Asardibi (Casara), a classical, hellenistic and early Roman harbor in the Rhodian Peraea

Abstract

Casara is an ancient town on the Bozbumn peninsula, the ancient Loryma peninsula on the southwestern coast of Turkey. The site has been visited by modem scholars for general epigraphic surveys since the end of the nineteenth century, and the inscriptions have been published. The last scholarly visit to the site was by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology survey team, in 1982, who surveyed the underwater remains on the northern harbor of the city: Asardibi. The pottery remains found at Asardibi, in accordance with the underwater material found at Serçe Limanı, the southern harbor of the city of Casara, and the inscriptions studied from the site yielded the period of occupation of the site, between the fourth century B.C. and the second century A.D.. The research about the political and administrative status of the region, known as the Rhodian Peraea, demonstrates the importance and the historical context of Casara, being a Peraean deme center during its period of occupation. Considering the general maritime traffic of the^period, Casara was on the main trade routes and functioned as a Rhodian harbor on the mainland. In addition, due to its strategic position on the isthmus of the Loryma peninsula it was a local harbor serving the local traffic of the Incorporated Peraea. The investigation of the natural and human resources of the Casaran territory in antiquity completes the general picture and demonstrates that Casara and other towns in the Incorporated Rhodian Peraea served as places to provide manpower for the operation of the Rhodian navy.