Latterly it has
maintained its condition and flourished in consequence of its excellent
constitution and government, so that at one time it had a population of
20,000 persons.
maintained its condition and flourished in consequence of its excellent
constitution and government, so that at one time it had a population of
20,000 persons.
Strabo
The whole of it, however, abounds with
trees. It affords pasture for horses, and is adapted to the subsistence
of other animals; the whole of it is very habitable. Amaseia was given
to the kings, but at present it is a (Roman) province.
40. There remains to be described the country within the Halys,
belonging to the province of Pontus, and situated about the
Olgassys,[1196] and contiguous to the Sinopic district. The Olgassys is
a very lofty mountain, and difficult to be passed. The Paphlagonians
have erected temples in every part of this mountain. The country around,
the Blaene, and the Domanītis, through which the river Amnias[1197]
runs, is sufficiently fertile. Here it was that Mithridates Eupator
entirely destroyed[1198] the army of Nicomedes the Bithynian, not in
person, for he himself happened to be absent, but by his generals.
Nicomedes fled with a few followers, and escaped into his own country,
and thence sailed to Italy. Mithridates pursued him, and made himself
master of Bithynia as soon as he entered it, and obtained possession of
Asia as far as Caria and Lycia. Here is situated Pompeiopolis,[1199] in
which city is the Sandaracurgium,[1200] (or Sandaraca works,) it is not
far distant from Pimolisa, a royal fortress in ruins, from which the
country on each side of the river is called Pimolisene. The
Sandaracurgium is a mountain hollowed out by large trenches made by
workmen in the process of mining. The work is always carried on at the
public charge, and slaves were employed in the mine who had been sold on
account of their crimes. Besides the great labour of the employment, the
air is said to be destructive of life, and scarcely endurable in
consequence of the strong odour issuing from the masses of mineral;
hence the slaves are short-lived. The mining is frequently suspended
from its becoming unprofitable, for great expense is incurred by the
employment of more than two hundred workmen, whose number is continually
diminishing by disease and fatal accidents.
So much respecting Pontus.
41. Next to Pompeiopolis is the remainder of the inland parts of
Paphlagonia as far as Bithynia towards the west. This tract, although
small in extent, was governed, a little before our time, by several
princes, but their race is extinct; at present it is in possession of
the Romans. The parts bordering upon Bithynia are called Timonitis; the
country of Gezatorix, [CAS. 562] Marmolitis, Sanisene, and Potamia.
There was also a Cimiatene, in which was Cimiata, a strong fortress
situated at the foot of the mountainous range of the Olgassys.
Mithridates, surnamed Ctistes, (or the Founder,) made it his
head-quarters when engaged in the conquest of Pontus, and his successors
kept possession of it to the time of Mithridates Eupator. The last king
of Paphlagonia was Deïotarus,[1201] son of Castor, and surnamed
Philadelphus, who possessed Gangra,[1202] containing the palace of
Morzeus, a small town, and a fortress.
42. Eudoxus, without defining the spot, says, that fossil fish[1203] are
found in Paphlagonia in dry ground, and in marshy ground also about the
lake Ascanius,[1204] which is below Cius, but he gives no clear
information on the subject.
We have described Paphlagonia bordering upon Pontus; and as the
Bithynians border upon the Paphlagonians towards the west, we shall
endeavour to describe this region also. We shall then set out again from
the Bithynians and the Paphlagonians, and describe the parts of the
country next to these nations lying towards the south; they extend as
far as the Taurus, and are parallel to Pontus and Cappadocia; for some
order and division of this kind are suggested by the nature of the
places.
CHAPTER IV.
1. Bithynia is bounded on the east by the Paphlagonians, Mariandyni, and
by some tribes of the Epicteti; on the north by the line of the
sea-coast of the Euxine, extending from the mouth of the Sangarius[1205]
to the straits at Byzantium and Chalcedon; on the west by the Propontis;
on the south by Mysia and Phrygia Epictetus, as it is called, which has
the name also of Hellespontic Phrygia.
2. Here upon the mouth of the Pontus is situated Chalcedon, founded by
the Megareans,[1206] the village Chrysopolis, and the Chalcedonian
temple. In the country a little above the sea-coast is a fountain,
Azaritia, (Azaretia? ) which breeds small crocodiles.
Next follows the coast of the Chalcedonians, the bay of Astacus,[1207]
as it is called, which is a part of the Propontis.
Here Nicomedia[1208] is situated, bearing the name of one of the
Bithynian kings by whom it was founded. Many kings however have taken
the same name, as the Ptolemies, on account of the fame of the first
person who bore it.
On the same bay was Astacus a city founded by Megareans and Athenians;
it was afterwards again colonized by Dœdalsus. The bay had its name from
the city. It was razed by Lysimachus. The founder of Nicomedia
transferred its inhabitants to the latter city.
3. There is another bay[1209] continuous with that of Astacus, which
advances further towards the east, and where is situated Prusias,[1210]
formerly called Cius. Philip, the son of Demetrius, and father of
Perseus, gave it to Prusias, son of Zelas, who had assisted him in
destroying both this and Myrleia,[1211] a neighbouring city, and also
situated near Prusa. He rebuilt them from their ruins, and called the
city Cius Prusias, after his own name, and Myrleia he called Apameia,
after that of his wife. This is the Prusias who received Hannibal, (who
took refuge with him hither after the defeat of Antiochus,) and retired
from Phrygia[1212] on the Hellespont, according to agreement with the
Attalici. [1213] This country was formerly called Lesser Phrygia, but by
the Attalici Phrygia Epictetus. [1214] Above Prusias is a mountain which
is called Arganthonius. [1215] Here is the scene of the fable of Hylas,
one of the companions of Hercules in the ship Argo, who, having
disembarked in order to obtain water for the vessel, was carried away by
nymphs. Cius, as the story goes, was a friend and companion of Hercules;
on his return from Colchis, he settled there and founded the city which
bears his name. At the present time a festival called Oreibasia, [CAS.
564] is celebrated by the Prusienses, who wander about the mountains and
woods, a rebel rout, calling on Hylas by name, as though in search of
him.
The Prusienses having shown a friendly disposition towards the Romans in
their administration of public affairs, obtained their freedom. But the
Apamies were obliged to admit a Roman colony.
Prusa, situated below the Mysian Olympus, on the borders of the
Phrygians and the Mysians, is a well-governed city; it was founded by
Cyrus,[1216] who made war against Crœsus.
4. It is difficult to define the boundaries of the Bithynians, Mysians,
Phrygians, of the Doliones about Cyzicus, and of the Mygdones and Troes;
it is generally admitted that each of these tribes ought to be placed
apart from the other. A proverbial saying is applied to the Phrygians
and Mysians,
“The boundaries of the Mysi and Phryges are apart from one
another,”
but it is difficult to define them respectively. The reason is this;
strangers who came into the country were soldiers and barbarians; they
had no fixed settlement in the country of which they obtained
possession, but were, for the most part, wanderers, expelling others
from their territory, and being expelled themselves. All these nations
might be supposed to be Thracians, because Thracians occupy the country
on the other side, and because they do not differ much from one another.
5. But as far as we are able to conjecture, we may place Mysia between
Bithynia and the mouth of the Æsepus, contiguous to the sea, and nearly
along the whole of Olympus. Around it, in the interior, is the
Epictetus, nowhere reaching the sea, and extending as far as the eastern
parts of the Ascanian lake and district, for both bear the same name.
Part of this territory was Phrygian, and part Mysian; the Phrygian was
further distant from Troy; and so we must understand the words of the
poet[1217], when he says,
“Phorcys, and the godlike Ascanius, were the leaders of the
Phryges far from Ascania,”
that is, the Phrygian Ascania; for the other, the Mysian Ascania, was
nearer to the present Nicæa, which he mentions, when he says,
“Palmys, Ascanius, and Morys, sons of Hippotion, the leader of
the Mysi, fighting in close combat, who came from the fertile
soil of Ascania, as auxiliaries. ”[1218]
It is not then surprising that he should speak of an Ascanius, a leader
of the Phrygians, who came from Ascania, and of an Ascanius, a leader of
the Mysians, coming also from Ascania, for there is much repetition of
names derived from rivers, lakes, and places.
6. The poet himself assigns the Æsepus as the boundary of the Mysians,
for after having described the country above Ilium, and lying along the
foot of the mountains subject to Æneas, and which he calls Dardania, he
places next towards the north Lycia, which was subject to Pandarus, and
where Zeleia[1219] was situated; he says,
“They who inhabited Zeleia, at the very foot of Ida, Aphneii
Trojans, who drink of the dark stream of Æsepus;”[1220]
below Zeleia, towards the sea, on this side of Æsepus, lies the plain of
Adrasteia, and Tereia, Pitya, and in general the present district of
Cyzicene near Priapus,[1221] which he afterwards describes. He then
returns again to the parts towards the east, and to those lying above,
by which he shows that he considered the country as far as the Æsepus
the northern and eastern boundary of the Troad. Next to the Troad are
Mysia and Olympus. [1222] Ancient tradition then suggests some such
disposition of these nations. But the present changes have produced many
differences in consequence of the continual succession of governors of
the country, who confounded together people and districts, and separated
others. The Phrygians and Mysians were masters of the country after the
capture of Troy; afterwards the Lydians; then the Æolians and Ionians;
next, the Persians and Macedonians; lastly, the Romans, under whose
government most of the tribes have lost even their languages and names,
in consequence of a new partition of the country having been made. It
will be proper to take this into consideration when we describe its
present state, at the same time showing a due regard to antiquity.
7. In the inland parts of Bithynia is Bithynium,[1223] situated above
Tieium,[1224] and to which belongs the country about Salon, [CAS. 565]
affording the best pasturage for cattle, whence comes the cheese of
Salon. Nicæa,[1225] the capital of Bithynia, is situated on the Ascanian
lake. It is surrounded by a very large and very fertile plain, which in
the summer is not very healthy. Its first founder was Antigonus, the son
of Philip, who called it Antigonia. It was then rebuilt by Lysimachus,
who changed its name to that of his wife Nicæa. She was the daughter of
Antipater. The city is situated in a plain. Its shape is quadrangular,
eleven stadia in circuit. It has four gates. Its streets are divided at
right angles, so that the four gates may be seen from a single stone,
set up in the middle of the Gymnasium. A little above the Ascanian lake
is Otrœa, a small town situated just on the borders of Bithynia towards
the east. It is conjectured that Otrœa was so called from Otreus.
8. That Bithynia was a colony of the Mysians, first Scylax of Caryanda
will testify, who says that Phrygians and Mysians dwell around the
Ascanian lake. The next witness is Dionysius, who composed a work on
“the foundation of cities. ” He says that the straits at Chalcedon, and
Byzantium, which are now called the Thracian, were formerly called the
Mysian Bosporus. Some person might allege this as a proof that the
Mysians were Thracians; and Euphorio says,
“by the waters of the Mysian Ascanius;”
and thus also Alexander the Ætolian,
“who have their dwellings near the Ascanian waters, on the
margin of the Ascanian lake, where Dolion dwelt, the son of
Silenus and of Melia. ”
These authors testify the same thing, because the Ascanian lake is found
in no other situation but this.
