SEGODU'NUM (Zeyódovvov). Ptolemy (ii. 7. §21) calls Segodunum the chief town of the Ruteni [RUTENI], a Gallic people west of the Rhone, in the Aquitania of Ptolemy. In some editions of Ptolemy the reading is Segodunum or Etodunum. In the Table the name is Segodum, which is probably a corrupt form; and it has the mark of a chief town. It was afterwards called Civitas Rutenorum, whence the modern name Rodez, on the Aveyron, in the department of Aveyron, of which it is the chief town. [G. L.] SEGODU'NUM (Zeyódovvov), a town of southern Germany, probably in the country of the Hermunduri, is, according to some, the modern Würzburg. (Ptol. ii. 11. § 29; comp. Wilhelm, Germanien, p. 209.) [L. S.] SEGO'NTIA. 1. A town of the Celtiberi in Hispania Tarraconensis, 16 miles from Caesaraugusta. (Itin. Ant. pp 437, 439.) Most probably identical with the Seguntia of Livy (xxxiv. 19). The modern Rueda, according to Lapie. 2. (eyovтia Пapáμka, Ptol. ii. 6. § 66), a town of the Barduli in Hispania Tarraconensis. [T. H. D.] SEGONTIACI, a people in the S. part of Britannia, in Hampshire. (Camden, pp. 84, 146; Caes. B. G. v. 21; Orelli, Inscr. 2013.) [T. H. D.] SEGONTIUM, a city in the NW. part of Britannia Secunda, whence there was a road to Deva. (Itin. Ant. p. 482.) It is the modern Caernarvon, the little river by which is still called Sejont. (Camden, p. 798.) It is called Seguntio by the Geogr. Rav. (v. 31). [T. H. D.] SEGORA, in Gallia, appears in the Table on a road from Portus Namnetum (Nantes) to Limunum, or Limonum (Poitiers). D'Anville supposes that Segora is Bressuire, which is on the road from Nantes to Poitiers. [G. L.] Segusiani between the Rhodanus and the Dubis (Doubs), on which D'Anville remarks that he ought to have placed them between the Rhone and the Loire. But part of the Segusiani at least were west of the Rhone in Caesar's time, as he plainly tells us, and therefore some of them were between the Rhone and the Doubs, though this is a very inaccurate way of fixing their position, for the Doubs ran through the territory of the Sequani. Lugdunum was in the country of the Segusiani. [LUGDUNUM.] Pliny gives to the Segusiani the name of Liberi (iv. 18). In Cicero's oration Pro P. Quintio (c. 25), a Gallic people named Sebaguinos, Sebaginnos, with several other variations, is mentioned. The reading " "Sebusianos" is a correction of Lambinus. Baiter SEGU'SIO (Zeyourlov: Eth. Zeyovolavós, Segusinus: Susa), a city of Gallia Transpadana, situated at the foot of the Cottian Alps, in the valley of the Duria (Dora Riparia), at the distance of 35 miles from Augusta Taurinorum (Turin). It was the capital of the Gaulish king or chieftain Cottius, from whom the Alpes Cottiae derived their name, and who became, in the reign of Augustus, a tributary or dependent ally of the Roman Empire. Hence, when the other Alpine tribes were reduced to subjection by Augustus, Cottius retained the government of his territories, with the title of Praefectus, and was able to transmit them to his son, M. Julius Cottius, upon whom the emperor Claudius even conEs-ferred the title of king. It was not till after the death of the younger Cottius, in the reign of Nero, that this district was incorporated into the Roman Empire, and Segusio became a Roman municipal town. (Strab. iv. pp. 179, 204; Plin. iii. 20. s. 24; Amm. Marc. xv. 10.) SEGOSA, in Gallia, placed by the Antonine Itin. on a road from Aquae Tarbellicae (Dax) to Burdigala (Bordeaux). The first station from Aquae Tarbellicae is Mosconnum, or Mostomium, the site of which is unknown. The next is Segosa, which D'Anville fixes at a place named Escoussé or coursé. But he observes that the distance, 28 Gallic leagues, between Aquae and Segosa is less than the distance in the Itin. [G. L.] SEGOVELLAUNI. [SEGALLAUNI.] SEGOVIA (yovsía, Ptol. ii. 6. § 56). 1. A town of the Arevaci in Hispania Tarraconensis, on the road from Emerita to Caesaraugusta. (Itin. Ant. p. 435; Plin. iii. 3. s. 4; Flor. iii. 22.) It still exists under the ancient name. For coins see Florez (Med. ii. p. 577), Mionnet (i. p. 51, and Suppl. i. p. 104), and Sestini (p. 196). 