TOPOGRAPHY AND EPIGRAPHY OF NOVA ISAURA.1

IF any confirmation were required of the evidence supplied by the first inscription published in the J.H.S. 1904, as to the ancient name of Dorla, it would be found in the Roman accounts of the siege of Isaura by Servilius Isauricus. Frontinus, iii. 7, 1, says that Servilius compelled the city to surrender from thirst, flumine ex quo hostes aquabantur averso. Now there are very few cases in which such an operation is possible. Three conditions must be fulfilled : (1) the city must be dependent for its water almost entirely on a river flowing through it or close to the wall; (2) there must be open ground on the opposite of the river towards which the water can be diverted ; (3) the operation must not be on so great a scale as to be beyond the power of an army such as Servilius had with him, a comparatively small and rather lightly equipped force, able to cross the Taurus from Cilicia, and operate on the northern flanks of the mountains. , for example, in ancient times fulfilled at least two of those conditions: the river flowed through the city and could be diverted without very serious difficulty by an operation which was quite within the power of a Roman army. But, on the other hand, there is every probability that Tarsus was sufficiently supplied with water from wells to enable it to hold out against a siege, as the soil yields water everywhere at an easily reached level below the surface, so that the loss of the river-water would indeed be inconvenient, but not decisive in a military view. It is impossible that a large city like Tarsus could be supplied solely from the river, because the river-water would necessarily become to some degree polluted in its course through the city. The wells must have been in permanent use within the city. Again at Dinorna,, where Prof. Sterrett placed Nova Isaura, the city was not dependent on a river, for the obvious reason that neither of the streams there is capable of supplying it with water. They were both quite dry when I passed through the place in 1890; and at no time during the summer can they ever carry much water. I believe that they are almost dry great part of the year. The city at Difiorna, like Tarsus, was undoubtedly dependent more on wells than on a river.

1 This paper was intended to follow the one was crowded out. The numbering of the in- by Miss Ramsay on The Early Christian Art of scriptions is continued from that paper. Nova Isaura, J.H.S., 1904, p. 260 ff., but M 2 164 W. M. RAMSAY But at Dorla all the conditions are fulfilled. The ancient town of Isaura was situated on the high ground on the right side of the stream (which flows here north, and slightly east; not north-west, as Kiepert has it), and extended at least down to the river bank. On the left, or west side of the stream, opposite the city, an isolated hill rises in the midst of the valley. It would be an easy operation for Roman soldiers, accustomed to the use of the spade, to divert the river a few hundred yards above the city and make it flow on the opposite or western side of the isolated hill, entirely out of reach from the city. In its present and normal course the river would touch Isaura only for a short distance, and was thus less liable to pollution. It flows through- out the year with a good supply of water for the city. The city for the most part lay on the broad ridge east of the river, which slopes back very gently towards the last eastern ridge of the Isaurian mountains. The surface of this ridge must lie high above the level of the subterranean waters. Wells would here require to be deep, and could not be quickly made. Further, Sallust in a fragment of the Histories mentions that Servilius occupied a mountain within javelin-throw of the city (montem ex quo in forum oppidi tali coniectus erat occupavit sacrum Matri Magnae)? This ' mons ' is evidently the isolated hill on the left bank of the stream. From this hill the lower part of the city could be reached by javelins; and it is quite natural and probable that the forum (assuming that this conjecture is to be adopted) may have been in that part of the city. The hill rises from the left bank of the little river, and we understand that the city wall bordered the right bank. The holy hill of Cybele, the Great Mother, therefore, was outside of the city ; and was in all probability employed in Anatolian, non-Hellenic fashion as a cemetery. The dead returned to the mighty mother who bore them, as the Lydian chiefs, the sons of the Gygaean Lake, were buried on its shore, according to Homer; and it has been repeatedly shown that this idea is peculiarly and almost universally characteristic of native Anatolian religion.3 The way from the gate of the city, crossing the stream by a bridge at the same place where the modern bridge stands, and ascending the hill to the temple, was bordered, doubtless, by a line of graves the whole way; and thus the Greek fashion was united with the Anatolian; but besides that, it is probable that the whole hill around the temple was full of graves. The Temple of the Great Mother, where on certain days she came to feast, was replaced by the Church, parts of which can still be seen amid the houses on the summit: it was impossible for us to tell how far the walls of the Church might still be traced, as careful exploration amid the houses was not within our power. It is unfortunate that the modern village is for

