Heraclea

Heraclea is the name given in antiquity to several cities founded or renamed in honor of Heracles, the legendary hero of Greek myth. The epithet was widely used by Greek colonists around the Mediterranean, and the name continued in Roman times in geographical and literary texts. Because multiple places bore the same name, modern scholarship typically specifies them by region or by an identifying epithet to avoid confusion.

Heraclea Pontica, known as the Pontic Heraclea, was situated on the Black Sea coast of Bithynia, at the site of modern Karadeniz Ereğli in Turkey. It developed as a Greek colony from the 7th century BCE and later passed under Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine rule. Its remains include a theater and other public buildings, reflecting its status as a regional urban center and port.

Heraclea Lucania was located in southern Italy on the coast of Lucania, near the Gulf of Taranto. Founded as a Greek colony in the 6th or 5th century BCE, it later became part of Roman Italy. The archaeological site is near present-day Policoro in Basilicata and is notable for its ancient ruins, including a theater and public baths.

Heraclea Minoa sits on the southern coast of Sicily near Realmonte, south of the island’s major Greek city centers. Established in the 6th century BCE as a Greek settlement linked to nearby Selinunte, its ruins reveal a small coastal town with evidence of habitation through Greek and later periods.

The Heraclea toponym appears in other contexts as well, and disambiguation is often necessary in scholarly writing.