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Bible Encyclopedias
Side
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Σίδη , 'Vulg. Side), a city on the coast of Pamphylia, in lat. 36° 46', long. 31° 27', ten or twelve miles to the east of the river Eurymedon. It is mentioned in 1 Maccabees 15:23 among the list of places to which the Roman .senate sent letters in favor of the Jews. (See PHASELIS).
It was a colony of Cumseans. In the time of Strabo a temple of Athene stood there, and the name of that goddess associated with Apollo appears in an inscription of undoubtedly late times found on the spot by Admiral Beaufort. It is now called Eshky Adalia. Side was closely connected with Aradus in Phoenicia by commerce, even if there was not a considerable Phoenician element in the population; for not only are the towns placed in juxtaposition in the passage of the Maccabees quoted above, but Antiochus's ambassador to the Achaean league (Livy, 35:48), when boasting of his master's navy, told his hearers that the left division was made up of men of Side and of Aradus, as the right was of those of Tyre and of Sidon, "quas gentes nullme unquam nec arte nec virtute navali equassent." It is possible that the name has the same root as that of Sidon, and that it (as well as the Side on the southern. coast of the Euxine [Strabo, 12:3]) was originally a Phoenician settlement, and that the Cumsean colony was something subsequent. In the times in which Side appears in history it had become a place of considerable importance. It was the station of Antiochus's navy on the eve of the battle with the Rhodiac fleet described by Livy (xxxvii, 23, 24). The remains, too, which still exist are an evidence of its former wealth. They stand on a low peninsula running from north-east to south-west, and the maritime character of the former inhabitants appears from the circumstance that the walls towards the sea were but slightly built, while the one which faces the land is of excellent workmanship, and remains, in a considerable portion, perfect even to this time. A theatre (belonging apparently to the Roman times) is one of the largest and best preserved in Asia Minor, and is calculated to have been capable of containing more than 15,000 spectators. This is so prominent an object that, to persons approaching the shore, it appears like an acropolis of the city, and, in fact, during the Middle Ages, was actually occupied as a fort. The suburbs of Side extend to some distance, but the greatest length within the walls does not exceed 1300 yards. Three gates led into the town from the sea, and one, on the north-eastern side, into the country. From this last a paved street with high curbstones conducts to an agora, 180 feet in diameter, and formerly surrounded with a double row of columns, of which only the bases remain. In the centre is a large ruined pedestal, as if for a colossal statue, and on the southern side the ruins of a temple, probably the one spoken of by Strabo. Opposite to this a street ran to the principal water- gate, and on the fourth side of the agora the avenue from the -land-gate was continued to the front of the theatre. Of this last the lower half is, after the manner of Roman architects whenever the site permitted, excavated from the native rock, the upper half built amp of excellent masonry. The seats for the spectators, most of which remain, are of white marble, beautifully wrought.
The two principal harbors, which at first seem. to have been united in one, were at the extremity of the peninsula: they were closed, and together contained .a surface of nearly 500 yards by 200. Besides these, the principal water-gate on the north-west side was connected with two small piers 150 feet long, so that it is plain that vessels used to lie here to discharge their cargoes. The account which Livy gives of the sea-fight with Antiochus, above referred to, also shows that shelter could also be found on the other (or south-east) side of the peninsula whenever a strong west wind was blowing.
The country by which Side is backed is a broad swampy plain, stretching out for some miles beyond the belt of sand-hills which fringe the sea-shore. Low hills succeed, and-behind these, far inland, are the mountains which, at Mount Climax, forty miles to the west, and again about the same distance to the east. come down to the coast. These mountains were the habitation of the Pisidians, against whom Antiochus, in the spring of B.C. 192, made an expedition, and as, Side was in the interest of Antiochus until, at the conclusion of the war, it passed into the hands of the Romans, it is reasonable to presume that hostility was the normal relation between its inhabitants and the highlanders, to whom they were probably objects of the same jealousy that the Spanish settlements on the African seaboard inspire in the Kabyles round about them. This would not prevent a large amount of traffic, to the mutual interest of both parties, but would hinder the people of Side from extending their sway into the interior, and also render the construction of effective fortifications on the land side a necessity. (Strabo, 12, 14; Livy, 35, 37; Cicero, Epp. ad Farm. iii, 6.) - Smith. See Fellows, Asia Minor, p. 201; Leake, Asia Minor, p. 195; Beaufort Karamania, p. 146 sq.
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Side'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/s/side.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
