Listed 100 (total found 131) sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "BLACK SEA COAST Region TURKEY" .
AMASSIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Amasia (Amaseia, Amasia: Eth. Amaseus: Amasia, Amasiah, or Amasiyah),
a town of Pontus, on the river Iris, or Yeshil Ermak. The origin of the city
is unknown. It was at one time the residence of the princes of Pontus, and after-wards
appears to have been a free city under the Romans till the time of Domitian.
It is said that all the coins to the time of Domitian have only the epigraph
Amaseia or Amasia, but that from this time they bear the effigy and the name
of a Roman emperor. The coins from the time of Trajan bear the title Metropolis,
and. it appears to have been the chief city of Pontus.
Amasia was the birthplace of the geographer Strabo, who describes
it in the following words: our city lies in a deep and extensive gorge, through
which the river Iris flows; and it is wonder-fully constructed both by art and
by nature, being adapted to serve the purpose both of a city and of a fort.
For there is a lofty rock, steep on all sides, and descending abruptly to the
river; this rock has its wall in one direction on the brink of the river, at
that part where the city is connected with it; and in the other direction, the
wall runs up the hill on each side to the heights; and the heights (kornphai)
are twos naturally connected with one as Ptolemy another, very strongly fortified
by towers; and within this enclosure are the palace and the tombs of the kings;
but the heights have a very narrow neck, the ascent to which is an altitude
of 5 or 6 stadia on each side as one goes up from the bank of the river and
the suburbs; and from the neck to the heights there remains another ascent of
a stadium, steep and capable of resisting any attack; the rock also contains
(echei, not ekei) within it water-cisterns (hudreia) which an enemy cannot get
possession of (anaphaireta, the true reading, not anapheretai), there being
two galleries cut, one leading to the river, and the other to the neck; there
are bridges over the river, one from the city to the suburb, and another from
the suburb to the neighbouring country, for at the point where this bridge is
the mountain terminates, which lies above the rock. This extract presents several
difficulties. Groskurd, in his German version, mistakes the sense of two passages
(ii. p. 499).
Amasia has been often visited by Europeans, but the best description
is by Hamilton (Researches in Asia Minor, &c. vol. i. p. 366), who gives a view
of the place. He explains the remark of Strabo about the 5 or 6 stadia to mean
the length of the road by which alone the summit can be reached, for owing to
the steepness of the Acropolis it is necessary to ascend by a circuitous route.
And this is clearly the meaning of Strabo, if we keep closely to his text. Hamilton
erroneously follows Cramer (Asia Minor, vol. i. p. 302) in giving the version,
the summits have on each side a very narrow neck of land; for the words on each
side refer to the ascent to the neck, as Groskurd correctly understands it.
Hamilton found two Hellenic towers of beautiful construction on the heights,
which he considers to be the koruphai of Strabo. But the greater part of the
walls now standing are Byzantine or Turkish. Indeed we learn from Procopius
(de Aedif. iii. 7), that Justinian repaired this place. Hamilton observes: the
kornphai were not, as I at first imagined, two distinct points connected by
a narrow intermediate ridge, but one only, from which two narrow ridges extend,
one to the north, and the other to the east, which last terminates abruptly
close to the river. But Strabo clearly means two koruphai and he adds that they
are naturally united (sumphueis). It is true that he does not say that the neck
unites them. This neck is evidently a narrow ridge of steep ascent along which
a. man must pass to reach the koruphai.
The hudreia were cisterns to which there was access by galleries
(suringes). Hamilton explored a passage, cut in the rock, down wa c h he descended
about 300 feet, and found a small pool of clear cold water. The wall round this
pool, which appeared to have been originally much deeper, was of Hellenic masonry,
which he also observed in some parts of the descent. This appears to be one
of the galleries mentioned by Strabo. The other gallery was cut to the neck,
says Strabo, but he does not say from where. We may conclude, however, that
it was cut from the koruphai to the ridge, and that the other was a continuation
which led down to the well. Hamilton says: there seem to have been two of these
covered passages or galleries at Amasia, one of which led from the koruphai
or summits in an easterly direction to the ridge, and the other from the ridge
into the rocky hill in a northerly direction. The former, however is not excavated
in the rock, like the latter, but is built of masonry above ground, yet equally
well concealed.
The tombs of the kings are below the citadel to the south, five
in number, three to the west, and two to the east. The steep face of the rock
has been artificially smoothed. Under the three smaller tombs are considerable
remains of the old Greek walls, and a square tower built in the best Hellenic
style. These walls can also be traced up the hill towards the west, and are
evidently those described by Strabo, as forming the peribolus or enclosure within
which were the royal tombs. The front wall of an old medresseh at Amasia is
built of ancient cornices, friezes, and architraves, and on three long stones
which form the sides and architrave of the entrance there are fragments of Greek
inscriptions deep cut in large letters. Hamilton does not mention a temple which
is spoken of by one traveller of little credit.
The territory of Amasia was well wooded, and adapted for breeding
horses and other animals; and the whole of it was well suited for the habitation
of man. A valley extends from the river, not very wide at first, but it afterwards
grows wider, and forms the plain which Strabo calls Chiliocomon, and this was
succeeded by the districts of Diacopene and Pimolisene, all of which is fertile
as far as the Halys. These were the northern parts of the territory, and extended
500 stadia in length. The southern portion was much larger, and extended to
Babonomon and Ximene, which district also reached to the Halys. Its width from
north to south reached to Zelitis and the Great Cappadocia as far as the Trocmi.
In Ximene rock salt was dug. Hamilton procured at Amasia a coin of Pimolisa,
a place from which the district Pimolisene took its name, in a beautiful state
of preservation. The modern town stands on both sides of the river; it has 3970
houses, all mean; it produces some silk. (London Geog. Jour. vol. x. p. 442.)
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AMISSOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Amisus (Amisos: Eth. Amisenos, Amisios, Amisenus: Eski Samsun),
a city of Pontus in Asia Minor, situated on the west side of the bay called
Amisenus, about 900 stadia from Sinope according to Strabo. The ruins of Amisus
are on a promontory about a mile and a half NNW. of the modern town. On the
east side of the promontory was the old port, part of which is now filled up.
The pier which defended the ancient harbour may still be traced for about 300
yards, but it is chiefly under water: it consists of very large blocks of stone.
On the summit of the hill where the acropolis stood there are many remains of
walls of rubble and mortar, and the ground is strewed with fragments of Roman
tiles and pottery. On the south end of the brow of the hill which overlooks
the harbour there are traces of the real Hellenic walls. (Hamilton, Researches
in Asia Minor, vol. i. p. 290.)
The origin of Amisus appears to be uncertain. Hecataeus (Strab.
p. 553) supposed it to be the Enete of Homer (Il. ii. 852). Theopompus, quoted
by Strabo, says that it was first founded by the Milesians; then settled by
a Cappadocian king; and thirdly, by Athenocles and some Athenians, who changed
its name to Peiraeeus. But Scymnus of Chios (Fr. v. 101) calls it a colony of
Phocaea, and of prior date to Heracleia, which was probably founded about B.C.
559. Raoul-Rochette concludes, but there seems no reason for his conclusion,
that this settlement by Phocaea was posterior to the Milesian settlement. (Histoire
des Colonies Grecques, vol. iii. p. 334.) However this may be, Amisus became
the most flourishing Greek settlement on the north coast of the Euxine after
Sinope. The time when the Athenian settlement was made is uncertain. Cramer
concludes that, because Amisus is not mentioned by Herodotus or Xenophon, the
date of the Athenian settlement is posterior to the time of the Anabasis; a
conclusion which is by no means necessary. Plutarch (Lucull. 19) says that it
was settled by the Athenians at the time of their greatest power, and when they
were masters of the sea. The place lost the name of Peiraeeus, and became a
rich trading town under the kings of Pontus. Mithridates Eupator made Amisus
his residence alternately with Sinope, and he added a part to the town, which
was called Eupatoria (Appian. Mithrid. 78), but it was separated from the rest
by a wall, and probably contained a different population from that of old Amisus.
This new quarter contained the residence of the king. The strength of the place
was proved by the resistance which it made to the Roman commander L. Lucullus
(B.C. 71) in the Mithridatic war. (Plut. Lucull. 15, &c.) The grammarian Tyrannio
was one of those who fell into the hands of Lucullus when the place was captured.
Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, subsequently crossed over to
Amisus from Bosporus, and Amisus was again taken and cruelly dealt with. (Dion
Cass. xlii. 46.) The dictator Caesar defeated Pharnaces in a battle near Zeleia
(Appian. B.C. ii. 91), and restored the place to freedom. M. Antonius, says
Strabo, gave it to kings ; but it was again rescued from a tyrant Straton, and
made free, after the battle of Actium, by Augustus Caesar; and now, adds Strabo,
it is well ordered. Strabo does not state the name of the king to whom Antonius
gave Amisus. It has been assumed that it was Polemon I., who had the kingdom
of Pontus at least as early as B.C. 36. It does not appear who Straton was.
The fact of Amisus being a free city under the empire appears from the epigraph
on a coin of the city, and from a letter of the younger Pliny to Trajan, in
which he calls it libera et foederata, and speaks of it as having its own laws
by the favour of Trajan.
Amisus, in Strabo's time, possessed a good territory, which included
Themiscyra, the dwelling-place of the Amazons, and Sidene.
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DIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Dia (Dia: Eth. Dieus), a town of Bithynia on the Pontus. (Steph. B.
s. v. Dia.) Marcian (Peripl. p. 70) places it 60 stadia east of the mouth of the
Hypius, which river is between the Sangarius and Heraclea. The name in Marcian,
Dias polis, may be a mistake for Diospolis, which Ptolemy has (v. 1). It seems
probable that the Dia of Stephanus and this Diospolis are the same. There are
some very rare coins with the epigraph Dias, which Sestini assigns to this place.
EFPATORIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
A town in Pontus, at the confluence of the rivers Lycus and Iris,
was founded by Mithridates Eupator, who called it Eupatoria; but it was completed
by Pompey the Great, who changed its name into Magnopolis (Strab. xii. p. 556).
