Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/81

 IRIS. now called I'ech'l or Yekil Irmak. (Hamilton, Re- searches, vol. i. ]). 340.) [L. S.] litis. [iK.r.NiJ.] lliUS or livA {'Ipos or'Ipa), a town of Mali.s, of uncertain site. (Steph. B. «. vv. ; L3'coi»hr. 903.) IS ("Is, Honxi. i. 179), a town of Mesopotamia, eight (lavs' journey N. of Babylon, situated, accord- ing to Herodotus, on a stream of the same name, which brought down the bitumen which was used in the construction of the wails of Babylun. There is no reason to doubt that it is represented by the modern Bit. There does not appear to be any river at present at Hit, but a small stream may have been easily blocked up by the sand of ages. There are still bitumen springs in the neighbourhood of this place. It has been conjectured that the '^avvr)j6. woA(9 of I.sidorus (p. 5) refers to the same town. (IJitter, Erdkuwk, vol. ii. p. 148; KenncU, Geogr. (>/' Jlerod. ]). r)52.) [V.] ISACA, in Britain, a river mentioned by Ptolemy (ii. 3. § 4) as lying west of the outkt of the Ta- mamts (^Tamar'). In the Jlonumenta Britannica, Isacae ostia are identified with Weymouth, and also with Exinouth; most probably the latter, name for name, as well as place for place. In the Geographer of Ravenna the form is Isca, which is preferable. [Isr.v.] ^ [R. G. L.] ISADICI (EliT(x5i(foi), a people whom Strabo (xi. p. 506) couples with the Troglodytae and other tribes of the Caucasus. The name may imply some Hellenic fancy about savage justice and virtue. (Comp. Groskurd, ad he.) [E. B. J.] ISAMXIU.M, m Ireland, mentioned by Ptolemy (ii. 2. § 8) as a promontory north of the Bubinda (river Boijne) = St. John's Foreland, Clogher Head, Dunany Point, Bullushan Point (?). [R. G. L.] ISANNAV^ATIA, in Britain, mentioned in the 6ili Itinerary as lying between Lactodurum and Tripontiuin. It is a name of some difficulty, since neither of the places on each side of it has been identified. (See vv.) In the Geographer of Ra- venna we find a Bannovallum, and in the 8th Itine- rary a Bannovantum. Probably these two names are identical. At any rate, Bannovantum = Isanna- vatia, since each is 28 miles from Magiovinium. Thus, in the 6th Itinerary, we have: — ilagiovinio 11. P. Lactodoro - - xvi. Isannavatia - - xii=xxviii. And in the 8th:— M. P. Bannavanto Magiovinio - - xsvlii. It is only safe to say that Isannavatia was a town in the southern part of Northamptonshire, probably Daventi-y. The Itinerary in which it occurs has only two names beyond doubt, viz. Verulamium and Linduni (St. Albans and Lincoln). Daventry, how- ever, is Horsley's identification. In more than one map of Roman Britain, Bannovallum is placed in Lincolnshire. This is because it is, in the first place, separated from Bannovantum, and then fixed on the river Bain, a Lincolnshire river. This is the meaning of Horncastle being given as its equivalent. The change, however, and the assumption, are equally gratuitous. [R. G. L.] rSARA, the river. 1. [Insula.] 2. The Isara, which was a branch of the Sequana, lias its name preserved in the Celtic name of a place which was on it, named Briva Isarae. [BmvA IsAUAE.] The Celtic element Is has become Oise, the modern name of the river, which is the same ] VOL. II. ISAURIA. 65 word as the English Ouse. D'Anville says that the name Isara in the middle ages became Esiaor Aesia. Vibius Sequester mentions a river Esia which flows into the Sequana; but D'Anville suspects the passage to be an interpolation, though it is impossible to judge what is interpolation in such a strange book as Vibius Sequester. Oberlin, the editor of Vibius Sequester, maintains the passage to be genuine (p. 110). [G. L.] 3. [LURA.] ISARCI, a Rhaetian tribe dwelling about the mouth of the river Isarus (I'lin. iii. 24), from which it appears to have derived its name. [L. S.J ISAliGUS. [IL.UIGI;S.] ISAltUS ("Iffopoy : the Jsar), a river of the Rhaetian Alps, flowing from an Alpine lake, and in a southern direction until it joins the Atliosis near Pons Drusi. (Strab. iv. p. 207, where the "laapos (or a) is said to receive the Atagis ( Alhesis) ; either a mistake of Strabo himself, or by a transcril)er transjiosing the names. Comp. Ilarus.) [L. S.] ISAURA (to 'laavpa: Eth. 'Iffavpfvs), the ca- pital of Isauria, situated in the soutli-west of tiie country; it was a wealthy, populous, and well-forti- fied city at the foot of Jlount Taurus. Of its earlier history nothing is known; but we learn from I)io- donis (xviii. 22) that when it was besieged by Per- diccas, and the inhabitants were no longer able to hold out, they set fire to the city, and destroyed themselves with all they possessed. Large quantities of molten gold were found afterwards by the Jlacc- dunians among the ashes and niins. The town was rebuilt, but was destroyed a second time Ijy the llo- man Servilius Isauricus, and thenceforth it remained a heap of ruins. Strabo (xii. p. 568) states that the place was ceded by the Romans to Amyntas of Galatia, who built out of the ruins of the ancient city a new one in the neighbourhood, which he sur- rounded with a wall; but he did not live to complete the work. In the third century of our aera Isaura was the residence of the rival emperor TrebcUianus (Trebell. Poll. XXX. Tyran. 25); but in the time of Ammianus JIarcellinus (xiv. 8) nearly all traces of its former magnificence had vanished. At a later period it is still mentioned, under the name I.--auro- polis, as a town in the province of Lycaonia. (Hierocl. p. 675; Concil. Chalced. p. 673; comp. Strab. xiv. p. 665 ; Ptol. V. 4. § 12; Steph. B. s. v.; Plin. v. 27.) Of Old Isaura no rains appear to be found, though D'Anville and others have identified it with the modern Bei Sheker; they also believe that Seidi Sheher occupies the site of New Isaura, while some travellers regard Serhi Serai as the representative of New Isaura; but Hamilton {Researches, vol. ii. pp. 330, foil.) has given good reasons iov thinking that certain ruins, among which are the remains of a triumphal arch of the emperor Hadrian and a gate- way, on a hill near the village of Olou Bounar mark the site of New Isaura. The walls of the city can still be traced all around the place. The Isaurians were a people of robbers, and the site of their city was particularly favourable to such a mode of life. [Isauria.] _ [L. S.] ISAU'RIA (ji Icravpia), a district in Asia Jlinor, bordering in the east on Lycaonia, in the north on Phrygia, in the west on Pisidia, and in the south on Cilicia and Pamphylia. Its inhabitants, living in a wild and rugged mountainous country, were little known to the civilised nations of antiquity. The country contained but few towns, which existed especially in the northern part, which was less