2. A town of Hispania Baetica, on the river Silicense. (Hirt. B. A. 57.) In the neighbourhood of Sacili or the modern Perabad. [T. H. D.] SEGUSIA'NI (Σεγοσιανοί or Σεγουσιανοί), Gallic people. When Caesar (B. C. 58) was leading against the Helvetii the troops which he had raised in North Italy, he crossed the Alps and reached the territory of the Allobroges. From the territory of the Allobroges he crossed the Rhone into the country of the Segusiani: "Hi sunt extra Provinciam trans Rhodanum primi." (B. G. i. 10.) He therefore places them in the angle between the Rhone and the Saône, for he was following the Helvetii, who had not yet crossed the Saône. In another place (vii. 64) he speaks of the Aedui and Segusiani as bordering on the Provincia, and the Segusiani were dependents of the Aedui (vii. 75). Strabo (iv. p. 186) places the It was probably from an early period the chief town in this part of the Alps and the capital of the surrounding district. It is situated just at the junction of the route leading from the Mont Genèvre down the valley of the Dora with that which crosses the Mont Cenis; both these passages were among the natural passes of the Alps, and were doubtless in use from a very early period, though the latter seems to have been unaccountably neglected by the Romans. The road also that was in most frequent use in the latter ages of the Republic and the early days of the Empire to arrive at the pass of the Cottian Alps or Mont Genèvre, was not that by Segusio up the valley of the Duria, but one which ascended the valley of Fenestrelles to Ocelum (Uxeau), and from thence crossed the Col de Sestrieres to Scingomagus (at or near Cesanne), at the foot of the actual pass of the Genèvre. This was the route taken by Caesar in B. C. 58, and appears to have still been the one most usual in the days of Strabo (Caes. B. G. i. 10; Strab. iv. p. 179); but at a later period the road by Segusio seems to have come into general use, and is that given in the Itineraries. (Itin. Ant pp. 341, 357.) Of Segusio as a municipal town we hear little; but it is mentioned as such both by Pliny and Ptolemy, and its continued existence is proved by inscriptions as well as the Itineraries; and we learn that it continued to be a considerable town, and a military post of importance, as commanding the passes of the Alps, until long after the fall of the Western Empire. (Plin. iii. 17. s. 21; Ptol. iii. 1. § 40; Gruter, Inscr. p. 111. 1; Orell. Inscr. 1690, 3803; Amm. Marc. xv. 10; Itin. Hier. p. 556; P. Diac. Hist. Lang. iii. 8; Greg. Tur. iv. 39.) Ammianus tells us that the tomb of Cottius was still visible at Segusio in his time, and was the object of much honour and veneration among the inhabitants (Amm. l. c.). A triumphal arch erected by him in honour of Augustus is still extant at Susa; it enumerates the names of the "Civitates " which were subject to his rule, and which were fourteen in number, though Pliny speaks of the "Cottianae civitates xii." (Plin. iii. 20. s. 24; Orell. Inscr. 626.) All these are, however, mere obscure mountain tribes, and the names of most of them entirely unknown. His dominions extended, according to Strabo, across the mountains as far as Ebrodunum in the land of the Caturiges (Strab. iv. p. 179); and this is confirmed by the inscription which enumerates the Caturiges and Medulli among the tribes subject to his authority. These are probably the two omitted by Pliny. Ocelum, in the valley of the Clusone, was comprised in the territory of Cottius, while its limit towards the Taurini was marked by the station Ad Fines, placed by the Itineraries on the road to Augusta Taurinorum. But the distances given in the Itineraries are incorrect, and at variance with one another. Ad Fines may probably be placed at or near Avigliana, 15 miles from Turin, and 20 from Susa. The mountain