[2598] On the contrary, they lie at the _The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 1 (of 6)

Corcyra. Some of them are mere rocks, and cannot be distinguished by

their ancient names. The present names of four are Sametraki, Diaplo,

Boaia, and the Isle of Ulysses.

[2599] Now Capo Drasti.

[2600] Now Capo Levkimo. The islands are those of Santo Niccolo.

[2601] Or Islands of the Teleboans.

[2602] These three seem to be those now called Magnisi, Kalamota,

and Kastus. These lie facing the promontory of Leucadia, the others

opposite Ætolia.

[2603] Opposite Acarnania: by the Venetians they were called the

Islands of Kurtzolari. Some of them are cultivated, others again are

mere rocks.

[2604] Now called Cephallenia.

[2605] Now Zante.

[2606] Now Thiaki, or Cefalogna Piccola—Little Cephallenia.

[2607] The general opinion is, that Strabo is right in identifying this

island with one of the Echinades; but it seems impossible now to say

which of them was so called.

[2608] Sometimes confounded with Cephallenia; but, according to Virgil

and Mela, as well as Pliny, they were different islands.

[2609] Crocylæa was a town of Acarnania, referred to by Homer; and

there was a district of Ithaca called Crocylcium. Pliny is probably in

error in mentioning Crocyle as an island.

[2610] Or the “Black Island;” probably from its thick foliage.

[2611] Pale, Cranii, and Proni.

[2612] So called from its fir-trees. It now has the name of Scopo.

[2613] Now Monte Stefano.

[2614] See c. 6 of this Book.

[2615] Supposed by some writers to be the same with the rocky isle now

called Dyscallio. Though mentioned by Homer, its existence was disputed

by many of the ancient commentators.

[2616] The modern Strivali and Stamphane.

[2617] The present Guardiania, according to Lapie.

[2618] According to Ansart, these were Prote, now Prodano, and Sphagia,

formerly Sphacteria, before Pylos, now called Zonchio, or Old Navarino;

the third being perhaps the isle of Bechli, in the Bay of Navarino.

[2619] Now called Sapienza, Santa Maria, and Cabrera.

[2620] Venetico and Formignes are the names of two of them.

[2621] Now Servi.

[2622] The modern Cerigo.

[2623] It is much further from the Cape of Malea or Santo Angelo than

the distance here mentioned. It derived its name of Porphyris from the

purple fishery established here by the Phœnicians.

[2624] The modern Isle of Port Tolon. Irine is the present Hipsyli

according to Leake, who also identifies Ephyre with Spetzia.

[2625] At the south of Argolis.

[2626] The modern Dhoko, according to Leake. Some authorities think

that Tiparenus, and not Ephyre, is the modern Spetzia.

[2627] Leake thinks that Colonis and Hydreia, now called Hydra, were

the same island; but Kiepert thinks it the same as the small island to

the south of Spetzia.

[2628] Now Poros.

[2629] These are the islands now called Moni Jorench, Kophinidia, and

San Giorgio d’Arbora. It is perhaps impossible to identify them, except

that Belbina is generally supposed to be the island of San Giorgio.

[2630] Now Kyra.

[2631] The modern Angistri.

[2632] Which name, or Eghina, it still retains.

[2633] See c. 9 of this Book.

[2634] Probably the modern Laoussa, one of this group.

[2635] By Brotier said to be the modern Pentenesia. The other islands

here mentioned seem not to have been identified.

[2636] Now Cerigotto.

[2637] Dalechamps suggests Hesperus.

[2638] The island “of the Blessed.”

[2639] Now Capo Salomon.

[2640] From the Greek κριοῦ μέτωπον, “the ram’s forehead”; now called

Capo Crio.

[2641] Also called Elæa. Pococke speaks of it as a promontory called

Chaule-burnau.

[2642] Hardouin calls it Chisamo.

[2643] The modern Khania. The quince derived its Latin name, “Malum

Cydonium,” from this district, to which it was indigenous. From its

Latin name it was called _melicotone_ by the writers of the Elizabethan

period.

[2644] Now Minolo, according to Hardouin.

[2645] The port of Apteron, or Aptera, which Mr. Pashley supposes to be

denoted by the ruins of Palæokastro; he also thinks that its port was

at or near the modern Kalyres.

[2646] Now La Suda, according to Hardouin, who says that Rhithymna is

called Retimo; Panormus, Panormo; and Cytæum, Setia.

[2647] Supposed by Ansart to have stood in the vicinity of the modern

city of Candia.

[2648] Strabo says that it stood on the narrowest part of the island,

opposite Minoa. Vestiges of it have been found at the Kastéle of

Hierapetra. Its foundation was ascribed to the Corybantes.

[2649] Now Lionda.

[2650] Next to Cnossus in splendour and importance. Mr. Pashley places

its site near the modern Haghius Dheka, the place of the martyrdom of

the ten Saints, according to tradition, in the Decian persecution.

[2651] It has been remarked, that Pliny is mistaken here if he intends

to enumerate Cnossus among the towns of the interior of Crete. The only

remains of this capital of Crete, situate on the north of the island,

are those seen at Makro-Teikho, or the “Long Walls,” so called from the

masses of Roman brick-work there seen.

[2652] Though an inland town, it probably stood in the vicinity of

the headland or promontory of the same name, which is now called Kavo

Stavro. Many of these names are utterly unknown.

[2653] One of the most important towns of Crete, on the N.W. slope of

Mount Ida, about fifty stadia from the port of Astale. Mr. Pashley says

that some remains probably of this place are still to be seen on a hill

near a place called Eletherna, five miles south of the great convent of

Arkadhi.

[2654] The loftiest point of the mountain-range that traverses the

island of Crete from west to east. Its head is covered with snow. The

modern name is Psiloriti, looking down on the plain of Mesara. The word

_Ida_ is supposed to mean a mountain in which mines are worked, and the

Idæi Dactyli of Crete were probably among the first workers in iron and

bronze. The position of Mount Cadistus, belonging to the range of White

Mountains, has been fixed by Hoeck at Cape Spadha, the most northerly

point of the island. It is thought that Pliny and Solinus are in error

in speaking of Cadistus and Dictynnæus as separate peaks, these being,

both of them, names of the mountain of which the cape was formed; the

latter name having been given in later times, from the worship and

temple there of Dictynna.

[2655] Now Grabusa, the N.W. promontory of Crete.

[2656] Now Ras-al-Sem, or Cape Rasat, in Africa. The distance,

according to Brotier, is in reality about 225 miles.

[2657] Now Skarpanto.

[2658] According to Hardouin, all of these are mere rocks rather than

islands.

[2659] The modern Haghios Theodhoros.

[2660] According to Hoeck, they are now called Turlure.

[2661] Now called Standiu.

[2662] Now Capo Xacro, on the east, though Cape Salomon, further north,

has been suggested. In the latter case, the Grandes islands would

correspond with Onisia and Leuce, mentioned by Pliny.

[2663] Now Gaidurognissa. None of the other islands here mentioned seem

to have been identified.

[2664] Between Eubœa and Locris. They are now called Ponticonesi.

[2665] Now Koluri. It is memorable for the naval battle fought off its

coast, when Xerxes was defeated by the Greeks, B.C. 480.

[2666] Now called Lypsokutali.

[2667] Now Makronisi, or “the Long Island.” Its ancient name was also

Macris. Strabo identifies it with the Homeric Cranaë, to which Paris

fled with Helen.

[2668] Usually called Cea, one of the Cyclades, about thirteen miles

S.E. of Sunium. Its modern name is Zea. Iulis was the most important

town, and the birth-place of the poets Simonides and Bacchylides, of

the sophist Prodicus, the physician Erasistratus, and the Peripatetic

philosopher Ariston. Extensive remains of it still exist.

[2669] There are considerable remains of this town, called by the

inhabitants Stais Palais.

[2670] Or Coresia. It was the harbour of Iulis, to which place we learn

from Strabo that its inhabitants were transferred.

[2671] On the S.W. side of the island. Its ruins are inconsiderable,

but retain their ancient name.

[2672] Now called Eubœa, as also Egripo, or Negropont,—a corruption of

the former word and “pont,” “a bridge.”

[2673] Hardouin speaks of this as existing in his time, 1670, and being

250 feet in length. It is supposed to have been first constructed about

B.C. 411, for the purpose of uninterrupted communication with Bœotia.

[2674] Now Capo Mandili.

[2675] Now Kavo Doro, or Xylofago.

[2676] Now Lithadha, with a mountain 2837 feet above the sea.

[2677] These measurements are not exactly correct. The length from

north to south is about ninety miles; the extreme breadth across,

thirty, and in one part, not more than four miles.

[2678] Still extant in the time of Strabo, who speaks of it as an

inconsiderable place.

[2679] Its site is now called Lipso. It contained warm baths sacred to

Hercules, and used by the Dictator Sylla. They are still to be seen.

[2680] Now Egripo, or Negropont, having given name to the rest of the

island. The Euripus is here only forty yards across, being crossed by

a bridge, partly of stone, partly of wood. The poet Lycophron and the

orator Isæus were natives of this place, and Aristotle died here.

