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CHAP. 42.—GALATIA AND THE ADJOINING NATIONS.

On this occasion also it seems that we ought to speak of Galatia1, which lies above Phrygia, and includes the greater part of the territory taken from that province, as also its former capital, Gordium2. The Gauls3 who have settled in these parts, are called the Tolistobogi, the Voturi, and the Ambitouti; those who dwell in Mæonia and Paphlagonia are called the Trocmi. Cappadocia stretches along to the north-east of Galatia, its most fertile parts being possessed by the Tectosages and the Teutobodiaci. These are the nations by which those parts are occupied; and they are divided into peoples and tetrarchies, 195 in number. Its towns are, among the Tectosages, Ancyra4; among the Troemi, Tavium5; and, among the Tolistobogi, Pessinus6. Besides the above, the best known among the peoples of this region are the Actalenses, the Arasenses, the Comenses7, the Didienses, the Hierorenses, the Lystreni8, the Neapolitani, the Œandenses, the Seleucenses9, the Sebas- teni10, the Timoniacenses11, and the Thebaseni12. Galatia also touches upon Carbalia in Pamphylia, and the Milyæ13, about Baris; also upon Cyllanticum and Oroandicum14, a district of Pisidia, and Obizene, a part of Lvcaonia. Besides those already mentioned15, its rivers are the Sangarius16 and the Gallus17, from which last the priests18 of the Mother of the gods have taken their name.

1 7 It was bounded on the west, south, and south-east by those countries; and on the north-east, north, and north-west by Pontus, Paphlagouia, and Bithynia.

2 Mentioned in C. 40, under the name of Gordiucome.

3 Who invaded and settled in Asia Minor, at various periods during the third century B.C.

4 Near a small stream, which seems to enter the Sangarius. It originally belonged to Phrygia, and its mythical founder was Midas, the son of Gordius, who was said to have found an anchor on the spot, and accordingly given the name to the town; which story would, however, as it has been observed, imply that the name for anchor (ἄγκυρα) was the same in the Greek and the Phrygian languages. The Tectosages, who settled here about B.C. 277, are supposed to have been from the neighbourhood of Toulouse. It is now called Angora, or Engareh; and the fine hair of the Angora goat may have formed one of the staple commodities of the place, which had a very considerable trade. The chief monument of antiquity here is the marble temple of the Emperor Augustus, built in his honour during his lifetime. In the inside is the Latin inscription known as the monumentum, or marmor Ancyranum, containing a record of the memorable actions of Augustus. The ruins here are otherwise interesting in a high degree.

5 Now Tchoroum, according to Ansart.

6 Its ruins are called Bala-Hisar, in the south-west of Galatia, on the southern slope of Mount Didymus. This place was celebrated as a chief seat of the worship of the goddess Cybele, under the surname of Agdistis, whose temple, filled with riches, stood on a hill outside of the city.

7 Hardouin suggests that these are the Chomenses, the people of the city of Choma, in the interior of Lycia, mentioned in C. 28 of the present Book.

8 The people of Lystra, a city of Lycaonia, on the confines of Isauria, celebrated as one of the chief scenes of the preaching of Paul and Barnabas. See Acts xiv.

9 The people of Seleucia, in Pisidia.

10 The people of Sebaste, a town of the Tectosages.

11 The people of Timonium, a town of Paphlagonia, according to Stephanus Byzantinus.

12 Thebasa, a town of Lycaonia, has been mentioned in C. 25 of the present Book.

13 See C. 25 of the present Book.

14 The town of Oroanda, giving name to this district, is mentioned at the end of C. 24 of the present Book.

15 The Caÿster, the Rhyndacus, and the Cios.

16 Now called the Sakariyeh, the largest river of Asia Minor after the ancient Halys.

17 Now called the Lefke, which discharges itself into the Tangarius, or Sakariyeh.

18 Called "Galli." They were said to become mad from drinking of the waters of this river, and to mutilate themselves when in a frantic state. See Ovid's Fasti, B. iv. 1. 364 et seq.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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  • Cross-references to this page (11):
    • The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, OINOANDA (Incealiler) Turkey.
    • A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), TETRARCHA
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), CILLA´NIUS CAMPUS
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ELAPHONNE´SUS
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), GALLUS
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), GO´RDIUM
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), LYSTRA
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), MILYAS
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), NEA´POLIS
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), TA´VIUM
    • Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), TIMONITIS
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