-Now that I have described Iberia and the Celtic and Italian tribes, along with the islands near by, it will be next in order to speak of the remaining parts of Europe, dividing them in the approved manner. The remaining parts are: first, those towards the east, being those which are across the Rhenus and extend as far as the TanaïsThe Don. and the mouth of Lake Maeotis,The sea of Azof. and also all those regions lying between the AdriasThe Adriatic. and the regions on the left of the Pontic Sea that are shut off by the IsterThe Danube. and extend towards the south as far as Greece and the Propontis;The Sea of Marmora. for this river divides very nearly the whole of the aforesaid land into two parts. It is the largest of the European rivers, at the outset flowing towards the south and then turning straight from the west towards the east and the Pontus. It rises in the western limits of Germany, as also near the recess of the Adriatic (at a distance from it of about one thousand stadia), and comes to an end at the Pontus not very far from the outlets of the TyrasThe Dniester. and the Borysthenes,The Dnieper. bending from its easterly course approximately towards the north. Now the parts that are beyond the Rhenus and Celtica are to the north of the Ister; these are the territories of the Galatic and the Germanic tribes, extending as far as the Bastarnians and the Tyregetans and the River Borysthenes. And the territories of all the tribes between this river and the Tanaïs and the mouth of Lake Maeotis extend up into the interior as far as the oceanStrabo here means the “exterior” or “Northern” ocean (see 2. 5. 31 and the Frontispiece, Vol. i). and are washed by the Pontic Sea. But both the Illyrian and the Thracian tribes, and all tribes of the Celtic or other peoples that are mingled with these, as far as Greece, are to the south of the Ister. But let me first describe the parts outside the Ister, for they are much simpler than those on the other side.
-Now the parts beyond the Rhenus, immediately after the country of the Celti, slope towards the east and are occupied by the Germans, who, though they vary slightly from the Celtic stock in that they are wilder, taller, and have yellower hair, are in all other respects similar, for in build, habits, and modes of life they are such as I have said4. 4. 2-3. the Celti are. And I also think that it was for this reason that the Romans assigned to them the name “Germani,” as though they wished to indicate thereby that they were “genuine” Galatae, for in the language of the Romans “germani” means “genuine.”So also Julius Caesar, Tacitus, Pliny and the ancient writers in general regarded the Germans as Celts (Gauls). Dr. Richard Braungart has recently published a large work in two volumes in which he ably defends his thesis that the Boii, Vindelici, Rhaeti, Norici, Taurisci, and other tribes, as shown by their agricultural implements and contrivances, were originally, not Celts, but Germans, and, in all probability, the ancestors of all Germans (Sudgermanen, Heidelberg, 1914).
- The first parts of this country are those that are next to the Rhenus, beginning at its source and extending a far as its outlet; and this stretch of river-land taken as a whole is approximately the breadth of the country on its western side. Some of the tribes of this river-land were transferred by the Romans to Celtica, whereas the others anticipated the Romans by migrating deep into the country, for instance, the Marsi; and only a few people, including a part of the Sugambri,e.g., the Ubii (see 4. 3. 4). are left. After the people who live along the river come the other tribes that live between the Rhenus and the River Albis,The Elbe. and traverses no less territory than the former. Between the two are other navigable rivers also (among them the Amasias,The Ems. on which Drusus won a naval victory over the Bructeri), which likewise flow from the south towards the north and the ocean; for the country is elevated towards the south and forms a mountain chainThe chain of mountains that extends from northern Switzerland to Mt. Krapak. that connects with the Alps and extends towards the east as though it were a part of the Alps; and in truth some declare that they actually are a part of the Alps, both because of their aforesaid position and of the fact that they produce the same timber; however, the country in this region does not rise to a sufficient height for that. Here, too, is the Hercynian Forest,Now called the “Black Forest,” although the ancient term, according to Elton (Origins, p. 51, quoted by Tozer), embraced also “the forests of the Hartz, and the woods of Westphalia and Nassau.” and also the tribes of the Suevi, some of which dwell inside the forest, as, for instance, the tribes of the Coldui,Müller-Dübner and Forbiger, perhaps rightly, emend “Coldui” to “Coadui.” But as Tozer (p. 187) says, the information Strabo here gives about Germany “is very imperfect, and hardly extends at all beyond the Elbe.” in whose territory is Boihaemum,Hence the modern “Bohemia,” “the home of the Boii.” the domain of Marabodus, the place whither he caused to migrate, not only several other peoples, but in particular the Marcomanni, his fellow-tribesmen; for after his return from Rome this man, who before had been only a private citizen, was placed in charge of the affairs of state, for, as a youth he had been at Rome and had enjoyed the favor of Augustus, and on his return he took the rulership and acquired, in addition to the peoples aforementioned, the Lugii (a large tribe), the Zumi, the Butones, the Mugilones, the Sibini,Scholars have suggested different emendations for “Zumi,” “Butones,” “Mugilones,” and “Sibini,” since all these seem to be corrupt (see C. Müller, Ind. Var. Lect., p 981). For “Butones” it is fairly certain that Strabo wrote “Gutones” (the Goths). and also the Semnones, a large tribe of the Suevi themselves. However, while some of the tribes of the Suevi dwell inside the forest, as I was saying, others dwell outside of it, and have a common boundary with the Getae.The “Getae,” also called “Daci,” dwelt in what are now Rumania and souther Hungary. Now as for the tribe of the Suevi,Strabo now uses “tribe” in its broadest sense. it is the largest, for it extends from the Rhenus to the Albis; and a part of them even dwell on the far side of the Albis, as, for instance, the Hermondori and the Langobardi; and at the present time these latter, at least, have, to the last man, been driven in flight out of their country into the land on the far side of the river. It is a common characteristic of all the peoples in this part of the worldIncluding the Galatae (see 4. 4. 2). that they migrate with ease, because of the meagerness of their livelihood and because they do not till the soil or even store up food, but live in small huts that are merely temporary structures; and they live for the most part off their flocks, as the Nomads do, so that, in imitation of the Nomads, they load their household belongings on their wagons and with their beasts turn whithersoever they think best. But other German tribes are still more indigent. I mean the Cherusci, the Chatti, the Gamabrivii and the Chattuarii, and also, near the ocean, the Sugambri, the Chaubi, the Bructeri, and the Cimbri, and also the Cauci, the Caülci, the Campsiani, and several others. Both the VisurgisThe Weser. and the LupiasThe Lippe. Rivers run in the same direction as the Amasias, the Lupias being about six hundred stadia distant from the Rhenus and flowing through the country of the Lesser Bructeri.The Lesser Bructeri appear to have lived south of the Frisii and west of the Ems, while the Greater Bructeri lived east of it and south of the Western Chauci (cp. Ptolemaeus 2.11.6-7). Germany has also the Salas River;The Thüringian Sasle. and it was between the Salas and the Rhenus that Drusus Germanicus, while he was successfully carrying on the war, came to his end.In his thirtieth year (9 A.D.) his horse fell on him and broke his leg (Livy Ep. 140). He had subjugated, not only most of the tribes, but also the islands along the coast, among which is Burchanis,Now Borkum. The Romans nicknamed it “Fabaria” (“Bean Island”) because of the wild beans that grew there (Pliny 4.27). which he took by siege.
-These tribes have become known through their wars with the Romans, in which they would either yield and then later revolt again, or else quit their settlements; and they would have been better known if Augustus had allowed his generals to cross the Albis in pursuit of those who emigrated thither. But as a matter of fact he supposed that he could conduct the war in hand more successfully if he should hold off from those outside the Albis, who were living in peace, and should not incite them to make common cause with the others in their enmity against him. It was the Sugambri, who live near the Rhenus, that began the war, Melo being their leader; and from that time on different peoples at different times would cause a breach, first growing powerful and then being put down, and then revolting again, betraying both the hostages they had given and their pledges of good faith. In dealing with these peoples distrust has been a great advantage, whereas those who have been trusted have done the greatest harm, as, for instance, the Cherusci and their subjects, in whose country three Roman legions, with their general Quintilius Varus, were destroyed by ambush in violation of the treaty. But they all paid the penalty, and afforded the younger Germanicus a most brilliant triumphMay 26, 17 A.D. (Tacitus, Annals 2.41).—that triumph in which their most famous men and women were led captive, I mean Segimuntus, son of Segestes and chieftain of the Cherusci,and his sister Thusnelda, the wife of Armenius, the man who at the time of the violation of the treaty against Quintilius Varus was commander-in-chief of the Cheruscan army and even to this day is keeping up the war, and Thusnelda's three-year-old son Thumelicus; and also Sesithacus, the son of Segimerus and chieftain of the Cherusci, and Rhamis, his wife, and a daughter of Ucromirus chieftain of the Chatti, and Deudorix,The same name as “Theordoric.” a Sugambrian, the son of Baetorix the brother of Melo. But Segestes, the father-in-law of Armenius, who even from the outset had opposedSo Tac. Ann. 1.55; see also 1. 58, 71. the purpose of Armenius, and, taking advantage of an opportune time, had deserted him, was present as a guest of honor at the triumph over his loved ones. And Libes too, a priest of the Chatti, marched in the procession, as also other captives from the plundered tribes—the Caülci, Campsani, Bructeri, Usipi, Cherusci, Chatti, Chattuarii, Landi, Tubattii. Now the Rhenus is about three thousand stadia distant from the Albis, if one had straight roads to travel on, but as it is one must go by a circuitous route, which winds through a marshy country and forests.
-The Hercynian Forest is not only rather dense, but also has large trees, and comprises a large circuit within regions that are fortified by nature; in the center of it, however, lies a country (of which I have already spoken4. 6. 9 and 7. 1. 3.) that is capable of affording an excellent livelihood. And near it are the sources of both the Ister and the Rhenus, as also the lakeNow the Lake of Constance; also called the Bodensee. Cp. 4. 3. 3 and 4. 6. 9. between the two sources, and the marshesThe Untersee. into which the Rhenus spreads.Cp. 4. 3. 3. The perimeter of the lake is more than three hundred stadia, while the passage across it is nearly two hundred.These figures, as they stand in the manuscripts, are, of course, relatively impossible, and Strabo could hardly have made such a glaring error. Meineke and others emend 300 to 500, leaving the 200 as it is; but on textual grounds, at least, 600 is far more probable. “Passage across” (in Strabo) means the usual boat-passage, but the terminal points of this passage are now unknown. According to W.A.B. Coolidge (Encyclopedia Brittanica, s.v. “Lake of Constance”) the length of the lake is now 46 1/2 miles (from Bregenz to Stein-am-Rhein), while its greatest width is 10 1/2 miles. There is also an island in it which Tiberius used as a base of operations in his naval battle with the Vindelici. This lake is south of the sources of the Ister, as is also the Hercynian Forest, so that necessarily, in going from Celtica to the Hercynian Forest, one first crosses the lake and then the Ister, and from there on advances through more passable regions—plateaus—to the forest. Tiberius had proceeded only a day's journey from the lake when he saw the sources of the Ister. The country of the Rhaeti adjoins the lake for only a short distance, whereas that of the Helvetii and the Vindelici, and also the desert of the Boii, adjoin the greater part of it. All the peoples as far as the Pannonii, but more especially the Helvetii and the Vindelici, inhabit plateaus. But the countries of the Rhaeti and the Norici extend as far as the passes over the Alps and verge toward Italy, a part thereof bordering on the country of the Insubri and a part on that of the Carni and the legions about Aquileia. And there is also another large forest, Gabreta;The forest of the Bohemians. it is on this side of the territory of the Suevi, whereas the Hercynian Forest, which is also held by them, is on the far side.
+Now that I have described Iberia and the Celtic and Italian tribes, along with the islands near by, it will be next in order to speak of the remaining parts of Europe, dividing them in the approved manner. The remaining parts are: first, those towards the east, being those which are across the Rhenus and extend as far as the TanaïsThe Don. and the mouth of Lake Maeotis,The sea of Azof. and also all those regions lying between the AdriasThe Adriatic. and the regions on the left of the Pontic Sea that are shut off by the IsterThe Danube. and extend towards the south as far as Greece and the Propontis;The Sea of Marmora. for this river divides very nearly the whole of the aforesaid land into two parts. It is the largest of the European rivers, at the outset flowing towards the south and then turning straight from the west towards the east and the Pontus. It rises in the western limits of Germany, as also near the recess of the Adriatic (at a distance from it of about one thousand stadia), and comes to an end at the Pontus not very far from the outlets of the TyrasThe Dniester. and the Borysthenes,The Dnieper. bending from its easterly course approximately towards the north. Now the parts that are beyond the Rhenus and Celtica are to the north of the Ister; these are the territories of the Galatic and the Germanic tribes, extending as far as the Bastarnians and the Tyregetans and the River Borysthenes. And the territories of all the tribes between this river and the Tanaïs and the mouth of Lake Maeotis extend up into the interior as far as the oceanStrabo here means the “exterior” or “Northern” ocean (see 2. 5. 31 and the Frontispiece, Vol. i). and are washed by the Pontic Sea. But both the Illyrian and the Thracian tribes, and all tribes of the Celtic or other peoples that are mingled with these, as far as Greece, are to the south of the Ister. But let me first describe the parts outside the Ister, for they are much simpler than those on the other side.
+Now the parts beyond the Rhenus, immediately after the country of the Celti, slope towards the east and are occupied by the Germans, who, though they vary slightly from the Celtic stock in that they are wilder, taller, and have yellower hair, are in all other respects similar, for in build, habits, and modes of life they are such as I have said4. 4. 2-3. the Celti are. And I also think that it was for this reason that the Romans assigned to them the name “Germani,” as though they wished to indicate thereby that they were “genuine” Galatae, for in the language of the Romans “germani” means “genuine.”So also Julius Caesar, Tacitus, Pliny and the ancient writers in general regarded the Germans as Celts (Gauls). Dr. Richard Braungart has recently published a large work in two volumes in which he ably defends his thesis that the Boii, Vindelici, Rhaeti, Norici, Taurisci, and other tribes, as shown by their agricultural implements and contrivances, were originally, not Celts, but Germans, and, in all probability, the ancestors of all Germans (Sudgermanen, Heidelberg, 1914).
+ The first parts of this country are those that are next to the Rhenus, beginning at its source and extending a far as its outlet; and this stretch of river-land taken as a whole is approximately the breadth of the country on its western side. Some of the tribes of this river-land were transferred by the Romans to Celtica, whereas the others anticipated the Romans by migrating deep into the country, for instance, the Marsi; and only a few people, including a part of the Sugambri,e.g., the Ubii (see 4. 3. 4). are left. After the people who live along the river come the other tribes that live between the Rhenus and the River Albis,The Elbe. and traverses no less territory than the former. Between the two are other navigable rivers also (among them the Amasias,The Ems. on which Drusus won a naval victory over the Bructeri), which likewise flow from the south towards the north and the ocean; for the country is elevated towards the south and forms a mountain chainThe chain of mountains that extends from northern Switzerland to Mt. Krapak. that connects with the Alps and extends towards the east as though it were a part of the Alps; and in truth some declare that they actually are a part of the Alps, both because of their aforesaid position and of the fact that they produce the same timber; however, the country in this region does not rise to a sufficient height for that. Here, too, is the Hercynian Forest,Now called the “Black Forest,” although the ancient term, according to Elton (Origins, p. 51, quoted by Tozer), embraced also “the forests of the Hartz, and the woods of Westphalia and Nassau.” and also the tribes of the Suevi, some of which dwell inside the forest, as, for instance, the tribes of the Coldui,Müller-Dübner and Forbiger, perhaps rightly, emend “Coldui” to “Coadui.” But as Tozer (p. 187) says, the information Strabo here gives about Germany “is very imperfect, and hardly extends at all beyond the Elbe.” in whose territory is Boihaemum,Hence the modern “Bohemia,” “the home of the Boii.” the domain of Marabodus, the place whither he caused to migrate, not only several other peoples, but in particular the Marcomanni, his fellow-tribesmen; for after his return from Rome this man, who before had been only a private citizen, was placed in charge of the affairs of state, for, as a youth he had been at Rome and had enjoyed the favor of Augustus, and on his return he took the rulership and acquired, in addition to the peoples aforementioned, the Lugii (a large tribe), the Zumi, the Butones, the Mugilones, the Sibini,Scholars have suggested different emendations for “Zumi,” “Butones,” “Mugilones,” and “Sibini,” since all these seem to be corrupt (see C. Müller, Ind. Var. Lect., p 981). For “Butones” it is fairly certain that Strabo wrote “Gutones” (the Goths). and also the Semnones, a large tribe of the Suevi themselves. However, while some of the tribes of the Suevi dwell inside the forest, as I was saying, others dwell outside of it, and have a common boundary with the Getae.The “Getae,” also called “Daci,” dwelt in what are now Rumania and souther Hungary. Now as for the tribe of the Suevi,Strabo now uses “tribe” in its broadest sense. it is the largest, for it extends from the Rhenus to the Albis; and a part of them even dwell on the far side of the Albis, as, for instance, the Hermondori and the Langobardi; and at the present time these latter, at least, have, to the last man, been driven in flight out of their country into the land on the far side of the river. It is a common characteristic of all the peoples in this part of the worldIncluding the Galatae (see 4. 4. 2). that they migrate with ease, because of the meagerness of their livelihood and because they do not till the soil or even store up food, but live in small huts that are merely temporary structures; and they live for the most part off their flocks, as the Nomads do, so that, in imitation of the Nomads, they load their household belongings on their wagons and with their beasts turn whithersoever they think best. But other German tribes are still more indigent. I mean the Cherusci, the Chatti, the Gamabrivii and the Chattuarii, and also, near the ocean, the Sugambri, the Chaubi, the Bructeri, and the Cimbri, and also the Cauci, the Caülci, the Campsiani, and several others. Both the VisurgisThe Weser. and the LupiasThe Lippe. Rivers run in the same direction as the Amasias, the Lupias being about six hundred stadia distant from the Rhenus and flowing through the country of the Lesser Bructeri.The Lesser Bructeri appear to have lived south of the Frisii and west of the Ems, while the Greater Bructeri lived east of it and south of the Western Chauci (cp. Ptolemaeus 2.11.6-7). Germany has also the Salas River;The Thüringian Sasle. and it was between the Salas and the Rhenus that Drusus Germanicus, while he was successfully carrying on the war, came to his end.In his thirtieth year (9 A.D.) his horse fell on him and broke his leg (Livy Ep. 140). He had subjugated, not only most of the tribes, but also the islands along the coast, among which is Burchanis,Now Borkum. The Romans nicknamed it “Fabaria” (“Bean Island”) because of the wild beans that grew there (Pliny 4.27). which he took by siege.
+These tribes have become known through their wars with the Romans, in which they would either yield and then later revolt again, or else quit their settlements; and they would have been better known if Augustus had allowed his generals to cross the Albis in pursuit of those who emigrated thither. But as a matter of fact he supposed that he could conduct the war in hand more successfully if he should hold off from those outside the Albis, who were living in peace, and should not incite them to make common cause with the others in their enmity against him. It was the Sugambri, who live near the Rhenus, that began the war, Melo being their leader; and from that time on different peoples at different times would cause a breach, first growing powerful and then being put down, and then revolting again, betraying both the hostages they had given and their pledges of good faith. In dealing with these peoples distrust has been a great advantage, whereas those who have been trusted have done the greatest harm, as, for instance, the Cherusci and their subjects, in whose country three Roman legions, with their general Quintilius Varus, were destroyed by ambush in violation of the treaty. But they all paid the penalty, and afforded the younger Germanicus a most brilliant triumphMay 26, 17 A.D. (Tacitus, Annals 2.41).—that triumph in which their most famous men and women were led captive, I mean Segimuntus, son of Segestes and chieftain of the Cherusci,and his sister Thusnelda, the wife of Armenius, the man who at the time of the violation of the treaty against Quintilius Varus was commander-in-chief of the Cheruscan army and even to this day is keeping up the war, and Thusnelda's three-year-old son Thumelicus; and also Sesithacus, the son of Segimerus and chieftain of the Cherusci, and Rhamis, his wife, and a daughter of Ucromirus chieftain of the Chatti, and Deudorix,The same name as “Theordoric.” a Sugambrian, the son of Baetorix the brother of Melo. But Segestes, the father-in-law of Armenius, who even from the outset had opposedSo Tac. Ann. 1.55; see also 1. 58, 71. the purpose of Armenius, and, taking advantage of an opportune time, had deserted him, was present as a guest of honor at the triumph over his loved ones. And Libes too, a priest of the Chatti, marched in the procession, as also other captives from the plundered tribes—the Caülci, Campsani, Bructeri, Usipi, Cherusci, Chatti, Chattuarii, Landi, Tubattii. Now the Rhenus is about three thousand stadia distant from the Albis, if one had straight roads to travel on, but as it is one must go by a circuitous route, which winds through a marshy country and forests.
+The Hercynian Forest is not only rather dense, but also has large trees, and comprises a large circuit within regions that are fortified by nature; in the center of it, however, lies a country (of which I have already spoken4. 6. 9 and 7. 1. 3.) that is capable of affording an excellent livelihood. And near it are the sources of both the Ister and the Rhenus, as also the lakeNow the Lake of Constance; also called the Bodensee. Cp. 4. 3. 3 and 4. 6. 9. between the two sources, and the marshesThe Untersee. into which the Rhenus spreads.Cp. 4. 3. 3. The perimeter of the lake is more than three hundred stadia, while the passage across it is nearly two hundred.These figures, as they stand in the manuscripts, are, of course, relatively impossible, and Strabo could hardly have made such a glaring error. Meineke and others emend 300 to 500, leaving the 200 as it is; but on textual grounds, at least, 600 is far more probable. “Passage across” (in Strabo) means the usual boat-passage, but the terminal points of this passage are now unknown. According to W.A.B. Coolidge (Encyclopedia Brittanica, s.v. “Lake of Constance”) the length of the lake is now 46 1/2 miles (from Bregenz to Stein-am-Rhein), while its greatest width is 10 1/2 miles. There is also an island in it which Tiberius used as a base of operations in his naval battle with the Vindelici. This lake is south of the sources of the Ister, as is also the Hercynian Forest, so that necessarily, in going from Celtica to the Hercynian Forest, one first crosses the lake and then the Ister, and from there on advances through more passable regions—plateaus—to the forest. Tiberius had proceeded only a day's journey from the lake when he saw the sources of the Ister. The country of the Rhaeti adjoins the lake for only a short distance, whereas that of the Helvetii and the Vindelici, and also the desert of the Boii, adjoin the greater part of it. All the peoples as far as the Pannonii, but more especially the Helvetii and the Vindelici, inhabit plateaus. But the countries of the Rhaeti and the Norici extend as far as the passes over the Alps and verge toward Italy, a part thereof bordering on the country of the Insubri and a part on that of the Carni and the legions about Aquileia. And there is also another large forest, Gabreta;The forest of the Bohemians. it is on this side of the territory of the Suevi, whereas the Hercynian Forest, which is also held by them, is on the far side.
