Cibistra, now Nearly in the capital, called

Philostratus. South-west of Tyana was Kara Hissar, on the edge of Lycaonia. centre of Cappadocia is Mazaca, the Cæsarea in the time of Tiberius, with the addition of ad Argæum, to signify its position at the foot of Mons Argæus. It is now Kaisarieh. East of this was Comana Aurea, in Cataonia, with its temple of Bellona, reputed the richest and most sacred in the east: it was plundered by Antony. South of Comana, on the confines of Cilicia, was Cucusus, or Cocsan, a gloomy and retired place among the mountains of Taurus, to which the great St. Chrysostom was banished; and east of this Castabala. The northeastern part of Cappadocia, on the western bank of the Euphrates, was called Armenia Minor. Near the confluence of the Melas with the Euphrates was the city of Melitene (Malatia), the antient capital of Armenia Minor. Towards the confines of Pontus is Sebaste (Sivas), more antiently called Cabira; it was taken from Mithridates by Pompey. At the source of the river Halys, is Nicopolis (Enderes), built by Pompey, after he had forced Mithridates across the Euphrates: and in the extreme north-eastern angle, on the confines of Pontus and Armenia Major, was Satala, a little east of the sources of the Lycus.

CHAP. XIII.

SYRIA AND PHOENICIA.

A. G. Plate XVI.

THE remainder of Asia is sometimes comprised under the general title of Oriens, or the East.

The tract of land, which skirts the eastern extremity of the Mediterranean, played an important part in antient history, besides being the scene of the principal events recorded in Holy Scripture. It bore, among the Greeks and Romans, the general name of Syria; but this appellation was more strictly confined to its northern extremity, below which lay Phoenicia, and further south Palæstina, or the Holy Land. It touches the eastern angle of Cilicia, between the bay of Issus and the river Euphrates, which river may be considered as its boundary on the east, though a wide tract of desert land intervenes, with one or two exceptions, between the inhabited regions of Syria and that geographical frontier. Syria, indeed, may not improperly be described as a narrow strip of land, between the Mediterranean and the desert, about four hundred miles in length, and from fifty to ninety in breadth. Narrow as it is, it is traversed in its whole length by an almost continuous valley, through which the waters of the Orontes flow north-west and the Leontes south-west into the Mediterranean; and the Jordan due south, through the Lake of Tiberias, till it is lost in the Lake Asphaltites, or Dead Sea. This valley affords facilities for the march of armies, and has been the highway of conquerors from bot

the south and the north at very different periods. The position of the country, which reaches southward to Arabia, Egypt, and the Red Sea, is particularly favourable to foreign intercourse, and it has accordingly exercised the most important influence, both commercially and morally, upon the antient and the modern world.

Between the above mentioned valley and the sea were Mount Pierius on the Sinus Issicus, Mount Casius further south, and still further, Libanus, or Lebanon, and Carmel. The three former are of considerable altitude. On the eastern side of the valley the surface rises more gradually to the table land of the desert, except in the range of Hermon, or Anti-libanus, to be mentioned hereafter.

On the confines of Cilicia were the Pyla Ciliciæ, mentioned before, between the mountains and the sea; and a little below them was Alexandria, now Alexandretta, or Scanderoon. This city was called Myriandrus in the time of Xenophon, but was rebuilt by Alexander, who gave it his own name. South, but somewhat inland, is the famous city of Antiochia, or Antioch, now almost depopulated, and called Antakia. It was built by Seleucus Nicator, the son of Antiochus, who called it after his father's name. Seleucus was one of the most powerful of Alexander's generals, and obtained Syria for his share in the dismemberment of the Macedonian Empire, and the kings of Syria, his descendants, were called Seleucidæ. We learn from the Acts of the Apostles, ch. xi. 26., that "the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch," and, after the prevalence of Christianity, it received the appellation of Theopolis, or the divine city. It stood on the Orontes (El Aesi), the only important river in Syria, if we except its eastern boundary, the Euphrates. About five miles below it was a delightful grove and fountains, called Daphne, celebrated for the worship of Venus, and