The town seems to have fallen into decay at tan early period, as it is not mentioned
by any late writer. Appian (Mithrid. 78, 115) speaks of it under both names, Eupatoria
and Magnopolis, and Strabo in one passage (xii. p. 560) speaks of it under the
name of Megalopolis. Ruins of the place are said to exist some miles to the west
of Sonnisa, at a place called Boghaz Hissan Kaleh. (Hamilton, Researches, i. p.
340.)
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ERYTHINI (Ancient city) TURKEY
Erythini (Eruthinoi), a place on the coast of Paphlagonia, mentioned
in the Homeric poems (Il. ii. 855). It has been supposed, however, that the whole
of the passage on the Paphlagonians and their towns was an interpolation of later
times, and that the old poet was unacquainted with the Euxine and its coasts.
(Schlegel, de Geogr. Hom. p. 135; Broska, de Geogr. Myth. p. 58.) Strabo (xi.
p. 545) fixed the position of the town upon two rocks, called, from their colour,
Eruthrinoi. (Comp. Anon. Peripl. p. 6.) It was situated 90 stadia E. of Amastris,
and 60 stadia N. of Cromna.
FAZIMON (Ancient city) TURKEY
A small town in the west of Pontus, south of Gazelonitis, and north
of Amasia; it contained hot mineral springs, which, according to Hamilton (Researches,
i. p. 333), are the modern baths of Cauvsa. (Strab. xii. pp. 553, 560, 561.) Pompey,
after his victory over Mithridates, planted a colony there, and changed its name
into Neapolis, from which the whole district was called Neapolitis, having previously
been called Phazemonitis. (Strab. xii. p. 560; Steph. B. s. v. Phamizon, for thus
the name is erroneously written.) Phazemon is generally supposed to correspond
in situation with the modern town of Mazifun or Marsifun.
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FINOPOLI (Ancient city) PONTOS
(Phinopolis, Ptol. iii. 11. § 4; Strab. vii. p. 319), a maritime town of Thrace,
not far from the junction of the Bosporus with the [p. 601] Euxine, and close
to the town of Phileae. It has been variously identified with Inimakale, Mauromolo,
and Derkus. (Mela, ii. 2; Plin. iv. 11. s. 18, v. 32. s. 43.)
GANGRA (Ancient city) PAFLAGONIA
Gangra (Gangra: Kiengareh, Kangreh, or Changeri), a town of Paphlagonia,
to the south of Mount Olgasys, and at a distance of 35 miles from Pompeiopolis,
appears to have been a princely residence, for we know that Morzus or Morzeus,
and afterwards Deiotarus, the last king of Paphlagonia, resided there. (Strab.
xii. p. 564; comp. Liv. xxxviii. 26.) Strabo, notwithstanding this, describes
it as only a small town and a garrison. According to Alexander Polyhistor (ap.
Steph. B. s. v. Gangra), the town was built by a goatherd who had found one of
his goats straying there; but this is probably a mere philological speculation,
gangra signifying a goat in the Paphlagonian language. In the ecclesiastical writers
Gangra is often mentioned as the metropolitan see of Paphlagonia. (Socrat. ii.
43; Sozom. iii. 14, and elsewhere.) The orchards of this town were celebrated
for the excellence of their apples. (Athen. iii. p. 82.)
HERAKLIA OF PONTOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Heracleia, surnamed Pontica, on the coast of Phrygia, in the country
of the Mariandyni, was a colony of the Megarians, in conjunction with Tanagraeans
from Boeotia. (Paus. v. 26. § 6; Justin. xvi. 3.) Strabo (xii. p. 542) erroneously
calls the town a colony of Miletus. It was situated a few miles to the north of
the river Lycus, and had two excellent harbours, the smaller of which was made
artificially. (Xen. Anab. vi. 2. 1; Diod. xiv. 31; Arrian, Peripl. p. 15; Memnon,
p. 52.) Owing to its excellent situation, the town soon rose to a high degree
of prosperity, and not only reduced the Mariandyni to subjection, but acquired
the supremacy of several other Greek towns in its neighbourhood; so that, at the
time of its highest prosperity, it ruled over the whole territory extending from
the Sangarius in the west to the Parthenius in the east. A protracted struggle
between the aristocracy and the demos (Aristot. Polit. v. 5) at last obliged the
inhabitants to submit to a tyrannis. In the reign of Dionysius, one of these tyrants,
who was married to a relation of Darius Codomannus, Heracleia reached the zenith
of its prosperity. But this state of things did not last long; for the rising
power of the Bithynian princes, who tried to reduce that prosperous maritime city,
and the arrival of the Galatians in Asia, who were instigated by the kings of
Bithynia against Heracleia, deprived the town gradually of a considerable part
of its territory. Still, however, it continued to maintain a very prominent place
among the Greek colonies in those parts, until, in the war of the Romans against
Mithridates, it received its death blow; for Aurelius Cotta plundered and partly
destroyed the town (Memnon, c. 54). It was afterwards indeed restored, but remained
a town of no importance (oppidum, Plin. vi. 1; comp. Strab. xii. p. 543; Scylax,
p. 34; Ptol. v. 1. § 7; Marcian. pp. 70, 73; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. ii. 748,
ad Nicand. Alex. 13; Eustath. ad Dionys. Per. 791). Heracleia, which was the birthplace
of Heraclides Ponticus and his disciple Dionysius Metathemenus, still exists under
the name of Herakie or Erekli. For the history of this important colony see Justin,
xvi. 3-5; Polsberw, de Rebus Heracleae, Brandenburg, 1833, 8vo. (Niebuhr, Lect.
on Anc. Hist. iii. pp. 113, fol.)
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KERASSOUS (Ancient city) PONTOS
Cerasus (Kerasous: Eth. Kerasountios). The Ten Thousand, in their
retreat, came to Trapezus, and leaving Trapezus, they arrive on the third day
at Cerasus, an Hellenic city on the sea, a colony of the Sinopeis, in Colchis.
(Xen. Anab. v. 3. 2) As there is a place called Keresoun on this coast, west of
Trebizond (Trapezus), we should be inclined to. fix Cerasus there. But it is impossible
that the army could have marched through a mountainous unknown country, in three
days, a direct distance of 70 miles; and we may conclude that the three days is
a right reading, for Diodorus (xiv. 30), who copies Xenophon here, also states
the distance at three days. Hamilton found a river called Keresoun Dere Su, which
he takes to be the river of Cerasus, though he did not see any ruins near the
river. The Anonymous geographer places Cerasus 60 stadia east of Coralla, and
90 west of Hieron Oros (Yoros), and on a river of the same name.
Keresoun or Kerasunt represents Pharnacia, a town which existed before
the time of Mithridates the Great. Arrian's statement that Pharnacia was originally
called Cerasus, and the fact of the modern name of Pharnacia resembling Cerasus,
has led some modern geographers to consider the Cerasus of Xenophon the same as
Pharnacia. It seems that the Cerasus of Xenophon decayed after the foundation
of Pharnacia, and if the inhabitants of Cerasus were removed to Pharnacia, the
new town may have had both names. Strabo indeed mentions Cotyora as a town which
supplied inhabitants to Pharnacia, but his words do not exclude the supposition
that other towns contributed. He speaks of Cerasus as a distinct place, a small
town in the same gulf as Hermonassa; and Hermonassa is near Trapezus. This is
not quite consistent with Hamilton's position of Cerasus, which is in a bay between
Coralla and Hieron Oros. Pliny also (vi. 2) distinguishes Pharnacia and Cerasus;
and he places Pharnacia 100 Roman miles from Trapezus, and it may be as much by
the road. Ptolemy also (v. 6) has both Cerasus and Pharnacia, but wrongly placed
with respect to one another, for his text makes Pharnacia east of Cerasus. Mela
(i. 19) only mentions Cerasus, and he styles Cerasus and Trapezus maxime illustres;
but this can hardly be the Cerasus of Xenophon, if the author's statement applies
to his own time. The confusion between Cerasus and Pharnacia is made more singular
by the fact of the name Keresoun being retained at Pharnacia, for which there
is no explanation except in the assumption that the town was also called Cerasus,
or a quarter of the town which some Cerasuntii occupied. Thus Sesamus was the
name of a part of Amrastris.
There is a story that L. Lucullus in his Mithridatic campaign sent
the cherry to Italy from Cerasus, and that the fruit was so called from the place.
(Amm. Marc. xxii. 8; Plin. xv. 25; and Harduin‘s note.) This was in B.C. 74; and
in 120 years, says Pliny, it was carried to Britain, or in A.D. 46.
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Pharnacia (Pharnakia: Eth. Pharnakeus), an important city on the coast of Pontus Polemoniacus, was by sea 150 stadia distant from cape Zephyrium (Arrian, Peripl. Pont. Eux. p. 17; Anonym. Peripl. P. E. p. 12), but by land 24 miles. According to Pliny (vi. 4) it was 80 (180?) miles east of Amisus, and 95 or 100 miles west of Trapezus. (Comp. Tab. Peut., where it is called Carnassus for Cerasus, this latter city being confounded with Pharnacia.) It was evidently founded by one Pharnaces, probably the grandfather of Mithridates the Great; and the latter during his wars with the Romans kept his harem at Pharnacia. Its inhabitants were taken from the neighbouring Cotyura, and the town was strongly fortified. (Strab. xi. p. 548; Plut. Lucull. 18.) The place acquired great prosperity through its commerce and navigation, and through the iron-works of the Chalybes in its vicinity. (Strab. xi. pp. 549, 551.) According to Scylax (p. 33) the site of this town had previously been occupied by a Greek colony called Choerades, of which, however, nothing is known. But that he actually conceived Choerades to have occupied the site of Pharnacia, is clear from the mention of the island of Ares (Areos nesos) in connection with it, for that island is known to have been situated off Pharnacia. (Arrian and Anonym. Peripl. l. c.) Arrian is the only one who affirms that Pharnacia occupied the site of Cerasus; and although he is copied in this instance by the anonymous geographer, yet that writer afterwards correctly places Cerasus 150 stadia further east (p. 13). The error probably arose from a confusion of the names Choerades and Cerasus; but in consequence of this error, the name of Cerasus was in the middle ages transferred to Pharnacia, which hence still bears the name of Kerasunt or Kerasonde. (Comp. Hamilton, Researches, i. pp. 250, 261, foll.; Cramer, Asial Minor, i. p. 281.) Pharnacia is also mentioned by Stephanus Byz. (s. v.), several times by Strabo (ii. p. 126, xi. p. 499, xii. pp. 547, 549, 560, xiv. p. 677), and by Ptolemy (v. 6. § 5). Respecting its coins, see Eckhel (Doctr. Num. vol. iii. p. 357). Another town of the same name in Phrygia is mentioned by Stephanus Byz. (s. v.).
