1. These are the nations, bounded by the Danube and by the Illyrian and
Thracian mountains, which are worthy of record. They occupy the whole
coast of the Adriatic Sea, beginning from the recess of the gulf, and
the left side, as it is called, of the Euxine Sea, from the river Danube
to Byzantium.
The southern parts of the above-mentioned mountainous tract, and the
countries which follow, lying below it, remain to be described. Among
these are Greece, and the contiguous barbarous country extending to the
mountains.
Hecatæus of Miletus says of the Peloponnesus, that, before the time of
the Greeks, it was inhabited by barbarians. Perhaps even the whole of
Greece was, anciently, a settlement of barbarians, if we judge from
former accounts. For Pelops brought colonists from Phrygia into the
Peloponnesus, which took his name; Danaus[2821] brought colonists from
Egypt; Dryopes, Caucones, Pelasgi, Leleges, and other barbarous nations,
partitioned among themselves the country on this side of the
isthmus.[2822] The case was the same on the other side of the isthmus;
for Thracians, under their leader Eumolpus,[2823] took possession of
Attica; Tereus of Daulis in Phocæa; the Phœnicians, with their leader
Cadmus,[2824] occupied the Cadmeian district; Aones, and Temmices, and
Hyantes, Bœotia. Pindar says, “there was a time when the Bœotian people
were called Syes.”[2825] Some names show their barbarous origin, as
Cecrops, Codrus, Œclus, Cothus, Drymas, and Crinacus.[2826] Thracians,
Illyrians, and Epirotæ are settled even at present on the sides of
Greece. Formerly the territory they possessed was more extensive,
although even now the barbarians possess a large part of the country,
which, without dispute, is Greece. Macedonia is occupied by Thracians,
as well as some parts of Thessaly; the country above Acarnania and
Ætolia, by Thesproti, Cassopæi, Amphilochi, Molotti, and Athamanes,
Epirotic tribes.
2. We have already spoken of the Pelasgi.[2827] Some writers conjecture
that the Leleges and Carians are the same people; others, that they were
only joint settlers, and comrades in war, because there are said to be
some settlements called Settlements of the Leleges in the Milesian
territory, and in many parts of Caria there are burial-places of the
Leleges, and deserted fortresses, called Lelegia.
The whole country called Ionia was formerly inhabited by Carians and
Leleges; these were expelled by the Ionians, who themselves took
possession of the country. In still [CAS. 322] earlier times, the
captors of Troy[2828] had driven out the Leleges from the places about
Ida near the rivers Pedasus and Satnioeis.
The fact of the association of these people with the Carians may be
regarded as a proof of their being barbarians, and Aristotle, in his
Politics, shows that they were a wandering nation, sometimes in company
with the Carians, sometimes alone, and that from ancient times; for, in
speaking of the polity of the Acarnanians, he says that the Curetes
occupied a part of the country, and the Leleges (and after them the
Teleboæ) the western side. On the subject of the Ætolian polity, he
calls the present Locri, Leleges, and observes that they occupy Bœotia.
He repeats the same remark on the subject of the polity of the Opuntians
and Megareans. In speaking of the polity of the Leucadians, he mentions
an aboriginal by name, Leleges, and a grandson by his daughter of the
name of Teleboas, and besides two and twenty of his sons of the name of
Teleboas, some of whom inhabited Lucas. But we should chiefly rely upon
Hesiod, who thus speaks of them:
“For Locrus was the leader of the nation of the Leleges, whom
Jupiter, the son of Saturn, in his infinite wisdom, once gave as
subjects to Deucalion, a people gathered from among the nations
of the earth.”
For it seems to me to be obscurely intimated by the etymology of the
name, Leleges, that they were a mixed people anciently collected
together, which had become extinct. And this may be said of the
Caucones, who exist no where at present, yet were formerly settled in
several places.
3. Although Greece was formerly composed of small nations, many in
number, and obscure; nevertheless their valour, and their separate
government by kings, prevented any difficulty in defining their
boundaries. As the greatest part of the country, however, is at present
uninhabited, and the settlements, especially the cities, have been
destroyed, it would be of no service, even if it were possible, to
ascertain the names of cities and regions occupied by obscure and
extinct people. This destruction, which began a long time since, still
continues in many parts in consequence of rebellion. It has been checked
by the Romans, who accepted the supreme authority from the inhabitants
and lodged soldiers in their houses.
Polybius says that Paulus [Emilius], after the defeat of the
Macedonians[2829] and their king Perseus, destroyed 70 cities of the
Epirotæ (most of which belonged to the Molotti) and reduced to slavery
150,000 of the inhabitants. Still, however, I shall endeavour, as far as
it is compatible with the design of this work, to describe, as far as I
am able, these places in detail, beginning from the sea-coast near the
Ionian Gulf, where the navigation out of the Adriatic terminates.
4. The first parts of this coast are those about Epidamnus and
Apollonia. From Apollonia to Macedonia is the Egnatian Way; its
direction is towards the east, and the distance is measured by pillars
at every mile, as far as Cypselus[2830] and the river Hebrus.[2831] The
whole distance is 535 miles. But reckoning, as the generality of persons
reckon, a mile at eight stadia, there may be 4280 stadia. And according
to Polybius, who adds two plethra, that is, the third of a stadium, to
every eight stadia, we must add 178 stadia more, a third part of the
number of miles.[2832] A traveller from Apollonia,[2833] and a traveller
from Epidamnus,[2834] on the same road, meet midway between the two
cities. The whole is called the Egnatian Way. The first part of it is
called the road to Candavia, which is an Illyrian mountain. It passes
through Lychnidus,[2835] a city, and Pylon, a place which separates
Illyria from Macedonia. Thence its direction is beside Barnus through
Heracleia, the Lyncestæ, and the Eordi, to Edessa[2836] and Pella,[2837]
as far as Thessalonica.[2838] Polybius says, that this is a distance of
267 miles. In travelling this road from the neighbourhood of Epidamnus
and Apollonia, on the right hand are the Epirotic nations situated on
the coast of the Sicilian Sea, and extending as far as the Gulf of
Ambracia;[2839] on the left are the Illyrian mountains, which we have
before described, and the nations that live near them, extending as far
as Macedonia and the Pæones.
[CAS. 323] From the Gulf of Ambracia the places next in order, inclining
to the east, and extending opposite to Peloponnesus, belong to Greece;
they terminate at the Ægean Sea, leaving the whole of Peloponnesus on
the right hand.
The country, from the commencement of the Macedonian and Pæonian
mountains, as far as the river Strymon,[2840] is inhabited by
Macedonians, and Pæones, and some of the Thracian mountain tribes. But
all the country on the other side the Strymon, as far as the mouth of
the Euxine Sea, and Mount Hæmus,[2841] belong to the Thracians, except
the coast, which is occupied by Greeks, some of whom are settled on the
Propontis,[2842] others on the Hellespont and on the Gulf Melas,[2843]
and others on the Ægean Sea.
The Ægean Sea waters two sides of Greece; first, the eastern side,
extending from the promontory Sunium[2844] to the north as far as the
Thermæan Gulf, and Thessalonica, a Macedonian city, which has, at
present, the largest population in these parts. Then the southern side,
which is a part of Macedonia, extending from Thessalonica to the
Strymon. Some writers assign the coast from the Strymon as far as
Nestus[2845] to Macedonia. For Philip showed the greatest solicitude to
obtain, and at length appropriated it to himself. He raised a very large
revenue from the mines, and from other sources which the richness of the
country afforded.
From Sunium to the Peloponnesus are the Myrtoan, the Cretan, and the
Libyan Seas, together with the Gulfs, as far as the Sicilian Sea, which
consist of the Gulfs of Ambracia, of Corinth, and of Crissa.
5. Theopompus says, that there are fourteen Epirotic nations. Of these,
the most celebrated are the Chaones and Molotti, because the whole of
Epirus was at one time subject, first to Chaones, afterwards to Molotti.
Their power was greatly strengthened by the family of their kings being
descended from the Æacidæ, and because the ancient and famous oracle of
Dodona[2846] was in their country. Chaones, Thesproti, and next after
these Cassopæi, (who are Thesproti,) occupy the coast, a fertile tract
reaching from the Ceraunian mountains to the Ambracian Gulf.
The voyage commencing from the Chaones eastward towards the Gulfs of
Ambracia and Corinth, and having the Ausonian Sea on the right, and
Epirus on the left, comprises 1300 stadia to the mouth of the Ambracian
Gulf. In this interval is Panormus,[2847] a large port in the middle of
the Ceraunian mountains. Next to this is Onchesmus,[2848] another
harbour, opposite to which are the western extremities of Corcyra,[2849]
and then again another port, Cassiope,[2850] (Cassope?) whence to
Brundusium[2851] are 1700 stadia. It is the same distance to Tarentum
from another promontory more to the south than Cassiope, which is called
Phalacrum. Next after Onchesmus are Posidium, and Buthrotum,[2852]
(which is situated upon the mouth of the lake Pelodes, in a spot of a
peninsula form, and has a Roman colony,) and the Sybota. The
Sybota[2853] are small islands at a little distance from Epirus, lying
near Leucimme,[2854] the eastern promontory of Corcyra. There are also
other small islands, not worthy of notice, which are met with along the
coast.
Next is the promontory Chimerium, and a harbour called Glycys-Limen, [or
Sweet Harbour,] where the river Acheron, which receives several other
rivers, empties itself and renders fresh the water of the gulf. The
Thyamus[2855] flows near it. Above this gulf is situated Cichyrus,
formerly Ephyra, a city of the Thesproti, and above the gulf at
Buthrotum, Phœnice.[2856] Near Cichyrus is Buchetium, a small city of
the Cassopæi, situated at a little distance from the sea; Elatria,
Pandosia, and Batiæ are in the inland parts. Their territory extends as
far as the gulf. Next after the harbour Glycys-Limen are two others,
Comarus,[2857] the nearest and smallest, forming an isthmus of 60
stadia, near the Ambracian Gulf and Nicopolis,[2858] founded by Augustus
Cæsar; the other, the more distant and larger, and better harbour, is
near the mouth of the gulf, and distant from Nicopolis about 12 stadia.
6. Then follows the entrance of the Ambracian Gulf, [CAS. 326] which is
a little more than four stadia in width. The circuit of the gulf is 400
stadia, and the whole has good harbours. On sailing into it, on the
right hand are the Acarnanes, who are Greeks; and here near the entrance
of the gulf is a temple of Apollo Actius, situated on an eminence; in
the plain below is a sacred grove, and a naval station. Here Augustus
Cæsar[2859] dedicated as offerings one-tenth of the vessels taken in
war, from vessels of one bank to vessels of ten banks of oars. The
vessels, and the buildings destined for their reception, were destroyed,
it is said, by fire.
On the left hand are Nicopolis,[2860] and the Cassopæi, a tribe of the
Epirotæ, extending as far as the recess of the gulf at Ambracia.
Ambracia[2861] is situated a little above the recess of the bay, and was
founded by Gorgus, (Torgus, Tolgus,) the son of Cypselus. The river
Arathus flows beside it, which may be navigated up the stream to the
city, a distance of a few stadia. It rises in Mount Tymphe, and the
Paroræa. This city was formerly in a very flourishing condition, and
hence the gulf received its name from the city. Pyrrhus, however,
embellished it more than any other person, and made it a royal
residence. In later times,[2862] the Macedonians and Romans harassed
this and other cities by continual wars, caused by the refractory
disposition of the inhabitants, so that Augustus, at length perceiving
that these cities were entirely deserted, collected their remaining
inhabitants into one city, which he called Nicopolis, situated upon the
gulf. He called it after the victory which he obtained in front of the
gulf, over Antony, and Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, who was present in
the engagement.
Nicopolis is well peopled, and is improving every day. It has a large
territory, and is adorned with the spoils of war. In the suburbs is a
sacred enclosure; part of it is a grove, containing a gymnasium and a
stadium, intended for the celebration of quinquennial games; the other
part, on a rising ground overhanging the grove, is sacred to Apollo. The
Olympian game, called the Actia,[2863] is instituted there in honour of
Apollo Actius. It is under the superintendence of the Lacedæmonians. The
other surrounding settlements are dependent on Nicopolis. The Actian
games[2863] were formerly celebrated in honour of the god by the
neighbouring people; it was a contest in which the victor was crowned;
but Cæsar has conferred on it greater honours.
7. After Ambracia follows the Amphilochian Argos, founded by Alcmæon and
his sons. According to Ephorus, Alcmæon, after the expedition of the
Epigoni[2864] against Thebes, upon the solicitation of Diomed,
accompanied him in his invasion of Ætolia, and obtained joint possession
of this country and of Acarnania. When Agamemnon invited them to come to
the siege of Troy, Diomed went, but Alcmæon remained in Acarnania,
founded Argos, and gave it the name Amphilochian, after his brother
Amphilochus. On the same authority the river Inachus, which flows
through the country and empties itself into the bay, received its name
from the river in the Argive territory. Thucydides, however, says that
Amphilochus himself, upon his return from Troy, dissatisfied with the
state of things at Argos, passed over into Acarnania, and having
succeeded to the dynasty of his brother, founded the city which is
called after his name.
8. The Amphilochians are Epirotæ, as also are those nations who inhabit
a rugged country situated above and close to the Illyrian mountains, the
Molotti, Athamanes, Æthices, Tymphæi, Orestæ Paroræi, and Atintanes,
some of whom approach nearer to Macedonia, others to the Ionian Gulf. It
is said that Orestes possessed the territory Orestias at the time of his
flight, after the murder of his mother, and left the country [CAS. 327]
bearing his name, where also he had built a city called Orestic Argos.
With these people are intermixed Illyrian nations, some of whom are
situated on the southern part of the mountainous district, and others
above the Ionian Gulf. For above Epidamnus and Apollonia, as far as the
Ceraunian mountains, live the Bulliones, Taulantii, Parthini, and
Brygi.[2865]
Somewhere near are the silver mines of Damastium. Here the Perisadyes
had established their sway, and Enchelii, who are also called
Sesarethii. Then come the Lyncestæ, the territory Deuriopus,
Pelagonia-Tripolitis, the Eordi, Elimia, and Eratyra. Formerly each of
these nations was under its own prince. The chiefs of the Enchelii were
descendants of Cadmus and Harmonia, and scenes of the fables respecting
these persons are shown in the territory. This nation, therefore, was
not governed by native princes. The Lyncestæ were under Arrhabæus, who
was of the race of the Bacchiadæ. Irra was his daughter, and his
grand-daughter was Eurydice, the mother of Philip Amyntas.
The Molotti also were Epirotæ, and were subjects of Pyrrhus Neoptolemus,
the son of Achilles, and of his descendants, who were Thessalians. The
rest were governed by native princes. Some tribes were continually
endeavouring to obtain the mastery over the others, but all were finally
subdued by the Macedonians, except a few situated above the Ionian Gulf.
