Side, the most important port city of Pamphylia in ancient times, was built on a 350-400 metre wide peninsula located 80 kilometres east of Antalya and 7 kilometres southwest of Manavgat.
Side became a settlement centre in the VII century BC. In the VI century BC, it came under the sovereignty of the Lydian Kingdom together with the whole Pamphylia, and after the fall of the Lydian Kingdom in 547/46, it came under the rule of the Persians. The city, which preserved its freedom to some extent during this period, minted coins in its own name. Side, which opened its doors to the Macedonian king without any resistance during the Anatolian campaign of Alexander the Great (334 BC), later became one of the great coin minting centres established by Alexander. After the death of Alexander, Side, which constantly changed hands between the kingdoms of the Hellenistic Period, came under the sovereignty of the Ptolemies in the III century BC and the Seleucids in 215-189 BC. When the Seleucids were defeated in the war against the Romans, Pamphylia and Side were given to the Kingdom of Pergamon according to the Apameia Peace made in 188 BC. However, Side regained its independence after a while and lived one of the brightest periods in history.
The fact that Antiochus VII, who took the throne of Syria in 138 BC and was later nicknamed "Sidetes", was sent to Side to study in his youth is an indication of how important a cultural centre the city was in the Eastern Mediterranean. This bright period of the city did not last long. Piracy, which started in Pisidia and mountainous Cilicia regions in the 1st century BC, jumped to Pamphylia and thus to Side, and the Sidelis, who could not cope with the pirates, had to open their harbours and markets to them. Finally, after the Roman Consul Publius Servilius cleared the region of pirates in 78 BC, Side was annexed to the Roman Empire like the other cities of Pamphylia.
Source : https://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/
