CHAP. 31.—IONIA.
Ionia begins at the Gulf of Iasos, and has a long winding
coast with numerous bays. First comes the Gulf of Basilicum[1], then the Promontory[2] and town of Posideum, and the
oracle once called the oracle of the Branchidæ[3], but now of
Didymæan Apollo, a distance of twenty stadia from the seashore. One hundred and eighty stadia thence is Miletus[4],
the capital of Ionia, which formerly had the names of Lelegëis, Pityusa, and Anactoria, the mother of more than ninety
cities, founded upon all seas; nor must she be deprived of the
honour of having Cadmus[5] for her citizen, who was the first
to write in prose. The river Mæander, rising from a lake in
Mount Aulocrene, waters many cities and receives numerous
tributary streams. It is so serpentine in its course, that it
is often thought to turn back to the very spot from which
it came. It first runs through the district of Apamea, then
that of Eumenia, and then the plains of Bargyla; after
which, with a placid stream it passes through Caria, watering all that territory with a slime of a most fertilizing quality,
and then at a distance of ten stadia from Miletus with a
gentle current enters the sea. We then come to Mount
Latmus[6], the towns of Heraclea[7], also called by the same
name as the mountain, Carice, Myus[8], said to have been first
built by Ionians who came from Athens, Naulochum[9], and
Priene[10]. Upon that part of the coast which bears the name
of Trogilia[11] is the river Gessus. This district is held sacred
by all the Ionians, and thence receives the name of Panionia.
Near to it was formerly the town of Phygela, built by
fugitives, as its name implies[12], and that of Marathesium[13].
Above these places is Magnesia[14], distinguished by the surname of the "Mæandrian," and sprung from Magnesia in Thessaly: it is distant from Ephesus fifteen miles, and three more
from Tralles. It formerly had the names of Thessaloche and
Androlitia, and, lying on the sea-shore, it has withdrawn from
the sea the islands known as the Derasidæ[15] and joined them
to the mainland. In the interior also is Thyatira[16], washed
by the Lycus; for some time it was also called Pelopia and
Euhippia[17].
Upon the coast again is Mantium, and Ephesus[18], which
was founded by the Amazons[19], and formerly called by so
many names: Alopes at the time of the Trojan war, after that
Ortygia and Morges, and then Smyrna, with the surname of
Trachia, as also Samornion and Ptelea. This city is built
on Mount Pion, and is washed by the Caÿster[20], a river which
rises in the Cilbian range and brings down the waters of
many streams[21], as also of Lake Pegasæus[22], which receives
those discharged by the river Phyrites[23]. From these streams
there accumulates a large quantity of slime, which vastly
increases the soil, and has added to the mainland the island
of Syrie[24], which now lies in the midst of its plains. In this
city is the fountain of Calippia[25] and the temple of Diana,
which last is surrounded by two streams, each known by the
name of Selenus, and flowing from opposite directions.
After leaving Ephesus there is another Mantium, belonging
to the Colophonians, and in the interior Colophon[26] itself,
past which the river Halesus[27] flows. After this we come to
the temple[28] of the Clarian Apollo, and Lebedos[29]: the city
of Notium[30] once stood here. Next comes the Promontory
of Coryceium[31], and then Mount Mimas, which projects 150
miles into the sea, and as it approaches the mainland sinks
down into extensive plains. It was at this place that Alexander
the Great gave orders for the plain to be cut through, a
distance of seven miles and a half, for the purpose of joining
the two gulfs and making an island of Erythræ[32] and Mimas.
Near Erythræ formerly stood the towns of Pteleon, Helos,
and Dorion; we now find the river Aleon, Corynæum, a
Promontory of Mount Mimas, Clazomenæ[33], Parthenie[34], and
Hippi[35], known by the name of Chytrophoria, when it
formed a group of islands; these were united to the continent
by the same Alexander, by means of a causeway[36] two
stadia in length. In the interior, the cities of Daphnus,
Hermesia, and Sipylum[37], formerly called Tantalis, and the
capital of Mæonia, where Lake Sale now stands, are now
no longer in existence: Archæopolis too, which succeeded
Sipylum, has perished, and in their turns Colpe and Libade,
which succeeded it.
