Section I.—Co.tossa, Laopicgea, ΗΙΒΕΒΑΡΟΙ/8,

CoLoss# was a city of Phrygia, situated on the southern bank of the Lycus, a tributary of the Mzander. The river passes here through a narrow gorge, by sheer and rocky sides. Its water is nauseous, and impregnated to a most unusual degree with carbonate of lime, which has formed very remarkable incrustations along its course. Rising steep from the glen in which the city lay was Mount Cadmos, towering to a height of 7,000 feet. The district is volcanic and subject to earthquakes, and a very disastrous one destroyed Laodicea, and probably Colosse and Hierapolis, in the reign of Nero. The soil was very fertile; and its pastures reared a noted breed of sheep. Both Colossz and Laodicea were very famous for their woollen manufactures. The former town was at one time of great importance, and is mentioned as such by Herodotus (vii., 30) and Xenophon (Anab.,i., 2,6). But the foundation of Laodicea, probably in the reign of Antiochus II. (261-246 B.c.), gave the death-blow to its supremacy. This city was only eleven miles distant, lying also on the south of the Lycus, but in a position far better fitted to secure commercial success. It was one of the richest cities in the province of Asia, and recovered from its destruction by the earthquake without receiving help from imperial funds. The third town mentioned in this Epistle, Hierapolis, lay to the north of the Lycus, six miles from Laodicea, opposite to which it stood, and thirteen from Colossz. Its name indicates its character as a sacred city, and it “ was the centre of native feeling and Phrygian nationality in the valley’ (Ramsay). While it was influenced, especially as to its form, by Greece, “the religion continued to be Lydo-Phrygian”. The population of Colossz was probably for the most part Phrygian, with Greek admixture. In Laodicea the Jews were fairly numerous, though less so than at Apameia, and in this respect Colosse probably resembled it. The Talmud says that the wines and baths of Phrygia had separated