neighbors—at least, those neighbors who in the community's eyes hadn't deserved any of the losses they'd just incurred. Finally, the non-bouleutic leaseholders had their notions of the equality between themselves and the laborers they hired, as well as their convictions against keeping agricultural slaves, reinforced.
A more impactful demographic shift occurred around 470 A.D. (5,978 A.M.). Initially, it was believed that only those lands purchased by the village's bouleutics were able to grow wine-grapes, although their leaseholders had decided against the usual practice of multicropping in order for their products to compete with those of nearby Paroreios; however, on that year, a few aspiring monks discovered that some of Eugenia's lands preferentially used to grow cereals and legumes were just as suitable for the vine. With the purchase of the leases for most of these lands, the Monastery of the Panagia Eleousa was established, while the remainder had their lessees pool their resources to become Eugenia's so-called vintagers.
Shortly thereafter was a more devastating shift. During the Isaurian War (492-497 A.D., or 6,000-6,006 A.M.), all of Eugenia was the victim: the Isaurians, who acted with as little restraint as the Goths, were revolting as a response to the otherwise quiet succession between the Isaurian emperor Zeno and the Illyrian emperor Anastasius I, rather than as a general airing of grievances, and so they were not met with any sympathy by the local indigents. Many of the vintager families were ruined, while the Roupiliones, whose soldiers fought in the vicious Battle of Kotiaion and whose less able-bodied members adamantly supported the present emperor, were decimated.
Come 534 A.D. (6,043 A.M.), and the host of legal reforms Justinian had just enacted included even the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the village. Associated with the Third Ecumenical Council (431 A.D., or 5,939 A.M.) had been the formal transfer of Eugenia's churches from the Metropolitan of Synnada to his suffragan the Bishop of Prymnessos, but through Justinian, the village priests and monks once again answered to Synnada directly, as the local hegumen was elevated to the office of bishop.
Eugenia's first bishop died of old age some 15 years later, although many believed he instead died of exhaustion, as in his final years he presided over the village during the Plague of Justinian (541-549 A.D., or 6,049-6,057 A.M.). This outbreak did not lead to a demographic shift for the village, since it affected all social classes equally: it only confirmed the reduction of the vintagers to just 5 families, as well as the complete extinction of the Roupiliones. The Roupilion properties west of Akroinos came to be divided between the Benniones and the Nikostratones, with the former receiving the bulk of their lands around Eugenia, and the latter inheriting their villa south of Lankena and Kidyessos.
Eugenia's second bishop, unluckily enough, died of the Plague, a mere couple of years into his tenure. Eugenia's third bishop, who contracted the Plague at the same time, became chronically ill because of it, and so was unable to attend the Fifth Ecumenical Council (553 A.D., or 6,061 A.M.). Eugenia's fourth bishop, the Right Reverend Bishop John, came into power shortly before our story.
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By the time of our story, the village housed around 1,600 people and at least 3,500 livestock.
Fewer than 10 of the village's residents are part of the bouleutic class, i.e. the local aristocracy. These were the aforementioned Benniones, as the Nikostratones continued to live elsewhere.
Around 30 residents belonged to the 5 vintager families, a very close-knit group.
Around 280 residents belonged to the 45 other leaseholder families.
Around 900 residents belonged to the village's laborer class. 100 of these residents were specialist laborers, such as millers or bakers, as well as the village's 12 married priests; 26 were adult shepherds and swineherds, the latter being hired only by the bouleutics; 45 were field laborers; 65 were orchard laborers; and 90 were vineyard laborers. Except for the specialist laborers and some of the herdsmen, all of these laborers were considered wage laborers, rather than tenants or slaves. The laborers working for the Benniones tended to be fiercely loyal to their employers, though for reasons not entirely clear to their neighbors, as the Benniones were fundamentally like most other bouleutics in the region.
Around 170 residents were client freedmen. As noted earlier, the manumission of slaves in late antiquity was a frequent occurrence, but the subsequent freedmen were always considered to be indebted to their former owners in some way, often becoming their clients.
Around 160 residents were slaves. The number of slaves and freedmen attached to the Benniones was triple to quadruple the number of Benniones living in the village; the number attached to the vintagers, double; and the number attached to the other leaseholders, about the same.
Finally, the local monastery housed around 50 monks. 16 of these monks were hieromonks, i.e. priest-monks, including the local archpriest; 4 were deacon-monks, including the local archdeacon; and 1 was the local bishop, for a total of 33 clerics serving the village. The monks and clergy range from truly pious yet empathetic individuals to what amounts as the story's comic relief: those with a penchant for hatred would have been transferred out of the village shortly after arrival.
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The creation and promulgation of laws was first the prerogative of the Emperor, then of the local boule, i.e. the municipal assembly in a given area. Officially, there was no institution like a village council drafting and setting ordinances specific to Eugenia, but equivalent meetings were hosted every now and again by certain leaseholders or ecclesiastics. This de facto council was composed of:
1. A representative of the Benniones. Usually, this was the family matron, but sometimes they would send a trusted laborer, freedman, or even slave.
2. A representative of the vintagers. This position regularly rotated between the 5 vintager families.
3. 2 representatives of the vineyard laborers working for the vintagers. Most of the time, one of these representatives were appointed by the vintagers themselves.
4. 2 representatives of the other leaseholders. Unlike with the other representatives, the competition for these two "offices" could be fierce.
5. 2 representatives of the field laborers.
6. A representative of the local craftsmen and tradesmen. Their selection process was notably arcane.
7. A representative of the local foresters and herdsmen, except for those hired by the bouleutic families.
8. The archpriest, representing the local clerics. This was an appointee of the bishop; he would typically recuse himself, unless an issue also affected the local married priests, he was specifically ordered by the bishop to attend, or he possessed a more political disposition than most of his predecessors.
9. The archdeacon, representing the local monastics. This was an appointee of the bishop.
10. A representative of the vineyard laborers working for the monastery.
11. The village advocate. This was a specialist laborer alternating residences between the village and Prymnessos. His presence was required only if the other leaseholders expected the Benniones, the clerics, or the monastics, who were all able to represent themselves directly at Prymnessos' boule, to clash with the rest of the village.
12. A clerk.
Unless otherwise stated, these representatives were chosen by those they were meant to represent.
The enforcement of laws was handled by the villagers at large. Arms and armor were maintained by most leaseholders, both for themselves and for some of their clients and slaves, but recently 10 leaseholders—the decarchs, who were all either retired soldiers, mercenaries, or martial artists—had been organized into a de facto police force. In case all this wasn't enough, the villagers could also summon the garrison at Akroinos.
Two routes could be followed by villagers in seeking redress for their legal disputes.
The secular route involved first going to one of the village's patrons: any of its leaseholders, with the vintagers and the Benniones possessing the most power and influence, but also those herdsmen, craftsmen, and tradesmen with stable-enough stores of wealth. When dissatisfied with the decisions of the local patrons, they could instead approach the local boule, albeit this would have involved hiring the local advocate or going to Prymnessos themselves.
Above the boule was the pagarch, an Imperial official appointed by the local governor from among the boule yet answering directly to the Emperor. Above the pagarch was the aforementioned governor, who if he wasn't touring his province or if he hadn't been recalled to Constantinople could be approached in Synnada. Lastly, above the governor was the Emperor, though they would likely have had to navigate the extensive Imperial bureaucracy before even catching a glimpse of him.
The ecclesiastical route involved first going to one of the village's priests, whether married or celibate. They could then appeal to the archpriest, although he was more likely than not to defer directly to the local bishop, who was the next figure to whom they could appeal. Above the bishop was the metropolitan, also based in Synnada, although he was probably not as mobile as the governor, and above the metropolitan was the Ecumenical Patriarch.
All this was the less palpable aspect of government; the more palpable aspect by far was the paying of taxes. All leaseholders had to pay at least two kinds of taxes, a poll tax and a land tax, every year. Herdsmen also had to pay a poll tax, in case they owned some of the animals they herded. Laborers, whether specialists or otherwise, had to pay in services—i.e. blacksmiths had to produce a certain amount of fittings, pipes, weapons, and so on for the state—though the tax collectors sometimes accepted equivalent sums of gold. Monks and clerics were exempt from taxation, though it was a poorly attended church that engaged in few philanthropic endeavors.
In a village like Roupilion, taxes were collected by the local bouleutic family, regardless of if those who had to pay were not directly under their employ. Eugenia, however, was different. The Benniones only collected taxes on the properties they owned or from the peoples they employed; everyone else pooled their payment, sent for a separate bouleutic official from Prymnessos, and had some decarchs escort the official with their payment back to Prymnessos. This system was only slightly modified from that established when the village was recognized by the Empire.
The principal philanthropic endeavor by the monastery was the maintenance of the fountain. Those who would drink from the springs for the first time were obliged by the monks to do the following:
1. They had to visit Eugenia themselves.
2. They had to talk to a monk assigned to them. This monk would record only the name they were baptized with (for non-Christians, the monks would record their birth name, instead) and the name they were to assume (or the name they had already assumed), with the records being sealed from all but higher-ranking monks.
3. They had to wait in the village for at least a week before receiving their first dose.
4. They had to check in with the monk assigned to them for their first seven doses—a few drops from the fountain ingested every day—to make sure they were not wasting the water.
Afterwards, they could take any number of additional doses with them home, although it took time for the monks to collect so many doses; they could also have their doses delivered to them, though they had to pay for their own couriers.
In theory, the process lasted a fortnight, but in reality, with the number of pilgrims eager to receive of the springs, the number of patients already receiving of the springs, the number of monks available to serve them, and the relatively slow trickle of water from the springs themselves, people could wait months before receiving their initial dose, especially as the monks prioritized first Eugenia's residents, then those first-time takers that threatened to harm themselves, then those patients for whom the changes they'd undergone by drinking from the fountain came dangerously close to reversion.
Another philanthropic endeavor by the monks is the formal education of the villagers, although the quality of this education typically varied. By the time of our story, the 2 monks tasked with educating the villagers could only teach as grammatistai, equivalent to modern primary school teachers. Those seeking a full paideia would have to go to Prymnessos to be educated by a grammatikos, equivalent to a secondary school teacher, and then to Synnada to finish off with a rhetor. After being taught by a rhetor, students could then choose to follow a philosophos, although most such educators could be found only in the truly great cities of Constantinople, Syrian Antioch, and Egyptian Alexandria, while those pursuing such specializations as law or theology didn't actually need to follow a philosophos.
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The following map zooms in on the Phrygian sub-regions immediately surrounding the village.
When atop highways, unlabeled red dots indicate road stations. These stations provided shelter and replacement mounts for only Imperial officials, though inns, stables, and taverns for general use typically popped up right next to them. When atop other kinds of road, red dots indicate villages that could eventually host a road station, if their roads were converted into highways.
Red triangles, both labelled and unlabeled, indicate pagan sanctuaries, with some of the unlabeled sanctuaries being dedicated to figures forgotten even by the time of our story. Red diamonds indicate mines and quarries. Numbers indicate the distance in miles between each named settlement, road station, or intersection along their respective roads.
The violet quadrangle around Eugenia indicates the approximate area the village's residents worked, measuring about 5,150 iugera of arable land. 960 iugera, scattered north-northwest of the village, were vineyards: half the vineyards, most of which were found west of the local stream, were owned by the vintagers, while the rest were owned and worked by the monks. 1,440 iugera, concentrated northeast of the village proper, were orchards, with the Benniones owning around 960 iugera, and the Nikostratones owning around half that number. The rest of the land—around 2,750 iugera—were the fields of wheat and legumes owned and worked by the other leaseholders.
A by-road running parallel to the local stream connected the village to the highway, about 2 miles away. For the settlements near Eugenia through which their respective highways didn't directly pass: the by-road to Panasion, which branched from the nearby highway 1 mile east of Alioi, was about 4 miles long; the by-road to Roupilion, where the Roupiliones' villa was built, was continuous with the highway to Lankena, and was also about 4 miles long; the by-road to Kidyessos, which was 3 miles west of the nearest road station, was about 1 ½ miles long; the by-road to Tottoa, which was 4 ½ miles from Kone, was 4 miles long; the by-road to Aragua, which branched out from the highway right at the intersection northwest of Soa, was 2 ½ miles long; the by-road to Zemmea, which branched out 5 miles from the aforementioned intersection, was 1 mile long; and the by-road to Iskome, which branched out 3 miles from Appia, was 1 mile long.
Now for the village itself. The village was centered around the agora, or market square, immediately surrounding which were the houses of most specialist laborers (on average, their homes covered 3,200 square feet of space; note that their workshops would have been integral to their homes). At the agora's western edge was the local blacksmith, at the agora's southwestern corner was the local baker, at the agora's southern edge was the Hidden Beauty Inn, and at the agora's northeastern corner was the Church of Saints Protas and Hyakinthos.