[2681] Near the promontory of that name, now Capo Mandili. In the

town there was a famous temple of Poseidon, or Neptune. According to

Hardouin, the modern name is Iastura.

[2682] One of the most powerful cities of Eubœa. It was destroyed by

the Persians under Darius, and a new town was built to the south of the

old one. New Eretria stood, according to Leake, at the modern Kastri,

and old Eretria in the neighbourhood of Vathy. The tragic poet Achæus,

a contemporary of Æschylus, was born here; and a school of philosophy

was founded at this place by Menedemus, a disciple of Plato.

[2683] Now Karysto, on the south of the island, at the foot of Mount

Ocha, upon which are supposed to have been its quarries of marble.

There are but few remains of the ancient city. The historian Antigonus,

the comic poet Apollodorus, and the physician Diocles, were natives of

this place.

[2684] Probably on the promontory of the same name. It was off this

coast that the Greek fleet engaged that of Xerxes, B.C. 480.

[2685] There were tame fish kept in this fountain; and its waters were

sometimes disturbed by volcanic agency. Leake says that it has now

totally disappeared.

[2686] From the fact of its producing copper, and of its being in shape

long and narrow.

[2687] Strabo remarks, that Homer calls its inhabitants Abantes, while

he gives to the island the name of Eubœa. The poets say that it took

its name from the cow (Βοῦς) Io, who gave birth to Epaphus on this

island.

[2688] Hardouin remarks here, that Pliny, Strabo, Mela, and Pausanias

use the term “Myrtoan Sea,” as meaning that portion of it which lies

between Crete and Attica, while Ptolemy so calls the sea which lies off

the coast of Caria.

[2689] Now called Spitilus, and the group of Micronisia, or “Little

Islands,” according to Hardouin.

[2690] From κύκλος, “a circle.”

[2691] Now Andro. It gives name to one of the comedies of Terence. The

ruins of the ancient city were found by the German traveller Ross, who

has published a hymn to Isis, in hexameter verse, which he discovered

here. It was famous for its wines.

[2692] Now Tino.

[2693] From its abounding in snakes (ὄφεις) and scorpions.

[2694] Now Mycono, south-east of Tenos and east of Delos. It was

famous in ancient mythology as one of the places where Hercules was

said to have defeated the Giants. It was also remarkable for the great

proportion of bald persons among its inhabitants.

[2695] So called from its resemblance to two breasts, μαζοι.

[2696] Wheeler says that the distance is but three miles; Tournefort,

six.

[2697] Once famous for its gold and silver mines, but equally notorious

for the bad character of its people. It is now called Siphno.

[2698] Now Serpho, lying between Cythnos and Siphnus.

[2699] Now Fermina, according to Hardouin.

[2700] Between Ceos and Seriphus. It is now called Thermia. Cydias the

painter was born here, and it was famous for its cheeses. Its modern

name is derived from its hot springs, which are much frequented.

[2701] Still called Delos; and, though so celebrated, nothing more than

a mere rock, five miles in circumference.

[2702] That is, according to Varro, whose statement is ridiculed

by Seneca. Some of the editors, however, punctuate this passage

differently, making it to mean, “the only island that has never

experienced an earthquake. Mucianus however has informed us, that down

to the time of M. Varro, it has been twice so visited.”

[2703] From its then becoming δῆλος, “plain,” or “manifest.” It was

after the fall of Corinth that Delos became so famous for its commerce.

Its bronze was in great request.

[2704] From ὄρτυξ, “a quail”; the legend being, that Latona was changed

into that bird by Jupiter, in order to effect her escape thither from

the anger of Juno. Its name of Asteria was derived from ἄστρον, “a

star,” either in consequence of its being devoted to the worship of

the great luminary Apollo, or of its being considered by the gods the

star of the earth. It was also called Lagia, from λαγὼς, “a hare,” that

animal abounding there; and Cynæthus, from κύων, “a dog,” it being

famous for its hounds.

[2705] A bare granite rock, not more than 500 feet in height. The

island is now a mass of ruins; a great part of its remains having been

carried away in the middle ages to Venice and Constantinople.

[2706] Divided by a strait of four stadia in width from Delos. Nicias

connected the two islands by a bridge. Its name of Celadussa was said

to be derived from the noise of the waves, κέλαδος, and of Artemite,

from Artemis, or Diana.

[2707] Now Syra; famous for its wine and corn.

[2708] Now Antiparos; famous for its stalactite grotto, which is not

mentioned by the ancient writers.

[2709] Now Paro; south of Delos and west of Naxos. The ruins of its

town are still to be seen at the modern Paroikia. The Parian Chronicle,

inscribed on marble, and containing a chronicle of Grecian history from

Cecrops, B.C. 1582, to B.C. 264, was found here. It is preserved at

Oxford.

[2710] Chiefly obtained from a mountain called Marpessa.

[2711] Now Naxia, famous both in ancient and modern times for its

remarkable fertility.

[2712] From στρογγύλος, “round,” its shape being somewhat inclined

to circular, though by Eustathius it is compared to the shape of a

vine-leaf. It is commonly called Dia by the poets. Tournefort says that

it is distant forty miles from Delos.

[2713] From Διόνυσος, or Bacchus, the god of wine.

[2714] Or “Fine City.” It took its other name from the fact of its

rivalling the fertility of Sicily.

[2715] According to Brotier, the Jesuit Babin, on visiting it, found

its circumference estimated at thirty-six miles only.

[2716] So called from lying scattered at random as it were, σπορὰς

“scattered.”

[2717] Helene is supposed to be the modern Pira; Phacussa, Fecussa;

Nicasia, Rachia; Schinussa, Schinusa; and Pholegandros, Policandro.

[2718] Now Nikaria, to the west of Samos. According to tradition, it

derived its name from Icarus, the son of Dædalus, who was believed to

have fallen into the sea in its vicinity.

[2719] Its length is not so great as is here mentioned by Pliny. Its

towns were Drepanum, or Dracanum, Œnoë, and Isti.

[2720] The first two names are from the Greek, in allusion to its long,

narrow shape, and the last bears reference to the fact of its shores

abounding in fish.

[2721] Now Scyro, east of Eubœa, and one of the Sporades. Here Achilles

was said to have been concealed by his mother Thetis, in woman’s attire.

[2722] Now Nio, one of the Sporades, inaccurately called by Stephanus

one of the Cyclades. The modern town is built on the site of the

ancient one, of which there are some remains. It was said that Homer

died here, on his voyage from Smyrna to Athens, and that his mother,

Clymene, was a native of this island. In 1773, Van Krienen, a Dutch

nobleman, asserted that he had discovered the tomb of Homer here, with

certain inscriptions relative to him; but they have been generally

regarded by the learned as forgeries. Odia and Oletandros seem not to

have been identified.

[2723] Now called Gioura, or Jura. It was little better than a barren

rock, though inhabited; but so notorious for its poverty, that its mice

were said to be able to gnaw through iron. It was used as a place of

banishment under the Roman emperors, whence the line of Juvenal, i. 73—

“Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere dignum.”

“Dare some deed deserving of the little Gyara and the gaol.” It is now

uninhabited, except by a few shepherds in the summer.

[2724] Now Telos, or Piskopi, a small island in the Carpathian Sea, and

one of the Sporades. It lies off the coast of Caria. Syrnos appears not

to have been identified.

[2725] Near Naxos. Virgil calls it ‘viridis,’ or ‘green,’ which

Servius explains by the colour of its marble. Like Gyara, it was used

as a place of banishment under the Roman Empire. In C. 22, Pliny has

mentioned Cynæthus as one of the names of Delos.

[2726] Now Patmo, one of the Sporades, and west of the Promontory of

Posidium, in Caria. To this place St. John was banished, and here he

wrote the Apocalypse.

[2727] A group between Icaria and Samos. They are now called Phurni and

Krusi.

[2728] One of the Sporades, now Lebitha.

[2729] Now Lero. Its inhabitants were of Milesian origin, and of

indifferent character. In its temple of Artemis, the sisters of

Meleager were said to have been changed into guinea-fowls. It was

opposite the coast of Caria.

[2730] Now Zinari, N.E. of Amorgos. The artichoke (called κίναρα in

Greek) is said to have given name to it.

[2731] Now Sikino; between Pholegandros and Ios.

[2732] So called, according to Stephanus, from its cultivation of the

vine and produce of wine, οἶνος. It was situate between Pholegandros

and Ios. It was said to have had the name of Sicinus from a son of

Thoas and Œnoë. Hieracia seems to be unknown.

[2733] Still known by that name, and lying between Carpathus and Crete.

The ruins of the ancient town of Casos are still to be seen at the

village of Polin. It is mentioned by Homer.

[2734] Now Kimoli, one of the Cyclades, between Siphnos and Melos. It

took its name of Echinussa from the ‘Echinus,’ or Sea-urchin, of which

various fossil specimens are still found on the coast; but nowhere

else in these islands, except the opposite coast of Melos. There are

considerable ruins of its ancient town.

[2735] Now Milo, the most westerly of the Cyclades. It is remarkable

for its extreme fertility. Its town, which, according to most

authorities, was called Byblis, was situate on the north of the island.

