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GENERAL PRINCIPLES.

1. Figure of the Earth. The ancients were ignorant of the figure of the earth; some conceived it to be a plane surface; others observing the descent of the rivers from the high grounds, concluded that it was concave, and that the ocean occupied the bottom of the cavity; some, however, conjectured that the earth was a spherical body, and that the opposite hemisphere might be inhabited.

2. Geographical Knowledge of the Ancients. The western hemisphere only was known to the ancients, and that only in part. They were wholly ignorant of those regions which lie near the poles, and were imperfectly acquainted with the eastern part of Asia, and the great mass of Africa. In general they supposed the northern regions to be rendered uninhabitable by cold, and the tropical countries, by heat. Being entirely ignorant of the American and Oceanian continents, they considered the ocean to occupy a much larger portion of the globe than it actually does.

3. Ancient Divisions of the Earth. The Ancients divided the world known to them into three parts, Asia, Libya (among the Greeks, called also Africa by the Romans), and Europe corresponding in general with The modern divisions. The Tanais (Don) was considered the boundary between Asia and Europe, and the isthmus of Suez that of Libya and Asia.

4. The Ancients. The nations to whom we chiefly refer when speaking of the geographical knowledge of the ancients, are the Jews, Phonicians, Greeks, and Romans; all of these nations dwelt upon the shores of what is now called the Mediterranean Sea, in the west of Asia, and the south of Europe. They flourished at different periods of the world, and the extent of their knowledge of the earth is various. The early Jews knew little beyond Egypt, the northwestern shores of the Indian Ocean, and the southwestern part of Asia. The Phoenicians navigated the Mediterranean and Black seas, planted colonies in Spain and on the northern coast of Africa, and sailed out into the Atlantic Ocean along the western coasts of Africa and Europe. The Greeks obtained a knowledge of India, and of more northern parts of Europe and Asia than had been known to the Phoenicians; and the Romans had a still more extensive acquaintance with European regions than the Greeks.

ASIA.

The Greeks divided Asia into Upper Asia and Lower Asia, the latter comprising the region between the Halys and Egean Sea. The Romans separated it into Hither Asia, or Asia on this side the Taurus; and Further Asia, or Asia beyond the Taurus. According to Pomponius Mela, a Roman geographer, Asia is bounded north by the Scythian Ocean, of which the Caspian Sea is an inlet, east by the Eastern Ocean, and south by the Indian Ocean. Some ancient geographers extend it to the Nile on the west. The ancient name of the Arabian Sea was Erythrean Sea; the Red Sea was called Arabian Sea or Red Sea.

ASIA MINOR OR LESSER ASIA.

1. Divisions. This name was unknown to the ancients, but the region so called by the moderns included Mysia; Bithynia; Paphlagonia; Pontus; Lydia; Phrygia; Galatia; Cappadocia; Caria; Lycia; Pisidia and Pamphylia; and Cilicia.

2. Mysia. Mysia was bounded by the Propontis on the north; the Hellespont and Ægean Sea on the west; Lydia on the south; and Phrygia and Bithynia on the east. The early inhabitants were the Mysians in the interior, and the Leleges, Pelasgians, and Teucrians and Dardanians (Trojans) on the coast. After the destruction of Troy the Æolians settled here.

From Mount Ida in the northwest descended two small streams, the Simois and Scamander, which flowed by Troy. Other rivers were the Granicus, celebrated as the scene of one of Alexander's victories over the Persians; the sepus; and the Hyllus, which separated Mysia from Lydia.

On the coast were the islands of Lemnos (Stalimene), upon which Vulcan was said to have fallen from heaven; Lesbos (Metelin), famous for its wines, and the birth-place of Pittacus and Sappho; Tenedos, opposite to Troy; and Proconnesus, in the Propontis, famous for its marble, whence its modern name Marmora.

Troja (Troy) or Ilium was a city on the western coast, celebrated for its siege of ten years by the Greeks under Agamemnon. To the north on the Hellespont were Dardanus (whence the modern name of the strait, Dardanelles); Abydos, celebrated for the loves of Hero and Leander; and Lampsacus.

On the Propontis was Cyzicus, formerly a large city, now in ruins. To the south were Pérgamus, once the capital of a flourishing kingdom, and the seat of a learned court: Adramyttium on a gulf of the same name; Cyme, the principal of the Æolian cities; and Mytilene, the capital of Lesbos.

3. Lydia. The ancient inhabitants of this district were called Mæonians. They resembled the Mysians and Carians in their language, manners, and rites. The coast of Lydia and Caria was at a later period occupied by colonies of Ionians from Greece, and is therefore sometimes called Ionia. The Ionian cities formed a confederacy, but were independent of each other.

On the coast were the islands of Chios (Scio) and Samos. The principal rivers were Pactolus, famous for its golden sands, and running into the Hermus; the Meander (Meinder) famous for its windings, whence the word meander; and the Hermus (Sarabat).

Ionia was celebrated among the ancients for the fertility of its soil and the mildness of its climate. The inhabitants were ingenious, industrious, and wealthy, and distinguished for elegance of taste and love of the arts and sciences. Homer, the greatest of poets; Apelles and Parrhasius, celebrated painters; Thales and Pythagoras, famous philosophers; and Hippocrates, the great physician, were Ionians. Smyrna; Colophon; Ephesus, once a magnificent city now in ruins; Miletus; Clazomene; and Erythra were the chief towns of the Ionian confederacy. Panionium was a village, in which the deputies of the twelve confederated cities met once a year. Teos, the birth-place of Anacreon, and Phocæa, were also on the coast.