The average leaseholder's house occupied around 6,400 square feet, the average laborer's house occupied around 1,600 square feet, and the average client freedman's house occupied around 400 square feet. Most leaseholders, field laborers, and client freedmen lived west, southwest, or south of the agora, including the decarchs, whose homes formed a cluster to the west. Immediately northeast and southwest of this cluster were two tiny chapels, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus and the Church of the Panagia Hypermacho Strategos, neither of which found much use, since the decarchs' families preferred to attend services at the Church of Sts. Protas and Hyakinthos, while the decarchs themselves more often spent time at the nearest tavern, the Alehouse, or the one place in the entire village making and serving beer. Further west was the local mill.
The average vintager's house occupied around 9,600 square feet. The vintagers and vineyard laborers all lived north of the agora, with one of the vintager families managing another tavern, recently renamed the Hair of Berenice.
The orchard laborers working for the bouleutics all lived east of the agora. On the northeast corner of the village was the Bennion villa, at least 12,800 square feet in area, appended to which were a number of service buildings meant to be used only by the laborers they oversaw: another mill, powered by asses instead of by water; another forge; another oven; another tavern, called either the Scrummy Fig or the Skinny Pig; and another chapel, the Church of Saint Matrona of Constantinople.
In total, the village proper occupied approximately 32 iugera.
Originally, the village had been established 1 mile northeast of its present site, right next to the fountain of Saint Eugenia. Immediately south of the fountain, the villagers had built a church—the Church of Saint Eugenia—although this building had since been rebuilt, like how the first villagers' houses had since been entirely levelled. By the time of the story, access to the fountain was managed by the Monastery of the Panagia Eleousa, whose complex of cells and workshops fully enclosed the fountain, with the entrance to the monastery being found just north of the entrance to Saint Eugenia. Further north, past both the old village and the monastery, was the local cemetery, served by another small chapel: the Church of Saint Marina.
A final chapel had been built directly north of the village—the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel— serving the herdsmen spread out across the village's land. The average herdsman's house also occupied around 6,400 square feet, though more space than with that of the average leaseholder was dedicated to keeping livestock. Behind Saint Michael was the local tanner.
References.
This project was conceptualized as a result of this event by Diana. Pride Rainbow Character Challenge
For the maps, I directly traced those from the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World (2000), edited by Richard J.A. Talbert, as well as from Stephen Mitchell's The Christians of Phrygia from Rome to the Turkish Conquest (2023), though I also drew from volume 7 of the series Tabula Imperii Byzantini.
For the descriptions, aside from all the books mentioned above (including Sessa), I will also note Richard Duncan-Jones's The Economy of the Roman Empire: Quantitative Studies (1974), mainly its appendices; Patterns in the Economy of Roman Asia Minor (2005), edited by Stephen Mitchell and Constantina Katsari, mainly the chapter by Stephen Mitchell; A Companion to Ancient Agriculture (2020), edited by David Hollander and Timothy Howe, mainly the chapter by Michael J. Decker; David B. Hollander's own Farmers and Agriculture in the Roman Economy (2018); Kyle Harper's Slavery in the Late Roman World, AD 275-425 (2011); Beyond All Boundaries: Anatolia in the First Millennium B.C. (2021), edited by Annick Payne, Šarká Velhartiká, and Jorit Wintjes, mainly the chapter by Lauriane Locatelli; Michael Decker's Tilling the Hateful Earth: Agricultural Production and Trade in the Late Antique East (2009); Roman Phrygia: Culture and Society (2013), edited by Peter Thonemann; and the articles "The Late Antique and Byzantine road-network in Western Anatolia: some additions to a widely ramified system" by Andreas Külzer and "Actes conciliaires, listes de souscriptions et notices épiscopales ou du bon usage des sources ecclésiastiques" by Sylvain Destephen.
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This period in European, North African, and Middle Eastern history runs from around 250 A.D., when the Empire that united much of these three regions was in crisis, to around 600 A.D., when the Western portion of said Empire was mostly in the hands of various foreign powers, while the Eastern portion was on the cusp of falling to the Sassanid Persians and the Rashidun Arabs.
We deal here mostly with its Eastern portion, which for the most part was governed by an Emperor based in the city of Constantinople. -
Much of the wealth of late antique society was derived from agriculture. At the top of the price chain were equines—these were never eaten and rarely processed into leather and glue—as well as oxen, but they both demanded so much forage as to be raised in large herds only by the upper classes or those in territories difficult to cultivate. Next were pigs, which the Romans rarely fed slop: instead, these were raised in wetlands or woodlands, and so their relative cost.
What were most often kept in great flocks were sheep and goats, with wool being the usual material for clothing and goatskin being the usual source of leather; if crop rotation were practiced, then such flocks could be raised even on arable land. At the bottom of the scale for meat, which was universally more expensive than vegetable products, were chickens and pigeons, as these animals could be raised even within a city. Note that all the above notes apply to raising such animals in bulk, with most independent farms probably having a few asses to carry goods, a few oxen to till the earth, a few goats to produce milk, a few chickens to lay eggs, and a few dogs to keep guard.
After meat and meat products was good wine, although this commodity was something of a gamble: not only were winemakers limited by vintage, but because germ theory was still more than a millennium from being codified, the fermentation process was essentially uncontrolled. A more stable source of income was found in fruits and nuts, but like with meat, these required a sizeable initial investment to grow, especially if one were to plant an orchard anew. Olives tended to grow both more quickly and in a greater variety of environments, but the use of olive oil as an industrial product, coupled with olive trees' somewhat uneven yield, made these a commodity whose prices were fixed by the highest levels of government.
Fiber crops, such as flax or hemp, went below olives, due to being used purely for industry; on the same level were certain herbs, seeds, and spices, like myrtle, poppy, sesame, licorice, and cardamom. Next came mediocre wine, which was neither a luxury nor a strict necessity, however ubiquitous it was. Finally, the Roman staples of legumes and cereals lay at the very bottom of the scale, with legumes being planted to replenish the soil where crop rotation is practiced, and cereals being freely distributed by the government in the great cities of Constantinople, Rome, Syrian Antioch, and Egyptian Alexandria.
Scattered across the scale were rare meats, bees and bee products, flowers, and vegetables. Rare meats, such as geese, ducks, hares, mice, and snails, required a sizeable initial investment, much like orchards or herds of horses and cattle, despite the much smaller yields they produced. Apiculture did not require much of an investment, and it yielded products that are both ubiquitous and expensive, but it required a lot of specialized knowledge. Flowers were only traded between regions for certain specific holidays, such as Pentecost, while vegetables were simply too ubiquitous to trade, as even functionally landless laborers kept vegetable gardens in their backyards. Other sources of wealth were hunting, logging, fishing, mining, quarrying, trade, and pilgrimages.
Every part of Phrygia consistently benefitted from growing chickens, pigeons, poppies, wine-grapes, wheat, and barley. -
One will have noticed two dates being given every time a year is mentioned. When using a more universal system for writing out dates—that is, when they didn't merely note who the consuls or emperor at a given year were—the Romans before the advent of Christianity counted from the founding of Rome, while those who wrote once Christianity was the Empire's official religion counted from the year of Creation. Reckoning from the birth of Christ only went into official use a couple of centuries after Late Antiquity's provisional end date, and only in those states succeeding the Empire in the West.
It must be noted, however, that there were two competing estimates for the date of Creation. The estimate originating from Alexandria was used across the Empire until after the reign of Justinian, when it was replaced by the estimate originating from Constantinople—the estimate used somewhat anachronistically in this story, as it reckoned the new year to start by 1 September, the same date by which properties were reassessed for taxation every 15 years (i.e., the Indiction).
Consequently, the Late Antique Year is often said to begin with autumn. With September began the sowing of wheat, barley, and poppy, as well as the harvesting of grapes.
As October ended, so did the grape harvest. In the middle of November, the olive harvest began; with its end also ended the sowing of cereals and poppies. By the start of December—the start of winter—came the harvesting of fruit and nuts, the sowing of cold-tolerant vegetables, and the mending of tools.
The roots of vines and trees were dug up at the start of January. Ploughing and the sowing of spring crops, like flax, began with February. Spring itself began at March; here, millet (the poor man's cereal) and fruit trees were planted. Here also began the barley harvest and the collection of eggs, while the hunting and fishing seasons, at the very latest, came to their respective ends.
For April and May, calves, kids, and lambs were either birthed or purchased, while vines were shaped and supported; during May specifically was when the poppy began to flower. With June came summer and the harvesting of wheat.
The barley harvest ended with July, when most legumes simultaneously began to be sown. In August, the hunting season began, though the best hunting and fishing often came with the following month.
The Phrygian climate was harsh, especially its winters: there, all of the events described above occurred about a fortnight later than in most other regions across the Mediterranean. -
A typical unit of area during Late Antiquity was the iugerum, which is about 0.623 acres or 0.25 hectares. Note that there are 640 acres in a square mile, which is about 1,030 iugera or 260 hectares.
25 iugera of lands where only cereals, legumes, and vegetables were grown required 1 laborer to work, though half the area was always left fallow.
Orchards and groves may be classed into three kinds: those where trees were spaced far enough that intercropping can never be practiced, with up to 36 trees per iugerum; those where intercropping may or may not be practiced, with up to 25 trees per iugerum; and those where intercropping was always understood to be practiced, with up to 10 trees per iugerum. Orchards and groves of the second kind may be intercropped either with cereals and legumes or with grapevines. 22 iugera of orchards and groves intercropped with cereals and legumes required 1 laborer, as opposed to 18 iugera for those intercropped with grapevines, though in both cases, half of each plot was always kept free of any intercropping.
Grapevines could also be propped up on stakes or even left to grow on the ground, though the latter uniformly produced mediocre wine. 1 laborer could manage about 8 iugera of such vineyards.
Finally, the livestock supported by at least 240 iugera of land could be herded by 1 swineherd, 1 shepherd, or both.
Laborers themselves may be classed into three groups. Tenants were laborers whose work was not under the direct control of whoever owns the land. Wage Laborers were laborers whose work was controlled by the land's owners, but who weren't themselves owned by their employers. Slaves were laborers whose work was controlled by the land's owners and who were themselves owned by their employers, such that their initial price may be higher than those merely hired, and that they continued to cost their employers even when they did no work. In other words, when it came to agricultural work, the employment of slaves was balanced against the employment of either tenants or wage laborers, and the economic situation of Late Antiquity meant that the institution of slavery was in decline.
This isn't to say that slavery was no longer ubiquitous. The typical household would house about 6 members; for poorer households, this meant they supplied the equivalent of 2 laborers, while wealthier households had at least an equal number of slaves or freedmen attached to the household as paid domestic servants. At this point in history, most slaves born into the status expected eventual manumission, few slaves were employed to work the land, and no slaves received their status because of their race.
During Late Antiquity, the institution of slavery differed little between Phrygia and its neighbors, but in the not-so-distant past the region was an important source of slaves.
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The following map covers the entirety of the Phrygian cultural sphere.
View attachment Phrygia Review Copy Shrunken.png
At the heart of the Mediterranean peninsula of Asia Minor, known today as Anatolia or Asiatic Turkey, is a plateau, on the western half of which was the historical region of Phrygia. Much of this plateau—the area painted white—rises between 2,500 and 4,500 feet above sea level, with areas painted yellow lying below the range, and areas painted pink lying above it.
Light blue lines denote streams and minor tributaries. Blue lines and areas denote major (i.e., named) rivers and lakes. Dark blue spots denote hot springs. Areas with bluish-green "v"s denote wetlands.
Brown lines denote well-used highways. Green lines denote dilapidated or unmaintained highways. Orange lines denote certain minor roads.
Red dots denote settlements, of which there are five kinds. Cities are settlements with a population of 5,000 to 30,000 souls. Cities-by-status, like cities, have the right to mint their own coinage, but they don't exceed the size of a large town. Towns are settlements with a population of 1,000 to 10,000 souls. Villages are settlements with a population of 50 to 2,000 souls. Fortresses are settlements where an area's imperial garrison is based. -
As the map clearly showed, Phrygia was entirely landlocked, so itineraries whose final destination was the region itself were rare. The three most important routes which passed through the region went in a predominantly longitudinal direction. These were a highway connecting Nikaia and Ankyra (Route A; the other highway connecting the two cities lies entirely to the north), the highway connecting Smyrna and Koloneia (Route B), and the highway connecting Ephesos and Ikonion (Route C; note that these designations were never used by those who actually followed these routes). Settlements in parentheses lay entirely outside the region, here being noted for reference.