-As for the Cimbri, some things that are told about them are incorrect and others are extremely improbable. For instance, one could not accept such a reason for their having become a wandering and piratical folk as this—that while they were dwelling on a Peninsula they were driven out of their habitations by a great flood-tide; for in fact they still hold the country which they held in earlier times; and they sent as a present to Augustus the most sacred kettleWhen the throats of prisoners of war were cut, the blood was caught in huge brazen kettles (7. 2. 3). in their country, with a plea for his friendship and for an amnesty of their earlier offences, and when their petition was granted they set sail for home; and it is ridiculous to suppose that they departed from their homes because they were incensed on account of a phenomenon that is natural and eternal, occurring twice every day. And the assertion that an excessive flood-tide once occurred looks like a fabrication, for when the ocean is affected in this way it is subject to increases and diminutions, but these are regulated and periodical.Cp. 3. 5. 9. And the man who said that the Cimbri took up arms against the flood-tides was not right, either; nor yet the statement that the Celti, as a training in the virtue of fearlessness, meekly abide the destruction of their homes by the tides and then rebuild them, and that they suffer a greater loss of life as the result of water than of war, as Ephorus says. Indeed, the regularity of the flood-tides and the fact that the part of the country subject to inundations was known should have precluded such absurdities; for since this phenomenon occurs twice every day, it is of course improbable that the Cimbri did not so much as once perceive that the reflux was natural and harmless, and that it occurred, not in their country alone, but in every country that was on the ocean. Neither is Cleitarchus right; for he says that the horsemen, on seeing the onset of the sea, rode away, and though in full flight came very near being cut off by the water. Now we know, in the first place, that the invasion of the tide does not rush on with such speed as that, but that the sea advances imperceptibly; and, secondly, that what takes place daily and is audible to all who are about to draw near it, even before they behold it, would not have been likely to prompt in them such terror that they would take to flight, as if it had occurred unexpectedly.
-Poseidonius is right in censuring the historians for these assertions, and his conjecture is not a bad one, that the Cimbri, being a piratical and wandering folk, made an expedition even as far as the region of Lake Maeotis, and that also the “Cimmerian” BosporusThe Strait of Kerch (or Yenikale). was named after them, being equivalent to “Cimbrian,” the Greeks naming the Cimbri “Cimmerii.” And he goes off to say that in earlier times the Boii dwelt in the Hercynian Forest, and that the Cimbri made a sally against this place, but on being repulsed by the Boii, went down to the Ister and the country of the Scordiscan Galatae,The Galatae lived between the Ister (Danube) and Morava Rivers on the confines of Illyria. then to the country of the TeuristaeCp. “Tauristae,” 7. 3. 2. and Taurisci (these, too, Galatae), and then to the country of the Helvetii—men rich in gold but peaceable; however, when the Helvetii saw that the wealth which the Cimbri had got from their robberies surpassed that of their own country, they, and particularly their tribes of Tigyreni and of Toygeni, were so excited that they sallied forth with the Cimbri. All, however, were subdued by the Romans, both the Cimbri themselves and those who had joined their expeditions, in part after they had crossed the Alps into Italy and in part while still on the other side of the Alps.
+As for the Cimbri, some things that are told about them are incorrect and others are extremely improbable. For instance, one could not accept such a reason for their having become a wandering and piratical folk as this—that while they were dwelling on a Peninsula they were driven out of their habitations by a great flood-tide; for in fact they still hold the country which they held in earlier times; and they sent as a present to Augustus the most sacred kettleWhen the throats of prisoners of war were cut, the blood was caught in huge brazen kettles (7. 2. 3). in their country, with a plea for his friendship and for an amnesty of their earlier offences, and when their petition was granted they set sail for home; and it is ridiculous to suppose that they departed from their homes because they were incensed on account of a phenomenon that is natural and eternal, occurring twice every day. And the assertion that an excessive flood-tide once occurred looks like a fabrication, for when the ocean is affected in this way it is subject to increases and diminutions, but these are regulated and periodical.Cp. 3. 5. 9. And the man who said that the Cimbri took up arms against the flood-tides was not right, either; nor yet the statement that the Celti, as a training in the virtue of fearlessness, meekly abide the destruction of their homes by the tides and then rebuild them, and that they suffer a greater loss of life as the result of water than of war, as Ephorus says. Indeed, the regularity of the flood-tides and the fact that the part of the country subject to inundations was known should have precluded such absurdities; for since this phenomenon occurs twice every day, it is of course improbable that the Cimbri did not so much as once perceive that the reflux was natural and harmless, and that it occurred, not in their country alone, but in every country that was on the ocean. Neither is Cleitarchus right; for he says that the horsemen, on seeing the onset of the sea, rode away, and though in full flight came very near being cut off by the water. Now we know, in the first place, that the invasion of the tide does not rush on with such speed as that, but that the sea advances imperceptibly; and, secondly, that what takes place daily and is audible to all who are about to draw near it, even before they behold it, would not have been likely to prompt in them such terror that they would take to flight, as if it had occurred unexpectedly.
+Poseidonius is right in censuring the historians for these assertions, and his conjecture is not a bad one, that the Cimbri, being a piratical and wandering folk, made an expedition even as far as the region of Lake Maeotis, and that also the “Cimmerian” BosporusThe Strait of Kerch (or Yenikale). was named after them, being equivalent to “Cimbrian,” the Greeks naming the Cimbri “Cimmerii.” And he goes off to say that in earlier times the Boii dwelt in the Hercynian Forest, and that the Cimbri made a sally against this place, but on being repulsed by the Boii, went down to the Ister and the country of the Scordiscan Galatae,The Galatae lived between the Ister (Danube) and Morava Rivers on the confines of Illyria. then to the country of the TeuristaeCp. “Tauristae,” 7. 3. 2. and Taurisci (these, too, Galatae), and then to the country of the Helvetii—men rich in gold but peaceable; however, when the Helvetii saw that the wealth which the Cimbri had got from their robberies surpassed that of their own country, they, and particularly their tribes of Tigyreni and of Toygeni, were so excited that they sallied forth with the Cimbri. All, however, were subdued by the Romans, both the Cimbri themselves and those who had joined their expeditions, in part after they had crossed the Alps into Italy and in part while still on the other side of the Alps.
Writers report a custom of the Cimbri to this effect: Their wives, who would accompany them on their expeditions, were attended by priestesses who were seers; these were grey-haired, clad in white, with flaxen cloaks fastened on with clasps, girt with girdles of bronze, and bare-footed; now sword in hand these priestesses would meet with the prisoners of war throughout the camp, and having first crowned them with wreaths would lead them to a brazen vessel of about twenty amphorae;About 120 gallons. and they had a raised platform which the priestess would mount, and then, bending over the kettle,Cp. 7. 2. 1. would cut the throat of each prisoner after he had been lifted up; and from the blood that poured forth into the vessel some of the priestesses would draw a prophecy, while still others would split open the body and from an inspection of the entrails would utter a prophecy of victory for their own people; and during the battles they would beat on the hides that were stretched over the wicker-bodies of the wagons and in this way produce an unearthly noise.
-Of the Germans, as I have said,7. 1. 1. those towards the north extend along the ocean;Cp. 7. 1. 1 and the footnote on “ocean.” and beginning at the outlets of the Rhenus, they are known as far as the Albis; and of these the best known are the Sugambri and the Cimbri; but those parts of the country beyond the Albis that are near the ocean are wholly unknown to us. For of the men of earlier times I know of no one who has made this voyage along the coast to the eastern parts that extend as far as the mouthSee the Frontispiece, Vol. I. of the Caspian Sea; and the Romans have not yet advanced into the parts that are beyond the Albis; and likewise no one has made the journey by land either. However, it is clear from the “climata” and the parallel distances that if one travels longitudinally towards the east, one encounters the regions that are about the Borysthenes and that are to the north of the Pontus; but what is beyond Germany and what beyond the countries which are next after Germany—whether one should say the Bastarnae, as most writers suspect, or say that others lie in between, either the Iazyges, or the Roxolani,Cp. 2. 5. 7 and 7. 3. 17. or certain other of the wagon-dwellersCp. 2. 5. 26.—it is not easy to say; nor yet whether they extend as far as the ocean along its entire length, or whether any part is uninhabitable by reason of the cold or other cause, or whether even a different race of people, succeeding the Germans, is situated between the sea and the eastern Germans. And this same ignorance prevails also in regard to the rest of the peoples that come next in order on the north; for I know neither the Bastarnae,See 2. 5. 30. nor the Sauromatae, nor, in a word, any of the peoples who dwell above the Pontus, nor how far distant they are from the Atlantic Sea,The same in Strabo as “the Atlantic Ocean,” including the “Northern Ocean.” nor whether their countries border upon it.
+Of the Germans, as I have said,7. 1. 1. those towards the north extend along the ocean;Cp. 7. 1. 1 and the footnote on “ocean.” and beginning at the outlets of the Rhenus, they are known as far as the Albis; and of these the best known are the Sugambri and the Cimbri; but those parts of the country beyond the Albis that are near the ocean are wholly unknown to us. For of the men of earlier times I know of no one who has made this voyage along the coast to the eastern parts that extend as far as the mouthSee the Frontispiece, Vol. I. of the Caspian Sea; and the Romans have not yet advanced into the parts that are beyond the Albis; and likewise no one has made the journey by land either. However, it is clear from the “climata” and the parallel distances that if one travels longitudinally towards the east, one encounters the regions that are about the Borysthenes and that are to the north of the Pontus; but what is beyond Germany and what beyond the countries which are next after Germany—whether one should say the Bastarnae, as most writers suspect, or say that others lie in between, either the Iazyges, or the Roxolani,Cp. 2. 5. 7 and 7. 3. 17. or certain other of the wagon-dwellersCp. 2. 5. 26.—it is not easy to say; nor yet whether they extend as far as the ocean along its entire length, or whether any part is uninhabitable by reason of the cold or other cause, or whether even a different race of people, succeeding the Germans, is situated between the sea and the eastern Germans. And this same ignorance prevails also in regard to the rest of the peoples that come next in order on the north; for I know neither the Bastarnae,See 2. 5. 30. nor the Sauromatae, nor, in a word, any of the peoples who dwell above the Pontus, nor how far distant they are from the Atlantic Sea,The same in Strabo as “the Atlantic Ocean,” including the “Northern Ocean.” nor whether their countries border upon it.
-As for the southern part of Germany beyond the Albis, the portion which is just contiguous to that river is occupied by the Suevi; then immediately adjoining this is the land of the Getae, which, though narrow at first, stretching as it does along the Ister on its southern side and on the opposite side along the mountain-side of the Hercynian Forest (for the land of the Getae also embraces a part of the mountains), afterwards broadens out towards the north as far as the Tyregetae; but I cannot tell the precise boundaries. It is because of men's ignorance of these regions that any heed has been given to those who created the mythical “Rhipaean Mountains”Cp. Pliny 4.26 and “Hyperboreans,”Cp. 1. 3. 22. and also to all those false statements made by Pytheas the Massalian regarding the country along the ocean, wherein he uses as a screen his scientific knowledge of astronomy and mathematics.Cp. 1. 4. 3-5, 2. 3. 5 and 2. 4. 1-2. So then, those men should be disregarded; in fact, if even Sophocles, when in his role as a tragic poet he speaks of Oreithyia,The daughter of Erechtheus, a mythical Attic king. The passage here quoted is a fragment Nauck, Fragmenta, 870) of a play now lost. Cp. Soph. Ant. 981ff tells how she was snatched up by “Boreas” and carried “over the whole sea to the ends of the earth and to the sources of nightThe west. and to the unfoldings of heavenThe east. and to the ancient garden of Phoebus,”
Soph. Fr. 870 (Nauck)The south, apparently; and thus Boreas would have carried her to the four ends of the earth. The home of Boreas (North Wind), according to the poets, was in the Haemus (Balkan), or Rhipaean, Mountains, on the “Sarpedonian Rock.” his story can have no bearing on the present inquiry, but should be disregarded, just as it is disregarded by Socrates in the
Phaedrus.Plat. Phaedrus 229 But let us confine our narrative to what we have learned from history, both ancient and modern.
-Now the Greeks used to suppose that the Getae were Thracians; and the Getae lived on either side the Ister, as did also the Mysi, these also being Thracians and identical with the people who are now called Moesi; from these Mysi sprang also the Mysi who now live between the Lydians and the Phrygians and Trojans. And the Phrygians themselves are Brigians, a Thracian tribe, as are also the Mygdonians, the Bebricians, the Medobithynians,The correct spelling of the word is “Maedobithynians.” the Bithynians, and the Thynians, and, I think, also the Mariandynians. These peoples, to be sure, have all utterly quitted Europe, but the Mysi have remained there. And Poseidonius seems to me to be correct in his conjecture that Homer designates the Mysi in Europe (I mean those in Thrace) when he says, “But back he turned his shining eyes, and looked far away towards the land of the horsetending Thracians, and of the Mysi, hand-to-hand fighters”
Hom. Il. 13.3ff for surely, if one should take Homer to mean the Mysi in Asia, the statement would not hang together. Indeed, when Zeus turns his eyes away from the Trojans towards the land of the Thracians, it would be the act of a man who confuses the continents and does not understand the poet's phraseology to connect with Thrace the land of the Asiatic Mysi, who are not “far away,” but have a common boundary with the Troad and are situated behind it and on either side of it, and are separated from Thrace by the broad Hellespont; for “back he turned” generallyThe other meaning of the word in question (pa/lin) is “again.” Aristarchus, the great Homeric scholar (fl. about 155 B.C.), quoted by Hesychius (s.v.), says that “generally the poet uses pa/lin in the place-sense and not, as we do, in the time-sense.” means “to the rear,” and he who transfers his gaze from the Trojans to the people who are either in the rear of the Trojans or on their flanks, does indeed transfer his gaze rather far, but not at all “to the rear.”i.e., “to the rear” of himself. Again, the appended phrase“And of the proud Hippemolgi (mare-milkers), Galactophagi (curd-eaters), and Abii ( a resourceless folk), men most just” Cp. 1. 1. 6. is testimony to this very view, because the poet connected with the Mysi the “Hippemolgi” and “Galactophagi” and “Abii,” who are indeed the wagon-dwelling Scythians and Sarmatians. For at the present time these tribes, as well as the Bastarnian tribes, are mingled with the Thracians (more indeed with those outside the Ister, but also with those inside). And mingled with them are also the Celtic tribes—the Boii, the Scordisci, and the Taurisci. However, the Scordisci are by some called “Scordistae”; and the Taurisci are called also “Ligurisci”“Ligursci” is almost certainly corrupt. Meineke is probably right in emending to “Teurisci.” and “Tauristae.”Cp. “Teuristae,” 7. 2. 2.
-Poseidonius goes on to say of the Mysians that in accordance with their religion they abstain from eating any living thing, and therefore from their flocks as well; and that they use as food honey and milk and cheese, living a peaceable life, and for this reason are called both “god-fearing” and “capnobatae”;Scholars have suggested various emendations to “capnobatae,” but there is no variation in the spelling of the word in any of the manuscripts, either here or in section 4 below. Its literal meaning is “smoke-treaders” (cp. a)eroba/ths, a)eroba/tw| Aristophanes, Clouds 225, 1503), and it seems to allude in some way to the smoke of sacrifice and the more of less ethereal existence of the people, or else (see Herodotus 1. 202 and 4.75) to the custom of generating an intoxicating vapor by throwing hemp-seed upon red-hot stones. Berkel and Wakefield would emend, respectively to “capnopatae” and “capnobotae” (“smoke-eaters,” i.e., people who live on food of no value). and there are some of the Thracians who live apart from woman-kind; these are called “Ctistae,”Literally, “creators” or “founders.” But, like “capnobatae,” the force of the word here is unknown. and because of the honor in which they are held, have been dedicated to the gods and live with freedom from every fear; accordingly, Homer speaks collectively of all these peoples as “proud Hippemolgi, Galactophagi and Abii, men most just,” but he calls them “Abii” more especially for this reason, that they live apart from women, since he thinks that a life which is bereft of woman is only half-complete (just as he thinks the “house of Protesilaüs” is only “half complete,” because it is so bereftHom. Il. 2.701); and he speaks of the Mysians as “hand-to-hand fighters” because they were indomitable, as is the case with all brave warriors; and Poseidonius adds that in the Thirteenth BookHom. Il. 13.5 one should read “Moesi, hand-to-hand fighters” instead of “Mysi, hand-to-hand fighters.”
-However, it is perhaps superfluous to disturb the reading that has had approval for so many years; for it is much more credible that the people were called Mysi at first and that later their name was changed to what it is now. And as for the term “Abii,” one might interpret it as meaning those who are “without hearth:” and “live on wagons” quite as well as those who are “bereft”; for since, in general, injustices arise only in connection with contracts and a too high regard for property, so it is reasonable that those who, like the Abii, live cheaply, on slight resources, should have been called “most just.” In fact, the philosophers who put justice next to self-restraint strive above all things for frugality and personal independence; and consequently extreme self-restraint diverts some of them to the Cynical mode of life. But as for the statement that they live “bereft of women,” the poet suggests nothing of the sort, and particularly in the country of the Thracians and of those of their number who are Getae. And see the statement of Menander about them, which, as one may reasonably suppose, was not invented by him but taken from history: “All the Thracians, and most of all we Getae (for I too boast that I am of this stock) are not very continent;”
Menander Fr. 547 (Kock and a little below he sets down the proofs of their incontinence in their relations with women: “For every man of us marries ten or eleven women, and some, twelve or more; but if anyone meets death before he has married more than four or five, he is lamented among the people there as a wretch without bride and nuptial song.”
Menander Fr. 548 (Kock Indeed, these facts are confirmed by the other writers as well. Further, it is not reasonable to suppose that the same people regard as wretched a life without many women, and yet at the same time regard as pious and just a life that is wholly bereft of women. And of course to regard as “both god-fearing and capnobatae” those who are without women is very much opposed to the common notions on that subject; for all agree in regarding the women as the chief founders of religion, and it is the women who provoke the men to the more attentive worship of the gods, to festivals, and to supplications, and it is a rare thing for a man who lives by himself to be found addicted to these things. See again what the same poet says when he introduces as speaker the man who is vexed by the money spent by the women in connection with the sacrifices: “The gods are the undoing of us, especially us married men, for we must always be celebrating some festival;”
Menander Fr. 601 (Kock and again when he introduces the Woman-hater, who complains about these very things: “we used to sacrifice five times a day, and seven female attendants would beat the cymbals all round us, while others would cry out to the gods.”
Menander Fr. 326 (Kock So, then, the interpretation that the wifeless men of the Getae are in a special way reverential towards the gods is clearly contrary to reason, whereas the interpretation that zeal for religion is strong in this tribe, and that because of their reverence for the gods the people abstain from eating any living thing, is one which, both from what Poseidonius and from what the histories in general tell us, should not be disbelieved.
-In fact, it is said that a certain man of the Getae, Zamolxis by name, had been a slave to Pythagoras, and had learned some things about the heavenly bodies from him,For another version of the story of Zamolxis, see Hdt. 4.94-96, who doubts whether such a man ever existed, but says that he was reputed to have been, for a time, a slave pf Pythagoras in Samos. as also certain other things from the Egyptians, for in his wanderings he had gone even as far as Egypt; and when he came on back to his home-land he was eagerly courted by the rulers and the people of the tribe, because he could make predictions from the celestial signs; and at last he persuaded the king to take him as a partner in the government, on the ground that he was competent to report the will of the gods; and although at the outset he was only made a priest of the god who was most honored in their country, yet afterwards he was even addressed as god, and having taken possession of a certain cavernous place that was inaccessible to anyone else he spent his life there, only rarely meeting with any people outside except the king and his own attendants; and the king cooperated with him, because he saw that the people paid much more attention to himself than before, in the belief that the decrees which he promulgated were in accordance with the counsel of the gods. This custom persisted even down to our own time, because some man of that character was always to be found, who, though in fact only a counsellor to the king, was called god among the Getae. And the people took up the notion that the mountainThe “cavernous place” previously referred to. was sacred and they so call it, but its name is Cogaeonum,Some scholars identify this mountain with what is now Mt. Gogany (near Mika); others, with Mt. Kaszon (on the borders of Transylvania and Moldavia). The former is more likely. like that of the river which flows past it. So, too, at the time when Byrebistas,Strabo also spells the name “Boerebistas (7. 3. 11, 12). against whom alreadyCp. 7. 3. 11. the Deified Caesar had prepared to make an expedition, was reigning over the Getae, the office in question was held by Decaeneus, and somehow or other the Pythagorean doctrine of abstention from eating any living thing still survived as taught by Zamolxis.
-Now although such difficulties as these might fairly be raised concerning what is found in the text of Homer about the Mysians and the “proud Hippemolgi,” yet what Apollodorus states in the preface to the Second Book of his work On ShipsOr rather On the Catalogue of Ships (1. 2. 24). can by no means be asserted; for he approves the declaration of Eratosthenes, that although both Homer and the other early authors knew the Greek places, they were decidedly unacquainted with those that were far away, since they had no experience either in making long journeys by land or in making voyages by sea. And in support of this Apollodorus says that Homer calls Aulis “rocky”Hom. Il. 2.496 (and so it is), and Eteonus “place of many ridges,”Hom. Il. 2.497 and Thisbe “haunt of doves,”Hom. Il. 2.502 and Haliartus “grassy,”Hom. Il. 2.503 but, he says, neither Homer nor the others knew the places that were far away. At any rate, he says, although about forty rivers now into the Pontus, Homer mentions not a single one of those that are the most famous, as, for example, the Ister, the Tanaïs, the Borysthenes, the Hypanis, the Phasis, the Thermodon, the Halys;Now, respectively, the Danube, Don, Dnieper, Bog, Rion, Termeh, and Kizil-Irmak. and, besides, he does not mention the Scythians, but invents certain “proud Hippemolgi” and “Galactophagi” and “Abii”; and as for the Paphlagonians of the interior, he reports what he has learned from those who have approached the regions afoot, but he is ignorant of the seaboard,Cp. 12. 3. 26. and naturally so, for at that time this sea was not navigable, and was called AxineThat is “Inhospitable. because of its wintry storms and the ferocity of the tribes that lived around it, and particularly the Scythians, in that they sacrificed strangers, ate their flesh, and used their skulls as drinking-cups; but later it was called “Euxine,”“Hospitable,” euphemistically. when the Ionians founded cities on the seaboard. And, likewise, Homer is also ignorant of the facts about Egypt and Libya, as, for example, about the risings of the Nile and the silting up of the sea,Cp. 1. 2. 29. things which he nowhere mentions; neither does he mention the isthmus between the ErythraeanRed. and the EgyptianMediterranean. Seas, nor the regions of Arabia and Ethiopia and the ocean, unless one should give heed to Zeno the philosopher when he writes, “And I came to the Ethiopians and Sidonians and Arabians.”
