Chapter 268

4224Now called Symi, a small island off the south-west coast of Caria, at the mouth of the Gulf of Doris, to the west of the Promontory of Cynossema.

4225Now called the Island of St. Catherine, according to Ansart.

4226Stephanus Byzantinus mentions these islands as lying in the vicinity at Syme. Perhaps they are the group lying to the south of it, now called Siskle.

4227Distant about fifty miles from Carpathus, or Skarpanto. It was probably subject to Rhodes, in the vicinity of which it was situate. Its present name is Chalki.

4228An island, according to Hardouin, not far from Halicarnassus, on the coast of Ionia.

4229So called from its productiveness of theνάρθηξ, or ferula.

4230More probably Calydnæ, because there were several islands forming the group, of which Calymna was the chief. See B. iv. c.23, where Pliny mentions only one town, that of Coös. There are some remains of the ancient towns still to be seen.

4231A small island of Caria, south of Halicarnassus. It is now called Orak-Ada.

4232Probably so called from the almost continual rains there.

4233Now called Stanko, or Stanchio, a corruption ofἐς τὰν Κῶ.

4234Which has been previously mentioned in this Chapter.

4235In C.29, Pliny has mentioned a Caryanda on the mainland. It is probable that there was a town on the mainland and another in the island of the same name. Leake says, that there can be little doubt that the large peninsula, towards the west end of which is the fine harbour called by the Turks Pasha Limani, is the ancient island of Caryanda, now joined to the mainland by a narrow sandy isthmus.

4236The island of Hyali, near the harbour of Meffi, on the coast of Caria, according to Dupinet.

4237Probably so called from the worship of the god Priapus there.

4238Few, if any, of these islets can now be recognized. Sepiussa was probably so called from the abundance of the sepia, or cuttle-fish, there.

4239Over against the isle of Samos.

4240B. iv. c.23.

4241Near the city of Miletus.

4242So called from their resemblance to camels.

4243Lying before the Promontory of Trogilium, mentioned in C.31.

4244Augustus gave their liberty to the Samians. The island is still called by the Greeks Samo, and by the Turks Susam Adassi.

4245The “Virgin’s Island,” if so called after Juno, as some say; but according to Strabo, it received its name from the river Parthenius.

4246From its numerous oaks.

4247From the abundance of its flowers.

4248“Of dark,” or “black foliage;” in allusion probably to its cypresses.

4249“Cypress-bearing.”

4250This is not improbably a compound, formed by a mistake of the copyists, of the two names, Parthenia and Aryusa, mentioned by Heraclides.

4251“The Crown.” This island was the birth-place of Pythagoras.

4252Now known as Khio, Scio, Saka Adassi, or Saksadasi. Chios was declared free by the Dictator Sulla.

4253Χιὼν, gen.Χιόνος.

4254Macris, from its length, and Pityusa, from its pine-trees.

4255Dalechamps says 112 is the correct measurement.

4256Mentioned in C.31of the present Book.

4257Meaning “green and flourishing.”

4258“Productive of laurels.” None of these islets appear to have been recognized by their modern names.

4259By Strabo called Pordoselene. He says that the islands in its vicinity were forty in number; of which Pliny here gives the names of two-and-twenty.

4260South of Proconnesus; now called Aloni.

4261Near the city of Clazomenæ. It is now called Vourla, according to Ansart.

4262Now Koutali, according to Ansart.

4263We learn from Strabo and other writers, that this city was on a peninsula, and that it stood on the southern side of the isthmus, connecting Mount Mimas with the mainland of Lydia. It was the birth-place of Anacreon and Hecatæus.

4264Or the “Dove Islands;” probably from the multitude of those birds found on those islands.

4265Now called Antigona, according to Ansart.

4266Now Mitylene, or Metelin.

4267We find it also stated by Herodotus, that this island was destroyed by the Methymnæans. The cities of Mitylene, Methymna, Eresus, Pyrrha, Antissa, and Arisbe, originally formed the Æolian Hexapolis, or Confederation of Six Cities.

4268The ruins found by Pococke at Calas Limneonas, north-east of Cape Sigri, may be those of Antissa. This place was the birth-place of Terpander, the inventor of the seven-stringed lyre.

4269Or Eressus, according to Strabo. It stood on a hill, reaching down to the sea. Its ruins are said to be near a place still called Eresso. It was the birth-place of the philosopher Theophrastus, the disciple of Aristotle.