the licentiousness of its visitors: it is now called Beit el Ma, or the House of Water. Near the mouth of the Orontes was Seleucia, founded by Seleucus Nicator, now Savedia. South of this, and nearly opposite the eastern extremity of the island of Cyprus, was Laodicea, called Maritima, to distinguish it from Laodicea ad Libanum in the same neighbourhood. It is now Ladikieh. Eastward of this, and a little north of the small river Marsyas, which flows into a lake on the Orontes, was Apamea, now Famieh; an important city, founded by Seleucus Nicator, who kept five hundred war elephants there; and south-east of it is Epiphaneia, or Hamath. South of Epiphaneia is the city of Emesa, or Hems, where was a famous temple of Elagabalus, or the sun, the priest of which, a youth of fourteen, was made emperor by the licentious Roman soldiers, A.D. 218, and disgraced himself and the purple, during a reign of almost four years, by his cruelty and licentiousness. Considerably south-west of Emesa, is Heliopolis, or Balbec, where are still to be seen the ruins of a magnificent temple of the sun. It lies in a valley between the parallel ridges of Libanus and Anti-Libanus. This valley was called. Aulon, or the hollow, by the Greeks, and all this part of Syria was called Cole-Syria, or the Hollow Syria. South-east of Heliopolis was Damascus (Demesk), one of the most celebrated cities of Asia, both in sacred and profane geography. It was beautifully situated in a valley, still called Gouteh Demesk, or the Orchard of Damascus, and watered by a river called by the Greeks Bardine, or Chrysorrhoas, the Golden Stream, now Baradi.

We shall next describe the interior of Syria to its eastern boundary, the Euphrates. The northern extremity of Syria, on the declivity of Mount Taurus and Amanus, was called Commagene; its principal city was Samosata (Semisat), on the Euphrates, the birth-place of Lucian.

Somewhat south-west of it is Pindenissus, now Behesni, which was besieged and taken by Cicero, when proconsul of Cilicia, after a siege of twenty-five days, A.U.C. 702, B. C. 52. Below Pindenissus, and nearly east of Alexandria, was Cyrrhus, now Corus; and below it a city antiently called Chalybon, but by the Macedonians Beroa. It is now well known as Haleb or Aleppo; still south was Chalcis, now Old Haleb. These three cities gave the name of Cyrrhestica, Chalybonitis, and Chalcidice to the surrounding districts. North-east of Beroa was Batnæ (Adaneh), the delightful situation of which rivalled the Antiochian Daphne. Below Batnæ is the river Daradax, flowing into a marsh. North-east of Batnæ, is Hierapolis, so called from its being the seat of worship of the Syrian goddess Atergatis; by the Syrians it was called Bambyce, or Mabog, now Menbigz. Returning to the Euphrates, below Samosata is Zeugma, where there was a bridge of boats. Considerably to the south-east of it are the celebrated fords of the Euphrates at the city of Thapsacus, now El Der. They were passed by Cyrus, in his expedition against Artaxerxes, related by Xenophon, B. C. 401, Ol. 94. 4; and afterwards, by Darius, after his defeat at Issus, B. C. 333, Ol. 111. 4.; and nearly three years later by Alexander, previously to his final victory of Arbela. South-west of Thapsacus is Resapha, which preserves its name; and considerably south-east on the Euphrates is Orurós, or Gorur, which was fixed by Pompey as the boundary of the Roman Empire, when he reduced Syria to a Roman Province. To the west, about midway between Oruros and Emesa, in the vast desert which connects Syria with Arabia, is Palmyra, or Tadamora (the city of palm trees), founded by Solomon, and still called Tadmor in the wilderness. It became extremely powerful under its illustrious Queen Zenobia. She opposed the Emperor Aurelian in the plains of Syria at the head of 700,000