In the interior were Sardis, once the residence of the Lydian kings, Magnesia, and Philadelphia.

Mount Tmolus, from which the Cayster descended to the sea, was famous for its vineyards; and Mycale, on the coast, for the naval victory gained by the Greeks over the Persians, in its neighborhood.

3. Caria. Caria, which lies to the south of Lydia, was also in part occupied by Greek colonies of Ionians and Dorians.

The principal islands were Cos (Stanchio); Pathmos, where St. John received the Revelations; Rhodes; and Carpathus (Scarpanto), which gave its name to the Carpathian Sea.

The Dorian confederacy consisted of five cities; Halicarnassus, the principal, contained the celebrated sepulchral monument erected by Artemisia, to the memory of her husband Mausolus, whence the word mausoleum; it is now destroyed, but was considered by the ancients one of the wonders of the world. This city was the birth-place of the Greek authors Herodotus and Dionysius. Cnidos (Porto Genovese), now in ruins, famous for its beautiful statue of Venus by Praxiteles, and for the games celebrated there in honor of Apollo, was the second city of the confederacy. Rhodes, the chief town of the island of the same name, contained the celebrated colossus of bronze, dedicated to Apollo, and esteemed one of the wonders of the world.

4. Phrygia. This province was to the east of Mysia and Lydia, and to the south of Bithynia and Galatia. It is a mountainous region, giving birth to several considerable rivers. The Sangarius (Sakaria) running through Bithynia into the Euxine, the Meander, and the Marsyas running into the Meander, are the principal. Olympus, Taurus, and the Lycaonian Hills traverse the province.

The principal towns were Ancyra (Jar Hissar), Apamæa, Laodicea (Ladikiah), Hierapolis (Pambouk Kulassi), and Colossæ.

The southeastern part was called Lycaonia, which was inhabited by a fierce nation of mountaineers. Here was Iconium (Konieh).

5. Bithynia. The Bithynians, who gave their name to this province, were of Thracian origin; they established here a powerful kingdom, which Nicomedes the last king bequeathed to the Romans. On the coast of the Euxine there were many Greek colonies. The Propontis and Thracian Bosphorus separated Bithynia from Thrace.

On the Bosphorus stood Chrysopolis (Scutari) and Chalcedon now a mere village.

On the Propontis were Nicomedia (Ismid) and Drepanum, destroyed, both on the Gulf of Astacus. To the south lay Nicæa (Isnik or Nice) and Prasa (Boursa).

On the Euxine was Heraclea, a Greek colony, famous for its navy, its library, and rich temples.

6. Paphlagonia.

Paphlagonia was separated from Bithynia by the Parthenius, and from Pontus by the Halys (Kizil Irmak). The inhabitants were chiefly engaged in mining.

Sinope, a Milesian colony, was a rich city, the birth-place and residence of Mithridates. Diogenes the Cynic was also a native of Sinope. Amastris lay in the eastern part.

7. Galatia. This province, lying between Bithynia and Paphlagonia on the north, and Phrygia on the south, derived its name from some tribes of Gauls, who settled in it. The Tolistoboii occupied the west, the Tectosages the centre, and the Trocmi the east.

Gordium, on the Sangarius, was a very ancient city; here Alexander cut the Gordian knot. Pessinus, the capital of the Tolistoboii, was celebrated for the worship of Cybele, the mother of the gods.

Ancyra (Angora) was the capital of the Tectosages; Paul's Epistle to the Galatians was addressed to the Christians of this city.

Tarium was the capital of the Trocmi. Gangra was the residence of king Deiotarus.

8. Pontus. This country bordered upon the sea (in Greek, pontos, whence its name), and was once a part of Cappadocia. Under Mithridates it formed a powerful kingdom. Pontus contained rich copper mines. The Iris (Jekil Irmak), the Lycus, a tributary of the Iris, and the Thermodon, on which the Amazons were said to dwell, were the principal rivers. The Amisene Gulf (Gulf of Samsoum) took its name from the city of Amisus.

Amisus (Samsoum) was a large and beautiful Greek city. Amasia, on the Iris, was the birth-place of the Greek geographer Strabo.

Comana Pontica (Al-Mous) was celebrated for its temples of Bellona and Venus.

Trapezus (Trebisond), in the northeast, was a colony of Sinope. Cerasus gave its name to the cherry, which was brought thence into Europe by the Roman general Lucullus.

9. Cappadocia was for some time an independent kingdom. The eastern part was inhabited by Armenians, and was often called Armenia Minor, or the Lesser Armenia. The Melas (Karasu) was a tributary of the Euphrates. The Anti-Taurus Mountains traversed the country.

Mazaca or Cæsarea (Kaisarieh), Tyana, Comana, Satala, and Melitene were the principal towns.

10. Cilicia. This province was divided into three parts, Isauria, Cilicia Trachea (Hilly), and Cilicia Campestris (the champaign cou try). It was watered by a number of small streams, among which were the Pyramus, Selinus, Cydnus, nearly fatal to Alexander, and Melas. On the southeast was a narrow defile or pass, leading into Syria, called the Pyle Syriæ or Syrian Gates.

Tarsus, the capital, celebrated for its cultivation of letters, was the birth-place of St. Paul. Issus, in the southeast, the scene of a victory of Alexander over the Persians, gave its name to a gulf.

Coryus was celebrated among the ancients for its remarkable cave.