CHAPTER V.

“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.

1.Tothe 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 superintendentsof the army. The Council of the twelve Tetrarchs consisted of three hundred persons, who assembled at a place called the Drynemetum.1227The 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,1228and the Orcaorci. They had the fortress Ancyra,1229of the same name as the small Phrygian city towards Lydia near Blaudus.1230The 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,1231with a temple, and porticos of marble. The Romansgave 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,1232and 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,1233lying 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.

1.Suchis 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 theseparts. In this district there are two lakes, the greater Coralis, the smaller Trogitis. Somewhere here is Iconium,1234a 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.1235There 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 strong-holds of the pirates, situated upon the sea.

3. Derbe,1236the royal seat of the tyrant Antipater, surnamed Derbætes, is on the side of the Isaurian territory close upon Cappadocia. Laranda1237also 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,1238near Apameia Cibotus,1239some 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 manyfortresses, 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 strong-holds, 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)1240reduced 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.

1.Contiguousto 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 Side1241andAspendus,1242which 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,1244Sinda, 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.

Selge1245had 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 andall 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 iris1246also, 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 Eurymedon1247and the Cestrus,1248which 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.

1.Thepeople 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,1249and the Pergamene1250as 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,1251which 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,1252through 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 persons1253were exposed, whose descendants are thelater 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 thefamily 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,1254these 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 Olympus1261and Ida.1262At 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 adaptedfor 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 Cyzicus1263from Æsepus1264as far as Rhyndacus1265and the lake Dascylitis,1266are called for the most part Doliones; those next to the Doliones, and extending as far as the territory of the Myrleani,1267are called Mygdones. Above theDascylitis are two large lakes, the Apolloniatis,1268and the Miletopolitis.1269Near 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 island1270in 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,1271and 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.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,1272which comes from Ancyra1273in 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,1276Midiaeium, Dorylæum,1277and Cadi.1278Some 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,1279Eumeneia,1280and Synnada.1281Next are Apameia Cibotus,1282and Laodiceia,1283the largest cities in Phrygia. Around them lie the towns [and places], Aphrodisias,1284Colossæ,1285Themisonium,1286Sanaus, Metropolis,1287Apollonias, and farther off than these, Peltæ, Tabeæ, Eucarpia, and Lysias.

14. The Paroreia1288has 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,1289on the south Antiocheia, surnamed Near Pisidia.1290The 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,1291which 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.1292It rises in a hill called Celænæ, on which was a city of the same name. AntiochusSoter 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 lake1293on 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,1294formerly 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. Carura1295is the boundary of Phrygia and Caria. It isa 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,1296a 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,1297the 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 situatedbelow that mountain, at the time that Sardis and other celebrated cities in various parts sustained great injury.1298The emperor1299gave 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.1300Here 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. It is said that actions are brought against the Mæander for transferring land from one place to another by sweeping away the angles of the windings, and a fine is levied out of the toll, which is paid at the ferries.

20. Between Laodiceia and Carura is a temple of Mēn Carus, which is held in great veneration. In our time there was a large Herophilian1301school of medicine under the direction of Zeuxis,1302and afterwards of Alexander Philalethes, as in the time of our ancestors there was, at Smyrna, a school ofthe disciples of Erasistratus under the conduct of Hicesius. At present there is nothing of this kind.

21. The names of some Phrygian tribes, as the Berecyntes [and Cerbesii], are mentioned, which no longer exist. And Alcman says,

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