Route A. (Nikaia, city)—(…)—Lamounia, town—Dorylaion, city—Midaion, city-by-status—Akkilaion, city-by-status—Trokmades, village—Germa, city—Gordion, town—(…)—(Ankyra, city)
Route B. (Smyrna, city)—(…)—(Sardeis, city)—Maionia, city-by-status—Nisyra, village—Kollyda, town—Thermai Theseos, village—Tabala, city-by-status—Bagis, city-by-status—Temenouthyrai, city—Traianoupolis, city-by-status—Alioi, town—Akroinos, fortress—Prymnessos, city—Iulia, city-by-status—Mesanakta, village—Aurokra, village—Philomelion, city—Tyriaion, town—Lageina, village—Laodikeia Katakekaumene, city-by-status—Kabala, fortress—Perta, city-by-status—Komitanassos, village—(Koropassos, village)—(Koloneia, city)
Route C. (Ephesos, city)—(Magnesia he pros Maiandro, city)—(Tralleis, city)—(Nysa, city)—(…)—(Antiocheia tou Maiandrou, city)—(Brioula, city-by-status)—(Karoura, town)—Laodikeia pros tou Lykou, city—Bonita, fortress—Sanaos, city-by-status—Lakerion, village—Apameia, city—Aporidoskome, village—Auloutrene, fortress—Sozopolis, city—Antiocheia, city—Neapolis, city-by-status—(Pappa, city-by-status)—(Siniandos, village)—(Ikonion, city)
No alternate routes of importance to Phrygia during the time of our story connected from the north to Route A. Routes A and B, however, were connected within Phrygia by the following five routes.
Route AB1. Near Lamounia—Kotiaion, city—Meiros, city-by-status—between Soa, city-by-status, and Appia, town—Kone, city-by-status—Lankena, village, or near Eugenia, village—northeast of Alioi or near Kidyessos, city
Route AB2. Dorylaion—Limne, village—Nakoleia, city—Meiros—…
Route AB3. South of Germa—Pessinous, city—Orkistos, city-by-status—Neokometon, village—Kedreia, fortress—Dokimeion, city—Antimacheia, village—Between Prymnessos and Augustoupolis
Route AB4. …—Pessinous, city—Abrostola, village—Amorion, city—Phyteia, village—Iulia, city-by-status
Route AB5. …—Amorion, city—Miskamos, village—Aralla, village—Pithoi
Routes B and C were connected by the following 6 routes.
Route BC1. (Near Sardeis)—(…)—Philadelpheia, city—Tripolis, city—Hierapolis, city—Laodikeia pros tou Lykou
Route BC2. Between Traianoupolis and Alioi—Soublaion, town—Eumeneia, city—Homadena, town—Peltai
Route BC3. East of Kidyessos—east of Hierapolis, city-by-status—Apameia
Route BC4. Prymnessos—Synnada, city—Euphorbion, town—Apameia
Route BC5. Near Iulia—Euphorbion—…
Route BC6. Laodikeia Katakekaumene—(Ikonion)
The following 4 routes connected from the south to Route C.
Route C1. (Xanthos, city)—(Kibyra, city)—(…)—Laodikeia pros-tou-Lykou
Route C2. (Attaleia, city)—(…)—Near Bonita
Route C3. (Attaleia)—(…)—(Lysinia, city-by-status)—Either Auloutrene or between Aporidoskome and Sozopolis
Route C4. (Side, city)—(…)—Mistheia, city-by-status—Either Neapolis or Pappa
Before the Mediterranean slave trade, which normally transported slaves from east to west, reversed directions, it was the route between Prousa and Ankyra, rather than between Nikaia and Ankyra, that was most important for the region.
Route A1. (Prousa, city)—(…)—West of Lamounia—…
Before the establishment of Route B, the following was seen as more important.
Route D. (Pergamon, city)—(…)—Synaos, city-by-status—Kadoi, city—Aizanoi, city—Spore, village—Kotiaion—Dorylaion
While the primacy of routes was shifting southwards, the following connections between Routes B and E were considered important.
Route DB1. Near Ankyra Sidera, city-by-status—Ariandos, town—Tamasis, village—Tarsis, village—Saittai, city-by-status—Beudena, village— Kerbia, village—Iaza, village—Nysira
Route DB2. Synaos—Silandos, city-by-status—Thermai Theseos
Route DB3. Between Synaos and Kadoi—Lyendos, town—Between Bagis and Temenouthyrai
Route DB4. Spore—Mantalos, town—Soa, city-by-status—Between Kidyessos and Akroinos
Route DB5. Kotiaion—Meiros—Leontos Thermon, village—Ipsos, town—Akroinos
Alternate routes between Kotiaion and Adramyttion and between Synaos and Prousa crossed each other at Hadrianeia.
Route E. (Adramyttion, city)—(…)—(Hadrianeia, town)—Kotiaion
Route F. (Prousa)—(Basilika Therma, village)—(Hadrianoi, town)—(Hadrianeia)—Skodrena, village—Synaos
That highways between Nakoleia and Amorion and between Pessinous and Dokimeion crossed each other at Orkistos was the reason for its elevated status, though one of these highways had since diminished in importance.
Route AB6. Nakoleia—Kaborkion, village—Orkistos, city-by-status—Amorion
Additional connections existed between routes B and C, one directly connecting Kolossai and Eumeneia, and the other passing through Akmonia and the rest of the Phrygian Pentapolis.
Route BC7. …—Eumeneia—Between Laodikeia pros tou Lykou and Bonita
Route BC8. Alioi—Akmonia, city—Diokleia, town—Kleros Politikes, village—Kleros Orines, village—Eukarpia, city-by-status——Hierapolis—…
Finally, there was a complex of old highways that went south from the Via Sebaste—the ancient name for Route C3 and the rest of Route C continuing east—as alternative routes to Attaleia.
Route C5. North of Baris, city-by-status—(Saparta, city-by-status)—(Sagalassos, city)—(…)—(Attaleia)
Route C6. South of Antiocheia—(Prostanna, city-by-status)—(Limenai, town)—(Saparta)—(…)
Route C7. (…)—(Prostanna)—(Adada, city)—(…)—(Attaleia)
And then there are those roads which, while never highways, were of some importance to the region. First are major alternate connections.
Route G1. Dorylaion—Kaborkion—Neokometon
Route G2. Abrostola—Tolastochora, village—(Ouetissos, village)—(Gdanmaa, town)—(Pegella, village)—(Koggoustos, village)—(Perta)
Route G3. Eukarpia—Otrous, city-by-status—Eumeneia
Route G4. North of Soublaion—Bria—Blaundos, city-by-status—East of Philadelpheia
Then there are the roads which provided access to certain important settlements.
Route H1. Synaos—Tiberioupolis, city-by-status—Near Palox, village
Route H2. Kadoi—Tiberioupolis—…
Route H3. Aizanoi—Tiberioupolis—…
Route H4. West of Soa—Appia—South of Kone
Route H5. Bria—Near Motella, city-by-status—Dionysoupolis, city-by-status—Atyochorion, village—Mossyna, city-by-status—Near Thiounta, village—Hierapolis
Route H7. Soublaion—Choma, fortress—Southwest of Eumeneia, at the old highway nearby
Route H8. East of Prymnessos—Augustoupolis, city-by-status—West of Iulia
Route H9. Southwest of Iulia—Myriokephalon, fortress—West of Antiocheia
Route H10. Apameia—North of Baris—(Agrai, town)—(Bindaios)
Those settlements outside the map that are noted in this itinerary but are not further described below were decidedly outside the Phrygian cultural sphere. Nikaia, a city in Bithynia, provided access to the important port cities of Nikomedia and Chalkedon, the latter being just across the Hellespont from Constantinople. Prousa, Adramyttion, Smyrna, Ephesos, Attaleia, Side, Anemourion, and Korykos were all important port cities, with the most important of them by far being Ephesos. Prousa was also in the region of Bithynia; Adramyttion and Pergamon were in Aiolia; Smyrna, Ephesos, and Magnesia he pros Maiandro were in Ionia; Sardeis was in Lydia; Tralleis was in Karia; Attaleia, Perge, and Side were in Pamphylia; Sagalassos was in Pisidia; Anemourion and Korykos were in Kilikia; Ikonion was in Lykaonia; Tyana and Koloneia were in Kappadokia; and Ankyra was in Galatia. -
Epiktetos was the vast steppe-like sub-region bounded by woody highlands to the north and south, while Arginousa, literally "shining white", was named after the remarkable limestone cones that dot its landscape. The former sub-region was administered from Dorylaion, the most important trading hub in Phrygia's northwest quadrant, while the latter was administered by the trading hubs Kotiaion and Nakoleia, which both answered to Dorylaion. Also of note were the cities-by-status Midaion (named after King Midas, who was said to have once ruled over the entire region), Akkilaion, and Metropolis (named after the Phrygian mother-goddess Meter).
Aside from the aforementioned trading hubs, Epiktetos derived its wealth from the raising of asses and from the bounty of fish caught from the river Tembris. The clearing north-northeast of Kotiaion was fertile enough, being known to grow hemp, horses, sheep, and goats, while the territory immediately surrounding Nakoleia grew similar crops and raised similar livestock, bar hemp; all this was in contrast to the rest of the Arginousa, which was too forested not to be best enriched by the raising of pigs, the felling of trees, the mining of silver, and the quarrying of limestone.
Finally, Dorylaion, Kotiaion, and Nakoleia once drew plenty of pagan pilgrims. Near and within Dorylaion were sanctuaries to Meter, often conflated with Agdistis or Kybele, and to the more famous Hellenic god Zeus; southwest of Kotiaion was a sanctuary to the gods Hosios and Dikaios (literally "Holy and Just; these were conflated with Helios and Apollo); and west and south of Nakoleia were more sanctuaries to Zeus, Meter, and Meter's consort Papas. By the time of our story, pilgrims still flocked Kotiaion, the city being the site of the death of Saint Menas the Great-martyr, while the village of Pazon was the center of the Novatian Schism in Phrygia.
Pandemos, Abbaeitis, Aizanitis, Mokadene and Katakekaumene were together known as Phrygian Mysia, their residents being a mixture of Phrygian and Mysian cultures. Phrygian Mysia's trading hub was Temenouthyrai; other important cities were Philadelpheia, which like with most of Katakekaumene is not shown in this map, Aizanoi, which administered over its namesake sub-region, and Kadoi, which administered over Abbaeitis. Pandemos, with its affinity to the more sparsely populated sub-regions to the north, was administered from a mere city-by-status, Aristeia; other important settlements of that kind within Phrygian Mysia were Ankyra Sidera, Synaos, Tiberioupolis, Sebaste, and Traianoupolis. Sebaste, along with the nearby towns of Elouza and Bria, are known to service the stations along the nearby north-south highway, while the imperial garrison over most of these five sub-regions is stationed in the fortress of Akrokos.
Pandemos was predominantly forest: its wealth was principally derived from logging, hunting, and the raising of pigs, rather than from agriculture. Besides the usual crops, the four other sub-regions of Phrygian Mysia were also known for growing hemp, with Temenouthyrai being a center of the local textile trade. Abbaeitis in particular bred horses, while Aizanitis and Mokadene both bred sheep and goats. Near Aizanoi, Spore, Skodrena, and Lyendos were quarries servicing their respective sub-regions.
Kadoi contained a major sanctuary to Zeus, although his most noteworthy sanctuaries across Phrygian Mysia were found just north of Aristeia and, especially, within Aizanoi, where Meter was said to have given birth to the god in a cave three miles west of the city. By the time of our story, pilgrims only visited Philadelpheia, due to its brief mention in the Apocalypse of St. John, or Synaos, due to the rather obscure Saint Agapetos of Synaos. Temenouthyrai would have achieved a greater status had the Montanist Heresy met with any success; instead, of the villages that were its centers, Ardabau had largely been abandoned, Tymion had largely forgotten its heretical past, and Pepouza, which had grown into a town through Montanist influence, had largely been razed by the very last of the heretics.
The three sub-regions of Galatia—Trokmoi, Tektosagioi, and Tolistobogioi—were named after the three Gallic tribes that invaded the region around 800 to 900 years ago, with the first also lending their name to the village of Trokmades, and the last retaining plenty of the cultural characteristics of the sub-region's earlier residents. Gordion was one of the oldest settlements in the entire region, having once been King Midas' residence. Germa began life as a Roman colony; like the city of Eudoxias and the village of Myriangeloi, it was founded near some hot springs. Germa was also the most important trading hub of Phrygia's northeast quadrant, along with Pessinous, the sub-region's administrative center.
The highlands far to the north of Mount Aligetes were mostly woodland, dedicated to quarrying, logging, and rearing swine. The lands along the river Tembris, aside from growing the usual Phrygian crops, also benefitted from the stocks of fish that occupied the river itself, much as in neighbouring Epiktetos. The lands west of Mount Dindymos were mostly steppe: they were employed mainly to support large flocks of sheep and goats. Finaly, the lands east of Mount Dindymos produced vintages famous even outside of the Empire.