Hom Od. 4.84Zeno emended the Homeric text to read as above (see 1. 2. 34). But this ignorance in Homer's case is not amazing, for those who have lived later than he have been ignorant of many things and have invented marvellous tales: Hesiod, when he speaks of “men who are half-dog,”Cp. 1. 2. 35. of “long-headed men,” and of “Pygmies”; and Alcman, when he speaks of “web footed men”; and Aeschylus, when he speaks of “dog-headed men,” of “men with eyes in their breasts”, and of “one-eyed men” (in his Prometheus it is saidAeschylus refers to “one-eyed” men in Aesch. PB 804. The other epithets (See Nauck, Fr. 431, 441) were taken from plays now lost.); and a host of other tales. From these men he proceeds against the historians who speak of the “Rhipaean Mountains,”Cp. 7. 3. 1. and of “Mt. Ogyium,”“Mt. Ogyium” is otherwise unknown. The reading is probably corrupt. and of the settlement of the Gorgons and Hesperides, and of the “Land of Meropis”Aelian Var. Hist. 3.18 says that Theopompus the historian related a conversation between King Midas and Silenus in which Silenus reported a race called “meropians” who inhabited a continent larger than Asia, Europe, and Africa combined. in Theopompus,Theopompus (b. about 380 B.C.) write, among other works, two histories, (1) the Hellenica, in twelve books, being a continuation of Thucydides and covering the period from 411 to 394 B.C., and (2) the Philippica, in fifty-eight books, being a history of the life and times of Philip of Macedon (360-336 BC.). Only a few fragments of these works remain. and the “City of Cimmeris” in Hecataeus,Hecataeus (b. about 540 B.C.) wrote both a geographical and an historical treatise. Only fragments remain. and the “Land of Panchaea”Cp. 2. 4. 2. in Euhemerus,Euhemerus (fl. about 310 B.C.) wrote a work on Sacred History (cp. 1. 3. 1). and in Aristotle “the river-stones, which are formed of sand but are melted by the rains.”Such words as these have not been found in the extant works of Aristotle. And in Libya, Apollodorus continues, there is a “City of Dionysus” which it is impossible for the same man ever to find twice. He censures also those who speak of the Homeric wanderings of Odysseus as having been in the neighborhood of Sicily; for in that case, says he, one should go on and say that, although the wanderings took place there, the poet, for the sake of mythology, placed them out in Oceanus.Cp. 1. 2. 17-19. And, he adds, the writers in general can be pardoned, but CallimachusCallimachus of Cyrene (fl. about 250 B.C.) is said to have written about 800 works, in prose and verse. Only 6 hymns, 64 epigrams and some fragments are extant. cannot be pardoned at all, because he makes a pretence of being a scholar;Cp. 1. 2. 37. for he calls GaudosSee footnote 2 on 1. 2. 37. the “Isle of Calypso” and Corcyra “Scheria.” And others he charges with falsifying about “Gerena,”Cp. 8. 3. 7, 29 and the Odyssey (the “Gerenian” Nestor). and “Aeacesium,”Strabo alludes to the wrong interpretation which some put upon a)ka/khta, the epithet of Hermes (Hom. Il. 16.185), making it refer to a cavern in “Arcadia, called “Acacesium,” near Mt. Cyllene, where Hermes was born. Hesiod (Theog. 614) gives the same epithet to Prometheus, who, according to the scholiast, was so called from “Mt. Acacesium” in Arcadia, where he was much revered. and “Demus”Hom. Il. 3.201 The critics in question maintained that “demus” (“deme,” “people”) was the name of a place in Ithaca. in Ithaca, and about “Pelethronium”“Pelethronium” is not found in Homer of Hesiod. According to some it was a city of Thessaly; others, a mountain (or a part of Mt. Pelion) in Thessaly; and others, the cave where Cheiron trained Achilles. in Pelion, and about Glaucopium“Glauconpium” is not found in Homer or Hesiod. According to Eustathius it was applied by the ancients to the citadel of Athens, or to the temple of Athene, and was derived from Athene “Glaucopis” (“Flashing-eyed”); but Stephanus Byzantinus derives the word from Glaucopus, son of Alalcomeneus. in Athens. To these criticisms Apollodorus adds some petty ones of like sort and then stops, but he borrowed most of them from Eratosthenes, and as I have remarked before1. 2. 24. they are wrong. For while one must concede to Eratosthenes and Apollodorus that the later writers have shown themselves better acquainted with such matters than the men of early times, yet to proceed beyond all moderation as they do, and particularly in the case of Homer, is a thing for which, as it seems to me, one might justly rebuke them and make the reverse statement: that where they are ignorant themselves, there they reproach the poet with ignorance. However, what remains to be said on this subject meets with appropriate mention in my detailed descriptions of the several countries,For example, 12. 3. 26-27. as also in my general description.The first and second books, passim.
-Just now I was discussing the Thracians, and the “Mysians, hand-to-hand fighters, and the proud Hippemolgi, Galactophagi, and Abii, men most just,”
Hom. Il. 13.5fSee 7. 3. 2 and the footnote. because I wished to make a comparison between the statements made by Poseidonius and myself and those made by the two men in question. Take first the fact that the argument which they have attempted is contrary to the proposition which they set out to prove; for although they set out to prove that the men of earlier times were more ignorant of regions remote from Greece than the men of more recent times, they showed the reverse, not only in regard to regions remote, but also in regard to places in Greece itself. However, as I was saying, let me put off everything else and look to what is now before me: theyEratosthenes and Apollodorus. say that the poet through ignorance fails to mention the Scythians, or their savage dealings with strangers, in that they sacrifice them, eat their flesh, and use their skulls as drinking-cups, although it was on account of the Scythians that the Puntus was called “Axine,” but that he invents certain “proud Hippemolgi, Galactophagi, and Abii, men most just”—people that exist nowhere on earth, How, then, could they call the sea “Axine” if they did not know about the ferocity or about the people who were most ferocious? And these, of course, are the Scythians. And were the people who lived beyond the Mysians and Thracians and Getae not also “Hippemolgi,”“Mare-milkers.” not also “Galactophagi”“Curd-eaters.” and “Abii”?“A resourceless folk.” In fact, even nowCp. the similar words quoted from Ephorus, 7. 3. 9. there are Wagon-dwellers and Nomads, so called, who live off their herds, and on milk and cheese, and particularly on cheese made from mare's milk, and know nothing about storing up food or about peddling merchandise either, except the exchange of wares for wares. How, then, could the poet be ignorant of the Scythians if he called certain people “Hippemolgi and Galactophagi”? For that the people of his time were wont to call the Scythians “Hippemolgi,” Hesiod, too, is witness in the words cited by Eratosthenes: The Ethiopians, the Ligurians, and also the Scythians, Hippemolgi.”
Eratosthenes Fr. 232 (Loeb); (Rzach, Fr. 55Now wherein is it to be wondered at that, because of the widespread injustice connected with contracts in our country, Homer called “most just” and “proud” those who by no means spend their lives on contracts and money-getting but actually possess all things in common except sword and drinking-cup, and above all things have their wives and their children in common, in the Platonic way? Plat. Rep. 457d, 458c-d, 460b-d, 540, 543 Aeschylus, too, is clearly pleading the cause of the poet when he says about the Scythians: “But the Scythians, law-abiding, eaters of cheese made of mare's milk.”
Aesch. Fr. 198 (Nauck) And this assumption even now still persists among the Greeks; for we regard the Scythians the most straightforward of men and the least prone to mischief, as also far more frugal and independent of others than we are. And yet our mode of life has spread its change for the worse to almost all peoples, introducing amongst them luxury and sensual pleasures and, to satisfy these vices, base artifices that lead to innumerable acts of greed. So then, much wickedness of this sort has fallen on the barbarian peoples also, on the Nomads as well as the rest; for as the result of taking up a seafaring life they not only have become morally worse, indulging in the practice of piracy and of slaying strangers, but also, because of their intercourse with many peoples, have partaken of the luxury and the peddling habits of those peoples. But though these things seem to conduce strongly to gentleness of manner, they corrupt morals and introduce cunning instead of the straightforwardness which I just now mentioned.
- Those, however, who lived before our times, and particularly those who lived near the time of Homer, were—and among the Greeks were assumed to be—some such people as Homer describes. And see what Herodotus says concerning that king of the Scythians against whom Dareius made his expedition, and the message which the king sent back to him.Cp. 7. 3. 14. Dareius sent a message to King Idanthyrsus in which he reproached the latter for fleeing and not fighting. Idanthyrsus replied that he was not fleeing because of fear, but was merely doing what he was wont to do in time of peace; and if Dareius insisted on a fight, he might search out and violate the ancestral tombs, and thus come to realize whether or no the Scythians would fight; “and in reply to your assertion that you are my master, I say ‘howl on’” (Herodotus, 4.127). See also what ChrysippusChrysippus of Soli (fl. about 230 B.C.), the Stoic philosopher, was a prolific writer, but with the exception of a few fragments his works are lost. The present reference is obviously to his treatise on Modes of Life, which is quoted by Plut. De Stoicorum Repugnantiis 20.3 = 1043 B). says concerning the kings of the Bosporus, the house of Leuco.Leuco, who succeeded his father Satyrus I, reigned from 393 to 353 B.C. (see 7. 4. 4). And not only the Persian lettersi.e., the letters of Persian kings, such as those quoted by Herodotus. are full of references to that straightforwardness of which I am speaking but also the memoirs written by the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Indians. And it was on this account that Anacharsis,Anacharsis was a Scythian prince and philosopher, one of the “Seven Sages,” a traveller, long a resident of Athens (about 590 B.C.), a friend of Solon, and (according to Ephorus) and inventor (7. 3. 9). See Hdt. 4.76 Abaris,Abaris was called the “Hyperborean” priest and prophet of Apollo, and is said to have visited Athens in the eighth century, or perhaps much later. According to the legend, he healed the sick,m travelled round the world, without once eating, on a golden arrow given him by Apollo, and delivered Sparta from a plague. and other men of the sort were in fair repute among the Greeks, because they displayed a nature characterized by complacency, frugality, and justice. But why should I speak of the men of olden times? For when Alexander, the son of Philip, on his expedition against the Thracians beyond the Haemus,The Balkan Mountains. invaded the country of the TriballiansA Thracian tribe. and saw that it extended as far as the Ister and the island of PeuceSee 7. 3. 15 and footnote. in the Ister, and that the parts on the far side were held by the Getae, he went as far as that,i.e., as far as the island. it is said, but could not disembark upon the island because of scarcity of boats (for Syrmus, the king of the Triballi had taken refuge there and resisted his attempts); he did, however, cross over to the country of the Getae, took their city, and returned with all speed to his home-land, after receiving gifts from the tribes in question and from Syrmus. And Ptolemaeus,Ptolemaeus Soter, “whom the Macedon (Paus. 1.6), was founder of the Egyptian dynasty and reigned 323-285 B.C. the son of Lagus,Lagus married Arsinoë, a concubine of Philip. says that on this expedition the Celti who lived about the Adriatic joined Alexander for the sake of establishing friendship and hospitality, and that the king received them kindly and asked them when drinking what it was that they most feared, thinking they would say himself, but that they replied they feared no one, unless it were that Heaven might fall on them, although indeed they added that they put above everything else the friendship of such a man as he. And the following are signs of the straightforwardness of the barbarians: first, the fact that Syrmus refused to consent to the debarkation upon the island and yet sent gifts and made a compact of friendship; and, secondly, that the Celti said that they feared no one, and yet valued above everything else the friendship of great men. Again, Dromichaetes was king of the Getae in the time of the successors of Alexander. Now he, when he captured LysimachusLysimachus, one of Alexander's generals and successors, obtained Thrace as his portion in the division of the provinces after Alexander's death (323 B.C.), assuming the title of king 306 B.C. He was taken captive, and released, by Dromichaetes 291 B.C. alive, who had made an expedition against him, first pointed out the poverty both of himself and of his tribe and likewise their independence of others, and then bade him not to carry on war with people of that sort but rather to deal with them as friends; and after saying this he first entertained him as a guest, and made a compact of friendship, and then released him. Moreover, Plato in his Republic thinks that those who would have a well-governed city should flee as far as possible from the sea, as being a thing that teaches wickedness, and should not live near it.Corais and Groskurd point out that the reference should have been, not to the Republic, but to the Plat. Laws 4.704-705, where Plato discusses the proper place for founding a city; cp. Aristot. Pol. 7.6 on the same subject.
-Ephorus, in the fourth book of his history, the book entitled Europe (for he made the circuitIn his description, not literally. of Europe as far as the Scythians), says towards the end that the modes of life both of the Sauromatae and of the other Scythians are unlike, for, whereas some are so cruel that they even eat human beings, others abstain from eating any living creature whatever. Now the other writers, he says, tell only about their savagery, because they know that the terrible and the marvellous are startling, but one should tell the opposite facts too and make them patterns of conduct, and he himself, therefore, will tell only about those who follow “most just” habits, for there are some of the Scythian Nomads who feed only on mare's milk,Cp. the similar statement in 7. 3. 7. and excel all men in justice; and they are mentioned by the poets: by Homer, when he says that Zeus espies the land “of the Galactophagi and Abii, men most just,”
Hom. Il. 13.5 and by Hesiod, in what is called his Circuit of the Earth,This poem seems to have comprised the third book of the Megalae Eoeae (now lost). See Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Hesiodus,” p. 1206. when he says that Phineus is carried by the Storm Winds “to the land of the Galactophagi, who have their dwellings in wagons.”
Hes. Megalae Eoeae Fr. Book 3 Then Ephorus reasons out the cause as follows: since they are frugal in their ways of living and not money-getters, they not only are orderly towards one another, because they have all things in common, their wives, children, the whole of their kin and everything, but also remain invincible and unconquered by outsiders, because they have nothing to be enslaved for. And he cites ChoerilusNot, apparently, the tragic poet, contemporary of Aeschylus, but the epic poet of Samos (fl. towards the end of the fifth century B.C.), who wrote, among other poems, an epic poem (exact title uncertain) based on the Persian Wars. The Crossing of the Pontoon-Bridge was probably a sub-title of the epic. The same Choerilus is cited in 14. 5. 9. also, who, in his The Crossing of the Pontoon-Bridge which was constructed by Dareius,In his campaign by Hdt. 4.83-93; See 7. 3. 15. says, “the sheep-tending Sacae, of Scythian stock; but they used to live in wheat-producing Asia; however, they were colonists from the Nomads, law-abiding people.”
Choerilus Fr And when he calls Anacharsis “wise,” Ephorus says that he belongs to this race, and that he was considered also one of Seven Wise Men because of his perfect self-control and good sense. And he goes on to tell the inventions of Anacharsis—the bellows, the two-fluked anchor and the potter's wheel. These things I tell knowing full well that Ephorus himself does not tell the whole truth about everything; and particularly in his account of Anacharsis (for how could the wheel be his invention, if Homer, who lived in earlier times, knew of it? “As when a potter his wheel that fits in his hands,”Hom. Il. 18.600 and so on); but as for those other things, I tell them because I wish to make my point clear that there actually was a common report, which was believed by the men of both early and of later times, that a part of the Nomads, I mean those who had settled the farthest away from the rest of mankind, were “galactophagi,” “abii,” and “most just,” and that they were not an invention of Homer.
-It is but fair, too, to ask Apollodorus to account for the Mysians that are mentioned in the verses of Homer, whether he thinks that these too are inventionsCp. 7. 3. 6. (when the poet says, “and the Mysians, hand-to-hand fighters and the proud Hippenlolgi”
Hom. Il. 13.4), or takes the poet to mean the Mysians in Asia. Now if he takes the poet to mean those in Asia, he will misinterpret him, as I have said before,7. 3. 2. but if he calls them an invention, meaning that there were no Mysians in Thrace, he will contradict the facts; for at any rate, even in our own times, Aelius CatusPerhaps as governor of Macedonia. He was consul with C. Sentius 4. A.D. transplanted from the country on the far side of the Ister into ThraceLower Moesia. fifty thousand persons from among the Getae, a tribe with the same tongue as the Thracians.Cp. 7. 3. 2. And they live there in Thrace now and are called “Moesi”—whether it be that their people of earlier times were so called and that in Asia the name was changed to “Mysi,”See 7. 3. 4. or (what is more apposite to history and the declaration of the poet) that in earlier times their people in Thrace were called “Mysi.” Enough, however, on this subject. I shall now go back to the next topic in the general description.
+As for the southern part of Germany beyond the Albis, the portion which is just contiguous to that river is occupied by the Suevi; then immediately adjoining this is the land of the Getae, which, though narrow at first, stretching as it does along the Ister on its southern side and on the opposite side along the mountain-side of the Hercynian Forest (for the land of the Getae also embraces a part of the mountains), afterwards broadens out towards the north as far as the Tyregetae; but I cannot tell the precise boundaries. It is because of men's ignorance of these regions that any heed has been given to those who created the mythical “Rhipaean Mountains”Cp. Pliny 4.26 and “Hyperboreans,”Cp. 1. 3. 22. and also to all those false statements made by Pytheas the Massalian regarding the country along the ocean, wherein he uses as a screen his scientific knowledge of astronomy and mathematics.Cp. 1. 4. 3-5, 2. 3. 5 and 2. 4. 1-2. So then, those men should be disregarded; in fact, if even Sophocles, when in his role as a tragic poet he speaks of Oreithyia,The daughter of Erechtheus, a mythical Attic king. The passage here quoted is a fragment Nauck, Fragmenta, 870) of a play now lost. Cp. Soph. Ant. 981ff tells how she was snatched up by “Boreas” and carried “over the whole sea to the ends of the earth and to the sources of nightThe west. and to the unfoldings of heavenThe east. and to the ancient garden of Phoebus,”
Soph. Fr. 870 (Nauck)The south, apparently; and thus Boreas would have carried her to the four ends of the earth. The home of Boreas (North Wind), according to the poets, was in the Haemus (Balkan), or Rhipaean, Mountains, on the “Sarpedonian Rock.” his story can have no bearing on the present inquiry, but should be disregarded, just as it is disregarded by Socrates in the Phaedrus.Plat. Phaedrus 229 But let us confine our narrative to what we have learned from history, both ancient and modern.
+Now the Greeks used to suppose that the Getae were Thracians; and the Getae lived on either side the Ister, as did also the Mysi, these also being Thracians and identical with the people who are now called Moesi; from these Mysi sprang also the Mysi who now live between the Lydians and the Phrygians and Trojans. And the Phrygians themselves are Brigians, a Thracian tribe, as are also the Mygdonians, the Bebricians, the Medobithynians,The correct spelling of the word is “Maedobithynians.” the Bithynians, and the Thynians, and, I think, also the Mariandynians. These peoples, to be sure, have all utterly quitted Europe, but the Mysi have remained there. And Poseidonius seems to me to be correct in his conjecture that Homer designates the Mysi in Europe (I mean those in Thrace) when he says, “But back he turned his shining eyes, and looked far away towards the land of the horsetending Thracians, and of the Mysi, hand-to-hand fighters”
Hom. Il. 13.3ff for surely, if one should take Homer to mean the Mysi in Asia, the statement would not hang together. Indeed, when Zeus turns his eyes away from the Trojans towards the land of the Thracians, it would be the act of a man who confuses the continents and does not understand the poet's phraseology to connect with Thrace the land of the Asiatic Mysi, who are not “far away,” but have a common boundary with the Troad and are situated behind it and on either side of it, and are separated from Thrace by the broad Hellespont; for “back he turned” generallyThe other meaning of the word in question (pa/lin) is “again.” Aristarchus, the great Homeric scholar (fl. about 155 B.C.), quoted by Hesychius (s.v.), says that “generally the poet uses pa/lin in the place-sense and not, as we do, in the time-sense.” means “to the rear,” and he who transfers his gaze from the Trojans to the people who are either in the rear of the Trojans or on their flanks, does indeed transfer his gaze rather far, but not at all “to the rear.”i.e., “to the rear” of himself. Again, the appended phrase“And of the proud Hippemolgi (mare-milkers), Galactophagi (curd-eaters), and Abii ( a resourceless folk), men most just” Cp. 1. 1. 6. is testimony to this very view, because the poet connected with the Mysi the “Hippemolgi” and “Galactophagi” and “Abii,” who are indeed the wagon-dwelling Scythians and Sarmatians. For at the present time these tribes, as well as the Bastarnian tribes, are mingled with the Thracians (more indeed with those outside the Ister, but also with those inside). And mingled with them are also the Celtic tribes—the Boii, the Scordisci, and the Taurisci. However, the Scordisci are by some called “Scordistae”; and the Taurisci are called also “Ligurisci”“Ligursci” is almost certainly corrupt. Meineke is probably right in emending to “Teurisci.” and “Tauristae.”Cp. “Teuristae,” 7. 2. 2.
+Poseidonius goes on to say of the Mysians that in accordance with their religion they abstain from eating any living thing, and therefore from their flocks as well; and that they use as food honey and milk and cheese, living a peaceable life, and for this reason are called both “god-fearing” and “capnobatae”;Scholars have suggested various emendations to “capnobatae,” but there is no variation in the spelling of the word in any of the manuscripts, either here or in section 4 below. Its literal meaning is “smoke-treaders” (cp. a)eroba/ths, a)eroba/tw| Aristophanes, Clouds 225, 1503), and it seems to allude in some way to the smoke of sacrifice and the more of less ethereal existence of the people, or else (see Herodotus 1. 202 and 4.75) to the custom of generating an intoxicating vapor by throwing hemp-seed upon red-hot stones. Berkel and Wakefield would emend, respectively to “capnopatae” and “capnobotae” (“smoke-eaters,” i.e., people who live on food of no value). and there are some of the Thracians who live apart from woman-kind; these are called “Ctistae,”Literally, “creators” or “founders.” But, like “capnobatae,” the force of the word here is unknown. and because of the honor in which they are held, have been dedicated to the gods and live with freedom from every fear; accordingly, Homer speaks collectively of all these peoples as “proud Hippemolgi, Galactophagi and Abii, men most just,” but he calls them “Abii” more especially for this reason, that they live apart from women, since he thinks that a life which is bereft of woman is only half-complete (just as he thinks the “house of Protesilaüs” is only “half complete,” because it is so bereftHom. Il. 2.701); and he speaks of the Mysians as “hand-to-hand fighters” because they were indomitable, as is the case with all brave warriors; and Poseidonius adds that in the Thirteenth BookHom. Il. 13.5 one should read “Moesi, hand-to-hand fighters” instead of “Mysi, hand-to-hand fighters.”
+However, it is perhaps superfluous to disturb the reading that has had approval for so many years; for it is much more credible that the people were called Mysi at first and that later their name was changed to what it is now. And as for the term “Abii,” one might interpret it as meaning those who are “without hearth:” and “live on wagons” quite as well as those who are “bereft”; for since, in general, injustices arise only in connection with contracts and a too high regard for property, so it is reasonable that those who, like the Abii, live cheaply, on slight resources, should have been called “most just.” In fact, the philosophers who put justice next to self-restraint strive above all things for frugality and personal independence; and consequently extreme self-restraint diverts some of them to the Cynical mode of life. But as for the statement that they live “bereft of women,” the poet suggests nothing of the sort, and particularly in the country of the Thracians and of those of their number who are Getae. And see the statement of Menander about them, which, as one may reasonably suppose, was not invented by him but taken from history: “All the Thracians, and most of all we Getae (for I too boast that I am of this stock) are not very continent;”
Menander Fr. 547 (Kock and a little below he sets down the proofs of their incontinence in their relations with women: “For every man of us marries ten or eleven women, and some, twelve or more; but if anyone meets death before he has married more than four or five, he is lamented among the people there as a wretch without bride and nuptial song.”
