Zile - History

History

Historically, Zile has been known as Zela, Zelitis, Zelid, Anzila, Gırgırıye (Karkariye), Zīleh, Zilleli, Zeyli, and Silas. Zela castle, the only solid castle in Anatolia, was built by Roman commander Lucius Cornelius Sulla. The castle contains the Amanos temple, and it is called silla, meaning "respected". In Semra Meral's Her Yönüyle Zile, she claims that the name "Zile" came from "Zela", stemming from "Silla".

According to recent archaeological research, there is evidence of human habitation since Neolithic times in Zile. In his book Geographica, Strabo claimed that Zile was founded by Semiramis, a legendary Assyrian queen. By 548 BC, Zile and greater Anatolia were under the rule of Achaemenid Persian Empire. Persian rule saw construction a portion of the Royal Road in the area and temples to the Persian gods Anahita, Vohu-Mano, and Anadates in the center of the city. Darius I of Persia divided the largest Anatolian state of that time, Cappadocia, into two, with Zile remaining in Pontus Cappadocia, the northern region.

After roughly 200 years of Persian rule, Alexander the Great captured Zile from Darius III of Persia as a result of the Battle of the Granicus (334 BC). Following Alexander's death in 323 BC and collapse of his empire, Zile's rule was transferred to the Seleucid Empire, a Hellenistic successor state of Alexander the Great's dominion. The Seleucid Empire controlled the area for 200 years but by 100 BC, her power in the region started to collapse. As a consequence, King Mithridates VI of Pontus attacked and conquered Zile in 88 BC and ordered the killing of all Romans currently living there. His orders led nearby Cappadocians to call Rome for help. The Roman army, under Sulla's command, fought and defeated Mithradates in First Mithridatic War. Mithridates attacked Zile again in 67 BC with the help of his Armenian ally Tigranes the Great, king of Greater Armenia. He defeated Valerius Trianus, lieutenant of Lucullus, and initiated the Third Mithridatic War. Pompeius Magnus came back to Asia Minor with his army and, after a long war, the Romans destroyed the whole army of Mithradates, who committed suicide as a consequence in 63 BC. In Pompey's settlement of Pontus, Zile received a civic constitution and a sizable territory thus transforming from its previous status as a temple domain to a city.

In 49 BC, civil war broke out between Julius Caesar and Pompey. While the Romans were distracted by this, Pharnaces II of Pontus, son of Mithridates, decided to seize the opportunity and took revenge for his father. His attack on Zile was halted by Julius Caesar in a bloody battle called the Battle of Zela (47 BC). While Caesar's army had great losses, Pharnaces's army was completely destroyed in five hours. After this victory, Caesar sent his famous message to the Roman Senate: "Veni Vidi Vici", meaning "I came, I saw, I conquered". Caesar's words were written on a cylindrical marble column and placed in the city castle.

In 241, the Sassanid king Shapur I, attacked the Romans and defeated Roman Emperor Valerian, thus capturing Zile. From 241 to 1071, Zile was conquered many times by the Byzantines and Sasanids. Under Byzantine rule, Zile became a Titular See of Asia Minor, suffragan of Amasya in the former Roman province of Helenopontus. Zile had several famous bishops like Heraclius (at the First Council of Nicaea in 325), Atticus (at the Council of Chalcedon in 451), Hyperechius (458), Georgius (692), Constantine (787) and Paul (879).

Zile was conquered by Danishmend Melik Ahmet Gazi in 1071 and, since, has belonged to the Turks, who suppressed the See. In 1174, Anatolian Seljuks captured the city from Danishmends under Izzettin II Kılıçaslan. After the collapse of the Anatolian Seljuks, the Eretna Emirate was founded in Zile's district in 1335. The Ottomans defeated Ertans in 1397 under the rule of Sultan Bayezid I, integrating Zile into their empire.

During the course of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922 (also known as Turkish War of Independence), some supporters of Sharia (strict Islamic law) seized power in Zile and attacked the barracks of new Turkish Republic's army. The soldiers were forced to retreat to the city castle and consequently asked for help from Çorum battalion. The battalion reached the city in four days and upon their arrival they started bombing the city so as to force the rebels to surrender. As a result of heavy bombardment, Zile suffered a great fire which led the loss of the two thirds of her infrastructure and most of her forest cover. Finally, the army managed to put down the rebellion and restored power. From then, Zile has been a rural district in Tokat province of Republic of Turkey.