9. Men distinguished for their learning, natives of Bithynia, were
Xenocrates the philosopher, Dionysius the dialectician, Hipparchus,
Theodosius and his sons the mathematicians, Cleophanes the rhetorician
of Myrleia, and Asclepiades the physician of Prusa. [1226]
10. To the south of the Bithynians are the Mysians about Olympus (whom
some writers call Bithyni Olympeni, and others Hellespontii) and Phrygia
upon the Hellespont. To the south of the Paphlagonians are the
Galatians, and still further to the south of both these nations are the
Greater Phrygia, and Lycaonia, extending as far as the Cilician and
Pisidian Taurus. But since the parts continuous with Paphlagonia adjoin
Pontus, Cappadocia, and the nations which we have just described, it may
be proper first to give an account of the parts in the neighbourhood of
these nations, and then proceed to a description of the places next in
order.
CHAPTER V.
1. To the south of the Paphlagonians are the Galatians, of whom there
are three tribes; two of them, the Trocmi and the Tolistobogii, have
their names from their chiefs; the third, the Tectosages, from the tribe
of that name in Celtica. The Galatians took possession of this country
after wandering about for a long period, and overrunning the country
subject to the Attalic and the Bithynian kings, until they received by a
voluntary cession the present Galatia, or Gallo-Græcia, as it is called.
Leonnorius seems to have been the chief leader of these people when they
passed over into Asia. There were three nations that spoke the same
language, and in no respect differed from one another. Each of them was
divided into four portions called tetrarchies, and had its own tetrarch,
its own judge, and one superintendent of the army, all of whom were
under the control of the tetrarch, and two subordinate superintendents
[CAS. 567] of the army. The Council of the twelve Tetrarchs consisted of
three hundred persons, who assembled at a place called the
Drynemetum. [1227] The council determined causes relative to murder, the
others were decided by the tetrarchs and the judges. Such, anciently,
was the political constitution of Galatia; but, in our time, the
government was in the hands of three chiefs, then of two, and at last it
was administered by Deïotarus, who was succeeded by Amyntas. At present,
the Romans possess this as well as all the country which was subject to
Amyntas, and have reduced it into one province.
2. The Trocmi occupy the parts near Pontus and Cappadocia, which are the
best which the Galatians possess. They have three walled fortresses,
Tavium, a mart for the people in that quarter, where there is a colossal
statue of Jupiter in brass, and a grove, which is used as a place of
refuge; Mithridatium, which Pompey gave to Bogodiatarus, (Deïotarus? )
having separated it from the kingdom of Pontus; and thirdly, Danala,
where Pompey, when he was about to leave the country to celebrate his
triumph, met Lucullus and delivered over to him as his successor the
command of the war.
This is the country which the Trocmi possess.
The Tectosages occupy the parts towards the greater Phrygia near
Pessinus,[1228] and the Orcaorci. They had the fortress Ancyra,[1229] of
the same name as the small Phrygian city towards Lydia near
Blaudus. [1230] The Tolistobogii border upon the Bithynians, and Phrygia
Epictetus, as it is called. They possess the fortresses Blucium,
(Luceium,) which was the royal seat of Deïotarus, and Peïum, which was
his treasure-hold.
3. Pessinus is the largest mart of any in that quarter. It contains a
temple of the Mother of the Gods, held in the highest veneration. The
goddess is called Agdistis. The priests anciently were a sort of
sovereigns, and derived a large revenue from their office. At present
their consequence is much diminished, but the mart still subsists. The
sacred enclosure was adorned with fitting magnificence by the Attalic
kings,[1231] with a temple, and porticos of marble. The Romans gave
importance to the temple by sending for the statue of the goddess from
thence according to the oracle of the Sibyl, as they had sent for that
of Asclepius from Epidaurus.
The mountain Dindymus is situated above the city; from Dindymus comes
Dindymene, as from Cybela, Cybele. Near it runs the river Sangarius, and
on its banks are the ancient dwellings of the Phrygians, of Midas, and
of Gordius before his time, and of some others, which do not preserve
the vestiges of cities, but are villages a little larger than the rest.
Such is Gordium,[1232] and Gorbeus (Gordeus), the royal seat of Castor,
son of Saocondarius, (Saocondarus? ) in which he was put to death by his
father-in-law, Deïotarus, who there also murdered his own daughter.
Deïotarus razed the fortress, and destroyed the greater part of the
settlement.
4. Next to Galatia towards the south is the lake Tatta,[1233] lying
parallel to that part of the Greater Cappadocia which is near the
Morimeni. It belongs to the Greater Phrygia, as well as the country
continuous with this, and extending as far as the Taurus, and of which
Amyntas possessed the greatest part. Tatta is a natural salt-pan. The
water so readily makes a deposit around everything immersed in it, that
upon letting down wreaths formed of rope, chaplets of salt are drawn up.
If birds touch the surface of the water with their wings, they
immediately fall down in consequence of the concretion of the salt upon
them, and are thus taken.
CHAPTER VI.
1. Such is the description of Tatta. The places around Orcaorci,
Pitnisus and the mountainous plains of Lycaonia, are cold and bare,
affording pasture only for wild asses; there is a great scarcity of
water, but wherever it is found the wells are very deep, as at Soatra,
where it is even sold. Soatra is a village city near Garsabora
(Garsaura? ). Although the country is ill supplied with water, it is
surprisingly well adapted for feeding sheep, but the wool is coarse.
Some persons have acquired very great wealth by these flocks alone.
Amyntas had above three hundred flocks of sheep in these [CAS. 568]
parts. In this district there are two lakes, the greater Coralis, the
smaller Trogitis. Somewhere here is Iconium,[1234] a small town, well
built, about which is a more fertile tract of land than the pastures for
the wild asses before mentioned. Polemo possessed this place.
Here the Taurus approaches this country, separating Cappadocia and
Lycaonia from Cilicia Tracheia. It is the boundary of the Lycaonians and
Cappadocians, between Coropassus, a village of the Lycaonians, and
Gareathyra (Garsaura), a small town of the Cappadocians. The distance
between these fortressess is about 120 stadia.
2. To Lycaonia belongs Isaurica, near the Taurus, in which are the
Isaura, two villages of the same name, one of which is surnamed Palæa,
or the Old, the other [the New], the latter is well fortified. [1235]
There were many other villages dependent upon these. They are all of
them, however, the dwellings of robbers. They occasioned much trouble to
the Romans, and to Publius Servilius, surnamed Isauricus, with whom I
was acquainted; he subjected these places to the Romans, and destroyed
also many of the strongholds of the pirates, situated upon the sea.
3. Derbe,[1236] the royal seat of the tyrant Antipater, surnamed
Derbætes, is on the side of the Isaurian territory close upon
Cappadocia. Laranda[1237] also belonged to Antipater. In my time Amyntas
attacked and killed Antipater Derbætes, and got possession of the Isaura
and of Derbe. The Romans gave him the Isaura where he built a palace for
himself, after having destroyed Isauria Palæa (the Old). He began to
build in the same place a new wall, but before its completion he was
killed by the Cilicians in an ambuscade, when invading the country of
the Homonadeis.
4. For being in possession of Antiocheia near Pisidia, and the country
as far as Apollonias,[1238] near Apameia Cibotus,[1239] some parts of
the Paroreia, and Lycaonia, he attempted to exterminate the Cilicians
and Pisidians, who descended from the Taurus and overran this district,
which belonged to the Phrygians and Cilicians (Lycaonians). He razed
also many fortresses, which before this time were considered
impregnable, among which was Cremna, but he did not attempt to take by
storm Sandalium, situated between Cremna and Sagalassus.
5. Cremna is occupied by a Roman colony.
Sagalassus is under the command of the same Roman governor, to whom all
the kingdom of Amyntas is subject. It is distant from Apameia a day’s
journey, having a descent of nearly 30 stadia from the fortress. It has
the name also of Selgessus. It was taken by Alexander.
Amyntas made himself master of Cremna and passed into the country of the
Homonadeis, who were supposed to be the most difficult to reduce of all
the tribes. He had already got into his power most of their
strongholds, and had killed the tyrant himself, when he was taken
prisoner by an artifice of the wife of the tyrant, whom he had killed,
and was put to death by the people. Cyrinius (Quirinus)[1240] reduced
them by famine and took four thousand men prisoners, whom he settled as
inhabitants in the neighbouring cities, but he left no person in the
country in the prime of life.
Among the heights of Taurus, and in the midst of rocks and precipices
for the most part inaccessible, is a hollow and fertile plain divided
into several valleys. The inhabitants cultivate this plain, but live
among the overhanging heights of the mountains, or in caves. They are
for the most part armed, and accustomed to make incursions into the
country of other tribes, their own being protected by mountains, which
serve as a wall.
CHAPTER VII.
1. Contiguous to these, among other tribes of the Pisidians, are the
Selgeis, the most considerable tribe of the nation.
The greater part of the Pisidians occupy the summits of Taurus, but some
tribes situated above Side[1241] and [CAS. 570] Aspendus,[1242] which
are Pamphylian cities, occupy heights, all of which are planted with
olives. The parts above these, a mountainous country, are occupied by
the Catennenses, who border upon the Selgeis and the Homonadeis. The
Sagalasseis occupy the parts within the Taurus towards Milyas.
2. Artemidorus says that Selge, Sagalassus, Petnelissus, Adada,
Tymbrias, Cremna, Pityassus, (Tityassus? ) Amblada, Anabura, Sinda,
Aarassus, Tarbassus, Termessus, are cities of the Pisidians. Of these
some are entirely among the mountains, others extend on each side even
as far as the country at the foot of the mountains, and reach to
Pamphylia and Milyas, and border on Phrygians, Lydians, and Carians, all
of whom are disposed to peace, although situated to the north. [1243]
The Pamphylians, who partake much of the character of the Cilician
nation, do not altogether abstain from predatory enterprises, nor permit
the people on the confines to live in peace, although they occupy the
southern parts of the country at the foot of Taurus.
On the confines of Phrygia and Caria, are Tabæ,[1244] Sinda, and
Amblada, whence is procured the Amblada wine, which is used in diet
prescribed for the sick.
3. All the rest of the mountain tribes of the Pisidians whom I have
spoken of are divided into states governed by tyrants, and follow like
the Cilicians a predatory mode of life. It is said that anciently some
of the Leleges, a wandering people, were intermixed with them, and from
the similarity of their habits and manners settled there.
Selge[1245] had the rank of a city from the first when founded by the
Lacedæmonians, but at a still earlier period by Calchas.
