Mopsucrene or Mopsoukrene () was a town in the eastern part of

ancient Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

, on the river Cydnus, and not far from the frontier of

Cataonia Cataonia () was one of the divisions of ancient Cappadocia. It is described by Strabo, who had visited it, as a level plain surrounded by mountain- on the south by the Amanus, and on the west by the Antitaurus, which branches off from the Ci ...

to which

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

, in fact, assigns it. Its site was on the southern slope of

Mount Taurus The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek'':'' Ταύρος) are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a ...

, and in the neighbourhood of the mountain pass leading from Cilicia into

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

, north of Tarsus. The town is named after the

seer A seer is a person who practices divination. Seer(s) or SEER may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Seer (band), an Austrian music band * Seer (game series), a Chinese video game and cartoon series ** ''Seer'' (film), 2011, based on the ...

Mopsus Mopsus (; Ancient Greek: Μόψος, ''Mopsos'') was the name of one of two famous seers in Greek mythology; his rival being Calchas. A historical or legendary ''Mopsos'' or ''Mukšuš'' may have been the founder of a house in power at widespread ...

, its name means "Springs of Mopsus". It is celebrated in history as the place where the emperor

Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...

died (3 November 361). In the

Antonine Itinerary The Antonine Itinerary (, "Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is an , a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly in part from a survey carried out under Augustus, it describes t ...

, it is called Namsucrone; in the

Jerusalem Itinerary ''Itinerarium Burdigalense'' ("Bordeaux Itinerary"), also known as ''Itinerarium Hierosolymitanum'' ("Jerusalem Itinerary"), is the oldest known Christian ''itinerarium''. It was written by the "Pilgrim of Bordeaux", an anonymous pilgrim from t ...

, it is called Mansverine. Its site was likely the same as the settlement and ''

mutatio In the Roman Empire, a ''mansio'' (from the Latin word ''mansus,'' the perfect passive participle of ''manere'' "to remain" or "to stay") was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or ''via'', maintained by the central government for the use ...

'' called Mapsoukrenai.

References

Populated places in ancient Cilicia Former populated places in Turkey Roman towns and cities in Turkey Populated places of the Byzantine Empire History of Mersin Province {{Mersin-geo-stub

See also

References