From Classical Geography, by H. F. Tozer, from the series of Literature Primers edited by John Richard Green; New York : American Book Company; pp. 49-62.
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CLASSICAL GEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER V.
ASIA MINOR, THRACE, MACEDONIA.
1. Hellespont; Propontis; Bosporus. — The countries which next call for our attention are those that lie in the neighbourhood of Greece, bordering on the Ægean. But before we speak of these it may 50 be well to consider the great sea that lies to the north of Asia Minor, and the other pieces of water that are connected with it. If we leave the Ægean by the passage near its north-east corner, between the Thracian Chersonese and the Plains of Troy, we enter the Hellespont (Dardanelles), a winding strait, forty miles in length and from one to three miles broad — a slight and singular boundary of two great continents. It resembles a river, and was probably regarded as such by the ancients, for Homer calls it “broad” (πλατὺς Ἑλλὴσποντος), and this epithet could only be applied to it from that point of view. It was about the middle of its course that the bridges by which Xerxes spanned it were thrown across, from Abydos on the Asiatic, to a point between Sestos and Madytus on the European shore. Higher up than this, on the Thracian side, was Ægospotami, off which the Athenians suffered the great naval defeat which terminated the Peloponnesian war. Just above Lampsăcus, the last town on the Asiatic side, we enter the Propontis (Sea of Marmora), a land-locked expanse of water, the southern side of which is diversified by numerous islands, bays, and promontories. Again, at the north-eastern extremity of this, a similar, though narrower, strait, the Bosporus, seventeen miles long and on an average half a mile wide, affords a passage into the Euxine. Both here and in the Hellespont there is a strong outward current from that sea, owing to the large number of great rivers which drain into it. At the exit of the Bosporus into the Propontis, two cities, both colonies of Megara, stood opposite one another — Chalcēdon in Asia, and Byzantium in Europe. Chalcedon was the first to be founded, but the position of Byzantium was so superior, that the Delphic oracle was said, in directing its colonists in the choice of a site, to have told them to build their city opposite the “land of the blind,” in reference to the want of judgment shown by the people of 51 Chalcedon. It is perhaps the finest position in the world, commanding as it does two continents and two seas, washed on three sides by the water, from which it rises in swelling hills, and provided with a safe and deep port, seven miles in length, in the Golden Horn. This Constantine the Great saw when he chose it for the site of his great metropolis, Constantinople. At the entrance of the Bosporus from the Euxine were two small islands near the opposite coasts, called the Cyaneæ from their dark colour; these were also named Symplegădes, because, according to the fable, they were supposed to clash together and crush the ships that passed between them.
2. Euxine Sea and Palus Mæotis. — the Pontus Euxinus was originally called Ἄξενος, or “The Inhospitable,” because of its stormy character, and this title was afterwards changed by one of those euphemisms of which the Greeks were so fond. Its southern boundary was formed by Asia Minor; to the extreme east lay Colchis, to the north of which the line of the Caucasus for some distance skirted the shore; to the west was Thrace and the regions of the Hister (Danube); to the north the steppes of Southern Russia with the vast rivers that intersect them — next to the Danube the Tyras (Dneister), then the Hypănis (Bog), and lastly the Borysthĕnes (Dneiper). The furthest piece of water in the system of the Euxine was the Palus Mæōtis (Sea of Azov), a large expanse of almost fresh water, into which drains the stream of the Tanais (Don). Between this and the Euxine lay the Tauric Chersonese (Crimea), joined to the mainland by a narrow isthmus; and just where the two seas are connected with one another by the Cimmerian Bosporus, on the European shore stood the town of Panticapæum (Kertch), which was the capital of the Greek kingdom of Bosporus, which continued to exist in these parts for several centuries. This place, like 52 most of the Greek colonies that studded the shores of the Euxine, was founded from Miletus; and it commanded an extensive trade with the interior, and did much towards supplying Greece with corn, and with the Scythian slaves, who are frequently mentioned by Aristophanes. Still more important was the great depôt of Olbia, near the mouth of the Hypanis.
