A 'pentapolis', from the
Greek words ''penta'' 'five' and
polis 'city(-state)' is geographic and/or institutional grouping of five cities.
Significant historical cases
The Pentapolis on the Adriatic was part of the
Exarchate of Ravenna, an administrative unit of the
Byzantine Empire. Red: The Pentapolis. Orange: Other cities of the Exarchate.
★ in the biblical
Holy Land, the word, occurring in Wisdom, x, 6, designates the region where five cities —
Sodom,
Gomorrha,
Segor (A. V., Zoar),
Adama and
Zeboim — united to resist the invasion of
Chedorlaomer (Genesis, xiv), and of which four were shortly after utterly destroyed. (see:
Catholic Encyclopaedia)
★ in the Roman province of
Libya Superior (the western part of
Cyrenaica until Diocletian's
Tetrarchy reform in AD 296), five Mediterranean coastal cities (east of it was
Marmarica, which became
Libya inferior province): the eponymous capital
Cyrene and its port
Apollonia,
Ptolemais (the next capital after Cyrene's destruction by an earthquake),
Barca (the later Arab provincial capital Barka) and
Berenice (modern Benghazi); also known as the '''Pentapolis inferior'' ('lower P.')'
★ the medieval Pentapolis on the Adriatic coast of the Italian Peninsula, atypically, was actually a duchy east of
Tuscany and north of the duchy of
Spoleto, including the port cities (West to East) of
Rimini,
Pesaro,
Fano,
Sinigaglia and
Ancona. It was part of the core of the Byzantine secular
Exarchate of Ravenna. Later, after the fall of the Exarchate, it was transformed into the
March of Ancona
★ the
Philistine Pentapolis:
Ashkelon,
Ashdod,
Ekron,
Gath, and
Gaza
★ the Doric - or
Dorian Pentapolis:
Kos, on the island of the same name in the Aegean Sea;
Cnidus, in
Caria on the west coast of Asia Minor;
Lindus,
Ialysus and
Camirus, all three on Rhodes.
★ the Pontic Pentapolis:
Apollonia,
Callatis,
Mesembria,
Odessos, and
Tomis, all on the
Euxeinos Pontos
★ The five main Greek colonies in what is now Libya in ancient times. The most important was
Cyrene. This is the Pentapolis that is referenced in the official title of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria
★ The
Cinque Ports in England - the five being
Hastings,
New Romney,
Hythe,
Dover, and
Sandwich. Sometimes referred to as the ''English Pentapolis'' (though seldom).
Pentapolis of modern world
India
★ National Capital Territory (NCR) consists of five cities namely
Delhi,
Gurgaon,
Ghaziabad,
Noida and
Faridabad.
See also
★
Tripolis (meaning three cities)
★
Tetrapolis (meaning four cities)
★
Doric Hexapolis (meaning six Doric cities in the eastern Aegean)
★
Heptapolis (meaning seven cities)
★
Decapolis (meaning ten cities)
Sources and references
★
many occurrences in the Catholic Encyclopaedia
★ Westermann ''Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte'' ('Great Atlas of World History', in German)
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