Latterly it has
maintained its condition and flourished in consequence of its excellent
constitution and government, so that at one time it had a population of
20,000 persons. The place deserves admiration from the advantages which
nature has bestowed upon it. Among the summits of Taurus is a very
fertile tract capable of maintaining many thousand inhabitants. Many
spots produce the olive and excellent vines, and afford abundant pasture
for animals of all kinds. Above and all around are forests containing
trees of various sorts. The styrax is found here in great abundance, a
tree not large but straight in its growth. Javelins, similar to those of
the cornel tree, are made of the wood of this tree. There is bred in the
trunk of the styrax tree, a worm, which eats through the timber to the
surface, and throws out raspings like bran, or saw-dust, a heap of which
is collected at the root. Afterwards a liquid distils which readily
concretes into a mass like gum. A part of this liquid descends upon and
mixes with the raspings at the root of the tree, and with earth; a
portion of it acquires consistence on the surface of the mass, and
remains pure. That portion which flows along the surface of the trunk of
the tree, and concretes, is also pure. A mixture is made of the impure
part, which is a combination of wood-dust and earth; this has more odour
than the pure styrax, but is inferior to it in its other properties.
This is not commonly known. It is used for incense in large quantities
by superstitious worshippers of the gods.
The Selgic iris[1246] also, and the unguent which is made from it, are
in great esteem. There are few approaches about the city, and the
mountainous country of the Selgeis, which abounds with precipices and
ravines, formed among other rivers by the Eurymedon[1247] and the
Cestrus,[1248] which descend from the Selgic mountains, and discharge
themselves into the Pamphylian Sea. There are bridges on the roads. From
the strength and security of their position the Selgeis were never at
any time, nor on any single occasion, subject to any other people, but
enjoyed unmolested the produce of their country, with the exception of
that part situated below them in Pamphylia, and that within the Taurus,
for which they were carrying on a continual warfare with the kings.
Their position with respect to the Romans was that they possessed this
tract on certain conditions. They sent ambassadors to Alexander and
offered to receive his commands in the character of friends, but at
present they are altogether subject to the Romans, and are included in
what was formerly the kingdom of Amyntas.
CHAPTER VIII. [CAS. 571]
1. The people called Mysians, and Phrygians, who live around the
so-called Mysian Olympus, border upon the Bithynians to the south. Each
of these nations is divided into two parts. One is called the Greater
Phrygia, of which Midas was king. A part of it was occupied by the
Galatians. The other is the Lesser, or Phrygia on the Hellespont, or
Phrygia around Olympus, and is also called Epictetus.
Mysia is also divided into two parts; Olympic Mysia, which is continuous
with Bithynia, and with the Epictetus, (which, Artemidorus says, was
inhabited by the Mysians beyond the Danube,) and the part around the
Caïcus,[1249] and the Pergamene[1250] as far as Teuthrania, and the
mouths of the river.
2. This country, however, as we have frequently observed, has undergone
so many changes, that it is uncertain whether the district around
Sipylus,[1251] which the ancients called Phrygia, were a part of the
Greater or the Lesser Phrygia, from whence Tantalus, Pelops, and Niobe
were called Phrygians. Whatever the explanation may be, the change is
certain. For Pergamene and Elaïtis,[1252] through which country the
Caïcus passes, and empties itself into the sea, and Teuthrania, situated
between these two districts, where Teuthras lived, and Telephus was
brought up, lies between the Hellespont, and the country about Sipylus,
and Magnesia, which is at the foot of the mountain, so that, as I have
said, it is difficult
“To assign the confines of the Mysians and Phryges. ”--
3. The Lydians also, and the Mæones, whom Homer calls Meones, are in
some way confounded with these people and with one another; some authors
say that they are the same, others that they are different, nations. Add
to this that some writers regard the Mysians as Thracians, others as
Lydians, according to an ancient tradition, which has been preserved by
Xanthus the Lydian, and by Menecrates of Elæa, who assign as the origin
of the name Mysians, that the Lydians call the beech-tree (Oxya) Mysos,
which grows in great abundance near Olympus, where it is said decimated
persons[1253] were exposed, whose descendants are the later Mysians,
and received their appellation from the Mysos, or beech-tree growing in
that country. The language also is an evidence of this. It is a mixture
of Lydian and Phrygian words, for they lived some time in the
neighbourhood of Olympus. But when the Phrygians passed over from
Thrace, and put to death the chief of Troy and of the country near it,
they settled here, but the Mysians established themselves above the
sources of the Caïcus near Lydia.
4. The confusion which has existed among the nations in this district,
and even the fertility of the country within the Halys, particularly
near the sea, have contributed to the invention of fables of this sort.
The richness of the country provoked attacks, from various quarters, and
at all times, of tribes who came from the opposite coast, or
neighbouring people contended with one another for the possession of it.
Inroads and migrations took place chiefly about the period of the Trojan
war, and subsequently to that time, Barbarians as well as Greeks showing
an eagerness to get possession of the territory of other nations. This
disposition, however, showed itself before the time of the Trojan war;
for there existed then tribes of Pelasgi, Caucones, and Leleges, who are
said to have wandered, anciently, over various parts of Europe. The poet
represents them as assisting the Trojans, but not as coming from the
opposite coast. The accounts respecting the Phrygians and the Mysians
are more ancient than the Trojan times.
Two tribes bearing the name of Lycians, lead us to suppose that they are
the same race; either the Trojan Lycians sent colonies to the Carians,
or the Carian Lycians to the Trojans. Perhaps the same may be the case
with the Cilicians, for they also are divided into two tribes; but we
have not the same evidence that the present Cilicians existed before the
Trojan times. Telephus may be supposed to have come with his mother from
Arcadia; by her marriage with Teuthras, (who had received them as his
guests,) Telephus was admitted into the [CAS. 572] family of Teuthras,
was reputed to be his son, and succeeded to the kingdom of the Mysians.
5. “The Carians, who were formerly islanders, and Leleges,” it is said,
“settled on the continent with the assistance of the Cretans. They built
Miletus, of which the founder was Sarpedon from Miletus in Crete. They
settled the colony of Termilæ in the present Lycia, but, according to
Herodotus,[1254] these people were a colony from Crete under the conduct
of Sarpedon, brother of Minos and Rhadamanthus, who gave the name of
Termilæ to the people formerly called Milyæ, and still more anciently
Solymi; when, however, Lycus the son of Pandion arrived, he called them
Lycii after his own name. ” This account shows that the Solymi and
Lycians were the same people, but the poet distinguishes them. He
represents Bellerophon setting out from Lycia, and
“fighting with the renowned Solymi. ”[1255]
He says Peisander (Isander? ), his son, Mars
“slew when fighting with the Solymi,”[1256]
and speaks of Sarpedon as a native of Lycia. [1257]
6. That the common prize, proposed to be obtained by the conquerors, was
the fertile country which I am describing, is confirmed by many
circumstances which happened both before and after the Trojan times.
When even the Amazons ventured to invade it, Priam and Bellerophon are
said to have undertaken an expedition against these women. Anciently
there were cities which bore the names of the Amazons. In the Ilian
plain there is a hill
“which men call Batieia, but the immortals, the tomb of the
bounding (πολυσκάρθμοιο) Myrina,”
who, according to historians, was one of the Amazons, and they found
this conjecture on the epithet, for horses are said to be εὐσκάρθμοι on
account of their speed; and she was called πολύσκαρθμος from the
rapidity with which she drove the chariot. Myrina therefore, the place,
was named after the Amazon. In the same manner the neighbouring islands
were invaded on account of their fertility; among which were Rhodes and
Cos. That they were inhabited before the Trojan times clearly appears
from the testimony of Homer. [1258]
7. After the Trojan times, the migrations of Greeks and of Treres, the
inroads of Cimmerians and Lydians, afterwards of Persians and
Macedonians, and lastly of Galatians, threw everything into confusion.
An obscurity arose not from these changes only, but from the
disagreement between authors in their narration of the same events, and
in their description of the same persons; for they called Trojans
Phrygians, like the Tragic poets; and Lycians Carians, and similarly in
other instances. The Trojans who, from a small beginning, increased so
much in power that they became kings of kings, furnished a motive to the
poet and his interpreters, for determining what country ought to be
called Troy. For the poet calls by the common name of Trojans all their
auxiliaries, as he calls their enemies Danai and Achæi. But certainly we
should not give the name of Troy to Paphlagonia, or to Caria, or to
Lycia, which borders upon it. I mean when the poet says,
“the Trojans advanced with the clashing of armour and shouts,”[1259]
and where he speaks of their enemies,
“but the Achæi advanced silently, breathing forth warlike
ardour,”[1260]
and thus frequently in other passages.
We must endeavour, however, to distinguish as far as we are able one
nation from another, notwithstanding this uncertainty. If anything
relative to ancient history escapes my notice, it must be pardoned, for
this is not the province of the geographer; my concern is with the
present state of people and places.
8. There are two mountains situated above the Propontis, the Mysian
Olympus[1261] and Ida. [1262] At the foot of Olympus is Bithynia, and,
contiguous to the mountain, between Ida and the sea, is Troy.
We shall afterwards speak of Troy, and of the places continuous with it
on the south. At present we shall give an account of the places about
Olympus, and of the adjoining country as far as the Taurus, and parallel
to the parts which we have previously described.
The country lying around Olympus is not well inhabited. On its heights
are immense forests and strongholds, well adapted [CAS. 574] for the
protection of robbers, who, being able to maintain themselves there for
any length of time, often set themselves up as tyrants, as Cleon a
captain of a band of robbers did in my recollection.
9. Cleon was a native of the village Gordium, which he afterwards
enlarged, and erected into a city, giving it the name of Juliopolis. His
first retreat and head-quarters was a place called Callydium, one of the
strongest holds. He was of service to Antony in attacking the soldiers
who collected money for Labienus, at the time that the latter occupied
Asia, and thus hindered the preparations which he was making for his
defence. In the Actian war he separated himself from Antony and attached
himself to the generals of Cæsar; he was rewarded above his deserts, for
in addition to what he received from Antony he obtained power from
Cæsar, and exchanged the character of a freebooter for that of a petty
prince. He was priest of Jupiter Abrettenus, the Mysian god, and a
portion of the Morena was subject to him, which, like Abrettena, is
Mysian. He finally obtained the priesthood of Comana in Pontus, and went
to take possession of it, but died within a month after his arrival. He
was carried off by an acute disease, occasioned either by excessive
repletion, or, according to the account of those employed about the
temple, inflicted by the anger of the goddess. The story is this. Within
the circuit of the sacred enclosure is the dwelling of the priest and
priestess. Besides other sacred observances relative to the temple, the
purity of this enclosure is an especial object of vigilance, by
abstinence from eating swine’s flesh. The whole city, indeed, is bound
to abstain from this food, and swine are not permitted to enter it.
Cleon, however, immediately upon his arrival displayed his lawless
disposition and character by violating this custom, as if he had come
there not as a priest, but a polluter of sacred things.
