Cataonia

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 Cilician Taurus and contains deep narrow valleys (in one of which was situated Comana, a considerable city on the river Sarus, which flows through the gaps of the Taurus into Cilicia and the Mediterranean).Strabo speaks of a temple of Zeus Dacius, where there is a salt-lake of the considerable extent with steep banks, so that the descent to it is like going down steps; it was said that the water never increased, and had no visible outlet.The plain of Cataonia contained no cities, but it had strong forts on the hills, such as Azamora and Dastarcum, round which the Carmalas flowed, probably the modern Zamantı River.[1] It also contained a temple of Cataonian Apollo, which was in great repute in all Cappadocia.In fact Ptolemy's Cataonia, if there is truth in it, must be a different division of the country.