Earthquake in Lydia
A night-time earthquake ruined at least twelve cities of the province of Asia, Sardis worst of all; Pliny the Elder called it the greatest earthquake in human memory. Tiberius remitted the cities’ taxes for five years and gave Sardis ten million sesterces.
- Date
- 17year known
- Place
- Sardistoday: Sart, near Salihli, Manisa Province, Turkey · Balkans and Anatolia
- Participants
- Tiberius, Roman Empire
- Threads
- Europe in the Roman age (1st–5th c.)
- Also known as
- Earthquake of AD 17; Sardis earthquake; Землетрясение 17 года; Землетрясение в Сардах
The earthquake struck at night in AD 17. Tacitus lists twelve ruined cities of Lydia and its neighbourhood — among them Sardis, Magnesia, Philadelphia, Temnos, Cyme and Myrina; other records add Pergamon, Ephesus and Kibyra, although the damage at the last two may belong to an earthquake of 23. Sardis, the old capital of the Lydian kings, suffered most.
Tiberius freed Sardis and the other cities from taxes for five years, granted Sardis ten million sesterces and sent the former praetor Marcus Ateius to assess their needs. In gratitude the cities set up a colossal statue of the emperor in the Forum of Caesar in Rome, with a figure representing each city; the base of a copy, carved with figures of the cities, was found at Puteoli and is now in the Naples Archaeological Museum. Coins struck in Rome in 22–23 honour the “restored cities of Asia” (civitatibus Asiae restitutis), and several of the cities took new names in the emperor’s honour — Philadelphia, for instance, became Neocaesarea.
Connections
Same participants
- Death of Augustus19 August 14 · Western and Central Europevia Tiberius
- Revolt of Tacfarinas17–24 · Africavia Tiberius
Adjacent events in the thread
- Thrace becomes a Roman province46 · Balkans and Anatolia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within a year of this event
Eastern Europe
- Zarubintsy culturec. 200 BC – c. 200
Middle East and Egypt
- Aretas IV and the height of Petra9 BC – AD 40
Africa
- Revolt of Tacfarinas17–24
- Reign of Juba II in Mauretania25 BC – between 23 and 24
- Temple of Apedemak at Naqabetween 1 BC and AD 70
Central and Northern Asia
- The burials of Tillya Tepe (the Bactrian Gold)between 16 and 100
South Asia
- Reign of Gondophares, founder of the Indo-Parthian kingdombetween 19 and 20 – c. 46
- Gandharan art: the first images of the Buddhabetween 30 BC and AD 100
- Heyday of Indo-Roman trade: Muziris and Arikameduc. 30 BC – c. 250
East Asia
Southeast Asia and Oceania
- Founding of Funan: Kaundinya and Queen Liuyebetween 1 and 100
- Óc Eo, the port of Funanbetween 1 and 100 – between 601 and 700
- Sa Huỳnh culturec. 1000 BC – c. 200
North America
- Hopewell traditionbetween 200 and 100 BC – c. 500
Latin America
- Monte Albán II: the Zapotec state expandsc. 100 BC – c. 200
- Rise of Teotihuacanc. 1 – c. 250
- Nazca culture and the Nazca Linesbetween 200 and 100 BC – between 500 and 800