They gave the name of Upper Macedonia to the country about Lyncestis,
Pelagonia, Orestias, and Elimia. Later writers called it Macedonia the
Free, and some extend the name of Macedonia to all the country as far as
Corcyra, at the same time assigning as their reasons, the mode of
cutting their hair, their language, the use of the chlamys, and similar
things in which they resemble the Macedonians; some of them, however,
speak two languages. On the dissolution of the Macedonian empire, they
fell under the power of the Romans.
The Egnatian Way, from Epidamnus and Apollonia, passes through the
territory of these people. Near the road to Candavia are the lakes about
Lychnidus, which furnish large supplies of fish for salting, and rivers,
some of which empty themselves into the Ionian Gulf. Some flow towards
the south, as the Inachus, the Arathus, (Ratoüs,) the Achelous, and the
Evenus, formerly called Lycormas. The Ratoüs discharges its waters into
the Ambracian Gulf, the Inachus into the Achelous, the Achelous itself
into the sea, as also the Evenus; the former traverses Acarnania, the
latter Ætolia. The Erigon, after having received many streams which flow
from the Illyrian mountains, and through the territories of Lyncestæ,
Brygi, Deuriopes, and Pelagonians, empties itself into the Axius.
9. There were formerly cities among these nations. The district
Pelagonia-Tripolitis contained (as the name signifies) three cities, of
which Azorus was one. All the cities of the Deuriopes were situated on
the banks of the Erigon; among which were Bryanium, Alalcomenæ,[2866]
and Stymbara.[2867] Cydriæ belonged to the Brygi, and Æginium on the
confines of Æthicia, and Tricca, to the Tymphæi. Near Macedonia and
Thessalia, about the mountains Pœus and Pindus, are the Æthices, and the
sources of the Peneus, which are a subject of dispute between the
Tymphæi and the Thessalians, who are situated below Pindus.
On the banks of the river Ion is Oxynia, a city distant from Azorus in
the Tripolitis 120 stadia. Near Oxynia are Alalcomenæ, Æginium, Europus,
and the confluence of the Ion with the Peneus.
At that time then, as I said before, the whole of Epirus and Illyria
were well peopled, although the country is rugged and full of mountains,
such as Tomarus, and Polyanus, and many others. At present the greater
part is uninhabited, and the inhabited parts are left in the state of
villages, or in ruins. Even the oracle at Dodona has almost been
deserted, like the rest.
10. This oracle, according to Ephorus, was established by Pelasgi, who
are said to be the most ancient people that were sovereigns in Greece.
Thus the poet speaks,
“O great Pelasgic Dodonæan Jove;”[2868]
and Hesiod,
“He went to Dodona, the dwelling of the Pelasgi, and to the beech
tree.”
[CAS. 328] I have spoken of the Pelasgi in the account of Tyrrhenia.
With respect to Dodona, Homer clearly intimates that the people who
lived about the temple were barbarians, from their mode of life,
describing them as persons who do not wash their feet, and who sleep on
the ground. Whether we should read Helli, with Pindar, or Selli, as it
is conjectured the word existed in Homer, the ambiguity of the writing
does not permit us to affirm confidently. Philochorus says, that the
country about Dodona was called, like Eubœa, Hellopia; for these are the
words of Hesiod,
“There is a country Hellopia, rich in corn-fields and pastures;
at its extremity is built Dodona.”
It is supposed, says Apollodorus, that it had this name from the “hele,”
or marshes about the temple. He is of opinion that the poet did not call
the people about the temple Helli, but Selli, adding, that Homer
mentions a certain river (near) of the name of Selleis. He specifies the
name in this line,
“At a distance far from Ephyra, from the river Selleis.”
[Demetrius of Skepsis contends that] Ephyra of Thesprotia is not here
meant, but Ephyra of Elis. For the river Selleis is in Elis, and there
is no river of this name either in Thesprotia or among the Molotti. The
fable of the oak and the doves, and other similar things, like the
stories connected with Delphi, although they are subjects more adapted
to engage the attention of a poet, yet are appropriate to the
description of the country with which we are now occupied.
Dodona was formerly subject to the Thesproti, as was the mountain
Tomarus, or Tmarus, (both names are in use,) below which the temple is
situated. The tragic writers and Pindar give the epithet of Thesprotis
to Dodona. It was said to be subject, in later times, to the Molotti.
Those called by the poet Jove’s interpreters,[2869] and described by him
as men with unwashen feet, who slept on the ground, were, it is said,
called Tomuri[2870] from Mount Tomarus, and the passage in the Odyssey
containing the advice of Amphinomus to the suitors not to attack
Telemachus before they had inquired of Jupiter is as follows,
“If the Tomuri of great Jove approve, I myself will kill him, and
I will order all to join in the deed; but if the god forbid it, I
command to withhold.”[2871]
For it is better, it is asserted, to write Tomuri[2872] than
Themistæ,[2873] because in no passage whatever are oracles called by the
poet Themistæ, this term being applied to decrees,[2874] or statutes and
rules of civil government; and the persons are called Tomuri,[2875]
which is the contracted form of Tomaruri,[2876] or guardians of Tomarus.
In Homer, however, we must understand θέμιστες in a more simple sense,
and, like βουλαί, by the figure Catachresis, as meaning commands and
oracular injunctions as well as laws; for such is the import of this
line:
“To listen to[2877] the will of Jove, which comes forth from the
lofty and verdant oak.”
12. The first prophets were men, and this the poet perhaps indicates,
for he calls the persons interpreters,[2878] among whom the
prophets[2879] might be classed. In after-times three old women were
appointed to this office, after even Dione had a common temple with
Jupiter.
Suidas, in order to court the favour of the Thessalians by fabulous
stories, says, that the temple was transported from Scotussa of the
Thessalian Pelasgiotis, accompanied by a great multitude, chiefly of
women, whose descendants are the present prophetesses, and that hence
Jupiter had the epithet Pelasgic. Cineas relates what is still more
fabulous * * * * * * * * * *
[With the exception of the following Fragments, the rest of this
book is lost.]
FRAGMENTS.[2880]
1. The oracle was formerly at Scotussa, a city of Pelasgiotis, but was
transferred to Dodona by the command of Apollo, after some persons had
burnt down the tree. The oracular answers were not conveyed by words,
but by certain signs, as at the oracle of Ammon in Libya. Probably the
three doves made some peculiar flight, which, observed by the
priestesses, suggested the oracular answer. Some say that, in the
language of the Molotti and Thesprotæ, old women are called “peliæ,” and
old men “pelii,” so that the celebrated doves were probably not birds,
but three old women who passed an idle time about the temple. EPIT.
2. Among the Thesprotæ and Molotti old women are called “peliæ,” and old
men “pelii,” as among the Macedonians. Persons at least who hold office
are called “peligones,” as among the Laconians and Massilienses they are
called “gerontes.” Hence it is asserted that the story of the doves in
the oak at Dodona is a fable. E.
3. The proverb, “The brazen vessel of Dodona,” thus arose. In the temple
was a brazen vessel, having over it a statue of a man (an offering of
the Corcyræans) grasping in the hand a brazen scourge of three thongs,
woven in chains, from which were suspended small bones. The bones
striking continually upon the brazen vessel, whenever they were agitated
by the wind, produced a long protracted sound, so that a person from the
beginning to the end of the vibrations might proceed to count as far as
four hundred. Whence also came the proverb, “The Corcyræan
scourge.”[2881] EPIT.
4. Pæonia is to the east of these nations, and to the west of the
Thracian mountains; on the north it lies above Macedonia. Through the
city Gortynium and Stobi it admits of a passage to * * * (through which
the Axius flows, and renders the access difficult from Pæonia into
Macedonia, as the Peneus flowing through Tempe protects it on the side
of Greece.) On the south, Pæonia borders on the Autariatæ, the Dardanii,
and the Ardiæi; it extends also as far as the Strymon. E.
5. The Haliacmon[2882] flows into the Thermæan Gulf. E.
6. Orestis is of considerable extent; there is in it a large mountain
which reaches to Corax[2883] of Ætolia and to Parnassus. It is inhabited
by the Orestæ themselves, by the Tymphæans, and by Greeks without the
isthmus, namely, those who also occupy Parnassus, Œta, and Pindus. As a
whole, the mountain is called by one name, Boion, (Pœum ?) but the
separate divisions bear various names. The Ægean, Ambracian, and Ionian
Seas are said to be distinguishable from the highest elevations, but
this appears to me to be an extravagant assertion; for Pteleum rises to
a considerable height, and is situated near the Ambracian Gulf,
stretching on one side to the Corcyræan and on the other to the
Leucadian Seas. E.
7. Corcyra, humbled by many wars, became a subject of ridicule, and
passed into a proverb. E.
8. Corcyra was formerly a flourishing place, and possessed a
considerable naval force, but went into decay through war and the
oppression of its rulers. In later times, although restored to liberty
by the Romans, it acquired no renown, but the taunting proverb was
applied to it, “Corcyra the Free, ease yourself where you please.” EPIT.
9. Of Europe, there remains Macedonia, and the parts of Thrace
contiguous to it, extending to Byzantium, Greece also, and the adjacent
islands: indeed, Macedonia is a part of Greece. Following, however, the
natural character of the country and its form, we have determined to
separate it from Greece, and to unite it with Thrace, which borders upon
it.——Strabo, after a few remarks, mentions Cypsela[2884] and the river
Hebrus.[2885] He also describes a parallelogram in which is placed the
whole of Macedonia. E.
10. Macedonia is bounded on the west by the sea-coast of the Adriatic;
on the east by a meridian line parallel to this coast, passing through
the mouth of the river Hebrus, and the city Cypsela; on the north by an
imaginary straight line passing through the mountains Bertiscus,
Scardus,[2886] Orbelus,[2887] Rhodope,[2888] and Hæmus.[2889] For these
mountains extend in a straight line, beginning from the Adriatic, to the
Euxine, forming towards the south a great peninsula, which comprehends
Thrace, Macedonia, Epirus, and Achaia. On the south, Macedonia is
bounded by the Egnatian Way, which goes from Dyrrachium eastwards to
Thessalonica, and thus has very nearly the form of a parallelogram.
EPIT.
11. The country now called Macedonia was formerly called Emathia. It
acquired this name from Macedon, one of its ancient princes. There was
also a city Emathia near the sea. The country was occupied by some of
the Epirotæ and Illyrians, but the greatest part by Bottiæi and
Thracians. The Bottiæi were of Cretan origin, and came under the command
of Botton; the Pieres, who were Thracians, inhabited Pieria and the
parts about Olympus; the Pæonians, the borders of the river Axius, from
whence the region was called Amphaxitis; the Edoni and Bisalti, the rest
of the country as far as the Strymon. The Bisalti retained their name,
but the Edoni went under the various names of Mygdones, Edoni, (Odones?)
and Sithones. Of all these people, the Argeadæ and the Chalcidenses of
Eubœa became the chief. The Chalcidenses came from Eubœa into the
territory of the Sithones, and there founded about thirty cities. They
were subsequently driven out by the Sithones, but the greater part of
them collected together into a single city, namely, Olynthus.[2890] They
had the name of Chalcidenses-in-Thrace. E.
12. The Peneus separates Lower Macedonia and the sea-board from Thessaly
and Magnesia. The Haliacmon is the boundary of Upper Macedonia; and the
Haliacmon, the Erigon, the Axius, and other rivers, form the boundary
between Macedonia and the Epirotæ and the Pæonians. E.
13. If a line is drawn from the recess of the Thermaic Gulf, on the
sea-coast of Macedonia, and from Thessalonica, southwards, to Sunium,
and another eastwards, towards the Thracian Chersonese, an angle will be
made in the recess. Macedonia extends in both directions, and we must
begin with the line first mentioned. The first part of it has beyond it
Attica with Megaris to the Crissæan Bay. Next succeeds the sea-coast of
Bœotia near Eubœa. Above Eubœa on the west lies the rest of Bœotia,
parallel with Attica. Strabo says that the Egnatian Way begins from the
Ionian Gulf and ends at Thessalonica. E.
14. From these reefs, says Strabo, we shall first mark the boundaries of
those who live about the river Peneus and Haliacmon near the sea. The
Peneus flows from Mount Pindus through the middle of Thrace eastwards;
passing through the cities of the Lapithæ and some of the cities of the
Perrhæbi, it arrives at the vale of Tempe, having in its course received
the waters of several rivers: of these, the Europus (Eurotas) is one,
called by the poet Titaresius. It rises from Titarius, (Titarus,) a
mountain continuous with Olympus, which at this point first begins to
mark the boundary between Macedonia and Thessaly. Tempe is a narrow
valley between Olympus and Ossa. The Peneus continues its course from
this narrow pass 40 stadia, having Olympus, the highest of the
Macedonian mountains, on the left, [and Ossa on the right, near] the
mouth of the river. At the mouth of the Peneus on the right is situated
Gyrton, a city of the Perrhæbi, and Magnetis, where Pirithous and Ixion
were kings. The city Crannon is 100 stadia distant from Gyrton. Some
assert, that in the lines of Homer, “These two from Thrace,” and what
follows, for Ephyri we are to understand Crannonii, and for Phlegyes,
the people of Gyrton. Pieria is on the other side. E.
15. The Peneus, rising in Mount Pindus, flows through Tempe, the middle
of Thessaly, the Lapithæ, and the Perrhæbi. It receives the Europus,
(Eurotas,) which Homer calls Titaresius, in its course, and forms on the
north the boundary of Macedonia, and on the south that of Thessaly. The
sources of the river Europus are in Mount Titarius, which is contiguous
to Olympus. Olympus itself is in Macedonia; Ossa and Pelion in Thessaly.
EPIT.
16. At the roots of Olympus, and on the banks of the Peneus, is Gyrton,
a Perrhæbic city, and Magnetis, where Pirithous and Ixion ruled. [The
city] Crannon is [100 stadia] distant [from Gyrton]; and it is said that
when the poet writes “Both from Thrace,” we are to understand by Ephyri,
the Crannonians, and by Phlegyes, the Gyrtonii. EPIT.
17. The city Dium is not on the sea-shore of the Thermæan Gulf, at the
roots of Olympus, but is about 7 stadia distant. Near Dium is a village
Pimplea, where Orpheus lived. EPIT.
18. Beneath Olympus is Dium; near it is a village, Pimplea, where it is
said Orpheus lived. He was a Cicon (of the tribe of the Cicones) and was
a diviner. At first he drew people about him by the practice of music
and witchcraft, and by the introduction of mysterious ceremonies in
religious worship. After a time, obtaining a greater degree of
self-importance, he collected a multitude of followers, and acquired
influence. He had many willing followers, but becoming suspected by a
few of entertaining secret designs, and of an intention of taking
forcible possession of power, he was attacked by them and put to death.
Near this place is Libethra. E.
