Notes upon a Visit to Celaenae-Apamea

Extract

From Herodotus to John Cinnamus, almost every chronicler who has had occasion to mention Celaenae-Apamea, has paused in his narrative to remark the natural features of the place, and make a passing reference to its famous legend; it is the best described site in Phrygia, and among the most remarkable whether by reason of legend, history, or natural position. Here were localised the myths of Lityerses, and of Marsyas: here, according to the Sibyl, and probably to yet earlier tradition, the Ark of Noah first touched ground, and the coins of three emperors and a little ruined church on the summit of the Acropolis still commemorate this strange belief: the most important half-way station in western Asia Minor, it was the halting place of Xerxes, of the younger Cyrus, of Alexander the Great, of the Consul Manlius, of Cicero as pro-consul, of Manuel Comnenus, and many others, among whom in all probability was St. Paul. It was the capital of Phrygia, the chosen seat of the Great King, and the gate through which the traffic between the coast and Caesarea used to pass, and still passes; and when the Ottoman Railway Company complete their projected line, it may be once again second only to Smyrna as an emporium of trade.