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KOMANA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Comana in Pontus (Komana ta en toi Pontoi or Komana ta Pontika: Gumenek),
a place in Pontus above Phanoroea, as Strabo says, who has a long notice of this
place. Ptolemy (v. 6) fixes it in Pontus Galaticus, but it afterwards belonged
to Pontus Polemoniacus. Justinian placed it in one of the four divisions of Armenia,
which division he called the Second Armenia, as appears from one of his Novellae
(Nov. 31. c. 1). The Table places Comana on a road that runs east from Tavium,
but it is not possible to make much of this route. Strabo, describing the course
of the river Iris, says that it flows from the country called Phanaroea, and has
its sources in Pontus itself: its course is through Comana Pontica, and through
the fertile plain Daximonitis to the west: it then turns to the north at Gaziura.
We thus learn that it was in the upper valley of the Iris, and we know from Gregorius
of Nyssa that it was near Neocaesarea (Niksar). In the book on the Alexandrine
War (c. 35), a lofty range of hills, covered with forests, is said to extend from
Pontic Comana to Armenia Minor, which range divides Cappadocia from Armenia. Hamilton
(Researches, &c., vol. i. p. 450) discovered at a place called Gumenek on the
Tocat-su, the modern name of the Iris, some remains of an ancient town, and part
of a bridge apparently of Roman construction. There seems no doubt that Gumenek
is the site of Comana Pontica. It is about seven miles north-east of Tocat. Pliny
simply speaks of Comana as a Manteium, or the seat of an oracle (vi. 3). It is
stated that it appears from inscriptions to have got the name of Hierocaesarea
under the Romans (Forbiger, vol. ii. p. 428, note), the prefix Hiero or sacred,
indicating the character of the place. The position of Comana made it a great
mart (emporeion) for the merchants that came from Armenia.
Comana was dedicated to the same goddess as Comana in Cappadocia,
and was said to be a colony or settlement from the Cappadocian city. The religious
ceremonial was nearly the same in both places, and the priests had like privileges.
Under the early kings of Pontus, there were annually two great processions in
honour of the goddess, on which occasions the chief priest wore a diadem, and
he was next in dignity to the king. Dorylaus, the son of a sister of the Dorylaus
who was an ancestor of Strabo's mother, once held the high-priesthood of Comana,
which Mithridates the Great gave him. After Cn. Pompeius succeeded L. Lucullus
in the command in these parts, he gave the high-priesthood to Archelaus, and he
added to the lands of the temple a district of 60 stadia, by which expression
Strabo probably means all the country round the temple within 60 stadia. Archelaus
was sovereign of the people within these limits, and he was the owner of all the
hieroduli, or temple slaves, within the city of Comana; but he had not the power
of selling them. These slaves seem to have been attached to the soil. Their number
was not less than 6000. This Archelaus was the son of the Archelaus who was honoured
by L. Sulla and the Roman senate, as Strabo has it, and he was the friend of A.
Gabinius. His father was, in fact, the best commander that Mithridates ever had.
The son Archelaus, the priest, contrived to marry Berenice, the elder sister of
Cleopatra, whose father, Ptolemaeus Auletes, had been driven out of Egypt; and
Archelaus had a six months' reign with her. He fell in battle against Gabinius,
who restored Auletes (B.C. 55). Archelaus was succeeded in the priesthood by his
son Archelaus (Strabo, pp. 558, 796), but C. Julius Caesar, who came into Pontus
after defeating Pharnaces, gave the priesthood to Lycomedes (Appian, Mithrid.
c. 121), who received an addition of territory, as Strabo says. The author of
the Alexandrine War (c. 61) says, that it was the priesthood of Comana in Cappadocia
that Caesar gave to Lycomedes. It seems that he is perhaps mistaken as to the
Comana, but it is clear that he means the Comana in Cappadocia. In a previous
chapter (c. 35) he had spoken of Comana in Pontus. He knew that there were two
places of the name; and in c. 66 it is certain, both from his description of the
place, and the rest of the narrative, that he means the Cappadocian Comana. Cleon,
a robber on Olympus, a friend of M. Antonius, deserted him in the war that ended
in the battle of Actium, and went over to Octavianus Caesar, who made a prince
and a priest of him. In addition to the priesthood of Zeus Abrettenus, Caesar
gave him the rich place at Comana. But he only held this preferment one month,
having died of an acute disease, brought on by excess, or the anger of the goddess,
it is not certain which, though the ministers of the temple attributed it to the
goddess. Within the circuit of the sacred ground (temenos) were the residences
of the priest and the priestess, and among other rules for securing the purity
of the place, it was forbidden to eat swine's flesh within the sacred enclosure:
indeed, no pig was allowed to come within the city. The robber priest, who had
been accustomed to eat swine's flesh in the forests of Olympus, broke the rule
immediately on entering on his new office; and it was supposed that his speedy
death was the consequence of it. (Strabo, p. 575.)
In Strabo's time Dyteutus was high-priest of Comana. He was the son
of Adiatorix, a Galatian chief, whom Octavianus Caesar exhibited in his triumphal
procession after the battle of Actium. Adiatorix was guilty of the crime of having
been on the side of M. Antonius; and accordingly Caesar, after his triumph, gave
orders to put to death the chief, and his eldest son. But the second son persisted
in declaring to the executioner that he was the eldest, and the two brothers disputed
which should die. Their parents induced the elder to yield, and thus the younger
died in his place. Caesar, on hearing this, rewarded the eldest son with the priesthood
of Comana. Thus we have a Gaul in the list of the priests of Comana.
Comana was populous. At the processions of the goddess, her exodoi,
as Strabo calls them, there was a great concourse of people from the towns and
country all around, men and women. The population was also increased by people
who resided there pursuant to their vows, and made sacrifices to the goddess.
The people were fond of good living, and their lands produced plenty of wine.
The number of prostitutes in Comana was large, most of whom belonged to the temple.
So it was, says Strabo, a kind of little Corinth, where people, merchants and
others, got eased of their money.
There are autonomous and imperial coins of Comana, with the legends
Komanon and Komaneon.
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KOTYORA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Cotyora (ta Kotuora: Eth. Kotuorites, Steph. B. s. v.) and Cotyorum
(Plin. vi. 4), in Pontus. According to Xenophon (Anab. v. 5. § 4), a colony of
Sinope, which furnished supplies for the Ten Thousand in their retreat. It was
in the country of the Tibareni. The place was on the coast, and on a bay called
after the town. Strabo, where the name is written in a corrupt form, speaks of
it as a small place; and Arrian as a village, which was owing to the neighbouring
town of Pharnacia being supplied with part of its population from it. The Maritime
Itins. on this coast make the distance from Cotyora to the river Melanthius 60
stadia. Hamilton (Researches, &c. vol. i. p. 267) says: Cotyora perhaps stood
on the site of Ordou, where some remains of an ancient port cut out of the solid
rock are still visible. But he remarks that some writers suppose that Cotyora
was on the modern bay of Pershembah, which is certainly more sheltered than Ordou,
and its distance from the river Melanthius agrees better with the 60 stadia of
Arrian and the anonymous Periplus, than the site of Ordou.
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PAFLAGONIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
Paphlagonia (Paphlagonia: Eth. Paphlagon), a country in the north
of Asia Minor, bordering in the west on Bithynia, in the east on Pontus, and in
the south on Galatia, while the north is washed by the Euxine. The river Parthenius
in the west divided it from Bithynia, the Halys in the east from Pontus, and Mount
Olgassys in the south from Galatia. (Hecat. Fragm. 140; Scylax, p. 34; Strab.
xii. pp. 544, 563; Agathem. ii. 6.) But in the case of this, as of other countries
of Asia Minor, the boundaries are somewhat fluctuating. Strabo, for example, when
saying that Paphlagonia also bordered on Phrygia in the south, was most probably
thinking of those earlier times when the Galatians had not yet established themselves
in Phrygia. Pliny (vi. 2) again includes Amisus beyond the Halys in Paphlagonia,
while Mela (i. 19) regards Sinope, on the west of the Halys, as a city of Pontus.
It is probable, however, that in early times the Paphlagonians occupied, besides
Paphlagonia proper, a considerable tract of country on the east of the Halys,
perhaps as far as Themiscyra or even Cape Iasonium (Xenoph. Anab. v. 6. § 1; Strab.
xii. p. 548), and that the Halys did not become the permanent boundary until the
consolidation of the kingdom of Pontus. The whole length of the country from west
to east amounted to about 40 geographical miles, and its extent from north to
south about 20. Paphlagonia was on the whole a some-what rough and mountainous
country, Mount Olgassys sending forth its ramifications to the north, sometimes
even as far as the coast of the Euxine; but the northern part nevertheless contains
extensive and fertile plains. (Xenoph. Anab. v. 6. § 6, foll.; comp. Strab. xii.
p. 543; Pococke, Travels, iii. p. 138.) The Olgassys is the chief mountain of
Paphlagonia. Its numerous branches are not distinguished by any special names,
except the Scorobas and Cytorus Its most remarkable promontories are Carambis
and Syrias; its rivers, with the exception of the Halys, are but small and have
short courses, as the Sesamus, Ochosbanes, Evarchus, Zalecus, and Amnias. The
fertility was not the same in all parts of the country, for the northern plains
were not inferior in this respect to other parts of Asia Minor, and were even
rich in olive plantations (Strab. xii. p.546)) but the southern, or more mountinous
parts, were rough and unproductive, though distinguished for their large forests.
Paphlagonian horses were celebrated in the earliest times (Hom. II. ii. 281, foll.);
the mules and antelopes (dorkades) were likewise highly prized. In some parts
sheep-breeding was carried on to a considerable extent, while the chase was one
of the favourite pursuits of all the Paphlagonians. (Strab. xii. p. 547; Liv.
xxxviii. 18.) Stories are related by the ancients according to which fish were
dug out of the earth in Paphlagonia. (Strab. xii. p. 562; Athen. viii. p. 331.)