Menander Fr. 548 (Kock Indeed, these facts are confirmed by the other writers as well. Further, it is not reasonable to suppose that the same people regard as wretched a life without many women, and yet at the same time regard as pious and just a life that is wholly bereft of women. And of course to regard as “both god-fearing and capnobatae” those who are without women is very much opposed to the common notions on that subject; for all agree in regarding the women as the chief founders of religion, and it is the women who provoke the men to the more attentive worship of the gods, to festivals, and to supplications, and it is a rare thing for a man who lives by himself to be found addicted to these things. See again what the same poet says when he introduces as speaker the man who is vexed by the money spent by the women in connection with the sacrifices: “The gods are the undoing of us, especially us married men, for we must always be celebrating some festival;”
Menander Fr. 601 (Kock and again when he introduces the Woman-hater, who complains about these very things: “we used to sacrifice five times a day, and seven female attendants would beat the cymbals all round us, while others would cry out to the gods.”
Menander Fr. 326 (Kock So, then, the interpretation that the wifeless men of the Getae are in a special way reverential towards the gods is clearly contrary to reason, whereas the interpretation that zeal for religion is strong in this tribe, and that because of their reverence for the gods the people abstain from eating any living thing, is one which, both from what Poseidonius and from what the histories in general tell us, should not be disbelieved.
+In fact, it is said that a certain man of the Getae, Zamolxis by name, had been a slave to Pythagoras, and had learned some things about the heavenly bodies from him,For another version of the story of Zamolxis, see Hdt. 4.94-96, who doubts whether such a man ever existed, but says that he was reputed to have been, for a time, a slave pf Pythagoras in Samos. as also certain other things from the Egyptians, for in his wanderings he had gone even as far as Egypt; and when he came on back to his home-land he was eagerly courted by the rulers and the people of the tribe, because he could make predictions from the celestial signs; and at last he persuaded the king to take him as a partner in the government, on the ground that he was competent to report the will of the gods; and although at the outset he was only made a priest of the god who was most honored in their country, yet afterwards he was even addressed as god, and having taken possession of a certain cavernous place that was inaccessible to anyone else he spent his life there, only rarely meeting with any people outside except the king and his own attendants; and the king cooperated with him, because he saw that the people paid much more attention to himself than before, in the belief that the decrees which he promulgated were in accordance with the counsel of the gods. This custom persisted even down to our own time, because some man of that character was always to be found, who, though in fact only a counsellor to the king, was called god among the Getae. And the people took up the notion that the mountainThe “cavernous place” previously referred to. was sacred and they so call it, but its name is Cogaeonum,Some scholars identify this mountain with what is now Mt. Gogany (near Mika); others, with Mt. Kaszon (on the borders of Transylvania and Moldavia). The former is more likely. like that of the river which flows past it. So, too, at the time when Byrebistas,Strabo also spells the name “Boerebistas (7. 3. 11, 12). against whom alreadyCp. 7. 3. 11. the Deified Caesar had prepared to make an expedition, was reigning over the Getae, the office in question was held by Decaeneus, and somehow or other the Pythagorean doctrine of abstention from eating any living thing still survived as taught by Zamolxis.
+Now although such difficulties as these might fairly be raised concerning what is found in the text of Homer about the Mysians and the “proud Hippemolgi,” yet what Apollodorus states in the preface to the Second Book of his work On ShipsOr rather On the Catalogue of Ships (1. 2. 24). can by no means be asserted; for he approves the declaration of Eratosthenes, that although both Homer and the other early authors knew the Greek places, they were decidedly unacquainted with those that were far away, since they had no experience either in making long journeys by land or in making voyages by sea. And in support of this Apollodorus says that Homer calls Aulis “rocky”Hom. Il. 2.496 (and so it is), and Eteonus “place of many ridges,”Hom. Il. 2.497 and Thisbe “haunt of doves,”Hom. Il. 2.502 and Haliartus “grassy,”Hom. Il. 2.503 but, he says, neither Homer nor the others knew the places that were far away. At any rate, he says, although about forty rivers now into the Pontus, Homer mentions not a single one of those that are the most famous, as, for example, the Ister, the Tanaïs, the Borysthenes, the Hypanis, the Phasis, the Thermodon, the Halys;Now, respectively, the Danube, Don, Dnieper, Bog, Rion, Termeh, and Kizil-Irmak. and, besides, he does not mention the Scythians, but invents certain “proud Hippemolgi” and “Galactophagi” and “Abii”; and as for the Paphlagonians of the interior, he reports what he has learned from those who have approached the regions afoot, but he is ignorant of the seaboard,Cp. 12. 3. 26. and naturally so, for at that time this sea was not navigable, and was called AxineThat is “Inhospitable. because of its wintry storms and the ferocity of the tribes that lived around it, and particularly the Scythians, in that they sacrificed strangers, ate their flesh, and used their skulls as drinking-cups; but later it was called “Euxine,”“Hospitable,” euphemistically. when the Ionians founded cities on the seaboard. And, likewise, Homer is also ignorant of the facts about Egypt and Libya, as, for example, about the risings of the Nile and the silting up of the sea,Cp. 1. 2. 29. things which he nowhere mentions; neither does he mention the isthmus between the ErythraeanRed. and the EgyptianMediterranean. Seas, nor the regions of Arabia and Ethiopia and the ocean, unless one should give heed to Zeno the philosopher when he writes, “And I came to the Ethiopians and Sidonians and Arabians.”
Hom Od. 4.84Zeno emended the Homeric text to read as above (see 1. 2. 34). But this ignorance in Homer's case is not amazing, for those who have lived later than he have been ignorant of many things and have invented marvellous tales: Hesiod, when he speaks of “men who are half-dog,”Cp. 1. 2. 35. of “long-headed men,” and of “Pygmies”; and Alcman, when he speaks of “web footed men”; and Aeschylus, when he speaks of “dog-headed men,” of “men with eyes in their breasts”, and of “one-eyed men” (in his Prometheus it is saidAeschylus refers to “one-eyed” men in Aesch. PB 804. The other epithets (See Nauck, Fr. 431, 441) were taken from plays now lost.); and a host of other tales. From these men he proceeds against the historians who speak of the “Rhipaean Mountains,”Cp. 7. 3. 1. and of “Mt. Ogyium,”“Mt. Ogyium” is otherwise unknown. The reading is probably corrupt. and of the settlement of the Gorgons and Hesperides, and of the “Land of Meropis”Aelian Var. Hist. 3.18 says that Theopompus the historian related a conversation between King Midas and Silenus in which Silenus reported a race called “meropians” who inhabited a continent larger than Asia, Europe, and Africa combined. in Theopompus,Theopompus (b. about 380 B.C.) write, among other works, two histories, (1) the Hellenica, in twelve books, being a continuation of Thucydides and covering the period from 411 to 394 B.C., and (2) the Philippica, in fifty-eight books, being a history of the life and times of Philip of Macedon (360-336 BC.). Only a few fragments of these works remain. and the “City of Cimmeris” in Hecataeus,Hecataeus (b. about 540 B.C.) wrote both a geographical and an historical treatise. Only fragments remain. and the “Land of Panchaea”Cp. 2. 4. 2. in Euhemerus,Euhemerus (fl. about 310 B.C.) wrote a work on Sacred History (cp. 1. 3. 1). and in Aristotle “the river-stones, which are formed of sand but are melted by the rains.”Such words as these have not been found in the extant works of Aristotle. And in Libya, Apollodorus continues, there is a “City of Dionysus” which it is impossible for the same man ever to find twice. He censures also those who speak of the Homeric wanderings of Odysseus as having been in the neighborhood of Sicily; for in that case, says he, one should go on and say that, although the wanderings took place there, the poet, for the sake of mythology, placed them out in Oceanus.Cp. 1. 2. 17-19. And, he adds, the writers in general can be pardoned, but CallimachusCallimachus of Cyrene (fl. about 250 B.C.) is said to have written about 800 works, in prose and verse. Only 6 hymns, 64 epigrams and some fragments are extant. cannot be pardoned at all, because he makes a pretence of being a scholar;Cp. 1. 2. 37. for he calls GaudosSee footnote 2 on 1. 2. 37. the “Isle of Calypso” and Corcyra “Scheria.” And others he charges with falsifying about “Gerena,”Cp. 8. 3. 7, 29 and the Odyssey (the “Gerenian” Nestor). and “Aeacesium,”Strabo alludes to the wrong interpretation which some put upon a)ka/khta, the epithet of Hermes (Hom. Il. 16.185), making it refer to a cavern in “Arcadia, called “Acacesium,” near Mt. Cyllene, where Hermes was born. Hesiod (Theog. 614) gives the same epithet to Prometheus, who, according to the scholiast, was so called from “Mt. Acacesium” in Arcadia, where he was much revered. and “Demus”Hom. Il. 3.201 The critics in question maintained that “demus” (“deme,” “people”) was the name of a place in Ithaca. in Ithaca, and about “Pelethronium”“Pelethronium” is not found in Homer of Hesiod. According to some it was a city of Thessaly; others, a mountain (or a part of Mt. Pelion) in Thessaly; and others, the cave where Cheiron trained Achilles. in Pelion, and about Glaucopium“Glauconpium” is not found in Homer or Hesiod. According to Eustathius it was applied by the ancients to the citadel of Athens, or to the temple of Athene, and was derived from Athene “Glaucopis” (“Flashing-eyed”); but Stephanus Byzantinus derives the word from Glaucopus, son of Alalcomeneus. in Athens. To these criticisms Apollodorus adds some petty ones of like sort and then stops, but he borrowed most of them from Eratosthenes, and as I have remarked before1. 2. 24. they are wrong. For while one must concede to Eratosthenes and Apollodorus that the later writers have shown themselves better acquainted with such matters than the men of early times, yet to proceed beyond all moderation as they do, and particularly in the case of Homer, is a thing for which, as it seems to me, one might justly rebuke them and make the reverse statement: that where they are ignorant themselves, there they reproach the poet with ignorance. However, what remains to be said on this subject meets with appropriate mention in my detailed descriptions of the several countries,For example, 12. 3. 26-27. as also in my general description.The first and second books, passim.
+Just now I was discussing the Thracians, and the “Mysians, hand-to-hand fighters, and the proud Hippemolgi, Galactophagi, and Abii, men most just,”
Hom. Il. 13.5fSee 7. 3. 2 and the footnote. because I wished to make a comparison between the statements made by Poseidonius and myself and those made by the two men in question. Take first the fact that the argument which they have attempted is contrary to the proposition which they set out to prove; for although they set out to prove that the men of earlier times were more ignorant of regions remote from Greece than the men of more recent times, they showed the reverse, not only in regard to regions remote, but also in regard to places in Greece itself. However, as I was saying, let me put off everything else and look to what is now before me: theyEratosthenes and Apollodorus. say that the poet through ignorance fails to mention the Scythians, or their savage dealings with strangers, in that they sacrifice them, eat their flesh, and use their skulls as drinking-cups, although it was on account of the Scythians that the Puntus was called “Axine,” but that he invents certain “proud Hippemolgi, Galactophagi, and Abii, men most just”—people that exist nowhere on earth, How, then, could they call the sea “Axine” if they did not know about the ferocity or about the people who were most ferocious? And these, of course, are the Scythians. And were the people who lived beyond the Mysians and Thracians and Getae not also “Hippemolgi,”“Mare-milkers.” not also “Galactophagi”“Curd-eaters.” and “Abii”?“A resourceless folk.” In fact, even nowCp. the similar words quoted from Ephorus, 7. 3. 9. there are Wagon-dwellers and Nomads, so called, who live off their herds, and on milk and cheese, and particularly on cheese made from mare's milk, and know nothing about storing up food or about peddling merchandise either, except the exchange of wares for wares. How, then, could the poet be ignorant of the Scythians if he called certain people “Hippemolgi and Galactophagi”? For that the people of his time were wont to call the Scythians “Hippemolgi,” Hesiod, too, is witness in the words cited by Eratosthenes: The Ethiopians, the Ligurians, and also the Scythians, Hippemolgi.”
Eratosthenes Fr. 232 (Loeb); (Rzach, Fr. 55Now wherein is it to be wondered at that, because of the widespread injustice connected with contracts in our country, Homer called “most just” and “proud” those who by no means spend their lives on contracts and money-getting but actually possess all things in common except sword and drinking-cup, and above all things have their wives and their children in common, in the Platonic way? Plat. Rep. 457d, 458c-d, 460b-d, 540, 543 Aeschylus, too, is clearly pleading the cause of the poet when he says about the Scythians: “But the Scythians, law-abiding, eaters of cheese made of mare's milk.”
Aesch. Fr. 198 (Nauck) And this assumption even now still persists among the Greeks; for we regard the Scythians the most straightforward of men and the least prone to mischief, as also far more frugal and independent of others than we are. And yet our mode of life has spread its change for the worse to almost all peoples, introducing amongst them luxury and sensual pleasures and, to satisfy these vices, base artifices that lead to innumerable acts of greed. So then, much wickedness of this sort has fallen on the barbarian peoples also, on the Nomads as well as the rest; for as the result of taking up a seafaring life they not only have become morally worse, indulging in the practice of piracy and of slaying strangers, but also, because of their intercourse with many peoples, have partaken of the luxury and the peddling habits of those peoples. But though these things seem to conduce strongly to gentleness of manner, they corrupt morals and introduce cunning instead of the straightforwardness which I just now mentioned.
+ Those, however, who lived before our times, and particularly those who lived near the time of Homer, were—and among the Greeks were assumed to be—some such people as Homer describes. And see what Herodotus says concerning that king of the Scythians against whom Dareius made his expedition, and the message which the king sent back to him.Cp. 7. 3. 14. Dareius sent a message to King Idanthyrsus in which he reproached the latter for fleeing and not fighting. Idanthyrsus replied that he was not fleeing because of fear, but was merely doing what he was wont to do in time of peace; and if Dareius insisted on a fight, he might search out and violate the ancestral tombs, and thus come to realize whether or no the Scythians would fight; “and in reply to your assertion that you are my master, I say ‘howl on’” (Herodotus, 4.127). See also what ChrysippusChrysippus of Soli (fl. about 230 B.C.), the Stoic philosopher, was a prolific writer, but with the exception of a few fragments his works are lost. The present reference is obviously to his treatise on Modes of Life, which is quoted by Plut. De Stoicorum Repugnantiis 20.3 = 1043 B). says concerning the kings of the Bosporus, the house of Leuco.Leuco, who succeeded his father Satyrus I, reigned from 393 to 353 B.C. (see 7. 4. 4). And not only the Persian lettersi.e., the letters of Persian kings, such as those quoted by Herodotus. are full of references to that straightforwardness of which I am speaking but also the memoirs written by the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Indians. And it was on this account that Anacharsis,Anacharsis was a Scythian prince and philosopher, one of the “Seven Sages,” a traveller, long a resident of Athens (about 590 B.C.), a friend of Solon, and (according to Ephorus) and inventor (7. 3. 9). See Hdt. 4.76 Abaris,Abaris was called the “Hyperborean” priest and prophet of Apollo, and is said to have visited Athens in the eighth century, or perhaps much later. According to the legend, he healed the sick,m travelled round the world, without once eating, on a golden arrow given him by Apollo, and delivered Sparta from a plague. and other men of the sort were in fair repute among the Greeks, because they displayed a nature characterized by complacency, frugality, and justice. But why should I speak of the men of olden times? For when Alexander, the son of Philip, on his expedition against the Thracians beyond the Haemus,The Balkan Mountains. invaded the country of the TriballiansA Thracian tribe. and saw that it extended as far as the Ister and the island of PeuceSee 7. 3. 15 and footnote. in the Ister, and that the parts on the far side were held by the Getae, he went as far as that,i.e., as far as the island. it is said, but could not disembark upon the island because of scarcity of boats (for Syrmus, the king of the Triballi had taken refuge there and resisted his attempts); he did, however, cross over to the country of the Getae, took their city, and returned with all speed to his home-land, after receiving gifts from the tribes in question and from Syrmus. And Ptolemaeus,Ptolemaeus Soter, “whom the Macedon (Paus. 1.6), was founder of the Egyptian dynasty and reigned 323-285 B.C. the son of Lagus,Lagus married Arsinoë, a concubine of Philip. says that on this expedition the Celti who lived about the Adriatic joined Alexander for the sake of establishing friendship and hospitality, and that the king received them kindly and asked them when drinking what it was that they most feared, thinking they would say himself, but that they replied they feared no one, unless it were that Heaven might fall on them, although indeed they added that they put above everything else the friendship of such a man as he. And the following are signs of the straightforwardness of the barbarians: first, the fact that Syrmus refused to consent to the debarkation upon the island and yet sent gifts and made a compact of friendship; and, secondly, that the Celti said that they feared no one, and yet valued above everything else the friendship of great men. Again, Dromichaetes was king of the Getae in the time of the successors of Alexander. Now he, when he captured LysimachusLysimachus, one of Alexander's generals and successors, obtained Thrace as his portion in the division of the provinces after Alexander's death (323 B.C.), assuming the title of king 306 B.C. He was taken captive, and released, by Dromichaetes 291 B.C. alive, who had made an expedition against him, first pointed out the poverty both of himself and of his tribe and likewise their independence of others, and then bade him not to carry on war with people of that sort but rather to deal with them as friends; and after saying this he first entertained him as a guest, and made a compact of friendship, and then released him. Moreover, Plato in his Republic thinks that those who would have a well-governed city should flee as far as possible from the sea, as being a thing that teaches wickedness, and should not live near it.Corais and Groskurd point out that the reference should have been, not to the Republic, but to the Plat. Laws 4.704-705, where Plato discusses the proper place for founding a city; cp. Aristot. Pol. 7.6 on the same subject.
+Ephorus, in the fourth book of his history, the book entitled Europe (for he made the circuitIn his description, not literally. of Europe as far as the Scythians), says towards the end that the modes of life both of the Sauromatae and of the other Scythians are unlike, for, whereas some are so cruel that they even eat human beings, others abstain from eating any living creature whatever. Now the other writers, he says, tell only about their savagery, because they know that the terrible and the marvellous are startling, but one should tell the opposite facts too and make them patterns of conduct, and he himself, therefore, will tell only about those who follow “most just” habits, for there are some of the Scythian Nomads who feed only on mare's milk,Cp. the similar statement in 7. 3. 7. and excel all men in justice; and they are mentioned by the poets: by Homer, when he says that Zeus espies the land “of the Galactophagi and Abii, men most just,”
Hom. Il. 13.5 and by Hesiod, in what is called his Circuit of the Earth,This poem seems to have comprised the third book of the Megalae Eoeae (now lost). See Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Hesiodus,” p. 1206. when he says that Phineus is carried by the Storm Winds “to the land of the Galactophagi, who have their dwellings in wagons.”
Hes. Megalae Eoeae Fr. Book 3 Then Ephorus reasons out the cause as follows: since they are frugal in their ways of living and not money-getters, they not only are orderly towards one another, because they have all things in common, their wives, children, the whole of their kin and everything, but also remain invincible and unconquered by outsiders, because they have nothing to be enslaved for. And he cites ChoerilusNot, apparently, the tragic poet, contemporary of Aeschylus, but the epic poet of Samos (fl. towards the end of the fifth century B.C.), who wrote, among other poems, an epic poem (exact title uncertain) based on the Persian Wars. The Crossing of the Pontoon-Bridge was probably a sub-title of the epic. The same Choerilus is cited in 14. 5. 9. also, who, in his The Crossing of the Pontoon-Bridge which was constructed by Dareius,In his campaign by Hdt. 4.83-93; See 7. 3. 15. says, “the sheep-tending Sacae, of Scythian stock; but they used to live in wheat-producing Asia; however, they were colonists from the Nomads, law-abiding people.”
Choerilus Fr And when he calls Anacharsis “wise,” Ephorus says that he belongs to this race, and that he was considered also one of Seven Wise Men because of his perfect self-control and good sense. And he goes on to tell the inventions of Anacharsis—the bellows, the two-fluked anchor and the potter's wheel. These things I tell knowing full well that Ephorus himself does not tell the whole truth about everything; and particularly in his account of Anacharsis (for how could the wheel be his invention, if Homer, who lived in earlier times, knew of it? “As when a potter his wheel that fits in his hands,”Hom. Il. 18.600 and so on); but as for those other things, I tell them because I wish to make my point clear that there actually was a common report, which was believed by the men of both early and of later times, that a part of the Nomads, I mean those who had settled the farthest away from the rest of mankind, were “galactophagi,” “abii,” and “most just,” and that they were not an invention of Homer.
+It is but fair, too, to ask Apollodorus to account for the Mysians that are mentioned in the verses of Homer, whether he thinks that these too are inventionsCp. 7. 3. 6. (when the poet says, “and the Mysians, hand-to-hand fighters and the proud Hippenlolgi”
Hom. Il. 13.4), or takes the poet to mean the Mysians in Asia. Now if he takes the poet to mean those in Asia, he will misinterpret him, as I have said before,7. 3. 2. but if he calls them an invention, meaning that there were no Mysians in Thrace, he will contradict the facts; for at any rate, even in our own times, Aelius CatusPerhaps as governor of Macedonia. He was consul with C. Sentius 4. A.D. transplanted from the country on the far side of the Ister into ThraceLower Moesia. fifty thousand persons from among the Getae, a tribe with the same tongue as the Thracians.Cp. 7. 3. 2. And they live there in Thrace now and are called “Moesi”—whether it be that their people of earlier times were so called and that in Asia the name was changed to “Mysi,”See 7. 3. 4. or (what is more apposite to history and the declaration of the poet) that in earlier times their people in Thrace were called “Mysi.” Enough, however, on this subject. I shall now go back to the next topic in the general description.
As for the Getae, then, their early history must be left untold, but that which pertains to our own times is about as follows: BoerebistasAlso spelled Byrebistas (see 7. 3. 5 and footnote). a Getan, on setting himself in authority over the tribe, restored the people, who had been reduced to an evil plight by numerous wars, and raised them to such a height through training, sobriety, and obedience to his commands that within only a few years he had established a great empire and subordinated to the Getae most of the neighboring peoples. And he began to be formidable even to the Romans, because he would cross the Ister with impunity and plunder Thrace as far as Macedonia and the Illyrian country; and he not only laid waste the country of the Celti who were intermingledSee 7. 3. 2 and 7. 5. 1. with the Thracians and the Illyrians, but actually caused the complete disappearance of the BoiiAlso a Celtic tribe (7. 3. 2). who were under the rule of Critasirus,7. 5. 2. and also of the Taurisci.Also under the rule of Critasirus (7. 5. 2). To help him secure the complete obedience of his tribe he had as his coadjutor Decaeneus,See 7. 3. 5. a wizard, a man who not only had wandered through Egypt, but also had thoroughly learned certain prognostics through which he would pretend to tell the divine will; and within a short time he was set up as god (as I said when relating the story of Zamolxis).7. 3. 5. The following is an indication of their complete obedience: they were persuaded to cut down their vines and to live without wine. However, certain men rose up against Boerebistas and he was deposed before the Romans sent an expedition against him;Cp. 7. 3. 5. and those who succeeded him divided the empire into several parts. In fact, only recently, when Augustus Caesar sent an expedition against them, the number of parts into which the empire had been divided was five, though at the time of the insurrection it had been four. Such divisions, to be sure, are only temporary and vary with the times.
