# Hyrcanis (Lydia)
Hyrcanis (Greek Ὑρκανία, also printed Hyrkanis) was an ancient town of inland Lydia in western Asia Minor, lying in the [Hyrcanian plain](https://www.edgepedia.org/hyrcanian-plain) of the Hermos valley region west of Sardis, in modern Manisa province, Turkey.[1](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aentry%3Dhyrcania-geo03) • [2](https://topostext.org/place/387277UHyr) *Not to be confused with Hyrcania, the ancient region southeast of the Caspian Sea, from which the town took its name.*
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | Hyrcanian plain, Hermos valley, west of Sardis; gazetteer coordinates c. 38°43' N, 27°47' E, Manisa province[1](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aentry%3Dhyrcania-geo03) • [2](https://topostext.org/place/387277UHyr) |
| Name origin | Traditionally from Hyrcanian colonists settled by the Persians, per Strabo[1](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aentry%3Dhyrcania-geo03) • [3](https://www.britannica.com/place/Hyrcania) |
| Coinage | 49 types, 237 recorded specimens in RPC; autonomous and imperial bronzes from the 1st century BC to Philip I[4](https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/city/104) • [5](https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/lydia/hyrkanis/i.html) |
| Civic status | Minting polis in the province of Asia, assigned to the conventus of Smyrna, with archons and a "sacred Senate"[4](https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/city/104) • [5](https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/lydia/hyrkanis/i.html) |
| Latest coins | Issues under Philip I, 244-249 AD[5](https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/lydia/hyrkanis/i.html) • [6](https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hyrcanis_rom_prov-1.html) |
| Epigraphy | A dedicated chapter (VII HYRKANIS) in the Austrian Academy's corpus of new documents from Lydia[7](https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at/en/product/new-documents-from-lydia/601149?product_form=5844) |
## The name and its Iranian origin
The town's name points to Iran. According to Strabo (13, p. 629), the Hyrcanian plain (τὸ Ὑρκάνιον πεδίον) took its name from a colony of Hyrcanians, people from the region southeast of the [Caspian Sea](https://www.edgepedia.org/caspian-sea), settled there by the Persians.[1](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aentry%3Dhyrcania-geo03) Britannica likewise records the town as said by Strabo to derive its title from such a colony, and distinguishes it from the Iranian Hyrcania, whose name means "Wolf's Land."[3](https://www.britannica.com/place/Hyrcania)
A second layer is Macedonian. Smith's *Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography* states that the descendants of the Persian-era settlers were later mingled with Macedonians, whence Pliny (*[Natural History](https://www.edgepedia.org/natural-history-pliny)* 5.31) and Tacitus (*Annals* 2.47) call them "Macedones Hyrcani."[1](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aentry%3Dhyrcania-geo03) The town's own coinage preserved both identities: a Trajanic bronze carries the double ethnic ΥΡΚΑΝΩΝ ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΩΝ ("of the Hyrcanian Macedonians"),[6](https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hyrcanis_rom_prov-1.html) and auction commentary on a Commodus-era hemiassarion notes that the obverse MAKЄΔONΩN legend refers to the Macedonians while the reverse ethnic YPKANΩN alludes to the distant Caspian Hyrcanians.[8](https://leunumismatik.com/de/lot/44/124)
This Iranian trace fits a wider pattern in inland Lydia. Hypaipa and Hierocaesareia, two other Lydian communities, held Persian religious foundations; the [Hypaipa](https://www.edgepedia.org/hypaepa) survey report describes the sacred places established by the Persians at Hierocaesareia and Hypaipa as likely continuations of an older tradition of religious centers in the area.[9](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14313) A Lydian plain named for Caspian colonists stands within that same Persian-imperial landscape.
## Literary evidence and the two towns of the plain
Four classical authors bear on the site. Strabo explains the Persian colony.[1](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aentry%3Dhyrcania-geo03) Pliny and Tacitus describe the population as Macedonians surnamed Hyrcani, Tacitus in the context of the events of 2.47 of his *Annals*.[1](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aentry%3Dhyrcania-geo03) Ptolemy (5.2.16) lists the town among the communities of Lydia.[1](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aentry%3Dhyrcania-geo03)
The literary record attests two towns in the plain, not one: Tacitus and Ptolemy name one called Hyrcania and a second called Mosteni.[1](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aentry%3Dhyrcania-geo03) Which of the two minted the coins attributed to Hyrkanis remains an open question.