The forests in the south furnished abundance of timber, and the boxus of Mount
Cotyrus was celebrated. (Theophr. H. P. iii. 15; Plin. xvi. 16; Catull. iv. 13;
Val. Flacc. v. 16.) Of mineral products we hear little except that a kind of red
chalk was found in abundance.
The name Paphlagonia is derived in the legends from Paphlagon, a soil
of Phineus. (Eustath. ad Hom. Il. ii. 851, ad Dion. Per. 787; Steph. B. s. v.;
Const. Porph. de Them. i. 7.) Some modern antiquaries have had recourse to the
Semitic languages to find the etymology and meaning of the name; but no certain
results can be obtained. An, ancient name of the country is' said to have been
Pylaemenia (Plin. vi. 2; Justin, xxxvii. 4), because the Paphlagonian princes
pretended to be descendants of Pylaemnenes, the leader of the Paphlagonian Heneti
(Hom. II. xi. 851) in the Trojan War, after whom they also called themselves Pylaemenes.
The Paphlagonians, who are spoken of even in the Homeric poems (Ii.
ii. 851, v. 577, xiii. 656, 661), appear, like the Leucosyri on that coast, to
have been of Syrian origin, and therefore to have belonged to the same stock as
the Cappadocians. (Herod. i. 72, ii. 104 ; Plut. Lucull. 23; Eustath. ad Dionys.
Per. 72.) They widely differed in their language and manners from their Thracian
and Celtic neighbours. Their language, of which Strabo (xii. p. 552) enumerates
some proper names, had to some extent been adopted by the inhabitants of the eastern
bank of the Halys. Their armour consisted of a peculiar kind of helmets made of
wickerwork, small shields, long, spears, javelins, and daggers. (Herod. vii. 72;
Xenoph. Anab. v. 2. § 28, 4. § 13.) Their cavalry was very celebrated on account
of their excellent horses. (Xenoph. Anab. v. 6. § 8.) The Paphlagonians are described
by the ancients as a superstitious, silly, and coarse people, though this seems
to apply to the inhabitants of the interior more than to those of the coast. (Xenoph.
Anab. v. 9. § 6; Aristoph. Eq. 2, 65, 102, 110; Lucian, Alex. 9. foill.) Besides
the Paphlagonians proper and the Greek colonists on the coast, we hear of the
Heneti and Macrones, concerning whose nationality nothing is known: they may accordingly
have been subdivisions of the Paphlagonians themselves, or they may have been
foreign immigrants.
Until the time of Croesus, the country was governed by native independent
princes, but that king made Paphlagonia a part of his empire. (Herod. i. 28.)
On the conquest of Lydia by Cyrus, the Paphlagonians were incorporated with the
Persian empire, in which they formed a part of the third satrapy. (Herod. iii.
90.) But at that great distance from the seat of the government, the satraps found
it easy to assert their independence; and independent Paphlagonian kings are accordingly
mentioned as early as the time of Xenophon (Anab. v. 6. § 3, 9. § 2). In the time
of Alexander the Great, whose expedition did not touch those northern parts, kings
of Cappadocia and Paphlagonia are still mentioned. (Arrian, Anab. ii. 4. § 1;
iii. 8. § 5 ; Diod. Sic. xviii. 16.) But this independence, though it may have
been merely nominal, ceased soon after, and Paphlagonia and Cappadocia fell to
the share of Eumenes. (Diod. Sic. xviii. 3; Justin, xiii. 4, 16.) After Eumenes'
death, it was again governed by native princes, until in the end it was incorporated
with the kingdom of Pontus by Mithridates. (Arrian, ap. Phot. p. 72, ed. Bekker;
Diod. Eclog. xxxi. 3: Justin, xxxvii. 1; Strab. xii. p. 540; Appian, Mithrid.
11, 12.) Mithridates, however, soon afterwards divided Paphlagonia with his neighbour
Nicomedes, who made his son, under the name of Palaemenes,, king of Paphlagonia.
(Justin, xxxvii. 3, 4.) After the conquest of Mithridates, the Romans united the
coast districts of Paphlagonia with Bithynia, but the interior was again governed
by native princes (Strab. l. c.; Appian, B.C. ii. 71; Plut. Pomp. 73); and when
their race became extinct, the Romans incorporated the whole with their empire,
and thence-forth Paphlagonia formed a part of the province of Galatia. (Strab.
vi. p. 288, xii. pp. 541, 562.) In the new division of the empire in the fourth
century, Paphlagonia became a separate province, only the easternmost part being
cut off and added to Pontus. (Hierocl. pp. 695, 701.) The principal coast towns
were Amastris, Erythini, Cromna, Cytorus, Aegialus, Abonitichos, Cimolis, Stephane,
Potami, Armene, Sinope, and Carusa. The whole of the interior of the country was
divided, according to Strabo, into nine districts, viz. Blaene, Domanetis, Pimolisene,
Cimiatene, Timonitis, Gezatorigus, Marmolitis, Sanisene, and Potamia. The interior
contained only few towns, such as Pompeiopolis, Gangra, and some mountain fortresses.
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Olgassys (Olgassus), a lofty and inaccessible mountain on the frontiers of Paphlagonia and Galatia, extending from the Halys in a south-western direction towards the Sangarius, and containing the sources of the Parthenius. The surrounding country was filled with temples erected by the Paphlagonians. (Strab. xii. p. 562.) The mountain mentioned by Ptolemy (v. 4. § 4) under the name of Ligas, Gigas, or Oligas, is probably the same as the Olgassys of Strabo. It still bears its ancient name in the corrupt form of Ulgaz, and modern travellers state that; some parts of the mountain are covered with snow nearly all the year.
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PONTOS (Ancient country) TURKEY
Pontus (Pontos), a large country in the northeast of Asia Minor,
which derived its name from its being on the coast of the Pontus Euxinus, extending
from the frontiers of Colchis in the east, to the river Halys in the west. In
the earlier times the country does not appear to have borne any general appellation,
but the various parts were designated by names derived from the different tribes
by which they were inhabited. Xenophon (Anab. v. 6. § 15) is the first ancient
author who uses Pontus as the name of the country. Pontus formed a long and narrow
tract of coast country from the river Phasis to the Halys, but in the western
part it extended somewhat further south or inland. When its limits were finally
fixed, it bordered in the west on Paphlagonia, where the Halys formed the boundary
; in the South on Galatia, Cappadocia, and Armenia Minor, the Antitaurus and Mount
Paryadres being the boundaries ; and in the east on Colchis and Armenia, from
which it was separated by the river Phasis. Pontus thus embraced the modern pashaliks
of Trebizond and Siwas. Although the country was surrounded by lofty mountains,
which also sent their ramifications into Pontus itself, the plains on the coast,
and especially the western parts, were extremely fertile (Strab. xii. p. 548),
and produced excellent fruit, such as cherries, apples, pears, various kinds of
grain, olives, timber, aconite, &c. (Strab. xii. p. 545, &c.; Theophrast. Hist.
Plant. iv. 5, viii. 4, &c., ix. 16, xix. 17; Plin. xiv. 19.) The country abounded
in game (Strab. xii. p. 548), and among the animals bees are especially mentioned,
and honey and wax formed important articles of commerce. (Xenoph. Anab. iv. 8.
§ § 16, 20; Dioscor. ii. 103; Plin. xxi. 45; Strab. iii. p. 163.) The mineral
wealth of the country consisted chiefly in iron (Xenoph. Anab. v. 4. § 1; Strab.
xii. p. 549; Steph. B. s. v. Chalubes; Pliny vii. 57) and salt. The chief mountains
of Pontus are the Paryadres and on the east of it the Scoedises, two ranges of
Antitaurus, which they connect with Mount Caucasus. The Paryadres sends two branches,
Lithrus and Ophlimus to the north, which form the eastern boundary of the plain
of Phanaroea. Another mountain which terminates in a promontory 100 stadia to
the west of Trapezus was called the Oros Hieron (Anonym. Peripl. p. 13 Apollon.
Rhod. ii. 1015, with Schol.), and Teches is a mountain mentioned in the south-east
of Trapezus. The promontories formed by these mountains, if we proceed from west
to east, are: the Heracleium, Iasonium, and Zephyrium. These projecting headlands
form the bays of Amisus and Cotyora. The mountains in the south contain the sources
of numerous streams and rivers, such as the Halys, Lycastus, Chadisius, Iris,
Scylax, Lycus, Thermodon, Beris, Thoaris, Oenius, Phigamus, Sidenus, Genethes,
Melanthius, Pharmathenus, Hyssus, Ophis, Ascurus, Adienus, Zagatis, - Prytanis,
Pyxites, Archabis, Apsarus, Acampis, Bathys, Acinasis, Isis, Mogrus, and the Phasis.
The only lake in Pontus noticed by the ancients is the Stiphane Palus, in the
west, north of the river Scylax.
Pontus was inhabited by a considerable number of different tribes,
whose ethnological relations are either entirely unknown or extremely obscure.
The most important among them, if we proceed from west to east, are: the Leucosyri,
Tibareni, Chalybes, MosynoeciI, Heptacometae, Drilae, Bechires, Byzeres, Colchi,
Macrones, Mares, Taochi, and Phasiani. Some of these tribes were wild and savage
to the last degree, especially those of the interior; but on the coast Greek colonies
continued to be established ever since the middle of the 7th century B.C., and
rose to great power and prosperity, spreading Greek culture and civilisation around
them.
