Augusta (Cilicia)

{{Short description|Town in the interior of ancient Cilicia}}

Augusta ({{langx|grc|Αὔγουστα}}{{Cite Stephanus|s.v.}} or Αὐγοῦστα) was a town in the interior of ancient Cilicia, inhabited during Roman and Byzantine times.{{Cite Pliny|5.27}} It was founded in 20 AD and named after Livia, the widow of the Emperor Augustus.[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0006%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D11%3Aentry%3Daugusta The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, AUGUSTA Cilicia Campestris, Turkey]

Ptolemy places this town in a district named Bryelice. The town also bore the name Augustopolis, and possibly Thebae.

The city probably lost its position as an important center after the Muslim invasion of Cilicia in the 7th century.

Its site is located near Gübe in Asiatic Turkey.{{Cite Barrington|66}}{{Cite DARE|21495}}

In 431 Tarianus, Bishop of Augusta represented the town at the Council of Ephesus.John Fulton, Index Canonum: The Greek Text, an English Translation, and a Complete Digest of the Entire Code of Canon Law of the Undivided Primitive Church (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 16 Sep 2014 page 151.Charles Joseph Hefele, A History of the Councils of the Church: from the Original Documents, to the close of the Second Council of Nicaea A.D. 787 (Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1 Feb 2007) page 58.

The ancient city was flooded due to the Seyhan Dam in 1955.[https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ancient-city-comes-to-light-as-water-recedes-167766 Ancient city comes to light as water recedes] Before it disappeared under the waters of the dam the researchers managed to partially survey the site and record some buildings of the city. Among these were the foundations of a triumphal arch, two colonnaded streets crossing each other, a theater, a civic basilica, some shops, a bath building and a dam on the river.