Hierapolis is chiefly remarkable for waters so loaded with petrifying materials as to have completely changed, by their deposits, the face of the country in the course of centuries; a result, noticed by many ancient authors, as Vitruvius, Pausanias, &c. Chandler states that a cliff near the town is one entire incrustation, and describes its appearance as that of “an immense frozen cascade, the surface wavy, as of water at once fixed, or in its headlong course suddenly petrified.”[[103]] An excellent view of this curious scene is given in Mr. Davis’s “Anatolica,” p. 100. Besides its remarkable petrifying power, Strabo states also that the waters of Hierapolis were famous for dyeing; and it is curious confirmation of this statement, that an early English traveller (Dr. Smith, in 1671) copied an inscription referring to a “company of dyers” (ἡ ἐργασία τῶν βαφέων). The position of Hierapolis must have been very imposing, placed as it was on a high piece of ground, “200 paces wide, and a mile in length.” Abundant ruins still remain, consisting of the relics of three Christian churches, one 300 feet long, and of a gymnasium, considered by Leake to be one of the only three “which are in a state of preservation sufficient to give any useful information on the subject of these buildings,” together with a prodigious number of fallen columns, in the wildest state of confusion. It seems a pity that no efficient steps have been taken to excavate thoroughly such a site as that of Hierapolis, where monuments of much historical interest, possibly, too, of surpassing excellence as sculpture, might reasonably be anticipated. Hierapolis is specially noticed in St. Paul’s epistle to the Colossians (iv. 13), which shows clearly that, at that time, there were many converts to Christianity, probably owing to the zeal of Epaphras, who had been long a common labourer with the Apostle. Somewhat later, Hierapolis appears in Hierocles as the metropolis of Phrygia; and Arundell gives a list of the bishops of the see whose names have been preserved. The present ruins are called Pambouk Kalessi.
[103]. Mr. Hamilton says he could distinctly trace six different cascades, each of which had left a separate incrustation. The ancient city itself was built on a terrace entirely formed by this or similar incrustations. He adds: “But if the appearance of the encrusted cliff was curious when seen from below, it became infinitely more so when we looked down upon it from the road, and the detail of its structure became more apparent. The wavy and undulating lines of solid matter which extend over the surface look as if a large river had been suddenly arrested in its course and converted into stone.”
Laodicea “ad Lycum” was, in the time of Strabo, one of the principal places in this province, and the centre of the Roman power in this part of Asia. Many men of great wealth, it is said, contributed to its early magnificence; Strabo noticing Hiero, who, besides greatly embellishing it during his lifetime, left to it by will the sum of 2,000 talents, together with the orator Zeno, and his son Polemo, who was made by Augustus king of part of Pontus. There are some difficulties in reconciling the statements of ancient authors about the rivers that flowed by or close to this town, and even recent investigations have not made this matter quite clear. Four rivers are mentioned in connection with it—the Lycus, Asopus, Caprus, and the Cadmus. Of these the first is, unquestionably, the most important, as having given its name to the town. It is likely these difficulties have been increased by the earthquakes noticed by Strabo, who says that Laodicea, more than any other town, was subject to their baneful influence. His words are remarkable (εἰ γάρ τις ἄλλη καὶ ἡ Λαοδίκεια εὕσειστος, Strab. p. 578). Such earthquakes would, naturally modify the course of these streams.[[104]] Col. Leake calls especial attention to the importance of a thorough investigation of the ruins of all these great towns: so much is still on the surface, that he thinks there is reasonable hope of the discovery of much still buried. The same, to a smaller extent, would, probably, prove true of other cities in the vale of the Mæander; for Strabo thought that Philadelphia, Sardes, and Magnesia ad Sipylum were not less than Laodicea, and had all alike suffered from the ravages of earthquakes; and this view was completely supported by Arundell from his own personal observations at Laodicea (Seven Churches, p. 85).
[104]. Compare what Tacitus says, Annal. ii. 79, xiv. 97, and Herodotus’s statement that the Lycus disappeared at Colossæ, close by, a statement in some degree confirmed by Strabo (xii. 578), and other remarks bearing on the history of this important town in Polyb. v. 57, 3; Cic. Verr. i. 3; Epist. ad Fam. iii. 5, 7; Tacit. Annal. iv. 55; Philostr. p. 543.
Laodicea suffered severely at the hands of Mithradates, but, with the reign of Augustus, its real fame and prosperity arose and long continued. About A.D. 1097 it was seized by the Turks, and subsequently was, alternately, in their hands or in those of the Byzantine emperors. In 1190 the Emperor Barbarossa was welcomed by the then inhabitants with much kindness, but, shortly afterwards, it was wholly desolated by the Turks. The zeal of St. Paul for the Church of Laodicea suggests that there must early have been abundant converts to the new faith in its neighbourhood. It is, however, also clear that their allegiance was not very trustworthy, and that they were much inclined to accept a modified form of Christianity. St. Paul’s words in his Epistle to the Colossians (ii. 1) show this plainly enough—“For I would,” says he, “that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.” Again, “When this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans” (iv. 16). The Book of Revelation contains, also, strong strictures on the lukewarmness of the Laodiceans. “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Rev. iii. 15, 16). Laodicea, though sometimes called Ladik, is more usually known as Eski-Hissar, the Turkish form of the common Levantine title of Palæo-Castro—“Old Castle.”