As to the history of the country, tradition stated that it had been
conquered by Ninus, the founder of the Assyrian empire (Diod. ii. 2); after the
time of Cyrus the Great it certainly was, at least nominally, [p. 659] under the
dominion of Persia (Herod. iii. 94, vii. 77, &c.), and was governed by hereditary
satraps belonging to the royal family of Persia. In the time of Xenophon, the
tribes of Pontus governed by native chiefs seem to have still enjoyed a high degree
of independence. But in B.C. 363, in the reign of Artaxerxes II., Ariobarzanes
subdued several of the Pontian tribes, and thereby laid the foundation of an independent
kingdom in those parts. (Diod. xv. 90.) He was succeeded in B.C. 337 by Mithridates
II., who reigned till B.C. 302, and who, by skilfully, availing himself of the
circumstances of the times during the struggles among the successors of Alexander,
considerably enlarged his kingdom. After him the throne was occupied by Mithridates
III., from B.C. 302 to 266; Ariobarzanes III., B.C. 266 probably till 240. The
chronology of this and the following kings, Mithridates IV., Pharnaces I., and
Mithridates V., is very uncertain. Under Mithridates VI., from B.C. 120 to 63,
the kingdom of Pontus attained the height of its extent and power, but his wars
with the Romans led to its subjugation and dismemberment. Pompey, the conqueror
of Mithridates, in B.C. 65 annexed the western part of Pontus as far as Ischicopolis
and the frontiers of Cappadocia to Bithynia (Dion Cass. xlii. 45; Strab. xii.
pp. 541, 543 ; Vell. Pat. ii. 38; Liv. Epit. 102), and gave away the remaining
parts to some of the chiefs or princes in the adjoining countries. A portion of
the country between the Iris and Halys was given to the Galatian Deiotarus, which
was henceforth called Pontus Galaticus (Strab. xii. p. 547; Dion Cass. xli. 63,
xlii. 45; Ptol. v. 6. § § 3, 9.) The Colchians tribes in the south-east of the
Euxine received a king of their own in the person of Aristarchus. (Appian, Mithrid.
114; Eutrop. vi. 14.) Pharnaces II., the treacherous son of Mithridates, received
the Crimea and some adjoining districts as an independent kingdom under the name
of Bosporus (Appian, Mithrid. 110, &c.); and the central part, from the Iris to
Pharnacia, was subsequently given by M. Antonius to Polemon, the son of Pharnaces,
and was henceforth designated by the name of Pontus Polemoniacus (Ptol. v. 6.
§ § 4, 10; Eutrop. vii. 9; Aurel. Vict. de Caes. 15), which it retained afterwards,
even when it had become incorporated with the Roman empire. The eastern part,
which had likewise been ceded to Polemon, was transferred by his widow Pythodoris
to king Archelaus of Cappadocia, who married her, and, was thenceforth called
Pontus Cappadocius. In Pontus Polemoniacus, Pythodoris was succeeded by her son
Polemon II., who resigned his kingdom into the hands of the emperor Nero (Suet.
Ner. 18; Eutrop. vii. 14). Pontus was then made a Roman province, A.D. 63, under
the name of Pontus Polemoniacus, the administration of which was sometimes combined
with that of Galatia. In the new arrangements under Constantine, the province
was again divided into two parts; the south-western one, which had borne the name
of Pontus Galaticus, was called Helenopontus, in honour of the emperor's mother
Helena; and the eastern portion, to which Pontus Cappadocius was added, retained
the name of Pontus Polemoniacus. (Novell. xxviii. 1; Hierocl. p. 702.) Besides
these provincial divisions, there also exist a number of names of smaller separate
districts, such as Gazelonitis, Saramene, Themiscyra, Sidene; and in the interior
Phazemonitis, Pimosene, Diacopene, Chiliocome, Daximonitis, Zeletis, Ximene, and
Megalopolitis.
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RIZE (Town) TURKEY
Rhizus (Pizous), a port-town of Pontus, at the mouth of the river
Rhizius, about 120 stadia to the east of the river Calus, and 30 stadia west of
the mouth of the Ascurus. In the time of Procopius (Bell. Goth. iv. 2) the place
had risen to considerable importance, so that Justinian surrounded it with strong
fortifications. The Table mentions on its site a place under the name of Reila,
which is probably only a corruption of the right name, which still exists in the
form of Rizeh, though the place is also called Irrish. (Comp. Procop. de Aed.
iii. 4; Ptol. v. 6. § 6.)
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SEBASTOPOLIS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Sebastopolis. A town in Pontus Cappadocicus (Ptol. v. 6. § 7), which,
according to the Antonine Itinerary (p. 205), was situated on a route leading
from Tavium to Sebastia, and was connected by a road with Caesareia (p. 214).
Pliny (vi. 3) places it in the district of Colopene, and agrees with other authorities
in describing it as a small town. (Hierocl. p. 703; Novell. 31; Gregor. Nyssen.
in Macrin. p. 202.) The site of this place is still uncertain, some identifying
the town with Cabira, which is impossible, unless we assume Sebastopolis to be
the same town as Sebaste, and others believing that it occupied the site of the
modern Turchal or Turkhal.
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SIDI (Ancient city) TURKEY
Polemonium (Polemonion), a town on the coast of Pontus, at the mouth
of the small river Sidenus, 10 stadia from Phadisane, and 130 from Cape Iasonium.
(Arrian, Peripl. p. 16; Anonym. Peripl. p. 11, &c.; Ptol. v. 6. § 4; Steph. B.
s. v.) Pliny (vi. 4) places the town 120 Roman miles from Amisus, which seems
to be too great a distance. (Comp. Amm. Marc. xxii. 8; Hierocl, p. 702, where
it is erroneously called Tolemonion; Tab. Peuting.) Neither Strabo nor any writer
before him mentions this town, and it is therefore generally believed that it
was built on the site of the town of Side, which is not noticed by any writer
after Strabo. Its name intimates that it was founded, or at all events was named,
after one Polemon, perhaps the one who was made king of that part of Pontus, about
B.C. 36, by M. Antonius. It had a harbour, and seems to have in the course of
time become a place of considerable importance, as the part of Pontus in which
it was situated received from it the name of Pontus Polemoniacus. The town was
situated on the western bank of the Sidenus, where its existence is still attested
by the ruins of an octagon church, and the remains of a massive wall; but the
ancient name of the place is preserved by the village of Ponleman, on the opposite
side of the river. (Hamilton, Researches, vol. i. p. 270.)
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Side (Side: Eth. Sidetes), a town with a good harbour on the coast of Pamphylia, 50 stadia to the west of the river Melas, and 350 east of Attaleia. (Stud. Mar. Mag. § 214, fell.) The town was founded by Cumae in Aeolis. (Scylax, Peripl. p. 40; Strab. xiv. p. 667, comp. p. 664; Steph. B. s. v.;. Pomp. Mela, i. 15.) Arrian (Anab. i. 26), who admits the Cumaean origin of the place, relates a tradition current at Side itself, according to which the Sidetae were the most ancient colonists sent out from Cumae, but soon after their establishment in their new home forgot the Greek language, and formed a peculiar idiom for themselves, which was not understood even by the neighbouring barbarians. When Alexander appeared before Side, it surrendered and received a Macedonian garrison. In the time of Antiochus the Great, a naval engagement took place off Side between the fleet of Antiochus, commanded by Hannibal, and that of the Rhodians, in which the former was defeated. (Liv. xxxv. 13, 18, xxxvii. 23, 24.) Polybius (v. 73) states that there existed great enmity between the people of Side and Aspendus. At the time when the pirates had reached their highest power in the Mediterranean, they made Side their principal port, and used it as a market to dispose of their prisoners and booty by auction. (Strab. xiv. p. 664.) Side continued to be a town of considerable importance under the Roman emperors, and in the ultimate division of the province it became the metropolis of Pamphylia Prima. (Hierocl. p. 682; Concil. Const. ii. p. 240.) The chief divinity of this city was Athena, who is therefore seen represented on its coins, holding a pomegranate (side) in her hand. (Sestini, Num. Vet. p. 392, foil.; comp. Xenoph. Anab. i. 2. § 12; Cicero, ad Fam. iii. 6; Athen. viii. p. 350; Paus. viii. 28. § 2; Ptol. v. 5. § 2, viii. 17. § 31.) The exact site of ancient Side, which is now called Esky Adalia, as well as its remains, have been described by modern travellers. Beaufort (Karamania, p. 146, foll), who gives an excellent plan of the present condition of the place, states that the city stood on a low peninsula, and was surrounded by walls; the part facing the land was of excellent workmanship, and much of it is still perfect. There were four gates, one from the country and three from the sea. The agora, 180 feet in diameter, was surrounded by a double row of columns. One side of the square is at present occupied by the ruins of a temple and portico. The theatre appears like a lofty acropolis rising from the centre of the town, and is by far the largest and best preserved of any seen in Asia Minor. The harbour consisted of two small moles, connected with the quay and principal sea gate. At the extremity of the peninsula were two artificial harbours for larger vessels. Both are now almost filled with sand and stones, which have been borne in by the swell. The earliest coins of Side are extremely ancient; the inscriptions are in very barbarous characters, resembling the Phoenician, and the imperial coins exhibit the proud titles of lamprotate and endoxos. (Eckhel, vol. iii. pp. 44, 161; Spanheim, De Usu et Praest. Num. p. 879; Fellows, Asia Minor, p. 201; Leake, Asia Minor, p. 195, foll.)
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SINOPI (Ancient city) TURKEY
Sinope (Sinope: Eth. Sinopeus), the most important of all the Greek
colonies on the coast of the Euxine, was situated on a peninsula on the coast
of Paphlagonia, at a distance of 700 stadia to the east of Cape Carambis (Strab.
xii. p. 546; Marcian, p. 73; Eustath. ad Dion. Per. 775.) It was a very ancient
place, its origin being referred to the Argonauts and to Sinope, the daughter
of Asopus. (Apollon. Rhod. ii. 947; Val. Flacc. v. 108.) But the Sinopians themselves
referred the foundation of their city to Autolycus, a companion of Heracles, and
one of the Argonauts, to whom they paid heroic honours (Strabo). But this ancient
town was small and powerless, until it received colonists from Miletus. The Milesians
were in their turn dispossessed by the Cimmerians, to whom Herodotus (iv. 12)
seems to assign the foundation of the city; but when the Cimmerians were driven
from Asia Minor, the Ephesians (in B.C. 632) recovered possession of their colony.
(Scymn. 204, foll.; Anonym. Peripl. P. E. p. 8.) The leader of the first Milesian
colony is called Ambron, and the leaders of the second Cous and Critines; though
this latter statement seems to be a mistake, as Eustathius and Stephanus B. (s.
v.) call the founder Critius, a native of Cos. After this time Sinope soon rose
to great power and prosperity. About the commencement of the Peloponnesian War
the Sinopians, who were then governed by a tyrant, Timesileon, received assistance
from the Athenians; and after the expulsion of the tyrant, 600 Athenian colonists
were sent to Sinope (Plut. Pericl. 20). At the time of the retreat of the Ten
Thousand under Xenophon, Sinope was a wealthy and flourishing city, whose dominion
extended to the river Halys, and which exercised great influence over the tribes
of Paphlagonia and Cappadocia, independently of its colonies of Cerasus, Cotyora,
and Trapezus. It was mainly owing to the assistance of the Sinopians, that the
returning Greeks were enabled to procure ships to convey them to Heracleia (Xenoph.
