Lanterna Rally

Author: W. M. Ramsay

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2018-03-03

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 9780666818515

Excerpt from The Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia, Vol. 1: Being an Essay of the Local History of Phrygia From the Times to the Turkish Conquest Still more necessary is it to adopt the plan of a Local History, ' when the only authorities for the history Of the country are a few Scattered allusions in ancient writers to isolated events or places, together with the monuments which have been discovered in the country. In such circumstances all that can be done is to parcel the land into districts whose geographical situation imposes on them a certain 1mity, to collect all the information that can be gleaned from the authors, from inscriptions and monuments, from the survival Of names and religious facts in modern times, and from other such scanty sources, and to interpret these in the light of the geographical and national conditions. The execution of this plan in the present work is imperfect, as I am well aware. Much more might be done than I can do, and much more will yet be done 1. But fortune has placed in my hands a con siderable mass Of knowledge, and it seems better to present it to the world as well as my powers and opportunities permit. Before I entered Asia Minor in May 1880, I had been pondering for months over the problems of its history; and since that time it has been my last thought as I fell asleep and my first on waking. Rarely has a space of five hours elapsed by day or by night in which some point of Phrygian antiquities or topography has not been occupying my mind. I have turned over each problem, attempted almost every possible combination, tried numberless changes from various points of view, and gradually month by month the subject has grown clearer. I have enjoyed the advantage of revisiting the country year after year till 1891, and testing the ideas and combinations that had been shaping themselves in my mind. In the later visits I have known what to look for, and where to look for it; and have Often been able to guide the natives Of the district to the spot I wanted (to their own great astonishment), pick up the evidence required, and pass on after a few minutes' stay. In those later visits it has Often been brought home to me how much time was wasted on my earlier journeys through want Of knowledge. If I criticize some mistakes and misconceptions of other travellers, I can do so because I have made the same errors myself; their misconceptions are old friends of mine, which have kept me company in long weary rides, which have deluded me and lured me on to spend time and health in proving their real character. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.