[77]. There is some confusion between the two Termessi, one of which is apparently to the left of the road passing W. and N.W. from Adalia. This we think was Termessus Minor—the Almalu of Mr. Davis. The more important place, Termessus Major (on its coins μείζων), was at the head of the pass described. These views are confirmed by Eustath. and Dion. Perieg. v. 858, Stephan. Byzant., and Hierocles. At a later period, the see of Termessus had united with it the churches of two other places—Jovia and Eudocia.
[78]. Cramer and some other geographers place Cremna to the N. as well as the E. of Sagalassus, where it could not have been.
[79]. The description in Arundell, vol. ii. pp. 59, &c., shows that he had explored the same ruins forty years before Mr. Davis, under the idea they were those of Selge, though, on his plate, he adds the words, “Acropolis of Germe—Cremna.” Colonel Leake, too, suggested that “Germe” was perhaps a corruption of “Cremna.” Had Mr. Arundell reflected on an inscription he himself copied there ... ΛΔΗ ... ΝΑΤΩΝ, he might have seen that the last word could naturally be supplied as ΚΡΗΜΝΑΤΩΝ—“of the people of Kremna.” Zosimus says the winding path up to the fortress was called by the natives the Snail.
“From it,” he adds, “the country inclined rapidly in its general formation to the valley of the Kestrus, which must have been at least 5,000 feet below us.... Most of the buildings of the city lay to the N.W. of our point of ascent. On the N.E. and N. was an extensive open space cultivated, but with many oak trees and with much underwood scattered over it.” ... Zosimus (A.D. 425) relates the history of the blockade of Kremna by a Roman army. It had been occupied by Lydius, an Isaurian free-booter, and his provisions falling short, he caused a part of the plateau to be sowed with corn. A great double gate is the only structure still standing, and, as all the columns have fallen exactly in the same direction, Mr. Davis reasonably conjectures they were overthrown by a single shock of an earthquake. Some well-paved streets are traceable, one 18 feet wide, with tombs and corridors running along each side. It is curious that a place so remarkable, physically, is scarcely mentioned by ancient writers. Thus, it is not noticed in the campaign of Alexander, who must have passed under it, but it was taken by Strabo’s contemporary, the Galatian Amyntas (xii. 569),[[80]] and was still later, as we have stated, a Roman colony with the title “Colonia Julia Augusta Cremna.” Its name is obviously derived from κρημνός, an overhanging precipice.[[81]] Kremna was a Christian bishopric, but only one of its bishops, Theodorus, is recorded.
[80]. Αμύντας ... πολλὰ χωρία ἐξεῖλεν, ἀπόρθητα πρότερον ὄντα, ὧν καὶ Κρῆμνα (Strab. xii. 569).
[81]. Zosimus’s description is exactly to the point:—Κρήμναν ... ἐν ἀποκρήμνῳ τε κειμἐνην καὶ κατἁ μέρος χαράδραις βαθυτάταις ὠχυρωμένην (i. c. 69).
Sagalassus was taken by Alexander, after a severe conflict, the result being, says Arrian, that all the rest of Pisidia submitted to his arms (i. 28). On the other hand, Manlius contented himself with ravaging the territory around it; thereby compelling the Sagalassians to pay a heavy contribution both of money and produce. Both Arrian and Livy bear testimony to the warlike and independent character of the mountaineers of this part of Asia Minor; while Strabo adds that it passed over to the Romans, as one of the towns of Amyntas, the tetrarch of Lycaonia. Sagalassus is further noticed by Pliny and Ptolemy, and, in Christian times, was a bishopric. Some magnificent ruins, at a great height above the plain, have been proved by Mr. Arundell to be those of this place, as he found there an inscription reading ΣΑΓΑΛΑΣΣΕΩΝ ΠΟΛΙΣ ΤΗΣ ΠΙΣΙΔΙΑΣ, “The City of the Sagalassians of Pisidia.” The position of the old town, as may be seen in one of the engravings in Mr. Arundell’s second Journey, is exceedingly picturesque; and we may feel sure Arrian is correct in stating that Alexander encountered a stiff resistance from its inhabitants ere he forced his way into the town.