tribes called by Pliny the "Cottianae civitates," when united with the Roman government, at first received only the Latin franchise (Plin. l. c.); but as Segusio became a Roman municipium, it must have received the full franchise. [E. H. B.] SEGUSTERO, a name which occurs in the Antonine Itin. and in the Table, is a town of Gallia Narbonensis, and the name is preserved in Sisteron, the chief town of an arrondissement in the department of Basses Alpes, on the right bank of the Durance. Roman remains have been found at Sisteron. The name in the Notit. Prov. Galliae is Civitas Segesteriorum. It was afterwards called Segesterium, and Sistericum, whence the modern name comes. (D'Anville, Notice, fc.) [G. L.] SEIR, M. (Enelp, LXX. Zάeipa, heipov, Joseph). "The land of Seir" is equivalent to "the country of Edom.” (Gen. xxxii. 3.) Mount Seir was the dwelling of Esau and his posterity (xxxvi. 8, 9; Deut. ii. 4,5), in the possession of which they were not to be disturbed. (Josh. xxiv. 4.) Its general situation is defined in Deuteronomy (i. 2) between Horeb and Kadesh Barnea. The district must have been extensive, for in their retrograde movement from Kadesh, which was in Seir (i. 44), the Israelites compassed Mount Seir many days (ii. 1, 3). The original inhabitants of Mount Seir were the Horims; "but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead" (ii. 12, 22; comp. Gen. xiv. 6). It obviously derived its name from "Seir the Horite" (xxxvi. 20, 21), and not, as Josephus erroneously supposes, from the Hebrew hirButus. (Ant. i. 20. §3.) The range bordering Wady Araba is marked M. Shehr in some modern maps, = but without sufficient authority for the name. Dr. Wilson confines the name to the eastern side of the Araba, from a little north of Petra to the Gulf of Akabah, which range he names Jebel-esh-Sherah (Lands of the Bible, vol. i. pp. 289, 290, 337, 340); but since Kadesh was in Seir, it is obvious that this name must have extended much more widely, and on both sides the Araba. Mr. Rowlands heard the name Es-Serr given to an elevated plain to the east of Kadesh, which must, he thinks, be the Seir alluded to in Deut. i. 44, where the Israelites were chased before the Amalekites. (Williams's Holy City, vol. i. appendix, p. 465.) [G. W.] SEIRAE. [PSOPHIS.] SELACHUSA, an island lying off the Argolic promontory of Speiraeum, mentioned only by Pliny (iv. 12. s. 57). SELAH. [PETRA.] SELAMBINA (Σnλáμsiva, Ptol. ii. 4. § 7), a town on the coast of Hispania Baetica between Sex and Abdera. (Plin. iii. 1. s. 3.) Florez (Esp. Sagr. xii. pp. 3, 6) identifies it with Calabreña, but, according to Ukert (ii. p. i. p. 351), it is to be sought in the neighbourhood of Sorbitan. [T. H. D.] SELAS. [MESSENIA, p. 342, b.] SELASIA. [SELLASIA.] SELEMNUS. [ACHALA, p. 13, b. No. 10.] SELENTIS or SELENITIS (Σελεντίς οι Σελενι Tís) a district in the south-west part of Cilicia, extending along the coast, but also some distance in the interior; it derived its name from the town of Selinus. (Ptol. v. 8. §§ 2, 5.) [L. S.] SELENU'SIAE (Zeλnvovoíai) or SELENNUTÉS two lakes formed by the sea, north of the mouth of the Caystrus, and not far from the temple of the Ephesian Artemis. These two lakes, which communicated with each other, were extremely rich in fish, and formed part of the revenue of the temple of Artemis, though they were on several occasions wrested from it. (Strab. xiv. p. 642; Plin. v. 31.) The name of the lakes, derived from Selene, the moon-goddess, or Artemis, probably arose from their connection with the great goddess of Ephesus. (Comp. Chandler's Travels in Asia Minor, vol. i. p. 162.) [L. S.] SELEUCEIA or SELEUCIA, two towns in Syria. 