Before the Roman rule in Asia Minor, under the Hellenistic kings, small communities lived independently within areas surrounding temples with local powers. The temple held together and ruled these communities. Under the Romans these communities were brought and united to form cities in order to govern them by a central power and to take advantage of their unified work force. These communities served the Temple providing it necessary resources to function and provided themselves protection under sacred power. Some scholars have identified term as temple state, a term originated from the Sumerian communal structure. This study examines the validity of the use of the term temple state in defining Comana Pontica and Zela in the Black Sea region in Pontic region through a comparison with similar examples found in Anatolia. This study also aims to provide a revision to the meaning of independently structured temples by observing their transformation in time and by examining changes of the properties of their location.

Memnon a écrit une histoire locale, celle de sa cité d’origine, Héraclée du Pont, colonie mégarienne située en mer Noire. Sa chronique est conservée en partie grâce aux fragments, plus ou moins consistants, résumés dans la Bibliothèque de Photius. Ce dernier nous a transmis seulement une partie de l’œuvre de Memnon, puisqu’il ne rapporte que les faits contenus dans les livres IX à XVI qui couvrent une période allant des années 60 du IIIème siècle aux années 40 du Ier siècle av. J.-C. avec, cependant, une grosse lacune entre le milieu du IIIème siècle et l’arrivée des Romains. Le texte a fait l’objet d’un commentaire historique détaillé qui met en lumière les incohérences du récit et les événements pour lesquels Memnon constitue notre seule source. Cette recherche se propose également de dégager la méthode historique de Memnon à travers l’étude des thématiques récurrentes dans le texte et l’analyse de l’ordre chronologique des événements. Il est évident que l’intervention de Photius a des incidences sur l’organisation chronologique initiée par Memnon mais il semble néanmoins que la méthode de l’historien d’Héraclée a, dès l’origine, dénaturé la chronologie des faits qu’il rapporte. De surcroît, l’analyse du texte a permis de dégager les objectifs de Memnon, lequel tente de raviver le passé glorieux d’Héraclée et de dénoncer les excès de la domination romaine, en particulier envers sa cité d’origine. L’auteur de l’Histoire d’Héraclée reste méconnu mais il me semble qu’il faut situer son activité littéraire dans la seconde moitié du IIème siècle de notre ère. / Memnon wrote a local history, the one of his native city, Heraclea Pontica, megarian colony located in the Black Sea. His chronicle is partially preserved thanks to fragments, more or less substantial, summarized in Photius’ Library. The latter passed on to us only a part of Memnon’s work, since he related only the facts contained in books IX to XVI, which cover a period from the 60’s of the third century to the 40’s of the first century BC., but with a big gap between the mid-third century to the arrival of the Romans. The text was the object of a detailed historical commentary which highlights the inconsistencies of the story and the events for which Memnon is our only source. My research also aims to identify the historical method of Memnon through the study of the recurring themes in the text and the analysis of the chronological order of events. It is obvious that Photius’ intervention has incidences on the chronological organization initiated by Memnon, nevertheless it seems that the method of the historian of Heraclea has distorted from the start the chronology of events he related. Furthermore, analysis of the text allowed to identify the objectives of Memnon who tries to revive the glorious past of Heraclea and to denounce the excesses of the Roman rule, especially to his city of origin. The author of the History of Heraclea remains unknown but it seems to me that his literary activity should be placed in the second half of the second century AD.

This study examines the influence of local and dominant Network Systems on the socio- economic development of the southern Black Sea colonies: Heraclea Pontica, Sinope, and Tios during the Archaic and Classical Period. I argue that archeological and literary evidence indicate that local (populations such as the Mariandynoi, Syrians, Caucones, Paphlagonians, and Tibarenians) and dominant external (including: Miletus, Megara/Boeotia, Athens, and Persia) socio-economic Network systems developed and shaped these three colonies, and helped explain their role in the overarching Black Sea Network. This study is divided into three chapters. Chapter one starts with the history and historiography of Greek colonization. This leads into an explanation of early Black Sea colonization and a brief history of Heraclea, Sinope, and Tios from their foundation in the Archaic period until their transition into the Roman provincial system. It then explains Network Theory and Middle Ground and how they will be utilized in chapters two and three. The second chapter uses a middle ground approach to analyze local networks and their influence on the socio-economic development of the three colonies. The second chapter primarily utilizes material evidence and literary sources such as Strabo and Xenophon to draw these conclusions. The third chapter examines the effect that the dominant network systems during these periods have on the colonies' socio-economic development. This chapter primarily focuses on the Black Sea, Athens, and Persia's networks and their interactions with the colonies. Ultimately, this project furthers the current understanding of Heraclea, Sinope, Tios and the Black Sea's economic development as a whole.