The existing remains of Sagalassus are mostly Roman, but there is one very old wall of polygonal masonry. One of the principal ruins, with a portico 300 feet long by 27 feet wide, has probably been a Christian church: there is, also, a singularly perfect theatre. The ruins of the Christian church exhibit a building of vast proportions, constructed of huge blocks of marble, with Corinthian columns two feet in diameter. A large cross is cut deep into one of the blocks at the principal entrance. Mr. Hamilton, who calls the modern village Allahsún, says that “there is no other ruined city in Asia Minor, the situation and extensive remains of which are so striking, or so interesting, or which give so perfect an idea of the magnificent combination of temples, palaces, theatres, gymnasia, fountains, and tombs which adorned the cities of the ancient world.”[[82]]
[82]. Hamilton adds—“To the south is a high, insulated, and conical hill, agreeing with Arrian’s description of the Acropolis, λόφος πρὸ τῆς πόλεως—a hill in front of the city.”
One other place in Pisidia we have yet to mention, Selge, of old one of its chief cities, yet, strange to say, at present unidentified, or only so doubtfully. Originally a colony from Lacedæmon, Selge maintained throughout its whole history the character of its founders, and, probably, owing to better laws and government, soon surpassed all the neighbouring towns in population and power, Strabo believing that it once had as many as 20,000 inhabitants. Much of its success was due to the security of its position, high among the mountains and difficult of access. Hence, the Selgians retained their personal freedom, and, though more than once compelled to pay heavily and deservedly for their own aggressions, were never dispossessed of their town by actual conquest. Naturally, they were constantly in conflict with their neighbours, especially, with Telmessus and Pednelissus.[[83]] They had, however, the sense to conciliate Alexander when he passed through their country. In the war with Pednelissus, it would seem that, aided by the then most powerful chief of the neighbouring country, Achæus compelled the Selgians to sue for peace, to pay down 400 talents, to restore the prisoners they had taken, and to give 300 talents more. Yet, in an actual attack on the city he was repulsed with heavy loss (Polyb. v. 72-77). The coins of Selge prove its existence till a late date. One would have thought that such a place, would have left remains behind it amply sufficient for its identification; yet all we can say, certainly, of it is that it could not have been far to the east or south-east of Sagalassus. From Zosimus, we might be led to look for it between the Cestius and Eurymedon, for Tribigildus, having crossed the latter, found himself enclosed between it and the Melas: and possibly, Fellows did discover it. “On this promontory,” says he, “stood one of the finest cities that probably ever existed, now presenting magnificent wrecks of grandeur. I rode for at least three miles through a part of the city, which was one pile of temples, theatres, and buildings, vieing with each other in splendour.... The material of the ruins, like those near Alaysóon (Sagalassus) had suffered much from exposure to the elements ... but the scale, the simple grandeur, and the beauty of style bespoke its date to be early Greek. The sculptured cornices frequently contain groups of figures fighting, wearing helmets and body armour, with shields and long spears.” Unfortunately, Fellows did not find a single legible inscription, but the remains are, very likely, what Beaufort heard of at Alaya; viz., “extensive remains of an ancient Greek city with many temples, about fifteen hours’ distance (say 35 miles) to the northward.”[[84]] Lastly, we must give an account of the Pisidian, or more accurately, the Phrygian, Antioch, a town of the highest interest to the Christian reader, from its connection with St. Paul’s early labours. It is remarkable that, 50 years ago, its position was not known, though the ancient notices of it, carefully studied, seem to point out, pretty clearly, where it ought to have been found. Little is known of this Antioch in early times, but it was, traditionally, a colony of Magnesia on the Mæander. Afterwards, like almost all the towns of Eastern and Central Asia Minor, it fell under the rule of the Seleucidæ, and, on their overthrow, was given by the Romans to Eumenes of Pergamus as one of the rewards for his faithful alliance. Subsequently, it was, for a while, under Amyntas the Lycaonian. At an early period of the empire, Antioch was known as Cæsarea, and somewhat later, according to Ulpian, its citizens enjoyed the Jus Italicum, that is, the same privileges as native Romans. At the time of St. Paul’s visit it was the centre of a great commercial activity. According to Strabo, Antioch was on the south side of the mountain boundary of Phrygia and Pisidia (p. 577), Philomelium, a Phrygian town, being exactly to the north, the latter standing on level ground, while Antioch stood on a small eminence.[[85]] It was reserved for Mr. Arundell to show, almost certainly, its true site,[[86]] and his description is exceedingly interesting. Almost his first discovery was a “long and immense building, constructed with prodigious stones, and standing south and west.” This was a church, not improbably constructed on the site of the Synagogue where St. Paul preached. “The remains of the aqueduct,” he adds, “of which twenty-one arches are perfect, are the most splendid I ever beheld, the stones without cement, of the same massy dimensions as the wall.”