[2736] Ansart remarks, that our author is mistaken in this assertion,

for not only are many others of these islands more circular in form,

but even that of Kimolo, which stands next to it.

[2737] Now Amorgo, S.E. of Naxos. It was the birth-place of the

Iambic poet Simonides. It is noted for its fertility. Under the Roman

emperors, it was used as a place of banishment.

[2738] Now Polybos, or Antimelos, an uninhabited island near Melos.

Phyle seems not to have been identified.

[2739] Now Santorin, south of the island of Ios. The tradition was,

that it was formed from a clod of earth, thrown from the ship Argo. It

is evidently of volcanic origin, and is covered with pumice-stone. It

was colonized by Lacedæmonians and Minyans of Lemnos, under the Spartan

Theras, who gave his name to the island.

[2740] A small island to the west of Thera, still known by the same

name.

[2741] In Lapie’s map, Ascania is set down as the present Christiana.

[2742] Now Anaphe, Namfi, or Namphio, one of the Sporades. It was

celebrated for the temple of Apollo Ægletes, the foundation of which

was ascribed to the Argonauts, and of which considerable remains still

exist. It abounds in partridges, as it did also in ancient times.

[2743] Now Astropalæa, or Stamphalia. By Strabo it is called one of the

Sporades, by Stephanus one of the Cyclades. It probably was favoured

by the Romans for the excellence and importance of its harbours. From

Hegesander we learn that it was famous for its hares, and Pliny tells

us, in B. viii. c. 59, that its mussels were (as they still are) very

celebrated.

[2744] None of these islands can be now identified, except perhaps

Chalcia, also mentioned by Strabo, and now known as Karki.

[2745] Now Kalymno, the principal island of the group, by Homer called

Calydne. According to most of the editions, Pliny mentions here

Calydna and Calymna, making this island, which had those two names,

into two islands. Although Pliny here mentions only the town of Coös,

still, in B. v. c. 36, he speaks of three others, Notium, Nisyrus, and

Mendeterus. There are still some remains of antiquity to be seen here.

[2746] Or Carpathus, now Skarpanto. It gave name to the sea between

Crete and Rhodes.

[2747] It still preserves its ancient name, and presents some

interesting remains of antiquity.

[2748] Brotier says that the distance is really fifty-two miles.

[2749] So called from the town of Petalia, on the mainland. Ansart says

that their present name is Spili.

[2750] Now Talanti, giving name to the Channel of Talanti.

[2751] The present Gulf of Volo, mentioned in C. 15 of the present Book.

[2752] Ansart suggests that this may possibly be the small island now

called Agios Nicolaos.

[2753] Now Trikeri.

[2754] In the present Chapter.

[2755] Now Scangero, or Skantzoura, according to Ansart.

[2756] Now the Gulf of Saloniki, mentioned in C. 17. The islands here

mentioned have apparently not been identified.

[2757] Off the coast of Thessaly, now Piperi.

[2758] Now Skiathos. It was famous for its wine.

[2759] Now called Embro, or Imru. Both the island and city of Imbros

are mentioned by Homer.

[2760] This is double the actual circumference of the island.

[2761] Now called Stalimene.

[2762] Its site is now called Palæo Kastro. Hephæstia, or Vulcan’s

Town, stood near the modern Rapanidi. That god was said to have fallen

into this island when thrown from heaven by Jupiter.

[2763] Now Thaso, or Tasso. Its gold mines were in early periods very

valuable.

[2764] Mentioned in C. 17 of this Book.

[2765] Ansart says that “forty-two” would be the correct reading here,

that being also the distance between Samothrace and Thasos.

[2766] Its modern name is Samothraki. It was the chief seat of the

mysterious worship of the Cabiri.

[2767] Only twelve, according to Ansart.

[2768] Barely eighteen, according to Brotier.

[2769] Now Monte Nettuno. Of course the height here mentioned by Pliny

is erroneous; but Homer says that from this mountain Troy could be seen.

[2770] Now called Skopelo, if it is the same island which is mentioned

by Ptolemy under the name of Scopelus. It exports wine in large

quantities.

[2771] Or the Fox Island, so called from its first settlers having

been directed by an oracle to establish a colony where they should

first meet a fox with its cub. Like many others of the islands here

mentioned, it appears not to have been identified.

[2772] See C. 18 of this Book.

[2773] None of these islands appear to have been identified by modern

geographers.

[2774] Now generally known as the Palus Mæotis or Sea of Azof.

[2775] The modern Caraboa, according to Brotier, stands on its site.

Priapus was the tutelary divinity of Lampsacus in this vicinity.

[2776] Or “entrance of Pontus”; now the Sea of Marmora.

[2777] “Ox Ford,” or “passage of the cow,” Io being said to have

crossed it in that form: now called the “Straits of Constantinople.”

[2778] Said to have been called ἄξενος or “inhospitable,” from its

frequent storms and the savage state of the people living on its

shores. In later times, on the principle of Euphemism, or abstaining

from words of ill omen, its name was changed to εὔξεινος, “hospitable.”

[2779] This was a favourite comparison of the ancients; the north

coast, between the Thracian Bosporus and the Phasis, formed the bow,

and the southern shores the string. The Scythian bow somewhat resembled

in form the figure Σ, the capital Sigma of the Greeks.

[2780] Now the Straits of Kaffa or Enikale.

[2781] This town lay about the middle of the Tauric Chersonesus or

Crimea, and was situate on a small peninsula, called the Smaller

Chersonesus, to distinguish it from the larger one, of which it formed

a part. It was founded by the inhabitants of the Pontic Heraclea, or

Heracleium, the site of which is unknown. See note [2844] to p. 333.

[2782] Now Kertsch, in the Crimea. It derived its name from the river

Panticapes; and was founded by the Milesians about B.C. 541. It was the

residence of the Greek kings of Bosporus, and hence it was sometimes so

called.

[2783] “Thirty-six” properly.

[2784] The Tanais or Don does not rise in the Riphæan Mountains, or

western branch of the Uralian chain, but on slightly elevated ground in

the centre of European Russia.

[2785] Chap. 18 of the present Book. Istropolis is supposed to be the

present Istere, though some would make it to have stood on the site of

the present Kostendsje, and Brotier identifies it with Kara-Kerman.

[2786] Now called the Schwarzwald or Black Forest. The Danube or Ister

rises on the eastern side at the spot called Donaueschingen.

[2787] So called from the Raurici, a powerful people of Gallia Belgica,

who possessed several towns, of which the most important were Augusta,

now Augst, and Basilia, now Bâle.

[2788] Only three of these are now considered of importance, as being

the main branches of the river. It is looked upon as impossible by

modern geographers to identify the accounts given by the ancients with

the present channels, by name, as the Danube has undergone in lapse of

time, very considerable changes at its mouth. Strabo mentions seven

mouths, three being lesser ones.

[2789] So called, as stated by Pliny, from the island of Peuce, now

Piczina. Peuce appears to have been the most southerly of the mouths.

[2790] Now called Kara-Sou, according to Brotier. Also called Rassefu

in the maps.

[2791] Now called Hazrali Bogasi, according to Brotier. It is called by

Ptolemy the Narakian Mouth.

[2792] Or the “Beautiful Mouth.” Now Susie Bogasi, according to Brotier.

[2793] Or the “False Mouth”: now the Sulina Bogasi, the principal mouth

of the Danube, so maltreated by its Russian guardians.

[2794] Or the “Passage of the Gnats,” so called from being the resort

of swarms of mosquitoes, which were said at a certain time of the year

to migrate to the Palus Mæotis. According to Brotier the present name

of this island is Ilan Adasi, or Serpent Island.

[2795] The “Northern Mouth”: near the town of Kilia.

[2796] Or the “Narrow Mouth.”

[2797] Though Strabo distinguishes the Getæ from the Daci, most of the

ancient writers, with Pliny, speak of them as identical. It is not

known, however, why the Getæ in later times assumed the name of Daci.

[2798] “Dwellers in waggons.” These were a Sarmatian tribe who wandered

with their waggons along the banks of the Volga. The chief seats of

the Aorsi, who seem in reality to have been a distinct people from

the Hamaxobii, was in the country between the Tanais, the Euxine, the

Caspian, and the Caucasus.

[2799] “Dwellers in Caves.” This name appears to have been given to

various savage races in different parts of the world.

[2800] There were races of the Alani in Asia on the Caucasus, and in

Europe on the Mæotis and the Euxine; but their precise geographical

position is not clearly ascertained.

[2801] The present Transylvania and Hungary.

[2802] The name given in the age of Pliny to the range of mountains

extending around Bohemia, and through Moravia into Hungary.

[2803] Its ruins are still to be seen on the south bank of the Danube

near Haimburg, between Deutsch-Altenburg and Petronell. The Roman fleet

of the Danube, with the 14th legion, was originally established there.

[2804] In Pliny’s time this migratory tribe seems to have removed to

the plains between the Lower Theiss and the mountains of Transylvania,

from which places they had expelled the Dacians.

[2805] The Lower Theiss.

[2806] Now the river Mark, Maros, or Morava.

[2807] The name of the two streams now known as the Dora Baltea and

Dora Riparia, both of which fall into the Po. This passage appears to

be in a mutilated state.