19. Anciently diviners practised the art of music. EPIT.
20. After Dium follow the mouths of the Haliacmon; then Pydna, Methone,
Alorus, and the rivers Erigon and Ludias. The Ludias flows from
Triclari, through the Oresti and the Pellæan country (Pelagonia):
leaving the city on the left it falls into the Axius. The Ludias is
navigable up the stream to Pella 120 stadia. Methone is situated in the
middle, about 40 stadia distant from Pydna, and 70 stadia from Alorus.
Alorus is situated in the farthest recess of the Thermæan Gulf. It was
called Thessalonica on account of the splendid [victory obtained over
the Thessalians]. Alorus is considered as belonging to Bottiæa and Pydna
to Pieria. Pella is in Lower Macedonia, which was in possession of the
Bottiæi. Here was formerly the Macedonian Treasury. Philip, who was
brought up in this place, raised it from an inconsiderable city to some
importance. It has a citadel situated on a lake called Ludias. From this
lake issues the river Ludias, which is filled by a branch of the Axius.
The Axius discharges itself between Chalastra and Therma. Near this
river is a fortified place, now called Abydos; Homer calls it Amydon,
and says that the Pæonians came from hence to assist the Trojans during
the siege of Troy.
“From afar, from Amydon, from Axius’ wide stream.”
It was razed by the Argeadæ. E.
21. The water of the Axius is turbid. Homer, however, says that the
water is “most beautiful,” probably on account of a spring called Æa
which runs into it, the water of which is of surpassing clearness. This
is sufficient to prove that the present reading in the poem is
erroneous. After the Axius is the Echedorus,[2891] 20 stadia distant.
Then Thessalonica, founded by Cassander, 40 stadia farther on, and the
Egnatian Way. He named the city after his wife Thessalonice, the
daughter of Philip Amyntas, and pulled down nearly 26 cities in the
district of Crucis, and on the Thermæan Gulf, collecting the inhabitants
into one city. It is the metropolis of the present Macedonia. The cities
transferred to Thessalonica were Apollonia, Chalastra, Therma, Garescus,
Ænea, and Cissus. Cissus, it is probable, belonged to Cisseus, who is
mentioned by the poet. “Cisseus educated him,” meaning Iphidamas. E.
22. After the city Drium is the river Haliacmon, which discharges itself
into the Thermæan Gulf. From hence to the river Axius the sea-coast on
the north of the gulf bears the name of Pieria, on which is situated the
city Pydna, now called Citrum. Then follow Methone and the river Alorus;
then the rivers Erigon and Ludias. From Ludias to the city Pella the
river is navigated upwards to the distance of 20 stadia. Methone is
distant from Pydna 40 stadia, and 70 stadia from Alorus. Pydna is a
Pierian, Alorus a Bottiæan city. In the plain of Pydna the Romans
defeated Perseus, and put an end to the Macedonian empire. In the plain
of Methone, during the siege of the city, Philip Amyntas accidentally
lost his right eye by an arrow discharged from a catapult. EPIT.
23. Philip, who was brought up at Pella, formerly a small city, much
improved it. In front of the city is a lake, out of which flows the
river Ludias. The lake is supplied by a branch of the river Axius. Next
follows the Axius, which separates the territory of Bottiæa and
Amphaxitis, and after receiving the river Erigon, issues out between
Chalestra and Therme. On the river Axius is a place which Homer calls
Amydon, and says that the Pæones set out thence as auxiliaries to Troy:
“From afar, from Amydon, from Axius’ wide stream.”
The Axius is a turbid river, but as a spring of clearest water rises in
Amydon, and mingles with the Axius, some have altered the line
Ἀξιοῦ, οὗ κάλλιστον ὕδωρ ἐπικίδναται Αἶαν,
“Axius, whose fairest water o’erspreads Æa,”
to
Ἀξιοῦ, ᾧ κάλλιστον ὕδωρ ἐπικίδναται Αἴης.
“Axius, o’er whom spreads Æa’s fairest water.”
For it is not the “fairest water” which is diffused over the spring, but
the “fairest water” of the spring which is diffused over the
Axius.[2892] EPIT.
24. After the river Axius is the city Thessalonica, formerly called
Therma. It was founded by Cassander, who called it after the name of his
wife, a daughter of Philip Amyntas. He transferred to it the small
surrounding cities, Chalastra, Ænea, Cissus, and some others. Probably
from this Cissus came Iphidamas, mentioned in Homer, “whose grandfather
Cisseus educated him,” he says, “in Thrace,” which is now called
Macedonia. EPIT.
25. Somewhere in this neighbourhood is the mountain Bermius,[2893] which
was formerly in the possession of the Briges, a Thracian nation, some of
whom passed over to Asia and were called by another name, Phrygians
(Phryges). After Thessalonica follows the remaining part of the Thermæan
Gulf,[2894] extending to Canastræum.[2895] This is a promontory of a
peninsula form, and is opposite to Magnesia. Pallene is the name of the
peninsula. It has an isthmus 5 stadia in width, with a ditch cut across
it. There is a city on the peninsula, formerly called Potidæa,[2896]
founded by the Corinthians, but afterwards it was called Cassandria,
from king Cassander, who restored it after it was demolished. It is a
circuit of 570 stadia round the peninsula by sea. Here giants were said
to have lived, and the region to have been called Phlegra. Some consider
this to be a mere fable, but others, with greater probability on their
side, see implied in it the existence of a barbarous and lawless race of
people who once occupied the country, but who were destroyed by Hercules
on his return home, after the capture of Troy. Here also the Trojan
women are said to have committed the destructive act of burning the
ships, to avoid becoming the slaves of their captors’ wives. E.
26. The city Berœa[2897] lies at the roots of Mount Bermius. EPIT.
27. Pallene is a peninsula. On the isthmus of Pallene lies what was once
Potidæa, but now Cassandra. It was formerly called Phlegra, and was
inhabited by the fabulous giants, an impious and lawless race, who were
destroyed by Hercules. It has upon it four cities, Aphytis, Mende,
Scione, and Sana. EPIT.
28. Olynthus is distant from Potidæa 70 stadia. E.
29. The arsenal of Olynthus is Mecyberna, on the Toronæan Gulf. EPIT.
30. Near Olynthus is a hollow tract called Cantharolethron, from an
accidental circumstance. The Cantharus, (the beetle,) which is bred in
the surrounding country, dies as soon as it touches this tract. EPIT.
31. Next after Cassandria is the remaining part of the sea-coast of the
Toronæan Gulf, as far as Derris. It is a promontory opposite the
district of Canastrum, and forms a gulf. Opposite to Derris, to the
east, are the promontories of Athos; between them is the Singitic Gulf,
which receives its name from an ancient city in it, Singus, now
destroyed. Next is the city Acanthus, situated on the isthmus of
Athos,[2898] founded by the Andrii; whence, by many, it is called the
Acanthian Gulf. E.
32. Opposite to Canastrum, a promontory of Pallene, is the promontory
Derris, near Cophus-Limen [or Deaf Harbour]: these form the boundaries
of the Toronæan Gulf. Again, towards the east lies the promontory of
Athos, [Nymphæum,] which bounds the Singitic Gulf. Then follow one
another the gulfs of the Ægean Sea, towards the north, in this order:
the Maliac,[2899] the Pagasitic,[2900] the Thermæan,[2901] the
Toronæan,[2902] the Singitic,[2903] and the Strymonic.[2904] The
promontories are these: Posidium,[2905] situated between the Maliac and
Pegasitic Gulfs; next in order, towards the north, Sepias;[2906] then
Canastrum[2907] in Pallene; then Derris;[2908] next Nymphæum[2909] in
Athos, on the Singitic Gulf; Acrathos,[2910] the promontory on the
Strymonic Gulf; between them is Athos, to the east of which is Lemnos.
Neapolis[2911] bounds the Strymonic Gulf towards the north. EPIT.
33. The city Acanthus, on the Singitic Gulf, is a maritime city near the
Canal of Xerxes. There are five cities in Athos; Dium, Cleonæ, Thyssos,
Olophyxis, Acrothoi, which is situated near the summit of Athos. Mount
Athos is pap-shaped, very pointed, and of very great height. Those who
live upon the summit see the sun rise three hours before it is visible
on the sea-shore. The voyage round the peninsula, from the city Acanthus
to the city Stagirus, the birth-place of Aristotle, is 400 stadia. It
has a harbour called Caprus, and a small island of the same name. Then
follow the mouths of the Strymon; then Phagres, Galepsus, and Apollonia,
all of them cities; then the mouth of the Nestus, which is the boundary
of Macedonia and Thrace, as settled, in their own times, by Philip and
Alexander his son. There are about the Strymonic Gulf other cities also,
as Myrcinus, Argilus, Drabescus, and Datum, which has an excellent and
most productive soil, dockyards for ship-building, and gold mines;
whence the proverb, “A Datum of good things,” like to the proverb,
“Piles of plenty.”[2912] EPIT.
34. There are numerous gold mines among the Crenides, where the city of
Philip now stands, near Mount Pangæus. Pangæus itself, and the country
on the east of the Strymon, and on the west as far as Pæonia, contains
gold and silver mines. Particles of gold, it is said, are found in
Pæonia in ploughing the land. EPIT.
35. Mount Athos is pap-shaped, and so lofty that the husbandmen on the
summit are already weary of their labour, the sun having long since
risen to them, when to the inhabitants of the shore it is the beginning
of cockcrowing. Thamyris, the Thracian, was king of this coast, and
followed the same practices as Orpheus. Here also, at Acanthus, is seen
the canal, which Xerxes is said to have made, and through which he is
said to have brought the sea from the Strymonic Gulf, across the
isthmus. Demetrius of Skepsis is of opinion that this canal was not
navigable; for, says he, the ground is composed of deep earth, and
admits of being dug for a distance of 10 stadia only: the canal is a
plethrum in width; then follows a high, broad, and flat rock, nearly a
stadium in length, which prevents excavation throughout the whole
distance to the sea. And even if the work could be carried on so far
across, yet it could not be continued to a sufficient depth, so as to
present a navigable passage. Here Alexarchus, the son of Antipater,
built the city Uranopolis, 30 stadia in circumference.
This peninsula was inhabited by Pelasgi from Lemnos; they were
distributed into five small cities, Cleonæ, Olophyxis, Acrothoi, Dium,
Thyssos. After Athos comes the Strymonic Gulf, extending to the river
Nestus, which forms the boundary of Macedonia, as settled by Philip and
Alexander. Accurately speaking, there is a promontory forming a gulf
with Athos, on which is the city Apollonia. First in the gulf, after the
harbour of Acanthus, is Stagira, now deserted: it was one of the
Chalcidic cities, and the birth-place of Aristotle. Caprus was the
harbour, and there is a small island of the same name. Then comes the
Strymon, and Amphipolis, at the distance of 20 stadia up the river. In
this part is situated an Athenian colony, called Ennea-Odoi (the
Nine-Ways). Then Galepsus and Apollonia, which were destroyed by Philip.
E.
36. He says, it is 120 stadia (300?) from the Peneus to Pydna. On the
sea-coast of the Strymon and of the Dateni is Neapolis, and Datum also,
which has fruitful plains, a lake, rivers, dockyards, and valuable gold
mines. Hence the proverb, “A Datum of good things,” like “Piles of
plenty.” The country beyond the Strymon, which borders upon the sea and
includes the parts about Datum, is occupied by Odomantes, Edoni, and
Bisaltæ, some of whom are an indigenous people, the others came from
Macedonia and were under the government of Rhesus. Above Amphipolis live
the Bisaltæ, extending to the city Heraclea (Sintica); they occupy a
fertile valley, through which passes the Strymon, which rises among the
Agrianes near Rhodope. Near the Agrianes is situated Parorbelia of
Macedonia. In the interior, in a valley, which commences at Idomene, are
situated Callipolis, Orthopolis, Philippopolis, and Garescus. Among the
Bisaltæ, proceeding up the river Strymon, is situated Berga, a village,
distant from Amphipolis about 200 stadia. Proceeding northwards from
Heraclea, and to the narrows, through which the Strymon flows, keeping
the river on the right, first on the left are Pæonia and the parts about
Dobera; then on the right are the mountains Hæmus and Rhodope, with the
adjacent parts. On this side of the Strymon, close upon the river, is
Scotussa; near the lake Bolbe is Arethusa; the inhabitants above the
lake are chiefly Mygdones. Not only is the course of the Axius through
Pæonia, but that of the Strymon also; for it rises among the Agrianes,
passes through the territory of the Mædi and Sinti, and discharges
itself between the Bisaltæ and Odomantes. E.
37. The source of the river Strymon is among the Agrianes near Rhodope.
EPIT.
38. The Pæonians, according to some, were a dependent colony of the
Phrygians; according to others, they were an independent settlement.
Pæonia, it is said, extended to Pelagonia and Pieria; Pelagonia is said
to have been formerly called Orestia; and Asteropæus, one of the chiefs
from Pæonia who went to Troy, to have been called, with great
probability, the son of Pelagon, and the Pæonians themselves to have
been called Pelagones. E.
39. The Asteropæus in Homer, son of Pelegon, we are told, was of Pæonia
in Macedonia: whence “Son of Pelegon;” for the Pæonians were called
Pelagones. EPIT.
40. As the _pæanismus_, or singing of the Thracian Pæan, was called
_titanismus_ by the Greeks, in imitation of a well-known note in the
pæan, so the Pelagones were called Titanes. E.
41. Anciently, as at present, the Pæonians appear to have been masters
of so much of what is now called Macedonia as to be able to besiege
Perinthus, and subject to their power Crestonia, the whole of Mygdonia,
and the territory of the Agrianes as far as Mount Pangæus. Above the
sea-coast of the Strymonic Gulf, extending from Galepsus to Nestus, are
situated Philippi and the surrounding country. Philippi was formerly
called Crenides; it was a small settlement, but increased after the
defeat of Brutus and Cassius. E.
43.[2913] The present city Philippi was anciently called Crenides. EPIT.
44. In front of this coast lie two islands, Lemnos and Thasos. Beyond
the strait at Thasos is Abdera, with its fables. It was inhabited by
Bistones, over whom ruled Diomed. The Nestus does not always keep within
its banks, but frequently inundates the country. Then Dicæa, a city on
the gulf, with a harbour. Above it is the lake Bistonis, 200 stadia in
circumference. They say that Hercules, when he came to seize upon the
horses of Diomed, cut a canal through the sea-shore and turned the water
of the sea upon the plain, which is situated in a hollow, and is lower
than the level of the sea, and thus vanquished his opponents. The royal
residence of Diomed is shown, called, from a local peculiarity, its
natural strength, Cartera-Come [Strong-Village]. Beyond the inland lake
are Xanthia, Maronia, and Ismarus, cities of the Cicones. Ismarus is now
called Ismara-near-Maronia. Near it is the outlet of the lake Ismaris.
The stream is called sweet * * * * * * At this place are what are called
the heads of the Thasii. The Sapæi are situated above. E.
