[109]. An interesting work is extant by Julius Frontinus on the Aqueducts to the city of Rome, which has been remarkably illustrated by the recent researches of Mr. J. H. Parker, C.B., on the spot; see, also, for the “Monumentum Ancyranum,” J. H. Parker’s “Forum Romanum and Via Sacra,” Pl. xxvii.-ix.; Lond. 8vo, 1876.
[110]. Mr. Pullan gives a view of the entrance to the Temple.
The next town of Galatia we notice, Pessinus, was situate near the left bank of the Sangarius, on the road to Angora. It was the capital of the Gallic tribe of the Tolistoboii, and celebrated in antiquity for its worship of the goddess Rhea, or Cybele. The story went that the original shrine of this goddess was removed to Rome, towards the close of the second Punic war, the safety of Italy being said to depend on this step. It is clear that the people of Pessinus did not care much about their most sacred shrine—possibly, however, as King Attalus supported the Roman demand, they could not help themselves. It is worthy of note, that, not long after the removal of this shrine, the Galli became the chief priests of the worship of Cybele, and, as such, went out to propitiate Manlius, when about to throw a bridge over the Sangarius (Livy, xxxviii. 18). Polybius gives the names of these priests (Polyb. Fragm. 4). Coins of Pessinus exhibit the worship of Cybele as late as Caracalla, and we know that Julian the Apostate visited her temple (Ammian. xxii. 9). One name she bore was that of Agdistis, Pessinus itself being seated under this mountain, which was also called Dindymus. M. Texier seems to have first recognized its ruins at a place now called Sevrihissar, of which an excellent account is given by Mr. Hamilton (i. p. 438). “Every step we advanced,” says he, “gave evidence of the importance and magnificence of the public buildings with which this site must once have been adorned.” We may add that Mr. Hamilton’s further researches enabled him to reconcile the conflicting accounts of the march of Manlius in Polybius and Livy, the whole of the course of the Roman general being, now, fairly traceable.
The last of these Galatian towns, Tavium, was the abode of the third Gallic tribe, the Trocmi, as is shown by an inscription on a coin, reading ΤΑΟΥΙΑΝΩΝ ΤΡΟ. The position of this town has been identified by Mr. Hamilton as that where M. Texier found some very remarkable sculptures, which he, erroneously, called Pterium, the site of one of the battles between Crœsus and Cyrus. It is more probable that this place was much nearer the shores of the Black Sea. If Hamilton is right, Boghaz-kieui marks the site of the old town, which was one of great trade, and famous for a colossal bronze statue and temple of Jupiter. The careful measurement of the seven great roads, recorded as having met at Tavium, agrees, too, with his view. The bas-reliefs discovered by M. Texier, about two miles from this temple, are among the most curious in Asia Minor. Mr. Hamilton gives a view of them (vol. i. p. 394), whence we are inclined to think that they must be of Persian origin. So far as we can judge from the engraving, the work resembles much that at Behistan; moreover, two of the figures seem to be standing on lions or panthers, as on the reliefs found by Mr. Layard at Bavian, and to be seen, also, of some of the coins of Tarsus. The subject appears to be the meeting of two kings, the principal figures being five feet high. Two of the figures stand on a kind of double-headed eagle. Mr. Hamilton suggested a resemblance between them and those at Persepolis, an appreciation the more remarkable that when Mr. Hamilton’s work was published in 1842, none of the Assyrian excavations had been begun. Considering the great influence of the Persians after the establishment of the empire of Darius, the son of Hystaspes, there is no improbability in the carving being the work of some powerful satrap, like Pharnabazus, who might easily have been familiar with the sculptures at Bavian, Behistan, and Persepolis.
Over the towns in the remaining provinces of Asia Minor, Cappadocia, Pontus, Paphlagonia, and Bithynia, it will not be necessary for us to linger at any length; not because there are not abundant objects of interest in each of them, but that the remains, purely Greek, are comparatively few, while the space we can give for an adequate description of them is exceedingly limited. We shall, however, notice some of the chief places, either of Greek origin, or directly connected with the Greeks, referring to the journals of the travellers we have so often quoted; and especially to Mr. Hamilton, for a more full and detailed account of them.
To take first Cappadocia, which is in this sense peculiar, that it was for centuries governed, first by satraps claiming descent from one of the seven conspirators who aided Darius, and, secondly, by a native race of kings, till it became a Roman province. The great plains of Cappadocia, at an altitude seldom less than 4,000 feet above the sea, were famous for the breed of horses they raised; corn, too, and many excellent fruits found in this province their native home. Salt, and various kinds of crystal, were also largely exported from Cappadocia.
