7. Cities. — -The principal cities and towns of Syria are the following : Damascus, pop. 150,000 ; Aleppo, pop. 70,000; Beirut, pop. 80,000; Hamath, pop. 30,000; Hums, pop. 20,000; Tripoli, pop. 13,000; Antioch, Sidon, and Ladikjyeh. Besides these, which occupy ancient sites, there were in former times Palmyra, in the eastern des- ert; Abila, on the river Abana; Chalcis, Heliopolis. and Lybo, in the valley of Coele-Syria; Laodicea ad Libanum, Arethusa, and Apamea, in the valley of the Orontes; Seleucia, Aradus, and Byblos [see Gebal], on the sea- coast, and many others of less importance.
IV. Political Geography. — Syria has passed through many changes. Its ancient divisions were numerous, and constantly varying. The provinces of the Biblical Aram have already been noticed. See Ap.am. Phoe- nicia was generally regarded as a distinct principality [see Phcenicia], and the warlike tribes of Lebanon ap- pear to have remained almost in a state of independence from the earliest ages. See Lebanon. The political divisions, as enumerated bj' Greek and Roman geogra- phers, are indefinite and almost unintelligible. Strabo mentions five great provinces : 1. Commagene, a small territory in the extreme north, with Samosata for capi- tal, situated on the Euphrates. 2. Seleucia, lying south
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of the former, was subdivided into four districts accord- ing to the number of its chief cities: (1) Antioch Epi- daphne ; (2) Seleucia, in Picria ; (3) Apamea ; and (4) Laodicea. In the district of Antioch was another sub- division, situated near the Euphrates, and called Cyr- rhestice, from the town Cyrrhestis, which contained a celebrated temple of Diana. Southward were two sub- tlivisions (apparently) of Apamea, called Parapotamia and Chalcidice, bordering on the Euphrates, and inhab- ited by Scenitse. The territory of Laodicea extended south to the river Eleutherus, where it bordered on Phoenice and Coele-Syria. 3. Cale-Syria, comprising Laodicea ad Libanum, Chalcis, Abilene, Damascus, Itu- nea, and others farther south, included in Palestine. 4. rhaenicia. 5. Judaea {Geotj?: xvi, 748 sq.),
Pliny's divisions are still more numerous than those of Strabo. It appears that each city on rising to im- portance gave its name to a surrounding territory, larger or smaller, and this in time assumed the rank of a prov- ince (Pliny, //. N. v, 14-21).
Ptolemy mentions thirteen provinces: Commagene, Pieria, Cyrrhestica, Seleucis, Casiotis, Chalibonitis, Chal- cis, Apamene, Laodicene, Phoenicia, Coele-Syria, Palmy- rene, and Bataufea, and he gives a long list of the cities contained in them. He excludes Palestine altogether (Gear/?: v, 15).
Under the Romans Syria became a province of the empire. Some portions of it were permitted to remain for a time under the rule of petty princes, dependent on the imperial government. Gradually, however, all these \vere incorporated, and Antioch was the capital. Under Hadrian the province was divided into two parts : Syria Major on the north, and Syria- Pha'tdce on the south. Towards the close of the 4th century another partition of Syria was made, and formed the basis of its ecclesi- astical government : 1. Syria Prima, with Antioch as capital ; 2. S. Secunda, with Apamea as capital ; 3. Phoenicia Prima, including the greater part of ancient Phoenicia — Tyre was its capital; 4. Phoenicia Secunda, also called Phanicia ad JAbanum, with Damascus for capital (" Car. a St. Paul," Geng. Sac. p. 287).
At the present time Sj-ria forms a portion of three pashalics — Aleppo, Damascus, and Sidon.
V. Climate, Inhabitants, etc. — 1. The temperature of Syria greatly resembles that of Palestine. The sum- mits of Hermon and Lebanon are crowned with perpet- ual snow, and the high altitudes along these ranges are as cool as the south of England ; but, on the other hand, the low marshy plains of the interior are very hot. The seaboard, being much exposed to the sun's rays, and sheltered by the mountains behind, is generally sultry and subject to fevers ; but there are a few places — such as Sidon, Beirut, and Suweidij'eh — where the soil is dry and the air pure. Rain is more abundant than in Palestine, and even during summer light showers occa- sionally fall in the mountains.
2. Tlie present population of Syria is estimated at 1,880,000. Arabic is their vernacular. They consist of Jlohammedans, Yezidees, Druses, Romanists, Jews, and Greek Christians. The Mohammedans, who prob- ably comprise three fourths of the whole, are seldom associated with the progress of arts or industrj', and, though possessing the influence which belongs to the ruling authorities, are rarely instrumental in the crea- tion of capital or the diffusion of civilization. Most of the commercial establishments are either in the hands of the Christian or Jewish population. The agricult- ural produce of Syria is far less than might be expect- ed from the extensive tracts of fertile lands and the fa- vorable state of the climate. Regions of the highest fertility remain fallow, and the want of population for the purposes of cultivation is most deplorable. The commerce of Syria is in an equally low state. Volney but faithfully depicted Syria when he described it as " a land of almost unparalleled natural resources, com- prising within its limits every estimable variety of cli- mate and of soil." Yet Syria, under the execrable Mus-
sulman rule, is almost the lowest in the scale of nations ; but even in the present state of things she produces silk, cotton, and wool — three staple articles of demand. A change has been brought about during the last few years in the external features of Oriental dress, and in Syria more especially, which, with the decline of their own manufactures, has tended to introduce the cheaper fabrics of Europe. The issue of the recent Turko- Russian war has been to place Syria under the nominal protectorate of Great Britain, with promises of social re- form, which, however, the Turks are slow in bringing about. See Tukkev.