45. Topeira is situated near Abdera and Maronia. E.
46. The Sinti, a Thracian tribe, inhabit the island of Lemnos; whence
Homer calls them Sinties, thus, “There are the Sinties.” EPIT.
47. After the river Nestus to the west is the city Abdera, named after
Abderus, who was eaten by the horses of Diomed; then, near, Dicæa, a
city, above which is situated a large lake, the Bistonis; then the city
Maronia. EPIT.
48. The whole of Thrace is composed of twenty-two nations. Although
greatly exhausted, it is capable of equipping 15,000 cavalry and 20,000
infantry. After Maronia are Orthagoria, a city, and the district of
Serrium (the navigation along the coast is difficult); the small city
Tempyra belonging to the Samothracians, and another Caracoma, (the
Stockade,) in front of which lies the island Samothrace. Imbros is at no
great distance from Samothrace; Thasos is double the distance from it.
After Caracoma is Doriscus, where Xerxes counted the number of his army.
Then the Hebrus, with a navigation up the stream for 100 stadia to
Cypsela. Strabo says that this was the boundary of Macedonia when
wrested by the Romans, first from Perseus, and afterwards from
Pseudophilip. Paulus, who overthrew Perseus, united the Epirotic nations
to Macedonia, and divided the country into four parts; one he assigned
to Amphipolis, a second to Thessalonica, a third to Pella, and a fourth
to Pelagonia. Along the Hebrus dwell the Corpili, the Brenæ still higher
up, above them, and lastly the Bessi, for the Hebrus is navigable up to
this point. All these nations are addicted to plunder, particularly the
Bessi, whom, he says, border upon the Odrysæ and Sapæi. Bizya is the
capital of the Astæ (?). Some give the name of Odrysæ to all those
people who live on the mountains overhanging the coast, from the Hebrus
and Cypsela to Odessus. They were under the kingly government of
Amadocus, Khersobleptes, Berisades, Seuthes, (Theseus?) and Cotys. E.
49. The river in Thrace now called Rhiginia (Rhegina?) was formerly
called Erigon (Erginus?). EPIT.
50. Samothrace was inhabited by the brothers Jasion and Dardanus. Jasion
was killed by lightning, for his crime against Ceres; Dardanus moved
away from Samothrace, and built a city, to which he gave the name of
Dardania, at the foot of Mount Ida. He taught the Trojans the
Samothracian mysteries. Samothrace was formerly called Samos. EPIT.
51. The gods worshipped in Samothrace, the Curbantes and Corybantes, the
Curetes and the Idæan Dactyli, are said by many persons to be the same
as the Cabiri, although they are unable to explain who the Cabiri were.
E.
52. At the mouth of the Hebrus, which discharges itself by two channels,
in the Gulf of Melas, is a city Ænos, founded by the Mitylenæans and
Cumæans; its first founders, however, were Alopeconnesi; then the
promontory Sarpedon; then the Chersonesus, called the Thracian
Chersonesus, forming the Propontis, the Gulf of Melas, and the
Hellespont. It stretches forwards to the south-east, like a promontory,
bringing Europe and Asia together, with only a strait between them of 7
stadia in width, the Strait of Sestos and Abydos. On the left is the
Propontis, on the right the Gulf Melas,[2914] so called from the river
Melas,[2915] which discharges itself into it, according to Herodotus and
Eudoxus. It is stated (says Strabo) by Herodotus, that the stream of
this river was not sufficient to supply the army of Xerxes. The above
promontory is closed in by an isthmus 40 stadia across. In the middle of
the isthmus is situated the city Lysimachia, named after king
Lysimachus, its founder. On one side of the isthmus, on the Gulf Melas,
lies Cardia; its first founders were Milesians and Clazomenæans, its
second founders Athenians. It is the largest of the cities in the
Chersonesus. Pactya is on the Propontis. After Cardia are Drabus and
Limnæ; then Alopeconnesus, where the Gulf Melas principally ends; then
the great promontory Mazusia; then, in the gulf, Eleus, where is
Protesilaum, from whence Sigeum, a promontory of Troas, is 40 stadia
distant; this is about the most southern extremity of the Chersonesus,
distant from Cardia rather more than 400 stadia; if the circuit is made
by sea to the other side of the isthmus, the distance is a little
greater. E.
53. The Thracian Chersonesus forms three seas, the Propontis to the
north, the Hellespont to the east, and the Gulf Melas to the south,
where the river Melas, of the same name as the gulf, discharges itself.
EPIT.
54. In the isthmus of the Chersonesus are three cities, Cardia on the
Gulf of Melas, Pactya on the Propontis, Lysimachia in the interior; the
breadth of the isthmus is 40 stadia. EPIT.
55. The name of the city Eleus is of the masculine gender, perhaps that
of Trapezus is also masculine. EPIT.
56. In the voyage round of which we have been speaking; beyond Eleus,
first, is the entrance into the Propontis through the straits, where
they say the Hellespont begins. There is a promontory here by some
called Dog’s Monument, by others the Monument of Hecuba, for on doubling
the promontory, the place of her burial is to be seen. Then Madytus and
the promontory of Sestos, where was the Bridge of Xerxes; after these
places comes Sestos. From Eleus to the Bridge it is 170 stadia; after
Sestos it is 280 stadia to Ægospotamos: it is a small city in ruins. At
this place a stone is said to have fallen from heaven during the Persian
war. Then Callipolis, from whence to Lampsacus in Asia is a passage
across of 40 stadia; then a small city Crithote in ruins; then Pactya;
next Macron-Tichos, and Leuce-Acte, and Hieron-Oros, and Perinthus, a
colony of the Samians; then Selybria. Above these places is situated
Silta. Sacred rites are performed in honour of Hieron-Oros by the
natives, which is as it were the citadel of the country. It discharges
asphaltus into the sea. Proconnesus here approaches nearest the
continent, being 120 stadia distant; there is a quarry of white marble
in it, which is plentiful and of good quality; after Selybria the rivers
Athyras and [Bathynias]; then Byzantium and the parts reaching to the
Cyanean rocks. E.
57. From Perinthus to Byzantium it is 630 stadia; from the Hebrus and
Cypseli to Byzantium and the Cyanean rocks it is, according to
Artemidorus, 3100 stadia. The whole distance from Apollonia on the
Ionian Gulf to Byzantium is 7320 stadia; Polybius makes this distance
180 stadia more, by the addition of a third of a stadium to the sum of 8
stadia, which compose a mile. Demetrius of Skepsis, in his account of
the disposition of the Trojan forces, says that it is 700 stadia from
Perinthus to Byzantium, and the same distance to Parium. He makes the
length of the Propontis to be 1400 and the breadth 500 stadia; the
narrowest part also of the Hellespont to be 7 stadia, and the length
400. E.
58. All writers do not agree in their description of the Hellespont, and
many opinions are advanced on the subject. Some describe the Propontis
to be the Hellespont; others, that part of the Propontis which is to the
south of Perinthus; others include a part of the exterior sea which
opens to the Ægæan and the Gulf Melas, each assigning different limits.
Some make their measurement from Sigeum to Lampsacus, and Cyzicus, and
Parium, and Priapus; and one is to be found who measures from Singrium,
a promontory of Lesbos. Some do not hesitate to give the name of
Hellespont to the whole distance as far as the Myrtoan Sea, because (as
in the Odes of Pindar) when Hercules sailed from Troy through the
virgin strait of Hella, and arrived at the Myrtoan Sea, he returned back
to Cos, in consequence of the wind Zephyrus blowing contrary to his
course. Thus some consider it correct to apply the name Hellespont to
the whole of the Ægæan Sea, and the sea along the coast of Thessaly and
Macedonia, invoking the testimony of Homer, who says,
“Thou shalt see, if such thy will, in spring,
My ships shall sail to Hellespont.”
But the argument is contradicted in the following lines,
“Piros, Imbracius’ son, who came from Ænos.”
Piros commanded the Thracians,
“Whose limits are the quick-flowing Hellespont.”
So that he would consider all people settled next to the Thracians as
excluded from the Hellespont. For Ænos is situated in the district
formerly called Apsynthis, but now Corpilice. The territory of the
Cicones is next towards the west. E.
END OF VOL. I.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The chapters and sectional divisions of Kramer’s edition of the
Greek text have been generally followed in this translation.
[2] τὰ θεῖα καὶ ἀνθρώπεια, “the productions of nature and art.”
[3] Africa.
[4] Then indeed the sun freshly struck the fields [with its rays],
ascending heaven from the calmly-flowing, deep-moving ocean. Iliad vii.
421; Odyssey xix. 433. These references relate to the Greek text; any
one wishing to verify the poetic translation will find the place in
Cowper, by adding a few lines to the number adapted to the Greek. The
prose version is taken from Bohn’s edition.
[5] And the bright light of the sun fell into the ocean, drawing dark
night over the fruitful earth. Iliad viii. 485.
[6] “Bright and steady as the star
Autumnal, which in ocean newly bathed,
Assumes fresh beauty.” Iliad v. 6.
[7] Gosselin remarks that in his opinion Strabo frequently attributes to
Homer much information of which the great poet was entirely ignorant:
the present is an instance, for Spain was to Homer a perfect _terra
incognita_.
[8] The Phœnician Hercules, anterior to the Grecian hero by two or three
centuries. The date of his expedition, supposing it to have actually
occurred, was about sixteen or seventeen hundred years before the
Christian era.
[9] “But the immortals will send you to the Elysian plain, and the
boundaries of the Earth, where is auburn-haired Rhadamanthus; there of a
truth is the most easy life for men. There is nor snow, nor long winter,
nor even a shower, but every day the ocean sends forth the gently
blowing breezes of the west wind to refresh men.” Odyssey iv. 563.
[10] The Isles of the Blest are the same as the Fortunate Isles of other
geographers. It is clear from Strabo’s description that he alludes to
the Canary Islands; but as it is certain that Homer had never heard of
these, it is probable that the passages adduced by Strabo have reference
to the Elysian Fields of Baia in Campania.
[11] The Maurusia of the Greeks (the Mauritania of the Latins) is now
known as Algiers and Fez in Africa.
[12] The Ethiopians, who are divided into two divisions, the most
distant of men. Odyssey i. 23.
[13] For yesterday Jove went to Oceanus, to the blameless Ethiopians, to
a banquet. Iliad i. 423. The ancients gave the name of Ethiopians,
generally, to the inhabitants of Interior Africa, the people who
occupied the sea-coast of the Atlantic, and the shores of the Arabian
Gulf. It is with this view of the name that Strabo explains the passage
of Homer; but the Mediterranean was the boundary of the poet’s
geographical knowledge; and the people he speaks of were doubtless the
inhabitants of the southern parts of Phœnicia, who at one time were
called Ethiopians. We may here remark too, that Homer’s ocean frequently
means the Mediterranean, sometimes probably the Nile. See also p. 48,
_n._ 2.
[14] But it alone is free from the baths of the ocean. Iliad xviii. 489;
Odyssey v. 275.
[15] We are informed by Diogenes Laertius, that Thales was the first to
make known to the Greeks the constellation of the Lesser Bear. Now this
philosopher flourished 600 years before the Christian era, and
consequently some centuries after Homer’s death. The name of Φοινίκη
which it received from the Greeks, is proof that Thales owed his
knowledge of it to the Phœnicians. Conf. Humboldt’s Cosmos, vol. iii. p.
160, Bohn’s edition.
[16] Iliad xiii. 5. Gosselin says, Thrace (the present Roumelia) was
indisputably the most northern nation known to Homer. He names the
people Ἱππημόλγοι, or living on mares’ milk, because in his time they
were a nomade race. Strabo evidently gives a forced meaning to the words
of the poet, when he attempts to prove his acquaintance with the
Scythians and Sarmatians.
[17] For I go to visit the limits of the fertile earth, and Oceanus, the
parent of the gods. Iliad xiv. 200.
[18] The eighteenth book of the Iliad.
[19] Iliad xviii. 399; Odyss. xx. 65.
[20] Thrice indeed each day it lets loose its waves, and thrice it ebbs
them back. Odyss. xii. 105.
Gosselin remarks, “I do not find any thing in these different passages
of Homer to warrant the conclusion that he was aware of the ebb and flow
of the tide; every one knows that the movement is hardly perceptible in
the Mediterranean. In the Euripus, which divides the Isle of Negropont
from Bœotia, the waters are observed to flow in opposite directions
several times a day. It was from this that Homer probably drew his
ideas; and the regular current of the Hellespont, which carries the
waters of the Black Sea into the Mediterranean, led him to think that
the whole ocean, or Mediterranean, had one continued flow like the
current of a river.”
[21] Iliad vii. 422.
[22] But when the ship left the stream of the river-ocean, and entered
on the wave of the wide-wayed sea. Odyssey xii. 1.
[23] This direction would indicate a gulf, the sea-ward side of which
should be opposite the Libo-notus of the ancients. Now the mutilated
passage of Crates has reference to the opening of the twelfth book of
the Odyssey, descriptive of Ulysses’ departure from Cimmeria, after his
visit to the infernal regions. Those Cimmerians were the people who
inhabited Campania, and the land round Baia, near to lake Avernus, and
the entrance into Hades. As these places are situated close to the bay
of Naples, which occupies the exact position described by Crates, it is
probable this was the bay he intended.
[24] What Strabo calls the eastern side of the continent, comprises that
portion of India between Cape Comorin and Tana-serim, to the west of the
kingdom of Siam: further than which he was not acquainted.
[25] Strabo’s acquaintance with Western Africa did not go further than
Cape Nun, 214 leagues distant from the Strait of Gibraltar.
[26] By the south is intended the whole land from the Arabian Gulf or
Red Sea to Cape Comorin.
[27] From Cape Finisterre to the mouth of the Elbe.
[28] The rocks of Gibraltar and Ceuta.
[29] The mountaineers of the Taurus, between Lycia and Pisidia.
[30] A mountain of Ionia near to the Meander, and opposite the Isle of
Samos.
[31] The Sea of Marmora.
[32] The Strait of Caffa, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of
Azof.
[33] The Cimmerians, spoken of in Homer, were undoubtedly the
inhabitants of Campania, not those of the Bosphorus.
[34] They are covered with shadows and darkness, nor does the shining
sun behold them with his beams, ... but pernicious night is spread over
hapless mortals. Odyssey xi. 15 and 19.
[35] The Danube.
[36] Ancient Thrace consisted of the modern provinces of Bulgaria and
Roumelia.
[37] A river of Thessaly, named at present Salampria.
[38] Now the river Vardari.
[39] Thesprotis, in Epirus, opposite Corfu.
[40] Afterwards named Temsa. This town was in Citerior Calabria. Some
think Torre de Nocera stands on the ancient site.
[41] This is a misstatement, as before remarked.