2 The MS. reading is fugam oppidi. Forum and uncertain, et in eo credebatur epulari dicbus is Hauler's emendation. Mommsen suggested certis dea, etc, iwga. The last may be right: iugum would 3 See e.g. remarks by the present writer in suit the single broad ridge on which the city B.C.H. 1898, p. 236; Cities and Bish. of stood better than iuga, but the plural may be Phrygia, i. pp. 100 f., 361, 367, etc. applicable. The sequel of the text is mutilated TOPOGRAPHY AND EPIGRAPHY OF NOVA. IS AURA. 165 the most part built on the hill, covering up the most interesting ruins. Even as things are, there can be little doubt that £100 or £200 spent in excava- tion would reveal many of the ancient grave-monuments. The account given by the inhabitants unanimously is that in the open spaces between the houses the upper surface of soil, about four or five feet deep, covers over a mass of cut stones. The tomb of the Bishop Theophilus, No. 2, was evidently a monument of large size; and perhaps several, or even many, of the component stones were inscribed (No. 58 may belong to this monument). Beside the great church on the top of the Hill of Cybele, there were of course others in the city. One of these doubtless stood on the site of the present mosque, close to the bridge on the left bank of the stream. It has been rebuilt, and the walls are full of tombstones ; I imagine that nearly all of them are Christian, and that the city was entirely Christian in the fourth century. While the outer walls of the mosque seem to be rebuilt, the inner door is probably pre-Turkish. The stones of which it is composed are dove- tailed (if the word may be used, where the form is so completely altered) in a very intricate style, which I take to be Byzantine. In the vestibule of the mosque, under the thick modern coating of white-washed mud-plaster, where this has partially scaled off, there appears an older coating of stucco, moulded in elaborate pattern, which I take to be Seljuk or early Turkish. Photo- graphs of this pattern proved unsuccessful. The situation of Nova Isaura, as now determined, illuminates the true character of the campaign of Servilius. Thinking of the enterprise as a mountain-campaign, I always found it a quite remarkable and hardly credible achievement at that period. Now an easier line of march is indicated as the probable one. It was possible to advance on the Isaurian country from a basis in Roman possession either directly from the south coast, or from the Province of Cilicia, or from the Province of Asia. The first of these three routes may be set aside as improbable : the country was too difficult for an army, and offered too many opportunities to the natives to attack and destroy the invader in positions where not a blow could be struck or a weapon hurled in reply. The least difficult road would go round by Laranda, and thus would fall into the second route. The second route would traverse the Cilician Gates, and pass through , Laranda, Ilistra, and . Now Servilius, as Sallust says, captured another city, before he came to Isaura Nova; and if he had advanced from that side, the former must have been Derbe. No allusion to Isaura Palaia would in that case be contained in the fragments of Sallust that we possess. The third route was from the Roman province Asia by the valley of the Maeander. Strabo, p. 568, mentions that Servilius captured both Isaura Palaia and Isaura Nova. Cicero, de Zege Agr. ii. 50, says that he added the ager Oroandicus to the Roman territory: this must be the territory of the tribe Orondeis, north-west from the Isaurian country and near Lake Karalis 166 W. M. RAMSAY (Bey-Sheher Lake).4 This might suggest that the line of advance was from the Asian side by Apameia, , and Pisidian ; and in that case the city which was captured immediately before Isaura Nova would probably be Isaura Palaia. But Sallust's description of the capture of that city through want of water does not suit well with the situation of Isaura Palaia (as Professor Sterrett has rightly pointed out, Wolfe Expedition, p. 151). Accordingly the probability is that Servilius advanced from the eastern side by Laranda and Derbe, capturing the latter by thirst, which is entirely natural in its situation, thereafter advancing to Nova Isaura, only six or seven miles to the west. Thus he gradually penetrated the Isaurian country and proceeded to reduce also the Orondeis, before he returned to Cilicia (probably through Pappa and Iconium). He did not advance further to the north-west, because beyond Pappa he would soon come to the territory of Pisidian Antioch, which at this time was autonomous (Strabo, p. 577). The campaign, as thus pictured, suits with the fact that Servilius (as both Orosius and Eutropius say) ranked as administrator of the Province of Cilicia at this time. It is also evident that Nova Isaura was founded (or grew to importance), because the site was in the nearest part of the Isaurian land to the open plain of and the great routes of communication that pass across it. Palaia Isaura always had been, and continued to be, the great fortress of the Isaurian territory. Nova Isaura in its delightful and convenient situation grew under the Roman rule from a village (as Strabo, p. 568, calls it) to be a bishopric. It struggled to maintain its rank as a city and bishopric inde- pendent of Palaia Isaura; and Basil of Caesareia favoured its claims; but it was forced to sink back into dependence, and an imperial decree (probably passed by Zeno about A.D. 474 and confirmed by Justinian) recognized and confirmed its dependence. This topic is discussed in an article on Lycaonia (Oest. Jahresh. 1904 Bb. p. 77 f.). The territory of Nova Isaura included, besides a tract of hill-country wholly unknown, the land of the modern villages, Dinek, Dinek-Serai, and Alkaran or Algeran. Dinek lies almost due west of Dorla, about two or three miles distant. Dinek-Serai is norbh-west of Dorla, and two miles north of Dinek, on the high south bank of Tcharshamba-Su, with a good bridge. Alkaran lies nearly due north of Dorla, almost eight kilometres distant. Seven kilometres north-north-east of Alkaran is another bridge over Tschar- shamba-Su, called Baltcha-Assar. Here a village of Roumelian refugees was built in 1902. This bridge lay outside Isaurian territory, in the open Lycao- nian plain; and everything here is different in kind and period. To show how different are the remains of an ordinary Lycaonian village of the plain from those of Isaura Nova, I add at the end the series of inscriptions from Baltcha-Assar. They belong to the fifth or following century. The reason why the art and writing of Nova Isaura came to an end