On returning thence[38] towards the coast, at a distance of
twelve miles we find Smyrna[39], originally founded by an
Amazon [of that name], and rebuilt by Alexander; it is refreshed
by the river Meles, which rises not far off. Through
this district run what may almost be called the most famous
mountains of Asia, Mastusia in the rear of Smyrna, and
Termetis[40], joining the foot of Olympus. Termetis is joined
by Draco, Draco running into Tmolus, Tmolus into Cadmus[41],
and Cadmus into Taurus. Leaving Smyrna, the river Hermus
forms a tract of plains, and gives them its own name. It
rises near Dorylæum[42], a city of Phrygia, and in its course
receives several rivers, among them the one called the Phryx,
which divides Caria from the nation to which it gives
name; also the Hyllus[43] and the Cryos, themselves swollen
by the rivers of Phrygia, Mysia, and Lydia. At the mouth
of the Hermus formerly stood the town of Temnos[44]: we
now see at the extremity of the gulf[45] the rocks called
Myrmeces[46], the town of Leuce[47] on a promontory which
was once an island, and Phocæa[48], the frontier town of
Ionia.
A great part also of Æolia, of which we shall have presently
to speak, has recourse to the jurisdiction of Smyrna;
as well as the Macedones, surnamed Hyrcani[49], and the Magnetes[50]
from Sipylus. But to Ephesus, that other great luminary
of Asia, resort the more distant peoples known as the
Cæsarienses[51], the Metropolitæ[52], the Cilbiani[53], both the
Lower and Upper, the Mysomacedones[54], the Mastaurenses[55],
the Briulitæ[56], the Hypæpeni[57], and the Dioshïeritæ[58].
1. Now called the Gulf of Melasso.
2. Now the Cape of Melasso.
3. The remains of the Temple of Didymæan Apollo at Branchidæ are still visible to those sailing along the coast. It was in the Milesian territory, and above the harbour Panormus. The name of the site was probably Didyma or Didymi, but the place was also called Branchidæ, from that being the name of a body of priests who had the care of the temple. We learn from Herodotus that Crœsus, king of Lydia, consulted this oracle, and made rich presents to the temple. The temple, of which only two columns are left, was of white marble.
4. The ruins of this important city are difficult to discover on account of the great changes made on the coast by the river Meander. They are usually supposed to be those at the poor village of Palatia on the south bank of the Mendereh; but Forbiger has shown that these are more probably the remains of Myus, and that those of Miletus are buried in a lake formed by the Mendereh at the foot of Mount Latmus.
5. See B. vii. c. 57. Josephus says that he lived very shortly before the Persian invasion of Greece.
6. Now called the Monte di Palatia.
7. Generally called "Heraclea upon Latmus," from its situation at the western foot of Mount Latmus. Ruins of this town still exist at the foot of that mountain on the borders of Lake Baffi.
8. Its ruins are now to be seen at Palatia. It was the smallest city of the Ionian Confederacy, and' was situate at the mouth of the Mæander, thirty stadia from its mouth.
9. Mannert says that its ruins are to be seen at a spot called by the Turks Sarasun-Kalesi.
10. One of the twelve Ionian cities, situate at the foot of Mount Mycale. It stood originally on the shore, but the change in the coast by the alluvial deposits of the Mæander left it some distance from the land. It was celebrated as being the birth-place of the philosopher Bias. Its ruins are to be seen at the spot called Samsun.
11. Now called Cape Santa Maria, or Samsun.
12. He implies that it is derived from fulh\ "C flight."
13. Between Ephesus and Neapolis. It belonged to the Samians who exchanged with the Ephesians for Neapolis, which lay nearer to their island. The modern Scala Nova occupies the site of one of them, it is uncertain which.
14. Its ruins are to be seen at the modern Inek-Bazar. It was situate on the river Lethæus, a tributary of the Mæander. It was famous for its temple of Artemis Leucophryene, the ruins of which still exist.
15. See B. ii. c. 91.
16. Now known as Ak-Hissar or the "White Castle." Strabo informs us that it was founded by Seleucus Nicator.
17. From the excellence of its horses.
18. Its ruins are to be seen near the modern Ayazaluk. It was the chief of the twelve Ionian cities on the coast of Asia Minor, and devoted to the worship of Artemis, whose temple here was deemed one of the wonders of the world. Nothing, except some traces of its foundations, is now to be seen of this stupendous building.
19. It was more generally said to have been founded by the Carians and the Leleges.
20. Now called the Kara-Su, or Black River, or Kuchuk-Meinder, or Little Mæander.
21. It has been observed that though Pliny seems to say that the Caÿster receives many streams, they must have had but a short course, and could only be so many channels by which the rivers descend from the mountain slopes that shut in the contracted basin of the river.
22. This lake or marsh seems to be the morass situate on the road from Smyrna to Ephesus, into which the Phyrites flows, and out of which it comes a considerable stream.
23. The Phyrites is a small river that is crossed on the road from Ephesus to Smyrna, and joins the Caÿster on the right bank ten or twelve miles above Ayazaluk, near the site of Ephesus.