1. AD BELUM (Zeλeúkéia #pds Býλ), sometimes called SELEUCOBELUS, situated in the district of Cassiotis, placed by Ptolemy in long. 69° 30′, lat. 34° 45'. The Belus was a tributary of the Orontes, running into it from the W., and since, as Pococke remarks, Seleucia was exactly in the same latitude as Paltos, it must have been due E. of it. Now Boldo, the ancient Paltos, lies two hours S. of Jebilee, ancient Gabala, on the coast. Seleucia ad Belum must be looked for 1° 10' to the E., according to Ptolemy's reckoning, who places Paltos in long. 63° 20′, lat. 34° 45'. Modern conjecture has identified it with Shogh and Divertigi, which is placed 30 miles E. of Antioch. (Ptol. v. 15. § 16; Pococke, Syria. vol. ii. p. 199.) Pliny mentions it with another not elsewhere recognised, in the interior of Syria: "Seleucias praeter jam dictam (i. e. Pieria), duas, quae ad Euphratem, et quae ad Belum vocantur ” (v. 23. § 19). 2. PIERIA (Σελεύκεια Πιερία : Εth. Σελευκεύς), a maritime city of Syria, placed by Ptolemy in long. 68° 36', lat. 35° 26', between Rhossus and the mouths of the Orontes. Its ancient naine, according to Strabo, was Rivers of Water” (Ύδατος ποτα o), a strong city, called Free by Pompey (Strab. xvi. 2. §8). Its position is fully described by Polybius. It was situated on the sea between Cilicia and signates the Coryphaeum of Polybius, the Pieria of Phoenice, over against a large mountain called Cory-Strabo, Mount Casius, a name also extended by Strabo phaeum, the base of which was washed on its W. to the mountains about Seleucia, where he speaks of side by the sea, towards the E. it dominated the the Antiocheans celebrating a feast to Triptolemus as districts of Antioch and Seleucis. Seleucia lay on a demigod, in Mount Cassius around Seleucia (xvi. the S. of this mountain, separated from it by a deep p. 750). The ruins of the site have been fully exand rugged valley. The city extended to the sea plored and described in modern times, first by through broken ground, but was surrounded for the Pococke (Observations on Syria, chap. xxii. p. 182, most part by precipitous and abrupt rocks. On the &c.), who identified many points noticed by Polybius, side towards the sea lay the factory (тá éμropeîa) and and subsequently by Col. Chesney (Journal of the suburb, on the level ground, strongly fortified. The R. Geog. Society, vol. viii. p. 228, &c.). The whole hollow (KiTOS) of the city was likewise strongly mountain range noticed by Polybius is now called fortified with fine walls, and temples, and buildings. It Jebel Musa; and the hill on which the city stood had one approach on the sea side, by an artificial road appears to be the "low mountain, called Bin-Kiliseh,” in steps (Kλμaкwτv), distributed into frequent and or the 1000 churches. Part of the site of the town continuous slopes (cuttings?-ykλíμaσi) and curves was occupied, according to Pococke, by the village of (tunnels?-okauaoi). The embouchure of the Oron- Kepse, situated about a mile from the sea. The tes was not far distant-40 stadia, according to Strabo masonry of the once magnificent port of Seleucia is (xvi. p. 750). It was built by Seleucus Nicator still in so good a state that it merely requires trifling (died B. C. 280), and was of great importance, in a repairs in some places, and to be cleaned out; a promilitary view, during the wars between the Seleucidae ject contemplated, but not executed, by one Ali Pasha, and the Ptolemies. It was taken by Ptolemy when governor of Aleppo. The plan of the port, Euergetes on his expedition into Syria, and held by with its walls and basins, its piers, floodgates, and an Egyptian garrison until the time of Antiochus defences, can be distinctly traced. The walls of the the Great, who, at the instigation of Apollophanes, suburb, with its agora, the double line of defence of a Seleucian, resolved to recover it from Ptolemy the inner city, comprehending in their circumfePhilopator (cir. B. C. 220), in order to remove the rence about 4 miles, which is filled with ruins of disgrace of an Egyptian garrison in the heart of houses; its castellated citadel on the summit of the Syria, and to obviate the danger which it threatened hill, the gate of Antioch on the SE. of the site, to his operations in Coele-Syria, being, as it was, a with its