## Coinage
The Roman Provincial Coinage online database records Hyrcanis as city no. 104 of Lydia, with 49 coin types and 237 specimens.[4](https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/city/104) The mint struck autonomous and semi-autonomous bronze from the 1st century BC into the 3rd century AD, with the ethnic ΥΡΚΑΝΩΝ and a recognizable Dionysiac repertoire: the head of Silenos, Pan dancing with a pedum, [Tyche](https://www.edgepedia.org/tyche), the serpent-entwined staff of Asklepios, Telesphoros, and the local river-god Pidasos reclining by an overturned urn.[5](https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/lydia/hyrkanis/i.html)
Imperial issues run from Trajan to Philip I. Numista catalogs more than a dozen denominations for 98-249 AD, ranging from an Æ14 of 1.53 g under [Septimius Severus](https://www.edgepedia.org/septimius-severus) to an Æ36 of 22.61 g under Philip I.[6](https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hyrcanis_rom_prov-1.html) A representative [Marcus Aurelius](https://www.edgepedia.org/marcus-aurelius) type, RPC IV 11428 (c. 166-180), shows a draped bust of the city's Tyche with the obverse legend ΥΡΚΑΝΙϹ and is known from only 2 specimens.[10](https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/11428) Some issues are rarer still: the pseudo-autonomous hemiassarion of c. 180-182 with Silenos and Pan types (16 mm, 2.63 g) is described as very rare, and one recorded example shares its reverse die with RPC IV.2 online 1746.1 and [Winterthur](https://www.edgepedia.org/winterthur) 3748.[8](https://leunumismatik.com/de/lot/44/124) The latest issues on record belong to Philip I (244-249), so the mint's activity ends after the mid-3rd century AD.[5](https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/lydia/hyrkanis/i.html)
## Status and institutions
The coinage shows a self-governing civic community. RPC assigns Hyrcanis to the province of Asia and to the conventus of Smyrna, the Roman judicial district centered on that city.[4](https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/city/104) Its imperial coins name annual magistrates in the formula ΕΠΙ ("in the year of") plus a name and the title ΑΡ (archon): M. Quintianus under Trajan (RPC III 1949), Papianos and Glykonos, and Poseidippos under Marcus Aurelius, and Au. Hermogenos under Philip I.[10](https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/11428) • [5](https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/lydia/hyrkanis/i.html) An autonomous AE17 carries the legend ΙΕΡΑ CΥΝΚΛΗΤΟΣ, "sacred Senate", together with the river-god Pidasos (RPC III 1960).[5](https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/lydia/hyrkanis/i.html) Taken together, the archonships, the senate title, and the conventus assignment mark Hyrcanis as a minting civic community within the Roman provincial order, not a village or an appendage of a larger city.
## Epigraphy
Beyond the coins, inscriptions exist. The [Austrian Academy of Sciences](https://www.edgepedia.org/austrian-academy-of-sciences) press has published *New Documents from Lydia*, a corpus whose table of contents includes a dedicated chapter, VII HYRKANIS, alongside chapters for other Lydian communities such as Hermokapeleia, Thyateira, Apollonis, Hierokaisareia, and Daldis.[7](https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at/en/product/new-documents-from-lydia/601149?product_form=5844)
## Comparison with other inland Lydian towns
Hypaipa offers the nearest controlled comparison. Its ruins lie within the boundaries of the modern village of Datkoy, also called Günlüce, about 5 km north of Ödemiş in southeastern İzmir province, roughly 120 km from İzmir.[9](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14313) Hypaipa, like Hyrcanis, belongs to the Persian-connected religious landscape of inland Lydia, where the sacred places established by the Persians at Hierocaesareia and Hypaipa are read as part of a longer tradition of religious centers.[9](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14313) Yet even this better-known sibling was surveyed for the first time in modern times only in 2012, and the surveyors themselves state that the sources and research concerning Hypaipa are rather limited.[9](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14313) Hyrcanis, by contrast, is recorded as a gazetteer entry with coordinates and a coin series.[2](https://topostext.org/place/387277UHyr) • [4](https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/city/104)
## References
1. [Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), s.v. HYRCANIA (Lydia), Perseus Digital Library](http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aentry%3Dhyrcania-geo03)
2. [Hyrcanis, ancient city in Asia Minor, ToposText](https://topostext.org/place/387277UHyr)
3. [Encyclopaedia Britannica: Hyrcania](https://www.britannica.com/place/Hyrcania)
4. [RPC, City: 104 (Hyrcanis), Ashmolean Museum, Roman Provincial Coinage online](https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/city/104)
5. [Lydia, Hyrkanis, Ancient Greek Coins, WildWinds](https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/lydia/hyrkanis/i.html)
6. [Numista, Items from Hyrcanis](https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hyrcanis_rom_prov-1.html)
7. [New Documents from Lydia, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften](https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at/en/product/new-documents-from-lydia/601149?product_form=5844)
8. [Leu Numismatik, Lot 124, Lydia, Hyrcanis, pseudo-autonomous hemiassarion](https://leunumismatik.com/de/lot/44/124)
9. [The Preliminary Archaeological Field Survey in Hypaipa (Zenodo DOI)](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14313)
10. [RPC IV, 11428, Ashmolean Museum, Roman Provincial Coinage online](https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/4/11428)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Places and geography › Ancient and historical places › Cities and sites of the ancient Near East, Egypt, and Nubia › Anatolia, Upper Mesopotamia, and the Iranian highlands › Phrygia, Lydia, and Iron Age Anatolia: cities, sites, and monuments*
*Initially written Sep 19, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 19, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 19, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license