-But there is also another division of the country which has endured from early times, for some of the people are called Daci, whereas others are called Getae—Getae, those who incline towards the Pontus and the east, and Daci, those who incline in the opposite direction towards Germany and the sources of the Ister. The Daci, I think, were called Daï in early times; whence the slave names “Geta” and “Daüs”In Latin, Davus.” which prevailed among the Attic people; for this is more probable than that “Daüs” is from those Scythians who are called “Daae,”Cp. 11. 7. 1, 8. 2, 9. 2. for they live far away in the neighborhood of Hyrcania, and it is not reasonable to suppose that slaves were brought into Attica from there; for the Attic people were wont either to call their slaves by the same names as those of the nations from which they were brought (as “Lydus” or “Syrus ”), or addressed them by names that were prevalent in their countries (as “Manes”or else “Midas” for the Phrygian, or “Tibius” for the Paphlagonian). But though the tribe was raised to such a height by Boerebistas, it has been completely humbled by its own seditions and by the Romans; nevertheless, they are capable, even today, of sending forth an army of forty thousand men.
-The Marisus River flows through their country into the Danuvius,On the various names of the river, see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Danuvius.” on which the Romans used to convey their equipment for war; the “Danuvius” I say, for so they used to call the upper part of the river from near its sources on to the cataracts, I mean the part which in the main flows through the country, of the Daci, although they give the name “Ister” to the lower part, from the cataracts on to the Pontus, the part which flows past the country of the Getae. The language of the Daci is the same as that of the Getae. Among the Greeks, however, the Getae are better known because the migrations they make to either side of the Ister are continuous, and because they are intermingled with the Thracians and Mysians. And also the tribe of the Triballi, likewise Thracian, has had this same experience, for it has admitted migrations into this country, because the neighboring peoples force themThe Getae. to emigrate into the country of those who are weaker; that is, the Scythians and Bastarnians and Sauromatians on the far side of the river often prevail to the extent that they actually cross over to attack those whom they have already driven out, and some of them remain there, either in the islands or in Thrace, whereas thoseGetae. on the other side are generally overpowered by the Illyrians. Be that as it may, although the Getae and Daci once attained to very great power, so that they actually could send forth an expedition of two hundred thousand men, they now find themselves reduced to as few as forty thousand, and they have come close to the point of yielding obedience to the Romans, though as yet they are not absolutely submissive, because of the hopes which they base on the Germans, who are enemies to the Romans.
+But there is also another division of the country which has endured from early times, for some of the people are called Daci, whereas others are called Getae—Getae, those who incline towards the Pontus and the east, and Daci, those who incline in the opposite direction towards Germany and the sources of the Ister. The Daci, I think, were called Daï in early times; whence the slave names “Geta” and “Daüs”In Latin, Davus.” which prevailed among the Attic people; for this is more probable than that “Daüs” is from those Scythians who are called “Daae,”Cp. 11. 7. 1, 8. 2, 9. 2. for they live far away in the neighborhood of Hyrcania, and it is not reasonable to suppose that slaves were brought into Attica from there; for the Attic people were wont either to call their slaves by the same names as those of the nations from which they were brought (as “Lydus” or “Syrus ”), or addressed them by names that were prevalent in their countries (as “Manes”or else “Midas” for the Phrygian, or “Tibius” for the Paphlagonian). But though the tribe was raised to such a height by Boerebistas, it has been completely humbled by its own seditions and by the Romans; nevertheless, they are capable, even today, of sending forth an army of forty thousand men.
+The Marisus River flows through their country into the Danuvius,On the various names of the river, see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Danuvius.” on which the Romans used to convey their equipment for war; the “Danuvius” I say, for so they used to call the upper part of the river from near its sources on to the cataracts, I mean the part which in the main flows through the country, of the Daci, although they give the name “Ister” to the lower part, from the cataracts on to the Pontus, the part which flows past the country of the Getae. The language of the Daci is the same as that of the Getae. Among the Greeks, however, the Getae are better known because the migrations they make to either side of the Ister are continuous, and because they are intermingled with the Thracians and Mysians. And also the tribe of the Triballi, likewise Thracian, has had this same experience, for it has admitted migrations into this country, because the neighboring peoples force themThe Getae. to emigrate into the country of those who are weaker; that is, the Scythians and Bastarnians and Sauromatians on the far side of the river often prevail to the extent that they actually cross over to attack those whom they have already driven out, and some of them remain there, either in the islands or in Thrace, whereas thoseGetae. on the other side are generally overpowered by the Illyrians. Be that as it may, although the Getae and Daci once attained to very great power, so that they actually could send forth an expedition of two hundred thousand men, they now find themselves reduced to as few as forty thousand, and they have come close to the point of yielding obedience to the Romans, though as yet they are not absolutely submissive, because of the hopes which they base on the Germans, who are enemies to the Romans.
In the intervening space, facing that part of the Pontic Sea which extends from the Ister to the Tyras,The Dniester. lies the Desert of the Getae, wholly flat and waterless, in which Dareius the son of Hystaspis was caughtAs in a trap. Cp. the experience of Milo in 6. 1. 12 where the same Greek word is used. on the occasion when he crossed the Ister to attack the Scythians and ran the risk of perishing from thirst, army and all; however, he belatedly realized his error and turned back. And, later on, Lysimachus, in his expedition against the Getae and King Dromichaetes, not only ran the risk but actually was captured alive; but he again came off safely, because he found the barbarian kind-hearted, as I said before.7. 3. 8.
-Near the outlets of the Ister River is a great island called Peuce;Literally, “Pine” Island. The term “Peuce” was applied also to what is now the St. George branch of the delta, which branch was the southern boundary of the island. and when the Bastarnians took possession of it they received the appellation of Peucini. There are still other islands which are much smaller; some of these are farther inland than Peuce, while others are near the sea, for the river has seven mouths. The largest of these mouths is what is called the Sacred Mouth,Strabo seems to mean by “Sacred Mouth” what is now the Dunavez branch of the delta, which turns off from the St. George branch into a lagoon called Lake Ragim, which opens into the sea at the Portidje mouth; for (1) the length of the Dunavez to the lake is about 120 stadia, and (2) what is known about the alluvial deposits and topographical changes in the delta clearly indicates that the lake once had a wide and deep opening into the sea. Ptolemaeus 3.10.2, in giving the names of the mouths, refers to what is now the St. George branch as “Sacred Mouth or Peuce,” thus making the two identical; but Strabo forces a distinction by referring to the inland voyage of 120 stadia, since the branch (Peuce) is a boundary of the island (Peuce). Cp. M. Besnier, Lexique de Geographie Ancienne, s.v. “Peuce,” and Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Danuvius,” pp. 2117-20. on which one can sail inland a hundred and twenty stadia to Peuce. It was at the lower part of Peuce that Dareius made his pontoon-bridge,Cp. 7. 3. 9. although the bridge could have been constructed at the upper part also. The Sacred Mouth is the first mouth on the left as one sailsFrom the Sea of Marmara through the Bosporus. into the Pontus; the others come in order thereafter as one sails along the coast towards the Tyras; and the distance from it to the seventh mouth is about three hundred stadia. Accordingly, small islands are formed between the mouths. Now the three mouths that come next in order after the Sacred Mouth are small, but the remaining mouths are much smaller than it, but larger than any one of the three. According to Ephorus, however, the Ister has only five months. Thence to the Tyras, a navigable river, the distance is nine hundred stadia. And in the interval are two large lakes one of them opening into the sea, so that it can also be used as a harbor, but the other mouthless.
-At the mouthStrabo and Ptolemaeus 3.10.7 agree in placing the “mouth of the Tyras” at the outlet of the lake (into the Pontus), not at what was the outlet proper (into the lake), nor yet at the narrowest part of the lake where the city of Tyras (now Akkerman) was situated. of the Tyras is what is called the Tower of Neoptolemus,According to Forbiger (Strabo, Vol. II, p. 89, footnote) this tower was “recently” (about 1850) discovered at the end of the west coast of the lake. Cp. the Towers of Caepio (3. 1. 9), Pelorus (3. 5. 5), and Pharos (17. 1. 6). and also what is called the village of Hermonax.The exact site of the village is unknown, but Strabo certainly places it at the mouth. Ptolemaeus 3.10.7, places it 10 miles (in latitude) farther south than the mouth. And on sailing inland one hundred and forty stadia one comes to two cities, one on each side, NiconiaNiconia was situated on the lake near what is now Ovidiopol. on the right and OphiussaAccording to Pliny 4.26, the earlier name of Tyras was Ophiussa; but this is doubtful. on the left. But the people who live near the river speak of a city one hundred and twenty stadia inland.Tyras, on the site of what is now Akkerman. Again, at a distance of five hundred stadia from the mouth is the island called Leuce,“White” Island (now Ilan-Adassi); known as “Isle of the Blest” (Pliny 4.27); where the shade of Schilles was united to that of Helen. which lies in the high sea and is sacred to Achilles.
- Then comes the Borysthenes River,The Dnieper. which is navigable for a distance of six hundred stadia; and, near it, another river, the Hypanis,The Bog. and off the mouth of the Borysthenes, an islandNow Berezan (see C. Müller, Ptolemaeus, Didot edition note on 3. 10. 9, p. 471). with a harbor. On sailing up the Borysthenes two hundred stadia one comes to a city of the same name as the river, but the same city is also called Olbia;Now in ruins, near Nickolaiev. it is a great trading center and was founded by Milesians. Now the whole country that lies above the said seaboard between the Borysthenes and the Ister consists, first, of the Desert of the Getae;Now Bessarabia. then the country of the Tyregetans;The city and territory of Tyras. and after it the country of the Iazygian Sarmatians and that of the people called the BasileiansCalled by Hdt. 4.20, 22, 56, 57, 59 the “Basileian (‘Royal’) Scythians,” but by Ptolemaeus 5.9.16 the “Basileian Sarmathians.” and that of the Urgi,The “Urgi” are otherwise unknown. In the margin of Manuscript A, first hand, are these words: “Ungri” (cp. ‘Hungarians’) “now, though the same are also called Tuci” (cp. ‘Turks’). But the editors in general regard “Urgi” as corrupt, and conjecture either “Georgi” (literally, “Farmers”; cp. 7. 4. 6 and Herodotus 4.18) or “Agathyrsi” (cp. Herodotus 4.125). who in general are nomads, though a few are interested also in farming; these people, it is said, dwell also along the Ister, often on both sides. In the interior dwell, first, those Bastarnians whose country borders on that of the Tyregetans and Germans—they also being, one might say, of Germanic stock; and they are divided up into several tribes, for a part of them are called Atmoni and Sidoni, while those who took possession of Peuce, the island in the Ister, are called “Peucini,” whereas the “Roxolani” (the most northerly of them all) roam the plains between the Tanaïs and the Borysthenes.The Dnieper. In fact, the whole country towards the north from Germany as far as the Caspian Sea is, so far as we know it, a plain, but whether any people dwell beyond the Roxolani we do not know. Now the Roxolani, under the leadership of Tasius, carried on war even with the generals of Mithridates Eupator;King of Pontus 120-63 B.C. they came for the purpose of assisting Palacus,A prince in the Tauric Chersonese. the son of Scilurus, as his allies, and they had the reputation of being warlike; yet all barbarian races and light-armed peoples are weak when matched against a well-ordered and well-armed phalanx. At any rate, those people, about fifty thousand strong, could not hold out against the six thousand men arrayed with Diophantus, the general of Mithridates, and most of them were destroyed. They use helmets and corselets made of raw ox-hides, carry wicker shields, and have for weapons spears, bow, and sword; and most of the other barbarians are armed in this way. As for the Nomads, their tents, made of felt, are fastened on the wagons in which they spend their lives; and round about the tents are the herds which afford the milk, cheese, and meat on which they live; and they follow the grazing herds, from time to time moving to other places that have grass, living only in the marsh-meadows about Lake Maeotis in winter, but also in the plains in summer.
-The whole of the country has severe winters as far as the regions by the sea that are between the Borysthenes and the mouth of Lake Maeotis; but of the regions themselves that are by the sea the most northerly are the mouth of the Maeotis and, still more northerly, the mouth of the Borysthenes, and the recess of the Gulf of Tamyraces,Now Karkinit Bay. or Carcinites, which is the isthmus of the Great Chersonesus.The Tauric Chersonese, now the Crimea. The coldness of these regions, albeit the people live in plains, is evident, for they do not breed asses, an animal that is very sensitive to cold; and as for their cattle, some are born without horns, while the horns of others are filed off, for this part of the animal is sensitive to cold; and the horses are small, whereas the sheep are large; and bronze water-jars burstSee 2. 1. 16. and their contents freeze solid. But the severity of the frosts is most clearly evidenced by what takes place in the region of the mouth of Lake Maeotis: the waterway from PanticapaeumNow Kertch. across to PhanagoriaNear what is now Taman. is traversed by wagons, so that it is both ice and roadway. And fish that become caught in the ice are obtained by diggingStrabo seems to mean that the fish were imbedded in the ice, and not that “the ice was first broken, and the fish extracted from the water beneath with a net” (Tozer, Selections from Strabo, p. 196). with an implement called the “gangame,”A pronged instrument like a trident. Tozer (loc. cit.) takes “gangame” to mean here “ a small round net;” but see Stephanus, Thesaurus, and especially Hesychius (s.v.). and particularly the antacaei,A kind of sturgeon (see Hdt. 4.53), being one of the fish from the roe of which the Russian caviar is now prepared. which are about the size of dolphins.This sentence is transposed by Meineke to a position after the sentence that follows, but see footnote on “Carcinites,” 7. 4. 1. It is said of Neoptolemus, the general of Mithridates, that in the same strait he overcame the barbarians in a naval engagement in summer and in a cavalry engagement in winter.Cp. 2. 1. 16. And it is further said that the vine in the Bosporus region is buried during the winter, the people heaping quantities of earth upon it. And it is said that the heat too becomes severe, perhaps because the bodies of the people are unaccustomed to it, or perhaps because no winds blow on the plains at that time, or else because the air, by reason of its density, becomes superheated (like the effect of the parheliaAristot. Meteorologica 3.2.6, 3.6.5 refers to, and explains, the phenomena of the “parhelia” (“mock-suns”) in the Bosporus region. in the clouds). It appears that Ateas,According to Lucian Macrob. 10 Anteas (sic) fell in the war with Philip when about ninety years of age. The Roman writers spell the name “Atheas.” who waged war with Philip359-336 B.C.; the father of Alexander the Great. the son of Amyntas, ruled over most of the barbarians in this part of the world.
-After the islandSee 7. 3. 17. that lies off the Borysthenes, and next towards the rising sun, one sails to the capeNow Cape Tendra. of the Race Course of Achilles, which, though a treeless place, is called Alsosi.e.,, “a grove”; the word usually means a sacred precinct planted with trees, but is often used of any sacred precinct. and is sacred to Achilles. Then comes the Race Course of Achilles, a peninsulaThe western part (now an island) of this peninsula is called “Tendra,” and the eastern, “Zharylgatch” (or Djarilgatch”). According to ancient legends Achilles pursued Iphigenia to this peninsula and there practised for his races. that lies flat on the sea; it is a ribbon-like stretch of land, as much as one thousand stadia in length, extending towards the east; its maximum breadth is only two stadia, and its minimum only four plethra,The plethron was one-sixth of a stadium, or 100 feet. and it is only sixty stadia distant from the mainland that lies on either side of the neck. It is sandy,We would call it a “sand-bank.” and water may be had by digging. The neck of the isthmus is near the center of the peninsula and is about forty stadia wide. It terminates in a cape called Tamyrace,Now Cape Czile. which has a mooring-place that faces the mainland. And after this cape comes the Carcinites Gulf. It is a very large gulf, reaching up towards the north as far as one thousand stadia; some say, however, that the distance to its recess is three times as much. The people there are called Taphrians. The gulf is also called Tamyrace, the same name as that of the cape.
+Near the outlets of the Ister River is a great island called Peuce;Literally, “Pine” Island. The term “Peuce” was applied also to what is now the St. George branch of the delta, which branch was the southern boundary of the island. and when the Bastarnians took possession of it they received the appellation of Peucini. There are still other islands which are much smaller; some of these are farther inland than Peuce, while others are near the sea, for the river has seven mouths. The largest of these mouths is what is called the Sacred Mouth,Strabo seems to mean by “Sacred Mouth” what is now the Dunavez branch of the delta, which turns off from the St. George branch into a lagoon called Lake Ragim, which opens into the sea at the Portidje mouth; for (1) the length of the Dunavez to the lake is about 120 stadia, and (2) what is known about the alluvial deposits and topographical changes in the delta clearly indicates that the lake once had a wide and deep opening into the sea. Ptolemaeus 3.10.2, in giving the names of the mouths, refers to what is now the St. George branch as “Sacred Mouth or Peuce,” thus making the two identical; but Strabo forces a distinction by referring to the inland voyage of 120 stadia, since the branch (Peuce) is a boundary of the island (Peuce). Cp. M. Besnier, Lexique de Geographie Ancienne, s.v. “Peuce,” and Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Danuvius,” pp. 2117-20. on which one can sail inland a hundred and twenty stadia to Peuce. It was at the lower part of Peuce that Dareius made his pontoon-bridge,Cp. 7. 3. 9. although the bridge could have been constructed at the upper part also. The Sacred Mouth is the first mouth on the left as one sailsFrom the Sea of Marmara through the Bosporus. into the Pontus; the others come in order thereafter as one sails along the coast towards the Tyras; and the distance from it to the seventh mouth is about three hundred stadia. Accordingly, small islands are formed between the mouths. Now the three mouths that come next in order after the Sacred Mouth are small, but the remaining mouths are much smaller than it, but larger than any one of the three. According to Ephorus, however, the Ister has only five months. Thence to the Tyras, a navigable river, the distance is nine hundred stadia. And in the interval are two large lakes one of them opening into the sea, so that it can also be used as a harbor, but the other mouthless.
+At the mouthStrabo and Ptolemaeus 3.10.7 agree in placing the “mouth of the Tyras” at the outlet of the lake (into the Pontus), not at what was the outlet proper (into the lake), nor yet at the narrowest part of the lake where the city of Tyras (now Akkerman) was situated. of the Tyras is what is called the Tower of Neoptolemus,According to Forbiger (Strabo, Vol. II, p. 89, footnote) this tower was “recently” (about 1850) discovered at the end of the west coast of the lake. Cp. the Towers of Caepio (3. 1. 9), Pelorus (3. 5. 5), and Pharos (17. 1. 6). and also what is called the village of Hermonax.The exact site of the village is unknown, but Strabo certainly places it at the mouth. Ptolemaeus 3.10.7, places it 10 miles (in latitude) farther south than the mouth. And on sailing inland one hundred and forty stadia one comes to two cities, one on each side, NiconiaNiconia was situated on the lake near what is now Ovidiopol. on the right and OphiussaAccording to Pliny 4.26, the earlier name of Tyras was Ophiussa; but this is doubtful. on the left. But the people who live near the river speak of a city one hundred and twenty stadia inland.Tyras, on the site of what is now Akkerman. Again, at a distance of five hundred stadia from the mouth is the island called Leuce,“White” Island (now Ilan-Adassi); known as “Isle of the Blest” (Pliny 4.27); where the shade of Schilles was united to that of Helen. which lies in the high sea and is sacred to Achilles.
+ Then comes the Borysthenes River,The Dnieper. which is navigable for a distance of six hundred stadia; and, near it, another river, the Hypanis,The Bog. and off the mouth of the Borysthenes, an islandNow Berezan (see C. Müller, Ptolemaeus, Didot edition note on 3. 10. 9, p. 471). with a harbor. On sailing up the Borysthenes two hundred stadia one comes to a city of the same name as the river, but the same city is also called Olbia;Now in ruins, near Nickolaiev. it is a great trading center and was founded by Milesians. Now the whole country that lies above the said seaboard between the Borysthenes and the Ister consists, first, of the Desert of the Getae;Now Bessarabia. then the country of the Tyregetans;The city and territory of Tyras. and after it the country of the Iazygian Sarmatians and that of the people called the BasileiansCalled by Hdt. 4.20, 22, 56, 57, 59 the “Basileian (‘Royal’) Scythians,” but by Ptolemaeus 5.9.16 the “Basileian Sarmathians.” and that of the Urgi,The “Urgi” are otherwise unknown. In the margin of Manuscript A, first hand, are these words: “Ungri” (cp. ‘Hungarians’) “now, though the same are also called Tuci” (cp. ‘Turks’). But the editors in general regard “Urgi” as corrupt, and conjecture either “Georgi” (literally, “Farmers”; cp. 7. 4. 6 and Herodotus 4.18) or “Agathyrsi” (cp. Herodotus 4.125). who in general are nomads, though a few are interested also in farming; these people, it is said, dwell also along the Ister, often on both sides. In the interior dwell, first, those Bastarnians whose country borders on that of the Tyregetans and Germans—they also being, one might say, of Germanic stock; and they are divided up into several tribes, for a part of them are called Atmoni and Sidoni, while those who took possession of Peuce, the island in the Ister, are called “Peucini,” whereas the “Roxolani” (the most northerly of them all) roam the plains between the Tanaïs and the Borysthenes.The Dnieper. In fact, the whole country towards the north from Germany as far as the Caspian Sea is, so far as we know it, a plain, but whether any people dwell beyond the Roxolani we do not know. Now the Roxolani, under the leadership of Tasius, carried on war even with the generals of Mithridates Eupator;King of Pontus 120-63 B.C. they came for the purpose of assisting Palacus,A prince in the Tauric Chersonese. the son of Scilurus, as his allies, and they had the reputation of being warlike; yet all barbarian races and light-armed peoples are weak when matched against a well-ordered and well-armed phalanx. At any rate, those people, about fifty thousand strong, could not hold out against the six thousand men arrayed with Diophantus, the general of Mithridates, and most of them were destroyed. They use helmets and corselets made of raw ox-hides, carry wicker shields, and have for weapons spears, bow, and sword; and most of the other barbarians are armed in this way. As for the Nomads, their tents, made of felt, are fastened on the wagons in which they spend their lives; and round about the tents are the herds which afford the milk, cheese, and meat on which they live; and they follow the grazing herds, from time to time moving to other places that have grass, living only in the marsh-meadows about Lake Maeotis in winter, but also in the plains in summer.