10. The description of Olympus is as follows. Around it, to the north,
live Bithynians, Mygdonians, and Doliones; the rest is occupied by
Mysians and Epicteti. The tribes about Cyzicus[1263] from Æsepus[1264]
as far as Rhyndacus[1265] and the lake Dascylitis,[1266] are called for
the most part Doliones; those next to the Doliones, and extending as far
as the territory of the Myrleani,[1267] are called Mygdones. Above the
Dascylitis are two large lakes, the Apolloniatis,[1268] and the
Miletopolitis. [1269] Near the Dascylitis is the city Dascylium, and on
the Miletopolitis, Miletopolis. Near a third lake is Apollonia on the
Rhyndacus, as it is called. Most of these places belong at present to
the Cyziceni.
11. Cyzicus is an island[1270] in the Propontis, joined to the continent
by two bridges. It is exceedingly fertile. It is about 500 stadia in
circumference. There is a city of the same name near the bridges, with
two close harbours, and more than two hundred docks for vessels. One
part of the city is in a plain, the other near the mountain which is
called Arcton-oros (or Bear-mountain). Above this is another mountain,
the Dindymus, with one peak, having on it a temple founded by the
Argonauts in honour of Dindymene, mother of the gods. This city rivals
in size, beauty, and in the excellent administration of affairs, both in
peace and war, the cities which hold the first rank in Asia. It appears
to be embellished in a manner similar to Rhodes, Massalia,[1271] and
ancient Carthage. I omit many details. There are three architects, to
whom is intrusted the care of the public edifices and engines. The city
has also three store-houses, one for arms, one for engines, and one for
corn. The Chalcidic earth mixed with the corn prevents it from spoiling.
The utility of preserving it in this manner was proved in the
Mithridatic war. The king attacked the city unexpectedly with an army of
150,000 men and a large body of cavalry, and made himself master of the
opposite hill, which is called the hill of Adrasteia, and of the suburb.
He afterwards transferred his camp to the neck of land above the city,
blockaded it by land, and attacked it by sea with four hundred ships.
The Cyziceni resisted all these attempts, and were even nearly capturing
the king in a subterraneous passage, by working a countermine. He was,
however, apprized of it, and escaped by retreating in time out of the
excavation. Lucullus, the Roman general, was able, though late, to send
succours into the city by night. Famine also came to the aid of the
Cyziceni by spreading among this large army. The king did not foresee
this, and after losing great numbers of his men went away. [CAS. 576]
The Romans respected the city, and to this present time it enjoys
freedom. A large territory belongs to it, some part of which it has held
from the earliest times; the rest was a gift of the Romans. Of the Troad
they possess the parts beyond the Æsepus, namely, those about Zeleia and
the plain of Adrasteia; a part of the lake Dascylitis belongs to them,
the other part belongs to the Byzantines. They also possess a large
district near the Dolionis, and the Mygdonis, extending as far as the
lake Miletopolitis, and the Apolloniatis. Through these countries runs
the river Rhyndacus, which has its source in the Azanitis. Having
received from Mysia Abrettene, among other rivers, the Macestus,[1272]
which comes from Ancyra[1273] in the Abaeitis it empties itself into the
Propontis at the island Besbicus. [1274]
In this island of the Cyziceni is the mountain Artace, well wooded, and
in front of it lies a small island of the same name, near it is the
promontory Melas (or Black), as it is called, which is met with in
coasting from Cyzicus to Priapus. [1275]
12. To Phrygian Epictetus belong the Azani, and the cities Nacoleia,
Cotiaeium,[1276] Midiaeium, Dorylæum,[1277] and Cadi. [1278] Some persons
assign Cadi to Mysia.
Mysia extends in the inland parts from Olympene to Pergamene, and to the
plain of Caïcus, as it is called; so that it lies between Ida and the
Catacecaumene, which some place in Mysia, others in Mæonia.
13. Beyond the Epictetus to the south is the Greater Phrygia, leaving on
the left Pessinus, and the parts about Orcaorci, and Lycaonia, and on
the right Mæones, Lydians, and Carians. In the Epictetus are Phrygia
Paroreia, and the country towards Pisidia, and the parts about
Amorium,[1279] Eumeneia,[1280] and Synnada. [1281] Next are Apameia
Cibotus,[1282] and Laodiceia,[1283] the largest cities in Phrygia.
Around them lie the towns [and places], Aphrodisias,[1284]
Colossæ,[1285] Themisonium,[1286] Sanaus, Metropolis,[1287] Apollonias,
and farther off than these, Peltæ, Tabeæ, Eucarpia, and Lysias.
14. The Paroreia[1288] has a mountainous ridge extending from east to
west. Below it on either side stretches a large plain, cities are
situated near the ridge, on the north side, Philomelium,[1289] on the
south Antiocheia, surnamed Near Pisidia. [1290] The former lies entirely
in the plain, the other is on a hill, and occupied by a Roman colony.
This was founded by the Magnetes, who live near the Mæander. The Romans
liberated them from the dominion of the kings, when they delivered up
the rest of Asia within the Taurus to Eumenes. In this place was
established a priesthood of Men Arcæus, having attached to it a
multitude of sacred attendants, and tracts of sacred territory. It was
abolished after the death of Amyntas by those who were sent to settle
the succession to his kingdom.
Synnada is not a large city. In front of it is a plain planted with
olives, about 60 stadia in extent. Beyond is Docimia, a village, and the
quarry of the Synnadic marble. This is the name given to it by the
Romans, but the people of the country call it Docimite and Docimæan. At
first the quarry produced small masses, but at present, through the
extravagance of the Romans, pillars are obtained, consisting of a single
stone and of great size, approaching the alabastrite marble in variety
of colours; although the distant carriage of such heavy loads to the sea
is difficult, yet both pillars and slabs of surprising magnitude and
beauty are conveyed to Rome.
15. Apameia is a large mart of Asia, properly so called, and second in
rank to Ephesus, for it is the common staple for merchandise brought
from Italy and from Greece. It is built upon the mouth of the river
Marsyas, which runs through the middle of it, and has its commencement
above the city; being carried down to the suburb with a strong and
precipitous current, it enters the Mæander,[1291] which receives also
another river, the Orgas, and traverses a level tract with a gentle and
unruffled stream. Here the Mæander becomes a large river, and flows for
some time through Phrygia; it then separates Caria and Lydia at the
plain, as it is called, of the Mæander, running in a direction
excessively tortuous, so that from the course of this river all windings
are called Mæanders. Towards its termination it runs through the part of
Caria occupied by the Ionians; the mouths by which it empties itself are
between Miletus and Priene. [1292] It rises in a hill called Celænæ, on
which was a city of the same name. Antiochus [CAS. 578] Soter
transferred the inhabitants to the present Apameia, and called the city
after his mother Apama, who was the daughter of Artabazus. She was given
in marriage to Seleucus Nicator. Here is laid the scene of the fable of
Olympus and Marsyas, and of the contest between Marsyas and Apollo.
Above is situated a lake[1293] on which grows a reed, which is suited to
the mouth-pieces of pipes. From this lake, it is said, spring the
Marsyas and the Mæander.
16. Laodiceia,[1294] formerly a small town, has increased in our time,
and in that of our ancestors, although it received great injury when it
was besieged by Mithridates Eupator; the fertility however of the soil
and the prosperity of some of its citizens have aggrandized it. First,
Hiero embellished the city with many offerings, and bequeathed to the
people more than 2000 talents; then Zeno the rhetorician, and his son
Polemo, were an ornament and support to it; the latter was thought by
Antony, and afterwards by Augustus Cæsar, worthy even of the rank of
king in consequence of his valiant and upright conduct.
The country around Laodiceia breeds excellent sheep, remarkable not only
for the softness of their wool, in which they surpass the Milesian
flocks, but for their dark or raven colour. The Laodiceans derive a
large revenue from them, as the Colosseni do from their flocks, of a
colour of the same name.
Here the Caprus and the Lycus, a large river, enter the Mæander. From
the Lycus, a considerable river, Laodiceia has the name of Laodiceia on
the Lycus. Above the city is the mountain Cadmus, from which the Lycus
issues, and another river of the same name as the mountain. The greater
part of its course is under-ground; it then emerges, and unites with
other rivers, showing that the country abounds with caverns and is
liable to earthquakes. For of all countries Laodiceia is very subject to
earthquakes, as also the neighbouring district Carura.
17. Carura[1295] is the boundary of Phrygia and Caria. It is a village,
where there are inns for the reception of travellers, and springs of
boiling water, some of which rise in the river Mæander, and others on
its banks. There is a story, that a pimp had lodgings in the inns for a
great company of women, and that during the night he and all the women
were overwhelmed by an earthquake and disappeared. Nearly the whole of
the country about the Mæander, as far as the inland parts, is subject to
earthquakes, and is undermined by fire and water. For all this cavernous
condition of the country, beginning from the plains, extends to the
Charonia; it exists likewise in Hierapolis, and in Acharaca in the
district Nysæis, also in the plain of Magnesia, and in Myus. The soil is
dry and easily reduced to powder, full of salts, and very inflammable.
This perhaps is the reason why the course of the Mæander is winding, for
the stream is diverted in many places from its direction, and brings
down a great quantity of alluvial soil, some part of which it deposits
in various places along the shore, and forcing the rest forwards
occasions it to drift into the open sea. It has made, for example,
Priene, which was formerly upon the sea, an inland city, by the
deposition of banks of alluvial earth along an extent of 40 stadia.
18. Phrygia Catacecaumene, (or the Burnt,) which is occupied by Lydians
and Mysians, obtained this name from something of the following kind. In
Philadelphia,[1296] a city adjoining to it, even the walls of the houses
are not safe, for nearly every day they are shaken, and crevices appear.
The inhabitants are constantly attentive to these accidents to which the
ground is subject, and build with a view to their occurrence.
Apameia among other cities experienced, before the invasion of
Mithridates, frequent earthquakes, and the king, on his arrival, when he
saw the overthrow of the city, gave a hundred talents for its
restoration. It is said that the same thing happened in the time of
Alexander; for this reason it is probable that Neptune is worshipped
there, although they are an inland people, and that it had the name of
Celænæ from Celænus,[1297] the son of Neptune, by Celæno, one of the
Danaïdes, or from the black colour of the stones, or from the blackness
which is the effect of combustion. What is related of Sipylus and its
overthrow is not to be regarded as a fable. For earthquakes overthrew
the present Magnesia, which is situated [CAS. 579] below that mountain,
at the time that Sardis and other celebrated cities in various parts
sustained great injury. [1298] The emperor[1299] gave a sum of money for
their restoration, as formerly his father had assisted the Tralliani on
the occurrence of a similar calamity, when the gymnasium and other parts
of the city were destroyed; in the same manner he had assisted also the
Laodiceans.
19. We must listen, however, to the ancient historians, and to the
account of Xanthus, who composed a history of Lydian affairs; he relates
the changes which had frequently taken place in this country,--I have
mentioned them in a former part of my work. [1300] Here is laid the scene
of the fable of what befell Typhon; here are placed the Arimi, and this
country is said to be the Catacecaumene. Nor do historians hesitate to
suppose, that the places between the Mæander and the Lydians are all of
this nature, as well on account of the number of lakes and rivers, as
the caverns, which are to be found in many parts of the country. The
waters of the lake between Laodiceia and Apameia, although like a sea,
emit a muddy smell, as if they had come through a subterraneous channel.
trees. It affords pasture for horses, and is adapted to the subsistence
of other animals; the whole of it is very habitable. Amaseia was given
to the kings, but at present it is a (Roman) province.
