River
Lygum Fluvius
Kilisch · Gülüç · Gülüc
Listen to the story
Lygum Fluvius, the river Lycus, marks a road station at the mouth of a small stream flowing into the Black Sea, near Gülüç in Turkey, a short way south of ancient Heraclea, modern Ereğli. The map gives it no picture, only a name, and puts it in the accusative, as if pointing the traveller towards the river. The station was probably a small harbour. The figure of four Roman miles to Heraclea, about six kilometres, holds a puzzle: half of the numeral seems to have been struck through with a slash in darker ink. The Greek coastal guides put the river mouth just twenty stadia, roughly three and a half kilometres, from the city.