+The whole of the country has severe winters as far as the regions by the sea that are between the Borysthenes and the mouth of Lake Maeotis; but of the regions themselves that are by the sea the most northerly are the mouth of the Maeotis and, still more northerly, the mouth of the Borysthenes, and the recess of the Gulf of Tamyraces,Now Karkinit Bay. or Carcinites, which is the isthmus of the Great Chersonesus.The Tauric Chersonese, now the Crimea. The coldness of these regions, albeit the people live in plains, is evident, for they do not breed asses, an animal that is very sensitive to cold; and as for their cattle, some are born without horns, while the horns of others are filed off, for this part of the animal is sensitive to cold; and the horses are small, whereas the sheep are large; and bronze water-jars burstSee 2. 1. 16. and their contents freeze solid. But the severity of the frosts is most clearly evidenced by what takes place in the region of the mouth of Lake Maeotis: the waterway from PanticapaeumNow Kertch. across to PhanagoriaNear what is now Taman. is traversed by wagons, so that it is both ice and roadway. And fish that become caught in the ice are obtained by diggingStrabo seems to mean that the fish were imbedded in the ice, and not that “the ice was first broken, and the fish extracted from the water beneath with a net” (Tozer, Selections from Strabo, p. 196). with an implement called the “gangame,”A pronged instrument like a trident. Tozer (loc. cit.) takes “gangame” to mean here “ a small round net;” but see Stephanus, Thesaurus, and especially Hesychius (s.v.). and particularly the antacaei,A kind of sturgeon (see Hdt. 4.53), being one of the fish from the roe of which the Russian caviar is now prepared. which are about the size of dolphins.This sentence is transposed by Meineke to a position after the sentence that follows, but see footnote on “Carcinites,” 7. 4. 1. It is said of Neoptolemus, the general of Mithridates, that in the same strait he overcame the barbarians in a naval engagement in summer and in a cavalry engagement in winter.Cp. 2. 1. 16. And it is further said that the vine in the Bosporus region is buried during the winter, the people heaping quantities of earth upon it. And it is said that the heat too becomes severe, perhaps because the bodies of the people are unaccustomed to it, or perhaps because no winds blow on the plains at that time, or else because the air, by reason of its density, becomes superheated (like the effect of the parheliaAristot. Meteorologica 3.2.6, 3.6.5 refers to, and explains, the phenomena of the “parhelia” (“mock-suns”) in the Bosporus region. in the clouds). It appears that Ateas,According to Lucian Macrob. 10 Anteas (sic) fell in the war with Philip when about ninety years of age. The Roman writers spell the name “Atheas.” who waged war with Philip359-336 B.C.; the father of Alexander the Great. the son of Amyntas, ruled over most of the barbarians in this part of the world.
+After the islandSee 7. 3. 17. that lies off the Borysthenes, and next towards the rising sun, one sails to the capeNow Cape Tendra. of the Race Course of Achilles, which, though a treeless place, is called Alsosi.e.,, “a grove”; the word usually means a sacred precinct planted with trees, but is often used of any sacred precinct. and is sacred to Achilles. Then comes the Race Course of Achilles, a peninsulaThe western part (now an island) of this peninsula is called “Tendra,” and the eastern, “Zharylgatch” (or Djarilgatch”). According to ancient legends Achilles pursued Iphigenia to this peninsula and there practised for his races. that lies flat on the sea; it is a ribbon-like stretch of land, as much as one thousand stadia in length, extending towards the east; its maximum breadth is only two stadia, and its minimum only four plethra,The plethron was one-sixth of a stadium, or 100 feet. and it is only sixty stadia distant from the mainland that lies on either side of the neck. It is sandy,We would call it a “sand-bank.” and water may be had by digging. The neck of the isthmus is near the center of the peninsula and is about forty stadia wide. It terminates in a cape called Tamyrace,Now Cape Czile. which has a mooring-place that faces the mainland. And after this cape comes the Carcinites Gulf. It is a very large gulf, reaching up towards the north as far as one thousand stadia; some say, however, that the distance to its recess is three times as much. The people there are called Taphrians. The gulf is also called Tamyrace, the same name as that of the cape.
-Here is the isthmusIsthmus of Perekop. which separates what is called Lake Saprai.e., “Putrid”; called by Ptolemaeus 3.5.2 and other ancient writers “Byce”; now called by the Russians “Ghuiloje More.” from the sea; it is forty stadia in width and forms what is called the Tauric, or Scythian, Chersonese. Some, however, say that the breadth of the isthmus is three hundred and sixty stadia. But though Lake Sapra is said to be as much as four thousand stadia,Strabo does not specify whether in breadth, length, or perimeter: he must mean perimeter, in which case the figure is, roughly speaking, correct. it is only a part, the western part, of Lake Maeotis, for it is connected with the latter by a wide mouth. It is very marshy and is scarcely navigable for sewn boats, for the winds readily uncover the shallow places and then cover them with water again, and therefore the marshes are impassable for the larger boats. The gulfi.e., Carcinites. In numerous cases Strabo unexpectedly reverts to a subject previously dismissed (cp. 7. 3. 18 and footnote). The present instance, among others, clearly shows that Groskurd, Forbiger, and Meineke are hardly justified in transferring passages of the text to different positions. However, they do not make a transfer here. contains three small islands, and also some shoals and a few reefs along the coast.
-As one sails out of the gulf, one comes, on the left, to a small city and another harborCorais, from a conjecture of Casaubon, emends “another harbor” to Fair Harbor.” But since Ptolemaeus 3.5.2 refers to a Kalos Limen on the opposite coast, the present translator conjectures that Strabo wrote “another Fair Harbor.” It is known that there were two settlements of the Chersonesites north of the great bay on which the city of Chersonesus was situated and that their names were “Cercinitis” and “Kalos Limen.” See Latyschew, and the inscription is S. Ber. Akad. Berl. 1892, 479; and Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Bosporus,” p. 772 and s.v. “Chersonesos,” p. 2265. belonging to the Chersonesites. For next in order as one sails along the coast is a great cape which projects towards the south and is a part of the Chersonesus as a whole;Also called the “Great Chersonesus” (the Crimea), as distinguished from the “Little Chersonesus.” Strabo means that the cape in question and the Little Chersonesus are identical. The cape (or peninsula) was bounded on the north by the isthmus (later mentioned), and this isthmus was marked by a wall and trench (see 7. 4. 7) which connected Ctenus Harbor (now the Harbor of Sebastopol) with Symbolon Limen (now the Harbor of Balaklava). and on this cape is situated a city of the Heracleotae, a colony of the Heracleotae who live on the Pontus,In the Paphlagonian city called Heracleia Pontica (now Erekli). and this place itselfThe “city” just mentioned. is called Chersonesus,“New Chersonesus,” which is now in ruins near Sebastopol. “Old Chersonesus” (in ruins in Strabo's time) was near the isthmus of the little peninsula which terminates in Cape Fanary. being distant as one sails along the coastThat is, including the entire circuit around the coast of Karkinit Bay. four thousand four hundred stadia from the Tyras. In this city is the temple of the Parthenos, a certain deity;“Parthenos” (“Virgin”) usually means Athene; but in this case it means either the Tauric Artemis (see 5. 3. 12 and Diod. Sic. 4.44), or (what is more likely) Iphigenia (see Herodotus, 4. 103). In saying “deity,” and not “goddess,” Strabo seems purposely non-committal as between the two. and the capeNow Cape Fanary. which is in front of the city, at a distance of one hundred stadia, is also named after this deity, for it is called the Parthenium, and it has a shrine and xoanonSee 4. 1. 4, and footnote. of her. Between the city and the cape are three harbors. Then comes the Old Chersonesus, which has been razed to the ground; and after it comes a narrow-mouthed harbor, where, generally speaking, the Tauri, a Scythian tribe, used to assemble their bands of pirates in order to attack all who fled thither for refuge. It is called Symbolon Limen.“Signal Harbor”; now the Harbor of Balaklava. This harbor forms with another harbor called Ctenus Limen“Comb Harbor” (now the Harbor of Sebastopol); probably so called from the sharp indentations in the coast. an isthmus forty stadia in width; and this is the isthmus that encloses the Little Chersonesus, which, as I was saying, is a part of the Great Chersonesus and has on it the city of Chersonesus, which bears the same name as the peninsula.
-This cityStrabo is now thinking of the Old Chersonesus. was at first self-governing, but when it was sacked by the barbarians it was forced to choose Mithridates Eupator as protector. He was then leading an army against the barbarians who lived beyond the isthmusIsthmus of Perekop. as far as the Borysthenes and the Adrias;That is, the head of the Adriatic. this, however, was prepratory to a campaign against the Romans. So, then, in accordance with these hopes of his he gladly sent an army to Chersonesus, and at the same time carried on war against the Scythians, not only against Scilurus, but also the sons of Scilurus—PalacusSee 7. 3. 17. and the rest—who, according to Poseidonius were fifty in number, but according to ApollonidesLittle is known of this Apollonides. According to the scholiast on Apollonius Argonautica 4.983, 1175, he wrote a geographical treatise entitled Periplus of Europe. were eighty. At the same time, also, he not only subdued all these by force, but also established himself as lord of the Bosporus,The Cimmerian Bosporus, the country about the strait of Kertch. The capital was Panticapaeum (now Kertch). receiving the country as a voluntary gift from ParisadesThe correct spelling of the name seems to be “Paerisades” (so on coins), but several ancient writers spell it Parisades. who held sway over it. So from that time on down to the present the city of the Chersonesites has been subject to the potentates of the Bosporus. Again, Ctenus Limen is equidistant from the city of the Chersonesites and Symbolon Limen. And after Symbolon Limen, as far as the city Theodosia,Now called Feodosia or Kaffa. lies the Tauric seaboard, which is about one thousand stadia in length. It is rugged and mountainous, and is subject to furious storms from the north. And in front of it lies a promontory which extends far out towards the high sea and the south in the direction of Paphlagonia and the city Amastris;Now Amasra. it is called Criumetopon.Literally, “Ram's-forehead”; now Cape Karadje. And opposite it lies that promontory of the Paphlagonians, Carambis,Now Cape Kerembe. which, by means of the strait, which is contracted on both sides, divides the Euxine Pontus into two seas.Cp. 2. 5. 22, where the same thought is clearly expressed. Now the distance from Carambis to the city of the Chersonesites is two thousand five hundred stadia,But cp. 2. 5. 22. but the number to Criumetopon is much less; at any rate, many who have sailed across the strait say that they have seen both promontories, on either side, at the same time.Cp. the footnote on seeing from Lilybaeum to the Carthaginian harbor, 6. 2. 1. In the mountainous district of the Taurians is also the mountain Trapezus,Now Tchadir-Dagh. which has the same name as the cityi.e., the Trebizond of today. in the neighborhood of Tibarania and Colchis. And near the same mountainous district is also another mountain, Cimmerius,Now Aghirmisch-Daghi. so called because the Cimmerians once held sway in the Bosporus; and it is because of this fact that the whole of the straitThe strait of Kertch. which extends to the mouth of Lake Maeotis is called the Cimmerian Bosporus.
-After the aforesaid mountainous district is the city Theodosia. It is situated in a fertile plain and has a harbor that can accommodate as many as a hundred ships; this harbor in earlier times was a boundary between the countries of the Bosporians and the Taurians. And the country that comes next after that of Theodosia is also fertile, as far as Panticapaeum. Panticapaeum is the metropolis of the Bosporians and is situated at the mouth of Lake Maeotis. The distance between Theodosia and Panticapaeum is about five hundred and thirty stadia; the district is everywhere productive of grain, and it contains villages, as well as a city called Nymphaeum,Now Kalati. which possesses a good harbor. Panticapaeum is a hill inhabited on all sides in a circuit of twenty stadia. To the east it has a harbor, and docks for about thirty ships; and it also has an acropolis. It is a colony of the Milesians. For a long time it was ruled as a monarchy by the dynasty of Leuco, Satyrus, and Parisades, as were also all the neighboring settlements near the south of Lake Maeotis on both sides, until Parisades gave over the sovereignty to Mithridates. They were called tyrants, although most of them, beginning with Parisades and Leuco, proved to be equitable rulers. And Parisades was actually held in honor as god. The lastHis title seems to have been Paerisades V. On the titles and times of the monarchs in this dynasty, see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Bosporus,“ p. 758. of these monarchs also bore the name Parisades, but he was unable to hold out against the barbarians, who kept exacting greater tribute than before, and he therefore gave over the sovereignty to Mithridates Eupator. But since the time of Mithridates the kingdom has been subject to the Romans. The greater part of it is situated in Europe, although a part of it is situated in Asia.According to Strabo, the boundary between Europe and Asia was formed by the Tanaïs (Don) River, Lake Maeotis (sea of Azof), and the Cimmerian Bosporus (strait of Kertch). See 2. 5. 26, 31 and 7. 4. 5.
-The mouth of Lake Maeotis is called the Cimmerian Bosporus. It is rather wide at first—about seventy stadia—and it is here that people cross over from the regions of Panticapaeum to Phanagoria, the nearest city of Asia; but it ends in a much narrower channel. This strait separates Asia from Europe; and so does the TanaïsThe Don. River, which is directly opposite and flows from the north into the lake and then into the mouth of it. The river has two outlets into the lake which are about sixty stadia distant from one another. There is also a cityThe site was near Nedrigofka. which has the same name as the river, and next to Panticapaeum is the greatest emporium of the barbarians. On the left, as one sails into the Cimmerian Bosporus, is a little city, Myrmecium,On the site of, or near, Yenikale. at a distance of twenty stadia from Panticapaeum. And twice this distance from Myrmecium is the village of Parthenium;Exact site unknown. here the strait is narrowest—about twenty stadia—and on the opposite side, in Asia, is situated a village called Achilleium. Thence, if one sails straight to the Tanaïs and the islands near its outlets, the distance is two thousand two hundred stadia, but if one sails along the coast of Asia, the distance slightly exceeds this; if, however, one sails on the left as far as the Tanaïs, following the coast where the isthmus is situated, the distance is more than three times as much. Now the whole of the seaboard along this coast, I mean on the European side, is desert, but the seaboard on the right is not desert; and, according to report, the total circuit of the lake is nine thousand stadia. The Great Chersonesus is similar to the Peloponnesus both in shape and in size. It is held by the potentatesChosen by the Romans (7. 4. 7). of the Bosporus, though the whole of it has been devastated by continuous wars. But in earlier times only a small part of it—that which is close to the mouth of Lake Maeotis and to Panticapaeum and extends as far as Theodosia—was held by the tyrants of the Bosporians, whereas most of it, as far as the isthmus and the Gulf of Carcinites, was held by the Taurians, a Scythian tribe. And the whole of this country, together with about all the country outside the isthmus as far as the Borysthenes, was called Little Scythia. But on account of the large number of people who left Little Scythia and crossed both the Tyras and the Ister and took up their abode in the land beyond, no small portion of Thrace as well came to be called Little Scythia; the Thracians giving way to them partly as the result of force and partly because of the bad quality of the land, for the greater part of the country is marshy.
-But the Chersonesus, except for the mountainous district that extends along the sea as far as Theodosia, is everywhere level and fertile, and in the production of grain it is extremely fortunate. At any rate, it yields thirty-fold if furrowed by any sort of a digging-instrument.Or perhaps, “plough-share.” Further, the people of this region, together with those of the Asiatic districts round about Sindice, used to pay as tribute to Mithridates one hundred and eighty thousand medimniThe Attic medimnus was about one bushel and a half. and also two hundred talents of silver.The Attic silver talent was about $1000. And in still earlier times the Greeks imported their supplies of grain from here, just as they imported their supplies of salt-fish from the lake. Leuco, it is said, once sent from Theodosia to Athens two million one hundred thousand medimni.Leuco sent to Athens 400,000 medimni of wheat annually, but in the year of the great famine (about 360 B.C.) he sent not only enough for Athens but a surplus which the Athenians sold at a profit of fifteen talents (Demosthenes, Against Leptines, 20. 32-33). These same people used to be called Georgi,i.e.,, “Tillers of the soil.” in the literal sense of the term, because of the fact that the people who were situated beyond them were Nomads and lived not only on meats in general but also on the meat of horses, as also on cheese made from mare's milk, on mare's fresh milk, and on mare's sour milk, which last, when prepared in a particular way, is much relished by them. And this is why the poet calls all the people in that part of the world “Galactophagi.”Cp. 7. 3. 3, 7, 9. Now although the Nomads are warriors rather than brigands, yet they go to war only for the sake of the tributes due them; for they turn over their land to any people who wish to till it, and are satisfied if they receive in return for the land the tribute they have assessed, which is a moderate one, assessed with a view, not to an abundance, but only to the daily necessities of life; but if the tenants do not pay, the Nomads go to war with them. And so it is that the poet calls these same men at the same time both “just” and “resourceless”; for if the tributes were paid regularly, they would never resort to war. But men who are confident that they are powerful enough either to ward off attacks easily or to prevent any invasion do not pay regularly; such was the case with Asander,Asander unsurped the throne of the Bosporus in 47 (or 46) B.C., after he had overthrown and killed his chief, King Pharnaces, and had defeated and killed Mithridates of Pergamon who sought the throne. His kingdom extended as far as the Don (see 11. 2. 11 and 13. 4. 3), and he built the fortifications above mentioned to prevent the invasions of the Scythians. who, according to Hypsicrates,Hysicrates flourished in the time of Julius Caesar. He wrote a number of historical and geographical treatises, but the exact titles are unknown (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v.). walled off the isthmus of the Chersonesus which is near Lake Maeotis and is three hundred and sixty stadia in width, and set up ten towers for every stadium. But though the Georgi of this region are considered to be at the same time both more gentle and civilized, still, since they are money-getters and have to do with the sea, they do not hold aloof from acts of piracy, nor yet from any other such acts of injustice and greed.
-In addition to the places in the Chersonesus which I have enumerated, there were also the three forts which were built by Scilurus and his sons—the forts which they used as bases of operations against the generals of Mithridates—I mean Palacium, Chabum, and Neapolis.The sites of these forts are unknown, but they must have been not far from the line of fortifications which ran along the eastern boundary of the Little Chersonesus (see 7. 4. 2). There was also a Fort Eupatorium,For Eupatorium is not to be identified with the city of Eupatoria (mentioned by Ptolemaeus 3.6.2), nor with the modern Eupatoria (the Crimean Kozlof). It was situated on what is now Cape Paul, where Fort Paul is, to the east of Sebastopol (Becker, Jahrb. für Philol., Suppl. vol., 1856), or else on the opposite cape between the harbor of Sebastopol and what is called Artillery Bay, where Fort Nicholas was (C. Müller, note on Ptolemaeus, l.c.). founded by Diophantus when he was leading the army for Mithridates. There is a cape about fifteen stadia distant from the wall of the Chersonesites;i.e., the wall of the city of New Chersonesus. it forms a very large gulf which inclines towards the city. And above this gulf is situated a lagoonNow Uschakowskaja Balka (Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Eupatoria”). which has salt-works. And here, too, was the Ctenus Harbor. Now it was in order that they might hold out that the besieged generals of the king fortified the place, established a garrison on the cape aforesaid, and filled up that part of the mouth of the gulf which extends as far as the city, so that there was now an easy journey on foot and, in a way, one city instead of two. Consequently, they could more easily beat off the Scythians. But when the Scythians made their attack, near Ctenus, on the fortified wall that extends across the isthmus, and daily filled up the trench with straw, the generals of the king set fire by night to the part thus bridged by day, and held out until they finally prevailed over them. And today everything is subject to whatever kings of the Bosporians the Romans choose to set up.
-It is a peculiarity of the whole Scythian and Sarmatian race that they castrate their horses to make them easy to manage; for although the horses are small, they are exceedingly quick and hard to manage. As for game, there are deer and wild boars in the marshes, and wild asses and roe deer in the plains. Another peculiar thing is the fact that the eagle is not found in these regions. And among the quadrupeds there is what is called the “colos”;“A large he-goat without horns” (Hesychius, s.v.). it is between the deer and ram in size, is white, is swifter than they, and drinks through its nostrils into its head, and then from this storage supplies itself for several days, so that it can easily live in the waterless country. Such, then, is the nature of the whole of the country which is outside the Ister between the Rhenus and the Tanaïs Rivers as far as the Pontic Sea and Lake Maeotis.
+Here is the isthmusIsthmus of Perekop. which separates what is called Lake Saprai.e., “Putrid”; called by Ptolemaeus 3.5.2 and other ancient writers “Byce”; now called by the Russians “Ghuiloje More.” from the sea; it is forty stadia in width and forms what is called the Tauric, or Scythian, Chersonese. Some, however, say that the breadth of the isthmus is three hundred and sixty stadia. But though Lake Sapra is said to be as much as four thousand stadia,Strabo does not specify whether in breadth, length, or perimeter: he must mean perimeter, in which case the figure is, roughly speaking, correct. it is only a part, the western part, of Lake Maeotis, for it is connected with the latter by a wide mouth. It is very marshy and is scarcely navigable for sewn boats, for the winds readily uncover the shallow places and then cover them with water again, and therefore the marshes are impassable for the larger boats. The gulfi.e., Carcinites. In numerous cases Strabo unexpectedly reverts to a subject previously dismissed (cp. 7. 3. 18 and footnote). The present instance, among others, clearly shows that Groskurd, Forbiger, and Meineke are hardly justified in transferring passages of the text to different positions. However, they do not make a transfer here. contains three small islands, and also some shoals and a few reefs along the coast.
+As one sails out of the gulf, one comes, on the left, to a small city and another harborCorais, from a conjecture of Casaubon, emends “another harbor” to Fair Harbor.” But since Ptolemaeus 3.5.2 refers to a Kalos Limen on the opposite coast, the present translator conjectures that Strabo wrote “another Fair Harbor.” It is known that there were two settlements of the Chersonesites north of the great bay on which the city of Chersonesus was situated and that their names were “Cercinitis” and “Kalos Limen.” See Latyschew, and the inscription is S. Ber. Akad. Berl. 1892, 479; and Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Bosporus,” p. 772 and s.v. “Chersonesos,” p. 2265. belonging to the Chersonesites. For next in order as one sails along the coast is a great cape which projects towards the south and is a part of the Chersonesus as a whole;Also called the “Great Chersonesus” (the Crimea), as distinguished from the “Little Chersonesus.” Strabo means that the cape in question and the Little Chersonesus are identical. The cape (or peninsula) was bounded on the north by the isthmus (later mentioned), and this isthmus was marked by a wall and trench (see 7. 4. 7) which connected Ctenus Harbor (now the Harbor of Sebastopol) with Symbolon Limen (now the Harbor of Balaklava). and on this cape is situated a city of the Heracleotae, a colony of the Heracleotae who live on the Pontus,In the Paphlagonian city called Heracleia Pontica (now Erekli). and this place itselfThe “city” just mentioned. is called Chersonesus,“New Chersonesus,” which is now in ruins near Sebastopol. “Old Chersonesus” (in ruins in Strabo's time) was near the isthmus of the little peninsula which terminates in Cape Fanary. being distant as one sails along the coastThat is, including the entire circuit around the coast of Karkinit Bay. four thousand four hundred stadia from the Tyras. In this city is the temple of the Parthenos, a certain deity;“Parthenos” (“Virgin”) usually means Athene; but in this case it means either the Tauric Artemis (see 5. 3. 12 and Diod. Sic. 4.44), or (what is more likely) Iphigenia (see Herodotus, 4. 103). In saying “deity,” and not “goddess,” Strabo seems purposely non-committal as between the two. and the capeNow Cape Fanary. which is in front of the city, at a distance of one hundred stadia, is also named after this deity, for it is called the Parthenium, and it has a shrine and xoanonSee 4. 1. 4, and footnote. of her. Between the city and the cape are three harbors. Then comes the Old Chersonesus, which has been razed to the ground; and after it comes a narrow-mouthed harbor, where, generally speaking, the Tauri, a Scythian tribe, used to assemble their bands of pirates in order to attack all who fled thither for refuge. It is called Symbolon Limen.“Signal Harbor”; now the Harbor of Balaklava. This harbor forms with another harbor called Ctenus Limen“Comb Harbor” (now the Harbor of Sebastopol); probably so called from the sharp indentations in the coast. an isthmus forty stadia in width; and this is the isthmus that encloses the Little Chersonesus, which, as I was saying, is a part of the Great Chersonesus and has on it the city of Chersonesus, which bears the same name as the peninsula.