[2808] A chief of the Quadi; who, as we learn from Tacitus, was made

king of the Suevi by Germanicus, A.D. 19. Being afterwards expelled by

his nephews Vangio and Sido, he received from the emperor Claudius a

settlement in Pannonia. Tacitus gives the name of Suevia to the whole

of the east of Germany from the Danube to the Baltic.

[2809] According to Hardouin, Pliny here speaks of the other side of

the mountainous district called Higher Hungary, facing the Danube and

extending from the river Theiss to the Morava.

[2810] This, according to Sillig, is the real meaning of _a desertis_

here, the distance being measured from the Danube, and not between

the Vistula and the wilds of Sarmatia. The reading “four thousand” is

probably corrupt, but it seems more likely than that of 404 miles,

adopted by Littré, in his French translation.

[2811] Placed by Forbiger near Lake Burmasaka, or near Islama.

[2812] The Dniester. The mountains of Macrocremnus, or the “Great

Heights,” seem not to have been identified.

[2813] According to Hardouin, the modern name of this island is Tandra.

[2814] Now called the Teligul, east of the Tyra or Dniester.

[2815] Now called Sasik Beregen, according to Brotier.

[2816] The modern Gulf of Berezen, according to Brotier.

[2817] Probably the modern Okzakow.

[2818] The modern Dnieper. It also retains its ancient name of

Borysthenes.

[2819] We learn from Strabo that the name of this town was Olbia, and

that from being founded by the Milesians, it received the name of

Miletopolis. According to Brotier, the modern Zapurouski occupies its

site, between the mouths of the river Buzuluk.

[2820] This was adjacent to the strip of land called “Dromos

Achilleos,” or the ‘race-course of Achilles.’ It is identified by

geographers with the little island of Zmievoi or Oulan Adassi, the

‘Serpents Island.’ It was said that it was to this spot that Thetis

transported the body of Achilles. By some it was made the abode of the

shades of the blest, where Achilles and other heroes of fable were the

judges of the dead.

[2821] A narrow strip of land N.W. of the Crimea and south of the mouth

of the Dnieper, running nearly due west and east. It is now divided

into two parts called Kosa Tendra and Kosa Djarilgatch. Achilles was

said to have instituted games here.

[2822] According to Hardouin, the Siraci occupied a portion of the

present Podolia and Ukraine, and the Tauri the modern Bessarabia.

[2823] According to Herodotus, this region, called Hylæa, lay to the

east of the Borysthenes. It seems uncertain whether there are now any

traces of this ancient woodland; some of the old maps however give the

name of the “Black Forest” to this district. From the statements of

modern travellers, the woody country does not commence till the river

Don has been reached. The district of Hylæa has been identified by

geographers with the great plain of Janboylouk in the steppe of the

Nogai.

[2824] For Enœchadlæ, Hardouin suggests that we should read _Inde

Hylæi_, “hence the inhabitants are called by the name of Hylæi.”

[2825] The Panticapes is usually identified with the modern Somara, but

perhaps without sufficient grounds. It is more probably the Kouskawoda.

[2826] The Nomades or _wandering_, from the Georgi or _agricultural_

Scythians.

[2827] The Acesinus does not appear to have been identified by modern

geographers.

[2828] Above called Olbiopolis or Miletopolis.

[2829] The Bog or Boug. Flowing parallel with the Borysthenes or

Dnieper, it discharged itself into the Euxine at the town of Olbia, at

no great distance from the mouth of the Borysthenes.

[2830] Probably meaning the mouth or point at which the river

discharges itself into the sea.

[2831] The modern Gulf of Negropoli or Perekop, on the west side of the

Chersonesus Taurica or Crimea.

[2832] Forming the present isthmus of Perekop, which divides the Sea of

Perekop from the Sea of Azof.

[2833] Called by Herodotus Hypacyris, and by later writers Carcinites.

It is generally supposed to be the same as the small stream now known

as the Kalantchak.

[2834] Hardouin says that the city of Carcine has still retained its

name, but changed its site. More modern geographers however are of

opinion that nothing can be determined with certainty as to its site.

Of the site also of Navarum nothing seems to be known.

[2835] Or Buces or Byce. This is really a gulf, _almost_ enclosed, at

the end of the Sea of Azof. Strabo gives a more full description of it

under the name of the _Sapra Limnè_, “the Putrid Lake,” by which name

it is still called, in Russian, _Sibaché_ or Sivaché Moré. It is a vast

lagoon, covered with water when an east wind blows the water of the Sea

of Azof into it, but at other times a tract of slime and mud, sending

forth pestilential vapours.

[2836] It is rather a ridge of sand, that _almost_ separates it from

the waters of the gulf.

[2837] This river has not been identified by modern geographers.

[2838] According to Herodotus the Gerrhus or Gerrus fell into the

Hypacaris; which must be understood to be, not the Kalantchak, but the

Outlouk. It is probably now represented by the Moloschnijawoda, which

forms a shallow lake or marsh at its mouth.

[2839] It is most probable that the Pacyris, mentioned above, the

Hypacaris, and the Carcinites, were various names for the same river,

generally supposed, as stated above, to be the small stream of

Kalantchak.

[2840] Now the Crimea.

[2841] It does not appear that the site of any of these cities has been

identified. Charax was a general name for a fortified town.

[2842] Mentioned again by Pliny in B. vi. c. 7. Solinus says that in

order to repel avarice, the Satarchæ prohibited the use of gold and

silver.

[2843] On the site of the modern Perekop, more commonly called Orkapi.

[2844] Or Chersonesus of the Heracleans. The town of Kosleve or

Eupatoria is supposed to stand on its site.

[2845] After the conquest of Mithridates, when the whole of these

regions fell into the hands of the Romans.

[2846] The modern Felenk-burun. So called from the Parthenos or Virgin

Diana or Artemis, whose temple stood on its heights, in which human

sacrifices were offered to the goddess.

[2847] Supposed to be the same as the now-famed port of Balaklava.

[2848] The modern Aia-burun, the great southern headland of the Crimea.

According to Plutarch, it was called by the natives Brixaba, which,

like the name Criumetopon, meant the “Ram’s Head.”

[2849] Now Kerempi, a promontory of Paphlagonia in Asia Minor. Strabo

considers this promontory and that of Criumetopon as dividing the

Euxine into two seas.

[2850] According to Strabo, the sea-line of the Tauric Chersonesus,

after leaving the port of the Symboli, extended 125 miles, as far as

Theodosia. Pliny would here seem to make it rather greater.

[2851] The modern Kaffa occupies its site. The sites of many of the

places here mentioned appear not to be known at the present day.

[2852] The modern Kertsch, situate on a hill at the very mouth of the

Cimmerian Bosporus, or Straits of Enikale or Kaffa, opposite the town

of Phanagoria in Asia.

[2853] In C. 24 of the present Book. Clark identifies the town of

Cimmerium with the modern Temruk, Forbiger with Eskikrimm. It is again

mentioned in B. vi. c. 2.

[2854] He alludes here, not to the Strait so called, but to the

Peninsula bordering upon it, upon which the modern town of Kertsch is

situate, and which projects from the larger Peninsula of the Crimea, as

a sort of excrescence on its eastern side.

[2855] Probably Hermes or Mercury was its tutelar divinity: its site

appears to be unknown.

[2856] Probably meaning the Straits or passage connecting the Lake

Mæotis with the Euxine. The fertile district of the Cimmerian Bosporus

was at one time the granary of Greece, especially Athens, which

imported thence annually 400,000 medimni of corn.

[2857] A town so called on the Isthmus of Perekop, from a τάφρος or

trench, which was cut across the isthmus at this point.

[2858] Lomonossov, in his History of Russia, says that these people

were the same as the Sclavoni: but that one meaning of the name

‘Slavane’ being “a boaster,” the Greeks gave them the corresponding

appellation of Auchetæ, from the word αὐχὴ, which signifies “boasting.”

[2859] Of the Geloni, called by Virgil “picti,” or “painted,” nothing

certain seems to be known: they are associated by Herodotus with the

Budini, supposed to belong to the Slavic family by Schafarik. In B. iv.

c. 108, 109, of his History, Herodotus gives a very particular account

of the Budini, who had a city built entirely of wood, the name of which

was Gelonus. The same author also assigns to the Geloni a Greek origin.

[2860] The Agathyrsi are placed by Herodotus near the upper course of

the river Maris, in the S.E. of Dacia or the modern Transylvania. Pliny

however seems here to assign them a different locality.

[2861] Also called “Assedones” and “Issedones.” It has been suggested

by modern geographers that their locality must be assigned to the east

of Ichim, on the steppe of the central horde of the Kirghiz, and that

of the Arimaspi on the northern declivity of the chain of the Altaï.

[2862] Now the Don.

[2863] Most probably these mountains were a western branch of the

Uralian chain.

[2864] From the Greek πτεροφορὸς, “wing-bearing” or “feather-bearing.”

[2865] This legendary race was said to dwell in the regions beyond

Boreas, or the northern wind, which issued from the Riphæan mountains,

the name of which was derived from ῥιπαὶ or “hurricanes” issuing from

a cavern, and which these heights warded off from the Hyperboreans

and sent to more southern nations. Hence they never felt the northern

blasts, and enjoyed a life of supreme happiness and undisturbed repose.

