Ancient Smyrna invented the worship of Rome as a goddess to win a new ally
In 197 BC the Greek port of Smyrna broke with its neighbour Pergamum and turned to Rome, a city it had no ties with. To create a bond, it founded a cult of Rome itself, and the goddess Roma went on to be worshipped across the empire. Today Smyrna is called İzmir.
Smyrna sat on the Aegean coast of Anatolia, blessed with a good harbour, easy defences and routes inland. A deep inlet let Greek traders sail almost into Lydia, and a great road down the Hermus valley past Sardis fed goods to the port, so by the 7th century BC the city had grown rich and powerful. There were really two Smyrnas. Old Smyrna stood on a small peninsula below Mount Yamanlar, a site now called Bayraklı Höyüğü and about 700 metres inland. A newer city, linked to Alexander the Great, rose on the slopes of Mount Pagos, today's Kadifekale.
According to Strabo, Alexander's plan to refound the city was carried out by his successors Antigonus and Lysimachus, who enlarged and walled it. The rebuilt town had broad paved streets laid out at right angles, a main avenue called the Golden Street, two harbours, a stadium and a theatre. Local tradition tied Homer to the banks of the river Meles, where a cave where he supposedly composed was pointed out, and his image appeared on the city's coins.
When Attalus III of Pergamum died without an heir in 133 BC, he left his kingdom, Smyrna included, to Rome, which made it part of the province of Asia. As a major seaport, Smyrna jostled with rivals Ephesus and Pergamum to be called First City of Asia. It was also among the seven churches addressed in the Book of Revelation; its bishop Polycarp received letters from Ignatius of Antioch and was martyred in AD 153, and Irenaeus, who heard him preach as a boy, probably came from the city.
An earthquake in 178 AD wrecked much of Smyrna, and Marcus Aurelius rebuilt it after the orator Aelius Aristides urged him to become its new founder, which is why most visible ruins are Roman. Trade faded once Constantinople became the capital. Since 1930 the city has officially been İzmir, and excavations have continued at the old site since 1997 and at the classical city since 2002.
Source: Smyrna
