Padyandus

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Padyandus (Greek: Παδυανδος, also Romanized as Podandos, Podandus, and Paduandus, and appearing corrupted in ancient sources as Opodanda, Opodandum, and Rhegepodandos) was an ancient town in Cataonia, or the southernmost part of Cappadocia, about 40 km to the southeast of Faustinopolis, near the pass of Mount Taurus known by the name of the Cilician Gates. (Ptol. v. 7. § 7.). The town, which was extended by the emperor Valens, is mentioned in the Itineraries, but its name assumes different forms; as Paduandus (Tab. Peut.), Podandos (It. Ant. p. 145), Mansio Opodanda (It. Hieros. p. 578), and Rhegepodandos (Hierocl. p 699). The place is described by Basilius (Epist. 74) as one of the most wretched holes on earth. It is said to have derived its name from a small stream in the neighborhood. (Const. Porphyr. Vit. Basil. 36; comp. Cedren. p. 575; Jo. Scylitz. Hist. pp. 829, 844.) Due to similarity of name, tradition assigns the location of Padyandus to that of Pozantı, a position that modern scholars only tentatively accept.^[1]

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by William Smith (1856).