4270Still called Mitylene, or Metelin.

4271Strabo makes it about only 137 miles.

4272Or the White Islands.

4273So called from its fruitfulness in quinces, or “Mala Cydonia.”

4274These were three small islands, near the mainland of Æolis. It was off these islands that the ten generals of the Athenians gained a victory over the Spartans,B.C.406. The modern name of these islands is said to be Janot.

4275One of the Leucæ, previously mentioned.

4276So called from theφελλὸς, or “cork,” which it produced.

4277Still known as Tenedos, near the mouth of the Hellespont. Here the Greeks were said to have concealed their fleet, to induce the Trojans to think that they had departed, and then introduce the wooden horse within their walls.

4278“Having white eye-brows;” probably from the whiteness of its cliffs.

4279In C.33of the present Book.

4280Opposite to Sestos, made famous by the loves of Hero and Leander. Aidos, or Avido, a village on the Hellespont, is thought to occupy its site.

4281Now called Bergase, according to D’Anville.

4282Its ruins are still known as Lapsaki. This important city was celebrated for its wine, and was the chief seat of the worship of the god Priapus.

4283Its site is now called Camanar, according to D’Anville.

4284According to Ansart, the modern Caraboa marks its site.

4285Now called the Satal-dere, according to Ansart.

4286Its locality was not far from the modern Biga, according to Ansart.

4287Now the Sea of Marmora.

4288Mentioned in C.33of the present Book.

4289Now called Artaki, or Erdek, a town of Mysia, and a Milesian colony. A poor town now occupies its site.

4290Its ruins are called by the Turks Bal Kiz, probably meaning “Old Cyzicus.” There are many subterraneous passages, and the ruins are of considerable extent. Its temples and storehouses appear to have been built on a scale of great magnificence. See Pliny, B. xxxvi. c. 15.

4291The “Island of the Bears,” which animals frequented the mountain in its vicinity.

4292Called Dindymum by Herodotus; probably the modern Morad Dagh, in which the river Hermus rises.

4293Now called Saki, according to Ansart.

4294Now called the Lartacho, according to Ansart.

4295Previously mentioned in C.32of the present Book.

4296In its limited sense; considered as a portion only of Asia Minor.

4297On the west it bordered on Mysia, and on the south on Phrygia and Galatia, while the eastern boundary seems to have been less definite.

4298Ephorus, as quoted by Stephanus Byzantinus, says, that the Halizones inhabited the district lying between Caria, Mysia, and Lydia. Hesychius incorrectly places them in Paphlagonia.

4299Meaning the “Village of Gordius,” one of its ancient kings. It was also called Gordium. After falling to decay, it was rebuilt by Augustus, and called Juliopolis. It is celebrated in history as the place where Alexander the Great cut the Gordian knot; the scene of the adventure being the Acropolis of the town, the former palace of King Gordius.

4300There were several Asiatic cities of the similar name of Dascylium. The site of the one here mentioned does not appear to have been ascertained.

4301More generally read “Gebes.”

4302The “Bull’s Bed,” or “Den.” It probably took its second name from the Roman general Germanicus.

4303Now called Medania, or Mutania. It received its name of Apamea from Prusias, king of Bithynia, in compliment to his wife. In the time of the first Cæsars, it was made a Roman colony.

4304The Bay of Cios. The river runs into a lake, formerly known as Lake Ascanius; probably that mentioned by Pliny in B. xxxi. c. 10.

4305Stephanus Byzantinus says that it was the same as the town of Cios, or Cius, here mentioned as near to it. It was on the shores of the Propontis.

4306Cape Baba, or Santa Maria; the south-western promontory of the Troad.

4307In Phrygia Epictetus, or “Conquered Phrygia,” so called from its conquest by certain of the kings of Bithynia. Strabo calls this place a “small city, or hill-fortress, towards Lydia.” It was probably situate near the source of the Macestus, now the Susugherli Su, or the Simaul Su, as it is called in its upper course.

4308The place from which the citizens were removed to Apamea, as mentioned in C.29of the present Book. Hamilton (Researches, &c., p. 499) supposes its acropolis to have been situate about half a mile from the sources of the river Marsyas.

