The story of Satala

Beneath this quiet village lies the fortress of a Roman legion. Satala stood in a valley ringed by mountains, where the road from Trapezus to Samosata crossed the Roman frontier; today it lies within the village of Sadak in Kelkit. Emperor Trajan came here in 115, received the homage of the princes of the Caucasus and the Euxine, and began the great permanent camp of Legio XV Apollinaris, in use until the 5th century.

In 530 the Persians were defeated before its walls; Justinian I built stronger fortifications, yet the Persians still took Satala in 607-8. In 1868 the traveller J. G. Taylor found a splendid fragment of figural mosaic serving as the base of a fireplace. The site was only firmly identified in 1894, when tiles stamped by the legion turned up; the village then had about 150 houses, mostly built of reused stone blocks.

Trace the ruined line of walls enclosing 15.7 hectares, and look for ancient stones in the village houses.