40. There remains to be described the country within the Halys,
belonging to the province of Pontus, and situated about the
Olgassys,[1196] and contiguous to the Sinopic district. The Olgassys is
a very lofty mountain, and difficult to be passed. The Paphlagonians
have erected temples in every part of this mountain. The country around,
the Blaene, and the Domanītis, through which the river Amnias[1197]
runs, is sufficiently fertile. Here it was that Mithridates Eupator
entirely destroyed[1198] the army of Nicomedes the Bithynian, not in
person, for he himself happened to be absent, but by his generals.
Nicomedes fled with a few followers, and escaped into his own country,
and thence sailed to Italy. Mithridates pursued him, and made himself
master of Bithynia as soon as he entered it, and obtained possession of
Asia as far as Caria and Lycia. Here is situated Pompeiopolis,[1199] in
which city is the Sandaracurgium,[1200] (or Sandaraca works,) it is not
far distant from Pimolisa, a royal fortress in ruins, from which the
country on each side of the river is called Pimolisene. The
Sandaracurgium is a mountain hollowed out by large trenches made by
workmen in the process of mining. The work is always carried on at the
public charge, and slaves were employed in the mine who had been sold on
account of their crimes. Besides the great labour of the employment, the
air is said to be destructive of life, and scarcely endurable in
consequence of the strong odour issuing from the masses of mineral;
hence the slaves are short-lived. The mining is frequently suspended
from its becoming unprofitable, for great expense is incurred by the
employment of more than two hundred workmen, whose number is continually
diminishing by disease and fatal accidents.
So much respecting Pontus.
41. Next to Pompeiopolis is the remainder of the inland parts of
Paphlagonia as far as Bithynia towards the west. This tract, although
small in extent, was governed, a little before our time, by several
princes, but their race is extinct; at present it is in possession of
the Romans. The parts bordering upon Bithynia are called Timonitis; the
country of Gezatorix, [CAS. 562] Marmolitis, Sanisene, and Potamia.
There was also a Cimiatene, in which was Cimiata, a strong fortress
situated at the foot of the mountainous range of the Olgassys.
Mithridates, surnamed Ctistes, (or the Founder,) made it his
head-quarters when engaged in the conquest of Pontus, and his successors
kept possession of it to the time of Mithridates Eupator. The last king
of Paphlagonia was Deïotarus,[1201] son of Castor, and surnamed
Philadelphus, who possessed Gangra,[1202] containing the palace of
Morzeus, a small town, and a fortress.
42. Eudoxus, without defining the spot, says, that fossil fish[1203] are
found in Paphlagonia in dry ground, and in marshy ground also about the
lake Ascanius,[1204] which is below Cius, but he gives no clear
information on the subject.
We have described Paphlagonia bordering upon Pontus; and as the
Bithynians border upon the Paphlagonians towards the west, we shall
endeavour to describe this region also. We shall then set out again from
the Bithynians and the Paphlagonians, and describe the parts of the
country next to these nations lying towards the south; they extend as
far as the Taurus, and are parallel to Pontus and Cappadocia; for some
order and division of this kind are suggested by the nature of the
places.
CHAPTER IV.
1. Bithynia is bounded on the east by the Paphlagonians, Mariandyni, and
by some tribes of the Epicteti; on the north by the line of the
sea-coast of the Euxine, extending from the mouth of the Sangarius[1205]
to the straits at Byzantium and Chalcedon; on the west by the Propontis;
on the south by Mysia and Phrygia Epictetus, as it is called, which has
the name also of Hellespontic Phrygia.
2. Here upon the mouth of the Pontus is situated Chalcedon, founded by
the Megareans,[1206] the village Chrysopolis, and the Chalcedonian
temple. In the country a little above the sea-coast is a fountain,
Azaritia, (Azaretia? ) which breeds small crocodiles.
Next follows the coast of the Chalcedonians, the bay of Astacus,[1207]
as it is called, which is a part of the Propontis.
Here Nicomedia[1208] is situated, bearing the name of one of the
Bithynian kings by whom it was founded. Many kings however have taken
the same name, as the Ptolemies, on account of the fame of the first
person who bore it.
On the same bay was Astacus a city founded by Megareans and Athenians;
it was afterwards again colonized by Dœdalsus. The bay had its name from
the city. It was razed by Lysimachus. The founder of Nicomedia
transferred its inhabitants to the latter city.
3. There is another bay[1209] continuous with that of Astacus, which
advances further towards the east, and where is situated Prusias,[1210]
formerly called Cius. Philip, the son of Demetrius, and father of
Perseus, gave it to Prusias, son of Zelas, who had assisted him in
destroying both this and Myrleia,[1211] a neighbouring city, and also
situated near Prusa. He rebuilt them from their ruins, and called the
city Cius Prusias, after his own name, and Myrleia he called Apameia,
after that of his wife. This is the Prusias who received Hannibal, (who
took refuge with him hither after the defeat of Antiochus,) and retired
from Phrygia[1212] on the Hellespont, according to agreement with the
Attalici. [1213] This country was formerly called Lesser Phrygia, but by
the Attalici Phrygia Epictetus. [1214] Above Prusias is a mountain which
is called Arganthonius. [1215] Here is the scene of the fable of Hylas,
one of the companions of Hercules in the ship Argo, who, having
disembarked in order to obtain water for the vessel, was carried away by
nymphs. Cius, as the story goes, was a friend and companion of Hercules;
on his return from Colchis, he settled there and founded the city which
bears his name. At the present time a festival called Oreibasia, [CAS.
564] is celebrated by the Prusienses, who wander about the mountains and
woods, a rebel rout, calling on Hylas by name, as though in search of
him.
The Prusienses having shown a friendly disposition towards the Romans in
their administration of public affairs, obtained their freedom. But the
Apamies were obliged to admit a Roman colony.
Prusa, situated below the Mysian Olympus, on the borders of the
Phrygians and the Mysians, is a well-governed city; it was founded by
Cyrus,[1216] who made war against Crœsus.
4. It is difficult to define the boundaries of the Bithynians, Mysians,
Phrygians, of the Doliones about Cyzicus, and of the Mygdones and Troes;
it is generally admitted that each of these tribes ought to be placed
apart from the other. A proverbial saying is applied to the Phrygians
and Mysians,
“The boundaries of the Mysi and Phryges are apart from one
another,”
but it is difficult to define them respectively. The reason is this;
strangers who came into the country were soldiers and barbarians; they
had no fixed settlement in the country of which they obtained
possession, but were, for the most part, wanderers, expelling others
from their territory, and being expelled themselves. All these nations
might be supposed to be Thracians, because Thracians occupy the country
on the other side, and because they do not differ much from one another.
5. But as far as we are able to conjecture, we may place Mysia between
Bithynia and the mouth of the Æsepus, contiguous to the sea, and nearly
along the whole of Olympus. Around it, in the interior, is the
Epictetus, nowhere reaching the sea, and extending as far as the eastern
parts of the Ascanian lake and district, for both bear the same name.
Part of this territory was Phrygian, and part Mysian; the Phrygian was
further distant from Troy; and so we must understand the words of the
poet[1217], when he says,
“Phorcys, and the godlike Ascanius, were the leaders of the
Phryges far from Ascania,”
that is, the Phrygian Ascania; for the other, the Mysian Ascania, was
nearer to the present Nicæa, which he mentions, when he says,
“Palmys, Ascanius, and Morys, sons of Hippotion, the leader of
the Mysi, fighting in close combat, who came from the fertile
soil of Ascania, as auxiliaries. ”[1218]
It is not then surprising that he should speak of an Ascanius, a leader
of the Phrygians, who came from Ascania, and of an Ascanius, a leader of
the Mysians, coming also from Ascania, for there is much repetition of
names derived from rivers, lakes, and places.
6. The poet himself assigns the Æsepus as the boundary of the Mysians,
for after having described the country above Ilium, and lying along the
foot of the mountains subject to Æneas, and which he calls Dardania, he
places next towards the north Lycia, which was subject to Pandarus, and
where Zeleia[1219] was situated; he says,
“They who inhabited Zeleia, at the very foot of Ida, Aphneii
Trojans, who drink of the dark stream of Æsepus;”[1220]
below Zeleia, towards the sea, on this side of Æsepus, lies the plain of
Adrasteia, and Tereia, Pitya, and in general the present district of
Cyzicene near Priapus,[1221] which he afterwards describes. He then
returns again to the parts towards the east, and to those lying above,
by which he shows that he considered the country as far as the Æsepus
the northern and eastern boundary of the Troad. Next to the Troad are
Mysia and Olympus. [1222] Ancient tradition then suggests some such
disposition of these nations. But the present changes have produced many
differences in consequence of the continual succession of governors of
the country, who confounded together people and districts, and separated
others. The Phrygians and Mysians were masters of the country after the
capture of Troy; afterwards the Lydians; then the Æolians and Ionians;
next, the Persians and Macedonians; lastly, the Romans, under whose
government most of the tribes have lost even their languages and names,
in consequence of a new partition of the country having been made. It
will be proper to take this into consideration when we describe its
present state, at the same time showing a due regard to antiquity.
7. In the inland parts of Bithynia is Bithynium,[1223] situated above
Tieium,[1224] and to which belongs the country about Salon, [CAS. 565]
affording the best pasturage for cattle, whence comes the cheese of
Salon. Nicæa,[1225] the capital of Bithynia, is situated on the Ascanian
lake. It is surrounded by a very large and very fertile plain, which in
the summer is not very healthy. Its first founder was Antigonus, the son
of Philip, who called it Antigonia. It was then rebuilt by Lysimachus,
who changed its name to that of his wife Nicæa. She was the daughter of
Antipater. The city is situated in a plain. Its shape is quadrangular,
eleven stadia in circuit. It has four gates. Its streets are divided at
right angles, so that the four gates may be seen from a single stone,
set up in the middle of the Gymnasium. A little above the Ascanian lake
is Otrœa, a small town situated just on the borders of Bithynia towards
the east. It is conjectured that Otrœa was so called from Otreus.
8. That Bithynia was a colony of the Mysians, first Scylax of Caryanda
will testify, who says that Phrygians and Mysians dwell around the
Ascanian lake. The next witness is Dionysius, who composed a work on
“the foundation of cities. ” He says that the straits at Chalcedon, and
Byzantium, which are now called the Thracian, were formerly called the
Mysian Bosporus. Some person might allege this as a proof that the
Mysians were Thracians; and Euphorio says,
“by the waters of the Mysian Ascanius;”
and thus also Alexander the Ætolian,
“who have their dwellings near the Ascanian waters, on the
margin of the Ascanian lake, where Dolion dwelt, the son of
Silenus and of Melia. ”
These authors testify the same thing, because the Ascanian lake is found
in no other situation but this.