Pessinous contained the most important sanctuaries to Kybele and Attis, who was typically conflated with Papas, with the ancient city having been founded right next to the river after which these two gods' priests were named. Making up for the advent of Christianity was the dedication of the medicinal hot springs at Myriangeloi, once called Germia, to Saint Michael the Archangel. Let it also be noted that Lagania, found well outside the sub-region but located just on the edge of the map, was the former bishopric of Saint Theodore of Sykeon.
The name Axylos, like Arginousa, refers to the terrain, the sub-region being a somewhat desolate and treeless expanse. Its Phrygian portion was administered from the major trading hub of Amorion; Orkistos was historically another trading hub, though it has since declined in importance. Other notable settlements were the city of Klaneos, supplied from nearby Miskamos; the town of Keissia, supplied from nearby Aralla; and the fortress of Kedreia, where the sub-region's imperial garrison was stationed.
Here, cultivation was generally difficult, and thus somewhat rare, but because the sub-region was so large as to have half its territory be considered part of Galatia, large herds of horses, asses, and cattle were able to enrich the sub-region. Here also were there no religious sites of note, whether pagan or Christian.
The sub-regions Moeteana and Ipsina have been historically associated with each other ever since the Romans, taking over Phrygia, had the town of Ipsos administer over both. Ipsos had since gone into decline, with the administration of the two sub-regions shifting southward to Synnada, a city of similar importance to the entire region as Dorylaion, Germa, and Pessinous, despite not being a major trading hub. Indeed, none of the settlements in either Ipsina or Moeteana were major trading hubs—the closest they have are Prymnessos, Kidyessos, Kone, Soa, and Meiros—though the central position of Akroinos, the fortress where the local imperial garrison was stationed, eventually changed this.
Moeteana derived its wealth from the same sources as neighbouring Arginousa, sans hemp. Ipsina's wetlands were employed to feed swine; the rest of the valley around the river Kaystros was employed to breed other kinds of livestock, most notably horses. The valley around Synnada was one of Phrygia's very, very few sub-regions able to grow olives, and the quarries around Dokimeion were the primary source of polychrome pavonazzetto marble across the entire Empire.
Numerous sanctuaries to Zeus and Hekate, including the hot springs atop which Kone had been founded, were found across Moeteana. Ipsina, on the other hand, never had any important pagan sanctuaries, but pilgrims devoted to Saint Ariadne the Martyr had Prymnessos as their destination, while those devoted to Saints Trophimus and Dorymedon, Martyrs had Synnada.
When Phrygia first came under Roman rule, Akmonia was flocked by emigrees from Italy; before that, a great number of Jews settled down in the city through the influence of the Seleukids; and before even that, it may have been founded by the legendary Amazons, testifying to the general fame of the sub-region it administered, Doias. The city was not, however, a major trading hub, and the same goes for the sub-region's other notable settlements, Alioi and Diokleia.
Instead, the sub-region derived its wealth almost exclusively from agriculture, which the most influential families of Akmonia ensured was dedicated to a fair balance of crops, insisting as they did on the Ancient Roman virtue of self-sufficiency. There were also a great number of quarries just south of both Akmonia and Diokleia, with the lands surrounding the latter being somewhat more hostile to cultivation than the lands immediately flanking the river Sindros. Sanctuaries to Hekate and Apollo were found on the southern and eastern slopes of nearby Mount Dindymos, while Akmonia itself was known for its dedications to the idiosyncratic god Theos Hypsistos, understood by pagans to be Zeus, but by Jews and Christians to be their God.
Brouzos, Hierapolis, Stektorion, Otrous, and Eukarpia formed the five constituent settlements of the Phrygian Pentapolis, a sub-region that was generally as poor as the eastern portion of Doias. Again, none of the settlements are trading hubs, though Eukarpia and Hierapolis came close, both cities-by-status being near a crossroads and the hot springs at the village of Agros Thermon. Eukarpia had also been known since before Christianity for its abundance of grapes, while Hierapolis had for its patron saint the famous Saint Aberkios the Wonderworker.
Unlike the similarly named city-by-status at Arginousa, the Metropolis just south of both Ipsina and the Phrygian Pentapolis was named as such according to proverbial usage, the eventual city-by-status having been founded as the "mother" of the settlements around it. Its namesake sub-region was too marshy for any significant amount of cultivation, so most of the sub-region's wealth was derived either from trade or from the raising of pigs: no pilgrims, pagan or Christian, thought of the sub-region as a destination.
The sub-region of Paroreios was simply the wealthiest sub-region in all Phrygia. It had three major trading hubs—Philomelion, Sozopolis, and Antiocheia—with the last not only being sub-region's administrative center but also the most important trading hub in the entire region's southeastern quadrant. Antiocheia itself was known for all manner of livestock; Sozopolis and the nearby city-by-status Tymandos were known for flax, fruit, nuts, and, like Antiocheia, all manner of livestock, but mainly quinces and horses; the town Polybotos and the city-by-status Iulia were known for their fish and swine; Philomelion was known for its wine, fruit, nuts, fish, and marble; and Tyriaion was known for wine, fish, and horses, with the town itself having been founded atop some hot springs.
As for religious significance, Antiocheia had been a destination for pilgrims since before the Christian era. Near Myriokephalon, or the fortress where the sub-region's imperial garrison was stationed, was a sanctuary to the lunar goddess Artemis, while overlooking Antiocheia itself was a sanctuary to the more obscure lunar god Men. Come the advent of Christianity, however, and Antiocheia itself continued to welcome pilgrims, this time those devoted to Saint Sabbatios the Martyr and Saint Marina the Great-martyr.
Closely associated with Paroreios were the sub-regions Killanion and Obizene. The former was a mixture of Phrygian and Pisidian cultures; the latter, which is not fully depicted in the map, of Phrygian, Galatian, and Lykaonian. Neapolis, the administrative center of Killanion, was a mere city-by-status; the same goes with Laodikeia Katakekaumene, the administrative center of Obizene's more Phrygian western portion, and Perta, the center of its more Lykaonian east, although the more strategic positions of these two settlements ensured they saw a bit more wealth through trade. Between Laodikeia Katakekaumene and Perta was the fortress of Kaballa, where the sub-region's imperial garrison was stationed.
Killanion had the same soil type and climate as the lands surrounding Antiocheia: while it only grew Phrygia's usual crops, it grew them in great abundance. Obizene as a whole, on the other hand, was poor and treeless, with most of its crops growing only in its western portion. This was made up for by "Burnt" Laodikeia's namesake, since around that settlement, as well as near the villages of Kindyria and Zizima, were numerous deposits of mercury, lead, copper, and even gold.
Neither sub-region possessed major pilgrimage sites, but Laodikeia Katakekaumene was a known center for the Sabbatian and Quartodecimian Heterodox. Distinguishing between the various alternative religious groups of Phrygia, the Novatians were doctrinally the same as the prevailing Orthodox, but they were a little more strict about who got to remain in communion with them; the Sabbatians and Quartodecimians were generally the same, except that they also pushed to be more in common with the local Jews, such as through the keeping of the Sabbath or the celebration of Pesach; and the Montanists subscribed in some markedly out-there beliefs, like an imminent end of the world or an emphasis on ecstatic prophecy.
Three additional areas were considered to be divided between Phrygia and some neighbouring region. The division of Hyrgaleis between its supposed Lydian portion, centered around Blaundos, and its Phrygian portion, centered around Dionysoupolis, Mossyna, and Motella, was rather artificial, as the sub-region was uniformly Phrygian in character. Note that the sub-region's imperial garrison was stationed at Klannouda; this fortress, along with the town which supplied it (Naeis), were all in the sub-region's Lydian portion.
If Hyrgaleis had any highways passing through it, at least one of its cities-by-status would instead be a city proper, while the sub-region as a whole would be among the richest in all Phrygia. Not only was it another of the few Phrygian sub-regions able to grow olives, but the variety of crops it grew was similar to those grown in the sub-regions immediately to the east and south, while Thiounta was another of Phrygia's major sources of marble. Even when Motella and its sanctuary to Apollo, however, were major pilgrimage sites, the sub-region never had enough traffic to justify the construction of a highway.
On the other hand, the sub-region Lampe, which was understood to be shared between Phrygia and Pisidia, did have a major highway passing through it: the problem was its administrative center, Sanaos, was no great enough distance from the major trading hubs to the west and to the northeast, despite meriting the imperial occupation of a fortress (Bonita). Otherwise, the sub-region's lands were, again, fairly rich, being known for flax, fruit, nuts, herbs, spices, and most kinds of livestock, but especially those crops and beasts which produced textiles. As with Hyrgaleis, the sub-region hosted no major religious centers at present.
Culturally, Kapatiana is a difficult sub-region to classify. Hierapolis was so named because, like Pessinous, it had been a center of the priesthood of the Phrygian goddess Kybele since before even Alexander the Great, but the nearby cities of Laodikeia pros tou Lykou and Tripolis, having been established much later by the Seleukids, had since transformed the sub-region enough that only in Late Antiquity could it be called Phyrgian once again, and even so, only for administrative purposes. By the time of our story, the sub-region was much more like neighbouring Lydia or Karia in character.
Laodikeia itself was one of the most important trading hubs in Phrygia's southwestern quadrant, while just south of the city were a number of quarries. The hot springs near Hierapolis were famous, not just to bathe in, but also simply to look at, because of their travertine terrace formations. The sub-region as a whole was known for the same set of crops as nearby Lampe, only with the coveted ability to also grow olives, and its four cities—Kolossai, which may be older than Hierapolis, must now be included—each rival Temenouthyrai as centers for textiles.
With the change in the sub-region's cultural character came a change in the sub-region's religious character, Hierapolis' original worship of Kybele soon being displaced by the cults of the gods Apollo, Plouto, and Persephone: the first was closely associated with the healing powers of the local hot springs, while the latter two were associated with the noxious fumes of the local complex of caves. Christianity's arrival was ultimately no shocking change, except that now, it is not only Hierapolis that is a major religious center. Hierapolis is associated with The Holy and All-Praised Apostle Saint Philip and the Apostolic Fathers Saint Papias and Saint Apollinarios Klaudios. Laodikeia, which is another of the cities mentioned in the Apocalypse of Saint John, is associated with Saint Archippos the Apostle, Saint Sagaris the Hieromartyr, and Saint Artemon of Seleukeia Sidera (the settlement after which he was named is where he eventually became bishop). Kolossai, to whose residents Saint Paul addressed one of his letters, is associated with Saint Philemon the Apostle, his wife Saint Apphia, Equal-to-the-Apostles, and his former slave Saint Onesimos the Apostle, along with the already-mentioned Saint Archippos: Saint Archippos was bishop of Laodikeia, Saint Onesimos was bishop of Ephesos, and Saint Philemon was bishop of Kolossai itself, where he, his wife, and his friend Saint Archippos were all martyred. Even Chonai, the fortress where the sub-region's imperial garrison is stationed, is a pilgrimage site, an important miracle of Saint Michael the Archangel once having been witnessed in the area.
The city of Ikonion, on the far side of the map and entirely outside of Phrygia, was closely associated with Kapatiana's holy cities, as it was here where Saint Philip's sister and companion, Saint Mariamne, retired in peace. Other saints of this Lykaonian city included Saint Thekla, Equal-to-the-Apostles, a companion of Saint Paul; Saint Paraskeve the Great-Martyr; Saints Ioulitta and her son, Saint Kerykos, Martyrs, although they were martyred in Tarsos; Saint Konon and his son, Saint Konon, Martyrs; and the holy hierarch Saint Amphilochios.
The other great trading hub of Phrygia's southwest quadrant was Apameia, the administrative center of the sub-region Aulutrene. This sub-region, which shares its name with the local fortress, was not in itself particularly wealthy, its lands being used mainly to feed horses, cattle, sheep, and goats than to grow significant quantities of crops. Most of its wealth was instead derived, not just from trade, but also from Apameia's control of the nearby village of Sampsados, where the patron of viticulture Saint Tryphon the Great-martyr was born.
Of course, that the village was almost entirely within the neighbouring sub-region of Choma rendered inevitable the present dispute between Apameia and Eumeneia, Choma's administrative center. Eumeneia was another trading hub, though one more like Temenouthyrai than Apameia in importance. Its intrinsic sources of wealth were identical to those of nearby Lampe, except that the textile trade was not particularly pronounced here, and the large patch of wetland between it and Sampsados necessitated the substitution of horses, asses, and cattle with swine. The local imperial garrison resided in the sub-region's namesake fortress, which was mainly supplied from nearby Soublaion, just as Aulutrene was mainly supplied from nearby Aporidoskome.
Sub-regions well outside of Phrygia which were sometimes considered part of it were Olympene, Abrettene, Mygdonia, Bebrykia, and Kibyratis. The ancient kingdom of Phrygia once extended northwest to the now Mysian sub-regions of Abrettene, Olympene, and Mygdonia, with Mygdonia sometimes being said to have been named after the Phrygian king Mygdon; Bebrykia, meanwhile, was named after the Thrakian peoples which were said to have eventually become the Phrygians.
