CHAPTER VIII.
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,1 and the Pergamene2 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,3 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 Elaitis,4 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 persons5 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 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 Termilmæ in the present Lycia, but, according to Herodotus,6 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
He says Peisander (Isander?), his son, Mars“ fighting with the renowned Solymi.7
”Il. vi. 184.
and speaks of Sarpedon as a native of Lycia.9 [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 (πολυσκάεθμοιο) Myrina,’” who, according to historians, was one of the Amazons, and they found this conjecture on the epithet, for horses are said to be εὺσκάρθμοι on account of their speed; and she was called πολὺσκαρμος 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.10 [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,“ slew when fighting with the Solymi,8
”Il. vi. 204.
and where he speaks of their enemies,“ the Trojans advanced with the clashing of armour and shouts,11
”Il. iii.
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 Olympus13 and Ida.14 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 adapt- ed 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 Cyzicus15 from Æsepus16 as far as Rhyndacus17 and the lake Dascylitis,18 are called for the most part Doliones; those next to the Doliones, and extending as far as the territory of the Myrleani,19 are called Mygdones. Above the Dascylitis are two large lakes, the Apolloniatis,20 and the Miletopolitis.21 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 island22 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,23 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. The Romans respected the city, and to this present time it en- joys 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,24 which comes from Ancyra25 in the Abæitis, it empties itself into the Propontis at the island Besbicus.26 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.27 [12] To Phrygian Epictetus belong the Azani, and the cities Nacoleia, Cotiæium,28 Midiæium, Dorylæum,29 and Cadi.30 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,31 Eumeneia,32 and Synnada.33 Next are Apameia Cibotus,34 and Laodiceia,35 the largest cities in Phrygia. Around them lie the towns [and places], Aphrodisias,36 Colossæ,37 Themisonium,38 Sanaus, Metropolis,39 Apollonias, and farther off than these, Pelte, Tabeæ, Eucarpia, and Lysias. [14] The Paroreia40 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, Philome lium,41 on the south Antiocheia, surnamed Near Pisidia.42 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,43 which receives also another river, the Orgas, and traverses a level tract with a gentle and unruffled stream. Here the Meander 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 Meander, 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.44 It rises in a hill called Celæmæ, on which was a city of the same name. Antiochus 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 lake45 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,46 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] Carura47 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,48 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 Celva- nus,49 the son of Neptune, by Celæno, one of the Danaides, 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 below that mountain, at the time that Sardis and other cele brated cities in various parts sustained great injury.50 The emperor51 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.52 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. 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 Mén Carus, which is held in great veneration. In our time there was a large Herophilian53 school of medicine under the direction of Zeuxis,54 and afterwards of Alexander Philalethes, as in the time of our ancestors there was, at Smyrna, a school of the 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 Aleman says, “ He played the Cerbesian, a Phrygian air.“ but the Achæi advanced silently, breathing forth warlike ardour,12
”Il. iii. 8.
” They speak also of a Cerbesian pit which sends forth destructive exhalations; this however exists, but the people have no longer the name of Cerbesii. Æschylus in his Niobe55 confounds them; Niobe says that she shall remember Tantalus, and his story; “ those who have an altar of Jupiter, their paternal god, on the Idæan hill,
” and again; “ Sipylus in the Idæan land,
” —and Tantalus says, “‘I sow the furrows of the Berecynthian fields, extending twelve days' journey, where the seat of Adrasteia and Ida resound with the lowing of herds and the bleating of sheep; all the plain re-echoes with their cries.’”