4309First mentioned by Herodotus, and situate on the Lycus, a branch of the Mæander. It had greatly declined in Strabo’s time, and in the middle ages there rose near it a town of the name of Chonæ, and Colossæ disappeared. Hamilton found extensive ruins of an ancient city about three miles north of the modern Khonos. It was one of the early Christian churches of Asia, and the Apostle Paul addressed one of his Epistles to the people of this place. It does not appear from it that he had ever visited the place; indeed, from Chap. ii. 1 we may conclude that he had not.

4310This does not appear to be the same as the Carine mentioned in C.32of this Book, as having gone to decay. Its site is unknown.

4311Or Cotiæum, or Cotyæum. It was on the Roman road from Dorylæum to Philadelphia, and in Phrygia Epictetus, according to Strabo. The modern Kutahiyah is supposed to denote its site; but there are no remains of antiquity.

4312It was bounded on the west, south, and south-east by those countries; and on the north-east, north, and north-west by Pontus, Paphlagonia, and Bithynia.

4313Mentioned in C.40, under the name of Gordiucome.

4314Who invaded and settled in Asia Minor, at various periods during the third centuryB.C.

4315Near a small stream, which seems to enter the Sangarius. It originally belonged to Phrygia, and its mythical founder was Midas, the son of Gordius, who was said to have found an anchor on the spot, and accordingly given the name to the town; which story would, however, as it has been observed, imply that the name for anchor (ἄγκυρα) was the same in the Greek and the Phrygian languages. The Tectosages, who settled here aboutB.C.277, are supposed to have been from the neighbourhood of Toulouse. It is now called Angora, or Engareh; and the fine hair of the Angora goat may have formed one of the staple commodities of the place, which had a very considerable trade. The chief monument of antiquity here is the marble temple of the Emperor Augustus, built in his honour during his lifetime. In the inside is the Latin inscription known as themonumentum, ormarmor Ancyranum, containing a record of the memorable actions of Augustus. The ruins here are otherwise interesting in a high degree.

4316Now Tchoroum, according to Ansart.

4317Its ruins are called Bala-Hisar, in the south-west of Galatia, on the southern slope of Mount Didymus. This place was celebrated as a chief seat of the worship of the goddess Cybele, under the surname of Agdistis, whose temple, filled with riches, stood on a hill outside of the city.

4318Hardouin suggests that these are the Chomenses, the people of the city of Choma, in the interior of Lycia, mentioned in C.28of the present Book.

4319The people of Lystra, a city of Lycaonia, on the confines of Isauria, celebrated as one of the chief scenes of the preaching of Paul and Barnabas. See Acts xiv.

4320The people of Seleucia, in Pisidia.

4321The people of Sebaste, a town of the Tectosages.

4322The people of Timonium, a town of Paphlagonia, according to Stephanus Byzantinus.

4323Thebasa, a town of Lycaonia, has been mentioned in C.25of the present Book.

4324See C.25of the present Book.

4325The town of Oroanda, giving name to this district, is mentioned at the end of C.24of the present Book.

4326The Caÿster, the Rhyndacus, and the Cios.

4327Now called the Sakariyeh, the largest river of Asia Minor after the ancient Halys.

4328Now called the Lefke, which discharges itself into the Tangarius, or Sakariyeh.

4329Called “Galli.” They were said to become mad from drinking of the waters of this river, and to mutilate themselves when in a frantic state. See Ovid’s Fasti, B. iv. l. 364et seq.

4330Now called Brusa. It stood on the north side of Mount Olympus, fifteen Roman miles from Cius. According to most accounts, it was built by Prusias, king of Bithynia. It is most probable that Hannibal superintended the works, while staying as a refugee at the court of Prusias.

4331Now Lake Iznik.

4332Its ruins are to be seen at Iznik, on the east side of the lake of that name. Its site is supposed to have been originally occupied by the town of Attæa, and afterwards by a settlement of the Bottiæans, called Ancore, or Helicore, which was destroyed by the Mysians. On this spot, shortly after the death of Alexander the Great, Antigonus built a city which he named after himself, Antigonæa; but Lysimachus soon afterwards changed the name into Nicæa, in honour of his wife. Under the kings of Bithynia, it was often the royal residence, and it long disputed with Nicomedia the rank of capital of Bithynia. The modern Iznik is only a poor village, with about 100 houses. Considerable ruins of the ancient city are still in existence. Littré seems to think that there are two Nicæas meant in these passages; but it would seem that the same place is alluded to in both lines. The only thing that seems to give countenance to Littré’s supposition (in which he is supported by Hardouin) is, the expression “Et Prusaitemaltera.”

