Νήσων μὲν Δολίχη, πολίωνδέ τοι εὐαδε Πέργη;
and in Dionysius Periegetes, v. 854:
Ἄλλαι δ’ ἐξείης Παμφυλίδες είσἱ πόληες
Κώρυκος, Πέργη τε, καἱ ἠνεμόεσσα Φάσηλις.
Passing along the coast to the east we come to the Eurymedon, physically a small stream, yet celebrated in history for the double defeat, on one and the same day, of the Persians by Cimon. The Persian ships were drawn up at the mouth of the river, but, at the first attack, the crews fled to the shore. Cimon then landed his men, and after a severe struggle the camp and baggage were taken (Thucyd. i. 100; Plut. Vit. Cimon.). Some years later, a Rhodian fleet anchored off its mouth before attacking the fleet of Antiochus, then commanded by Hannibal (Livy, xxxvii.). The entrance of this stream is now completely blocked up by a bar.[[75]]
[75]. Dr. Arnold has shown that, in the account in Thucyd. i. 100, the phrase διέφθειραν τἁς πάσας ὲς τὰς διακοσίας means that the number of the ships destroyed by the Athenians was, in all, 200, not that there were no more, as some writers have supposed.
On the Eurymedon was seated the old Argive town of Aspendus, some of the coins of which read, barbarously, ΕΣΤFΕΔΝΥΣ. Thucydides speaks of it as a seaport; but he, probably, means that it was a boat-station at the mouth of the river. Aspendus is noticed by Arrian, and was the place where Thrasybulus was slain in his tent by the natives; it is also mentioned in the campaign of Manlius (Liv. xxxviii.; Polyb. xxii.).[[76]] Mr. Pullan gives a beautiful drawing of its theatre, which is by far the most perfect in Asia Minor. One other place of considerable reputation in Pamphylia must be briefly noted; viz. Side, a colony of the Cumæans of Æolis, and remarkable for the fact that, soon after they came there they forgot their native Greek tongue, and spoke a barbarous jargon. It was off this town the battle was fought when the fleet of Antiochus, under Hannibal, was utterly routed by the Rhodians. When, somewhat later, the pirates of Cilicia became so formidable, Side was one of their chief harbours, and one of the markets where they disposed of their ill-gotten plunder. Side was in Roman times the capital of Pamphylia prima, and was still in existence when Hierocles wrote. Capt. Beaufort found it utterly deserted; but its remains would seem to be very striking, especially its outer walls and theatre, which is not less than 409 feet in external diameter, with a perpendicular height, from the area, of 79 feet: all its seats are, Capt. Beaufort says, of white marble, and the building could have held 13,370 persons, sitting comfortably; it is, he adds, “in a very perfect state; few of the seats have been disturbed, even the stairs are, in general, passable.” The same observer considered that, at some later period, this great structure had been converted into a fortress, as walls, with towers and gates, but of inferior work, now extend to the seashore.
[76]. From Dionys. Perieg. 852, it would seem that Venus had a peculiar worship there—for ἔνθα συοκτονίῃσι Διωναίην ἱλάονται.
Our knowledge of the ancient geography of Pisidia is mostly derived from Arrian’s notice of Alexander’s march, from Livy’s account of the expedition of C. Manlius Vulso, and from the details in Polybius of the hostilities carried on by Garsyeris, the general of Achæus, against the people of Termessus, one of its chief cities. At the time Manlius was approaching this town the Termessians were in open war with the people of Isionda or Isinda, and, having captured this city, were besieging the citadel. The Roman general was not sorry to have so good a pretext for interfering; hence his march on Isinda, his relief of that city, and his fining the Termessians fifty talents. A glance at the map suggests that he must have come in, by the defiles of Milyas, near a place now called Al-Malu. The presumed ruins of Isinda have been noticed by M. Coransez, as extending over nearly a square league, and as remarkable for their massive structure.
Termessus itself was evidently at the entrance of the defiles whereby Pisidia communicates with Pamphylia and Lycia. Arrian says that “the men of Termessus occupy a site very lofty and precipitous on every side, the road passing close to the city being very difficult, as the mountain reaches down from the city to the road. There is over against this, another mountain not less precipitous, and these form a gate, as it were, on the road,” &c. This statement is fully confirmed by the observation of General Köhler (ap. Leake, Asia Minor, pp. 133-135): “The two great ranges on the west and north of the plains of Adalia,” says he, “now approach each other, and, at length, are only divided by the passes through which the river finds its way. The road, however, leaves this gorge to the right, and ascends the mountain by a paved and winding causeway, a work of great labour and ingenuity.”[[77]] Alexander the Great, it would seem, despaired of taking the town; or, possibly, thought its siege would detain him too long; he, however, forced the defiles, passing on to the north to Cormasa, Cremna, and Sagalassus, a course probably pursued by Manlius subsequently.[[78]] Cremna, where, owing to its great natural strength, the Romans placed a colony (Strab. xii. 569), has been carefully examined by Mr. Davis (“Anatolica,” p. 182), who gives also a plan, showing the construction of this remarkable fortress. His description is as follows:[[79]] “It (Kremna) is a plateau of limestone, which is bounded on three sides by precipices, some extremely deep and abrupt.”