Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/690

 672 COBCTRA. di Corfuj Veiuoe, 1672; Mustoxides, lUiulraeioni Cordresi, Milan, 1811— 18U, 2 Tola. Svo.; Dod. well, CUusieal Tour^ vdL i. p. 32, seq. ; Mure, Tour M Greece^ yol. L p. 1, foil.; and especialljr G. C. A. MUller, De Corcyraeorum BepubHoOf GStdn^ren, 1835.) CORGY'RA NIGRA (^ M^Aaim KSpxvpai Cunoloj in SlaTOiic Karkar), an ieland off the coast of lUyria, called the " Black,'' from the dark coknir of the pine woods oorering its sides. It con- tained a Greek town, which was said to have been founded hy the Cnidians. The ishmd still abounds in trees, growing down to the water's edge: the pro- portion of hmd covered with wood is 43,471 acres, out of a total of 57,130. Of its ancient histoiy we know nothing; a fbll aoooont of its modem hbtoiy and of the present condition of the island is given in the work of ^ir G. Wilkinson, quoted below. (Strab. iL p. 124, vii. p. 315; Mela, iu 7; Plin. iii. 26. s.30: Sir G. Wilkiitton, Dabnatia mid MontenearOt vol. L p.251,seq.:^U«^>jl|KM» )^h^4Pihi))lK^, CORDA, in Brnain, mentioned bj Ptolemy aa one of the cities of the Selgovae. Identifiec^ on acaroelj sufficient grounds, with Cunmock, and with Cattie Over^ in Eskdale. [R G. L.] CORDES (K6fhis, Prooop. de AefUf. ii. 2)a small stream of Mesopotamia which rose in the M. Masius, and was a tributary of the Chaborss or KhMr, itself a tributary of the Euphrates. The town of Thn was situated upon its banks. [V.] CO'RDUBA (lUpdvea, KopMTi, Kopto^ta: JStk and Adj. Oordubenus: Cordoba or Cordova), one of the chief cities of Hispania, in the territoiy of the TurdnlL It stood on the right bank of the Baetis (guMKfafgwirir), a little below the spot where the navigation of the river commenced, at the distance of 1200 stadia finom the sea. [Babtis.] Its foun- dation was ascribed to Maroellus, whom we find making it his head-quarters in the Cdtiberian War. (Strab. iiL p. 141 ; Polyb. xxxv. 2.) It was occu- pied from the first by a chosen mixt population of Romans and natives of tiie surrounding country ; and it was the first colony of the Romans in those parts. Strabo's language implies that it was a colony from its very foundation, that is, from ft: c. 152. It was regarded as the capital of the extensive and fisrtile district of Baeturia, comprising the country between the Anas and the Baetis, the richneM of which combined with its position on a great navigable river, and on the great high road connecting the £. and N£. parts of the peninsula with the S., to raise it to a position only second to Gades as a commercial city. (Strab. I o., and p. 160 ) In the great Civil War Cordnba suflbred severely on several occasions, and was at last taken by Caesar, soon after the battle of Munda, when 22,000 of its inhabitants were put to the sword, b. c. 45. (Caes. B, C. ii 19; Hut. BelL Alex. 49 j 57, 59, 60, Beil Jlitp. 32—34; Appian, B. C. ii. 104, 105; Dion Cass. xUiL 32.) Cordnba was the seat of one of the four eomveiUut jwridici of the province of Baetica, and the usual residence of the praetor; hence it was generally re- garded as the capital of the province. (Plin. iii. 1. s. 3; Appian, Hiep, 65.) It bore the surname of Patricia (Plin. L c; Mela, ii. 6. § 4), on account, as is said, of the number of patricians who were among the colonists; and, to the present day, Cor- dova is so conspicuous, even among Spanish cities, for the pride of its nobles in their " azure blood " that the Great Captain, Gonzalo de Cordova, COBDYLE. used to say that ** other towns might be better to live in, but none was better to be bom in." (Fonlf Handbook^ p. 73.) . In the annals of Roman literature Cordnba is ooo- spicuous as the birthfdace of Lucan and the two Senecas, besides others, whose works justified the epithet of ** fiusunda," applied to it by Martial QEp» i. 62. 8):— ^Duoeque Senecas, unicumque Locannm Facnnda loquitur Cordnba.* (Comp. ix. 61, and the beautiful epigram of Seneca, ap. Wemsdorf, Poet LaL Mm. vol v. pL 3, p. 1364.) Numerous cuius of the dty are extant, bearing the names of Corduba, Patkicia, and Coix>hia Pa- TBiciA. (Florex, Med. de Eap. voL i. p. 373, vol. iu p. 536; Mionnet, voL L p. 11, SuppL voL i. p. 23; Sestini, p. 46; Eckhd, vol L p. 18.) There are now scarcely any remains of the Roman city, except a ruined building, which the people dignify with the title of Seneca's House. (Florez, E^, Sagr, v«l. x. ]x 132; Miiiano, Diccikm. vol. iii. p. 170.) The ci^ is one of Ptolemy's places of recorded astrono- mical observations, ^ving 14 hrs. 25 min. for its longest day, and being distant 31 hrs. W. of Alex- andria. (PtoL]i.4.§ll,viu.4.|4.) [P.S.] CORDYFNE, GORDYE'NE (rop8viHft, Fep- Sifi^, ropSiMua : EA, TopiucSo^ KopSvcuM, Ki^ - 9^901, ropiviiinUf Cordneni), a district lying to the E. of the river Tigris, and occupied bj the wan- dering tribes of the Cabddohi. (Strab. xvL p,747.) The name Cordyeni, like Kvrdktdn^ idiich more or less in modem times may be said to repruwut it, b simply a geographical expresnon, signifying a mere aggr^Ate of people without pcditioil union or intercourse. The Romans became acquainted with it fint during the campaign of Luoillus, when, after the fiJl of Tigranocerta, he took up his winter-quarters in this district, and reouved the submissian of several of the petty chieftains who had been for- merly subject to the yoke of Tigianes, king of Ar- menia. (Pint. iMcmU. 29.) Under Pompey it was annexed to the Roman prorince (IKon Cass, xxxvii. 5). Cordoene was one of the five provincoi which Galerius wrested firom the Persian king Narses ; it was afterwards given up to Chosroes in the disastrous negotiation which followed on the retreat of Jovian (Amm. Marc xxv. 7; Le Bean, Bas Empkre, vol. iiL p. 161). The geography of this wild mountainous district has been as yet but littie investigated, and further discoveries have still to be made. But a correct idea of it may be formed by considering it a region of lofty temsses, separated by valleys, forming a series of parallel ranges of mountain elevations, the general direction of which is neariyNNW.andSSE. (Bitter, Erdhmde, vol xL p 141 ; St Martin, Mim. aw FArmenie, voL i. p. 176; Joim. Geog. Soe. voL xi. p. 21, fbIL) [E. B. J.] CORDYLE (KopS^Xn) or PORTUS CHOS- DYLE (Plin. vi. 4), a place on the coast of Pontus, 40 or 45 stadia east of Hieron Oros or Yoroa. (Ar- rian, p. 17 ; Anon. p. 13.) Hamilton (JZesearcAes, ^ voL L pu 248) identifies it with Al^ Kdkh, a ruined fort <» a rocky pnomontofy, half-way bet ween Platana and Cape Toroa: " it po s s esses a small open roadstead, called by the Turks a liiuan or port, to the east of the promontory.** The name occurs in the Table in the form Cordlle. There appears to be some oonfusioD in Ptolemy (v. 6) abont this place. [G.L.]