9. Men distinguished for their learning, natives of Bithynia, were
Xenocrates the philosopher, Dionysius the dialectician, Hipparchus,
Theodosius and his sons the mathematicians, Cleophanes the rhetorician
of Myrleia, and Asclepiades the physician of Prusa. [1226]
10. To the south of the Bithynians are the Mysians about Olympus (whom
some writers call Bithyni Olympeni, and others Hellespontii) and Phrygia
upon the Hellespont. To the south of the Paphlagonians are the
Galatians, and still further to the south of both these nations are the
Greater Phrygia, and Lycaonia, extending as far as the Cilician and
Pisidian Taurus. But since the parts continuous with Paphlagonia adjoin
Pontus, Cappadocia, and the nations which we have just described, it may
be proper first to give an account of the parts in the neighbourhood of
these nations, and then proceed to a description of the places next in
order.
CHAPTER V.
1. To the south of the Paphlagonians are the Galatians, of whom there
are three tribes; two of them, the Trocmi and the Tolistobogii, have
their names from their chiefs; the third, the Tectosages, from the tribe
of that name in Celtica. The Galatians took possession of this country
after wandering about for a long period, and overrunning the country
subject to the Attalic and the Bithynian kings, until they received by a
voluntary cession the present Galatia, or Gallo-Græcia, as it is called.
Leonnorius seems to have been the chief leader of these people when they
passed over into Asia. There were three nations that spoke the same
language, and in no respect differed from one another. Each of them was
divided into four portions called tetrarchies, and had its own tetrarch,
its own judge, and one superintendent of the army, all of whom were
under the control of the tetrarch, and two subordinate superintendents
[CAS. 567] of the army. The Council of the twelve Tetrarchs consisted of
three hundred persons, who assembled at a place called the
Drynemetum. [1227] The council determined causes relative to murder, the
others were decided by the tetrarchs and the judges. Such, anciently,
was the political constitution of Galatia; but, in our time, the
government was in the hands of three chiefs, then of two, and at last it
was administered by Deïotarus, who was succeeded by Amyntas. At present,
the Romans possess this as well as all the country which was subject to
Amyntas, and have reduced it into one province.
2. The Trocmi occupy the parts near Pontus and Cappadocia, which are the
best which the Galatians possess. They have three walled fortresses,
Tavium, a mart for the people in that quarter, where there is a colossal
statue of Jupiter in brass, and a grove, which is used as a place of
refuge; Mithridatium, which Pompey gave to Bogodiatarus, (Deïotarus? )
having separated it from the kingdom of Pontus; and thirdly, Danala,
where Pompey, when he was about to leave the country to celebrate his
triumph, met Lucullus and delivered over to him as his successor the
command of the war.
This is the country which the Trocmi possess.
The Tectosages occupy the parts towards the greater Phrygia near
Pessinus,[1228] and the Orcaorci. They had the fortress Ancyra,[1229] of
the same name as the small Phrygian city towards Lydia near
Blaudus. [1230] The Tolistobogii border upon the Bithynians, and Phrygia
Epictetus, as it is called. They possess the fortresses Blucium,
(Luceium,) which was the royal seat of Deïotarus, and Peïum, which was
his treasure-hold.
3. Pessinus is the largest mart of any in that quarter. It contains a
temple of the Mother of the Gods, held in the highest veneration. The
goddess is called Agdistis. The priests anciently were a sort of
sovereigns, and derived a large revenue from their office. At present
their consequence is much diminished, but the mart still subsists. The
sacred enclosure was adorned with fitting magnificence by the Attalic
kings,[1231] with a temple, and porticos of marble. The Romans gave
importance to the temple by sending for the statue of the goddess from
thence according to the oracle of the Sibyl, as they had sent for that
of Asclepius from Epidaurus.
The mountain Dindymus is situated above the city; from Dindymus comes
Dindymene, as from Cybela, Cybele. Near it runs the river Sangarius, and
on its banks are the ancient dwellings of the Phrygians, of Midas, and
of Gordius before his time, and of some others, which do not preserve
the vestiges of cities, but are villages a little larger than the rest.
Such is Gordium,[1232] and Gorbeus (Gordeus), the royal seat of Castor,
son of Saocondarius, (Saocondarus? ) in which he was put to death by his
father-in-law, Deïotarus, who there also murdered his own daughter.
Deïotarus razed the fortress, and destroyed the greater part of the
settlement.
4. Next to Galatia towards the south is the lake Tatta,[1233] lying
parallel to that part of the Greater Cappadocia which is near the
Morimeni. It belongs to the Greater Phrygia, as well as the country
continuous with this, and extending as far as the Taurus, and of which
Amyntas possessed the greatest part. Tatta is a natural salt-pan. The
water so readily makes a deposit around everything immersed in it, that
upon letting down wreaths formed of rope, chaplets of salt are drawn up.
If birds touch the surface of the water with their wings, they
immediately fall down in consequence of the concretion of the salt upon
them, and are thus taken.
CHAPTER VI.
1. Such is the description of Tatta. The places around Orcaorci,
Pitnisus and the mountainous plains of Lycaonia, are cold and bare,
affording pasture only for wild asses; there is a great scarcity of
water, but wherever it is found the wells are very deep, as at Soatra,
where it is even sold. Soatra is a village city near Garsabora
(Garsaura? ). Although the country is ill supplied with water, it is
surprisingly well adapted for feeding sheep, but the wool is coarse.
Some persons have acquired very great wealth by these flocks alone.
Amyntas had above three hundred flocks of sheep in these [CAS. 568]
parts. In this district there are two lakes, the greater Coralis, the
smaller Trogitis. Somewhere here is Iconium,[1234] a small town, well
built, about which is a more fertile tract of land than the pastures for
the wild asses before mentioned. Polemo possessed this place.
Here the Taurus approaches this country, separating Cappadocia and
Lycaonia from Cilicia Tracheia. It is the boundary of the Lycaonians and
Cappadocians, between Coropassus, a village of the Lycaonians, and
Gareathyra (Garsaura), a small town of the Cappadocians. The distance
between these fortressess is about 120 stadia.
2. To Lycaonia belongs Isaurica, near the Taurus, in which are the
Isaura, two villages of the same name, one of which is surnamed Palæa,
or the Old, the other [the New], the latter is well fortified. [1235]
There were many other villages dependent upon these. They are all of
them, however, the dwellings of robbers. They occasioned much trouble to
the Romans, and to Publius Servilius, surnamed Isauricus, with whom I
was acquainted; he subjected these places to the Romans, and destroyed
also many of the strongholds of the pirates, situated upon the sea.
3. Derbe,[1236] the royal seat of the tyrant Antipater, surnamed
Derbætes, is on the side of the Isaurian territory close upon
Cappadocia. Laranda[1237] also belonged to Antipater. In my time Amyntas
attacked and killed Antipater Derbætes, and got possession of the Isaura
and of Derbe. The Romans gave him the Isaura where he built a palace for
himself, after having destroyed Isauria Palæa (the Old). He began to
build in the same place a new wall, but before its completion he was
killed by the Cilicians in an ambuscade, when invading the country of
the Homonadeis.
4. For being in possession of Antiocheia near Pisidia, and the country
as far as Apollonias,[1238] near Apameia Cibotus,[1239] some parts of
the Paroreia, and Lycaonia, he attempted to exterminate the Cilicians
and Pisidians, who descended from the Taurus and overran this district,
which belonged to the Phrygians and Cilicians (Lycaonians). He razed
also many fortresses, which before this time were considered
impregnable, among which was Cremna, but he did not attempt to take by
storm Sandalium, situated between Cremna and Sagalassus.
5. Cremna is occupied by a Roman colony.
Sagalassus is under the command of the same Roman governor, to whom all
the kingdom of Amyntas is subject. It is distant from Apameia a day’s
journey, having a descent of nearly 30 stadia from the fortress. It has
the name also of Selgessus. It was taken by Alexander.
Amyntas made himself master of Cremna and passed into the country of the
Homonadeis, who were supposed to be the most difficult to reduce of all
the tribes. He had already got into his power most of their
strongholds, and had killed the tyrant himself, when he was taken
prisoner by an artifice of the wife of the tyrant, whom he had killed,
and was put to death by the people. Cyrinius (Quirinus)[1240] reduced
them by famine and took four thousand men prisoners, whom he settled as
inhabitants in the neighbouring cities, but he left no person in the
country in the prime of life.
Among the heights of Taurus, and in the midst of rocks and precipices
for the most part inaccessible, is a hollow and fertile plain divided
into several valleys. The inhabitants cultivate this plain, but live
among the overhanging heights of the mountains, or in caves. They are
for the most part armed, and accustomed to make incursions into the
country of other tribes, their own being protected by mountains, which
serve as a wall.
CHAPTER VII.
1. Contiguous to these, among other tribes of the Pisidians, are the
Selgeis, the most considerable tribe of the nation.
The greater part of the Pisidians occupy the summits of Taurus, but some
tribes situated above Side[1241] and [CAS. 570] Aspendus,[1242] which
are Pamphylian cities, occupy heights, all of which are planted with
olives. The parts above these, a mountainous country, are occupied by
the Catennenses, who border upon the Selgeis and the Homonadeis. The
Sagalasseis occupy the parts within the Taurus towards Milyas.
2. Artemidorus says that Selge, Sagalassus, Petnelissus, Adada,
Tymbrias, Cremna, Pityassus, (Tityassus? ) Amblada, Anabura, Sinda,
Aarassus, Tarbassus, Termessus, are cities of the Pisidians. Of these
some are entirely among the mountains, others extend on each side even
as far as the country at the foot of the mountains, and reach to
Pamphylia and Milyas, and border on Phrygians, Lydians, and Carians, all
of whom are disposed to peace, although situated to the north. [1243]
The Pamphylians, who partake much of the character of the Cilician
nation, do not altogether abstain from predatory enterprises, nor permit
the people on the confines to live in peace, although they occupy the
southern parts of the country at the foot of Taurus.
On the confines of Phrygia and Caria, are Tabæ,[1244] Sinda, and
Amblada, whence is procured the Amblada wine, which is used in diet
prescribed for the sick.
3. All the rest of the mountain tribes of the Pisidians whom I have
spoken of are divided into states governed by tyrants, and follow like
the Cilicians a predatory mode of life. It is said that anciently some
of the Leleges, a wandering people, were intermixed with them, and from
the similarity of their habits and manners settled there.
Selge[1245] had the rank of a city from the first when founded by the
Lacedæmonians, but at a still earlier period by Calchas.