Of the towns of Cappadocia, we may mention Nazianzus, a site celebrated as the birthplace of its famous bishop, Gregory, a great ecclesiastical writer, a wit and a poet (see his humorous description of Sasina, the church to which he was first appointed, Orat. xxv. p. 435, which we wish we had space to quote). Its ancient position has been accurately determined by the observations of more than one modern traveller (Hamilton, ii. p. 228). Mazaca, afterwards called Cæsarea ad Argæum, was for many centuries the capital of Cappadocia, and is still a place of some importance. The chief feature of its scenery was the Mons Argæus (now Erjish Dagh), reputed the loftiest mountain of Asia Minor, which rises immediately above it, covered with perpetual snow. The town itself, though ultimately the capital, appears to have been for a long time little more than a camp; indeed, Horace’s description probably tells us all that “His Majesty” of Cappadocia really required: “Mancipiis locuples, eget æris Cappadocum rex” (“Though rich in slaves, the king of Cappadocia lacks ready money”), (Ep. i. 6, 39). Cappadocian slaves were abundant in Rome, and had a high reputation as bakers and confectioners (Plut. Lucull. Athen. i. 20, &c.). One of the most memorable events of the history of the town was, its long and gallant resistance to the Sassanian emperor, in the war between Valerian and Sapor. In Christian times, it derived much fame from the fact that St. Basil was born there, and was, subsequently, for many years its bishop (Socrat. H. E. v. 8; Hierocl. p. 698). Mr. Hamilton (ii. pp. 274-281) gives an interesting account of his ascent of the great mountain near it [the height of which he found to be about 13,000 feet], a feat, we believe, he was the first to accomplish.
Tyana, another Cappadocian town, is chiefly noted as the birthplace of Apollonius of Tyana, whose amusing life has been preserved by Philostratus. From its position on the defiles leading through Taurus into Cilicia, it must have been a place of some importance; and hence, probably, the tradition that it was built by Semiramis (Strab. xii. 537). In later times it was the seat of a Christian bishopric (Greg. Naz. Epist. 33). Hamilton thinks that a place called Iftyan Kas may mark this site. There is near to it the remains of a fine aqueduct, ascribed by the natives to Nimrod, but, really, of Roman origin.
Comana, the only other place in Cappadocia, which it is necessary to notice, was really the chief town of a subdistrict called Cataonia. It was chiefly celebrated for its collection of priests, soothsayers, and the like, who were devoted to the worship of Mâ (the Moon), or, as some say, the Cappadocian Bellona. Strabo asserts that the votaries of this sacred institution amounted to as many as 6,000 persons, of both sexes (xii. 535). Some, on the other hand, think this goddess the Anaitis of the Persians, the Agdistis or Cybele of the Phrygians. Coins of Comana, of Antoninus Pius, show that there was a Roman colony there, which was in existence as late as Caracalla.
Pontus, a narrow slip along the shores of the Black Sea, was chiefly memorable for its great fertility in the fruits now so common in our western lands, as cherries (perhaps so named from one of its towns, Cerasus), peaches, almonds, &c. It was also very rich in grain, timber, honey, and wax; while its mineral wealth is strikingly shown by the fact that one of its tribes, the Chalybes, famous so early as the time of Xenophon for their skill in working iron, gave their name to the Greek word for hardened iron or steel.[[111]] Trapezus (now Trebisonde), its only considerable town, was in ancient days believed to be a colony of Sinope, the foundress of several other places along the coasts of the Black Sea. It was evidently a city of note when Xenophon came there, in B.C. 400, with the remains of the Ten Thousand, as its citizens hospitably entertained the Greek host under his command. We find it, also, in much prosperity when Arrian was governor of Pontus, under Hadrian. In later days, Trapezus was the capital of a petty empire under a branch of the princely house of the Comneni, its rulers assuming the pompous title of Emperors of Trebizonde, and claiming, though not always securing, independence of the Greek Empire. It is still a place of commercial importance. We may add that it was not far from this place, near the town of Zela, that Cæsar defeated the troops of the despicable traitor Pharnaces so quickly, that he announced his victory in the famous words, “Veni, Vidi, Vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) (Hist. Bell. Alex. c. 72; Plut. Vit. Cæs.; Sueton. Cæs. c. 37). The history of Pontus is closely interwoven with that of the famous Mithradates; but, into this, we have not the space to enter here.