pilasters and towers, near which is a double principal city, and well nigh, so to speak, the proper row of marble columns; large remains of two home of the Syrian power. Having sent the fleet temples, one of which was of the Corinthian order; against it, under the admiral Diognetus, he himself the amphitheatre, near which Antiochus encamped, marched with his army from Apameia, and encamped before his assault upon the city, with twenty-four near the Hippodrome, 5 stadia from the city. tiers of benches still to be traced; the numerous rocky Having in vain attempted to win it by bribery, he excavations of the necropolis, with the sarcophagi, divided his forces into three parts, of which one under always of good workmanship, now broken and Zeuxis made the assault near the gate of Antioch, scattered about in all directions, all attest the ancient a second under Hermogenes near the temple of the importance of the city, and the fidelity of the hisDioscuri, the third under Ardys and Diognetus by torian who has described it. Most remarkable of the arsenal and suburb, which was first carried, where- all in this view is the important engineering work, upon the garrison capitulated (Polyb. v. 58-60). to which Polybius alludes as the only communica It was afterwards a place of arms in the further prose- tion between the city and sea, fully described by cution of the war against Ptolemy (66). The Mount Col. Chesney, as the most striking of the interesting Coryphaeum of Polybius is the Pieria of Ptolemy remains of Seleucia. It is a very extensive excavaand Strabo, from which the town derived its distin- tion, cut through the solid rock from the NE. guishing appellation. Strabo mentions, from Posi- extremity of the town almost to the sea, part of donius, that a kind of asphaltic soil was quarried in which is a deep hollow way, and the remainder this place, which, when spread over the roots of the regular tunnels, between 20 and 30 feet wide, and vine, acted as a preservative against blight (vii. p. as many high, executed with great skill and con316.) He calls it the first city of the Syrians, from siderable labour. From its eastern to its western Cilicia, and states its distance from Soli, in a straight extremity is a total length of 1088 yards, the course, a little less than 1000 stadia (xiv. p. 676). greater part of which is traversed by an aqueduct It was one of the four cities of the Tetrapolis, which carried along the face of the rock, considerably above was a synonym for the district of Seleucis, the others the level of the road. Its termination is rough and being Antioch, Apaineia, and Laodiceia, which were very imperfect, about 30 feet above the level of the called sister cities, being all founded by Seleucus sea; and while the bottom of the rest of the excavaNicator, and called by the names respectively of him- tion is tolerably regular, in this portion it is impeded self, his father, his wife, and his mother-in-law; that by large masses of rock lying across it at intervals: bearing his father's name being the largest, that which would imply either that it was never combearing his own, the strongest. (Strab. xvi. p. 749.) pleted, or that it was finished in this part with The auguries attending its foundation are mentioned masonry, which may have been carried off for by John Malalas (Chronographia, lib. viii. p. 254). building purposes. It is, perhaps, in this part that It became the port of Antioch, and there it was that the stairs mentioned by Polybius may have been St. Paul and Barnabas embarked for Cyprus, on situated, in order to form a communication with the their first mission to Asia Minor (Acts, xiii. 4), the There can be no doubt whatever that this exOrontes never having been navigable even as far cavation is the passage mentioned by him as the sole as Antioch for any but vessels of light draught. communication between the city and the sea; and Pliny calls it "Seleucia libera Pieria," and describes it is strange that any question should have arisen it as situated on a promontory (v. 21) clxxv. M. P. concerning its design. A rough plan of the site is sea. COIN OF SELEUCELA IN SYRIA. SELEUCEIA or SELEUCIA (ZeλeÚKELα). 