Again, we notice that, whereas Sardis, the city whose impregnable fortress had twice been cap- tured while its people slept and neglected to watch, is advised to ' be watchful,' Smyrna, the city which boasted of its faithfulness to the lldiiian alliance, is counselled to ' be faithful [not now to an earthly power, but to God].'
Throughout the messages to the Seven Cities it is evident that the writer knew the circumstances of each city, and alluded to many facts of its present or past life. The references to past historj- are not gathered from reading and literature. The facts alluded to are of that marked tyjie which would be universally known in each city, and would be appealed to by orators addressing popular assemblies.
The Cliurch in Smyrna is addressed rather as separate from (and persecuted by) the city, than as forming part of the city and characterized by its qualities and sharing in its works (like Sardis and Laodicea). Only the faithfulness and the resurrection of the city are alluded to as jiroper to the Church. In its separation from and superiority to the society by which it was surrounded lay the glory of the Smynia*an Church ; and life is to be its reward for its faithfulness and its patient endurance. Life is the dominant tone in the letter to Smyrna, death in that to Sardis, weak- ness and indecision in that to the l^lirygian Laouicea. It is remarkable how later history has conlirmed the prophecy and the character ascribed to the Church.
Smyrna had a chequered history during the Turkish wars ; and It was the last Independent Christian city in the whole of Asia Minor. It was thrice cyiptured by the Seljuk Turks In the end of the 11th and beginning of the 12th cent., but was recovered by the Hyzantine government ; and the emperor John III. Ducos Vatat::es, who resided freijuently at Smyrna or at Nymphaion, rebuilt the castle on Mount Pogos (12*21- 12^4). Early in the Nth cent. It passed Into Alohamniedan possession, and fonned a part of the dominions of Aidin, the lorrl of Guzel-iiissar, ' the Beautiful Costlc ' of Tralles ; but the Knights of Uhodes seized the lower city, and strengthened the fortilications of the horl>our, though the castle on I'agos over- hatigiiig the city remaine<l In T^irkish hands. Two Osmanli Sultans, Amurath I. and Uayezid, besieged the city and castle ot the Knights, but without success. At last in M(r> the hosts of Tamerlane captured the castle ; and after he retired the city piwsed quietly under the power of the Seljuk chiefs of Ayasaluk (Kphesns) and Gu/.el - IIii>sjtr, until they were reduced by Amurath 11. under the Osmunll sway.
The last stronghold of Christianity in Asia Minor, Smyrna si ill is more occidental in char- acter and more solidly lloiirishing than any other city of Turkey. It is called by the Turks, accordingly. Giaour Isniir, Inlidel Smyrna. The
* Zcller's Idea, that St. James lmlta^ed this passage of the Apocalypse, seems not acoeptabl«.
656
SNAIL
SNOW
Mohammedans number less than a quarter of the population, which totals over '250,000 : more tlian a half is Greek : there are lar^e Jewish and Armenian quarters : colonies from all the chief countries in Europe, from tlie United States, and from Persia, also are settleil there. The views from the sea, and from the summit of Mount Pagos, are among the most exquisite in the whole Mediterranean lands ; an<l the prosperity within tlie city is, in comparison with all other Turkish towns, plain to the eye. As in the message to the Cliurcn, so at tlie present day, life is the prominent note.
In the early ecclesiastical system Smyrna was a bishopric under the authority, probably, of Ephesus ; but, soon after, it was raised to be independent and antokephnloa. In the later Notitice it appears as a metropolis, having six bishoprics suliject to it — Phoca?a, Clazomena;, Magnesia ad Sipylum, Archangelos, Sosandra, and Petra.
Literature. — Though Smyrna has been so frequently visited by European travellers of every kind, very little has been written on its history, and no proiur study has ever been made of the literary and monumental evidence on the subject. The account given in Sir Charles Wilson's Handbook to Turkey (.Murray) is the best, thouj^'h necessarily very brief. In the Uistorical Geographi/ of Asia, Minor, Ranisa^*, there are only some inadequate notes, pp. 107-109, 115, 116. An old book in French, by Slaars, on Smyrna, published there, is practically unprocurable. An article by Arist. M. Fontrier, in BaUetin de Corresp. iicU^hiique, xvi. pp. 37&-410, on le Monast^re de Lemboa (five miles east of Smyrna and one south of Bunar- Bashi) is by far the best study that has been written on the subject. Numerous picturesque descriptions of the beauty of the scenery may be found in the books of travellers and
tourists. W. M. Ramsay.
SNAIL Two Heb. words are tr'' ' snail ' in AV.
1. a-zn hornet, cravpa, lacerta (Lv 11**). There seems to be no foundation for the AV 'snail.' Other ancient VSS besides the LXX and Vulg. under- stand the word as referring generieally to the lizard. It is in a list of those animals, and prob. one of them. RV tr. it by ' sand-lizard,' which is Lacerta agilis, L., a species of wide distribution. This rendering, however, is a mere surmise.