Latterly it has
maintained its condition and flourished in consequence of its excellent
constitution and government, so that at one time it had a population of
20,000 persons. The place deserves admiration from the advantages which
nature has bestowed upon it. Among the summits of Taurus is a very
fertile tract capable of maintaining many thousand inhabitants. Many
spots produce the olive and excellent vines, and afford abundant pasture
for animals of all kinds. Above and all around are forests containing
trees of various sorts. The styrax is found here in great abundance, a
tree not large but straight in its growth. Javelins, similar to those of
the cornel tree, are made of the wood of this tree. There is bred in the
trunk of the styrax tree, a worm, which eats through the timber to the
surface, and throws out raspings like bran, or saw-dust, a heap of which
is collected at the root. Afterwards a liquid distils which readily
concretes into a mass like gum. A part of this liquid descends upon and
mixes with the raspings at the root of the tree, and with earth; a
portion of it acquires consistence on the surface of the mass, and
remains pure. That portion which flows along the surface of the trunk of
the tree, and concretes, is also pure. A mixture is made of the impure
part, which is a combination of wood-dust and earth; this has more odour
than the pure styrax, but is inferior to it in its other properties.
This is not commonly known. It is used for incense in large quantities
by superstitious worshippers of the gods.
The Selgic iris[1246] also, and the unguent which is made from it, are
in great esteem. There are few approaches about the city, and the
mountainous country of the Selgeis, which abounds with precipices and
ravines, formed among other rivers by the Eurymedon[1247] and the
Cestrus,[1248] which descend from the Selgic mountains, and discharge
themselves into the Pamphylian Sea. There are bridges on the roads. From
the strength and security of their position the Selgeis were never at
any time, nor on any single occasion, subject to any other people, but
enjoyed unmolested the produce of their country, with the exception of
that part situated below them in Pamphylia, and that within the Taurus,
for which they were carrying on a continual warfare with the kings.
Their position with respect to the Romans was that they possessed this
tract on certain conditions. They sent ambassadors to Alexander and
offered to receive his commands in the character of friends, but at
present they are altogether subject to the Romans, and are included in
what was formerly the kingdom of Amyntas.
CHAPTER VIII. [CAS. 571]
1. The people called Mysians, and Phrygians, who live around the
so-called Mysian Olympus, border upon the Bithynians to the south. Each
of these nations is divided into two parts. One is called the Greater
Phrygia, of which Midas was king. A part of it was occupied by the
Galatians. The other is the Lesser, or Phrygia on the Hellespont, or
Phrygia around Olympus, and is also called Epictetus.
Mysia is also divided into two parts; Olympic Mysia, which is continuous
with Bithynia, and with the Epictetus, (which, Artemidorus says, was
inhabited by the Mysians beyond the Danube,) and the part around the
Caïcus,[1249] and the Pergamene[1250] as far as Teuthrania, and the
mouths of the river.
2. This country, however, as we have frequently observed, has undergone
so many changes, that it is uncertain whether the district around
Sipylus,[1251] which the ancients called Phrygia, were a part of the
Greater or the Lesser Phrygia, from whence Tantalus, Pelops, and Niobe
were called Phrygians. Whatever the explanation may be, the change is
certain. For Pergamene and Elaïtis,[1252] through which country the
Caïcus passes, and empties itself into the sea, and Teuthrania, situated
between these two districts, where Teuthras lived, and Telephus was
brought up, lies between the Hellespont, and the country about Sipylus,
and Magnesia, which is at the foot of the mountain, so that, as I have
said, it is difficult
“To assign the confines of the Mysians and Phryges. ”--
3. The Lydians also, and the Mæones, whom Homer calls Meones, are in
some way confounded with these people and with one another; some authors
say that they are the same, others that they are different, nations. Add
to this that some writers regard the Mysians as Thracians, others as
Lydians, according to an ancient tradition, which has been preserved by
Xanthus the Lydian, and by Menecrates of Elæa, who assign as the origin
of the name Mysians, that the Lydians call the beech-tree (Oxya) Mysos,
which grows in great abundance near Olympus, where it is said decimated
persons[1253] were exposed, whose descendants are the later Mysians,
and received their appellation from the Mysos, or beech-tree growing in
that country. The language also is an evidence of this. It is a mixture
of Lydian and Phrygian words, for they lived some time in the
neighbourhood of Olympus. But when the Phrygians passed over from
Thrace, and put to death the chief of Troy and of the country near it,
they settled here, but the Mysians established themselves above the
sources of the Caïcus near Lydia.
4. The confusion which has existed among the nations in this district,
and even the fertility of the country within the Halys, particularly
near the sea, have contributed to the invention of fables of this sort.
The richness of the country provoked attacks, from various quarters, and
at all times, of tribes who came from the opposite coast, or
neighbouring people contended with one another for the possession of it.
Inroads and migrations took place chiefly about the period of the Trojan
war, and subsequently to that time, Barbarians as well as Greeks showing
an eagerness to get possession of the territory of other nations. This
disposition, however, showed itself before the time of the Trojan war;
for there existed then tribes of Pelasgi, Caucones, and Leleges, who are
said to have wandered, anciently, over various parts of Europe. The poet
represents them as assisting the Trojans, but not as coming from the
opposite coast. The accounts respecting the Phrygians and the Mysians
are more ancient than the Trojan times.
Two tribes bearing the name of Lycians, lead us to suppose that they are
the same race; either the Trojan Lycians sent colonies to the Carians,
or the Carian Lycians to the Trojans. Perhaps the same may be the case
with the Cilicians, for they also are divided into two tribes; but we
have not the same evidence that the present Cilicians existed before the
Trojan times. Telephus may be supposed to have come with his mother from
Arcadia; by her marriage with Teuthras, (who had received them as his
guests,) Telephus was admitted into the [CAS. 572] family of Teuthras,
was reputed to be his son, and succeeded to the kingdom of the Mysians.
5. “The Carians, who were formerly islanders, and Leleges,” it is said,
“settled on the continent with the assistance of the Cretans. They built
Miletus, of which the founder was Sarpedon from Miletus in Crete. They
settled the colony of Termilæ in the present Lycia, but, according to
Herodotus,[1254] these people were a colony from Crete under the conduct
of Sarpedon, brother of Minos and Rhadamanthus, who gave the name of
Termilæ to the people formerly called Milyæ, and still more anciently
Solymi; when, however, Lycus the son of Pandion arrived, he called them
Lycii after his own name. ” This account shows that the Solymi and
Lycians were the same people, but the poet distinguishes them. He
represents Bellerophon setting out from Lycia, and
“fighting with the renowned Solymi. ”[1255]
He says Peisander (Isander? ), his son, Mars
“slew when fighting with the Solymi,”[1256]
and speaks of Sarpedon as a native of Lycia. [1257]
6. That the common prize, proposed to be obtained by the conquerors, was
the fertile country which I am describing, is confirmed by many
circumstances which happened both before and after the Trojan times.
When even the Amazons ventured to invade it, Priam and Bellerophon are
said to have undertaken an expedition against these women. Anciently
there were cities which bore the names of the Amazons. In the Ilian
plain there is a hill
“which men call Batieia, but the immortals, the tomb of the
bounding (πολυσκάρθμοιο) Myrina,”
who, according to historians, was one of the Amazons, and they found
this conjecture on the epithet, for horses are said to be εὐσκάρθμοι on
account of their speed; and she was called πολύσκαρθμος from the
rapidity with which she drove the chariot. Myrina therefore, the place,
was named after the Amazon. In the same manner the neighbouring islands
were invaded on account of their fertility; among which were Rhodes and
Cos. That they were inhabited before the Trojan times clearly appears
from the testimony of Homer. [1258]
7. After the Trojan times, the migrations of Greeks and of Treres, the
inroads of Cimmerians and Lydians, afterwards of Persians and
Macedonians, and lastly of Galatians, threw everything into confusion.
An obscurity arose not from these changes only, but from the
disagreement between authors in their narration of the same events, and
in their description of the same persons; for they called Trojans
Phrygians, like the Tragic poets; and Lycians Carians, and similarly in
other instances. The Trojans who, from a small beginning, increased so
much in power that they became kings of kings, furnished a motive to the
poet and his interpreters, for determining what country ought to be
called Troy. For the poet calls by the common name of Trojans all their
auxiliaries, as he calls their enemies Danai and Achæi. But certainly we
should not give the name of Troy to Paphlagonia, or to Caria, or to
Lycia, which borders upon it. I mean when the poet says,
“the Trojans advanced with the clashing of armour and shouts,”[1259]
and where he speaks of their enemies,
“but the Achæi advanced silently, breathing forth warlike
ardour,”[1260]
and thus frequently in other passages.
We must endeavour, however, to distinguish as far as we are able one
nation from another, notwithstanding this uncertainty. If anything
relative to ancient history escapes my notice, it must be pardoned, for
this is not the province of the geographer; my concern is with the
present state of people and places.
8. There are two mountains situated above the Propontis, the Mysian
Olympus[1261] and Ida. [1262] At the foot of Olympus is Bithynia, and,
contiguous to the mountain, between Ida and the sea, is Troy.
We shall afterwards speak of Troy, and of the places continuous with it
on the south. At present we shall give an account of the places about
Olympus, and of the adjoining country as far as the Taurus, and parallel
to the parts which we have previously described.
The country lying around Olympus is not well inhabited. On its heights
are immense forests and strongholds, well adapted [CAS. 574] for the
protection of robbers, who, being able to maintain themselves there for
any length of time, often set themselves up as tyrants, as Cleon a
captain of a band of robbers did in my recollection.
9. Cleon was a native of the village Gordium, which he afterwards
enlarged, and erected into a city, giving it the name of Juliopolis. His
first retreat and head-quarters was a place called Callydium, one of the
strongest holds. He was of service to Antony in attacking the soldiers
who collected money for Labienus, at the time that the latter occupied
Asia, and thus hindered the preparations which he was making for his
defence. In the Actian war he separated himself from Antony and attached
himself to the generals of Cæsar; he was rewarded above his deserts, for
in addition to what he received from Antony he obtained power from
Cæsar, and exchanged the character of a freebooter for that of a petty
prince. He was priest of Jupiter Abrettenus, the Mysian god, and a
portion of the Morena was subject to him, which, like Abrettena, is
Mysian. He finally obtained the priesthood of Comana in Pontus, and went
to take possession of it, but died within a month after his arrival. He
was carried off by an acute disease, occasioned either by excessive
repletion, or, according to the account of those employed about the
temple, inflicted by the anger of the goddess. The story is this. Within
the circuit of the sacred enclosure is the dwelling of the priest and
priestess. Besides other sacred observances relative to the temple, the
purity of this enclosure is an especial object of vigilance, by
abstinence from eating swine’s flesh. The whole city, indeed, is bound
to abstain from this food, and swine are not permitted to enter it.
Cleon, however, immediately upon his arrival displayed his lawless
disposition and character by violating this custom, as if he had come
there not as a priest, but a polluter of sacred things.
10. The description of Olympus is as follows. Around it, to the north,
live Bithynians, Mygdonians, and Doliones; the rest is occupied by
Mysians and Epicteti. The tribes about Cyzicus[1263] from Æsepus[1264]
as far as Rhyndacus[1265] and the lake Dascylitis,[1266] are called for
the most part Doliones; those next to the Doliones, and extending as far
as the territory of the Myrleani,[1267] are called Mygdones. Above the
Dascylitis are two large lakes, the Apolloniatis,[1268] and the
Miletopolitis. [1269] Near the Dascylitis is the city Dascylium, and on
the Miletopolitis, Miletopolis. Near a third lake is Apollonia on the
Rhyndacus, as it is called. Most of these places belong at present to
the Cyziceni.