As for Kibyratis, now is the appropriate time to note the division of Phrygia into provinces, with the system in use during the time of our story having been devised under the recently-deceased emperor Justinian. Phrygia I, or Phrygia Kapatiana, had for its political capital the city of Laodikeia pros tou Lykou, and for its ecclesiastical capital the cities of Laodikeia and Hierapolis. Under this province were the sub-regions Kapatiana, Kibyratis, Lampe, Choma, Mokadene, Aizanitis, Abbaeitis, and Pandemos, as well as most of Hyrgaleis, most of Doias, half of Moeteana, and part of Ipsina. Kibyratis had been under a province named Phrygia since at least two centuries before Justinian, so doubtless it had come to fall under the region's cultural sphere, though for the most part it remained predominantly Pisidian, Lykian, and Lydian.
Phrygia II, or Phrygia Saloutaris, had the single capital Synnada. Under this province were the sub-regions Epiktetos, Arginousa, Pentapolis, and Metropolis, as well as most of Ipsina, half of Moeteana, and part of Doias.
The region of Galatia, like the region of Phrygia, was divided into two provinces. Galatia I included the sub-regions Trokmoi and Tektosagioi; Galatia II, also known as Galatia Saloutaris, had the sub-regions Tolistobogioi, Axylos, and Proseilemmene (the wilderness of Proseilemmene, like Axylos and Tolistobogioi, was also originally Phrygian, but because of how desolate it was, it was more easily let go by its earlier residents). The capital of the former was Ankyra; that of the latter, Pessinous.
The sub-regions Paroreios, Killanion, and Aulutrene, as well as part of Obizene, were all a part of the province Pisidia, although considering how Antiocheia was the sub-region's capital, as well as the general importance of both Antiocheia and Apameia, it might as well have been called Phrygia III. The definitively Pisidian sub-regions of this province were Sagalasseis, Makropedeiteis, and Moulasseis, as well as part of Orondeis.
The historical region of Pisidia had been carved up much worse, owing to its more belligerent history: its sub-regions Ormeleis, Milyadeis, Selgeis, Katenneis, and Homonadeis were all incorporated into the province of Pamphylia (capitals: Side and Perge), while the southern portion of Orondeis went to Lykaonia (capital: Ikonion). Also to Lykaonia went the more Lykaonian portions of Obizene, while part of Hyrgaleis and the whole of Katakekaumene went to the province of Lydia (capital: Sardeis). Abrettene and Mygdonia were in the province of Hellespont (capital: Kyzikos), while Olympene and Bebrykia were in the province of Bithynia (capital: either Nikomedia or Nikaia).
Part Three: Eugenia.
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All this was unknown to everyone in the village and the vast majority of its visitors.
The earliest record of Eugenia's fountain predates even the conquest of Alexander the Great. The Galli, or the eunuch-priests of the ancient cult of Cybele, were both surprised and disappointed to discover a fountain which rendered unnecessary the elaborate rituals by which they arrived at their non-binary state. To those laypeople in the deepest of physical-psychological crises, they gave easy access to the fountain, but for their fellow priests, those who partook of the fountain were assigned a much lower status than those who made use of the knife.
Once the Greeks took over, the successors to Alexander the Great quickly learned about the fountain. With their more rigid patriarchy, they banned the use of the waters which affirmed the identity of men, completely suppressing all knowledge of this aspect of the fountain, although this was nothing to the Galli, whose hierarchy was restricted to those considered male at birth.
The alliance between the Romans and the cult of Cybele initially led to no great change in the fountain's usage, as the cult remained fundamentally "exotic", but as the Republic became more cosmopolitan—as Phrygia itself became a part of their dominions—the Italian elites were further and further scandalised. Once the Republic began its transition to Empire, the moralistic Augustus quietly restricted the use of the fountain to the Phrygian priesthood.
This did not utterly deny access of the fountain to the most knowledgeable of Rome's elites. The principal Emperor to be associated with the fountains was Hadrian, especially when he was with his famous partner Antinous. The less scandalous narrative is that Hadrian asked Antinous to transform his body into that of a woman—perhaps Hadrian had more sexual desire for women than for men? or he wanted to legitimise their relationship? or he wanted to secure an heir, and he thought having his partner try to be a woman would help?—while the more scandalous narrative is that Hadrian was himself a woman, or rather a man born in the body of a woman. Either narrative, of course, was only ever known through rumours, rumours which led to the greater suppression of all knowledge of the fountains under Hadrian's immediate successors.
The last nail in the coffin for the fountains' association with Hellenism was the reign of Elagabalus. The eccentricity of this emperor was interpreted by some as his preferring to be a her, although the truth of the matter, like with the relationship between Hadrian and Antinous, will never be known. The elites that supported Elagabalus did not want their "eccentricity" to reach the point of scandal, should they complete such a transition, while those elites which despised them typically despised them because of their eccentricity. Thus, by this far-reaching if somewhat shallow conspiracy—recall that, by this point, general knowledge of the fountain had been contained for over 500 years—Elagabalus never even learned of the fountain's existence, even as they signed into law its full and final suppression.
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The fountain was rediscovered by the Christians within half a century after Elagabalus' death. This narrative is better detailed in the story itself, but for now: a priest from Synnada named Clement had gone into the wilderness northwest of his native city due to his failure to prevent the suicide of one of his parishioners. During this hermitage, he encountered a shepherd, Eugenius, who led him to the fountain. The fountain's pink waters seemed to him like poison; the fountain's blue waters seemed to him like a clean-enough source of drink.
7 days after finding this fountain, much of his body had become that of a woman. 40 days after this initial week, and the initial changes to his body were confirmed—what he thought were mere hallucinations now forced him to pee sitting down, if he wished to pee cleanly—forcing him to end his hermitage. 40 days without access to the fountain, and the "confirmation" reverted. 7 days after this initial "Lent", and the rest of the changes to his body reverted.
Some time later, he and his bishop entertained a guest from Alexandria, who recognized in Eugenios the great Egyptian ascetic of the same name, one who had recently been martyred as a woman. Recognizing the miracle in what had happened with the fountain, Father Clement, a deacon, and 40 other parishioners immediately returned to the site of the fountain, at which point records became considerably more concrete. By 273 A.D., or 5,781 A.M., a collection of emphyteutic leases for the lands right next to the fountain had been purchased from the Roman state, marking the village's establishment. These initial villagers, who were either queer seekers or devout Christians, sustained themselves by growing cereals, legumes, and vegetables, as well as by herding livestock otherwise based in nearby Kone.
The village's demographics were shifted radically, however, with the beginning of the Great Persecution (303-313 A.D., or 5,811-5,821 A.M.) under Diocletian, Maximian, Galerian, and Maximinus II. The persecution forced the villagers to sell their leases to the Roupiliones, a pagan family from Prymnessos, although they otherwise continued to work and live as they normally would, merely paying their taxes through their newfound patron. Such an arrangement was viewed with suspicion by the Tertylliones, a rival family, who blackmailed the villagers into helping them purchase much of the land around Eugenia suitable for cultivating orchards.
Once the Persecution came to an end, the Tertylliones' suspicion of the Roupiliones was confirmed, as the Roupiliones returned all the leases they had acquired to their original owners. Out of gratitude, the villagers gave enough gifts to the Roupiliones for them to purchase lands near Eugenia for themselves, lands which, again, could support various fruit and nut trees.
Finally, by the year 325 A.D. (5,833 A.M.), Constantine's convocation of the First Ecumenical Council convinced the villagers that a case against their former extortioners could succeed. The clincher for their petition, which ultimately succeeded, was that everyone holding leases in Eugenia was a Christian, aside from the Tertylliones: apparently, the Roupiliones had converted shortly before the Persecution's end.
Most of the leases held by the Tertylliones were purchased by the Roupiliones; the rest were purchased by an upstart merchant family who wanted to augment their wealth with some status. The Roupiliones did not like that this family converted solely to purchase their leases, and so categorically refused to sponsor their entry into Prymnessos' boule, but they were quick to find a family who were just as mercenary as themselves, the Nikostratones, who in exchange asked for a few of the leases they had just purchased.
The merchant family, on joining Prymnessos' boule, became known as the Benniones, after their dubious ancestral association with the sanctuary to Zeus near Kone. The Nikostratones, on the other hand, claimed to have established themselves in Phrygia through the Seleukids, while both the Roupiliones and the Tertylliones clearly came from Italy.
Only the Benniones spent much time in Eugenia—the Roupiliones were based in the village of Roupilion, south of Lankena and Kidyessos, while the Nikostratones preferred to oversee their holdings between Prymnessos and Synnada—but the laborers these families assigned to Eugenia ultimately made the village's population more representative of the Empire as a whole. Fortunately, this did not translate into the village becoming somewhat more hostile to queer individuals, but it did lead to a sharper distinction between residents, who came to prefer the services at the Church of Saints Protus and Hyacinthus, and pilgrims, who continued to attend at the older Church of Saint Eugenia.
Per the advice of the Nikostratones, the Benniones immediately diversified their holdings in Eugenia, leading to another, less significant demographic shift. First, they built into their nearby villa the infrastructure needed to process pigs; they then convinced the Nikostratones and even the Roupiliones to help purchase as many of the pigs based in surrounding settlements as they could; last, the three families purchased the leases for those lands near the village too rough for any significant development, where they moved both their swine and the swineherds they employed. By this point, which was some time between the civil wars of Procopius the Usurper (365-366 A.D., or 5,874 A.M.) and Tribigild the Goth (399-400 A.D., or 5,907-5,908 A.M.), the only lands now considered part of the village which hadn't been leased were those of the ancient forests at Mount Dindymos' upper slopes, which were effectively kept in common by the villagers.
Concerning these civil wars, that of Procopius had very little effect, since his armies were just as restrained as those of his rival Valens, but that of the Goths saw many of Eugenia's indigents follow Tribigild. Among laborers, the majority at the time were employed either by the Roupiliones or the Nikostratones, the two leaseholding families that didn't maintain a presence in the village, and it was this alienated majority which consisted the bulk of the rebels; the rest were those slaves whose masters were stingy or cruel enough to force them to work the fields, what with all of the village's leaseholders each owning at least as many slaves as there were free members of each household, but none of them regularly employing their slaves to work outside the household.
The Roupiliones and the Nikostratones, who owned properties across all of Phrygia Saloutaris, were wealthy enough to withstand this temporary loss of workers. The Benniones, who lost nothing, euergetically recouped the losses of their non-bouleutic neighbors—at least, those neighbors who in the community's eyes hadn't deserved any of the losses they'd just incurred. Finally, the non-bouleutic leaseholders had their notions of the equality between themselves and the laborers they hired, as well as their convictions against keeping agricultural slaves, reinforced.
A more impactful demographic shift occurred around 470 A.D. (5,978 A.M.). Initially, it was believed that only those lands purchased by the village's bouleutics were able to grow wine-grapes, although their leaseholders had decided against the usual practice of multicropping in order for their products to compete with those of nearby Paroreios; however, on that year, a few aspiring monks discovered that some of Eugenia's lands preferentially used to grow cereals and legumes were just as suitable for the vine. With the purchase of the leases for most of these lands, the Monastery of the Panagia Eleousa was established, while the remainder had their lessees pool their resources to become Eugenia's so-called vintagers.
Shortly thereafter was a more devastating shift. During the Isaurian War (492-497 A.D., or 6,000-6,006 A.M.), all of Eugenia was the victim: the Isaurians, who acted with as little restraint as the Goths, were revolting as a response to the otherwise quiet succession between the Isaurian emperor Zeno and the Illyrian emperor Anastasius I, rather than as a general airing of grievances, and so they were not met with any sympathy by the local indigents. Many of the vintager families were ruined, while the Roupiliones, whose soldiers fought in the vicious Battle of Kotiaion and whose less able-bodied members adamantly supported the present emperor, were decimated.
Come 534 A.D. (6,043 A.M.), and the host of legal reforms Justinian had just enacted included even the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the village. Associated with the Third Ecumenical Council (431 A.D., or 5,939 A.M.) had been the formal transfer of Eugenia's churches from the Metropolitan of Synnada to his suffragan the Bishop of Prymnessos, but through Justinian, the village priests and monks once again answered to Synnada directly, as the local hegumen was elevated to the office of bishop.
Eugenia's first bishop died of old age some 15 years later, although many believed he instead died of exhaustion, as in his final years he presided over the village during the Plague of Justinian (541-549 A.D., or 6,049-6,057 A.M.). This outbreak did not lead to a demographic shift for the village, since it affected all social classes equally: it only confirmed the reduction of the vintagers to just 5 families, as well as the complete extinction of the Roupiliones. The Roupilion properties west of Akroinos came to be divided between the Benniones and the Nikostratones, with the former receiving the bulk of their lands around Eugenia, and the latter inheriting their villa south of Lankena and Kidyessos.
