Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1037

 SMYRNAEUS SINUS. lioiirhood of their city, on the little river Jleles, where the poet was said to have composed his works. Smyrna was at all times not only a great commercial place, but its schools of rhetoric and philosophy also were in i^reat repute. The Christian Church also flourished through the zeal and care of its first bishop Polycarp, who is said to have been put to death in the stadium of Smyrna in A. d. 166 (Iren. iii. p. 176). Under the Byzantine emperors the city e.Kperienced great vicissitudes : having been occupied by Tzaclias, a Turkish chief, about the close of the 11th century, it was nearly destroyed by a Greek fleet, connnanded by John iJucas. It was restored, liowever, by the emperor Comnenus, but again sub- jected to severe sufferings during the siege of 'J'a- niorlane. Not long after it fell into the hands of the Turks, who have retained possession of it ever since. It is now the great mart of the Levant trade. Of Old Smyrna only a few remains now exist on the north-eastern side of the bay of Smyrna; the walls of the acropolis are in the ancient Cyclopean style. The ancient remains of New Smyrna are more immerous, es])ecially of its walls which are of a solid and massive construction; of the stadium between the western gate and the sea, which, how- ever, is stripped of its marble seats and decorations; and of the theatre on the side of a hill fronting the bay. These and other remains of ancient buildings have been destroyed by the Turks in order to obtain the materials for other buildings; but numerous remains of ancient art have been dug out of the ground at Smyrna. (Chandler's Travels in Asia, pp. 76, 87; Prokesch, Denkwurdigkeiten, i. p. 515, foil.; Ha- milton, Researches^ i. p. 46, foil.; Sir C. Fellows, Asia Minor, p. 10, foil.) [L. S.] SODOM. 1017 COIN OK S.MYKNA. SMYRNAEUS SINUS {Ipt-vpuaioiv koXttoh), also called the bay of Hermus {"Epfxeios icoAiros), from the river Hermus, which flows into it, or the bay of Weles (MfAiJTou k.), from the little river Meles, is the bay at the head of which Smyrna is situated. From its entrance to the head it is 350 stadia in length, but is divided into a larger and a smaller basin, which have been formed by the deposits of the Hennus, which have at the same time much nar- rowed the whole bay. A person sailing into it had on his right the promontory of Celaenae, and on liis left, the headland of Phocaea; the central part of the bay contained numerous small islands. (Strab. xiv. p. 645; Pomp. Mela, i. 17; Vit. Horn. 2; Steph. B. s. V. 2,fivpva.) [L. S.] S(MNAS (2oacos, Ptol. vii. 4. § 3), a small river of Taprobane (Ceylon), which flowed into the sea on the western side of the island. Lassen (in his map) calls it the Kilaii. On its banks lived a people of the same name, the Soani. (Ptol. vii. 4. § 9.) [V.l SOANDA or SOANDUM (2(5a!'5a or SciarSof), a castle of Cappadocia, between Tiierma and Sacoena. (Strab. xiv. p. 663; It. Ant. p. 202.) The same place seems to be alluded to by Frontinus (iii. 2. § 9), who calls it Suenda. Hamilton (Researches, ii. p. 286, foil.) identifies it with Ssor/hauli JJere, a place situated on a rock, about 8 miles on the south-west of Karahissav, but other geoprapjieis place it in a different localitv. [L. S.] SOAS. [Sonus.] SOATRA (StioTpa), or probably more correctly Savatra ('S.avaTpa), as the name appears on coins, was an open town in Lycaonia, in the neighbour- hood of Apameia Cibotus, on the road from thence to Laodiceia The place was badly provided with water (Strab. xiv. p. 668: Ptol. v. 4. § 12; Hierocl. p. 672; Tab. Pent), whence travellers are inclined to identify its site with the place now called Su ]'er- jness, that is, '" there is no water here." [L. S.] SOATRAE, a town in Lower Moesia ([tin. Ant,. p. 229), variously identified with Pravadi and Kiopikeni. In the Tab. Peut. and by the Geogr. Rav. (iv. 6) it is called Scatrae [T. H. D.] SOBUliA CZoSovpas ifiiropiov), a place on the eastern coast of llindosian, mentioned in the Peri- plus (p. 34). It is probably the same as the modern Sabras, Ijetween Pondicherrij and Madras. (See Lassen's map.) [V.] SOCANAA or SOCANDA (SoiKaraa or SoiKai'- 5a), a small river of Hyrcania, noticed by Ptolemy (vi. 9. § 2). It is probably the present 6'!<)v/ore. Ani- mianus Marcellinus speaks of a place called Socun- da, on the shores of the Hyrcanian or Casjiian sea (sxiii. 6). [v.] SO'CRATIS I'NvSULA (Soj/fpirous v^aoi), an island of the Sinus Arabicus (Red Sea), placed by Ptolemy (vi. 7. § 44), who alone mentions it, in long. 70°, lat. 16° 40', and therefore off the N. coast of his Elisari, the Sabaei of other geographers, 30' east of his Accipitrum Insula ('Upa.Kwi') and 2° 20' south of them. They are probably identical with the Farsun islands, of the E. I. Company's Chart, described by commanders Moresby and Elwon, in their Sailing Directions for the Red Sea, as " the largest all along this coast, situated upon the ex- tensive banks west of Gheesan. They are two iu number, but may be considered as forming one i.sland, being connected by a sandy spit of shoal- water, across which camels frequently pass from one to the other." The westernmost is Parsan Kebeer(= the greater), 31 miles in length, extend- ing from lat. 16° 35' long. 42° 13' to hit. 16° 54' long. 41" 47'. Farsan Seggeer (=the snuiller) is, on its NE. side, 18 miles in length, and extends to lat. 17° ~j' : their whole breath is only 12 miles. The land is of con.siderable height, interspersed with some jjlains and valleys: the hilly parts are coral rock (pp. 38,39; C.RIiiller, Tabulae in Geog. Graec. Min.UiU. viii). In other comparative atlases, adopteii by Arrowsmith, the modern name is given as Kutinnhul Is., considerably to the N.of the Farsan, described by the same writers as lying only 2 miles from the niMin, a small island about ^ a mile in length and therefore not likely to have been noticed by Ptolemy, who obviously mentions only the iTiore important. (Sailing Directions, p. 50.) Mannert identifies the Sucratis Insula with Niebuhr's Firan, where the traveller says the inhabitants of Loheia have a pearl fi.shery. This name does not occur in the " Sailing Directions," but is probably the same as Farsan. (Mannert, Geographievon Arabien,^. 49; NiebuJir, iJe.-ivriplion de VArabie, p. 201.) [G. W.] SOCUNDA. [SocANAA.] SODOM (to 2(i5o^o, Strab.xv.p. 764; Stejih. B.