11. Cyzicus is an island[1270] in the Propontis, joined to the continent
by two bridges. It is exceedingly fertile. It is about 500 stadia in
circumference. There is a city of the same name near the bridges, with
two close harbours, and more than two hundred docks for vessels. One
part of the city is in a plain, the other near the mountain which is
called Arcton-oros (or Bear-mountain). Above this is another mountain,
the Dindymus, with one peak, having on it a temple founded by the
Argonauts in honour of Dindymene, mother of the gods. This city rivals
in size, beauty, and in the excellent administration of affairs, both in
peace and war, the cities which hold the first rank in Asia. It appears
to be embellished in a manner similar to Rhodes, Massalia,[1271] and
ancient Carthage. I omit many details. There are three architects, to
whom is intrusted the care of the public edifices and engines. The city
has also three store-houses, one for arms, one for engines, and one for
corn. The Chalcidic earth mixed with the corn prevents it from spoiling.
The utility of preserving it in this manner was proved in the
Mithridatic war. The king attacked the city unexpectedly with an army of
150,000 men and a large body of cavalry, and made himself master of the
opposite hill, which is called the hill of Adrasteia, and of the suburb.
He afterwards transferred his camp to the neck of land above the city,
blockaded it by land, and attacked it by sea with four hundred ships.
The Cyziceni resisted all these attempts, and were even nearly capturing
the king in a subterraneous passage, by working a countermine. He was,
however, apprized of it, and escaped by retreating in time out of the
excavation. Lucullus, the Roman general, was able, though late, to send
succours into the city by night. Famine also came to the aid of the
Cyziceni by spreading among this large army. The king did not foresee
this, and after losing great numbers of his men went away. [CAS. 576]
The Romans respected the city, and to this present time it enjoys
freedom. A large territory belongs to it, some part of which it has held
from the earliest times; the rest was a gift of the Romans. Of the Troad
they possess the parts beyond the Æsepus, namely, those about Zeleia and
the plain of Adrasteia; a part of the lake Dascylitis belongs to them,
the other part belongs to the Byzantines. They also possess a large
district near the Dolionis, and the Mygdonis, extending as far as the
lake Miletopolitis, and the Apolloniatis. Through these countries runs
the river Rhyndacus, which has its source in the Azanitis. Having
received from Mysia Abrettene, among other rivers, the Macestus,[1272]
which comes from Ancyra[1273] in the Abaeitis it empties itself into the
Propontis at the island Besbicus. [1274]
In this island of the Cyziceni is the mountain Artace, well wooded, and
in front of it lies a small island of the same name, near it is the
promontory Melas (or Black), as it is called, which is met with in
coasting from Cyzicus to Priapus. [1275]
12. To Phrygian Epictetus belong the Azani, and the cities Nacoleia,
Cotiaeium,[1276] Midiaeium, Dorylæum,[1277] and Cadi. [1278] Some persons
assign Cadi to Mysia.
Mysia extends in the inland parts from Olympene to Pergamene, and to the
plain of Caïcus, as it is called; so that it lies between Ida and the
Catacecaumene, which some place in Mysia, others in Mæonia.
13. Beyond the Epictetus to the south is the Greater Phrygia, leaving on
the left Pessinus, and the parts about Orcaorci, and Lycaonia, and on
the right Mæones, Lydians, and Carians. In the Epictetus are Phrygia
Paroreia, and the country towards Pisidia, and the parts about
Amorium,[1279] Eumeneia,[1280] and Synnada. [1281] Next are Apameia
Cibotus,[1282] and Laodiceia,[1283] the largest cities in Phrygia.
Around them lie the towns [and places], Aphrodisias,[1284]
Colossæ,[1285] Themisonium,[1286] Sanaus, Metropolis,[1287] Apollonias,
and farther off than these, Peltæ, Tabeæ, Eucarpia, and Lysias.
14. The Paroreia[1288] has a mountainous ridge extending from east to
west. Below it on either side stretches a large plain, cities are
situated near the ridge, on the north side, Philomelium,[1289] on the
south Antiocheia, surnamed Near Pisidia. [1290] The former lies entirely
in the plain, the other is on a hill, and occupied by a Roman colony.
This was founded by the Magnetes, who live near the Mæander. The Romans
liberated them from the dominion of the kings, when they delivered up
the rest of Asia within the Taurus to Eumenes. In this place was
established a priesthood of Men Arcæus, having attached to it a
multitude of sacred attendants, and tracts of sacred territory. It was
abolished after the death of Amyntas by those who were sent to settle
the succession to his kingdom.
Synnada is not a large city. In front of it is a plain planted with
olives, about 60 stadia in extent. Beyond is Docimia, a village, and the
quarry of the Synnadic marble. This is the name given to it by the
Romans, but the people of the country call it Docimite and Docimæan. At
first the quarry produced small masses, but at present, through the
extravagance of the Romans, pillars are obtained, consisting of a single
stone and of great size, approaching the alabastrite marble in variety
of colours; although the distant carriage of such heavy loads to the sea
is difficult, yet both pillars and slabs of surprising magnitude and
beauty are conveyed to Rome.
15. Apameia is a large mart of Asia, properly so called, and second in
rank to Ephesus, for it is the common staple for merchandise brought
from Italy and from Greece. It is built upon the mouth of the river
Marsyas, which runs through the middle of it, and has its commencement
above the city; being carried down to the suburb with a strong and
precipitous current, it enters the Mæander,[1291] which receives also
another river, the Orgas, and traverses a level tract with a gentle and
unruffled stream. Here the Mæander becomes a large river, and flows for
some time through Phrygia; it then separates Caria and Lydia at the
plain, as it is called, of the Mæander, running in a direction
excessively tortuous, so that from the course of this river all windings
are called Mæanders. Towards its termination it runs through the part of
Caria occupied by the Ionians; the mouths by which it empties itself are
between Miletus and Priene. [1292] It rises in a hill called Celænæ, on
which was a city of the same name. Antiochus [CAS. 578] Soter
transferred the inhabitants to the present Apameia, and called the city
after his mother Apama, who was the daughter of Artabazus. She was given
in marriage to Seleucus Nicator. Here is laid the scene of the fable of
Olympus and Marsyas, and of the contest between Marsyas and Apollo.
Above is situated a lake[1293] on which grows a reed, which is suited to
the mouth-pieces of pipes. From this lake, it is said, spring the
Marsyas and the Mæander.
16. Laodiceia,[1294] formerly a small town, has increased in our time,
and in that of our ancestors, although it received great injury when it
was besieged by Mithridates Eupator; the fertility however of the soil
and the prosperity of some of its citizens have aggrandized it. First,
Hiero embellished the city with many offerings, and bequeathed to the
people more than 2000 talents; then Zeno the rhetorician, and his son
Polemo, were an ornament and support to it; the latter was thought by
Antony, and afterwards by Augustus Cæsar, worthy even of the rank of
king in consequence of his valiant and upright conduct.
The country around Laodiceia breeds excellent sheep, remarkable not only
for the softness of their wool, in which they surpass the Milesian
flocks, but for their dark or raven colour. The Laodiceans derive a
large revenue from them, as the Colosseni do from their flocks, of a
colour of the same name.
Here the Caprus and the Lycus, a large river, enter the Mæander. From
the Lycus, a considerable river, Laodiceia has the name of Laodiceia on
the Lycus. Above the city is the mountain Cadmus, from which the Lycus
issues, and another river of the same name as the mountain. The greater
part of its course is under-ground; it then emerges, and unites with
other rivers, showing that the country abounds with caverns and is
liable to earthquakes. For of all countries Laodiceia is very subject to
earthquakes, as also the neighbouring district Carura.
17. Carura[1295] is the boundary of Phrygia and Caria. It is a village,
where there are inns for the reception of travellers, and springs of
boiling water, some of which rise in the river Mæander, and others on
its banks. There is a story, that a pimp had lodgings in the inns for a
great company of women, and that during the night he and all the women
were overwhelmed by an earthquake and disappeared. Nearly the whole of
the country about the Mæander, as far as the inland parts, is subject to
earthquakes, and is undermined by fire and water. For all this cavernous
condition of the country, beginning from the plains, extends to the
Charonia; it exists likewise in Hierapolis, and in Acharaca in the
district Nysæis, also in the plain of Magnesia, and in Myus. The soil is
dry and easily reduced to powder, full of salts, and very inflammable.
This perhaps is the reason why the course of the Mæander is winding, for
the stream is diverted in many places from its direction, and brings
down a great quantity of alluvial soil, some part of which it deposits
in various places along the shore, and forcing the rest forwards
occasions it to drift into the open sea. It has made, for example,
Priene, which was formerly upon the sea, an inland city, by the
deposition of banks of alluvial earth along an extent of 40 stadia.
18. Phrygia Catacecaumene, (or the Burnt,) which is occupied by Lydians
and Mysians, obtained this name from something of the following kind. In
Philadelphia,[1296] a city adjoining to it, even the walls of the houses
are not safe, for nearly every day they are shaken, and crevices appear.
The inhabitants are constantly attentive to these accidents to which the
ground is subject, and build with a view to their occurrence.
Apameia among other cities experienced, before the invasion of
Mithridates, frequent earthquakes, and the king, on his arrival, when he
saw the overthrow of the city, gave a hundred talents for its
restoration. It is said that the same thing happened in the time of
Alexander; for this reason it is probable that Neptune is worshipped
there, although they are an inland people, and that it had the name of
Celænæ from Celænus,[1297] the son of Neptune, by Celæno, one of the
Danaïdes, or from the black colour of the stones, or from the blackness
which is the effect of combustion. What is related of Sipylus and its
overthrow is not to be regarded as a fable. For earthquakes overthrew
the present Magnesia, which is situated [CAS. 579] below that mountain,
at the time that Sardis and other celebrated cities in various parts
sustained great injury. [1298] The emperor[1299] gave a sum of money for
their restoration, as formerly his father had assisted the Tralliani on
the occurrence of a similar calamity, when the gymnasium and other parts
of the city were destroyed; in the same manner he had assisted also the
Laodiceans.
19. We must listen, however, to the ancient historians, and to the
account of Xanthus, who composed a history of Lydian affairs; he relates
the changes which had frequently taken place in this country,--I have
mentioned them in a former part of my work. [1300] Here is laid the scene
of the fable of what befell Typhon; here are placed the Arimi, and this
country is said to be the Catacecaumene. Nor do historians hesitate to
suppose, that the places between the Mæander and the Lydians are all of
this nature, as well on account of the number of lakes and rivers, as
the caverns, which are to be found in many parts of the country. The
waters of the lake between Laodiceia and Apameia, although like a sea,
emit a muddy smell, as if they had come through a subterraneous channel.