Anab. v. 5. § 3; Arrian, Peripl. P. E. p. 17; Diod. Sic. xiv. 30, 32; Amm. Marc.
xxii. 8). Strabo also acknowledges that the fleet of the Sinopians held a distinguished
position among the naval powers of the Greeks; it was mistress of the Euxine as
far as the entrance of the Bosporus, and divided with Byzantium the lucrative
tunny fisheries in that sea. In the time of Ptolemy Soter, Sinope was governed
by a prince, Scydrothemis, to whom the Egyptian king sent an embassy. (Tac. Hist.
iv. 82, foll.) Its great wealth, and above all its excellent situation, excited
the cupidity of the kings of Pontus. It was first assailed in B.C. 220, by Mithridates
IV., the great-grandfather of Mithridates the Great. Polybius (iv. 56), who is
our principal authority for this event, describes the situation of Sinope in the
following manner: It is built on a peninsula, which advances out into the sea.
The isthmus which connects the peninsula with the mainland is not more than 2
stadia in breadth, and is entirely barred by the city, which comes up close to
it, but the remainder of the peninsula stretches out towards the sea. It is quite
flat and of easy access from the town; but on the side of the sea it is precipitous
all around, and dangerous for vessels, and presents very few spots fit for effecting
a landing. This description is confirmed by Strabo (xii. p. 545), for he says
that the city was built on the neck of the peninsula; but he adds, that the latter
was girt all around with rocks hollowed out in the form of basins. At high water
these basins were filled, and rendered the shore inaccessible, especially as the
rocks were everywhere so pointed that it was impossible to walk on them with bare
feet. The Sinopians defended themselves bravely against Mithridates, and the timely
aid of the Rhodians in the end enabled them to compel the agressor to raise the
siege. Pharnaces, the successor of Mithridates IV., was more successful. He attacked
the city unexpectedly, and finding its inhabitants unprepared, easily overpowered
it, B.C. 183. From this time Sinope became the chief town, and the residence of
the kings of Pontus. (Strab. l. c.; Polyb. xxiv. 10.) Mithridates, surnamed Euergetes
the successor of Pharnaces, was assassinated at Sinope in B.C. 120 (Strab. x.
p. 477). His son, Mithridates the Great, was born and educated at Sinope, and
did much to embellish and strengthen his birthplace: he formed a harbour on each
side of the isthmus, built naval arsenals, and constructed admirable reservoirs
for the tunny fisheries. After his disaster at Cyzicus, the king intrusted the
command of the garrison of Sinope to Bacchides, who acted as a cruel tyrant; and
Sinope, pressed both from within and from without, was at last taken by Lucullus,
after a brave resistance. (Strab. l. c.; Plut. Lucull. 18; Appian, Bell. Mithr.
83; Memnon, in Phot. Cod. p. 238, ed. Bekker.) Lucullus treated the Sinopians
themselves mildly, having put the Pontian garrison to the sword; and he left them
in possession of all their works of art, which embellished the city, with the
exception of the statue of Autolycus, a work of Sthenis, and the sphere of Billarus.
(Strab. Plut. ll. cc.; Cic. pro Leg. Man. 8) Lucullus restored the city to its
ancient freedom and independence. But when Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates,
had been routed at Zela, Caesar took Sinope under his protection, and established
Roman colonies there, as we must infer from coins bearing the inscription Col.
Jul. Caes. Felix Sinope. In the time of Strabo Sinope was still a large, splendid,
and well fortified city; for he describes it as surrounded by strong walls, and
adorned with fine porticoes, squares, gymnasia, and other public edifices. Its
commerce indeed declined, yet the tunny fisheries formed an inexhaustible source
of revenue, which maintained the city in a tolerable state of prosperity. It possessed
extensive suburbs, and numerous villas in its vicinity (Strab. l. c.; Plin. vi.
2). From Pliny's letter's (x. 91), it appears that the Sinopians suffered some
inconvenience from the want of a good supply of water, which Pliny endeavoured
to remedy by a grant from the emperor Trajan to build an aqueduct conveying water
from a distance of 16 miles. In the time of Arrian and Marcian, Sinope still continued
te be a flourishing town. In the middle ages it belonged to the empire of Trebizond,
and fell into the hands of the Turks in A.D. 1470, in the reign of Mohammed II.
Sinope is also remarkable as the birthplace of several men of eminence, such as
Diogenes the Cynic, Baton, the historian of Persia, and Diphilus, the comic poet.
Near Sinope was a small island, called Scopelus, around which large
vessels were obliged to sail, before they could enter the harbour; but small craft
might pass between it and the land, by which means a circuit of 40 stadia was
avoided (Marcian, p. 72, &c.) The celebrated Sinopian cinnabar (Sinopike miltos,
Sinopis or Sinopike ge) was not a product of the district of Sinope, but was designated
by this name only because it formed one of the chief articles of trade at Sinope.
(Groskurd on Strabo, vol. ii. p. 457, foil.) The imperial coins of Sinope that
are known, extend from Augustus to Gallienus. (Sestini, Num. Vet. p. 63; Rasche,
Lex. Num. iv. 2. p. 1105, foil.)
Sinope, now called Sinab, is still a town of some importance, but
it contains only few remains of its former magnificence. The wall across the isthmus
has been built up with fragments of ancient architecture, such as columns, architraves,
&c., and the same is found in several other parts of the modern town; but no distinct
ruins of its temples, porticoes, or even of the great aqueduct, are to be seen.
(Hamilton, Researches, vol. i. p. 306, &c.)
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SISSAMOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Amastris (Eth. Amastrianos, Amastrianus: Amasra, or Amasserah), a city of Paphlagonia,
on a small river of the same name. Amastris occupied a peninsula, and on each
side of the isthmus was a harbour (Strab.): it was 90 stadia east of the river
Parthenius. The original city seems to have been called Sesamus or Sesamum, and
it is mentioned by Homer (Il. ii. 853) in conjunction with Cytorus. Stephanus
(s. v. Amastris) says that it was originally called Cromna; but in another place
(s. v. Kromna), where he repeats the statement, he adds, as it is said; but some
say that Cromna is a small place in the territory of Amastris, which is the true
account. The place derived its name Amastris from Amastris, the niece of the last
Persian king Darius, who was the wife of Dionysius, tyrant of Heracleia, and after
his death the wife of Lysimachus. Four places, Sesamus, Cytorus, Cromna, also
mentioned in the Iliad (ii. 855), and Teion or Ties, were combined by Amastris,
after her separation from Lysimachus (Memnon, ap. Phot. Cod. ccxxiv.), to form
the new community of Amastris. Teion, says Strabo, soon detached itself from the
community, but the rest kept together, and Sesamus was the acropolis of Amastris.
From this it appears that Amastris was really a confederation or union of three
places, and that Sesamus was the name of the city on the peninsula. This may explain
the fact that Mela (i. 19) mentions Sesamus and Cromna as cities of Paphlagonia,
and does not mention Amastris (Comp. Plin. vi. 2). There is a coin with the epigraph
Sesamum. Those of Amastris have the epigraph Amastrianon.
The territory of Amastris produced a great quantity of boxwood, which
grew on Mount Cytorus. The town was taken by L. Lucullus in the Mithridatic war
(Appian. Mithrid. 82). The younger Pliny, when he was governor of Bithynia and
Pontus, describes Amastris, in a letter to Trajan (x. 99), as a handsome city,
with a very long open place (platea), on one side of which extended what was called
a river, but in fact was a filthy, pestilent, open drain. Pliny obtained the emperor's
permission to cover over this sewer. On a coin of the time of Trajan, Amastris
has the title Metropolis. It continued to be a town of some note to the seventh
century of our era.
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THEMISKYRA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Themiscyra (Themiskura), a plain in the north of Pontus, about the
mouths of the rivers Iris and Thermodon, was a rich and beautiful district, ever
verdant, and supplying food for numberless herds of oxen and horses. It also produced
great abundance of grain, especially pannick and millet; and the southern parts
near the mountains furnished a variety of fruits, such as grapes, apples, pears,
and nuts in such quantities that they were suffered to waste on the trees. (Strab.
ii. p. 126, xii. p. 547, foll.; Aeschyl. Prom. 722; comp. Apollod. ii. 5; Apollon.
Rhod. ii. 370; Plin. vi. 3, xxiv. 102.) Mythology describes this plain as the
native country of the Amazons.
A Greek town of the name of Themiscyra, at a little distance from
the coast and near the mouth of the Thermodon, is mentioned as early as the time
of Herodotus (iv. 86; comp. Scylax, p. 33; Paus. i. 2. § 1). Ptolemy (v. 6 § 3)
is undoubtedly mistaken in placing it further west, midway between the Iris and
Cape Heraclium. Scylax calls it a Greek town; but Diodorus (ii. 44) states that
it was built by the founder of the kingdom of the Amazons. After the retreat of
Mithridates from Cyzicus, Themiscyra was besieged by Lucullus. The inhabitants
on that occasion defended themselves with great valour; and when their walls were
undermined, they sent bears and other wild beasts, and even swarms of bees, against
the workmen of Lucullus (Appian, Mithrid. 78). But notwithstanding their gallant
defence, the town seems to have perished on that occasion, for Mela speaks of
it as no longer existing (i. 19), and Strabo does not mention it at all. (Comp.
Anon. Peripl. P. E. p. 11; Steph. B. s. v. Chadisia.) Some suppose that the town
of Thermeh, at the mouth of the Thermodon, marks the site of ancient Themiscyra;
but Hamilton (Researches, i. p. 283) justly observes that it must have been situated
a little further inland. Ruins of the place do not appear to exist, for those
which. Texier regards as indicating the site of Themiscyra, at a distance of two
days' journey from the Halys, on the borders of Galatia, cannot possibly have
belonged to it, but are in all probability the remains of Tavium.