1. A town near the northern frontier of Pisidia, surnamed Sidera ( Zidnpa, Ptol. v. 5. § 4; Hierocl. p. 673), probably on account of iron-works in its vicinity. There are some coins of this place with the image of the Asiatic divinity Men, who was worshipped at Antioch, and bearing the inscription KλavdioσeλEUкéwv, which might lead to the idea that the place was restored by the emperor Claudius. (Sestini, Mon. Vet. p. 96.) Its site is now occupied by the town of Ejerdir. 2. A town in Pamphylia between Side and the mouth of the river Eurymedon, at a distance of 80 stadia from Side, and at some distance from the (Stadiasm. Mar. Mag. § 216.) sea. 3. An important town of Cilicia, in a fertile plain on the western bank of the Calycadnus, a few miles above its mouth, was founded by Seleucus I., surnamed Nicator. A town or towns, however, had previously existed on the spot under the names of Olbia and Hyria, and Seleucus seems to have only extended and united them in one town under the name Seleucia. The inhabitants of the neighbouring Holmi were at the same time transferred to the new town, which was well built, and in a style very different from that of other Cilician and Pamphylian cities. (Steph. B. s. v.; Strab. xiv. p. 670.) In situation, climate, and the richness of its productions, it rivalled the neighbouring Tarsus, and it was much frequented on account of the annual celebration of the Olympia, and on account of the oracle of Apollo. (Zosim. i. 57; Basil. Vita S. Theclae, i. p. 275, Orat. xxvii. p. 148.) Pliny (v. 27) states that it was surnamed Tracheotis; and some ecclesiastical historians, speaking of a council held there, call the town simply Trachea (Sozom. iv. 16; Socrat. ii. 39; comp. Ptol. v. 8. § 5; Amm. Marc. xiv. 25; Oros. vii. 12.) The town still exists under the name of Selefkieh, and its ancient remains are scattered over a large extent of ground on the west side of the Calycadnus. The chief remains are those of a theatre, in the front of which there are considerable ruins, with porticoes and other large buildings: farther on are the ruins of a temple, which had been converted into a Christian church, and several large Corinthian columns. Ancient Seleuceia, which appears to have remained a free city ever since the time of Augustus, remained in the same condition even after a great portion of Cilicia was given to Archelaus of Cappa. docia, whence both imperial and autonomous coins of the place are found. Seleuceia was the birthplace of several men of eminence, such as the peripatetics Athenaeus and Xenarchus, who flourished in the COIN OF SELEUCEIA IN CILICIA. 4. Seleucia in Caria [TRALLES.] [L. S.] SELEUCEIA or SELEUCIA (ZeλεÚKEια, Polyb. v. 48; Strab. xi. p. 521; Ptol. v. 18. § 8), a large city near the right bank of the Tigris, which, to distinguish it from several other towns of the same name, generally known in history by the title of ZeλEÚKELα ET TO TíypnT. (Strab. xvi. p. 738; Appian, Syr. 57.) It was built by Seleucus Nicator (Strab. 1. c.; Plin. vi. 26. s. 30; Tacit. Ann. vi. 42; Joseph. Ant. Jud. xviii. 9. § 8; Amm. Marc. xxiii. 20), and appears to have been placed near the junction with the Tigris, of the great dyke which was carried across Mesopotamia from the Euphrates to the Tigris, and which bore the name of Nahar Malcha (the royal river). (Plin. l. c., and Isid. Char. p. 5.) Ptolemy states that the artificial river divided it into two parts (v. 18. § 8). On the other hand, Theophylact states that both rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, surrounded it like a rampart It was by the latter, in all probability, meaning the Nahar Malcha (v. 6). It was situated about 40 miles NE. of Babylon (according to Strabo, 300 stadia, and to the Tab. Peutinger., 44 M.P.). In form, its