“Here,” says Humboldt, “are the first views of a natural science which

explains the distribution of heat and the difference of climates by

local causes—by the direction of the winds—the proximity of the sun,

and the action of a moist or saline principle.”—_Asie Centrale_, vol. i.

[2866] Pindar says, in the “Pythia,” x. 56, “The Muse is no stranger

to their manners. The dances of girls and the sweet melody of the lyre

and pipe resound on every side, and wreathing their locks with the

glistening bay, they feast joyously. For this sacred race there is

no doom of sickness or of disease; but they live apart from toil and

battles, undisturbed by the exacting Nemesis.”

[2867] Hardouin remarks that Pomponius Mela, who asserts that the sun

rises here at the vernal and sets at the autumnal equinox, is right in

his position, and that Pliny is incorrect in his assertion. The same

commentator thinks that Pliny can have hardly intended to censure Mela,

to whose learning he had been so much indebted for his geographical

information, by applying to him the epithet “imperitus,” ‘ignorant’ or

‘unskilled’; he therefore suggests that the proper reading here is,

“ut non imperiti dixere,” “as some by no means ignorant persons have

asserted.”

[2868] The Attacori are also mentioned in B. vi. c. 20.

[2869] Sillig omits the word “non” here, in which case the reading

would be, “Those writers who place them anywhere but, &c.;” it is

difficult to see with what meaning.

[2870] Herodotus, B. iv., states to this effect, and after him,

Pomponius Mela, B. iii. c. 5.

[2871] These islands, or rather rocks, are now known as Fanari, and lie

at the entrance of the Straits of Constantinople.

[2872] From σὺν and πληγὴ, “a striking together.” Tournefort has

explained the ancient story of these islands running together, by

remarking that each of them consists of one craggy island, but that

when the sea is disturbed the water covers the lower parts, so as to

make the different points of each resemble isolated rocks. They are

united to the mainland by a kind of isthmus, and appear as islands only

when it is inundated in stormy weather.

[2873] Upon which the city of Apollonia (now Sizeboli), mentioned in C.

18 of the present Book, was situate.

[2874] So called because it was dedicated by Lucullus in the Capitol.

It was thirty cubits in height.

[2875] In C. 24 of the present Book.

[2876] Mentioned in the last Chapter as the “Island of Achilles.”

[2877] From the Greek μακαρῶν, “(The island) of the Blest.” It was also

called the “Island of the Heroes.”

[2878] Meaning all the inland or Mediterranean seas.

[2879] As the whole of Pliny’s description of the northern shores

of Europe is replete with difficulties and obscurities, we cannot

do better than transcribe the learned remarks of M. Parisot, the

Geographical Editor of Ajasson’s Edition, in reference to this subject.

He says, “Before entering on the discussion of this portion of Pliny’s

geography, let us here observe, once for all, that we shall not remark

as worthy of our notice all those ridiculous hypotheses which could

only take their rise in ignorance, precipitation, or a love of the

marvellous. We shall decline then to recognize the Doffrefelds in

the mountains of Sevo, the North Cape in the Promontory of Rubeas,

and the Sea of Greenland in the Cronian Sea. The absurdity of these

suppositions is proved by—I. The impossibility of the ancients ever

making their way to these distant coasts without the aid of large

vessels, the compass, and others of those appliances, aided by which

European skill finds the greatest difficulty in navigating those

distant seas. II. The immense lacunæ which would be found to exist in

the descriptions of these distant seas and shores: for not a word do

we find about those numerous archipelagos which are found scattered

throughout the North Sea, not a word about Iceland, nor about the

numberless seas and fiords on the coast of Norway. III. The absence of

all remarks upon the local phænomena of these spots. The North Cape

belongs to the second polar climate, the longest day there being two

months and a half. Is it likely that navigators would have omitted to

mention this remarkable phænomenon, well known to the Romans by virtue

of their astronomical theories, but one with which practically they had

never made themselves acquainted?—The only geographers who here merit

our notice are those who are of opinion that in some of the coasts or

islands here mentioned Pliny describes the Scandinavian Peninsula,

and in others the Coast of Finland. The first question then is, to

what point Pliny first carries us? It is evident that from the Black

Sea he transports himself on a sudden to the shores of the Baltic,

thus passing over at a single leap a considerable space filled with

nations and unknown deserts. The question then is, what line has he

followed? Supposing our author had had before his eyes a modern map,

the imaginary line which he would have drawn in making this transition

would have been from Odessa to the Kurisch-Haff. In this direction the

breadth across Europe is contracted to a space, between the two seas,

not more than 268 leagues in length. A very simple mode of reasoning

will conclusively prove that Pliny has deviated little if anything

from this route. If he fails to state in precise terms upon what point

of the shores of the Baltic he alights after leaving the Riphæan

mountains, his enumeration of the rivers which discharge themselves

into that sea, and with which he concludes his account of Germany, will

supply us with the requisite information, at all events in great part.

In following his description of the coast, we find mention made of

the following rivers, the Guttalus, the Vistula, the Elbe, the Weser,

the Ems, the Rhine, and the Meuse. The five last mentioned follow in

their natural order, from east to west, as was to be expected in a

description starting from the east of Europe for its western extremity

and the shores of Cadiz. We have a right to conclude then that the

Guttalus was to the east of the Vistula. As we shall now endeavour to

show, this river was no other than the Alle, a tributary of the Pregel,

which the Romans probably, in advancing from west to east, considered

as the principal stream, from the circumstance that they met with it,

before coming to the larger river. The Pregel after being increased

by the waters of the Alle or Guttalus falls into the Frisch-Haff,

about one degree further west than the Kurisch-Haff. It may however

be here remarked, Why not find a river more to the east, the Niemen,

for instance, or the Duna, to be represented by the Guttalus? The

Niemen in especial would suit in every respect equally well, because

it discharges itself into the Kurisch-Haff. This conjecture however

is incapable of support, when we reflect that the ancients were

undoubtedly acquainted with some points of the coast to the east of

the mouth of the Guttalus, but which, according to the system followed

by our author, would form part of the Continent of Asia. These points

are, 1st. The Cape Lytarmis (mentioned by Pliny, B. vi. c. 4). 2ndly.

The mouth of the river Carambucis (similarly mentioned by him), and

3rdly, a little to the east of Cape Lytarmis, the mouth of the Tanais.

The name of Cape Lytarmis suggests to us Lithuania, and probably

represents Domess-Ness in Courland; the Carambucis can be no other

than the Niemen; while the Tanais, upon which so many authors, ancient

and modern, have exhausted their conjectures, from confounding it with

the Southern Tanais which falls into the Sea of Azof, is evidently the

same as the Dwina or Western Duna. This is established incontrovertibly

both by its geographical position (the mouth of the Dwina being only

fifty leagues to the east of Domess-Ness) and the identity evidently

of the names Dwina and Tanais. Long since, Leibnitz was the first to

remark the presence of the radical _T. n_, or _D. n_, either with or

without a vowel, in the names of the great rivers of Eastern Europe;

Danapris or Dnieper, Danaster or Dniester, Danube (in German Donau, in

Hungarian Duna), Tanais or Don, for example; all which rivers however

discharge themselves into the Black Sea. There can be little doubt then

of the identity of the Duna with the Tanais, it being the only body of

water in these vast countries which bears a name resembling the initial

_Tan_, or _Tn_, and at the same time belongs to the basin of the

Baltic. We are aware, it is true, that the White Sea receives a river

Dwina, which is commonly called the Northern Dwina, but there can be no

real necessity to be at the trouble of combating the opinion that this

river is identical with the Northern Tanais. As the result then of our

investigations, it is at the eastern extremity of the Frisch-Haff and

near the mouth of the Pregel, that we would place the point at which

Pliny sets out. As for the Riphæan mountains, they have never existed

anywhere but in the head of the geographers from whom our author drew

his materials. From the mountains of Ural and Poias, which Pliny could

not possibly have in view, seeing that they lie in a meridian as

eastern as the Caspian Sea, the traveller has to proceed 600 leagues to

the south-west without meeting with any chains of mountains or indeed

considerable elevations.”

[2880] It is pretty clear that he refers to the numerous islands

scattered over the face of the Baltic Sea, such as Dago, Oesel,

Gothland, and Aland.

[2881] The old reading here was Bannomanna, which Dupinet would

translate by the modern Bornholm. Parisot considers that the modern

Runa, a calcareous rock covered with vegetable earth, in the vicinity

of Domess-Ness, is the place indicated.

[2882] It has been suggested by Brotier that Pliny here refers to the

Icy Sea, but it is more probable that he refers to the north-eastern

part of the Baltic, which was looked upon by the ancients us forming

part of the open sea.

