Herodotus records the entire Gulf of Alexandretta as Marandynian Bay (Ancient Greek: Μυριανδικὸς κόλπος), after Myriandus.[4] (Later classical geographers would subsequently name the bay after nearby Issus.) Stephanus of Byzantium also called it Marandynian gulf.[5]
Xenophon claimed that Myriandus was the border town between Cilicia and Syria. Herodotus, meanwhile, placed the line further south at Ras al-Bassit in what is now Syria. Xenophon also say that it was an Emporium.[4]
In 333 BC, Alexander the Great encamped near the city and intended to attack on the army of DariusIII of Persia, but at the night a heavy tempest and storm detained him in his camp. In the end the battle took place near Issus.[6][7]