3. Asia Minor : General Features. — The oblong space of ground called Asia Minor, projecting as it does from the continent of Asia, and bounded on three sides by the sea, while the fourth abuts against the mountains of Armenia, formed a natural link between Asia and Europe. By it the principal tribes who inhabited the peninsulas of Greece and Italy, migrated from their original homes in Iran (p. 17), and we shall see, in examining its physical geography, that it partakes of the features of both continents, for while the interior is thoroughly Asiatic in its table-lands, the west coast, where it borders on the Ægean, has all the peculiarities which characterise Greece. At its eastern extremity it forms a plateau of nearly 4,000 feet in height, and though this gradually slopes towards the west, yet it is still 2,000 feet high, when it begins to sink towards the Ægean. But its shores in that direction, like those of Greece, are broken up into innumerable bays and harbours, separated from one another by small promontories, and fringed with islands; whence they became a favourite place of settlement for Greek colonists. On the northern and southern sides also the central table-land approaches remarkably near to the sea, from which the ground rises to it with great rapidity. The two mountain chains which bound it are, on the north, the successive ranges which, under the name of Olympus, pass through Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, and Mysia; on the south, the Taurus range in Cilicia and Pisidia. The principal rivers find their way into the Euxine. Of these, the Sangarius, to the west, 53 flows through Galatia and Bithynia; to the east the Lycus, rising near the coast south of Trapezus, waters the kingdom of Pontus, and joins the Iris before reaching the sea; while between these is by far the most important stream, the Halys, which almost encloses the Lycus and Iris in the great arc which it describes. In the time of Crœsus this river formed the boundary between the Lydian and Persian dominions, whence arose the significance of the saying of the Delphic oracle, that “if Crœsus crossed the Halys he would destroy a great kingdom.” The fertile valleys which descend to the Ægean were enriched by four streams, the Caīcus, Hermus, Cayster, and Mæander, which formed an additional attraction to the Greek colonists.
4. Divisions of Asia Minor. — If the student requires a memoria technica, by which to remember the various provinces into which this country is somewhat elaborately divided, he may find it in the curiously tripartite arrangement into which they fall. It is composed of twelve provinces : three to the north, Bithynia, Paphlagonia, and Pontus; three to the south, Lycia, Pamphylia, and Cilicia; three in the centre, Phrygia, Galatia, and Cappadocia; three to the west, Mysia, Lydia, and Caria; while the sea-coast of these three last countries is occupied by three groups of Greek colonies, Æolian, Ionian, and Dorian; and three large islands lie off it, Lesbos, Chios, and Samos. This arrangement, however, is merely artificial; and it should especially be borne in mind, that at the flourishing period of Greek history, two of these provinces, Pontus, and Galatia, did not exist at all; for the kingdom of Pontus was not established till 363 B.C., from which time it lasted exactly 300 years, under successive sovereigns, usually called Mithridates, until it was destroyed by Pompey in B.C. 63; and the name of Galatia was given, at a still later period, when a Gaulish tribe (Γαλάται), of the same race 54 as those who sacked Rome and attacked Delphi, having migrated from the west, and having been called in by Nicomedes I., king of Bithynia, settled in the country between the Sangarius and the Halys, about 250 B.C.. The chief city of Pontus was Amasia, the birthplace of the geographer Strābo, situated on the banks of the Iris, where the tombs of the kings of that country remain to the present day; but from a commercial point of view the Greek colony of Trapezus, on the sea-coast, was far more important, as a large part of the trade of Upper Asia passed through it to the west. In Galatia the most famous place was Ancyra (Angora), where is a temple of Augustus, with the celebrated inscription recording the actions of that emperor.
5. Northern and Central Provinces. — The outline of the northern coast rises from the two sides to a sort of hump in the middle; this hump is Paphlagonia, which is separated from Pontus by the Halys, and from Bithynia by the Parthenius. On a headland, near its northernmost promontory, lay Sinōpe, the most important of all the colonies on the Euxine; and further to the west was Amastris, famous for its boxwood forests, which grew on Mount Cytōrus. From the frontier of Paphlagonia the territory of Bithynia reaches as far west as the Rhyndăcus, which flows into the Propontis. It was in the neighbourhood of that sea that the principal Bithynian cities were situated, viz., Nicomedia, at the head of the deep gulf of Astăcus, founded by Nicomedes I., king of Bithynia; Nicæa, on the Lake Ascanius, famous as the seat of the first Council of the Christian Church; and Prusa (Brusa), situated at the foot of the Bithynian Olympus, the snowy summits of which are visible from Constantinople. On the coast of the Euxine lay the considerable town of Heraclea Pontica. Of the central table-land of Asia Minor, the eastern part was Cappadocia, the western, Phrygia; but both these 55 countries at one time represented a wider area, for, before the kingdom of Pontus was formed, Cappadocia extended to the Euxine, and the territory occupied by the Galătæ originally belonged to Phrygia. Both in ancient and modern times, Phrygia has been celebrated for its wool; but to the Greeks it was best known as the original home of the mysterious rites of Cybele, which exercised a great influence upon them.
