Page "Byzantium" Paragraph 6

Though associated with the Sassanid Persians and with Mithradates VI Eupator ( who for a time incorporated the city into his empire ), by the late Hellenistic or early Roman period, the star and crescent motif had been associated to some degree with Byzantium.

For example, some Byzantine coins of the 1st century BC and later show the head of Artemis with bow and quiver, and feature a crescent with what appears to be a six-rayed star on the reverse.

According to accounts which vary in some of the details, in 340 BC the Byzantines and their allies the Athenians were under siege by the troops of Philip of Macedon.

On a particularly dark and wet night Philip attempted a surprise attack but was thwarted by the appearance of a bright light in the sky.

This light is occasionally described by subsequent interpreters as a meteor, sometimes as the moon, and some accounts also mention the barking of dogs.

However, the original accounts mention only a light in the sky, without specifying the moon.

To commemorate the event the Byzantines erected a statue of Hecate lampadephoros ( light-bearer or bringer ).

This story survived in the works of Hesychius of Miletus, who in all probability lived in the time of Justinian I.

His works survive only in fragments preserved in Photius and the tenth century lexicographer Suidas.

The tale is also related by Stephanus of Byzantium, and Eustathius.