4 See Pisidia and the Lycaonian Frontier, § 9, § 22, B.S.A., 1904, pp. 254, 266. TOPOGRAPHY AND EPIGRAPHY OF NOVA IS AURA. 167 about 400 to 450 A.D. is obscure. We must connect its fate with that of Korna, also a bishopric until shortly after 381. Both towns have a similar situation; ^both were important under the Koman Empire; both ceased to be bishoprics during the fifth century. The culture and art of Nova Isaura ceased along with its independent rank. 39.—Dorla. R. 1901. Letters worn, faint, and hard to read. TDNTTAClC^IAoN TOV iraai <$>i\ov KeHAYETTH *e r)hvevf, tYXHNTBKE ifrvxvv r[e?] «e KAIAIOJNAPAEVT KO[T lajlwva? ENTIMIOCEC eW/M»? e[ TEC A NT T[tj]

|XHPUNO#<|>ANUlf TTUJPWN/fpuroci,, TTPGCBYTetoCTUNI"-, MAT UN / '•••

"\ TaXai- ap(oy6<;, [name of deceased, and perhaps his father 7rp6o-/SiiTe[p]oi{ T&P i[epoi>v avaKw—(or fidrcov

We found the left-hand fragment of this stone first. The unusual interest of the inscription was evident; and, in the hope that the other parts might be discovered, we sent to the village for implements, and proceeded to •dig round the grave and to examine every scrap of stone of the same colour. After a time the central fragment was found ; but the rest remains unknown. 168 W. M. RAMSAY Except for the name of the deceased, however, the run of the text is apparent. The stone stood on the grave of a presbyter, probably of Isaura Nova; he is defined as having the duty of superintending the church expenditure. Prof. Cumont suggested 7rpa