6. Southern Provinces. — The southern provinces were of necessity narrow strips of land, being hemmed in between the Taurus and the Mediterranean. The easternmost of these was Cilicia, a country of great importance, as commanding the passage from Asia Minor into Syria. The pass which led into it from the interior through the Taurus was called the Ciliciæ Pylæ, a narrow defile amid rugged mountains, which descended into the plain some way above Tarsus. The other pass, which led round the head of the Gulf of Issus into Syria under the Mons Amānus, was called the Syriæ or Amanides Pylæ (p. 32). It was by this way that the younger Cyrus led his army into Upper Asia. Cilicia, from its sheltered position and southern aspect, was almost tropical in its vegetation. Its chief city was Tarsus, St. Paul’s birthplace, on the banks of the Cydnus. Opposite to the coast of Cilicia lay the island of Cyprus, which forms in shape a rude oval, but at its north-east extremity throws off a long finger, which seems to point towards the Gulf of Issus. On its eastern coast lay the town of Salamis, on the western that of (Paphos), famous for the worship of Aphrodite; to the south those of Amăthus and Citium. To the west of Cilicia, in the recesses of a considerable bay, was Pamphylia, the inland and mountainous district of which was called Pisidia; further inland still, beyond the Taurus, was the upland region of Lycaonia. The chief cities of these countries may be traced by following the foot steps of St. Paul 56 on his first missionary journey, who, landing at Attaleia, went up to Perga in Pamphylia, and Antioch in Pisidia, whence he proceeded to Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, cities of Lycaonia. The small district of Lycia, which projects into the sea beyond Pamphylia, though but little known to fame, must have been exceedingly opulent, for it was crowded with cities, of which Telmissus, Xanthus, Patăra, and Myra are the most familiar. Amongst its numerous mountains, Mount Cragus was the most celebrated, on account of its extensive forests.
7. Western Provinces. — the north-western angle of Asia Minor was occupied by Mysia, which bordered both on the Propontis and the Ægean, and was bounded on the east by the Rhyndăcus, and on the south by the mountains that separate the valley of the Caicus from that of the Hermus. Its western coast was indented by the deep bay of Adramyttium, on the northern side of which rises the picturesque wooded chain of Ida. In a large cavern in the recesses of this mountain rose the Scamander (Mendăre), and the district through which this river flows to the Hellespont was known as the Troad; but the plain of Troy itself was the lower part towards the sea, where the river, issuing from a narrow valley, intersects a plain seven miles in length, flanked on both sides by low hills. Where these abut on the Hellespont, two capes are formed, the eastern of which was called the Rhœteian, the western the Sigæan, from the town of Sigæum, which was built upon it. Off the western coast lay the Island of Tenĕdos. The position of the city of Troy is not certainly known. The most important Mysian town on the Propontis was Cyzĭcus, which occupied the neck of an extensive peninsula. At no great distance from this flowed the Granīcus, on the banks of which Alexander the Great obtained his first great victory over the Persians. To the south, in the neighbourhood 57 of the Caicus, was Pergămus, where for some time a kingdom existed after the period of Alexander the Great. Southward from this as far as Mount Messōgis, and including the rich valleys of the Hermus and Cayster, extended the country of Lydia, which for several centuries was the seat of a great empire, embracing a considerable part of Asia Minor. Its chief mountains were Tmolus in the interior, and Sipylus towards the sea-coast; on a precipice in Sipylus the ancient figure of Niobe still remains, which is mentioned by Homer. The capital, Sardis, was situated at the northern foot of Mount Tmolus, on the Pactolus, a tributary of the Hermus. The gold-bearing sands of that stream were probably fabulous, but gold was found in that country, and the most ancient gold coins come from thence. The interval between Lydia and Lycia was occupied by Caria, the most famous part of which was the valley of the Mæander, and the fertility of this was caused by the many windings of that river. Its principal tributary was the Marsyas, flowing from the south, between which and the sea was Mount Latmos, which is associated with the story of Endymion. Of the Seven Churches of Asia which are mentioned in the Book of Revelations, Laodicea lay on the upper waters of the Mæander; Ephesus near, and Smyrna upon, the sea-coast of Ionia; Sardis, Philadelphia, and Thyatira in Lydia; and Pergamus in Mysia. When Asia Minor became a part of the Roman Empire, the name of Asia (or Proconsular Asia) was restricted to the western provinces, just as we have seen the name Africa to be used in a similar restricted sense (p. 18). The head city of this district was Ephesus. The inhabitants of Asia Minor were mostly of the Indo-European race, and some were closely related to the Greeks and Romans, but it is probable that the Cilicians and some minor tribes were, at least in part, of Semitic origin (p. 17).