[42] This writer occupies so prominent a position in Strabo’s work, that
no apology I think will be needed for the following extract from Smith’s
dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
“Eratosthenes of Cyrene was, according to Suidas, the son of Aglaus,
according to others, the son of Ambrosius, and was born B. C. 276. He
was taught by Ariston of Chius, the philosopher, Lysanias of Cyrene, the
grammarian, and Callimachus, the poet. He left Athens at the invitation
of Ptolemy Euergetes, who placed him over the library at Alexandria.
Here he continued till the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes. He died at the
age of eighty, about B. C. 196, of voluntary starvation, having lost his
sight, and being tired of life. He was a man of very extensive learning:
we shall first speak of him as a geometer and astronomer.
“It is supposed that Eratosthenes suggested to Ptolemy Euergetes the
construction of the large _armillæ_, or fixed circular instruments,
which were long in use at Alexandria; but only because it is difficult
to imagine to whom else they are to be assigned, for Ptolemy the
astronomer, though he mentions them, and incidentally their antiquity,
does not state to whom they were due. In these circles each degree was
divided into six parts. We know of no observations of Eratosthenes in
which they were probably employed, except those which led him to the
obliquity of the ecliptic, which he must have made to be 23° 51’ 20”,
for he states the distance of the tropics to be eleven times the
eighty-third part of the circumference. This was a good observation for
the times. Ptolemy the astronomer was content with it, and according to
him Hipparchus used no other. Of his measure of the earth we shall
presently speak. According to Nicomachus, he was the inventor of the
κόσκινον, or Cribrum Arithmeticum, as it has since been called, being
the well-known method of detecting the prime numbers by writing down all
odd numbers which do not end with 5, and striking out successively the
multiples of each, one after the other, so that only prime numbers
remain.
“We still possess under the name of Eratosthenes a work, entitled
Καταστερισμοί, giving a slight account of the constellations, their
fabulous history, and the stars in them. It is however acknowledged on
all hands that this is not a work of Eratosthenes.... The only other
writing of Eratosthenes which remains, is a letter to Ptolemy on the
duplication of the cube, for the mechanical performance of which he had
contrived an instrument, of which he seems to contemplate actual use in
measuring the contents of vessels, &c. He seems to say that he has had
his method engraved in some temple or public building, with some verses,
which he adds. Eutocius has preserved this letter in his comment on book
ii. prop. 2, of the sphere and cylinder of Archimedes.
“The greatest work of Eratosthenes, and that which must always make his
name conspicuous in scientific history, is the attempt which he made to
measure the magnitude of the earth, in which he brought forward and used
the method which is employed to this day. Whether or no he was
successful cannot be told, as we shall see; but it is not the less true
that he was the originator of the process by which we now know, very
nearly indeed, the magnitude of our own planet. Delambre says that if it
were he who advised the erection of the circular instruments above
alluded to, he must be considered as the founder of astronomy: to which
it may be added, that he was the founder of geodesy without any _if_ in
the case. The number of ancient writers who have alluded to this
remarkable operation (which seems to have obtained its full measure of
fame) is very great, and we shall not attempt to combine their remarks
or surmises: it is enough to say that the most distinct account, and one
of the earliest, is found in the remaining work of Cleomedes.
“At Syene in Upper Egypt, which is supposed to be the same as, or near
to, the town of Assouan, (Lat. 24° 10’ N., Long. 32° 59’ E. of
Greenwich,) Eratosthenes was told (that he observed is very doubtful)
that deep wells were enlightened to the bottom on the day of the summer
solstice, and that vertical objects cast no shadows. He concluded
therefore, that Syene was on the tropic, and its latitude equal to the
obliquity of the ecliptic, which, as we have seen, he had determined: he
presumed that it was in the same longitude as Alexandria, in which he
was out about 3°, which is not enough to produce what would at that time
have been a sensible error. By observations made at Alexandria, he
determined the zenith of that place to be distant by the fiftieth part
of the circumference from the solstice, which was equivalent to saying
that the arc of the meridian between the two places is 7° 12’. Cleomedes
says that he used the σκάφη, or hemispherical dial of Berosus, in the
determination of this latitude. Delambre rejects the idea with infinite
scorn, and pronounces Cleomedes unworthy of credit; and indeed it is not
easy to see why Eratosthenes should have rejected the gnomon and the
large circular instruments, unless, perhaps, for the following reason.
There is a sentiment of Cleomedes which seems to imply that the
disappearance of the shadows at Syene on the day of the summer solstice
was noticed to take place for 300 stadia every way round Syene. If
Eratosthenes took his report about the phenomenon (and we have no
evidence that he went to Syene himself) from those who could give no
better account than this, we may easily understand why he would think
the σκάφη quite accurate enough to observe with at his own end of the
arc, since the other end of it was uncertain by as much as 300 stadia.
He gives 500 stadia for the distance from Alexandria to Syene, and this
round number seems further to justify us in concluding that he thought
the process to be as rough as in truth it was. Martianus Capella states
that he obtained this distance from the measures made by order of the
Ptolemies (which had been commenced by Alexander): this writer then
implies that Eratosthenes did not go to Syene himself.
“The result is 250,000 stadia for the circumference of the earth, which
Eratosthenes altered into 252,000, that his result might give an exact
number of stadia for the degree, namely, 700; this of course should have
been 694-4/9. Pliny calls this 31,500 Roman miles, and therefore
supposes the stadium to be the eighth part of a Roman mile, or takes for
granted that Eratosthenes used the Olympic stadium. It is likely enough
that the Ptolemies naturalized this stadium in Egypt; but nevertheless,
it is not unlikely that an Egyptian stadium was employed. If we assume
the Olympic stadium, (202¼ yards,) the degree of Eratosthenes is more
than 79 miles, upwards of 10 miles too great. Nothing is known of any
Egyptian stadium. Pliny asserts that Hipparchus, but for what reason he
does not say, wanted to add 25,000 stadia to the circumference as found
by Eratosthenes. According to Plutarch, Eratosthenes made the sun to be
804 millions of stadia from the earth, and the moon 780,000. According
to Macrobius, he made the diameter of the sun to be 27 times that of the
earth. With regard to the other merits of Eratosthenes, we must first of
all mention what he did for geography, which was closely connected with
his mathematical pursuits. It was Eratosthenes who raised geography to
the rank of a science; for previous to his time it seems to have
consisted, more or less, of a mass of information scattered in books of
travel, descriptions of particular countries, and the like. All these
treasures were accessible to Eratosthenes in the libraries of
Alexandria; and he made the most profitable use of them, by collecting
the scattered materials, and uniting them into an organic system of
geography, in his comprehensive work entitled Γεωγραφικά, or as it is
sometimes but erroneously called, γεωγραφούμενα or γεωγραφία. It
consisted of three books, the first of which, forming a sort of
Introduction, contained a critical review of the labours of his
predecessors from the earliest to his own times, and investigations
concerning the form and nature of the earth, which, according to him,
was an immoveable globe, on the surface of which traces of a series of
great revolutions were still visible. He conceived that in one of these
revolutions the Mediterranean had acquired its present form; for
according to him it was at one time a large lake covering portions of
the adjacent countries of Asia and Libya, until a passage was forced
open by which it entered into communication with the ocean in the west.
The second book contained what is now called mathematical geography. His
attempt to measure the magnitude of the earth has been spoken of above.
The third book contained the political geography, and gave descriptions
of the various countries, derived from the works of earlier travellers
and geographers. In order to be able to determine the accurate site of
each place, he drew a line parallel with the equator, running from the
Pillars of Hercules to the extreme east of Asia, and dividing the whole
of the inhabited earth into two halves. Connected with this work was a
new map of the earth, in which towns, mountains, rivers, lakes, and
climates were marked according to his own improved measurements. This
important work of Eratosthenes forms an epoch in the history of ancient
geography; but unfortunately it is lost, and all that has survived
consists in fragments quoted by later geographers and historians, such
as Polybius, Strabo, Marcianus, Pliny, and others, who often judge of
him unfavourably, and controvert his statements; while it can be proved
that in a great many passages they adopt his opinions without mentioning
his name. Marcianus charges Eratosthenes with having copied the
substance of the work of Timosthenes on Ports, (περὶ λιμένων,) to which
he added but very little of his own. This charge may be well-founded,
but cannot have diminished the value of the work of Eratosthenes, in
which that of Timosthenes can have formed only a very small portion. It
seems to have been the very overwhelming importance of the geography of
Eratosthenes, that called forth a number of opponents, among whom we
meet with the names of Polemon, Hipparchus, Polybius, Serapion, and
Marcianus of Heracleia.... Another work of a somewhat similar nature,
entitled Ἑρμῆς, was written in verse, and treated of the form of the
earth, its temperature, the different zones, the constellations, and the
like.... Eratosthenes distinguished himself also as a philosopher,
historian, grammarian, &c.”
[43] The ancients portioned out the globe by bands or zones parallel to
the equator, which they named κλίματα. The extent of each zone was
determined by the length of the solstitial day, and thus each diminished
in extent according as it became more distant from the equator. The
moderns have substituted a mode of reckoning the degrees by the
elevation of the pole, which gives the latitudes with much greater
accuracy.
[44] Literally, the heat, cold, and temperature of the atmosphere.
[45] Tartary.
[46] France.
[47] Xylander and Casaubon remark that Strabo here makes an improper use
of the term antipodes; the antipodes of Spain and India being in the
southern hemisphere.
[48] Meteorology, from μετέωρος, aloft, is the science which describes
and explains the various phenomena which occur in the region of the
atmosphere.
[49] Homer, Iliad viii. 16.
[50] A people of Thessaly, on the banks of the Peneus.
[51] The former name of the Morea, and more ancient than Peloponnesus.
Iliad i. 270.
[52] Having wandered to Cyprus, and Phœnice, and the Egyptians, I came
to the Ethiopians, and Sidonians, and Erembi, and Libya, where the lambs
immediately become horned. Odyssey iv. 83.
[53] Odyssey iv. 86.
[54] Homer says,
——τῇ πλεῖστα φέρει ζείδωρος ἄρουρα
Φάρμακα.
Odyssey iv. 229.
Which Cowper properly renders:—
“Egypt teems
with _drugs_ of various powers.”
Strabo, by omitting the word φάρμακα from his citation, alters to a
certain degree the meaning of the sentence.
[55] Iliad ix. 383, et seq.
[56] Odyssey xxi. 26.
[57] Chorography, a term used by Greek writers, meaning the description
of particular districts.
[58] Iliad ii. 496. Four cities of Bœotia. The present name of Aulis is
Vathi, situated on the Strait of Negropont. The modern names of the
other three cities are unknown.
[59] By Libyans are here intended Carthaginians. The events alluded to
by Strabo may be found in Pomponius Mela and Valerius Maximus, whose
accounts however do not entirely accord. That of Valerius Maximus, who
is followed by Servius, tells us that Hannibal, on his return to Africa,
observed his pilot Pelorus was taking the ships by the coast of Italy,
and suspecting him therefore of treachery, caused him to be executed. He
did not know at the time the intention of Pelorus to take him through
the Strait of Messina, but afterwards, when aware of the excellence of
the passage, caused a monument to be raised to the memory of the
unfortunate pilot. Strabo, in his ninth book, gives us the history of
Salganeus, and the monument erected to him on the shores of Negropont.
[60] The Gulf of Zeitun.
[61] Vide preceding note on this word p. 13, n. 1.
[62] Odyssey v. 393.
[63] Allusion is here made to the theory of Xenophanes of Colophon and
Anaximenes his disciple, who imagined the earth bore the form of a vast
mountain, inhabited at the summit, but whose roots stretched into
infinity. The Siamese at the present day hold a similar idea.
[64] See note [43], p. 13.
[65] Περὶ τῶν οἰκήσεων.
[66] Meaning, the different appearances of the heavenly bodies at
various parts of the earth.
[67] Odyssey x. 190.
[68] This sentence has been restored to what was evidently its original
position. In the Greek text it appears immediately before section 23,
commencing, “Having already compiled,” &c. The alteration is borne out
by the French and German translators.
[69] Strabo here alludes to his Ἱστορικὰ Ὑπομνήματα, cited by Plutarch
(Lucullus, 28, Sulla, 26). This work, in forty-three books, began where
the History of Polybius ended, and was probably continued to the battle
of Actium. Smith, Gr. and Rom. Biog.
[70] The Sea of Azof.
[71] Mingrelia; east of the Euxine.
[72] A large country of Asia to the south of the eastern part of the
Caspian Sea. It became much restricted during the Parthian rule,
containing only the north of Comis, east of Masanderan, the country near
Corcan or Jorjan, (Dshiordshian.) and the west of the province of
Khorassan.
[73] A country of Asia, on the west bounded by Aria, south by the
mountains of Paropamisus, east by the Emodi montes, north by Sogdiana,
now belongs to the kingdom of Afghanistan. Bactriana was anciently the
centre of Asiatic commerce.
[74] A general name given by the Greeks and Romans to a large portion of
Asia, and divided by them into Scythia intra et extra Imaum, that is, on
either side of Mount Imaus. This mountain is generally thought to answer
to the Himalaya mountains of Thibet.
[75] This seems to be a paraphrase of Homer’s verse on Ulysses, Odyssey
xviii. 74.
Οἵην ἐκ ῥακέων ὁ γέρων ἐπιγουνίδα φαίνει.
What thews
And what a haunch the senior’s tatters hide.
Cowper.
[76] Zeno, of Citium, a city in the island of Cyprus, founded by
Phœnician settlers, was the son of Mnaseas.
[77] Περὶ τῶν Ἀγαθῶν is the title given by Strabo, but we find from
Harpocrates and Clemens Alexandrinus, that properly it was Περὶ Ἀγαθῶν
καὶ Κακῶν, or “Concerning Good and Evil Things,” which we have rendered
in the text “Moral Philosophy.”
[78] Odyssey iii. 267.
[79] Ib. iii. 270.
[80] Ib. iii. 272.
[81] Thisbe, Haliartus, Anthedon, cities of Bœotia; Litæa, a city of
Phocis. The Cephissus, a large river, rising in the west of Phocis.
[82] A harvest-wreath of laurel or olive wound round with wool, and
adorned with fruits, borne about by singing-boys at the Πυανέψια and
Θαργήλια, while offerings were made to Helios and the Hours: it was
afterwards hung up at the house-door. The song was likewise called
eiresionè, which became the general name for all begging-songs.
[83] Auditors, ἀκροωμένοις. In Greece there was a class of lectures
where the only duty of the professors was to explain the works of the
poets, and point out the beauties which they contained. The students who
attended these lectures were styled ἀκροάται, or auditors, and the
method of instruction ἀκρόασις.
[84] Odyssey i. 3.
[85] Iliad iii. 202.
[86] Ib. x. 246.
[87] Odyssey xviii. 367.
[88] Ib. xviii. 374.
[89] The second book of the Iliad.
[90] The ninth book of the Iliad.