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TIOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Tius or Tium (Tios or Tion: Eth. Tianos), a town on the coast of Bithynia,
or, according to others, belonging to Paphlagonia. It was a Greek town situated
at the mouth of the river Billaeus, and seems to have belonged to Paphlagonia
until Prusias annexed it to Bithynia. (Memnon, 17-19; Pomp. Mela, i. 19; Marcian,
p. 70; Arrian, Peripl. P. E. p. 14; Anon. Peripl. P. E. p. 2.) In Strabo's (xii.
pp. 542, 543, 565) time, Tius was only a small place but remarkable as the birthplace
of Philetaerus, the founder of the royal dynasty of Pergamum. (Comp. Plin. vi.
1.) There are coins of Tius as late as the reign of Gallienus, on which the ethnic
name appears as Tianoi, Teioi, and Teianoi. (Sestini, p. 71; Eckhel, ii. p. 438.)
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TRAPEZOUS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Trapezus (Trapezous: Eth. Trapezountios: now Tarabosan or Trebizond),
an important city on the coast of Pontus, on the slope of a hill, 60 stadia to
the east of Hermonassa, in the territory of the Macrones (Anon. Peripl. P. E.
p. 13), was a colony founded by the Sinopians, who formed many establishments
on this coast. (Xenoph. Anab. iv. 8. § 22; Arrian, Peripl. P. E. pp. 1, 3, 6;
Scylax, p. 33.) It derived its name probably from its form, being situated on
an elevated platform, as it were a table above the sea; though the town of Trapezus
in Arcadia pretended to be the mother-city of Trapezus in Pontus (Paus. viii.
27. § 4). Trapezus was already a flourishing town when Xenophon arrived there
on his memorable retreat; and he and his men were most hospitably treated by the
Trapezuntians. (Xen. Anab. v. 5. 10) At that time the Colchians were still in
possession of the territory, but it afterwards was occupied by the Macrones. The
real greatness of Trapezus, however, seems to have commenced under the dominion
of the Romans. Pliny (vi. 4) calls it a free city, a distinction which it had
probably obtained front Pompey during his war against Mithridates. In the reign
of Hadrian, when Arrian visited it, it was the most important city on the south
coast of the Euxine, and Trajan had before made it the capital of Pontus Cappadocicus,
and provided it with a larger and better harbour. (Arrian, Peripl. P. E. p. 17;
comp. Tac. Ann. xiii. 39, Hist. iii. 47; Pomp. Mela, i. 19; Strab. vii. pp. 309,
320, xi. p. 499, xii. p. 548; Steph. B. s. v.) Henceforth it was a strongly fortified
commercial town; and although in the reign of Gallienus it was sacked and burnt
by the Goths (Zosim. i. 33; Eustath. ad Dion. Per. 687), it continued to be in
such excellent condition, that in the reign of Justinian it required but few repairs.
(Procop. de Aed. iii. 7.) From the Notitia Imperil (c. 27) we learn that Trapezus
was the station of the first Pontian legion and its staff. Some centuries later
a branch of the imperial house of the Comneni declared themselves independent
of the Greek Empire, and made Trapezus the seat of their principality. This small
principality maintained its independence even for some time after the fall of
Constantinople; but being too weak to resist the overwhelming power of the Turks,
it was obliged, in A.D. 1460, to submit to Mohammed II., and has ever since that
time been a Turkish town. (Chalcond. ix. p. 263, foll.; Due. 45; comp. Gibbon,
Decline, c. xlviii. foll.) The port of Trapezus, called Daphnus, was formed by
the acropolis, which was built on a rock running out into the sea. (Anon. Peripl.
P. E. p. 13.) The city of Trebizond is still one of the most flourishing commercial
cities of Asia Minor, but it contains no ancient remains of any interest, as most
of them belong to the period of the Lower Empire. (Tournefort, Voyage au Levant,
iii., lettre 17, p. 79, foll; Fontanier, Voyages dans l'Orient, p. 17--23; Hamilton's
Researches, i. p. 240.) The coins of Trapezus all belong to the imperial period,
and extend from the reign of Trajan to that of Philip. (Eckhel, i. 2. p. 358;
Sestini, p. 60.)
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VITHYNION (Ancient city) TURKEY
Bithynium (Bithunion: Eth. Bithunieus, Bithuniates), a city in the
interior of Bithynia, lying above Tins, as Strabo describes it, and possessing
the country around Salon, which was a good feeding country for cattle, and noted
for its cheese. (Plin. xi. 42; Steph. B. s. v. Saloneia.) Bithynium was the birthplace
of Antinous, the favourite of Hadrian, as Pausanius tells us (viii. 9), who adds
that Bithynium is beyond, by which he probably means east of, the river Sangarius;
and he adds that the remotest ancestors of the Bithynians are Arcadians and Mantineis.
If this is true, which however does not seem probable, a Greek colony settled
here. Bithynium was afterwards Claudiopolis, a name which it is conjectured it
first had in the time of Tiberius (Cramer, Asia Minor, vol. i. p. 210); but it
is strange that Pausanias does not mention this name. Dion Cassius (lxix. 11.
ed. Reimarus, and his note) speaks of it under the name of Bithynium and Claudiopolis
also. It has been inferred from the words of Pausanias that Bithynium was on or
near the Sangarius, but this does not appear to be a correct interpretation. Leake,
however, adopts it (Asia Minor, p. 309); and he concludes from the dubious evidence
of Pausanias that, having been originally a Greek colony, it was probably not
far from the mouth of the Sangarius. But this is quite inconsistent with Strabo,
who places it in the interior; as Pliny (v. 32) does also. It seems probable that
Claudiopolis was in the basin of the Billaeus; and this seems to agree with Ptolemy's
determination of Claudiopolis.
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ZILA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Zela (ta Zela), a town in the interior of Pontus, on the left bank
of the Iris, towards the Galatian frontier, was believed to have been erected
on a mound constructed by Semiramis. (Strab.xii. p. 561, comp. pp. 512, 559.)
It seems to have originally been a place consecrated to the worship of the goddess
Anaitis, to whom a temple was built there by the Persians in commemoration of
a victory over the Sacae. The chief priest of this temple was regarded as the
sovereign of Zela and its territory (Zeletis). Notwithstanding this, however,
it remained a small place until Pompey, after his victory over Mithridates, raised
it to the rank of a city by increasing its population and extending its walls.
Zela is celebrated in history for a victory obtained in its vicinity by Mithridates
over the Romans under Triarius, and still more for the defeat of Pharnaces, about
which Caesar sent to Rome the famous report Veni, Vidi, Vici. (Plin. vi. 3; Appian,
Mithrid. 89; Plut. Caes. 50; Dion Cass. xlii. 47, where the place is erroneously
called Zeleia; Hirt. Bell. Alex. 73, where it is called Ziela; Ptol. v. 6. § 10;
Hierocl. p. 701; Steph. B. s. v.) Zela was situated at a distance of four days'
journey (according to the Peut. Table 80 miles) from Tavium, and south-east of
Amasia. The elevated ground on which the town was situated, and which Strabo calls
the mound of Semiramis, was, according to Hirtius, a natural hill, but so shaped
that it might seem to be the work of human hands. According to Hamilton (Researches,
i. p. 306), is a black-coloured isolated hill rising out of the plain, and is
now crowned with a Turkish fortress, which still bears the name of Zilleh.
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AMASSIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
The capital of the kings of Pontus, a strongly fortified city on both banks of the river Iris. It was the birthplace of Mithridates the Great and of the geographer Strabo.
AMISSOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
A large city on the coast of Pontus, called after it Amisenus Sinus, and a favourite residence of Mithridates.
BLACK SEA (Sea) TURKEY
(Pontos Euxeinos), or simply Pontus (Pontos). Now the Black
Sea. The great inland sea enclosed by Asia Minor on the south, Colchis on the
east, Sarmatia on the north, and Dacia and Thracia on the west, and having no
other outlet than the narrow Bosporus Thracius in its southwestern corner. Its
length is about 700 miles, and its breadth varies from 400 to 160. The Argonautic
legends show that the Greeks had some acquaintance with this sea at a very early
period. It is said that they at first called it Axenos ("inhospitable"),
from the savage character of the peoples on its coast and from the supposed
terrors of its navigation, and that afterwards, on their favourite principle
of euphemism (i. e. abstaining from words of evil omen), they changed its name
to Euxenos (Ion. Euxeinos), "hospitable". The Greeks of Asia Minor,
especially the people of Miletus, founded many colonies and commercial emporiums
on its shores.
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EFPATORIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
(Magnopolis) or Eupatoria Magnopolis. A city of Pontus in Asia Minor near the union of the rivers Lycus and Iris. It was begun by Mithridates Eupator and finished by Pompey the Great.
GANGRA (Ancient city) PAFLAGONIA
A city of Paphlagonia, near the borders of Galatia. In the time of King Deiotarus it was a royal residence, and under the Empire, the capital of Paphlagonia.
HERAKLIA OF PONTOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Pontica (Herakleia Pontou). A city on the coast of Bithynia,
about twelve stadia from the river Lycus. It was founded by a colony of Megareans,
strengthened by some Tanagreans from Boeotia; the numbers of the former, however,
so predominated that the city was in general considered as Doric. This place was
famed for its naval power and its consequence among the Asiatic States. Memnon
composed a history of the tyrants who reigned at Heraclea during a space of eighty-four
years; but we have only now the abridgment of Photius, which is confirmed by incidental
notices contained in Aristotle.
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KERASSOUS (Ancient city) PONTOS
A flourishing colony of Sinope on the coast of Pontus, at the
mouth of a river of the same name; chiefly celebrated as the place from which
Europe obtained both the cherry and its name (cerasum). Lucullus is said to have
brought back plants of the cherry-tree (kerasos) with him to Rome; but this refers
probably only to some particular sorts, as the Romans seem to have had the tree
much earlier. Cerasus fell into decay after the foundation of Pharnacia.
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(Pharnakia). A flourishing city of Asia Minor, on the coast of Pontus, built near or actually on the site of Cerasus, probably by Pharnaces, the grandfather of Mithridates the Great.
KYTOROS (Ancient city) PAFLAGONIA
(Kutoron). A city of Paphlagonia, on the coast between the promontory
Carambis and Amastris. It was a Greek town of great antiquity, since Homer alludes
to it (Il. ii. 853), and it is thought to have been founded by a colony of Milesians.