41.—Dinek-Serai. R. 1901: engraved on a stone in the common Phrygian form of a sepulchral altar. The stone has been split down the middle: the left half (a) is built into the wall which surrounds a small garden, and the right half (b) forms part of the pavement beside the door of the house within this garden. The letters are difficult to read, being very faint; and the position of part (b) is such that it is impossible to get a close view of the letters except upside down. I had only taken a first hurried copy of the two parts,6 when the owner, who had already been paid too liberally, refused to permit further work, unless I gave him ten pounds. As

6 See Histor. Geogr. of Asia Minor, p. 74 f., a piece of the same gravestone as (b), and made Arch. Jahreshefte, 1904, Beib. pp. 91, 105. a first copy of it. When I proposed to return 6 I was copying part (b), and had not finished, to (b) the owner interfered ; and to save long when my men told me they had found part (a). delay and bargaining or force, I desisted. I went to see it, found it was (as they suspected) TOPOGRAPHY AND EPIGRAPHY OP NOVA IS AURA. 169 the inscription seemed to be a mere metrical epitaph of the usual valueless kind, I was loath to bargain with him, all the more so, as he would have been hard to deal with. If, however, the partial restoration here given is correct, the epitaph is an important Christian document of the fourth century, and ought to be recopied. It is to be found at one of the most western or south-western houses in the village. In the circumstances I cannot guarantee that the size of the gap between the two fragments is accurately indicated in every line. In 1. 8 there is no gap, as H is divided. Many of the suggested restorations are quite uncertain.

€N€nO)nAPIONTI(j> //OCXAIP6N //eP€Y£NAPO €NOIC€VA€MOIXArPeA// OnPOC€AO eeCCIMA0CL)NAeCACpC//jCOTINeCTCUPA 5 TePOCM TPItUNXHF//OJNenAPlKlTOC KPATIHCOAIAKONO//CeC0AOC TTO HC0HCAYPOCenAPXl//lCeniA€KTOC AO ANIOYOAIAACKAAOCh//HI0€OICIN KAICOIAHNMAMMeiN 15 //HN€NKPATIHCOIKONOMONC IIKK MHC;CXAPINOePATT€NA //OCeNYMNOICAT£HCeNAnOC(t)€l // MATAKAAAIIACOYClKAieCCOMeN

TT/VZ' ?] evevco vapiovri (f>[i\oi(ri r ?]e iv ravrat<; ? l]ipevev apo\ypcu<; 1 evens eVJe'eacrt fiadwv Be aacfi&s on NecrTwp 5 Keirat, \ irpea-^v]Tepo<; p[e\Tpl(ov X^pwv e7rap[bv\a. Kal fivrjcrdels i\6Ti)TO$ ififjs \ KeBv ?]ij? cro.(f>ir]

t \ aira irdvra i\dSe\

olicovofJiov \ fi\yrf\iMr)<; xdpiv &[?] p ]o? iv V/J.POI<; Tefji or r\p\r)(Tev tcaWidcrovac ical icraofiei>[oi

7 J.H.S. 1904, p. 290 f. TOPOGRAPHY AND EPIGRAPHY OF NOVA ISAURA. 171 crowded against the preceding | in such a way as to make r probable. Thus the line is a mere metrical variant of the prose expression in No. 40 ; and it may be regarded as almost certain that the prose formula is older, and that the metrical form took its origin shortly after (just as the epitaph of Avircius Marcellus of Hieropolis Phrygiae was within a few years imitated by Alexander8). Probably No. 40 and No. 41 belong to the same half century, and were engraved on the graves of two presbyters of the church of Isaura Nova. The name Nearaip is too short for the gap in No. 40, line 2; and a different name containing 8 to 10 letters is needed there. 6.—[iry]icpaTir}