+This cityStrabo is now thinking of the Old Chersonesus. was at first self-governing, but when it was sacked by the barbarians it was forced to choose Mithridates Eupator as protector. He was then leading an army against the barbarians who lived beyond the isthmusIsthmus of Perekop. as far as the Borysthenes and the Adrias;That is, the head of the Adriatic. this, however, was prepratory to a campaign against the Romans. So, then, in accordance with these hopes of his he gladly sent an army to Chersonesus, and at the same time carried on war against the Scythians, not only against Scilurus, but also the sons of Scilurus—PalacusSee 7. 3. 17. and the rest—who, according to Poseidonius were fifty in number, but according to ApollonidesLittle is known of this Apollonides. According to the scholiast on Apollonius Argonautica 4.983, 1175, he wrote a geographical treatise entitled Periplus of Europe. were eighty. At the same time, also, he not only subdued all these by force, but also established himself as lord of the Bosporus,The Cimmerian Bosporus, the country about the strait of Kertch. The capital was Panticapaeum (now Kertch). receiving the country as a voluntary gift from ParisadesThe correct spelling of the name seems to be “Paerisades” (so on coins), but several ancient writers spell it Parisades. who held sway over it. So from that time on down to the present the city of the Chersonesites has been subject to the potentates of the Bosporus. Again, Ctenus Limen is equidistant from the city of the Chersonesites and Symbolon Limen. And after Symbolon Limen, as far as the city Theodosia,Now called Feodosia or Kaffa. lies the Tauric seaboard, which is about one thousand stadia in length. It is rugged and mountainous, and is subject to furious storms from the north. And in front of it lies a promontory which extends far out towards the high sea and the south in the direction of Paphlagonia and the city Amastris;Now Amasra. it is called Criumetopon.Literally, “Ram's-forehead”; now Cape Karadje. And opposite it lies that promontory of the Paphlagonians, Carambis,Now Cape Kerembe. which, by means of the strait, which is contracted on both sides, divides the Euxine Pontus into two seas.Cp. 2. 5. 22, where the same thought is clearly expressed. Now the distance from Carambis to the city of the Chersonesites is two thousand five hundred stadia,But cp. 2. 5. 22. but the number to Criumetopon is much less; at any rate, many who have sailed across the strait say that they have seen both promontories, on either side, at the same time.Cp. the footnote on seeing from Lilybaeum to the Carthaginian harbor, 6. 2. 1. In the mountainous district of the Taurians is also the mountain Trapezus,Now Tchadir-Dagh. which has the same name as the cityi.e., the Trebizond of today. in the neighborhood of Tibarania and Colchis. And near the same mountainous district is also another mountain, Cimmerius,Now Aghirmisch-Daghi. so called because the Cimmerians once held sway in the Bosporus; and it is because of this fact that the whole of the straitThe strait of Kertch. which extends to the mouth of Lake Maeotis is called the Cimmerian Bosporus.
+After the aforesaid mountainous district is the city Theodosia. It is situated in a fertile plain and has a harbor that can accommodate as many as a hundred ships; this harbor in earlier times was a boundary between the countries of the Bosporians and the Taurians. And the country that comes next after that of Theodosia is also fertile, as far as Panticapaeum. Panticapaeum is the metropolis of the Bosporians and is situated at the mouth of Lake Maeotis. The distance between Theodosia and Panticapaeum is about five hundred and thirty stadia; the district is everywhere productive of grain, and it contains villages, as well as a city called Nymphaeum,Now Kalati. which possesses a good harbor. Panticapaeum is a hill inhabited on all sides in a circuit of twenty stadia. To the east it has a harbor, and docks for about thirty ships; and it also has an acropolis. It is a colony of the Milesians. For a long time it was ruled as a monarchy by the dynasty of Leuco, Satyrus, and Parisades, as were also all the neighboring settlements near the south of Lake Maeotis on both sides, until Parisades gave over the sovereignty to Mithridates. They were called tyrants, although most of them, beginning with Parisades and Leuco, proved to be equitable rulers. And Parisades was actually held in honor as god. The lastHis title seems to have been Paerisades V. On the titles and times of the monarchs in this dynasty, see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Bosporus,“ p. 758. of these monarchs also bore the name Parisades, but he was unable to hold out against the barbarians, who kept exacting greater tribute than before, and he therefore gave over the sovereignty to Mithridates Eupator. But since the time of Mithridates the kingdom has been subject to the Romans. The greater part of it is situated in Europe, although a part of it is situated in Asia.According to Strabo, the boundary between Europe and Asia was formed by the Tanaïs (Don) River, Lake Maeotis (sea of Azof), and the Cimmerian Bosporus (strait of Kertch). See 2. 5. 26, 31 and 7. 4. 5.
+The mouth of Lake Maeotis is called the Cimmerian Bosporus. It is rather wide at first—about seventy stadia—and it is here that people cross over from the regions of Panticapaeum to Phanagoria, the nearest city of Asia; but it ends in a much narrower channel. This strait separates Asia from Europe; and so does the TanaïsThe Don. River, which is directly opposite and flows from the north into the lake and then into the mouth of it. The river has two outlets into the lake which are about sixty stadia distant from one another. There is also a cityThe site was near Nedrigofka. which has the same name as the river, and next to Panticapaeum is the greatest emporium of the barbarians. On the left, as one sails into the Cimmerian Bosporus, is a little city, Myrmecium,On the site of, or near, Yenikale. at a distance of twenty stadia from Panticapaeum. And twice this distance from Myrmecium is the village of Parthenium;Exact site unknown. here the strait is narrowest—about twenty stadia—and on the opposite side, in Asia, is situated a village called Achilleium. Thence, if one sails straight to the Tanaïs and the islands near its outlets, the distance is two thousand two hundred stadia, but if one sails along the coast of Asia, the distance slightly exceeds this; if, however, one sails on the left as far as the Tanaïs, following the coast where the isthmus is situated, the distance is more than three times as much. Now the whole of the seaboard along this coast, I mean on the European side, is desert, but the seaboard on the right is not desert; and, according to report, the total circuit of the lake is nine thousand stadia. The Great Chersonesus is similar to the Peloponnesus both in shape and in size. It is held by the potentatesChosen by the Romans (7. 4. 7). of the Bosporus, though the whole of it has been devastated by continuous wars. But in earlier times only a small part of it—that which is close to the mouth of Lake Maeotis and to Panticapaeum and extends as far as Theodosia—was held by the tyrants of the Bosporians, whereas most of it, as far as the isthmus and the Gulf of Carcinites, was held by the Taurians, a Scythian tribe. And the whole of this country, together with about all the country outside the isthmus as far as the Borysthenes, was called Little Scythia. But on account of the large number of people who left Little Scythia and crossed both the Tyras and the Ister and took up their abode in the land beyond, no small portion of Thrace as well came to be called Little Scythia; the Thracians giving way to them partly as the result of force and partly because of the bad quality of the land, for the greater part of the country is marshy.
+But the Chersonesus, except for the mountainous district that extends along the sea as far as Theodosia, is everywhere level and fertile, and in the production of grain it is extremely fortunate. At any rate, it yields thirty-fold if furrowed by any sort of a digging-instrument.Or perhaps, “plough-share.” Further, the people of this region, together with those of the Asiatic districts round about Sindice, used to pay as tribute to Mithridates one hundred and eighty thousand medimniThe Attic medimnus was about one bushel and a half. and also two hundred talents of silver.The Attic silver talent was about $1000. And in still earlier times the Greeks imported their supplies of grain from here, just as they imported their supplies of salt-fish from the lake. Leuco, it is said, once sent from Theodosia to Athens two million one hundred thousand medimni.Leuco sent to Athens 400,000 medimni of wheat annually, but in the year of the great famine (about 360 B.C.) he sent not only enough for Athens but a surplus which the Athenians sold at a profit of fifteen talents (Demosthenes, Against Leptines, 20. 32-33). These same people used to be called Georgi,i.e.,, “Tillers of the soil.” in the literal sense of the term, because of the fact that the people who were situated beyond them were Nomads and lived not only on meats in general but also on the meat of horses, as also on cheese made from mare's milk, on mare's fresh milk, and on mare's sour milk, which last, when prepared in a particular way, is much relished by them. And this is why the poet calls all the people in that part of the world “Galactophagi.”Cp. 7. 3. 3, 7, 9. Now although the Nomads are warriors rather than brigands, yet they go to war only for the sake of the tributes due them; for they turn over their land to any people who wish to till it, and are satisfied if they receive in return for the land the tribute they have assessed, which is a moderate one, assessed with a view, not to an abundance, but only to the daily necessities of life; but if the tenants do not pay, the Nomads go to war with them. And so it is that the poet calls these same men at the same time both “just” and “resourceless”; for if the tributes were paid regularly, they would never resort to war. But men who are confident that they are powerful enough either to ward off attacks easily or to prevent any invasion do not pay regularly; such was the case with Asander,Asander unsurped the throne of the Bosporus in 47 (or 46) B.C., after he had overthrown and killed his chief, King Pharnaces, and had defeated and killed Mithridates of Pergamon who sought the throne. His kingdom extended as far as the Don (see 11. 2. 11 and 13. 4. 3), and he built the fortifications above mentioned to prevent the invasions of the Scythians. who, according to Hypsicrates,Hysicrates flourished in the time of Julius Caesar. He wrote a number of historical and geographical treatises, but the exact titles are unknown (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v.). walled off the isthmus of the Chersonesus which is near Lake Maeotis and is three hundred and sixty stadia in width, and set up ten towers for every stadium. But though the Georgi of this region are considered to be at the same time both more gentle and civilized, still, since they are money-getters and have to do with the sea, they do not hold aloof from acts of piracy, nor yet from any other such acts of injustice and greed.
+In addition to the places in the Chersonesus which I have enumerated, there were also the three forts which were built by Scilurus and his sons—the forts which they used as bases of operations against the generals of Mithridates—I mean Palacium, Chabum, and Neapolis.The sites of these forts are unknown, but they must have been not far from the line of fortifications which ran along the eastern boundary of the Little Chersonesus (see 7. 4. 2). There was also a Fort Eupatorium,For Eupatorium is not to be identified with the city of Eupatoria (mentioned by Ptolemaeus 3.6.2), nor with the modern Eupatoria (the Crimean Kozlof). It was situated on what is now Cape Paul, where Fort Paul is, to the east of Sebastopol (Becker, Jahrb. für Philol., Suppl. vol., 1856), or else on the opposite cape between the harbor of Sebastopol and what is called Artillery Bay, where Fort Nicholas was (C. Müller, note on Ptolemaeus, l.c.). founded by Diophantus when he was leading the army for Mithridates. There is a cape about fifteen stadia distant from the wall of the Chersonesites;i.e., the wall of the city of New Chersonesus. it forms a very large gulf which inclines towards the city. And above this gulf is situated a lagoonNow Uschakowskaja Balka (Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Eupatoria”). which has salt-works. And here, too, was the Ctenus Harbor. Now it was in order that they might hold out that the besieged generals of the king fortified the place, established a garrison on the cape aforesaid, and filled up that part of the mouth of the gulf which extends as far as the city, so that there was now an easy journey on foot and, in a way, one city instead of two. Consequently, they could more easily beat off the Scythians. But when the Scythians made their attack, near Ctenus, on the fortified wall that extends across the isthmus, and daily filled up the trench with straw, the generals of the king set fire by night to the part thus bridged by day, and held out until they finally prevailed over them. And today everything is subject to whatever kings of the Bosporians the Romans choose to set up.
+It is a peculiarity of the whole Scythian and Sarmatian race that they castrate their horses to make them easy to manage; for although the horses are small, they are exceedingly quick and hard to manage. As for game, there are deer and wild boars in the marshes, and wild asses and roe deer in the plains. Another peculiar thing is the fact that the eagle is not found in these regions. And among the quadrupeds there is what is called the “colos”;“A large he-goat without horns” (Hesychius, s.v.). it is between the deer and ram in size, is white, is swifter than they, and drinks through its nostrils into its head, and then from this storage supplies itself for several days, so that it can easily live in the waterless country. Such, then, is the nature of the whole of the country which is outside the Ister between the Rhenus and the Tanaïs Rivers as far as the Pontic Sea and Lake Maeotis.
-The remainder of Europe consists of the country which is between the Ister and the encircling sea, beginning at the recess of the Adriatic and extending as far as the Sacred MouthSee 7. 3. 15. of the Ister. In this country are Greece and the tribes of the Macedonians and of the Epeirotes, and all those tribes above them whose countries reach to the Ister and to the seas on either side, both the Adriatic and the Pontic—to the Adriatic, the Illyrian tribes, and to the other sea as far as the Propontis and the Hellespont, the Thracian tribes and whatever Scythian or Celtic tribes are intermingledSee 7. 3. 2, 11. with them. But I must make my beginning at the Ister, speaking of the parts that come next in order after the regions which I have already encompassed in my description. These are the parts that border on Italy, on the Alps, and on the counties of the Germans, Dacians, and Getans. This country alsoCp. 7. 1. 1. might be divided into two parts, for, in a way, the Illyrian, Paeonian, and Thracian mountains are parallel to the Ister, thus completing what is almost a straight line that reaches from the Adrias as far as the Pontus; and to the north of this line are the parts that are between the Ister and the mountains, whereas to the south are Greece and the barbarian country which borders thereon and extends as far as the mountainous country. Now the mountain called HaemusBalkan. is near the Pontus; it is the largest and highest of all mountains in that part of the world, and cleaves Thrace almost in the center. Polybius says that both seas are visible from the mountain, but this is untrue, for the distance to the Adrias is great and the things that obscure the view are many. On the other hand, almost the whole of ArdiaThe southern part of Dalmatia, bounded by the River Naro (now Narenta); but Strabo is thinking also of the Adrian Mountain (now the Dinara; see 7. 5. 5), which runs through the center of Dalmatia as far as the Naro. is near the Adrias. But Paeonia is in the middle, and the whole of it too is high country. Paeonia is bounded on either side, first, towards the Thracian parts, by Rhodope,Now Despoto-Dagh. a mountain next in height to the Haemus, and secondly, on the other side, towards the north, by the Illyrian parts, both the country of the Autariatae and that of the Dardanians.Cp. 7. 5. 6. So then, let me speak first of the Illyrian parts, which join the Ister and that part of the Alps which lies between Italy and Germany and begins at the lakeLake Constance (the Bodensee), see 7. 1. 5. which is near the country of the Vindelici, Rhaeti, and Toenii.Meineke emends “Toenii” (otherwise unknown) to “Helvetii,” the word one would expect here (cp. 7. 1. 5); but (on textual grounds) “Toygeni” (cp. 7. 2. 2) is almost certainly the correct reading.
-A part of this country was laid waste by the Dacians when they subdued the Boii and Taurisci, Celtic tribes under the rule of Critasirus.Cp. 7. 3. 11. They alleged that the country was theirs, although it was separated from theirs by the River Parisus,The “Parisus” (otherwise unknown) should probably be emended to “Pathissus” (now the Lower Theiss), the river mentioned by Pliny (4. 25) in connection with the Daci. which flows from the mountains to the Ister near the country of the Scordisci who are called Galatae,i.e. Gauls. for these tooCp. 7. 5. 1 and footnote. lived intermingled with the Illyrian and the Thracian tribes. But though the Dacians destroyed the Boii and Taurisci, they often used the Scordisci as allies. The remainder of the country in question is held by the Pannonii as far as SegesticaNow Sissek. and the Ister, on the north and east, although their territory extends still farther in the other directions. The city Segestica, belonging to the Pannonians, is at the confluence of several rivers,Cp. 4. 6. 10. all of them navigable, and is naturally fitted to be a base of operations for making war against the Dacians; for it lies beneath that part of the Alps which extends as far as the country of the Iapodes, a tribe which is at the same time both Celtic and Illyrian. And thence, too, flow rivers which bring down into Segestica much merchandise both from other countries and from Italy. For if one passes over Mount OcraThe Julian Alps. from Aquileia to Nauportus,Now Ober-Laibach. a settlement of the Taurisci, whither the wagons are brought, the distance is three hundred and fifty stadia, though some say five hundred. Now the Ocra is the lowest part of that portion of the Alps which extends from the country of the Rhaeti to that of the Iapodes. Then the mountains rise again, in the country of the Iapodes, and are called “Albian.”Cp. 4. 6.1. In like manner, also, there is a pass which leads over Ocra from Tergeste,Now Trieste. a Carnic village, to a marsh called Lugeum.Now Lake Zirknitz. Near Nauportus there is a river, the Corcoras,Now the Gurk. which receives the cargoes. Now this river empties into the Saus, and the Saus into the Dravus, and the Dravus into the NoarusSomething is wrong here. In 4. 6. 10 Strabo rightly makes the Saüs (Save) flow past Segestica (Sissek) and empty into the Danube, not the Drave. The Drave, too, empties into the Danube, not into some Noarus River. Moreover, the Noarus is otherwise unknown, except that it is again mentioned in 7. 5. 12 as “flowing past Segestica.” near Segestica. Immediately below Nauportus the Noarus is further increased in volume by the Colapis,Now the Kulpa. which flows from the Albian Mountain through the country of the Iapodes and meets the Danuvius near the country of the Scordisci. The voyage on these rivers is, for the most part, towards the north. The road from Tergeste to the Danuvius is about one thousand two hundred stadia. Near Segestica, and on the road to Italy, are situated both Siscia,The usual name for Segestica itself was Siscia. a fort, and Sirmium.Now Mitrovitza.
-The tribes of the Pannonii are: the Breuci, the Andisetii, the Ditiones, the Peirustae, the Mazaei, and the Daesitiatae, whose leader isIt is doubtful whether “is” or “was” (so others translate) should be supplied from the context here. Certainly “is” is more natural. This passage is important as having a bearing on the time of the composition and retouching of Strabo's work. See the Introduction, pp. xxiv ff. Bato,Bato the Daesitiation and Bato the Breucian made common cause against the Romans in 6 A.D. (Cass. Dio 55.29). The former put the latter to death in 8 A.D. (op. cit. 55. 34), but shortly afterwards surrendered to the Romans (Vell. Pat. 2.114). and also other small tribes of less significance which extend as far as Dalmatia and, as one goes south, almost as far as the land of the Ardiaei. The whole of the mountainous country that stretches alongside Pannonia from the recess of the Adriatic as far as the Rhizonic GulfNow the Gulf of Cattaro. and the land of the Ardiaei is Illyrian, falling as it does between the sea and the Pannonian tribes. But thisThe Rhizonic Gulf. is about where I should begin my continuous geographical circuit—though first I shall repeat a little of what I have said before.5. 1. 1, 5. 1. 9 and 6. 3. 10. I was saying in my geographical circuit of Italy that the Istrians were the first people on the Illyrian seaboard; their country being a continuation of Italy and the country of the Carni; and it is for this reason that the present Roman rulers have advanced the boundary of Italy as far as Pola, an Istrian city. Now this boundary is about eight hundred stadia from the recess, and the distance from the promontoryPolaticum Promontorium; now Punta di Promontore. in front of Pola to Ancona, if one keeps the HeneticSee 5. 1. 4. country on the right, is the same. And the entire distance along the coast of Istria is one thousand three hundred stadia.
-Next in order comes the voyage of one thousand stadia along the coast of the country of the Iapodes; for the Iapodes are situated on the Albian Mountain, which is the last mountain of the Alps, is very lofty, and reaches down to the country of the Pannonians on one side and to the Adrias on the other. They are indeed a war-mad people, but they have been utterly worn out by Augustus. Their citiesCp. 4. 6. 10. are Metulum,Probably what is now the village of Metule, east of Lake Zirknitz. Arupini,Probably what is now Auersberg. Monetium,Now Möttnig. and Vendo.But the proper spelling is “Avendo,” which place was near what are now Crkvinje Kampolje, south-east of Zeng (see Tomaschek, Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Avendo”). Their lands are poor, the people living for the most part on spelt and millet. Their armor is Celtic, and they are tattooed like the rest of the Illyrians and the Miracians. After the voyage along the coast of the country of the Iapodes comes that along the coast of the country of the Liburni, the latter being five hundred stadia longer than the former; on this voyage is a river,The Titius, now Kerka. which is navigable inland for merchant-vessels as far as the country of the Dalmatians, and also a Liburnian city, Scardo.Now Scardona.
-There are islands along the whole of the aforesaid seaboard: first, the Apsyrtides,Now Ossero and Cherso. where Medeia is said to have killed her brother Apsyrtus who was pursuing her; and then, opposite the country of the Iapodes, Cyrictica,Now Veglia. then the Liburnides,Now Arbo, Pago, Isola Longa, and the rest. about forty in number; then other islands, of which the best known are Issa,Now Lissa. TraguriumNow Trau. (founded by the people of Issa), and Pharos (formerly Paros, founded by the PariansIn 384 B.C. (Diodorus Siculus, 15. 13).), the native land of DemetriusDemetrius of Pharos, on making common cause with the Romans in 229 B.C., was made ruler of most of Illyria instead of Queen Tuta (Polybius, 2-10 ff.). the Pharian. Then comes the seaboard of the Dalmatians, and also their sea-port, Salo.Now Salona, between Klissa and Spalato. This tribe is one of those which carried on war against the Romans for a long time; it had as many as fifty noteworthy settlements; and some of these were cities—Salo, Priamo, Ninia, and Sinotium (both the Old and the New), all of which were set on fire by Augustus. And there is Andretium, a fortified place; and also DalmiumAlso spelled Delminium; apparently what is now Duvno (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Delminium”). (whence the name of the tribe), which was once a large city, but because of the greed of the people NasicaP. Cornelius Scipio Nascia Corculum, in 155 B.C. reduced it to a small city and made the plain a mere sheep pasture. The Dalmatians have the peculiar custom of making a redistribution of land every seven years; and that they make no use of coined money is peculiar to them as compared with the other peoples in that part of the world, although as compared with many other barbarian peoples it is common. And there is Mount Adrium,The Dinara. which cuts the Dalmatian country through the middle into two parts, one facing the sea and the other in the opposite direction. Then come the River Naro and the people who live about it—the Daorisi, the Ardiaei, and the Pleraei. An island called the Black CorcyraNow Curzola. and also a cityOf the same name. founded by the Cnidians are close to the Pleraei, while Pharos (formerly called Paros, for it was founded by Parians) is close to the Ardiaei.
