Geography

​Now the Paroreia has a mountainous ridge extending from east to west; and on either side of this lies a large plain, and near it are cities, to the north Philomelium, and on the other side the city called Antioch near Pisidia, the former situated entirely in a plain, and the latter on a hill, containing a Roman colony; and this was founded by the Magnesians on the Maeander. The Romans freed them from the kings when they delivered the rest of Asia within Taurus to Eumenes. There was also a priesthood of Men Arcaeus here, possessing a multitude of temple slaves and sacred territories; but it was abolished after the death of Amyntas by those who were sent for his inheritance. Synnada is not a large city; and before it lies a plain planted with olives of about sixty stadia; and beyond is the village Docimia, and the quarry of Synnadic stone (so the Romans call it, but the natives call it Docimites and Docimaean), which at first yielded only small blocks, but because of the present luxury of the Romans, great monolithic columns are extracted, resembling alabaster stone in their variegation, so that, although the transport of such heavy cargoes to the sea is difficult, nevertheless both columns and slabs of wonderful size and beauty are conveyed to Rome.

​And Apameia is a great emporium of Asia properly so called, second only to Ephesus; for it is a common receptacle for people from Italy and Greece. Apameia is established at the outlets of the river Marsyas, and the river flows through the middle of the city, having its sources from the city itself; and having flowed down to the suburb with a violent and steep current, it joins the Maeander, which has already received another river, the Orgas, which flows through a level country, gentle and soft. From here, now having become the Maeander, it flows for a while through Phrygia, and then delimits Caria and Lydia along the plain called that of the Maeander, being exceedingly crooked, so that from it all crookedness is called “meanders”; and in the end it flows through Caria itself, which is now occupied by the Ionians, and makes its outlets between Miletus and Priene. It begins from Celaenae, a certain hill on which there was a city of the same name as the hill; and from here, having relocated the people, Antiochus Soter established the city, naming it after his mother Apama, who was the daughter of Artabazus and had been given in marriage to Seleucus Nicator. Here is localized the myth of Olympus and Marsyas, and the contest which Marsyas contested against Apollo. And above lies also a lake producing the reed suitable for the tongues of flutes, from which they say both springs, that of the Marsyas and that of the Maeander, flow.

​And Laodiceia, though formerly small, received its growth in our time and that of our fathers, although it was damaged by a siege in the time of Mithridates Eupator; but the excellence of the land and certain of its citizens who became wealthy made it great, first Hieron, who left an inheritance of more than two thousand talents to the people and adorned the city with many offerings, and later Zeno the rhetorician and his son Polemon, who was even deemed worthy of a kingdom because of his brave deeds, first by Antony and afterwards by Caesar Augustus. The region around Laodiceia produces excellent sheep, not only for the softness of their wool, in which they surpass even those of Miletus, but also for their raven-black color, so that they obtain splendid revenue from them, just as the Colossians do from the color of the same name, who dwell nearby. And here both the Caprus and the Lycus join the river Maeander, the latter being a river of considerable size, from which also Laodiceia is called “on the Lycus”. And above the city rises Mount Cadmus, from which flow both the Lycus and another river of the same name as the mountain. The latter, having flowed for the most part underground and then emerged, joins the other rivers in the same place, showing at once that the country is full of cavities and subject to earthquakes; for if any other city is prone to earthquakes, Laodiceia is especially so, as is also Carura in the neighboring territory.