Ionian League
The Ionian League (also called the Panionic League) was a confederacy formed as early as 800 BC comprising 12 Ionian cities. These were listed by Herodotus (I.142) as
- Miletus, Myus, and Priene, all in Caria (a region in Asia Minor) and speaking the same dialect;
- Ephesus, Colophon, Lebedus, Teos, Clazomenae and Phocaea, in Lydia (also in Asia Minor), speaking another dialect;
- Chios (island) and Erythrae (Asia Minor), with a common dialect; and
- Samos (island), with its own dialect.
Later, Smyrna joined.
Delegates (theoroi) of the League gathered to celebrate the Panionia, a religious festival and games (panegyris) dedicated to Poseidon Heliconius, on the north slope of Mt. Mycale, at the sanctuary of Poseidon called the Panionium.
References
- Bean, George E. (1979). Aegean Turkey. London: Ernest Benn. ISBN 0510032001.
- Herodotus; Histories, A. D. Godley (translator), Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1920; ISBN 0674991338. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.