[2883] With reference to these divisions of land and sea, a subject

which is involved in the greatest obscurity, Parisot states it as his

opinion that the Amalchian or Icy Sea is that portion of the Baltic

which extends from Cape Rutt to Cape Grinea, while on the other hand

the Cronian Sea comprehends all the gulfs which lie to the east of

Cape Rutt, such as the Haff, the gulfs of Stettin and Danzic, the

Frisch-Haff, and the Kurisch-Haff. He also thinks that the name of

‘Cronian’ originally belonged only to that portion of the Baltic which

washes the coast of Courland, but that travellers gradually applied

the term to the whole of the sea. He is also of opinion that the word

“Cronium” owes its origin to the Teutonic and Danish adjective _groen_

or “green.” The extreme verdure which characterizes the islands of the

Danish archipelago has given to the piece of water which separates

the islands of Falster and Moen the name of Groensund, and it is far

from improbable that the same epithet was given to the Pomeranian and

Prussian Seas, which the Romans would be not unlikely to call ‘Gronium’

or ‘Cronium fretum,’ or ‘Cronium mare.’ In the name ‘Parapanisus’ he

also discovers a resemblance to that of modern Pomerania.

[2884] Upon this Parisot remarks that on leaving Cape Rutt, at a

distance of about twenty-five leagues in a straight line, we come

to the island of Funen or Fyen, commonly called Fionia, the most

considerable of the Danish archipelago next to Zealand, and which lying

between the two Belts, the Greater and the Smaller, may very probably

from that circumstance have obtained the name of Baltia. Brotier takes

Baltia to be no other than Nova Zembla—so conflicting are the opinions

of commentators!

[2885] Parisot suggests that under this name may possibly lie concealed

that of the modern island of Zealand or Seeland, and that it may have

borne on the side of it next to the Belt the name of Baltseeland,

easily corrupted by the Greeks into Basilia.

[2886] Brotier takes these to be the islands of Aloo, and Bieloi or

Ostrow, at the mouth of the river Paropanisus, which he considers to

be the same as the Obi. Parisot on the other hand is of opinion that

islands of the Baltic are here referred to; that from the resemblance

of the name Oönæ to the Greek ὠὸν, “an egg,” the story that the natives

subsisted on the eggs of birds was formed; that not improbably the

group of the Hippopodes resembled the shape of a horse-shoe, from which

the story mentioned by Pliny took its rise; and that the Fanesii (or,

as the reading here has it, the Panotii, “all-ears”) wore their hair

very short, from which circumstance their ears appeared to be of a

larger size than usual.

[2887] Tacitus speaks of three great groups of the German tribes, the

Ingævones forming the first thereof, and consisting of those which

dwelt on the margin of the ocean, the Hermiones in the interior, and

the Istævones in the east and south of Germany. We shall presently find

that Pliny adds two groups, the Vandili as the fourth, and the Peucini

and Basternæ as the fifth. This classification however is thought to

originate in a mistake, for Zeuss has satisfactorily shown that the

Vandili belonged to the Hermiones, and that Peucini and Basternæ are

only names of individual tribes and not of groups of tribes.

[2888] Brotier and other geographers are of opinion that by this name

the chain of the Doffrefeld mountains is meant; but this cannot be the

case if we suppose with Parisot that Pliny here returns south from the

Scandinavian islands and takes his departure from Cape Rutt in the

territory of the Ingævones. Still, it is quite impossible to say what

mountains he would designate under the name of Sevo. Parisot suggests

that it is a form of the compound word “seevohner,” “inhabitants of the

sea,” and that it is a general name for the elevated lands along the

margin of the sea-shore.

[2889] Parisot supposes that under this name the isle of Funen is

meant, but it is more generally thought that Norway and Sweden are thus

designated, as that peninsula was generally looked upon as an island by

the ancients. The Codanian Gulf was the sea to the east of the Cimbrian

Chersonesus or Jutland, filled with the islands which belong to the

modern kingdom of Denmark. It was therefore the southern part of the

Baltic.

[2890] By Eningia Hardouin thinks that the country of modern Finland

is meant. Poinsinet thinks that under the name are included Ingria,

Livonia, and Courland; while Parisot seems inclined to be of opinion

that under this name the island of Zealand is meant, a village of

which, about three-fourths of a league from the western coast,

according to him, still bears the name of Heinïnge.

[2891] Parisot is of opinion that the Venedi, also called Vinidæ and

Vindili, were of Sclavish origin, and situate on the shores of the

Baltic. He remarks that this people, in the fifth century, founded

in Pomerania, when quitted by the Goths, a kingdom, the chiefs of

which styled themselves the Konjucs of Vinland. Their name is also

to be found in Venden, a Russian town in the government of Riga, in

Windenburg in Courland, and in Wenden in the circle of the Grand Duchy

of Mecklenburg Schwerin.

[2892] Parisot remarks that these two peoples were probably only tribes

of the Venedi.

[2893] Parisot feels convinced that Pliny is speaking here of the

Gulf of Travemunde, the island of Femeren, and then of the gulf

which extends from that island to Kiel, where the Eider separates

Holstein from Jutland. On the other hand, Hardouin thinks that by the

Gulf of Cylipenus the Gulf of Riga is meant, and that Latris is the

modern island of Oësel. But, as Parisot justly remarks, to put this

construction on Pliny’s language is to invert the order in which he has

hitherto proceeded, evidently from east to west.

[2894] The modern Cape of Skagen on the north of Jutland.

[2895] When Drusus held the command in Germany, as we learn from

Strabo, B. vii.

[2896] It is generally agreed that this is the modern island of

Borkhum, at the mouth of the river Amaiius or Ems.

[2897] To a bean, from which (_faba_) the island had its name of

Fabaria. In confirmation of this Hardouin states, that in his time

there was a tower still standing there which was called by the natives

_Het boon huys_, “the bean house.”

[2898] From the word _gles_ or _glas_, which primarily means ‘glass,’

and then figuratively “amber.” Probably Œland and Gothland. They will

be found again mentioned in the Thirtieth Chapter of the present Book.

See p. 351.

[2899] Now the Scheldt.

[2900] In a straight line, of course. Parisot is of opinion that in

forming this estimate Agrippa began at the angle formed by the river

Piave in lat. 46° 4′, measuring thence to Cape Rubeas (now Rutt) in

lat. 54° 25′. This would give 8° 21′, to which, if we add some twenty

leagues for obliquity or difference of longitude, the total would make

exactly the distance here mentioned.

[2901] As Parisot remarks, it is totally impossible to conceive the

source of such an erroneous conclusion as this. Some readings make the

amount 248, others 268.

[2902] As already mentioned, Zeuss has satisfactorily shown that the

Vandili or Vindili properly belonged to the Hermiones. Tacitus mentions

but three groups of the German nations; the Ingævones on the ocean, the

Hermiones in the interior, and the Istævones in the east and south of

Germany. The Vandili, a Gothic race, dwelt originally on the northern

coast of Germany, but afterwards settled north of the Marcomanni on the

Riesengebirge. They subsequently appeared in Dacia and Pannonia, and in

the beginning of the fifth century invaded Spain. Under Genseric they

passed over into Africa, and finally took and plundered Rome in A.D.

455. Their kingdom was finally destroyed by Belisarius.

[2903] It is supposed that the Burgundiones were a Gothic people

dwelling in the country between the rivers Viadus and Vistula, though

Ammianus Marcellinus declares them to have been of pure Roman origin.

How they came into the country of the Upper Maine in the south-west

of Germany in A.D. 289, historians have found themselves at a loss

to inform us. It is not improbable that the two peoples were not

identical, and that the similarity of their name arose only from the

circumstance that they both resided in “burgi” or burghs. See Gibbon,

iii. 99. _Bohn’s Ed._

[2904] The Varini dwelt on the right bank of the Albis or Elbe, north

of the Langobardi. Ptolemy however, who seems to mention them as the

Avarini, speaks of them as dwelling near the sources of the Vistula, on

the site of the present Cracow. See Gibbon, iv. 225. _Bohn’s Ed._

[2905] Nothing whatever is known of the locality of this people.

[2906] They are also called in history Gothi, Gothones, Gotones and

Gutæ. According to Pytheas of Marseilles (as mentioned by Pliny, B.

xxxvii. c. 2), they dwelt on the coasts of the Baltic, in the vicinity

of what is now called the Fritsch-Haff. Tacitus also refers to the

same district, though he does not speak of them as inhabiting the

coast. Ptolemy again speaks of them as dwelling on the east of the

Vistula, and to the south of the Venedi. The later form of their name,

_Gothi_, does not occur till the time of Caracalla. Their native name

was Gutthinda. They are first spoken of as a powerful nation at the

beginning of the third century, when we find them mentioned as ‘Getæ,’

from the circumstance of their having occupied the countries formerly

inhabited by the Sarmatian Getæ. The formidable attacks made by this

people, divided into the nations of the Ostrogoths and Visigoths, upon

the Roman power during its decline, are too well known to every reader

of Gibbon to require further notice.

[2907] The inhabitants of Chersonesus Cimbrica, the modern peninsula

of Jutland. It seems doubtful whether these Cimbri were a Germanic

nation or a Celtic tribe, as also whether they were the same race

whose numerous hordes successively defeated six Roman armies, and were

finally conquered by C. Marius, B.C. 101, in the Campi Raudii. The more

general impression, however, entertained by historians, is that they

were a Celtic or Gallic and not a Germanic nation. The name is said to

have signified “robbers.” See Gibbon, i. 273, iii. 365. _Bohn’s Ed._

[2908] The Teutoni or Teutones dwelt on the coasts of the Baltic,

adjacent to the territory of the Cimbri. Their name, though belonging

originally to a single nation or tribe, came to be afterwards applied

collectively to the whole people of Germany. See Gibbon, iii. 139.