8. Asiatic Greek Colonies : Æolis. — The 58 western seaboard of Asia Minor has been already described (p. 52) as broken up into innumerable bays and harbours, separated from one another by peninsulas and promontories of varied shape, and further diversified by neighbouring islands. The climate of this district was one of the finest in the world. Here a multitude of Greek colonies were planted, and soon rose to opulence by the cultivation of the fertile lands in their neighbourhood, and still more by trade with the peoples of the interior, whose products they exported to foreign parts. Consequently, art and literature had an earlier and more rapid development in these countries than elsewhere in Greece. Here the Homeric poems were composed; here Sappho and Alcæus sang, and Herodotus was born; here Thales and Anaxagoras studied philosophy, when these subjects were in their infancy in the mother country; here also the graceful Ionic style of architecture was invented. The name of Æŏlis was given to the coast of Mysia between the Gulf of Adramyttium and the town of Cumē beyond the Caicus; but the Æolian settlements really extended over a wider area, for Assos and Sigēum, further to the north, belonged to this race, as also did Lesbos, with its two chief cities of Methymna in the north, and Mitylēne in the east. This island, like most of the larger islands, possessed a strip of land on the mainland opposite, which was called the Peræa. The Arginusæ Islands, off which the great battle was fought between the Athenians and Spartans, lay between the easternmost point of Lesbos and the coast.
9. Ionia and Doris. — The seaboard of Lydia and part of Caria was held by the Ionian colonies, of which (to name only the principal) the northernmost was Phocæa, hard by the Æolian Cume; then followed Smyrna, at the head of its deep bay; after which the coast projects towards Chios, and forms 59 the strange wide peninsula of Erythræ, in the northern portion of which rose the lofty Mount Mimas, the dread of sailors from its dangerous storms. Then it recedes by Teos and Lebĕdos to Ephesus on the Caicus, far-famed for its temple of Artemis, the largest in the ancient world; and advances again opposite Samos on the promontory of Mycăle, the scene of the engagement between the Greeks and Persians. Beyond this, on the south side of the bay into which the Mæander flows, was the great city of Milētus, with the Island of Lade in the front of it; but so great has been the deposit of the river, that the bay is now filled up, and Lade is a hill in the middle of a level plain. These Ionian cities were at first twelve, and formed a Dodecapolis; but the number was afterwards increased to thirteen, when Smyrna, originally an Æolian colony, was captured by the Ionians. The place of meeting of this confederation was on the northern slope of Mount Mycale, and was called Panionium. At the south-west angle of Asia Minor, which is occupied by a number of narrow and strangely indented peninsulas, were stationed the Dorian colonies, six in number — Halicarnassus, Cos, Cnidos, and the three towns of the neighbouring island of Rhodes, Ialysus, Lindus, and Camīrus. These formed a Hexapolis, which held its meetings at a temple of the Triopian Apollo, but after a time this became a Pentapolis, by the exclusion of Halicarnassus. Cnidos was situated at the extremity of the long Triopian promontory; but the most famous of these cities was Halicarnassus, which is well known for its mausoleum, the monument which Queen Artemisia erected in memory of her husband Mausolus.
10. Thrace. — The territory which was occupied by the countries of Thrace and Macedonia was bounded on the north by the chain of Hæmus, on the west by the Scardus, which formed the northern continuation of 60 Pindus, on the east by the Euxine, and on the south by the Propontis and Ægean Sea. The greater part of it was hilly and irregular, and it was intersected by several definite ranges of mountains, the chief of which was Rhodŏpe. This chain separates from the Hæmus at right angles about the middle of the whole area, and runs southward at first, until it approaches the sea, when it takes an easterly direction; this bend is referred to by Virgil in the line,
“Quaque redit medium Rhodope porrecta sub axem.”