Eugenia's second bishop, unluckily enough, died of the Plague, a mere couple of years into his tenure. Eugenia's third bishop, who contracted the Plague at the same time, became chronically ill because of it, and so was unable to attend the Fifth Ecumenical Council (553 A.D., or 6,061 A.M.). Eugenia's fourth bishop, the Right Reverend Bishop John, came into power shortly before our story.
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By the time of our story, the village housed around 1,600 people and at least 3,500 livestock.
Fewer than 10 of the village's residents are part of the bouleutic class, i.e. the local aristocracy. These were the aforementioned Benniones, as the Nikostratones continued to live elsewhere.
Around 30 residents belonged to the 5 vintager families, a very close-knit group.
Around 280 residents belonged to the 45 other leaseholder families.
Around 900 residents belonged to the village's laborer class. 100 of these residents were specialist laborers, such as millers or bakers, as well as the village's 12 married priests; 26 were adult shepherds and swineherds, the latter being hired only by the bouleutics; 45 were field laborers; 65 were orchard laborers; and 90 were vineyard laborers. Except for the specialist laborers and some of the herdsmen, all of these laborers were considered wage laborers, rather than tenants or slaves. The laborers working for the Benniones tended to be fiercely loyal to their employers, though for reasons not entirely clear to their neighbors, as the Benniones were fundamentally like most other bouleutics in the region.
Around 170 residents were client freedmen. As noted earlier, the manumission of slaves in late antiquity was a frequent occurrence, but the subsequent freedmen were always considered to be indebted to their former owners in some way, often becoming their clients.
Around 160 residents were slaves. The number of slaves and freedmen attached to the Benniones was triple to quadruple the number of Benniones living in the village; the number attached to the vintagers, double; and the number attached to the other leaseholders, about the same.
Finally, the local monastery housed around 50 monks. 16 of these monks were hieromonks, i.e. priest-monks, including the local archpriest; 4 were deacon-monks, including the local archdeacon; and 1 was the local bishop, for a total of 33 clerics serving the village. The monks and clergy range from truly pious yet empathetic individuals to what amounts as the story's comic relief: those with a penchant for hatred would have been transferred out of the village shortly after arrival.
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The creation and promulgation of laws was first the prerogative of the Emperor, then of the local boule, i.e. the municipal assembly in a given area. Officially, there was no institution like a village council drafting and setting ordinances specific to Eugenia, but equivalent meetings were hosted every now and again by certain leaseholders or ecclesiastics. This de facto council was composed of:
1. A representative of the Benniones. Usually, this was the family matron, but sometimes they would send a trusted laborer, freedman, or even slave.
2. A representative of the vintagers. This position regularly rotated between the 5 vintager families.
3. 2 representatives of the vineyard laborers working for the vintagers. Most of the time, one of these representatives were appointed by the vintagers themselves.
4. 2 representatives of the other leaseholders. Unlike with the other representatives, the competition for these two "offices" could be fierce.
5. 2 representatives of the field laborers.
6. A representative of the local craftsmen and tradesmen. Their selection process was notably arcane.
7. A representative of the local foresters and herdsmen, except for those hired by the bouleutic families.
8. The archpriest, representing the local clerics. This was an appointee of the bishop; he would typically recuse himself, unless an issue also affected the local married priests, he was specifically ordered by the bishop to attend, or he possessed a more political disposition than most of his predecessors.
9. The archdeacon, representing the local monastics. This was an appointee of the bishop.
10. A representative of the vineyard laborers working for the monastery.
11. The village advocate. This was a specialist laborer alternating residences between the village and Prymnessos. His presence was required only if the other leaseholders expected the Benniones, the clerics, or the monastics, who were all able to represent themselves directly at Prymnessos' boule, to clash with the rest of the village.
12. A clerk.
Unless otherwise stated, these representatives were chosen by those they were meant to represent.
The enforcement of laws was handled by the villagers at large. Arms and armor were maintained by most leaseholders, both for themselves and for some of their clients and slaves, but recently 10 leaseholders—the decarchs, who were all either retired soldiers, mercenaries, or martial artists—had been organized into a de facto police force. In case all this wasn't enough, the villagers could also summon the garrison at Akroinos.
Two routes could be followed by villagers in seeking redress for their legal disputes.
The secular route involved first going to one of the village's patrons: any of its leaseholders, with the vintagers and the Benniones possessing the most power and influence, but also those herdsmen, craftsmen, and tradesmen with stable-enough stores of wealth. When dissatisfied with the decisions of the local patrons, they could instead approach the local boule, albeit this would have involved hiring the local advocate or going to Prymnessos themselves.
Above the boule was the pagarch, an Imperial official appointed by the local governor from among the boule yet answering directly to the Emperor. Above the pagarch was the aforementioned governor, who if he wasn't touring his province or if he hadn't been recalled to Constantinople could be approached in Synnada. Lastly, above the governor was the Emperor, though they would likely have had to navigate the extensive Imperial bureaucracy before even catching a glimpse of him.
The ecclesiastical route involved first going to one of the village's priests, whether married or celibate. They could then appeal to the archpriest, although he was more likely than not to defer directly to the local bishop, who was the next figure to whom they could appeal. Above the bishop was the metropolitan, also based in Synnada, although he was probably not as mobile as the governor, and above the metropolitan was the Ecumenical Patriarch.
All this was the less palpable aspect of government; the more palpable aspect by far was the paying of taxes. All leaseholders had to pay at least two kinds of taxes, a poll tax and a land tax, every year. Herdsmen also had to pay a poll tax, in case they owned some of the animals they herded. Laborers, whether specialists or otherwise, had to pay in services—i.e. blacksmiths had to produce a certain amount of fittings, pipes, weapons, and so on for the state—though the tax collectors sometimes accepted equivalent sums of gold. Monks and clerics were exempt from taxation, though it was a poorly attended church that engaged in few philanthropic endeavors.
In a village like Roupilion, taxes were collected by the local bouleutic family, regardless of if those who had to pay were not directly under their employ. Eugenia, however, was different. The Benniones only collected taxes on the properties they owned or from the peoples they employed; everyone else pooled their payment, sent for a separate bouleutic official from Prymnessos, and had some decarchs escort the official with their payment back to Prymnessos. This system was only slightly modified from that established when the village was recognized by the Empire.
The principal philanthropic endeavor by the monastery was the maintenance of the fountain. Those who would drink from the springs for the first time were obliged by the monks to do the following:
1. They had to visit Eugenia themselves.
2. They had to talk to a monk assigned to them. This monk would record only the name they were baptized with (for non-Christians, the monks would record their birth name, instead) and the name they were to assume (or the name they had already assumed), with the records being sealed from all but higher-ranking monks.
3. They had to wait in the village for at least a week before receiving their first dose.
4. They had to check in with the monk assigned to them for their first seven doses—a few drops from the fountain ingested every day—to make sure they were not wasting the water.
Afterwards, they could take any number of additional doses with them home, although it took time for the monks to collect so many doses; they could also have their doses delivered to them, though they had to pay for their own couriers.
In theory, the process lasted a fortnight, but in reality, with the number of pilgrims eager to receive of the springs, the number of patients already receiving of the springs, the number of monks available to serve them, and the relatively slow trickle of water from the springs themselves, people could wait months before receiving their initial dose, especially as the monks prioritized first Eugenia's residents, then those first-time takers that threatened to harm themselves, then those patients for whom the changes they'd undergone by drinking from the fountain came dangerously close to reversion.
Another philanthropic endeavor by the monks is the formal education of the villagers, although the quality of this education typically varied. By the time of our story, the 2 monks tasked with educating the villagers could only teach as grammatistai, equivalent to modern primary school teachers. Those seeking a full paideia would have to go to Prymnessos to be educated by a grammatikos, equivalent to a secondary school teacher, and then to Synnada to finish off with a rhetor. After being taught by a rhetor, students could then choose to follow a philosophos, although most such educators could be found only in the truly great cities of Constantinople, Syrian Antioch, and Egyptian Alexandria, while those pursuing such specializations as law or theology didn't actually need to follow a philosophos.
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The following map zooms in on the Phrygian sub-regions immediately surrounding the village.
When atop highways, unlabeled red dots indicate road stations. These stations provided shelter and replacement mounts for only Imperial officials, though inns, stables, and taverns for general use typically popped up right next to them. When atop other kinds of road, red dots indicate villages that could eventually host a road station, if their roads were converted into highways.
Red triangles, both labelled and unlabeled, indicate pagan sanctuaries, with some of the unlabeled sanctuaries being dedicated to figures forgotten even by the time of our story. Red diamonds indicate mines and quarries. Numbers indicate the distance in miles between each named settlement, road station, or intersection along their respective roads.
The violet quadrangle around Eugenia indicates the approximate area the village's residents worked, measuring about 5,150 iugera of arable land. 960 iugera, scattered north-northwest of the village, were vineyards: half the vineyards, most of which were found west of the local stream, were owned by the vintagers, while the rest were owned and worked by the monks. 1,440 iugera, concentrated northeast of the village proper, were orchards, with the Benniones owning around 960 iugera, and the Nikostratones owning around half that number. The rest of the land—around 2,750 iugera—were the fields of wheat and legumes owned and worked by the other leaseholders.
A by-road running parallel to the local stream connected the village to the highway, about 2 miles away. For the settlements near Eugenia through which their respective highways didn't directly pass: the by-road to Panasion, which branched from the nearby highway 1 mile east of Alioi, was about 4 miles long; the by-road to Roupilion, where the Roupiliones' villa was built, was continuous with the highway to Lankena, and was also about 4 miles long; the by-road to Kidyessos, which was 3 miles west of the nearest road station, was about 1 ½ miles long; the by-road to Tottoa, which was 4 ½ miles from Kone, was 4 miles long; the by-road to Aragua, which branched out from the highway right at the intersection northwest of Soa, was 2 ½ miles long; the by-road to Zemmea, which branched out 5 miles from the aforementioned intersection, was 1 mile long; and the by-road to Iskome, which branched out 3 miles from Appia, was 1 mile long.
Now for the village itself. The village was centered around the agora, or market square, immediately surrounding which were the houses of most specialist laborers (on average, their homes covered 3,200 square feet of space; note that their workshops would have been integral to their homes). At the agora's western edge was the local blacksmith, at the agora's southwestern corner was the local baker, at the agora's southern edge was the Hidden Beauty Inn, and at the agora's northeastern corner was the Church of Saints Protas and Hyakinthos.
The average leaseholder's house occupied around 6,400 square feet, the average laborer's house occupied around 1,600 square feet, and the average client freedman's house occupied around 400 square feet. Most leaseholders, field laborers, and client freedmen lived west, southwest, or south of the agora, including the decarchs, whose homes formed a cluster to the west. Immediately northeast and southwest of this cluster were two tiny chapels, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus and the Church of the Panagia Hypermacho Strategos, neither of which found much use, since the decarchs' families preferred to attend services at the Church of Sts. Protas and Hyakinthos, while the decarchs themselves more often spent time at the nearest tavern, the Alehouse, or the one place in the entire village making and serving beer. Further west was the local mill.
The average vintager's house occupied around 9,600 square feet. The vintagers and vineyard laborers all lived north of the agora, with one of the vintager families managing another tavern, recently renamed the Hair of Berenice.
The orchard laborers working for the bouleutics all lived east of the agora. On the northeast corner of the village was the Bennion villa, at least 12,800 square feet in area, appended to which were a number of service buildings meant to be used only by the laborers they oversaw: another mill, powered by asses instead of by water; another forge; another oven; another tavern, called either the Scrummy Fig or the Skinny Pig; and another chapel, the Church of Saint Matrona of Constantinople.
In total, the village proper occupied approximately 32 iugera.
Originally, the village had been established 1 mile northeast of its present site, right next to the fountain of Saint Eugenia. Immediately south of the fountain, the villagers had built a church—the Church of Saint Eugenia—although this building had since been rebuilt, like how the first villagers' houses had since been entirely levelled. By the time of the story, access to the fountain was managed by the Monastery of the Panagia Eleousa, whose complex of cells and workshops fully enclosed the fountain, with the entrance to the monastery being found just north of the entrance to Saint Eugenia. Further north, past both the old village and the monastery, was the local cemetery, served by another small chapel: the Church of Saint Marina.
A final chapel had been built directly north of the village—the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel— serving the herdsmen spread out across the village's land. The average herdsman's house also occupied around 6,400 square feet, though more space than with that of the average leaseholder was dedicated to keeping livestock. Behind Saint Michael was the local tanner.
References.
This project was conceptualized as a result of this event by Diana. Pride Rainbow Character Challenge
For the maps, I directly traced those from the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World (2000), edited by Richard J.A. Talbert, as well as from Stephen Mitchell's The Christians of Phrygia from Rome to the Turkish Conquest (2023), though I also drew from volume 7 of the series Tabula Imperii Byzantini.