4333It has been suggested, that this is only another name for the town of Cios, previously mentioned; but it is most probable that they were distinct places, and that this was originally called Cierus, and belonged to the territory of Heraclea, but was conquered by King Prusias, who named it after himself. It stood to the north-west of the other Prusa.

4334Or the “Golden Stream.”

4335Suggested by Parisot to be the modern Cape Fagma.

4336From the Greekκράσπεδον, a “skirt.”

4337Or Astacus, a colony originally from Megara and Athens. From Scylax it would appear that this city was also called Olbia. Its site is placed by some of the modern geographers at a spot called Ovaschik, and also Bashkele.

4338Called Gebiseh, according to Busbequis,—at least in his day. The modern Hereket, on the coast, has been suggested.

4339Its ruins now bear the name of Izmid, or Iznikmid, at the north-eastern corner of the Sinus Astacenus, or Gulf of Izmid. It was the chief residence of the kings of Bithynia, and one of the most splendid cities in the world. Under the Romans it was made a colony, and was a favourite residence of Diocletian and Constantine the Great. Arrian the historian was born here.

4340Now Akrita. It is also called Akritas by Ptolemy.

4341The Straits, or Channel of Constantinople.

4342Its site is supposed to have been about two miles south of the modern Scutari, and it is said that the modern Greeks call it Chalkedon, and the Turks Kadi-Kioi. Its destruction was completed by the Turks, who used its materials for the construction of the mosques and other buildings of Constantinople.

4343So called, Hardouin thinks, from its being opposite to the Golden Horn, or promontory on which Byzantium was built.

4344Or Myrlea, mentioned above in C. 40. See p.490.

4345Or Bithynium, lying above Tius. Its vicinity was a good feeding country for cattle, and noted for the excellence of its cheese, as mentioned by Pliny, B. xi. c. 42. Antinoüs, the favourite of the Emperor Adrian, was born here, as Pausanias informs us. Its site does not appear to be known.

4346These rivers do not appear to have been identified by the modern geographers.

4347The modern Scutari occupies its site. Dionysius of Byzantium states, that it was called Chrysopolis, either because the Persians made it the place of deposit for the gold which they levied from the cities, or else from Chryses, a son of Agamemnon and Chryseis.

4348A king of the Bebrycians. For some further particulars relative to this place, see B. xvi. c. 89 of the present Book.

4349Situate on a promontory, which is represented by the modern Algiro, according to Hardouin and Parisot.

4350Other writers say that it was erected in honour of the Twelve Greater Divinities.

4351Called Phinopolis in most of the editions. It is very doubtful whether this passage ought not to be translated, “At a distance thence of eight miles and three-quarters is the first entrance to this strait, at the spot,” &c. We have, however, adopted the rendering of Holland, Ajasson, and Littré.

4352Mentioned in C.28of the present Book.

4353In B. iv. c.24.

4354Or “Deer Island.”

4355Now Afzia, according to D’Anville.

4356There is still an island in the Sea of Marmora known by the name Alon, which is separated from the north-western extremity of the Peninsula of Cyzicus by a narrow channel.

4357Hesychius says, that there were two islands near Byzantium called by the common name of Demonnesi, but severally having the names of Chalcitis and Pityusa. Pliny, on the other hand, places Demonnesus opposite to Nicomedia, and at the same time mentions Chalcitis and Pityodes (probably the same as Pityusa) as distinct places. D’Anville calls Demonnesus “The Isle of Princes.”

4358The position assigned to this island by Pliny and Strabo corresponds with that of Kalolimno, a small island ten miles north of the mouth of the Rhyndacus.

4359Now called Prota, according to Parisot.

4360So called from its copper-mines; now called Khalki, or Karki.

4361Now called Prinkipo, east of Khalki.

4362See end ofB. iii.

4363A celebrated Roman general, who was successively governor of Numidia and Britain, where he defeated Queen Boadicea. He was a supporter of the Emperor Otho, but afterwards obtained a pardon from Vitellius on the plea that he had betrayed Otho at the battle of Bedriacum, and so contributed to his defeat; which, however, was not the case.

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