To the westward of this, and separated from it by the river Nestus, is Mount Pangæus, which also reaches the sea. Again, another chain branches off from Scardus towards the east, and when it approaches Pangæus, where its summits are highest, is called Orbēlus. The country is watered by four rivers, larger than any that are found in Greece, the westernmost of which, the Axius, flows into the Thermaic gulf, while the three others, the Strymon, the Nestus, and the Hebrus, enter the Ægean between Chalcidice and the Thracian Chersonese. The largest of these is the Hebrus, which, with its tributaries, drains almost the whole of Thrace. The proper boundary between Thrace and Macedonia was the Strymon, but at a later period Macedonia encroached on its neighbour, so as to extend eastward of Philippi. The climate of Thrace was regarded by the Greeks as very severe, and that country was spoken of as the home of the north wind, Boreas. The forests near the coast furnished great quantities of timber, which were of importance to the Athenians for their ship-building. Thrace was also famous for its breed of horses, and for gold, which was found near Amphipolis, and elsewhere in the country. The principal colonies on the coast, besides Byzantium, which has been already described (p. 51), were Perinthus on the Propontis, and Mesambria, Abdēra, and Amphipolis on the Ægean. The last-named of 61 these places was originally called Ennea-Hodoi or the Nine Ways, and was surrounded on three sides by the Strymon, just where that river makes its exit from the Lake Cercinitis. Its port, at the mouth of that river, three miles distant, was called Eion. Further to the east, and nine miles from the sea, was Philippi, in the plain near which the battle was fought which decided the fate of the republican party at Rome; the port of Philippi was Neapolis, and at this place St. Paul landed when he went up to that city. Finally we must notice the curious narrow strip of ground between the Hellespont and the Ægean, called the Thracian Chersonese. This was occupied by Greek settlers, and to prevent the incursions of the Thracians a wall was built across its isthmus, which was less than five miles in breadth.
11. Macedonia. — The River Axius divides Macedonia into two parts, the eastern of which resembles the neighbouring country of Thrace in the irregularity of its surface; but in the western part, under the flanks of Mount Scardus, are a succession of rich upland plains. The most important of these was Pelagonia, one of the original seats of the Macedonian race; the southern part of this was called Lyncestis. From the head of the Thermaic Gulf to the foot of Mount Olympus a vast maritime plain extended, intersected by the streams of the Axius, the Lydias, and the Haliacmon; on the west this was bounded by the Bermian chain, and the portion in the neighbourhood of Olympus, as well as the sea-slopes of that mountain, formed Pieria, the original home of the Muses. The chief cities of Pieria were Pydna, where Perseus of Macedon was defeated by the Romans, and Dium. At the north-west angle of the plain, just where the passes from Lyncestis enter Lower Macedonia, stood the early capital, Edessa, in a beautiful position on a table of rock, adorned with numerous cascades. The importance of the site 62 arose from its commanding both the upper and the level country. These advantages were not enjoyed by the later capital, Pella, which occupied some low hills near an extensive marsh in the plain; its nearness to the sea appears to have been its only recommendation. The Roman metropolis, Thessalonica, originally Therma, lay in the innermost angle of the Thermaic Gulf, thus forming a natural point of transit for exports and imports. This city was the terminus of the Via Egnatia, the great Roman road which joined the Adriatic and the Ægean, starting from Dyrrhachium, on the former sea, and forming the main line of communication between the West and the East. This road was afterwards extended to Byzantium.
12.
Chalcidice. — The greater part of the coast of Macedonia was occupied by the trident-shaped peninsula, called Chalcidice from its having been colonized by settlers from Chalcis in Eubœa. The easternmost of the three promontories that form the trident was that of Acte, at the extremity of which the peak of Mount Athos rose to the height of 6,400 feet; through its isthmus, which is about a mile and a half broad, the canal was dug which Xerxes intended for the passage of his fleet, in order to avoid the dangers of shipwreck on the rocks of Athos, which had destroyed the expedition of Mardonius. On the land side of the isthmus stood the city of Acanthus. Separated from Acte by the Singitic Gulf, was the promontory of Sithonia, with the town of Torōne; and still further to the west, beyond the Toronaic Gulf, was that of Paleēne, with Mende and Sciōne on its southern side, and at its isthmus the important Corinthian colony of Potidæa. Near this place, at the head of the gulf, was Olynthius. These Greek cities were a continual thorn in the side of the Macedonian monarchs, and caused them to take part against Athens during the Peloponnesian War. Beyond the mountains in the north of Chalcidice was the Lake of Bolbe.
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CHAPTER VI. Northern Greece.