24. See B. ii. c. 91. for further mention of this island.
25. Said to be derived from the Greek, meaning "The beautiful (stream) from Pion."
26. One of the twelve Ionian cities of Asia, founded by Andræmon. Notium was its port. There do not seem to be any remains of either of these places.
27. Called also the Hales or Ales, and noted for the coolness of its waters.
28. At Clarus, near Colophon. When Germanicus was on his way to the East, this oracle foretold to him his speedy death. Chandler is of opinion that he discovered the site of this place at Zillé, where he found a spring of water with marble steps to it, which he considers to have been the sacred fountain. Others again suggest that these ruins may be those of Notium.
29. Its site was probably near the modern Ekklesia, but no traces of the city itself are to be found.
30. Implying that in his time Notium was not in existence, whereas in reality Notium superseded Old Colophon, of which it was the port, and was sometimes known as New Colophon.
31. Now known as Cape Curco.
32. The site of this place is now known as Ritri, on the south side of a small peninsula, which projects into the bay of Erythræ. The ruins are considerable.
33. On the south side of the bay of Smyrna. In Strabo's time this city appears to have been removed from Chytrium, its original site. Chandler found traces of the city near Vourla, from which he came to the conclusion that the place was very small and inconsiderable.
34. According to Nicander, this was a mountain of the territory of Clazomenæ, almost surrounded by sea.
35. Or "the Horses," originally four islands close to the mainland, off Clazomenæ.
36. This was probably the same causeway that was observed by Chandler in the neighbourhood of Vourla, the site of ancient Clazomenæ.
37. See B. ii. c. 91, where he speaks of this place as being swallowed up in the earth.
38. From Clazomenæ.
39. Now called Izmir by the Turks, Smyrna by the western nations of Europe; the only one of the great cities on the western coast of Asia Minor that has survived to the present day. This place stood at the head of the cities that claimed to be the birth-place of Homer; and the poet was worshipped here for a hero or demi-god in a magnificent building called the Homereum. There are but few remains of the ancient city: the modern one is the greatest commercial city of the Levant.
40. Hardouin takes this to be the name of a town, but Ortelius and Pinetus seem to be more correct in thinking it to be the name of a mountain.
41. It does not appear that all these mountains have been identified. Cadmus is the Baba Dagh of the Turks.
42. Mentioned in C. 29 of the present Book.
43. In the time of Strabo this tributary of the Hermus seems to have been known as the Phrygius.
44. Its site is now called Menemen, according to D'Anville. The Cryus was so called from the Greek kru/os, "cold."
45. The present Gulf of Smyrna.
46. Or the "Ants."
47. Probably so called from the whiteness of the promontory on which it was situate. It was built by Tachos, the Persian general, in B.C. 352, and remarkable as the scene of the battle between the Consul Licinius Crassus and Aristonicus in B.C. 131. The modern name of its site is Lefke.
48. Its ruins are to be seen at Karaja-Fokia or Old Fokia, south-west of Fouges or New Fokia. It was said to have been founded by Phocian colonists under Philogenes and Damon.
49. The people of Hyrcania, one of the twelve cities which were prostrated by an earthquake in the reign of Tiberius Cæsar; see B. ii. c. 86.
50. The people of Magnesia "ad Sipylum," or the city of Magnesia on the Sipylus. It was situate on the south bank of the Hermus, and is famous in history as the scene of the victory gained by the two Scipios over Antiochus the Great, which secured to the Romans the empire of the East, B.C. 190. This place also suffered from the great earthquake in the reign of Tiberius, but was still a place of importance in the fifth century.
51. The people, it is supposed, of a place called Hierocæsarea.
52. The people probably of Metropolis in Lydia, now Turbali, a city on the plain of the Caÿster, between Ephesus and Smyrna. Cilbis, perhaps the present Durgut, was their chief place.
53. A people dwelling in the upper valley of Caÿster.
54. Or Mysian Macedonians.
55. The people of Mastaura in Lydia. Its site is still known as Mastaura-Kalesi.
56. The people of Briula, the site of which is unknown.
57. The people of Hypæpæ, a small town of Lydia, on the southern slope of Mount Tmolus, forty-two miles from Ephesus. Under the Persian supremacy, the worship of Fire was introduced at this place. Arachne, the spinner, and competitor with Minerva, is represented by Ovid as dwelling at this place; he calls it on two occasions "the little Hypæpæ." Leake is of opinion that the ruins seen at Bereki belong to this place.
58. The people of Dios Hieron, or the "Temple of Jupiter." This was a small place in Ionia between Lebedus and Colophon. It has been suggested that it was on the banks of the Caÿster, but its site is uncertain.