Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/966

 946 SCYTHOPOLIS. AspaiTis on the W., and bounded by the mountains of the Clialybes on the S. The Ten Thousand Greeks, in their retrr.U under Xenophon, were com- pelled to march four days thnm^'h their territory. Eennell ( Geogr. of Ilerod. p. 243) seeks them in the province of Kars (comp. Hitter, Erdkunde, vol. i. p. 764). [T. H. D.] SCYTHO'POLIS. [Bethsan]. SCYTHOTAURI. [Taijuoscythae.] SEBAGE'NA (^ZtSayriva, or, as others read, ^'ESdyqva), a town in Cappadocia, of uncertain site. (I'tol. V. G. § 15.) [L. S.] SEBASTE (SfSatTTTJ). 1. A town in a small island off the coast of Cilicia, built by Archelaus king of Cappadocia, to whom the Romans had given Cilicia Aspera. (Strab. xiv. p. 671.) It seems to have received its name Sebaste in honour of Augustus ; for, until his time, both the island and the town were called Eleusa, Elaeusa, or Elaeussa (Joseph. Ant. xvi. 4. § 6, Bell. i. 23. § 4 ; comp. Ptol. V. 8. § 4 ; Hierocl. p. 704 ; Stadiasm. Mar. Magn. § 172, where it is called 'EAeoCs ; Steph. B. s. vv. 'S.iSaaTq and 'EAaiotVcro), a name which Pliny (v. 22) still applies to the town, though he erroneously places it in the interior of Caria. Stephanus, in one of the passages above referred to, calls Sebaste or Elaeussa an island, and in the other a peninsula, which may be accounted for by the fact that the narrow chavmel between the island and the mainland was at an early period filled up with sand, as it is at the present, — for the place no longer exists as an island. Sebaste was situated between Corycus and the mouth of the river Lamus, from which it was only a few miles distant. Some interesting remains of the town of Sebaste still exist on the peninsula near Aijash, consisting of a temple of the composite order, which appears to have been overthrown by an earthquake, a theatre, and three aqueducts, one of which conveyed water into the town from a consider- able distance. (Comp. Beaufort, Karamania, p. 250, foil. ; Leake, A sia Minor, p. 2 1 3.) 2. A town in Phr3'gia Pacatiana, between Alyd- da and Eumenia, is noticed only by Hierocles, (p. 667) and in the Acts of the Council of Constan- tinople (iii. p. 674); but its site has been identified with that of the modern Seglkler, where inscriptions and coins of the town have been found. The ancient name of the place is still preserved in that of tlie neighbouring stream, SthasUSu. (Comp. Hamilton's Researches, i. p. 121, &c. ; Arundell, Discoveries, i. p. 136, who erroneously takes the remains at Segikler for those of the ancient Eucarpia.) 3. [Cabira, Vol. I. p. 462.] [L. S.] SEBASTE. [Samakia.] SEBASTEIA (^eSdareia), a town in the south of Pontus, on the north bank of the Upper Halys. As it was near the frontier, Pliny (vi. 3) regards it as not belonging to Pontus, but to Colopene in Cappadocia. (Ptol. v."6. § 10; Hierocl. p. 702; It, Ant. pp. 204, 205.) The town existed as a small place before the dominion of the Eomans in those parts, but its ancient name is unknown. Pompey increased tiie town, and gave it the name of Megalopolis (Strab. xii. p. 560). The name Sebastia must have been given to it before the time of Pliny, he being the first to use it. During the imperial period it appears to have ri.sen to considerable importance, so that in the later division of the Empire it was made the capital of Armenia Minor. The identity of Sebastia with the modern Siwas is established partly by the resemblance of the names, and partly by the agreement SEBETHUS. of the site of Si^oas with the description of Gregory of Nyssa, who states that the town was situated in the valley of the Halys. A small stream, moreover, flowed through the town, and fell into a neighbour- ing lake, which communicated with the Halys ( drat. I. in XL. 3fart. p. 50 1, Orat. //. p. 5 1 ; comp. Basil. M. Epist. viii.). In the time of the Byzantine empire Sebasteiais mentioned as a large and flourish- ing town of Cappadocia (Nicet, Ami. p. 76; Ducas, p. 31); while Stephanus B. {s. v.) and some ecclesi- astical writers refer it to Armenia. (Sozoin. Hist. Feci. iv. 24 ; Theodoret. llist. Eccl. ii. 24.) In the Itinerary its name appears in the form of Sevastia, and in Abulfeda it is actually written Siwas. The emperor Justinian restored its decayed walls. (Procop. de Aed. iii. 4.) The town of Siwas is still large and populous, and in its vicinity some, though not very important, remains of antiquity are seen. (Fontanier, Voyages en Orient, i. p.l 79, foil.) [L. S.] SEBASTO'POLIS {-ZtSaardizoXis.) 1. A town in Pontus Cappadocicus (Ptol. v. 6. § 7), which, according to the Antonine Itinerary (p. 205), was situated on a route leading from Tavium to Sebastia, and was connected by a road with Caesareia (p. 2 1 4). Pliny (vi. 3) places it in the district of Colopene, and agrees with other authorities in describing it as a small town. (Hierocl. p. 703; Novell. 31; Gregor. Nyssen. in Macrin. p. 202.) The site of this place is still uncertain, some identifying the town with Cabira, which is impossible, unless we assume Sebastopolis to be the same town as Sebaste, and others believing that it occupied the site of the modern Turchal or Turkhal. 2. A town in Pontus, of unknown site (Ptol. v. 6. § 9), though, from the place it occupies in the list of Ptolemy, it must have been situated in the south of Themiscyra. 3. About Sebastopolis on the east coast of the Euxine see Dioscukias, and about that in Mysia, see Myrina. [L. S.] SEBASTOPOLIS (Hierocl. p. 638), a place in the interior of Thrace, near Philippopolis. [J. K j SEBATUM, a town situated either in the south- western part of Noricum, or in the east of Khaetia, on the road from Aemona to Veldidena (/<. Ant. j). 280), seems to be the modern Sachbs. (Coujp. Muchar, Norikum, i. p. 250.) [L. S.] SKBENDU'NUM (2.iSevoovvov, Ptol. ii. 6. § 71), a town of the Castelhmi in Hispania Tarr.iconensis. There is a coin of it in Sestini (p. 164). [T.H.D.] SEBENNYTUS {S.^eifi'VTos, Ptol. iv. 5. § 50; Steph. B. s. ».; rj 'S.^Sivi'-jTMr) ir6is, Strab. svii. p. 802: Eth. '2,iSii;vvTns), the chief town of the Sebennytic nome in the Egyptian Delta, situated on the Sebennytic arm of the A'ile, nearly due E. of Sais, in lat. 31° N. The modern handet of Se- menhoud, where some ruins have been discovered, occupies a portion of its site. Sebennytus was an- ciently a place of some importance, and standing on a peninsula, between a lake (Ai^vtj ^egc-uvvTiKT): Burlos) and the Nile, was favourably seated for trade and intercourse with Lower Aegypt and Mem- jihis. The neglect of the canals, however, and the elevation of the alluvial soil have nearly obliterated its site. (Champollion, VEgypte, vol. ii. p. J91, seq.) [W. B. D.n SEBETHUS {Fiume delta Maddnltna), a small river of Campania, flowing into the Bay of Aajiles, immediately to the E. of tlie city of Xeapolis. It is alluded to by several ancient writers in connection with that city {HUUSilu. i. 2. 263; Colum. x 134;