Note 145 — THE TRAVELS OF RABBI BENJAMIN OF TUDELA.

The ancient Thessalonica; the modern Saloniki, contained, at our author's time, more Jewish inhabitants than any town in Greece, Thebes alone excepted. It is stated by good authorities to contain at present 20,000 Israelites, a large proportion of the whole population, amounting altogether to but 70,000 souls. Some popular tradition probably induced our author to ascribe the origin of the city to Seleucus. The favourable situation of Saloniki, which has made it one of the most commercial towns of the Turkish empire, was probably the cause of its considerable Jewish population. [145]