_Bohn’s Ed._

[2909] Also called Cauchi, Cauci, and Cayci, a German tribe to the east

of the Frisians, between the rivers Ems and Elbe. The modern Oldenburg

and Hanover are supposed to pretty nearly represent the country of the

Chauci. In B. xvi. c. 1. 2, will be found a further account of them by

Pliny, who had visited their country, at least that part of it which

lay on the sea-coast. They are mentioned for the last time in the third

century, when they had extended so far south and west that they are

spoken of as living on the banks of the Rhine.

[2910] Mentioned by Tacitus as dwelling in the east and south of

Germany.

[2911] It has been suggested by Titzius that the words “quorum Cimbri,”

“to whom the Cimbri belong,” are an interpolation; which is not

improbable, or at least that the word “Cimbri” has been substituted for

some other name.

[2912] This appears to be properly the collective name of a great

number of the German tribes, who were of a migratory mode of life, and

spoken of in opposition to the more settled tribes, who went under the

general name of Ingævones. Cæsar speaks of them as dwelling east of the

Ubii and Sygambri, and west of the Cherusci. Strabo makes them extend

in an easterly direction beyond the Albis or Elbe, and southerly as far

as the sources of the Danube. Tacitus gives the name of Suevia to the

whole of the east of Germany, from the Danube to the Baltic. The name

of the modern Suabia is derived from a body of adventurers from various

German tribes, who assumed the name of Suevi in consequence of their

not possessing any other appellation.

[2913] A large and powerful tribe of Germany, which occupied the

extensive tract of country between the mountains in the north-west of

Bohemia and the Roman Wall in the south-west, which formed the boundary

of the Agri Decumates. On the east they bordered on the Narisci, on

the north-east on the Cherusci, and on the north-west on the Chatti.

There is little doubt that they originally formed part of the Suevi.

At a later period they spread in a north-easterly direction, taking

possession of the north-western part of Bohemia and the country about

the sources of the Maine and Saale, that is, the part of Franconia as

far as Kissingen and the south-western part of the kingdom of Saxony.

The name Hermunduri is thought by some to signify highlanders, and to

be a compound of _Her_ or _Ar_, “high,” and _Mund_, “man.”

[2914] One of the great tribes of Germany, which rose to importance

after the decay of the power of the Cherusci. It is thought by

ethnographers that their name is still preserved in the word “Hessen.”

They formed the chief tribe of the Hermiones here mentioned, and

are described by Cæsar as belonging to the Suevi, though Tacitus

distinguishes them, and no German tribe in fact occupied more

permanently its original locality than the Chatti. Their original abode

seems to have extended from the Westerwald in the west to the Saale in

Franconia, and from the river Maine in the south as far as the sources

of the Elison and the Weser, so that they occupied exactly the modern

country of Hessen, including perhaps a portion of the north-west of

Bavaria. See Gibbon, vol. iii. 99. _Bohn’s Ed._

[2915] The Cherusci were the most celebrated of all the German tribes,

and are mentioned by Cæsar as of the same importance as the Suevi,

from whom they were separated by the Silva Bacensis. There is some

difficulty in stating their exact locality, but it is generally

supposed that their country extended from the Visurgis or Weser in the

west to the Albis or Elbe in the east, and from Melibocus in the north

to the neighbourhood of the Sudeti in the south, so that the Chamavi

and Langobardi were their northern neighbours, the Chatti the western,

the Hermunduri the southern, and the Silingi and Semnones their eastern

neighbours. This tribe, under their chief Arminius or Hermann, forming

a confederation with many smaller tribes in A.D. 9, completely defeated

the Romans in the famous battle of the Teutoburg Forest. In later times

they were conquered by the Chatti, so that Ptolemy speaks of them

only as a small tribe on the south of the Hartz mountain. Their name

afterwards appears, in the beginning of the fourth century, in the

confederation of the Franks.

[2916] The Peucini are mentioned here, as also by Tacitus, as identical

with the Basternæ. As already mentioned, supposing them to be names

for distinct nations, they must be taken as only names of individual

tribes, and not of groups of tribes. It is generally supposed that

their first settlements in Sarmatia were in the highlands between the

Theiss and the March, whence they passed onward to the lower Danube,

as far as its mouth, where a portion of them, settling in the island

of Peuce, obtained the name of Peucini. In the later geographers we

find them settled between the Tyrus or Dniester, and the Borysthenes or

Dnieper, the Peucini remaining at the mouth of the Danube.

[2917] According to Parisot, the Guttalus is the same as the Alle, a

tributary of the Pregel. Cluver thinks that it is the same as the Oder.

Other writers again consider it the same as the Pregel.

[2918] Or Elbe.

[2919] Now the Weser.

[2920] The modern Ems.

[2921] The Meuse.

[2922] The ‘Hercynia Silva,’ Hercynian Forest or Range, is very

differently described by the writers of various ages. The earliest

mention of it is by Aristotle. Judging from the accounts given by

Cæsar, Pomponius Mela, and Strabo, the ‘Hercynia Silva’ appears to

have been a general name for almost all the mountains of Southern

and Central Germany, that is, from the sources of the Danube to

Transylvania, comprising the Schwarzwald, Odenwald, Spessart,

Rhön, Thuringer Wald, the Hartz mountain (which seems in a great

measure to have retained the ancient name), Raube Alp, Steigerwald,

Fichtelgebirge, Erzgebirge, and Riesengebirge. At a later period when

the mountains of Germany had become better known, the name was applied

to the more limited range extending around Bohemia, and through Moravia

into Hungary.

[2923] This island appears to have been formed by the bifurcation of

the Rhine, the northern branch of which enters the sea at Katwyck, a

few miles north of Leyden, by the Waal and the course of the Maas,

after it has received the Waal, and by the sea. The Waal or Vahalis

seems to have undergone considerable changes, and the place of its

junction with the Maas may have varied. Pliny makes the island nearly

100 miles in length, which is about the distance from the fort of

Schenkenschanz, where the first separation of the Rhine takes place,

to the mouth of the Maas. The name of Batavia was no doubt the genuine

name, which is still preserved in Betuwe, the name of a district at

the bifurcation of the Rhine and the Waal. The Canninefates, a people

of the same race as the Batavi, also occupied the island, and as the

Batavi seem to have been in the eastern part, it is supposed that the

Canninefates occupied the western. They were subdued by Tiberius in the

reign of Augustus.

[2924] The Frisii or Frisones were one of the great tribes of

north-western Germany, properly belonging to the group of the

Ingævones. They inhabited the country about Lake Flevo and other lakes,

between the Rhine and the Ems, so as to be bounded on the south by the

Bructeri, and on the east by the Chauci. Tacitus distinguishes between

the Frisii Majores and Minores, and it is supposed that the latter

dwelt on the east of the canal of Drusus in the north of Holland,

and the former between the rivers Flevus and Amisia, that is, in the

country which still bears the name of Friesland. The Chauci have been

previously mentioned.

[2925] The Frisiabones or Frisævones are again mentioned in C. 31 of

the present Book as a people of Gaul. In what locality they dwelt has

not been ascertained by historians.

[2926] The Sturii are supposed to have inhabited the modern South

Holland, while the Marsacii probably inhabited the island which the

Meuse forms at its junction with the Rhine, at the modern Dortrecht in

Zealand.

[2927] Supposed to be the site of the modern fortress of Briel, situate

at the mouth of the Meuse.

[2928] Probably the same as the modern Vlieland (thus partly retaining

its ancient name), an island north of the Texel. The more ancient

writers speak of two main arms, into which the Rhine was divided on

entering the territory of the Batavi, of which the one on the east

continued to bear the name of Rhenus, while that on the west into which

the Masa, Maas or Meuse, flowed, was called Vahalis or Waal. After

Drusus, B.C. 12, had connected the Flevo Lacus or Zuyder-Zee with

the Rhine by means of a canal, in forming which he probably made use

of the bed of the Yssel, we find mention made of three mouths of the

Rhine. Of these the names, as given by Pliny, are, on the west, Helium

(the Vahalis of other writers), in the centre Rhenus, and at the north

Flevum; but at a later period we again find mention made of only two

mouths.

[2929] Britain was spoken of by some of the Greek writers as superior

to all other islands in the world. Dionysius, in his Periegesis, says,

“that no other islands whatsoever can claim equality with those of

Britain.”

[2930] Said to have been so called from the whiteness of its cliffs

opposite the coast of Gaul.

[2931] Afterwards called Bononia, the modern Boulogne. As D’Anville

remarks, the distance here given by Pliny is far too great, whether

we measure to Dover or to Hythe; our author’s measurement however is

probably made to Rutupiæ (the modern Richborough), near Sandwich, where

the Romans had a fortified post, which was their landing-place when

crossing over from Gaul. This would make the distance given by Pliny

nearer the truth, though still too much.

[2932] Probably the Grampian range is here referred to.

[2933] The people of South Wales.

