The manuscripts of the Synecdemus list among the seven cities of Helenopontus one called Σάλτον Ζαλίχην,[2] which Peter Wesseling believes should be corrected to Σάλτος Ζαλίχης and suggests it indicates that the city was surrounded by forests (Latin: saltus),[1][2] making the name equivalent to "Forest of Zaliche".

At the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, a priest named Andronicus represented the Bishop John "Ζαλίχων", i.e., of Zaliche (Ζαλίχη, neuter plural).

Both Wesseling and the contributor to Smith's Geography also believe that this is the Leontopolis spoken of in Novella 28 as one of the cities of Helenopontus.

[7] Leontopolis is first mentioned as a suffragan bishopric of Amaseia in the 6th century and, although declining, survived until the thirteenth.

Modern scholars place the town at Alaçam, Samsun Province, Turkey.