[91] The deputation of Menelaus and Ulysses to demand back Helen,
alluded to by Antenor, in the third book of the Iliad.
[92] But when he did send forth the mighty voice from his breast, and
words like unto wintry flakes of snow, no longer then would another
mortal contend with Ulysses. Iliad iii. 221.
[93] So much of the meaning of this sentence depends upon the
orthography, that its force is not fully perceptible in English; the
Greek is as follows: τοῦτο δ’ ἦν ἡ ᾠδὴ λόγος μεμελισμένος· ἀφ’ οὗ δὴ
ῥαψῳδίαν τ’ ἔλεγον καὶ τραγῳδίαν καὶ κωμῳδίαν.
[94] This last sentence can convey little or no meaning to the English
reader; its whole force in the original depending on verbal association.
Its general scope however will be evident, when it is stated that in
Greek, the same word, πεζὸς, which means a “foot-soldier,” signifies also
“prose composition.” Hence Strabo’s allusion to the chariot. The Latins
borrowed the expression, and used sermo pedestris in the same sense.
[95] A female phantom said to devour children, used by nurses as a
bug-bear to intimidate their refractory charges.
[96] In later times there were three Gorgons, Stheino, Euryalé, and
Medusa, but Homer seems to have known but one.
[97] One of the giants, who in the war against the gods was deprived of
his left eye by Apollo, and of the right by Hercules.
[98] The same phantom as Mormo, with which the Greeks used to frighten
little children.
[99] Odyssey vi. 232.
[100] Odyssey xix. 203.
[101] The mountains of Chimera in Albania.
[102] The Gulf of Venice.
[103] The Gulf of Salerno.
[104] The Grecian name for Tuscany.
[105] Several small islands, or rather reefs, at the entrance of the
Strait of Constantinople. They took their name of Symplegades from the
varying positions they assumed to the eyes of the voyager, owing to the
sinuosities of the Strait.
[106] Unfortunately for Strabo’s illustration, no Grecian navigator had
ever passed the Strait of Gibraltar in Homer’s time.
[107] The powerful Shaker of the Earth, as he was returning from the
Ethiopians, beheld him from a distance, from the mountains of the
Solymi. Odyssey v. 282.
[108] There is some doubt as to the modern name of the island of Ithaca.
D’Anville supposes it to be the island of Thiaki, between the island of
Cephalonia and Acarnania, while Wheeler and others, who object to this
island as being too large to answer the description of Ithaca given by
Strabo, identify it with the little isle of Ithaco, between Thiaki and
the mainland.
[109] A name of the city of Troy, from Ilus, son of Tros.
[110] A mountain of Magnesia in Thessaly.
[111] A mountain in the Troad.
[112] Cape Faro in Sicily.
[113] The stadia here mentioned are 700 to a degree; thus 2000 stadia
amount to rather more than 57 marine leagues, which is the distance in a
direct line from Capo Faro to the Capo della Minerva.
[114] The Sirenussæ are the rocks which form the southern cape of the
Gulf of Naples, and at the same time separate it from the Gulf of
Salerno. This cape, which was also called the promontory of Minerva,
from the Athenæum which stood there, preserves to this day the name of
Capo della Minerva.
[115] Now Surrento.
[116] The island of Capri is opposite to the Capo della Minerva.
[117] Now the Island of St. Marcian.
[118] Monte Circello, near to Terracina.
[119] The Iliad.
[120] Sword-fish.
[121] And fishes there, watching about the rock for dolphins and dogs,
and if she can any where take a larger whale. Odyssey xii. 95.
[122] There is a very fine medallion in the Bibliothèque Nationale de
France, portraying Scylla as half woman, half dolphin, with a trident in
her left hand, and seizing a fish with her right. From her middle
protrude two half-bodied dogs, who assist the monster in swimming.
[123] Odyssey xii. 105.
[124] At this place there was an altar consecrated to Ulysses. Meninx is
now known as the island of Zerbi, on the side of the Bay of Cabus, on
the coast of Africa.
[125] The second book of the Iliad.
[126] And from thence I was carried for nine days over the fishy sea by
baleful winds. Odyssey ix. 82.
[127] Cape Maleo off the Morea. The distance from this point to
Gibraltar is now estimated at 28° 34’. The 22,500 stadia of Polybius
would equal 32° 8’ 34”. He was therefore out in his calculation by
3° 34’ 34”.
[128] But when the ship left the stream of the river ocean. Odyss. xii.
1.
[129] Vide Odyssey i. 50.
[130] Calypso.
[131] And we dwell at a distance, the farthest in the sea of many waves,
nor does any other of mortals mingle with us. Odyssey vi. 204.
[132] Gosselin has satisfactorily demonstrated that Strabo is wrong in
supposing that these passages relate to the Atlantic Ocean, and most of
our readers will come at once themselves to the same conclusion. Those,
however, who wish for proofs, may refer to the French translation, vol.
i. p. 51, _n._
[133] The ancient name of the city of Naples.
[134] Puteoli, now Pozzuolo, in Campania.
[135] Mare Morto, south of Baia, and near to the ruins of Mycene.
[136] Aornus or Avernus: this lake, which lies about one mile north of
Baia, still retains its ancient appellation.
[137] Vide Virgil, Æneid vi. 162.
[138] Cythæron and Helicon, two mountains of Bœotia, the latter of which
is now named Zagaro Voreni.
[139] Parnassus, a mountain of Phocis, near Delphi.
[140] Pelion, a mountain of Magnesia, in Thessaly.
[141] They attempted to place Ossa upon Olympus, and upon Ossa leafy
Pelion. Odyssey xi. 314. The mountains Pelion, Ossa, and Olympus,
bounded the eastern coasts of Thessaly.
[142] Pieria and Emathia, two countries of Macedonia.
[143] The mountains of Macedonia; this latter name was unknown to Homer,
who consequently describes as Thracian, the whole of the people north of
Thessaly.
[144] The Mount Santo of the moderns.
[145] Juno, hastening, quitted the summit of Olympus, and having passed
over Pieria, and fertile Emathia, she hastened over the snowy mountains
of equestrian Thrace, most lofty summits.... From Athos she descended to
the foaming deep. Iliad xiv. 225.
[146] Odyssey iv. 83.
[147] Euripides, Bacchæ, towards commencement.
[148] Sophocles.
[149] The inaccuracy of the description consists in this; that Bacchus
leaving Lydia and Phrygia should have taken his course by Media into
Bactriana, and returned by Persia into Arabia Felix. Perhaps too, for
greater exactness, Strabo would have had the god mention particularly
the intermediate countries through which he necessarily passed, as
Cappadocia, Armenia, Syria, &c.
[150] But it lies low, the highest in the sea towards the west, but
those that are separated from it [lie] towards the east and the sun.
Odyssey ix. 25.
[151] Vide Odyssey xiii. 109, 111.
[152] Which I very little regard, nor do I care for them whether they
fly to the right, towards the morn and the sun, or to the left, towards
the darkening west. Iliad xii. 239.
[153] O my friends, since we know not where is the west, nor where the
morning, nor where the sun. Odyssey x. 190.
[154] The north and west winds, which both blow from Thrace. Iliad ix.
5.
[155] Now the Bay of Saros.
[156] These two provinces are comprised in the modern division of
Roumelia. A portion of Macedonia still maintains its ancient name
Makidunia.
[157] The modern names of these places are Thaso, Stalimene, Imbro, and
Samothraki.
[158] Strabo, as well as Casaubon in his notes on this passage, seems to
have made an imperfect defence of Homer. The difficulty experienced, as
well by them as Eratosthenes, arose from their overlooking the fact that
Macedonia was a part of Thrace in Homer’s time, and that the name of
Macedon did not exist.
[159] These rocks were situated between the city of Megara and the
isthmus of Corinth.
[160] And the south-east and the south rushed together, and the
hard-blowing west, and the cold-producing north. Odyssey v. 295.
[161] The western part of Thrace, afterwards named Macedonia; having
Pæonia on the north, and Thessaly on the south.
[162] The Magnetæ dwelt near to Mount Pelion and the Pelasgic Gulf, now
the Bay of Volo.
[163] These people dwelt between Mount Othrys, and the Maliac Gulf, now
the Gulf of Zeitun.
[164] The maritime portion of Epirus opposite Corfu.
[165] In the time of Homer the Dolopes were the neighbours of the
Pæonians, and dwelt in the north of that part of Thrace which afterwards
formed Macedonia. Later, however, they descended into Thessaly, and
established themselves around Pindus.
[166] Dodona was in Epirus, but its exact position is not known.
[167] Now Aspro-potamo, or the White River; this river flows into the
sea at the entrance of the Gulf of Corinth.
[168] And the assembly was moved, as the great waves of the Icarian sea.
Iliad ii. 144.
[169] Ἀργέσταο Νότοιο, Iliad xi. 306, xxi. 334. Ἀργέστης strictly
speaking means the north-west, and although, to an English ear, the
north-west south seems at first absurd, yet in following up the argument
which Strabo is engaged in, it is impossible to make use of any other
terms than those which he has brought forward, and merely to have
translated ἀργέσταο Νότοιο by Argest-south, would have mystified the
passage without cause. We do not here attempt to reconcile the various
renderings of ἀργέσταο Νότοιο by Homeric critics, as Strabo’s sense
alone concerns us.
[170] The north and west winds, which both blow from Thrace. Iliad ix.
5.
[171] Ἀργέστης Νότος, the clearing south wind, Horace’s Notus Albus;—in
the improved compass of Aristotle, ἀργέστης was the north-west wind, the
Athenian σκείρων.
[172] Τοῦ λοιποῦ Νότου ὅλου Εὔρου πως ὄντος. MSS. _i. e. all the other
southern winds having an easterly direction_. We have adopted the
suggestion of Kramer, and translated the passage as if it stood thus,
τοῦ λοιποῦ Νότου ὀλεροῦ πως ὄντος.
[173] As when the west wind agitates the light clouds of the clearing
south, striking them with a dreadful gale. Iliad xi. 305.
[174] Gosselin observes that Hesiod lived about forty years after Homer,
and he mentions not only the Nile, but also the Po, with which certainly
Homer was unacquainted. He speaks too of the Western Ocean, where he
places the Gorgons, and the garden of the Hesperides. It is very likely
that these various points of information were brought into Greece by the
Carthaginians. The name _Nile_ seems to be merely a descriptive title;
it is still in use in many countries of India, where it signifies
_water_. The river known subsequently as _the Nile_, was, in Homer’s
time, called the _River of Egypt_, or the _River Egyptus_; by the latter
of which titles he was acquainted with it. See Odyssey xvii. 448.
[175] By this expression is intended the Atlantic.
[176] Gosselin remarks that the arguments made use of by Strabo are not
sufficiently conclusive. The country with which the Greeks were best
acquainted was Greece, undoubtedly, and it is this land which Homer has
described with the greatest exactness of detail.
[177] An island opposite to Alexandria, and seven stadia distant
therefrom. The Ptolemies united it to the mainland by means of a pier,
named Hepta-stadium, in allusion to its length. The sands which
accumulated against the pier became the site of the present city of
Alexandria. It was not on this island that the celebrated Pharos of
Alexandria was erected, but on a desolate rock a little to the N.E. It
received the same name as the island, to which it was joined by another
pier. As to the passage of Homer, (Odyssey iv. 354-357,) where he says
that Pharos is one day’s sail from the Egyptus, he does not mean Egypt,
as Strabo fancies, but the mouth of the Nile, which river in his time
was called the Egyptus, and probably fell into the sea about one day’s
sail from Pharos.
[178] We have before remarked that the Ethiopia visited by Menelaus was
not the country above Egypt, generally known by that name, but an
Ethiopia lying round Jaffa, the ancient Joppa.
[179] “The priests stated also that Menes was the first of mortals that
ever ruled over Egypt; to this they added that in the days of that king,
all Egypt, with the exception of the Thebaic nome, was but a morass; and
that none of the lands now seen below Lake Mœris, then existed; from the
sea up to this place is a voyage by the river of seven days. I myself am
perfectly convinced the account of the priests in this particular is
correct; for the thing is evident to every one who sees and has common
sense, although he may not have heard the fact, that the Egypt to which
the Hellenes navigate, is a land annexed to the Egyptians, and a gift
from the river; and that even in the parts above the lake just
mentioned, for three days’ sail, concerning which the priests relate
nothing, the country is just of the same description.” Herod. ii. § 5.
[180] The Ethiopians, who are divided into two parts, the most distant
of men, some at the setting of the sun, others at the rising. Odyssey i.
23.
[181] Odyssey i. 23.
[182] Many ancient writers entertained the opinion that the regions
surrounding the terrestrial equator were occupied by the ocean, which
formed a circular zone, separating our continent from that which they
supposed to exist in the southern hemisphere. To the inhabitants of this
second continent they gave the name of Antichthones.
[183] The Southern Ocean.
[184] Or nearest to the equator.
[185] The isthmus of Suez.
[186] Odyssey i. 23.
[187] This explanation falls to the ground when we remember, that prior
to the reign of Psammeticus no stranger had ever succeeded in
penetrating into the interior of Egypt. This was the statement of the
Greeks themselves. Now as Psammeticus did not flourish till two and a
half centuries after Homer, that poet could not possibly have been aware
of the circumstances which Strabo brings forward to justify his
interpretation of this passage which he has undertaken to defend.
[188] Africa.
[189] The Red Sea.
[190] The Strait of Gibraltar.
[191] The Tartessians were the inhabitants of the island of Tartessus,
formed by the two arms of the Bætis, (the present Guadalquiver,) near
the mouth of this river. One of these arms being now dried up, the
island is reunited to the mainland. It forms part of the present
district of Andalusia. The tradition, says Gosselin, reported by
Ephorus, seems to me to resemble that still preserved at Tingis, a city
of Mauritania, so late as the sixth century. Procopius (Vandalicor. ii.
10) relates that there were two columns at Tingis bearing the following
inscription in the Phœnician language, “We are they who fled before the
brigand Joshua, the son of Naue (Nun).” It does not concern us to
inquire whether these columns actually existed in the time of Procopius,
but merely to remark two independent facts. The first is the tradition
generally received for more than twenty centuries, that the coming of
the Israelites into Palestine drove one body of Canaanites, its ancient
inhabitants, to the extremities of the Mediterranean, while another
party went to establish, among the savage tribes of the Peloponnesus and
Attica, the earliest kingdoms known in Europe. The second observation
has reference to the name of Ethiopians given by Ephorus to this
fugitive people, as confirming what we have before stated, that the
environs of Jaffa, and possibly the entire of Palestine, anciently bore
the name of Ethiopia: and it is here we must seek for the Ethiopians of
Homer, and not in the interior of Africa.
[192] Africa.
[193] This piece is now lost.
[194] τὸ μεσημβρινὸν κλίμα.
[195] Æschylus.
[196] This piece is now lost.
[197] Odyssey ix. 26.