[2934] The Orkney islands were included under this name. Pomponius Mela

and Ptolemy make them but thirty in number, while Solinus fixes their

number at three only.

[2935] Also called Æmodæ or Hæmodæ, most probably the islands now known

as the Shetlands. Camden however and the older antiquarians refer the

Hæmodæ to the Baltic sea, considering them different from the Acmodæ

here mentioned, while Salmasius on the other hand considers the Acmodæ

or Hæmodæ and the Hebrides as identical. Parisot remarks that off the

West Cape of the Isle of Skye and the Isle of North Uist, the nearest

of the Hebrides to the Shetland islands, there is a vast gulf filled

with islands, which still bears the name of Mamaddy or Maddy, from

which the Greeks may have easily derived the words Αἱ Μαδδαὶ, whence

the Latin Hæmodæ.

[2936] The Isle of Anglesea.

[2937] Most probably the Isle of Man.

[2938] Camden and Gosselin (_Rech. sur la Géogr. des Anciens_) consider

that under this name is meant the island of Racklin, situate near the

north-eastern extremity of Ireland. A Ricina is spoken of by Ptolemy,

but that island is one of the Hebrides.

[2939] This Vectis is considered by Gosselin to be the same as the

small island of White-Horn, situate at the entrance of the Bay of

Wigtown in Scotland. It must not be confounded with the more southern

Vectis, or Isle of Wight.

[2940] According to Gosselin this is the island of Dalkey, at the

entrance of Dublin Bay.

[2941] Camden thinks that this is the same as Bardsey Island, at the

south of the island of Anglesea, while Mannert and Gosselin think that

it is the island of Lambay.

[2942] According to Brotier these islands belong to the coast of

Britanny, being the modern isles of Sian and Ushant.

[2943] As already mentioned, he probably speaks of the islands of Œland

and Gothland, and Ameland, called Austeravia or Actania, in which

_glæsum_ or amber was found by the Roman soldiers. See p. 344.

[2944] The opinions as to the identity of ancient Thule have been

numerous in the extreme. We may here mention six:—1. The common,

and apparently the best founded opinion, that Thule is the island

of Iceland. 2. That it is either the Ferroe group, or one of those

islands. 3. The notion of Ortelius, Farnaby, and Schœnning, that it is

identical with Thylemark in Norway. 4. The opinion of Malte Brun, that

the continental portion of Denmark is meant thereby, a part of which

is to the present day called Thy or Thyland. 5. The opinion of Rudbeck

and of Calstron, borrowed originally from Procopius, that this is a

general name for the whole of Scandinavia. 6. That of Gosselin, who

thinks that under this name Mainland, the principal of the Shetland

Islands, is meant. It is by no means impossible that under the name of

Thule two or more of these localities may have been meant, by different

authors writing at distant periods and under different states of

geographical knowledge. It is also pretty generally acknowledged, as

Parisot remarks, that the Thule mentioned by Ptolemy is identical with

Thylemark in Norway.

[2945] B. ii. c. 77.

[2946] Brotier thinks that under this name a part of Cornwall is meant,

and that it was erroneously supposed to be an island. Parisot is of

opinion that the copyists, or more probably Pliny himself, has made an

error in transcribing Mictis for Vectis, the name of the Isle of Wight.

It is not improbable however that the island of Mictis had only an

imaginary existence.

[2947] “White lead”: not, however, the metallic substance which we

understand by that name, but tin.

[2948] Commonly known as “coracles,” and used by the Welch in modern

times. See B. vii. c. 57 of this work, and the Note.

[2949] Brotier, with many other writers, takes these names to refer to

various parts of the coast of Norway. Scandia he considers to be the

same as Scania, Bergos the modern Bergen, and Nerigos the northern part

of Norway. On the other hand, Gosselin is of opinion that under the

name of Bergos the Scottish island of Barra is meant, and under that

of Nerigos, the island of Lewis, the northern promontory of which is

in the old maps designated by the name of Nary or Nery. Ptolemy makes

mention of an island called Doumna in the vicinity of the Orcades.

[2950] Transalpine Gaul, with the exception of that part of it called

Narbonensis, was called Gallia Comata, from the custom of the people

allowing their hair to grow to a great length.

[2951] From the Scheldt to the Seine.

[2952] From the Seine to the Garonne.

[2953] Lyonese Gaul, from Lugdunum, the ancient name of the city of

Lyons.

[2954] Said by Camden to be derived from the Celtic words _Ar - mor_,

“by the Sea.”

[2955] The provinces of Antwerp and North Brabant.

[2956] Inhabiting Western Flanders.

[2957] So called, it is supposed, from the Celtic word _Mor_, which

means “the sea.” Térouane and Boulogne are supposed to occupy the site

of their towns, situate in the modern Pas de Calais.

[2958] D’Anville places them between Calais and Gravellines, in the Pas

de Calais, and on the spot now known as the Terre de Marck or Merk.

[2959] Boulogne, previously mentioned.

[2960] Cluver thinks that “Brianni” would be the correct reading here;

but D’Anville places the Britanni on the southern bank of the stream

called La Canche in the Pas de Calais.

[2961] According to Parisot and Ansart they occupied the department of

the Somme, with places on the site of Amiens (derived from their name)

and Abbeville for their chief towns.

[2962] They dwelt in the modern department of the Oise, with Beauvais

(which still retains their name) for their chief town.

[2963] D’Anville is of opinion that the place called Haiz or Hez in

the diocese of Beauvais, received its name from this people, of whom

nothing else is known. The name is omitted in several of the editions.

[2964] D’Anville is of opinion that their chief town was situate at the

modern Chaours, at the passage of the river Serre, not far from Vervins

in the department of the Aisne.

[2965] According to Ptolemy their chief town would be on the site of

the modern Orchies in the department du Nord, but Cæsar makes it to be

Nemetacum, the modern Arras, the capital of the department of the Pas

de Calais.

[2966] According to Ansart their chief town was Bavai, in the

department du Nord. They are called “Liberi,” or free, because they

were left at liberty to enjoy their own laws and institutions.

[2967] Their capital was Augusta Veromanduorum, and it has been

suggested that the place called Vermand, in the department de l’Aisne,

denotes its site; but according to Bellay and D’Anville the city of St.

Quentin, which was formerly called Aouste, marks the spot.

[2968] Nothing whatever is known of them, and it is suggested by

the commentators that this is a corrupted form of the name of the

Suessiones, which follows.

[2969] They gave name to Soissons in the southern part of the

department de l’Aisne.

[2970] It has been suggested that these are the same as the

Silvanectes, the inhabitants of Senlis in the department de l’Oise.

[2971] The people of Tongres, in the provinces of Namur, Liège, and

Limbourg.

[2972] They are supposed to have dwelt in the eastern part of the

province of Limbourg.

[2973] They probably dwelt between the Sunuci and the Betasi.

[2974] They are supposed to have dwelt in the western part of the

province of Limbourg, on the confines of that province and South

Brabant, in the vicinity probably of the place which still bears the

name of Beetz, upon the river Gette, between Leau and Haclen, seven

miles to the east of Louvain.

[2975] According to Ptolemy the Leuci dwelt on the sites of Toul in the

department of the Meurthe, and of Nais or Nays in that of the Meuse.

[2976] From them Trèves or Trier, in the Grand Duchy of the Lower

Rhine, takes its name.

[2977] Their chief town was on the site of Langres, in the department

of the Haute Marne.

[2978] They gave name to the city of Rheims in the department of the

Marne.

[2979] Their chief town stood on the site of the modern Metz, in the

department of the Moselle.

[2980] Besançon stands on the site of their chief town, in the

department of the Doubs, extending as far as Bâle.

[2981] The inhabitants of the district called the Haut Rhin or Higher

Rhine.

[2982] The inhabitants of the west of Switzerland.

[2983] Or the “Equestrian Colony,” probably founded by the Roman

Equites. It is not known where this colony was situate, but it is

suggested by Cluver and Monetus that it may have been on the lake of

Geneva, in the vicinity of the modern town of Nyon.

[2984] Littré, in a note, remarks that Rauriaca is a barbarism, and

that the reading properly is “Raurica.”

[2985] Spire was their chief city, in the province of the Rhine.

[2986] They are supposed to have occupied Strasbourg, and the greater

part of the department of the Lower Rhine.

[2987] They dwelt in the modern Grand Duchy of Hesse Darmstadt; Worms

was their chief city.

[2988] That is, nearer the mouths of the Rhine.

[2989] They originally dwelt on the right bank of the Rhine, but were

transported across the river by Agrippa in B.C. 37, at their own

request, from a wish to escape the attacks of the Suevi.

[2990] Now known as the city of Cologne. It took its name from

Agrippina, the wife of Claudius and the mother of Nero, who was born

there, and who, as Tacitus says, to show off her power to the allied

nations, planted a colony of veteran soldiers in her native city, and

gave to it her own name.

[2991] Their district was in the modern circle of Clèves, in the

province of Juliers-Berg-Clèves.

[2992] Dwelling in the Insula Batavorum, mentioned in C. 29 of the

present Book.

[2993] He first speaks of the nations on the coast, and then of those

[2598] On the contrary, they lie at the other end of the isle of