original structure is said to have resembled an eagle with its wings outspread. (Plin. l. c.) It was mainly constructed of materials brought from Babylon, and was one principal cause of the ruin of the elder city, as Ctesiphon was (some centuries later) of Seleuceia itself. (Strab. xvi. p. 738.) placed in a district of great fertility, and is said, in its best days, to have had a population of 600,000 persons. (Plin. l. c.) Strabo adds, that it was even larger than Antiocheia Syriae,-at his time probably the greatest commercial entrepôt in the East, with the exception of Alexandreia (xvi. p. 750). Even so late as the period of its destruction its population is still stated to have amounted to half a million. (Eutrop. v. 8; comp. Oros. viii. 5.) To its commercial importance it doubtless owed the free character of its local government, which appears to have been administered by means of a senate of 300 citizens. Polybius states that, on the overthrow of Molon, the Median rebels Antiochus and Hermeias descended on Seleuceia, which had been previously taken by Molon, and, after punishing the people by torture and the infliction of a heavy fine, exiled the local magistracy, who were called Adeiganae. ('Aderyával, Polyb. v. 54.) Their love of freedom and of independent government was, however, of longer duration. (Plin. l. c.; Tacit. Ann. vi. 42.) Seleuceia owed its ruin to the wars of the Romans with the Parthians and other eastern nations. It is first noticed in that between Crassus and Orodes (Dion Cass. xl. 20); but it would seem that Crassus did not himself reach Seleuceia. On the advance of Trajan from Asia Minor, Selenceia was taken by Erucius Clarus and Julius Alexander, and partially burnt to the ground (Dion Cass. lxviii. 30); and a few years later it was still more completely destroyed by Cassius, the general of Lucius Verus, during the war with Vologeses. (Dion Cass. lxxi. 2; Eutrop. v. 8; Capitol. Verus, c. 8.) When Severus, during the Parthian War, descended the Euphrates, he appears to have found Selenceia and Babylon equally abandoned and desolate. (Dion Cass. lxxv. 9.) Still later, in his expedition to the East, Julian found the whole country round Seleuceia one vast marsh full of wild game, which his soldiers hunted. (Amm. Marc. xxiv. 5.) It would seem from the indistinct notices of some authors, that Seleuceia once bore the name of Coche. [COCHE.] [V.] SELEUCIS (EXEUKís), a district of Syria, mentioned by Ptolemy,as containing the cities of Gephura, Gindarus, and Imma (v. 15. § 15). Strabo calls it the best of all the districts: it was also called Tetrapolis, on account of its four most important cities, for it had many. These four were, Antioch, Seleuceia in Pieria, Apameia, and Laodiceia (xvi. p. 749). It also comprehended, according to Strabo, four satrapies; and it is clear that he uses the name in a much wider sense than Ptolemy, who places the four cities of the tetrapolis of Strabo's Seleucis in so many separate districts; Antioch in Cassiotis, Apameia in Apamene, Laodiceia in Laodicene, while he only implies, but does not state, that Seleuceia lies in Seleucis. [G. W.] SELGE (Zayn: Eth. Zeλyeús), an important city in Pisidia, on the southern slope of Mount Taurus, at the part where the river Eurymedon forces its way through the mountains towards the south. The town was believed to be a Greek colony, for Strabo (xii. p. 520) states that it was founded by Lacedaemonians, but adds the somewhat unintelligible remark that previously it had been founded by Calchas (Comp. Polyb. v. 76; Steph. B. s. v.; Dion. Per. 858). The acropolis of Selge bore the name of Cesbedium (Keo6édiov; Polyb. 