1. Location- Ancient sources

Caesarea Germanika or Germanicopolis was located at the southwestern borders of Bithynia, close to the estuary of the river Rhyndacus, nowadays Nilüfer Çayı, towards the Sea of Marmara. It is possible that its exact location was by the lake of Apollonia. The name of the city, Caesarea Germanika, as well as the national name (Caesareon Germanikeon) are attested on coins. Pliny,¹ the only one from the ancient geographers who mentions the city, claims that before the Roman conquest the city was known under the name of Helgas or Boos Koite, and places it close to Apameia-Myrleia, present-day Moudanya. In the Acta Sanctorum it is mentioned that the martyr Quadratus and his companions were led from Nicomedeia to Nicaea and then to Apameia, Caesarea and Apollonia. According to this testimony, Caesarea Germanika must have been located to the south of Apameia and to the east of Apollonia.

2. History

As attested by its name the city was founded as a Roman colony by Caesar Germanicus. This name poses problems for scholars, as Caesar was a title appropriate to every emperor, whereas Germanicus was a name of many members of the Flavian family. As raising settlements to the status of cities was a standard policy of Octavian Augustus, particularly for the area of Bithynia, scholars suggest that the institutional and administrative upgrading took place in the Augustan era. The pre-existing settlement which Pliny refers to must have belonged to the type of kome. The lack of mention of the city in Strabo, however, could imply that the foundation of the city must have taken place towards the end of Augustus' reign, but this explanation is probably not definitive.² As the site has not been excavated, we could only locate it approximately and thus reconstitute some parts of its history through testimonies which are sometimes contradictory.

For the size and the ethnic and cultural consistence of the city we are informed by Dio Chrysostome,³ who mentions that the Caesareis, the inhabitants of the city, which was adjacent to Prusa, were “very much Greeks”, although their city was much smaller than Prusa. We cannot be sure whether the expression “very much Greeks” refers to the ethnic homogeneity of the population or to the degree of the hellenization of the culture, education and language of the inhabitants, which seems more plausible.

3. Archaeology

As the city has not been located yet, the best source of information for its topography and history is its coinage, which, however, poses a problem. On the obverse of some of the coins there is depicted a port with ships, which attests to the maritime character of the city, whereas on the reverse is depicted the mountain god Olympus with the relevant inscription.⁴ This has raised questions as to the location of the city, since the Sea of Marmara and the mount Olympus are located very far from each other in order to bepart of the chora of a single city. The suggestion that there were two cities with the same name has been discarded, as there are no relevant indications in the literary sources. Thus, the most suitable solution would be to suggest that the city was a port on the river Rhyndacus and was situated deeper inland than its estuary, which was the original suggestion.

On several coins the city gate is depicted and on one of them there is the name of a Roman magistrate, the proconsul Saluidinus Asprena, from Titus' reign (79-81). The existence of an amphitheatre is attested by coins which depict it. Of particular interest is the depiction of a building with a prostyle facade, a statue and a bull, which probably represents a sanctuary.⁵

4. Religion

The deities depicted on the city's coins are usually Zeus, and, less frequently, Asclepius, Artemis, Sarapis, Heracles, Helios, and, as mentioned above, the mountain-god Olympos.⁶