According to Strabo, it had been a port of the inhabitants of Sinope. In its vicinity
was a mountain, named Cytorus, which produced a beautifully veined species of
box-tree. It is now Kidros.
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NEOKESARIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
(Neokaisareia). A city of Pontus in Asia Minor, standing on the river Lycus. It was the native place of Gregory Thaumaturgus. The modern name is Niksar.
PAFLAGONIA (Ancient country) TURKEY
A country of Asia Minor, bounded by Bithynia on the west, by
Pontus on the east, by Phrygia and afterwards by Galatia on the south, and by
the Euxine on the north. In the Trojan War the Paphlagonians are said to have
come to the assistance of the Trojans, from the land of the Heneti, under the
command of Pylaemenes. The Paphlagonians were subdued by Croesus, and afterwards
formed part of the Persian Empire. Under the Romans, Paphlagonia formed part of
the province of Galatia, but it was made a separate province by Constantine. The
principal rivers were the Halys, the Sesamus, the Ochosbanes, the Evarchus, the
Zalecus, and the Amnius. The principal cities (mostly on the coast) were Amastris,
Cromna, Aegealius, Abonitichos, Cimolis, Stephane, Potami, Sinope, Pompeiopolis,
and Gangra.
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PONTOS (Ancient country) TURKEY
(Pontos). The most northeasterly district of Asia Minor, along
the coast of the Euxine, east of the river Halys, having originally no specific
name, was spoken of as the country en Pontoi, "on the Pontus" (Euxinus),
and hence acquired the name of Pontus, which is first found in Xenophon's Anabasis.
The name first acquired a political importance through the foundation of a new
kingdom in it, about the beginning of the fourth century B.C., by Ariobarzanes
I. This kingdom reached its greatest height under Mithridates VI., who for many
years carried on war with the Romans. In A.D. 62 the country was constituted by
Nero a Roman province. It was divided into the three districts of Pontus Galaticus
in the west, bordering on Galatia; P. Polemoniacus in the centre, so called from
its capital Polemonium; and P. Cappadocius in the east, bordering on Cappadocia
(Armenia Minor). Pontus was a mountainous country--wild and barren in the east,
where the great chains approach the Euxine; but in the west watered by the great
rivers Halys and Iris, and their tributaries, the valleys of which, [p. 1301]
as well as the land along the coast, are extremely fertile. The eastern part was
rich in minerals, and contained the celebrated iron mines of the Chalybes. The
inhabitants of Pontus were called generically Leucosyri.
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PROUSIAS PROS IPIO (Ancient city) TURKEY
Some writers distinguish from this a smaller city, called P. ad Hypium or Hyppium (pros toi Hgppioi potamoi) which stood northwest of the former, and was originally called Cierus (Kieros), and belonged to the territory of Heraclea, but was conquered by Prusias, who named it after himself. It stood northwest of the former. Perhaps it is only another name for Cius.
SIDI (Ancient city) TURKEY
(Polemonion). A city on the coast of Pontus, in Asia Minor, built by King Polemon (probably the second of the name), on the site of the older city of Side, and at the end of a deep gulf.
(Sida). The old name of Polemonium.
SINOPI (Ancient city) TURKEY
Now Sinope, Sinoub; the most important of all the Greek colonies
on the shores of the Euxine, stood on the northern coast of Asia Minor, on the
western headland of the great bay of which the delta of the river Halys forms
the eastern headland, and a little east of the northernmost promontory of Asia
Minor. It appears in history as a very early colony of the Milesians. Having been
destroyed in the invasion of Asia by the Cimmerians, it was restored by a new
colony from Miletus in B.C. 632, and soon became the greatest commercial city
on the Euxine. Its territory, called Sinopis, extended to the banks of the Halys.
It was the birthplace and residence of Mithridates the Great, who enlarged and
beautified it. Shortly before the murder of Iulius Caesar it was colonized by
the name of Iulia Caesarea Felix Sinope, and remained a flourishing city, though
it never recovered its former importance. At the time of Constantine it had declined
so much as to be ranked second to Amasia. It was the native city of the renowned
cynic philosopher Diogenes, of the comic poet Diphilus, and of the historian Baton.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
THEMISKYRA (Ancient city) TURKEY
A plain on the coast of Pontus, extending east of the river Iris, beyond the Thermodon, celebrated from very ancient times as the country of the Amazons.
TRAPEZOUS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Now Tarabosan, Trabezun, or Trebizond; a colony of Sinope, at
almost the extreme east of the northern shore of Asia Minor. The city derived
its name either from the table-like plateau on which it was built, or because
emigrants from the Arcadian Trapezus took some part in its settlement. The former
is the more likely statement, since there is no reason why the main body of colonists
from Sinope should have given it the name of another town. After Sinope lost its
independence, Trapezus belonged, first to Armenia Minor, and afterwards to the
kingdom of Pontus. Under the Romans, it was made a free city, probably by Pompey,
and, by Trajan, the capital of Pontus Cappadocius. Hadrian constructed a new harbour;
and the city became a place of first-rate commercial importance. It was also strongly
fortified. It was taken by the Goths in the reign of Valerian; but it had recovered,
and was in a flourishing state at the time of Justinian, who repaired its fortifications.
In the Middle Ages it was for some time the seat of a fragment of the Greek Empire,
called the Empire of Trebizond.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
VITHYNION (Ancient city) TURKEY
A city of Bithynia, previously called Bithynium. It was situated
above Tium, in a district named Salone, celebrated for its excellent pastures
and a cheese much esteemed at Rome. Under Theodosius it was made the capital of
the province Honorias. Many years after, we learn from Anna Comnena and Leo Diaconus,
who describe it as the most wealthy and flourishing city of Galatia, that it was
almost totally destroyed by an earthquake, attended with vast loss of life.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ZILA (Ancient city) TURKEY
(ta Zela) or Ziela. Now Zilleh; a city in the south of Pontus,
not far south of Amasia. The surrounding district was called Zeletis or Zelitis.
At Zela the Roman general Valerius Triarius was defeated by Mithridates; but the
city is more celebrated for another great battle, that in which Iulius Caesar
defeated Pharnaces, and of which he wrote his famous despatch to Rome--Veni, vidi,
vici.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
SISSAMOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
ABONUTEICHOS (Ancient city) BLACK SEA COAST
HERAKLIA OF PONTOS (Ancient city) TURKEY
Total results on 4/5/2001: 7
KROMNA (Ancient city) PAFLAGONIA
Total results on 21/9/2001: 4
KYTOROS (Ancient city) PAFLAGONIA
Total results on 21/9/2001: 15
THEMISKYRA (Ancient city) TURKEY
Total results on 6/6/2001: 22 for Themiscyra, 7 for Themiskyra.
EGIALOS (Ancient city) PAFLAGONIA
It was located close to the city of Sinope and the Mt. Cytorus.
PROUSIAS PROS IPIO (Ancient city) TURKEY
ABONUTEICHOS (Ancient city) BLACK SEA COAST
A titular see in the province of Paphlagonia,
suffragan of Gangres. The city was founded by a colony from Miletus
already established at Sinope,
and at first took the name of Abonouteichos.
There, in the second century A.D., was born the false prophet Alexander,
who caused the erection of a large temple to Apollo, and thus secured rich revenues.
The city was afterwards called Ionopolis.
Le Quien mentions eight bishops between 325 and 878; it had others
since then, for the see is mentioned in the later “Notitiae episcopatuum.”
Ionopolis, to-day called
Ineboli, is a Black Sea port,
numbering 9000 inhabitants, 1650 of whom are Greek schismatics, and 230 Armenians;
all the remainder are Turks. It is a caza of the sanjak and the vilayet of Castamouni,
and enjoys a very healthy and pleasant climate.
S. Vailhe, ed.
Transcribed by: John Fobian
This text is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
GAZIURA (Ancient city) TURKEY
A titular see in the Province of Helenopont, suffragan of Amasia. The primitive name of the city was Gaziura, formerly a royal city, mentioned by Strabo as deserted (XII, xv: Dion Cassius, xxxv, 12). In fact a Greek inscription, which dates from the time of Mithridates of Pontus, has been discovered on the rock of the fortress; a subterranean gallery, hewn from the rock, descends to the interior of the mountain and served perhaps as a secret depository for the royal treasures. Evagrius Ponticus, the famous Origenist ascetic of the fourth century, was a native of Ibora (Sozomen, "Hist. Eccl.," VI, xxx); situated not far from it was Annesi, the property of St. Basil, who led a religious life on the bank of the river Iris with his friend St. Gregory and his sister Macrina. There is frequent mention in the correspondence of these two saints of Ibora, which, according to Procopius (Historia Arcana, xviii), was destroyed by an earthquake in the sixth century. Le Quien (Oriens Christ., I, 533) mentions seven bishops of Ibora, from the fourth to the ninth century. The bishopric still existed about the year 1170 under Manuel Comnenus (Parthey, "Hieroclis Synecdemus," 108). To-day Ibora is called Turkhal; it is a caza in the sanjak of Tokat, in the vilayet of Sivas. The village numbers 3000 inhabitants, all Turks. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens and orchards. Nearby is the Lake of Turkhal, three to three and a half miles in circumference.
Thomas J. Shahan, ed.
Transcribed by: S. Vailhe
This text is cited Dec 2005 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
INEBOLU (Town) TURKEY
A titular see in the province of Paphlagonia, suffragan of Gangres. The city was founded by a colony from Miletus already established at Sinope, and at first took the name of Abonouteichos. There, in the second century A.D., was born the false prophet Alexander, who caused the erection of a large temple to Apollo, and thus secured rich revenues. The city was afterwards called Ionopolis. Le Quien (Oriens Christ., I, 555) mentions eight bishops between 325 and 878; it had others since then, for the see is mentioned in the later "Notitiae episcopatuum." Ionopolis, to-day called Ineboli, is a Black Sea port, numbering 9000 inhabitants, 1650 of whom are Greek schismatics, and 230 Armenians; all the remainder are Turks. It is a caza of the sanjak and the vilayet of Castamouni, and enjoys a very healthy and pleasant climate.
S. Vailhe, ed.
This text is cited July 2004 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
KERASSOUS (Ancient city) PONTOS
NEOKESARIA (Ancient city) TURKEY
POMPEIOPOLIS (Ancient city) TURKEY
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