A

GRAMMAR
OF

ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY,
COMPILED FOR THE USE OF

KING'S COLLEGE SCHOOL ,

BY AARON ARROWSMITH,
HYDROGRAPHER TO THE KING,
ND MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY .

UNDER THE SANCTION OF THE COUNCIL OF KING'S COLLEGE .

BOSX
o OTT

QUI MAX
S

SA NCTEE PATENTER

London :
PUBLISHED BY S. ARROWSMITH, SOHO SQUARE ; AND B. FELLOWES
LUDGATE STREET,

1832 .

[ Price 6s.bound ; or with the Maps, 12s.bound.]

9.
 O rati
D n
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1

LONDON :
Printed by James and Luke G. Hansard & Sons,
near Lincoln's-Inn-Fields.
 Syria. 187
been at one time comprehended under the name of the Sea of Tarshish,
though it is very probable that this appellation was at first applied to the
sea in the immediate vicinity of Tarsus, or to that part of it which the pro
fane writers distinguish as the Mare Cilicium. Tarsus was made a free
colony by the Greeks, an honour which was granted to it by the Romans
also ; and hence St. Paul, who was a native of the city, styles himself a
free -born Roman.
51. Adana Adana was to the Eastward of Tarsus, and stood on the right
bank of the Sarus. The Pyramus Jyhoon is to the East of the Sarus, and
flows past Anazarbus Anzarba into the Mediterranean Sea at Mallos : on its
banks was Mopsuestia Messis, said to have been so called from being the re
sidence of Mopsus the diviner. The Pyramus is joined in the upper part
of its course by the little river Carmalus, on which stood Cocusus Cocson,
whither the great St. John Chrysostom , bishop of Constantinople, was
banishedfor opposing the raising of a statue to the empress Eudoxia, wife
of Arcadius. Issus Oseler was situated at the foot of Mt. Amanus, and on
the frontiers of Syria. It has been rendered famous by the second battle
between Alexander the Great and the Persians under Darius, fought here,
B. C. 333, in which the latter were defeated with terrible slaughter :in con
sequence of this victory Alexander built the neighbouring town Nicopolis.
It was also the scene of another battle, in which the emperor Severus de
feated his rival Niger, A. D. 194. Issus gave name to Issicus Sinus B. of
Iskenderoon , which extends between Ammodes Pr. in Cilicia and Rhossicus
Scopulus in Syria.

CHAPTER XVIII.

SYRIA ET CYPRUS .

1. SYRIA Syria, or Sham as it is called by the

natives, was bounded on the W. by the Mediterranean ;
on the N. by Mt. Amanus, and by Mt. Taurus ; on the
E. by the R. Euphrates and the Desert of Palmyra ;
and on the S. by the R. Arnon, the Dead Sea, and the
Torrent of Egypt. To the N. it touched upon Asia Minor,
Syria was much commended for a particular kind of pear : hence Virgil
says,
nec surculus idem
Crustumiis, Syriisque pyris, gravibusque volemis. Georg. II. 88.
It was, likewise, famed for its perfumes and spices ; but these were
broughthither from Arabia and India, and were not indigenous productions.
Hence Horace :
Cum quo morantem sæpe diem mero
Fregi, coronatus nitentes
Malobathro Syrio capillos. Carm . II . vii . 8.
188 Syria.
to the E. on Mesopotamia, and to the S. on Arabia and
Egypt: it contained 55,800 square miles, and was divided
into the three great divisions of Syria Superior or Syria
properly so called, Phænice, and Palæstina or Judæa.
Syria is also called Assyria, as forming part of that
great empire ; and the two names, though sufficiently
defined in geography, are often used indiscriminately in
history.
2. Thename of Syria, which is supposed to have been derived from Sora
or Tyre, does not appear to have been applied to the country until this city
had risen to the preeminence it enjoyed ." The old Greeks called the inha
bitants of Syria, Armenia , and Mesopotamia, Arimæi or Arimi; a name
which they doubtlessly derived from Aram , one of the sons of Shem , to
whose lot these countries first fell ( with the exception of Phænice and Pa
lestine ). From the hands of the Assyrians and Medes the whole of Syria
fell under the Persian yoke , to which it remainedsubject until wrested from
it by Alexander the Great, after whose death Seleucus Nicanor, one of his
generals, received this province as a part of his lot in the division of the
Macedonian dominions : he raised it b. c. 312 to an empire, which is known
in history as the Kingdom of Syria or Babylon. The Seleucidæ , or suc.
cessorsof this prince, governed the countryfor more than 200 years,dur:
ing which they contested parts of it with the Egyptians, the Parthians, and
the Jews ; the last of their race was Antiochus Asiaticus, who was de
throned by Pompey, B. C. 65, and from that time Syria became a Roman
province.
3. TheWestern halfof Syria is intersected with several
ranges of hills, running for the most part parallel with
the coast, and forming as it were a connecting chain be
tween Mi. Taurus in Asia Minor, and Mt. Sinai on the
borders of the Red Sea. Amanus M.2 Lokham or Alma
Daghy is a spur of the Taurus, which terminates on the
coast of the Mediterranean a little above the mouth of
the Orontes. It forms two great passes leading into Asia
Minor, viz. the Syriæ Pylæ Saggal Doutan, and the
Amanidæ Pylæ near Bylan. On the Southern side of
the Orontes, not far from its mouth, rises Mt. Casius
Ocral,which was said to be so lofty that from it the sun
might be seen rising when the surrounding country was
enveloped in darkness : on its summit stood the temple
of Jupiter Casius. The ranges of Libanus and Anti
Libanus, mentioned in Scripture under the common ap
pellation of Lebanon, and so famous for the large and
2
Cappadoces, duri populus nunc cultor Amani,
Lucan . III . 244.