1. c.) The district in which the town was situated was extremely fertile, producing abundance of oil and wine, but the town itself was difficult of access, being surrounded by precipices and beds of torrents flowing towards the Eurymedon and Cestrus, and requiring bridges to make them passable. In consequence of its excellent laws and political constitution, Selge rose to the rank of the most powerful and populous city of Pisidia, and at one time was able to send an army of 20,000 men into the field. Owing to these circumstances, and the valour of its inhabitants, for which they were regarded as worthy kinsmen of the Lacedaemonians, the Selgians were never subject to any foreign power, but remained in the enjoyment of their own freedom and independence. When Alexander the Great passed through Pisidia, the Selgians sent an embassy to him and gained his favour and friendship. (Arrian, Anab. i. 28.) At that time they were at war with the Telmissians. At the period when Achaeus had made himself master of Western Asia, the Selgians were at war with Pednelissus, which was besieged by them; and Achaeus, on the invitation of Pednelissus, sent a large force against Selge. After a long and vigorous siege, the Selgians, being betrayed and despairing of resisting Achaeus any longer, sent deputies to sue lowing terms: they agreed to pay immediately 400 talents, to restore the prisoners of Pednelissus, and after a time to pay 300 talents in addition. (Polyb. v. 72-77.) We now have for a long time no particulars about the history of Selge; in the fifth century of our era Zosimus (v. 15) calls it indeed a little town, but it was still strong enough to repel a body of Goths. It is strange that Pliny does not notice Selge, for we know from its coins that it was still a flourishing town in the time of Hadrian; and it is also mentioned in Ptolemy (v. 5. § 8) and Hierocles (p. 681). Independently of wine and oil, the country about Selge was rich in timber, and a variety of trees, among which the storax was much valued from its yielding a strong perfume. Selge was also celebrated for an ointment prepared from the iris root. (Strab. 1. c.; Plin. xii. 55, xxi. 19; comp. Liv. xxxv. 13.) Sir C. Fellows (Asia Minor, p. 171, foll.) thinks that he has discovered the ruins of Selge about 10 miles to the north-east of the village of Booják. They are seen on a lofty promontory "now presenting magnificent wrecks of grandeur." "I rode," says Sir Charles," at least 3 miles through a part of the city, which was one pile of temples, theatres, and buildings, vying with each other in splendour..... The material of these ruins had suffered much from the exposure to the elements, being grey with a lichen which has eaten into the marble, and entirely destroyed the surface and inscriptions; but the scale, the simple grandeur, and the uniform beauty of style bespoke its date to be the early Greek. The sculptured cornices frequently contain groups of figures fighting, wearing helmets and body-armour, with shields and long spears; from the ill-proportioned figures and general appearance, they must rank in date with the Aegina marbles. The ruins are so thickly strewn, that little cultivation is practicable; but in the areas of theatres, cellas of temples, and any space where a plough can be used, the wheat is springing up. The general style of the temples is Corinthian, but not so florid as in less ancient towns. The tombs are scattered for a mile from the town, and are of many kinds, some cut in chambers in face of the rock, others sarcophagi of the heaviest form: they have had inscriptions, and the ornaments are almost all martial; several seats remain among the tombs. I can scarcely guess the number of temples or columned buildings in the town, but I certainly traced fifty or sixty.... Although apparently unnecessary for defence, the town has had strong walls, partly built with large stones in the Cyclopean mode.... I never conceived so high an idea of the works of the ancients as from my visit to this place, standing as it does in a situation, as it were, above the world." It is to be regretted that it was impossible by means of inscriptions or coins to identify this place with the ancient Selge more satisfactorily. (Comp. Von Hammer, in the Wiener Jahrbücher, vol. cvi. p. 92.) [L. S.] |