[198] Strabo is mistaken in interpreting πρὸς ζόφον towards the north.
It means here, as every where else, “towards the west,” and allusion in
the passage is made to Ithaca as lying west of Greece.
[199] Whether they fly to the right towards the morn and the sun, or to
the left towards the darkening west. Iliad xii. 239.
[200] O my friends! since we know not where is the west, nor where the
morning, nor where the sun that gives light to mortals descends beneath
the earth, nor where he rises up again. Odyssey x. 190.
[201] In Book x.
[202] For yesterday Jove went to Oceanus to the blameless Ethiopians, to
a banquet. Iliad i. 423.
[203] The powerful shaker of the earth, as he was returning from the
Ethiopians, beheld him from a distance, from the mountains of the
Solymi. Odyssey v. 282.
[204] This would be true if Homer had lived two or three centuries
later, when the Greeks became acquainted with the Ethiopians on the
eastern and western coasts of Africa. But as the poet was only familiar
with the Mediterranean, there is no question that the Ethiopians
mentioned in this passage are those of Phœnicia and Palestine.
[205] Which, after they have escaped the winter and immeasurable shower,
with a clamour wing their way towards the streams of the ocean, bearing
slaughter and fate to the Pygmæan men. Iliad iii. 3.
[206] Gosselin is of opinion that this Iberia has no reference to Spain,
but is a country situated between the Euxine and Caspian Seas, and forms
part of the present Georgia. He assigns as his reason, that if Strabo
had meant to refer to Spain, he would have mentioned it before Italy, so
as not to interrupt the geographical order, which he is always careful
to observe.
[207] Pygmy, (πυγμαῖος,) a being whose length is a πυγμὴ, that is, from
the elbow to the hand. The Pygmæi were a fabulous nation of dwarfs, the
Lilliputians of antiquity, who, according to Homer, had every spring to
sustain a war against the cranes on the banks of Oceanus. They were
believed to have been descended from Pygmæus, a son of Dorus and
grandson of Epaphus. Later writers usually place them near the sources
of the Nile, whither the cranes are said to have migrated every year to
take possession of the field of the Pygmies. The reports of them have
been embellished in a variety of ways by the ancients. Hecatæus, for
example, related that they cut down every corn-ear with an axe, for they
were conceived to be an agricultural people. When Hercules came into
their country, they climbed with ladders to the edge of his goblet to
drink from it; and when they attacked the hero, a whole army of them
made an assault upon his left hand, while two made the attack on his
right. Aristotle did not believe that the accounts of the Pygmies were
altogether fabulous, but thought that they were a tribe in Upper Egypt,
who had exceedingly small horses, and lived in caves. In later times we
also hear of Northern Pygmies, who lived in the neighbourhood of Thule:
they are described as very short-lived, small, and armed with spears
like needles. Lastly, we also have mention of Indian Pygmies, who lived
under the earth on the east of the river Ganges. Smith, Dict. Biog. and
Mythol. Various attempts have been made to account for this singular
belief, which however seems to have its only origin in the love of the
marvellous.
[208] It must be observed that the Arabian Gulf, or Red Sea, does not
run parallel to the equator, consequently it could not form any
considerable part of a meridian circle; thus Strabo is wrong even as to
the physical position of the Gulf, but this is not much to be wondered
at, as he supposed an equatorial division of the earth into two
hemispheres by the ocean.
[209] 15,000 of the stadia employed by Strabo were equivalent to 21° 25’
43”. The distance from the Isthmus of Suez to the Strait of
Bab-el-Mandeb, following our better charts, is 20° 15’. Strabo says
nearly 15,000 stadia; and this length may be considered just equal to
that of the Arabian Gulf. Its breadth, so far as we know, is in some
places equal to 1800 stadia.
[210] The Arabian Gulf, or Red Sea.
[211] The Mediterranean.
[212] Aristotle accounts for Homer’s mentioning Thebes rather than
Memphis, by saying that, at the time of the poet, the formation of that
part of Egypt by alluvial deposit was very recent. So that Memphis
either did not then exist, or at all events had not then obtained its
after celebrity. Aristotle likewise seems to say that anciently Egypt
consisted only of the territory of the Thebaid, καὶ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ἡ
Αἴγυπτος, Θῆβαι καλούμεναι.
[213] The Mediterranean.
[214] Gosselin says, “Read 4000, as in lib. xvii. This correction is
indicated by the following measure given by Herodotus:
From the sea to Heliopolis 1500 stadia
From Heliopolis to Thebes 4860
————
6360
The stadium made use of in Egypt at the time of Herodotus consisted of
1111-1/9 to a degree on the grand circle, as may be seen by comparing
the measure of the coasts of the Delta furnished by that historian with
our actual information. The length of this stadium may likewise be
ascertained by reference to Aristotle. In the time of Eratosthenes and
Strabo, the stadium of 700 to a degree was employed in Egypt. Now 6360
stadia of 1111-1/9 to a degree make just 4006 stadia of 700:
consequently these two measures are identical, their apparent
inconsistency merely resulting from the different scales by which
preceding authors had expressed them.” This reasoning seems very
plausible, but we must remark that Col. Leake, in a valuable paper “On
the Stade as a Linear Measure,” published in vol. ix. of the Journal of
the Royal Geographical Society, is of opinion that Gosselin’s system of
stadia of different lengths cannot be maintained.
[215] Namely Crates and Aristarchus. The last was of Alexandria, and
consequently an Egyptian. Crates was of Cilicia, which was regarded as a
part of Syria.
[216] This is a very favourite axiom with Strabo, notwithstanding he too
often forgets it himself.
[217] The Phrygians were considered to be more timid than any other
people, and consequently the hares of their country more timid than
those of any other. We see then a two-fold hyperbole in the expression
that a man is more timid than a Phrygian hare.
[218] Alcæus of Mitylene in the island of Lesbos, the earliest of the
Æolian lyric poets, began to flourish in the forty-second Olympiad (B.
C. 610). In the second year of this Olympiad we find Cicis and
Antimenidas, the brothers of Alcæus, fighting under Pittacus against
Melanchrus, who is described as the tyrant of Lesbos, and who fell in
the conflict. Alcæus does not appear to have taken part with his
brothers on this occasion; on the contrary, he speaks of Melanchrus in
terms of high praise. Alcæus is mentioned in connexion with the war in
Troas, between the Athenians and Mitylenæans, for the possession of
Sigæum. During the period which followed this war, the contest between
the nobles and the people of Mitylene was brought to a crisis. The party
of Alcæus engaged actively on the side of the nobles, and was defeated.
When he and his brother Antimenidas perceived that all hope of their
restoration to Mitylene was gone, they travelled over different
countries. Alcæus visited Egypt, and appears to have written poems in
which his adventures by sea were described. Horace, Carm. ii. 13. 26.
See Smith’s Dict. of Biog. and Mythol.
[219] But in it there is a haven with good mooring, from whence they
take equal ships into the sea, having drawn black water. Odyssey iv.
358.
[220] Certainly having suffered many things, and having wandered much, I
was brought in my ships, and I returned in the eighth year; having
wandered to Cyprus, and Phœnice, and the Egyptians, I came to the
Ethiopians and Sidonians, and Erembians, and Libya. Odyssey iv. 81.
[221] On the coasts of the Mediterranean.
[222] Strabo intends to say that the ships of Menelaus were not
constructed so as to be capable of being taken to pieces, and carried on
the backs of the sailors, as those of the Ethiopians were.
[223] Having mentioned the Phœnicians, amongst whom the Sidonians are
comprised, he certainly would not have enumerated these latter as a
separate people.
[224] That is to say, that he made the entire circuit of Africa,
starting from Cadiz, and doubling the Cape of Good Hope. Such was the
opinion of Crates, who endeavoured to explain all the expressions of
Homer after mathematical hypotheses. If any one were to inquire how
Menelaus, who was wandering about the Mediterranean, could have come
into Ethiopia, Crates would answer, that Menelaus left the Mediterranean
and entered the Atlantic, whence he could easily travel by sea into
Ethiopia. In this he merely followed the hypothesis of the
mathematicians, who said that the inhabited earth in all its southern
portion was traversed by the Atlantic Ocean, and the other seas
contiguous thereto.
[225] The Isthmus of Suez. This isthmus they supposed to be covered by
the sea, as Strabo explains further on.
[226] Thus far he, collecting much property and gold, wandered with his
ships. Odyssey iii. 301.
[227] Odyssey iv. 83.
[228] Strabo here appears to have followed Aristotle, who attributes to
Sesostris the construction of the first canal connecting the
Mediterranean, or rather the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, with the Red
Sea. Pliny has followed the same tradition. Strabo, Book xvii., informs
us, that other authors attribute the canal to Necho the son of
Psammeticus; and this is the opinion of Herodotus and Diodorus. It is
possible these authors may be speaking of two different attempts to cut
this canal. Sesostris flourished about 1356 years before Christ, Necho
615 years before the same era. About a century after Necho, Darius the
son of Hystaspes made the undertaking, but desisted under the false
impression that the level of the Red Sea was higher than that of the
Mediterranean. Ptolemy Philadelphus proved this to be an error, by
uniting the Red Sea to the Nile without causing any inundation. At the
time of Trajan and Hadrian the communication was still in existence,
though subsequently it became choked up by an accumulation of sand. It
will be remembered that a recent proposition for opening the canal was
opposed in Egypt on similar grounds.
[229] Mount El Kas.
[230] Tineh.
[231] But the immortals will send you to the Elysian plain, and the
boundaries of the earth. Odyssey iv. 563.
[232] But ever does the ocean send forth the gently blowing breezes of
the west wind. Odyssey iv. 567.
[233] Odyssey iv. 73. See Strabo’s description of electrum, Book iii. c.
ii. § 8.
[234] Blessed.
[235] The name of Arabia Felix is now confined to Yemen. A much larger
territory was anciently comprehended under this designation, containing
the whole of Hedjaz, and even Nedjed-el-Ared. It is probable that Strabo
here speaks of Hedjaz, situated about two days’ journey south of Mecca.
[236] Iliad xi. 20.
[237] Of the Mediterranean.
[238] Philæ was built on a little island formed by the Nile, now called
El-Heif.
[239] This is evidently Strabo’s meaning; but the text, as it now
stands, is manifestly corrupt.
[240] El-Baretun. A description of this place will be found in the 17th
book.
[241] At this port it was that Agesilaus terminated his glorious career.
[242] Iliad xiii. 1. Strabo means that Homer, after having spoken of the
Trojans in general, mentions Hector in particular.
[243] Iliad ii. 641. Having mentioned the sons of Œneus collectively, he
afterwards distinguishes one of them by name.
[244] Iliad viii. 47. Gargarus was one of the highest peaks of Ida.
[245] Iliad ii. 536. Chalcis and Eretria were two cities of Eubœa.
[246] We have here taken advantage of Casaubon’s suggestion to read ἡ
πάνορμος instead of ἢ Πάνορμος, the Greek name for Palermo in Sicily,
which was not founded in the time of Sappho.
[247] Odyssey iv. 83.
[248] Paris.
[249] Where were her variously embroidered robes, the works of Sidonian
females, which godlike Alexander himself had brought from Sidon, sailing
over the broad ocean, in that voyage in which he carried off Helen,
sprung from a noble sire. Iliad vi. 289.
[250] I will give thee a wrought bowl: it is all silver, and the lips
are bound with gold; it is the work of Vulcan: the hero Phædimus, king
of the Sidonians, gave it [to me], when his home sheltered me, as I was
returning from thence. I wish to give this to thee. Odyssey xv. 115.
[251] But in beauty it much excelled [all] upon the whole earth, for the
ingenious Sidonians had wrought it cunningly, and Phœnician men had
carried it. Iliad xxiii. 742.
[252] The Armenians.
[253] The Arabs.
[254] The Syrians.
[255] Dwelling in caverns.
[256] He saw the cities of many men, and learned their manners. Odyssey
i. 3.
[257] Having suffered many things, and having wandered much, I was
brought. Odyssey iv. 81.
[258] See Hesiod, Fragments, ed. Loesner, p. 434.
[259] This derivation of Arabia is as problematical as the existence of
the hero from whom it is said to have received its name; a far more
probable etymology is derived from _ereb_, signifying the west, a name
supposed to have been conferred upon it at a very early period by a
people inhabiting Persia.
[260] That is, that the Phœnicians and Sidonians dwelling around the
Persian Gulf are colonies from those inhabiting the shores of the
Mediterranean.
[261] As to this fact, upon which almost all geographers are agreed, it
is only rejected by Strabo because it stands in the way of his
hypothesis.
[262] Half men, half dogs.
[263] Long-headed men.
[264] A celebrated poet who flourished about seven centuries before the
Christian era, said to have been a native of Sardis in Lydia. Only three
short fragments of his writings are known to be in existence.
[265] Men who covered themselves with their feet.
[266] Dog-headed men.
[267] People having their eyes in their breasts.
[268] One-eyed.
[269] The Strait of Messina.
[270] For thrice in a day she sends it out, and thrice she sucks it in.
Odyssey xii. 105.
[271] For thrice in a day she sends it out, and thrice she sucks it in
terribly. Mayest thou not come hither when she is gulping it; for not
even Neptune could free thee from ill. Odyssey xii. 105.
[272] She gulped up the briny water of the sea; but I, raised on high to
the lofty fig-tree, held clinging to it, as a bat. Odyssey xii. 431.
[273] Odyssey v. 306.
[274] Iliad viii. 488.
[275] Iliad iii. 363.
[276] But I held without ceasing, until she vomited out again the mast
and keel; and it came late to me wishing for it: as late as a man has
risen from the forum to go to supper, adjudging many contests of
disputing youths, so late these planks appeared from Charybdis. Odyssey
xii. 437.
[277] Gaudus, the little island of Gozo near Malta, supposed by
Callimachus to have been the Isle of Calypso.
[278] It seems more probable that Callimachus intended the island of
Corsura, now Pantalaria, a small island between Africa and Sicily.
[279] The Atlantic.
[280] A river of Colchis, _hodie_ Fasz or Rion.
[281] Cybele, so named because she had a temple on Mount Ida.
[282] An island in the Ægæan, now Meteline.
[283] _Hodie_ Lemno or Stalimene.
[284] Euneos was the eldest of the children which Hypsipyle, daughter of
Thoas, king of Lemnos, had by Jason during his stay in that island.
[285] A town situated at the bottom of the Pelasgic Gulf, _hodie_ Volo.
[286] A country of Thessaly, which received its designation of Achæan,
from the same sovereign who left his name to Achaia in Peloponnesus.
[287] Eumelus, whom Alcestis, divine amongst women, most beautiful in
form of the daughters of Pelias, brought forth to Admetus. Iliad ii.
714.
[288] Named Ideessa in the time of Strabo. Strabo, book xi. c. ii. § 18.
[289] Sinop.
[290] Candia.
