[63] Melitene now Malatia. (W.) [64] Trapezus now Trebizond. (W.) [65] Amasea (Amasia). ‘Hamilton found two Hellenic towers of beautiful construction on the heights. But the greater part of the walls now standing are Byzantine or Turkish. (See “Researches in Assyria,” vol. ii., p. 16.) Hamilton explored a passage cut in the rock, about 300 feet, to a small pool of clear cold water.’—Chesney, p. 535. The tombs described by Strabo remain. They are supposed to have been built by Mithridates. [66] Rhizeum now Rizeh, to the east of Trebizond. (W.) [67] This country was known to the Greeks and Romans as Colchis. [68] A town of the Lazi or Colchis, founded by a general of Justinian to keep the Lazi in subjection. Taken by Chosroes, 541; retaken, 551, by Romans and destroyed. See Procopius, B. Per. and Bel. Got., and Gibbon. Its ruins are now called Oudjenar. (L.) ‘The sole vestige of Petra subsists in the writings of Procopius and Agathias.’—Gibbon, ch. xiii. (S.) [69] Sea of Azof. (W.) [70] Formerly Dioscurias, on eastern shore of Black Sea. (W.) [71] Now Anchialo in Eastern Roumelia. (W.) [72] ‘Under the name of Justiniana Prima, the obscure village of Tauresium became the seat of an archbishop and a præfect, whose jurisdiction extended over seven warlike provinces of Illyricum; and the corrupt appellation of _Giustendil_ still indicates, about twenty miles south of Sophia, the residence of a Turkish sanjak.’—Gibbon, ch. xl. (S.) [73] ‘From the edge of the seashore, through the forests and valleys, and as far as the summit of the Thessalian Mountains, a strong wall was continued, which occupied every practical entrance. Instead of a hasty crowd of peasants, a garrison of 2,000 soldiers was stationed along the rampart; granaries of corn and reservoirs of water were provided for their use; and by a precaution that inspired the cowardice which it foresaw, convenient fortresses were erected for their retreat.’—Gibbon, ch. xl. (S.) [74] ‘Six hundred of these forts were built or repaired by the Emperor; but it seems reasonable to believe, that the far greater part of them consisted only of a brick or stone tower, in the midst of a square or circular area, which was surrounded by a wall and ditch, and afforded in a moment of danger some protection to the peasants and cattle of its neighbouring villages.’—Gibbon, ch. xl. (S.) [75] Singidonum, now Belgrade. (W.) [76] ‘Strabo speaks of the “Iron Gate” as the place where the Danube ends and the Ister begins. Trajan’s bridge, of twenty or twenty-two stone piers with wooden arches, was built, A.D. 103, just below the rapids of the “Iron Gate,” which grind to powder the ice-blocks of winter, and save the piers from the shock which might otherwise destroy them.’—Murray’s ‘Handbook of Southern Germany.’ (S.) [77] Procopius here confounds the Mœsians of Europe with the Mysians of Asia Minor. The passage alluded to is in Homer’s ‘Iliad,’ ii. 604. (S.) [78] Mœsia.