DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4752#0089
II. THE WAY HOME 79
that; and it is the finest specimen of Roman road-
engineering that I have seen in Asia Minor. Hither-
to I had believed, and stated in print more than
once as indubitable, that the Roman road from
Synnada to Metropolis must have followed the
longer line of the easy araba road, above de-
scribed ; but here was an obvious Roman road
far up the pass, pointing towards Metropolis.
About a mile or two on, our guide said the stone
lay up the hillside to the west. I was eager to
follow the Roman road as far as possible, and see
whether it actually reached the summit of the
pass; but, as there was good hope of returning
again to the line of the road, which could be
seen for some distance in front, I very unwillingly
followed the Turk away to the right. He led us
up among the hills higher and higher, further and
further from the road, declaring always that the
stone was quite close. At last near the highest
part of the ridge, he declared that the stone was
here, and, after hunting about for a minute, pointed
out a rock on which were some natural marks,
and claimed his reward. It was too aggravating!
the Roman road was now hopelessly lost; the
clouds had come down and rain was falling; every-
thing seemed to be against us. It was clear that
the man either had forgotten the exact spot where
the inscribed stone was, or had got tired of the
that; and it is the finest specimen of Roman road-
engineering that I have seen in Asia Minor. Hither-
to I had believed, and stated in print more than
once as indubitable, that the Roman road from
Synnada to Metropolis must have followed the
longer line of the easy araba road, above de-
scribed ; but here was an obvious Roman road
far up the pass, pointing towards Metropolis.
About a mile or two on, our guide said the stone
lay up the hillside to the west. I was eager to
follow the Roman road as far as possible, and see
whether it actually reached the summit of the
pass; but, as there was good hope of returning
again to the line of the road, which could be
seen for some distance in front, I very unwillingly
followed the Turk away to the right. He led us
up among the hills higher and higher, further and
further from the road, declaring always that the
stone was quite close. At last near the highest
part of the ridge, he declared that the stone was
here, and, after hunting about for a minute, pointed
out a rock on which were some natural marks,
and claimed his reward. It was too aggravating!
the Roman road was now hopelessly lost; the
clouds had come down and rain was falling; every-
thing seemed to be against us. It was clear that
the man either had forgotten the exact spot where
the inscribed stone was, or had got tired of the