For the descriptions, aside from all the books mentioned above (including Sessa), I will also note Richard Duncan-Jones's The Economy of the Roman Empire: Quantitative Studies (1974), mainly its appendices; Patterns in the Economy of Roman Asia Minor (2005), edited by Stephen Mitchell and Constantina Katsari, mainly the chapter by Stephen Mitchell; A Companion to Ancient Agriculture (2020), edited by David Hollander and Timothy Howe, mainly the chapter by Michael J. Decker; David B. Hollander's own Farmers and Agriculture in the Roman Economy (2018); Kyle Harper's Slavery in the Late Roman World, AD 275-425 (2011); Beyond All Boundaries: Anatolia in the First Millennium B.C. (2021), edited by Annick Payne, Šarká Velhartiká, and Jorit Wintjes, mainly the chapter by Lauriane Locatelli; Michael Decker's Tilling the Hateful Earth: Agricultural Production and Trade in the Late Antique East (2009); Roman Phrygia: Culture and Society (2013), edited by Peter Thonemann; and the articles "The Late Antique and Byzantine road-network in Western Anatolia: some additions to a widely ramified system" by Andreas Külzer and "Actes conciliaires, listes de souscriptions et notices épiscopales ou du bon usage des sources ecclésiastiques" by Sylvain Destephen.
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All this was unknown to everyone in the village and the vast majority of its visitors.
The earliest record of Eugenia's fountain predates even the conquest of Alexander the Great. The Galli, or the eunuch-priests of the ancient cult of Cybele, were both surprised and disappointed to discover a fountain which rendered unnecessary the elaborate rituals by which they arrived at their non-binary state. To those laypeople in the deepest of physical-psychological crises, they gave easy access to the fountain, but for their fellow priests, those who partook of the fountain were assigned a much lower status than those who made use of the knife.
Once the Greeks took over, the successors to Alexander the Great quickly learned about the fountain. With their more rigid patriarchy, they banned the use of the waters which affirmed the identity of men, completely suppressing all knowledge of this aspect of the fountain, although this was nothing to the Galli, whose hierarchy was restricted to those considered male at birth.
The alliance between the Romans and the cult of Cybele initially led to no great change in the fountain's usage, as the cult remained fundamentally "exotic", but as the Republic became more cosmopolitan—as Phrygia itself became a part of their dominions—the Italian elites were further and further scandalised. Once the Republic began its transition to Empire, the moralistic Augustus quietly restricted the use of the fountain to the Phrygian priesthood.
This did not utterly deny access of the fountain to the most knowledgeable of Rome's elites. The principal Emperor to be associated with the fountains was Hadrian, especially when he was with his famous partner Antinous. The less scandalous narrative is that Hadrian asked Antinous to transform his body into that of a woman—perhaps Hadrian had more sexual desire for women than for men? or he wanted to legitimise their relationship? or he wanted to secure an heir, and he thought having his partner try to be a woman would help?—while the more scandalous narrative is that Hadrian was himself a woman, or rather a man born in the body of a woman. Either narrative, of course, was only ever known through rumours, rumours which led to the greater suppression of all knowledge of the fountains under Hadrian's immediate successors.
The last nail in the coffin for the fountains' association with Hellenism was the reign of Elagabalus. The eccentricity of this emperor was interpreted by some as his preferring to be a her, although the truth of the matter, like with the relationship between Hadrian and Antinous, will never be known. The elites that supported Elagabalus did not want their "eccentricity" to reach the point of scandal, should they complete such a transition, while those elites which despised them typically despised them because of their eccentricity. Thus, by this far-reaching if somewhat shallow conspiracy—recall that, by this point, general knowledge of the fountain had been contained for over 500 years—Elagabalus never even learned of the fountain's existence, even as they signed into law its full and final suppression. -
The fountain was rediscovered by the Christians within half a century after Elagabalus' death. This narrative is better detailed in the story itself, but for now: a priest from Synnada named Clement had gone into the wilderness northwest of his native city due to his failure to prevent the suicide of one of his parishioners. During this hermitage, he encountered a shepherd, Eugenius, who led him to the fountain. The fountain's pink waters seemed to him like poison; the fountain's blue waters seemed to him like a clean-enough source of drink.
7 days after finding this fountain, much of his body had become that of a woman. 40 days after this initial week, and the initial changes to his body were confirmed—what he thought were mere hallucinations now forced him to pee sitting down, if he wished to pee cleanly—forcing him to end his hermitage. 40 days without access to the fountain, and the "confirmation" reverted. 7 days after this initial "Lent", and the rest of the changes to his body reverted.
Some time later, he and his bishop entertained a guest from Alexandria, who recognized in Eugenios the great Egyptian ascetic of the same name, one who had recently been martyred as a woman. Recognizing the miracle in what had happened with the fountain, Father Clement, a deacon, and 40 other parishioners immediately returned to the site of the fountain, at which point records became considerably more concrete. By 273 A.D., or 5,781 A.M., a collection of emphyteutic leases for the lands right next to the fountain had been purchased from the Roman state, marking the village's establishment. These initial villagers, who were either queer seekers or devout Christians, sustained themselves by growing cereals, legumes, and vegetables, as well as by herding livestock otherwise based in nearby Kone.
The village's demographics were shifted radically, however, with the beginning of the Great Persecution (303-313 A.D., or 5,811-5,821 A.M.) under Diocletian, Maximian, Galerian, and Maximinus II. The persecution forced the villagers to sell their leases to the Roupiliones, a pagan family from Prymnessos, although they otherwise continued to work and live as they normally would, merely paying their taxes through their newfound patron. Such an arrangement was viewed with suspicion by the Tertylliones, a rival family, who blackmailed the villagers into helping them purchase much of the land around Eugenia suitable for cultivating orchards.
Once the Persecution came to an end, the Tertylliones' suspicion of the Roupiliones was confirmed, as the Roupiliones returned all the leases they had acquired to their original owners. Out of gratitude, the villagers gave enough gifts to the Roupiliones for them to purchase lands near Eugenia for themselves, lands which, again, could support various fruit and nut trees.
Finally, by the year 325 A.D. (5,833 A.M.), Constantine's convocation of the First Ecumenical Council convinced the villagers that a case against their former extortioners could succeed. The clincher for their petition, which ultimately succeeded, was that everyone holding leases in Eugenia was a Christian, aside from the Tertylliones: apparently, the Roupiliones had converted shortly before the Persecution's end.
Most of the leases held by the Tertylliones were purchased by the Roupiliones; the rest were purchased by an upstart merchant family who wanted to augment their wealth with some status. The Roupiliones did not like that this family converted solely to purchase their leases, and so categorically refused to sponsor their entry into Prymnessos' boule, but they were quick to find a family who were just as mercenary as themselves, the Nikostratones, who in exchange asked for a few of the leases they had just purchased.
The merchant family, on joining Prymnessos' boule, became known as the Benniones, after their dubious ancestral association with the sanctuary to Zeus near Kone. The Nikostratones, on the other hand, claimed to have established themselves in Phrygia through the Seleukids, while both the Roupiliones and the Tertylliones clearly came from Italy.
Only the Benniones spent much time in Eugenia—the Roupiliones were based in the village of Roupilion, south of Lankena and Kidyessos, while the Nikostratones preferred to oversee their holdings between Prymnessos and Synnada—but the laborers these families assigned to Eugenia ultimately made the village's population more representative of the Empire as a whole. Fortunately, this did not translate into the village becoming somewhat more hostile to queer individuals, but it did lead to a sharper distinction between residents, who came to prefer the services at the Church of Saints Protus and Hyacinthus, and pilgrims, who continued to attend at the older Church of Saint Eugenia.
Per the advice of the Nikostratones, the Benniones immediately diversified their holdings in Eugenia, leading to another, less significant demographic shift. First, they built into their nearby villa the infrastructure needed to process pigs; they then convinced the Nikostratones and even the Roupiliones to help purchase as many of the pigs based in surrounding settlements as they could; last, the three families purchased the leases for those lands near the village too rough for any significant development, where they moved both their swine and the swineherds they employed. By this point, which was some time between the civil wars of Procopius the Usurper (365-366 A.D., or 5,874 A.M.) and Tribigild the Goth (399-400 A.D., or 5,907-5,908 A.M.), the only lands now considered part of the village which hadn't been leased were those of the ancient forests at Mount Dindymos' upper slopes, which were effectively kept in common by the villagers.
Concerning these civil wars, that of Procopius had very little effect, since his armies were just as restrained as those of his rival Valens, but that of the Goths saw many of Eugenia's indigents follow Tribigild. Among laborers, the majority at the time were employed either by the Roupiliones or the Nikostratones, the two leaseholding families that didn't maintain a presence in the village, and it was this alienated majority which consisted the bulk of the rebels; the rest were those slaves whose masters were stingy or cruel enough to force them to work the fields, what with all of the village's leaseholders each owning at least as many slaves as there were free members of each household, but none of them regularly employing their slaves to work outside the household.
The Roupiliones and the Nikostratones, who owned properties across all of Phrygia Saloutaris, were wealthy enough to withstand this temporary loss of workers. The Benniones, who lost nothing, euergetically recouped the losses of their non-bouleutic neighbors—at least, those neighbors who in the community's eyes hadn't deserved any of the losses they'd just incurred. Finally, the non-bouleutic leaseholders had their notions of the equality between themselves and the laborers they hired, as well as their convictions against keeping agricultural slaves, reinforced.
A more impactful demographic shift occurred around 470 A.D. (5,978 A.M.). Initially, it was believed that only those lands purchased by the village's bouleutics were able to grow wine-grapes, although their leaseholders had decided against the usual practice of multicropping in order for their products to compete with those of nearby Paroreios; however, on that year, a few aspiring monks discovered that some of Eugenia's lands preferentially used to grow cereals and legumes were just as suitable for the vine. With the purchase of the leases for most of these lands, the Monastery of the Panagia Eleousa was established, while the remainder had their lessees pool their resources to become Eugenia's so-called vintagers.
Shortly thereafter was a more devastating shift. During the Isaurian War (492-497 A.D., or 6,000-6,006 A.M.), all of Eugenia was the victim: the Isaurians, who acted with as little restraint as the Goths, were revolting as a response to the otherwise quiet succession between the Isaurian emperor Zeno and the Illyrian emperor Anastasius I, rather than as a general airing of grievances, and so they were not met with any sympathy by the local indigents. Many of the vintager families were ruined, while the Roupiliones, whose soldiers fought in the vicious Battle of Kotiaion and whose less able-bodied members adamantly supported the present emperor, were decimated.
Come 534 A.D. (6,043 A.M.), and the host of legal reforms Justinian had just enacted included even the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the village. Associated with the Third Ecumenical Council (431 A.D., or 5,939 A.M.) had been the formal transfer of Eugenia's churches from the Metropolitan of Synnada to his suffragan the Bishop of Prymnessos, but through Justinian, the village priests and monks once again answered to Synnada directly, as the local hegumen was elevated to the office of bishop.
Eugenia's first bishop died of old age some 15 years later, although many believed he instead died of exhaustion, as in his final years he presided over the village during the Plague of Justinian (541-549 A.D., or 6,049-6,057 A.M.). This outbreak did not lead to a demographic shift for the village, since it affected all social classes equally: it only confirmed the reduction of the vintagers to just 5 families, as well as the complete extinction of the Roupiliones. The Roupilion properties west of Akroinos came to be divided between the Benniones and the Nikostratones, with the former receiving the bulk of their lands around Eugenia, and the latter inheriting their villa south of Lankena and Kidyessos.
Eugenia's second bishop, unluckily enough, died of the Plague, a mere couple of years into his tenure. Eugenia's third bishop, who contracted the Plague at the same time, became chronically ill because of it, and so was unable to attend the Fifth Ecumenical Council (553 A.D., or 6,061 A.M.). Eugenia's fourth bishop, the Right Reverend Bishop John, came into power shortly before our story. -
By the time of our story, the village housed around 1,600 people and at least 3,500 livestock.
Fewer than 10 of the village's residents are part of the bouleutic class, i.e. the local aristocracy. These were the aforementioned Benniones, as the Nikostratones continued to live elsewhere.
Around 30 residents belonged to the 5 vintager families, a very close-knit group.
Around 280 residents belonged to the 45 other leaseholder families.
Around 900 residents belonged to the village's laborer class. 100 of these residents were specialist laborers, such as millers or bakers, as well as the village's 12 married priests; 26 were adult shepherds and swineherds, the latter being hired only by the bouleutics; 45 were field laborers; 65 were orchard laborers; and 90 were vineyard laborers. Except for the specialist laborers and some of the herdsmen, all of these laborers were considered wage laborers, rather than tenants or slaves. The laborers working for the Benniones tended to be fiercely loyal to their employers, though for reasons not entirely clear to their neighbors, as the Benniones were fundamentally like most other bouleutics in the region.