Colossæ, the last of the three towns, has been much confused with the other two, from the haste and want of accurate observation of different travellers. Much time is, indeed, requisite for the comparison of the brief notes of ancient authors with the existing facts. It is not certain when Colossæ was founded, or to what circumstances it owes its name, but it existed some centuries before the Christian era, as it is mentioned by Herodotus as a large and flourishing town of Phrygia when Xerxes passed through it in B.C. 481, on his way from Cappadocia to Sardes (vii. 30); nor had it, apparently, at all decayed when visited by Cyrus the Younger, about eighty years subsequently, (Xen. Anab. i. 2). Like the people of the adjacent Laodicea, the Colossians were great growers of wool. It was nearly destroyed in the days of Nero, but it survived, at all events, as the name of a Christian bishopric, till the time of Hierocles’s Synecdemus. Somewhat later, a new town named Chonas was built there, the certain identification of its ruins being mainly due to the fact that Nicetas the Annalist was born there. St. Paul, as we know, wrote an epistle to the Colossians, but his words, “Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus,” seem to imply that he was never there himself. On the other hand, Epaphras, who was a native of Colossæ, and Onesimus, are specially noted as having preached there.
Colossæ has been repeatedly visited by travellers, such as Dr. Smith, Picenini, Pococke, and Arundell; but to Mr. Hamilton we owe the clearest notice of it, and the reconciling of many points not understood by those who preceded him. Herodotus, as we have remarked, had stated that there was a χάσμα γῆς (a deep chasm) at Colossæ, and that the Lycus flowed by a subterranean channel for half a mile. This chasm Mr. Hamilton traced, proving how the Lycus may well have been said to have flowed underground, owing to the great accumulation of petrifying matter from the stream, now called Ak Sú, or “White Water.” Mr. Hamilton quotes, also, a passage from the Byzantine writer, Curopalates, clearly referring to the same curious phenomenon. Pliny, too, makes an interesting remark as to the quality of this water, where he says, “There is a river at Colossæ which will convert brick into stone.” Hamilton adds, “The Ak Sú, which joins the Choruk in the centre of the town, would soon cover a brick with a thick incrustation, and even fill the porous interior with the same substance by means of infiltration.”
The only towns in Galatia we think worthy of any especial note are Ancyra, Pessinus, and Tavium—in fact, Galatia, the land of the Asiatic Gauls, was little more than a dismemberment of the ancient Phrygia, mainly induced by the invasion of a portion of the vast horde of Gauls, who, descending from Pannonia under the second Brennus, B.C. 279, were, ultimately, induced to cross the Hellespont, on the invitation of Nicomedes I. of Pergamus. The general history of Galatia is so well known, we need not dwell on it here. Suffice it, that the three principal tribes of these invaders were known as the Tectosages, the Tolistoboii, and the Trocmi, and that, after many battles, in which their power was greatly reduced, they were settled, the first at Ancyra, the second at Pessinus, and the third at Tavium. Some historical facts connected with them, it may, however, be as well to mention; viz., that Antiochus obtained the name of Soter from the great defeat he inflicted on them; and that, beaten by Attalus I. and Prusias, they were most completely subdued by the consul Manlius in A.D. 189. Gauls are found as mercenaries in all the wars of the times, and, often, fighting against one another, being even noticed as such in the Maccabees (1. viii. 2). So late as the fourth century, St. Jerome, who had lived long at Trèves, states that the common tongue of Galatia was the same as that of that city. Curiously, only one name, certainly Celtic, Eccobriga, between Tavium and Ancyra, has been preserved in the Itineraries. As a people, they greatly resembled the Gauls Cæsar describes—“Natio est omnis Gallorum admodum dedita superstitionibus”; hence, they adopted, at once, the Phrygian worship of Cybele as “Mater Deorum,”—the “Galli” of Pessinus being her special priests. Their leading men, however, soon became wealthy, and were speedily Hellenized.
The most important place in Galatia was Ancyra, on the Sangarius; traditionally, the foundation of Midas, the son of Gordius. The anchor he found there, whence the city’s name, Pausanias says, was, still, in his day, preserved in the Temple of Jupiter. The territory round this city was formally created a Roman province by Augustus, B.C. 25, the epithet “Tectosagum” being added to its title “Sebaste,” to distinguish it from Pessinus and Tavium, which bore, also, the epithets of Sebaste or Augusta. On the coins of Nero, Ancyra is, also, called Metropolis; and, though much decayed, is still a considerable place, with a large population.[[105]] In the adjacent plains occurred the mighty conflict between Bayazíd and Timúr (Tamerlane), in which the former lost his crown, and was taken prisoner by the Moghul emperor, though the popular legend of the “cage of Bayazíd” is, probably, as little authentic as the burning of the library of Alexandria by the orders of Omar.
[105]. In the Jerusalem and Antonine Itineraries we notice one name, Ipeto-brogea, the latter portion of which is probably Celtic, like Allo-broges, &c.