Somewhere around this small town on the Terme (Thermodon) river was the city of Themiskyra, stronghold of the Amazons. The fertile plain is still roamed by horses, which the warrior women harnessed and rode with great skill before the Hellenes ever did. The ninth labour of the Greek hero Herakles was to take the belt from the Amazon queen Hyppolyte. The city apparently disappeared after being beseiged by the Roman general Lucullus in 73AD. Their last stand, in which they are said to have launched bears and bees on their enemy, may have been in the mountain fortress at Karpu Kale near the Thermodon’s source a few miles to the south.