Around 170 residents were client freedmen. As noted earlier, the manumission of slaves in late antiquity was a frequent occurrence, but the subsequent freedmen were always considered to be indebted to their former owners in some way, often becoming their clients.
Around 160 residents were slaves. The number of slaves and freedmen attached to the Benniones was triple to quadruple the number of Benniones living in the village; the number attached to the vintagers, double; and the number attached to the other leaseholders, about the same.
Finally, the local monastery housed around 50 monks. 16 of these monks were hieromonks, i.e. priest-monks, including the local archpriest; 4 were deacon-monks, including the local archdeacon; and 1 was the local bishop, for a total of 33 clerics serving the village. The monks and clergy range from truly pious yet empathetic individuals to what amounts as the story's comic relief: those with a penchant for hatred would have been transferred out of the village shortly after arrival. -
The creation and promulgation of laws was first the prerogative of the Emperor, then of the local boule, i.e. the municipal assembly in a given area. Officially, there was no institution like a village council drafting and setting ordinances specific to Eugenia, but equivalent meetings were hosted every now and again by certain leaseholders or ecclesiastics. This de facto council was composed of:
1. A representative of the Benniones. Usually, this was the family matron, but sometimes they would send a trusted laborer, freedman, or even slave.
2. A representative of the vintagers. This position regularly rotated between the 5 vintager families.
3. 2 representatives of the vineyard laborers working for the vintagers. Most of the time, one of these representatives were appointed by the vintagers themselves.
4. 2 representatives of the other leaseholders. Unlike with the other representatives, the competition for these two "offices" could be fierce.
5. 2 representatives of the field laborers.
6. A representative of the local craftsmen and tradesmen. Their selection process was notably arcane.
7. A representative of the local foresters and herdsmen, except for those hired by the bouleutic families.
8. The archpriest, representing the local clerics. This was an appointee of the bishop; he would typically recuse himself, unless an issue also affected the local married priests, he was specifically ordered by the bishop to attend, or he possessed a more political disposition than most of his predecessors.
9. The archdeacon, representing the local monastics. This was an appointee of the bishop.
10. A representative of the vineyard laborers working for the monastery.
11. The village advocate. This was a specialist laborer alternating residences between the village and Prymnessos. His presence was required only if the other leaseholders expected the Benniones, the clerics, or the monastics, who were all able to represent themselves directly at Prymnessos' boule, to clash with the rest of the village.
12. A clerk.
Unless otherwise stated, these representatives were chosen by those they were meant to represent.
The enforcement of laws was handled by the villagers at large. Arms and armor were maintained by most leaseholders, both for themselves and for some of their clients and slaves, but recently 10 leaseholders—the decarchs, who were all either retired soldiers, mercenaries, or martial artists—had been organized into a de facto police force. In case all this wasn't enough, the villagers could also summon the garrison at Akroinos.
Two routes could be followed by villagers in seeking redress for their legal disputes.
The secular route involved first going to one of the village's patrons: any of its leaseholders, with the vintagers and the Benniones possessing the most power and influence, but also those herdsmen, craftsmen, and tradesmen with stable-enough stores of wealth. When dissatisfied with the decisions of the local patrons, they could instead approach the local boule, albeit this would have involved hiring the local advocate or going to Prymnessos themselves.
Above the boule was the pagarch, an Imperial official appointed by the local governor from among the boule yet answering directly to the Emperor. Above the pagarch was the aforementioned governor, who if he wasn't touring his province or if he hadn't been recalled to Constantinople could be approached in Synnada. Lastly, above the governor was the Emperor, though they would likely have had to navigate the extensive Imperial bureaucracy before even catching a glimpse of him.
The ecclesiastical route involved first going to one of the village's priests, whether married or celibate. They could then appeal to the archpriest, although he was more likely than not to defer directly to the local bishop, who was the next figure to whom they could appeal. Above the bishop was the metropolitan, also based in Synnada, although he was probably not as mobile as the governor, and above the metropolitan was the Ecumenical Patriarch.
All this was the less palpable aspect of government; the more palpable aspect by far was the paying of taxes. All leaseholders had to pay at least two kinds of taxes, a poll tax and a land tax, every year. Herdsmen also had to pay a poll tax, in case they owned some of the animals they herded. Laborers, whether specialists or otherwise, had to pay in services—i.e. blacksmiths had to produce a certain amount of fittings, pipes, weapons, and so on for the state—though the tax collectors sometimes accepted equivalent sums of gold. Monks and clerics were exempt from taxation, though it was a poorly attended church that engaged in few philanthropic endeavors.
In a village like Roupilion, taxes were collected by the local bouleutic family, regardless of if those who had to pay were not directly under their employ. Eugenia, however, was different. The Benniones only collected taxes on the properties they owned or from the peoples they employed; everyone else pooled their payment, sent for a separate bouleutic official from Prymnessos, and had some decarchs escort the official with their payment back to Prymnessos. This system was only slightly modified from that established when the village was recognized by the Empire.
The principal philanthropic endeavor by the monastery was the maintenance of the fountain. Those who would drink from the springs for the first time were obliged by the monks to do the following:
1. They had to visit Eugenia themselves.
2. They had to talk to a monk assigned to them. This monk would record only the name they were baptized with (for non-Christians, the monks would record their birth name, instead) and the name they were to assume (or the name they had already assumed), with the records being sealed from all but higher-ranking monks.
3. They had to wait in the village for at least a week before receiving their first dose.
4. They had to check in with the monk assigned to them for their first seven doses—a few drops from the fountain ingested every day—to make sure they were not wasting the water.
Afterwards, they could take any number of additional doses with them home, although it took time for the monks to collect so many doses; they could also have their doses delivered to them, though they had to pay for their own couriers.
In theory, the process lasted a fortnight, but in reality, with the number of pilgrims eager to receive of the springs, the number of patients already receiving of the springs, the number of monks available to serve them, and the relatively slow trickle of water from the springs themselves, people could wait months before receiving their initial dose, especially as the monks prioritized first Eugenia's residents, then those first-time takers that threatened to harm themselves, then those patients for whom the changes they'd undergone by drinking from the fountain came dangerously close to reversion.
Another philanthropic endeavor by the monks is the formal education of the villagers, although the quality of this education typically varied. By the time of our story, the 2 monks tasked with educating the villagers could only teach as grammatistai, equivalent to modern primary school teachers. Those seeking a full paideia would have to go to Prymnessos to be educated by a grammatikos, equivalent to a secondary school teacher, and then to Synnada to finish off with a rhetor. After being taught by a rhetor, students could then choose to follow a philosophos, although most such educators could be found only in the truly great cities of Constantinople, Syrian Antioch, and Egyptian Alexandria, while those pursuing such specializations as law or theology didn't actually need to follow a philosophos. -
The following map zooms in on the Phrygian sub-regions immediately surrounding the village.
When atop highways, unlabeled red dots indicate road stations. These stations provided shelter and replacement mounts for only Imperial officials, though inns, stables, and taverns for general use typically popped up right next to them. When atop other kinds of road, red dots indicate villages that could eventually host a road station, if their roads were converted into highways.
Red triangles, both labelled and unlabeled, indicate pagan sanctuaries, with some of the unlabeled sanctuaries being dedicated to figures forgotten even by the time of our story. Red diamonds indicate mines and quarries. Numbers indicate the distance in miles between each named settlement, road station, or intersection along their respective roads.
The violet quadrangle around Eugenia indicates the approximate area the village's residents worked, measuring about 5,150 iugera of arable land. 960 iugera, scattered north-northwest of the village, were vineyards: half the vineyards, most of which were found west of the local stream, were owned by the vintagers, while the rest were owned and worked by the monks. 1,440 iugera, concentrated northeast of the village proper, were orchards, with the Benniones owning around 960 iugera, and the Nikostratones owning around half that number. The rest of the land—around 2,750 iugera—were the fields of wheat and legumes owned and worked by the other leaseholders.
A by-road running parallel to the local stream connected the village to the highway, about 2 miles away. For the settlements near Eugenia through which their respective highways didn't directly pass: the by-road to Panasion, which branched from the nearby highway 1 mile east of Alioi, was about 4 miles long; the by-road to Roupilion, where the Roupiliones' villa was built, was continuous with the highway to Lankena, and was also about 4 miles long; the by-road to Kidyessos, which was 3 miles west of the nearest road station, was about 1 ½ miles long; the by-road to Tottoa, which was 4 ½ miles from Kone, was 4 miles long; the by-road to Aragua, which branched out from the highway right at the intersection northwest of Soa, was 2 ½ miles long; the by-road to Zemmea, which branched out 5 miles from the aforementioned intersection, was 1 mile long; and the by-road to Iskome, which branched out 3 miles from Appia, was 1 mile long.
Now for the village itself. The village was centered around the agora, or market square, immediately surrounding which were the houses of most specialist laborers (on average, their homes covered 3,200 square feet of space; note that their workshops would have been integral to their homes). At the agora's western edge was the local blacksmith, at the agora's southwestern corner was the local baker, at the agora's southern edge was the Hidden Beauty Inn, and at the agora's northeastern corner was the Church of Saints Protas and Hyakinthos.
The average leaseholder's house occupied around 6,400 square feet, the average laborer's house occupied around 1,600 square feet, and the average client freedman's house occupied around 400 square feet. Most leaseholders, field laborers, and client freedmen lived west, southwest, or south of the agora, including the decarchs, whose homes formed a cluster to the west. Immediately northeast and southwest of this cluster were two tiny chapels, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus and the Church of the Panagia Hypermacho Strategos, neither of which found much use, since the decarchs' families preferred to attend services at the Church of Sts. Protas and Hyakinthos, while the decarchs themselves more often spent time at the nearest tavern, the Alehouse, or the one place in the entire village making and serving beer. Further west was the local mill.
The average vintager's house occupied around 9,600 square feet. The vintagers and vineyard laborers all lived north of the agora, with one of the vintager families managing another tavern, recently renamed the Hair of Berenice.
The orchard laborers working for the bouleutics all lived east of the agora. On the northeast corner of the village was the Bennion villa, at least 12,800 square feet in area, appended to which were a number of service buildings meant to be used only by the laborers they oversaw: another mill, powered by asses instead of by water; another forge; another oven; another tavern, called either the Scrummy Fig or the Skinny Pig; and another chapel, the Church of Saint Matrona of Constantinople.
In total, the village proper occupied approximately 32 iugera.
Originally, the village had been established 1 mile northeast of its present site, right next to the fountain of Saint Eugenia. Immediately south of the fountain, the villagers had built a church—the Church of Saint Eugenia—although this building had since been rebuilt, like how the first villagers' houses had since been entirely levelled. By the time of the story, access to the fountain was managed by the Monastery of the Panagia Eleousa, whose complex of cells and workshops fully enclosed the fountain, with the entrance to the monastery being found just north of the entrance to Saint Eugenia. Further north, past both the old village and the monastery, was the local cemetery, served by another small chapel: the Church of Saint Marina.
A final chapel had been built directly north of the village—the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel— serving the herdsmen spread out across the village's land. The average herdsman's house also occupied around 6,400 square feet, though more space than with that of the average leaseholder was dedicated to keeping livestock. Behind Saint Michael was the local tanner.
This project was conceptualized as a result of this event by Diana. Pride Rainbow Character Challenge
For the maps, I directly traced those from the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World (2000), edited by Richard J.A. Talbert, as well as from Stephen Mitchell's The Christians of Phrygia from Rome to the Turkish Conquest (2023), though I also drew from volume 7 of the series Tabula Imperii Byzantini.
For the descriptions, aside from all the books mentioned above (including Sessa), I will also note Richard Duncan-Jones's The Economy of the Roman Empire: Quantitative Studies (1974), mainly its appendices; Patterns in the Economy of Roman Asia Minor (2005), edited by Stephen Mitchell and Constantina Katsari, mainly the chapter by Stephen Mitchell; A Companion to Ancient Agriculture (2020), edited by David Hollander and Timothy Howe, mainly the chapter by Michael J. Decker; David B. Hollander's own Farmers and Agriculture in the Roman Economy (2018); Kyle Harper's Slavery in the Late Roman World, AD 275-425 (2011); Beyond All Boundaries: Anatolia in the First Millennium B.C. (2021), edited by Annick Payne, Šarká Velhartiká, and Jorit Wintjes, mainly the chapter by Lauriane Locatelli; Michael Decker's Tilling the Hateful Earth: Agricultural Production and Trade in the Late Antique East (2009); Roman Phrygia: Culture and Society (2013), edited by Peter Thonemann; and the articles "The Late Antique and Byzantine road-network in Western Anatolia: some additions to a widely ramified system" by Andreas Külzer and "Actes conciliaires, listes de souscriptions et notices épiscopales ou du bon usage des sources ecclésiastiques" by Sylvain Destephen.
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