[291] _Hodie_ The Isle of Nanfio.
[292] Now the Island of Callistè, founded by Theras the Lacedæmonian
more than ten centuries before the Christian era.
[293] A name of Thessaly.
[294] The Gulf of Venice.
[295] The erroneous opinion that one of the mouths of the Danube emptied
itself into the Adriatic is very ancient, being spoken of by Aristotle
as a well-known fact, and likewise supported by Theopompus, Hipparchus,
and many other writers.
[296] Odyssey x. 137.
[297] Odyssey xii. 70.
[298] Antiphanes of Berga, a city of Thrace. This writer was so noted
for his falsehoods, that βεργαίζειν came to be a proverbial term for
designating that vice.
[299] Thirty years before the time of this Damastes, Herodotus had
demonstrated to the Greeks the real nature of the Arabian Gulf.
[300] This river, called by the Turks Karasu, rises somewhere in Mount
Taurus, and before emptying itself into the sea, runs through Tarsus.
[301] The Ab-Zal of oriental writers.
[302] The ancient capital of the kings of Persia, now Schuss.
[303] The very idea that Diotimus could sail from the Cydnus into the
Euphrates is most absurd, since, besides the distance between the two
rivers, they are separated by lofty mountain-ridges.
[304] Now the Bay of Ajazzo.
[305] Iskouriah.
[306] Gosselin justly remarks that this is a mere disputing about terms,
since, though it is true the Mediterranean and Euxine flow into each
other, it is fully admissible to describe them as separate. The same
authority proves that we ought to read 3600 and not 3000 stadia, which
he supposes to be a transcriber’s error.
[307] Castor and Pollux.
[308] Castor and Pollux were amongst the number of the Argonauts. On
their return they destroyed the pirates who infested the seas of Greece
and the Archipelago, and were in consequence worshipped by sailors as
tutelary deities.
[309] The Phœnicians or Carthaginians despatched Hanno to found certain
colonies on the western coast of Africa, about a thousand years before
the Christian era.
[310] Strabo here follows the general belief that Æneas escaped to Italy
after the sack of Troy, a fact clearly disproved by Homer, Iliad xx.
307, who states that the posterity of Æneas were in his time reigning at
Troy. To this passage Strabo alludes in his 13th book, and, contrary to
his general custom, hesitates whether to follow Homer’s authority or
that of certain grammarians who had mutilated the passage in order to
flatter the vanity of the Romans, who took pride in looking up to Æneas
and the Trojans as their ancestors.
[311] Antenor having betrayed his Trojan countrymen was forced to fly.
It is generally stated that, taking with him a party of the Heneti, (a
people of Asia Minor close to the Euxine,) who had come to the
assistance of Priam, he founded the city of Padua in Italy. From this
people the district in which Padua is situated received the name of
Henetia, afterwards Venetia or Venice.
[312] The coasts of Italy.
[313] It is generally admitted that the events of the Trojan war gave
rise to numerous colonies.
[314] The word λιμνοθάλασσα frequently signifies a salt marsh. The
French editors remark that it was a name given by the Greeks to lagoons
mostly found in the vicinity of the sea, though entirely separated
therefrom. Those which communicated with the sea were termed
στομαλίμναι.
[315] See book xvii. c. iii.
[316] A country close upon the Euxine.
[317] The Strait of the Dardanelles.
[318] At the time of Diodorus Siculus, the people of the Isle of
Samothracia preserved the tradition of an inundation caused by a sudden
rising of the waters of the Mediterranean, which compelled the
inhabitants to fly for refuge to the summits of the mountains; and long
after, the fishermen’s nets used to be caught by columns, which, prior
to the catastrophe, had adorned their edifices. It is said that the
inundation originated in a rupture of the chain of mountains which
enclosed the valley which has since become the Thracian Bosphorus or
Strait of Constantinople, through which the waters of the Black Sea flow
into the Mediterranean.
[319] Now Midjeh, in Roumelia, on the borders of the Black Sea. Strabo
alludes rather to the banks surrounding Salmydessus than to the town
itself.
[320] The part of Bulgaria next the sea, between Varna and the Danube,
now Dobrudzie.
[321] Tineh.
[322] El-Kas.
[323] Lake Sebaket-Bardoil.
[324] Probably the present Maseli. Most likely the place was so named
from the γέῤῥα, or wattled huts, of the troops stationed there to
prevent the ingress of foreign armies into Egypt.
[325] This city of Calpe was near Mount Calpe, one of the Pillars of
Hercules.
[326] Sea of Marmora.
[327] The Ægæan.
[328] Danube.
[329] Mingrelia.
[330] The river Fasz.
[331] Now Djanik.
[332] The river Thermeh.
[333] The Jekil-Irmak.
[334] Sidin, or Valisa, is comprised in the territory of Djanik, being
part of the ancient kingdom of Pontus.
[335] The river Geihun.
[336] Gosselin remarks that the alluvial deposit of this river is now no
nearer to Cyprus than it was at the time of the prediction.
[337] Cilicia and Cataonia are comprised in the modern Aladeuli.
[338] Iliad ix. 7.
[339] Being swollen it rises high around the projecting points, and
spits from it the foam of the sea. Iliad iv. 425.
[340] The lofty shores resound, the wave being ejected [upon the beach].
Iliad xvii. 265.
[341] The word ὄργυια, here rendered fathoms, strictly means the length
of the outstretched arms. As a measure of length it equals four πήχεις,
or six feet one inch. Gosselin seems to doubt with reason whether they
ever sounded such a depth as this would give, and proposes to compute it
by a smaller stadium in use at the time of Herodotus, which would have
the effect of diminishing the depth by almost one half.
[342] A city of Achaia near to the Gulf of Corinth. Pliny tells us it
was submerged during an earthquake, about 371 years before the Christian
era. According to Pausanias, it was a second time destroyed by the shock
of an earthquake, but again rebuilt by the inhabitants who survived.
[343] A city placed by some in Thrace, but by others in Pontus; a more
probable opinion seems to be that Bizone was in Lower Mœsia, on the
western side of the Euxine. Pomponius Mela asserts that Bizone was
entirely destroyed by an earthquake, but according to Strabo, (lib.
vii.,) who places it about 40 stadia from the sea, it was only partially
demolished.
[344] Ischia.
[345] We have here followed the earlier editions, as preferable to
Kramer, who supplies μὴ before μαθηματικὸς.
[346] Demetrius Poliorcetes: the same intention is narrated by Pliny and
other historians of Julius Cæsar, Caligula, and Nero.
[347] Kankri.
[348] Strait of Messina.
[349] The sea which washes the shores of Tuscany. Strabo applies the
term to the whole sea from the mouth of the Arno to Sicily.
[350] Strait of Messina.
[351] Gosselin observes that Le Père Babin, who had carefully examined
the currents of the Euripus of Chalcis, says that they are regular
during eighteen or nineteen days of every month, the flux and reflux
occurring twice in the twenty-four hours, and following the same laws as
in the ocean; but from the ninth to the thirteenth, and from the
twenty-first to the twenty-sixth, of each lunar month they become
irregular, the flux occurring from twelve to fourteen times in the
twenty-four hours, and the reflux as often.
[352] See Plutarch, de Plac. Philos. lib. i. c. 14, and Stobæus, Ecl.
Phys. lib. i. c. 18.
[353] El-Kas.
[354] The Arabian Gulf. Mr. Stephenson, while examining the Temsah
Lakes, anciently called the Bitter Lakes, discovered recent marine
remains similar to those on the shores of the present sea, clearly
showing that the basin of the Temsah Lakes was the head of the Arabian
Gulf at a period geologically recent.
[355] We have here followed MSS. which all read συνελθούσης δὲ τῆς
θαλάττης. The French editors propose συνενδούσης δὲ τῆς θαλάττης, with
the sense of “but on the retiring of the Mediterranean,” &c.
[356] This accusation may not seem quite fair to the English reader.
_Touch_ is the nearest term in our language by which we can express the
Greek συνάπτω, the use of which Strabo objects to in this passage; still
the meaning of the English word is much too definite for the Greek.
[357] The Atlantic.
[358] Viz. the Mediterranean.
[359] The western part of the town of Corinth, situated in the sea of
Crissa. Its modern name is Pelagio.
[360] Kankri.
[361] Viz. the temple of Jupiter Ammon, mentioned above.
[362] Gosselin remarks, Cyrene was founded 631 years before the
Christian era, and at that time the limits of the Mediterranean were the
same as they are now. Amongst the Greeks, dolphins were the ordinary
symbols of the principal sea-port towns; and if the delegates from Cyrene
set up this symbol of their country in the temple of Ammon, I see no
reason why Eratosthenes and Strabo should regard the offering as a proof
that the temple was on the sea-shore.
[363] We have thought it necessary, with the French translators, to
insert these words, since although they are found in no MS. of Strabo,
the argument which follows is clearly unintelligible without them.
[364] Hipparchus, believing that the Danube emptied itself by one mouth
into the Euxine, and by another into the Adriatic Gulf, imagined that if
the waters of the Mediterranean were raised in the manner proposed by
Eratosthenes, the valley through which that river flows would have been
submerged, and so formed a kind of strait by which the Euxine would have
been connected to the Adriatic Gulf.
[365] The Lipari Islands.
[366] There is some mistake here. Strabo himself elsewhere tells us that
the islands of Thera and Therasia were situated in the Ægæan Sea, near
to the island of Nanfio.
[367] “Defending from danger.” More probably, in this instance, the
Securer of Foundations.
[368] Egripo.
[369] This plain was near the city of Chalcis, which at the present day
bears the same name as the island itself.
[370] And reached the two fair-flowing springs, where the two springs of
the eddying Scamander rise. The one, indeed, flows with tepid water, and
a steam arises from it around, as of burning fire; whilst the other
flows forth in the summer time, like unto hail, or cold snow, or ice
from water. Iliad xxii. 147.
[371] Tantalus lived about 1387, B. C.
[372] Lydia and Ionia form the modern provinces of Aidin and Sarukan in
Anadoli. A part of the Troad still preserves the name of Troiaki.
[373] A mountain in Mæonia, close to the city of Magnesia.
[374] Ilus, who ascended the throne about 1400 years before the
Christian era, founded the city, to which he gave the name of Ilium. The
old city of Troy stood on a hill, and was safe from the inundation.
[375] These two cities were built on little islets adjoining the
continent. Alexander connected them with the mainland by means of
jetties. Clazomenæ was situated on the Gulf of Smyrna, near to a place
now called Vurla or Burla. The present appellation of Tyre, on the coast
of Phœnicia, is Sur.
[376] Tineh.
[377] El-Kas.
[378] Of Suez.
[379] That part of the Mediterranean adjoining Egypt.
[380] The Red Sea.
[381] The Red Sea and Mediterranean.
[382] Sta. Maura.
[383] Odyss. xxiv. 376.
[384] The island of Ortygia, now St. Marcian.
[385] Diakopton.
[386] Probably Bulika, according to others Trypia or Niora.
[387] Methone is the same town which Pausanias (l. ii. c. 32) names
Methona, it was situated in the Argolis between Trœzene and Epidaurus.
The above writer tells us that in the reign of Antigonus, son of
Demetrius king of Macedonia, there was a breaking out of subterranean
fires close to Methona. This event, which it is probable Strabo alludes
to, occurred some where between the years 277 and 244, before the
Christian era. The town still exists under its ancient name of Methona.
[388] An error in all the MSS. The Saronic Gulf is intended.
[389] Vide Strabo, b. ix. c. ii. § 34, 35.
[390] In Bœotia.
[391] The Second Iliad, or Catalogue of Ships.
[392] And those who inhabited grape-clustered Arne, and those [who
inhabited] Mideia. Iliad ii. 507.
[393] This Thracian lake or lagoon is now called Burum. It is formed by
the mouths of several rivers, and lies to the north of the isle of
Thaso.
[394] Diaskillo, _al._ Biga.
[395] These are certain little islands at the mouth of the river
Achelous, the modern Aspro-potamo, which formed the boundary between
Acarnania and Ætolia. Now Curzolari.
[396] It is supposed we should here read Herodotus. Conf. Herod. ii. 10.
[397] Daskalio.
[398] Now there is a certain rocky island in the middle of the sea,
between Ithaca and the rugged Samos, Asteris, not large; and in it there
are havens fit for ships, with two entrances. Odyssey iv. 844.
[399] That is to say, the territory opposite Issa; probably the ruins
near to Kalas Limenaias.
[400] The present island of Metelino.
[401] Ἡ δὲ Ἄντισσα νῆσος ἦν πρότερον, ὡς Μυρσίλος φησί· τῆς [δὲ] Λέσβου
καλουμένης πρότερον Ἴσσης, καὶ τὴν νῆσον Ἄντισσαν καλεῖσθαι συνέβη. Our
rendering of this passage, though rather free, seemed necessary to the
clear explication of the Greek.
[402] Procita.
[403] Ischia.
[404] Miseno, the northern cape of the Gulf of Naples.
[405] Capri.
[406] Reggio.
[407] These two mountains are separated from each other by the river
Penæus.
[408] Ῥαγάς, _a rent or chink_. This town was sixty miles from Ecbatana;
it was named by the Arabs Raï, and is now in ruins. It is the Rhages in
Tobias.
[409] Certain mountain defiles, now called Firouz-Koh.
[410] A western promontory of Eubœa, called by the modern Greeks Kabo
Lithari. The Lichadian Islands, which now bear the name of Litada, are
close by.
[411] A city of Eubœa; _hod._ Dipso.
[412] In Eubœa, now Orio.
[413] Now Echino; belonged to Thessaly and was near the sea.
[414] Now Stillida; situated on the Bay of Zeitun.
[415] A little town situated in a plain amongst the mountains. It
received its name from a tradition that Hercules abode there during the
time that the pyre on Mount Œta was being prepared, into which he cast
himself.
[416] Lamia in Thessaly.
[417] A city of the Epi-Cnemidian Locrians in Achaia; its present name
is Bondoniza.
[418] A town close to Scarpheia; its ruins are said to be still visible
at Palaio Kastro.
[419] Now Agriomela or Ellada, a river descending from Mount Œta, and
emptying itself into the Bay of Zeitun.
[420] A torrent near Thronium; its present name is Boagrio.
[421] Three cities of the Opuntian Locrians; Cynus, the port of Opus, is
now called Kyno.
[422] One of the principal cities of Phocis, near the river Cephissus; a
little village called Leuta stands on the ancient site.
[423] Probably the Alpene in Locris mentioned by Herodotus.
[424] The modern Talanta.
[425] Egripo.
[426] The Western Iberians are the people who inhabited Spain, and were
said to have removed into Eastern Iberia, a country situated in the
centre of the isthmus which separates the Euxine from the Caspian Sea.
The district is now called Carduel, and is a region of Georgia.
[427] The river Aras.
[428] The river Kur.
[429] The mountains which border Colchis or Mingrelia on the south.