Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/119

 The Pteria of Herodotus. T03 the south ; the latter a city of some importance, with a " resident, " or waly, whose power extends over the pashaHks of Angora and Caesarea. A lofty hill, 1700 metres in height, called Hapak-Tepe (north of lusgat), forms the southern spur of the Keuch-Dagh range. ^ It is connected with the Olympian heights towards the north, while to the south it runs out, like an inland promontory, amidst the vast table-lands which it overtops. The base of these hilly ridges is washed by the Halys and the Iris, and the table- land is interspersed with woods and fields ; whilst numerous small streams swell the two rivers as they descend from the plateau. This is broken up into narrow defiles, edged on either side by precipitous rocks which it is exceedingly difficult to scale ; indeed, the whole district may be considered as a gigantic natural fortress. The physical configuration of the country has led us to identify it with that alluded to by Herodotus, under the name of Pterium, whose town, Pteria, was taken by Croesus, after he had crossed the Halys and marched into that part of Cappadocia which is opposite Sinope. Or, to give the words of the historian, ** Croesus having crossed the Halys, marched into that part of Cappadocia which is called Pteria, the most inaccessible territory of that land, and almost on a line with Sinope, a place on the Euxine. He took the city, reduced the inhabitants to the condition of slaves, and ravaged the country of the Syrians, although they had given him no cause for complaint."^ Here he was encountered by Cyrus, and a great battle was fought without any decisive result, but which obliged Croesus to effect a retreat. The description given by Herodotus agrees in every particular with the actual position and nature of this district, where alone ^ Hamilton visited Asia Minor in the same year (i 835-1 836) as T^xier. He was observant and accurate, and his book {Researches in Asia Minor. London, J. Murray, 1842) may be consulted with advantage. He brought away 455 careful copies of inscriptions, but he could not hold a pencil. ^ Herodotus^ i. 75. Of the misleading character of Larcher's translation of this passage, which has been repeated in subsequent versions, we have spoken in another place. Thus 17 % UTeptrj ia-rl rrjq X^PV* TttVTT/s to lcr)(yp6TaT0Vy Kara Sii/o>7n;i/ irokw Ttjv iv ^Ev$€Lv(o IToVto) /xaAtcTTtt KT] KCLfjLivrj, IS rcndcrcd, "Pteria, the strongest district of that country, is near Sinope, a city situated near the Euxine." But Kara in this instance does not indicate proximity, but direction, alignment ; for if Pteria had been near Sinope, it would have belonged to Paphlngonia, and not Cappadocia. Moreover, fidXia-Ta ktj Kn^iv-q refers to Pteria, and not to Sinope. The error is probably due to Larchcr having read K€LfX€Lvriv. But anybody could have told him that Sinope is " super mare," and not any distance from it.