-The Ardiaei were called by the men of later times “Vardiaei.” Because they pestered the sea through their piratical bands, the Romans pushed them back from it into the interior and forced them to till the soil. But the country is rough and poor and not suited to a farming population, and therefore the tribe has been utterly ruined and in fact has almost been obliterated. And this is what befell the rest of the peoples in that part of the world; for those who were most powerful in earlier times were utterly humbled or were obliterated, as, for example, among the Galatae the Boii and the Scordistae, and among the Illyrians the Autariatae, Ardiaei, and Dardanii, and among the Thracians the Triballi; that is, they were reduced in warfare by one another at first and then later by the Macedonians and the Romans.
-Be this as it may, after the seaboard of the Ardiaei and the Pleraei come the Rhisonic Gulf, and the city Rhizo,Now Risano. and other small towns and also the River Drilo,Now the Drin. which is navigable inland towards the east as far as the Dardanian country. This country borders on the Macedonian and the Paeonian tribes on the south, as do also the Autariatae and the Dassaretii—different peoples on different sides being contiguous to one another and to the Autariatae.The exact meaning and connection of “different. . . Autariatae” is doubtful. Carais and others emend Autariatae to Dardaniatae; others would omit “and to the Autariatae”; and still others would make the clause read “and different tribes which on different sides are contiguous to one another and to the Autariatae.” The last seems most probable. To the Dardaniatae belong also the Galabrii,The Galabrii, who are otherwise unknown, are thought by Patsch (Pauly-Wissowa, s.v.) and others to be the ancestors of the Italian Calabri. among whom is an ancient city,The name of this city, now unknown, seems to have fallen out of the text. and the Thunatae, whose country joins that of the Medi,“Maedi” is the usual spelling in other authors. But cp. “Medobithyni,” 7. 3. 2 and “Medi,” 7. 5. 12 and Frag. 36. a Thracian tribe on the east. The Dardanians are so utterly wild that they dig caves beneath their dung-hills and live there, but still they care for music, always making use of musical instruments, both flutes and stringed instruments. However, these people live in the interior, and I shall mention them again later.
-After the Rhizonic Gulf comes the city of Lissus,Now Alessio. and Acrolissus,A fortress near Lissus. and Epidamnus,Now Durazzo. founded by the Corcyraeans, which is now called Dyrrachium, like the peninsula on which it is situated. Then comes the ApsusNow the Semeni. River; and then the Aoüs,Now the Viosa. on which is situated Apollonia,Now Pollina. an exceedingly well-governed city, founded by the Corinthians and the Corcyraeans, and ten stadia distant from the river and sixty from the sea. The Aoüs is called “Aeas “Cp. 6. 2. 4, and Pliny 3.26. by Hecataeus, who says that both the Inachus and the Aeas flow from the same place, the region of Lacmus,More often spelled Lacmon; one of the heights of Pindus. or rather from the same subterranean recess, the former towards the south into Argos and the latter towards the west and towards the Adrias. In the country of the Apolloniates is a place called Nymphaeum; it is a rock that gives forth fire; and beneath it flow springs of warm water and asphalt—probably because the clods of asphalt in the earth are burned by the fire. And near by, on a hill, is a mine of asphalt; and the part that is trenched is filled up again in the course of time, since, as Poseidonius says, the earth that is poured into the trenches changes to asphalt. He also speaks of the asphaltic vine-earth which is mined at the Pierian SeleuceiaNow Kabousi, at the foot of the Djebel-Arsonz (Mt. Pieria), on the boundary of Cilicia and Syria. as a cure for the infested vine; for, he says, if it is smeared on together with olive oil, it kills the insectsIn private communications to Professor C. R. Crosby of Cornell University, Dr. Paul Marchal and Professor F. Silvestri of Protici identify the insect in question as the Pseudococcus Vitis (also called Dactylopius Vitis, Nedzelsky). This insect, in conjunction with the fungus Bornetina Corium, still infests the vine in the region mentioned by Poseidonius. before they can mount the sprouts of the roots;For a discussion of this passage, see Mangin and Viala, Revue de Viticulture, 1903, Vol. XX, pp. 583-584. and, he adds, earth of this sort was also discovered in Rhodes when he was in office there as Prytanis,President, or chief presiding-officer. but it required more olive oil. After Apollonia comes Bylliaca,The territory (not the city of Byllis) between Apollonia and Oricum. and OricumNow Erico. and its seaport Panormus, and the Ceraunian Mountains, where the mouth of the Ionian GulfSee 6. 1. 7 and the footnote. and the Adrias begins.
-Now the mouth is common to both, but the Ionian is different in that it is the name of the first part of this sea, whereas Adrias is the name of the inside part of the sea as far as the recess; at the present time, however, Adrias is also the name of the sea as a whole. According to Theopompus, the first name came from a man,Ionius, an Illyrian according to the Scholiasts (quoting Theopompus) on Apollonius Argonautica 4.308) and Pind. P. 3.120. a native of Issa,The isle of Issa (7. 5. 5). who once ruled over the region, whereas the Adrias was named after a river.Called by Ptolemaeus (3. 1. 21) “Atrianus,” emptying into the lagoons of the Padus (now Po) near the city of Adria (cp. 5. 1. 8), or Atria (now Atri). This river, now the Tartara, is by other writers called the Tartarus. The distance from the country of the Liburnians to the Ceraunian Mountains is slightly more than two thousand stadia Theopompus states that the whole voyage from the recess takes six days, and that on foot the length of the Illyrian country is as much as thirty days, though in my opinion he makes the distance too great.Strabo's estimate for the length of the Illyrian seaboard, all told (cp. 7.. 5. 3-4), amounts to 5,800 stadia. In objecting to Theopompus' length of the Illyrian country on foot, he obviously wishes, among other things, to make a liberal deduction for the seaboard of the Istrian peninsula. Cp. 6. 3. 10. And he also says other things that are incredible: first, that the seasThe Adriatic and the Aegaean. are connected by a subterranean passage, from the fact that both Chian and Thasian pottery are found in the Naro River; secondly, that both seas are visible from a certain mountain;The Haemus (cp. 7. 5. 1). and thirdly, when he puts down a certain one of the Liburnides islands as large enough to have a circuit of five hundred stadia;The coastline of Arbo is not much short of 500 stadia. The present translator inserts “a certain one”; others emend so as to make Theopompus refer to the circuit of all the Liburnides, or insert “the least” (th\n e)laxi/ston), or leave the text in doubt. and fourthly, that the Ister empties by one of its mouths into the Adrias. In Eratosthenes, also, are some false hearsay statements of this kind—“popular notions,”See 2. 4. 2 and 10. 3. 5. as Polybius calls them when speaking of him and the other historians.
-Now the whole Illyrian seaboard is exceedingly well supplied with harbors, not only on the continuous coast itself but also in the neighboring islands, although the reverse is the case with that part of the Italian seaboard which lies opposite, since it is harborless. But both seaboards in like manner are sunny and good for fruits, for the olive and the vine flourish there, except, perhaps, in places here or there that are utterly rugged. But although the Illyrian seaboard is such, people in earlier times made but small account of it—perhaps in part owing to their ignorance of its fertility, though mostly because of the wildness of the inhabitants and their piratical habits. But the whole of the country situated above this is mountainous, cold, and subject to snows, especially the northerly part, so that there is a scarcity of the vine, not only on the heights but also on the levels. These latter are the mountain-plains occupied by the Pannonians; on the south they extend as far as the country of the Dalmatians and the Ardiaei, on the north they end at the Ister, while on the east they border on the country of the Scordisci, that is, on the country that extends along the mountains of the Macedonians and the Thracians.
+The remainder of Europe consists of the country which is between the Ister and the encircling sea, beginning at the recess of the Adriatic and extending as far as the Sacred MouthSee 7. 3. 15. of the Ister. In this country are Greece and the tribes of the Macedonians and of the Epeirotes, and all those tribes above them whose countries reach to the Ister and to the seas on either side, both the Adriatic and the Pontic—to the Adriatic, the Illyrian tribes, and to the other sea as far as the Propontis and the Hellespont, the Thracian tribes and whatever Scythian or Celtic tribes are intermingledSee 7. 3. 2, 11. with them. But I must make my beginning at the Ister, speaking of the parts that come next in order after the regions which I have already encompassed in my description. These are the parts that border on Italy, on the Alps, and on the counties of the Germans, Dacians, and Getans. This country alsoCp. 7. 1. 1. might be divided into two parts, for, in a way, the Illyrian, Paeonian, and Thracian mountains are parallel to the Ister, thus completing what is almost a straight line that reaches from the Adrias as far as the Pontus; and to the north of this line are the parts that are between the Ister and the mountains, whereas to the south are Greece and the barbarian country which borders thereon and extends as far as the mountainous country. Now the mountain called HaemusBalkan. is near the Pontus; it is the largest and highest of all mountains in that part of the world, and cleaves Thrace almost in the center. Polybius says that both seas are visible from the mountain, but this is untrue, for the distance to the Adrias is great and the things that obscure the view are many. On the other hand, almost the whole of ArdiaThe southern part of Dalmatia, bounded by the River Naro (now Narenta); but Strabo is thinking also of the Adrian Mountain (now the Dinara; see 7. 5. 5), which runs through the center of Dalmatia as far as the Naro. is near the Adrias. But Paeonia is in the middle, and the whole of it too is high country. Paeonia is bounded on either side, first, towards the Thracian parts, by Rhodope,Now Despoto-Dagh. a mountain next in height to the Haemus, and secondly, on the other side, towards the north, by the Illyrian parts, both the country of the Autariatae and that of the Dardanians.Cp. 7. 5. 6. So then, let me speak first of the Illyrian parts, which join the Ister and that part of the Alps which lies between Italy and Germany and begins at the lakeLake Constance (the Bodensee), see 7. 1. 5. which is near the country of the Vindelici, Rhaeti, and Toenii.Meineke emends “Toenii” (otherwise unknown) to “Helvetii,” the word one would expect here (cp. 7. 1. 5); but (on textual grounds) “Toygeni” (cp. 7. 2. 2) is almost certainly the correct reading.
+A part of this country was laid waste by the Dacians when they subdued the Boii and Taurisci, Celtic tribes under the rule of Critasirus.Cp. 7. 3. 11. They alleged that the country was theirs, although it was separated from theirs by the River Parisus,The “Parisus” (otherwise unknown) should probably be emended to “Pathissus” (now the Lower Theiss), the river mentioned by Pliny (4. 25) in connection with the Daci. which flows from the mountains to the Ister near the country of the Scordisci who are called Galatae,i.e. Gauls. for these tooCp. 7. 5. 1 and footnote. lived intermingled with the Illyrian and the Thracian tribes. But though the Dacians destroyed the Boii and Taurisci, they often used the Scordisci as allies. The remainder of the country in question is held by the Pannonii as far as SegesticaNow Sissek. and the Ister, on the north and east, although their territory extends still farther in the other directions. The city Segestica, belonging to the Pannonians, is at the confluence of several rivers,Cp. 4. 6. 10. all of them navigable, and is naturally fitted to be a base of operations for making war against the Dacians; for it lies beneath that part of the Alps which extends as far as the country of the Iapodes, a tribe which is at the same time both Celtic and Illyrian. And thence, too, flow rivers which bring down into Segestica much merchandise both from other countries and from Italy. For if one passes over Mount OcraThe Julian Alps. from Aquileia to Nauportus,Now Ober-Laibach. a settlement of the Taurisci, whither the wagons are brought, the distance is three hundred and fifty stadia, though some say five hundred. Now the Ocra is the lowest part of that portion of the Alps which extends from the country of the Rhaeti to that of the Iapodes. Then the mountains rise again, in the country of the Iapodes, and are called “Albian.”Cp. 4. 6.1. In like manner, also, there is a pass which leads over Ocra from Tergeste,Now Trieste. a Carnic village, to a marsh called Lugeum.Now Lake Zirknitz. Near Nauportus there is a river, the Corcoras,Now the Gurk. which receives the cargoes. Now this river empties into the Saus, and the Saus into the Dravus, and the Dravus into the NoarusSomething is wrong here. In 4. 6. 10 Strabo rightly makes the Saüs (Save) flow past Segestica (Sissek) and empty into the Danube, not the Drave. The Drave, too, empties into the Danube, not into some Noarus River. Moreover, the Noarus is otherwise unknown, except that it is again mentioned in 7. 5. 12 as “flowing past Segestica.” near Segestica. Immediately below Nauportus the Noarus is further increased in volume by the Colapis,Now the Kulpa. which flows from the Albian Mountain through the country of the Iapodes and meets the Danuvius near the country of the Scordisci. The voyage on these rivers is, for the most part, towards the north. The road from Tergeste to the Danuvius is about one thousand two hundred stadia. Near Segestica, and on the road to Italy, are situated both Siscia,The usual name for Segestica itself was Siscia. a fort, and Sirmium.Now Mitrovitza.
+The tribes of the Pannonii are: the Breuci, the Andisetii, the Ditiones, the Peirustae, the Mazaei, and the Daesitiatae, whose leader isIt is doubtful whether “is” or “was” (so others translate) should be supplied from the context here. Certainly “is” is more natural. This passage is important as having a bearing on the time of the composition and retouching of Strabo's work. See the Introduction, pp. xxiv ff. Bato,Bato the Daesitiation and Bato the Breucian made common cause against the Romans in 6 A.D. (Cass. Dio 55.29). The former put the latter to death in 8 A.D. (op. cit. 55. 34), but shortly afterwards surrendered to the Romans (Vell. Pat. 2.114). and also other small tribes of less significance which extend as far as Dalmatia and, as one goes south, almost as far as the land of the Ardiaei. The whole of the mountainous country that stretches alongside Pannonia from the recess of the Adriatic as far as the Rhizonic GulfNow the Gulf of Cattaro. and the land of the Ardiaei is Illyrian, falling as it does between the sea and the Pannonian tribes. But thisThe Rhizonic Gulf. is about where I should begin my continuous geographical circuit—though first I shall repeat a little of what I have said before.5. 1. 1, 5. 1. 9 and 6. 3. 10. I was saying in my geographical circuit of Italy that the Istrians were the first people on the Illyrian seaboard; their country being a continuation of Italy and the country of the Carni; and it is for this reason that the present Roman rulers have advanced the boundary of Italy as far as Pola, an Istrian city. Now this boundary is about eight hundred stadia from the recess, and the distance from the promontoryPolaticum Promontorium; now Punta di Promontore. in front of Pola to Ancona, if one keeps the HeneticSee 5. 1. 4. country on the right, is the same. And the entire distance along the coast of Istria is one thousand three hundred stadia.
+Next in order comes the voyage of one thousand stadia along the coast of the country of the Iapodes; for the Iapodes are situated on the Albian Mountain, which is the last mountain of the Alps, is very lofty, and reaches down to the country of the Pannonians on one side and to the Adrias on the other. They are indeed a war-mad people, but they have been utterly worn out by Augustus. Their citiesCp. 4. 6. 10. are Metulum,Probably what is now the village of Metule, east of Lake Zirknitz. Arupini,Probably what is now Auersberg. Monetium,Now Möttnig. and Vendo.But the proper spelling is “Avendo,” which place was near what are now Crkvinje Kampolje, south-east of Zeng (see Tomaschek, Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Avendo”). Their lands are poor, the people living for the most part on spelt and millet. Their armor is Celtic, and they are tattooed like the rest of the Illyrians and the Miracians. After the voyage along the coast of the country of the Iapodes comes that along the coast of the country of the Liburni, the latter being five hundred stadia longer than the former; on this voyage is a river,The Titius, now Kerka. which is navigable inland for merchant-vessels as far as the country of the Dalmatians, and also a Liburnian city, Scardo.Now Scardona.
+There are islands along the whole of the aforesaid seaboard: first, the Apsyrtides,Now Ossero and Cherso. where Medeia is said to have killed her brother Apsyrtus who was pursuing her; and then, opposite the country of the Iapodes, Cyrictica,Now Veglia. then the Liburnides,Now Arbo, Pago, Isola Longa, and the rest. about forty in number; then other islands, of which the best known are Issa,Now Lissa. TraguriumNow Trau. (founded by the people of Issa), and Pharos (formerly Paros, founded by the PariansIn 384 B.C. (Diodorus Siculus, 15. 13).), the native land of DemetriusDemetrius of Pharos, on making common cause with the Romans in 229 B.C., was made ruler of most of Illyria instead of Queen Tuta (Polybius, 2-10 ff.). the Pharian. Then comes the seaboard of the Dalmatians, and also their sea-port, Salo.Now Salona, between Klissa and Spalato. This tribe is one of those which carried on war against the Romans for a long time; it had as many as fifty noteworthy settlements; and some of these were cities—Salo, Priamo, Ninia, and Sinotium (both the Old and the New), all of which were set on fire by Augustus. And there is Andretium, a fortified place; and also DalmiumAlso spelled Delminium; apparently what is now Duvno (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Delminium”). (whence the name of the tribe), which was once a large city, but because of the greed of the people NasicaP. Cornelius Scipio Nascia Corculum, in 155 B.C. reduced it to a small city and made the plain a mere sheep pasture. The Dalmatians have the peculiar custom of making a redistribution of land every seven years; and that they make no use of coined money is peculiar to them as compared with the other peoples in that part of the world, although as compared with many other barbarian peoples it is common. And there is Mount Adrium,The Dinara. which cuts the Dalmatian country through the middle into two parts, one facing the sea and the other in the opposite direction. Then come the River Naro and the people who live about it—the Daorisi, the Ardiaei, and the Pleraei. An island called the Black CorcyraNow Curzola. and also a cityOf the same name. founded by the Cnidians are close to the Pleraei, while Pharos (formerly called Paros, for it was founded by Parians) is close to the Ardiaei.
+The Ardiaei were called by the men of later times “Vardiaei.” Because they pestered the sea through their piratical bands, the Romans pushed them back from it into the interior and forced them to till the soil. But the country is rough and poor and not suited to a farming population, and therefore the tribe has been utterly ruined and in fact has almost been obliterated. And this is what befell the rest of the peoples in that part of the world; for those who were most powerful in earlier times were utterly humbled or were obliterated, as, for example, among the Galatae the Boii and the Scordistae, and among the Illyrians the Autariatae, Ardiaei, and Dardanii, and among the Thracians the Triballi; that is, they were reduced in warfare by one another at first and then later by the Macedonians and the Romans.
+Be this as it may, after the seaboard of the Ardiaei and the Pleraei come the Rhisonic Gulf, and the city Rhizo,Now Risano. and other small towns and also the River Drilo,Now the Drin. which is navigable inland towards the east as far as the Dardanian country. This country borders on the Macedonian and the Paeonian tribes on the south, as do also the Autariatae and the Dassaretii—different peoples on different sides being contiguous to one another and to the Autariatae.The exact meaning and connection of “different. . . Autariatae” is doubtful. Carais and others emend Autariatae to Dardaniatae; others would omit “and to the Autariatae”; and still others would make the clause read “and different tribes which on different sides are contiguous to one another and to the Autariatae.” The last seems most probable. To the Dardaniatae belong also the Galabrii,The Galabrii, who are otherwise unknown, are thought by Patsch (Pauly-Wissowa, s.v.) and others to be the ancestors of the Italian Calabri. among whom is an ancient city,The name of this city, now unknown, seems to have fallen out of the text. and the Thunatae, whose country joins that of the Medi,“Maedi” is the usual spelling in other authors. But cp. “Medobithyni,” 7. 3. 2 and “Medi,” 7. 5. 12 and Frag. 36. a Thracian tribe on the east. The Dardanians are so utterly wild that they dig caves beneath their dung-hills and live there, but still they care for music, always making use of musical instruments, both flutes and stringed instruments. However, these people live in the interior, and I shall mention them again later.
+After the Rhizonic Gulf comes the city of Lissus,Now Alessio. and Acrolissus,A fortress near Lissus. and Epidamnus,Now Durazzo. founded by the Corcyraeans, which is now called Dyrrachium, like the peninsula on which it is situated. Then comes the ApsusNow the Semeni. River; and then the Aoüs,Now the Viosa. on which is situated Apollonia,Now Pollina. an exceedingly well-governed city, founded by the Corinthians and the Corcyraeans, and ten stadia distant from the river and sixty from the sea. The Aoüs is called “Aeas “Cp. 6. 2. 4, and Pliny 3.26. by Hecataeus, who says that both the Inachus and the Aeas flow from the same place, the region of Lacmus,More often spelled Lacmon; one of the heights of Pindus. or rather from the same subterranean recess, the former towards the south into Argos and the latter towards the west and towards the Adrias. In the country of the Apolloniates is a place called Nymphaeum; it is a rock that gives forth fire; and beneath it flow springs of warm water and asphalt—probably because the clods of asphalt in the earth are burned by the fire. And near by, on a hill, is a mine of asphalt; and the part that is trenched is filled up again in the course of time, since, as Poseidonius says, the earth that is poured into the trenches changes to asphalt. He also speaks of the asphaltic vine-earth which is mined at the Pierian SeleuceiaNow Kabousi, at the foot of the Djebel-Arsonz (Mt. Pieria), on the boundary of Cilicia and Syria. as a cure for the infested vine; for, he says, if it is smeared on together with olive oil, it kills the insectsIn private communications to Professor C. R. Crosby of Cornell University, Dr. Paul Marchal and Professor F. Silvestri of Protici identify the insect in question as the Pseudococcus Vitis (also called Dactylopius Vitis, Nedzelsky). This insect, in conjunction with the fungus Bornetina Corium, still infests the vine in the region mentioned by Poseidonius. before they can mount the sprouts of the roots;For a discussion of this passage, see Mangin and Viala, Revue de Viticulture, 1903, Vol. XX, pp. 583-584. and, he adds, earth of this sort was also discovered in Rhodes when he was in office there as Prytanis,President, or chief presiding-officer. but it required more olive oil. After Apollonia comes Bylliaca,The territory (not the city of Byllis) between Apollonia and Oricum. and OricumNow Erico. and its seaport Panormus, and the Ceraunian Mountains, where the mouth of the Ionian GulfSee 6. 1. 7 and the footnote. and the Adrias begins.
+Now the mouth is common to both, but the Ionian is different in that it is the name of the first part of this sea, whereas Adrias is the name of the inside part of the sea as far as the recess; at the present time, however, Adrias is also the name of the sea as a whole. According to Theopompus, the first name came from a man,Ionius, an Illyrian according to the Scholiasts (quoting Theopompus) on Apollonius Argonautica 4.308) and Pind. P. 3.120. a native of Issa,The isle of Issa (7. 5. 5). who once ruled over the region, whereas the Adrias was named after a river.Called by Ptolemaeus (3. 1. 21) “Atrianus,” emptying into the lagoons of the Padus (now Po) near the city of Adria (cp. 5. 1. 8), or Atria (now Atri). This river, now the Tartara, is by other writers called the Tartarus. The distance from the country of the Liburnians to the Ceraunian Mountains is slightly more than two thousand stadia Theopompus states that the whole voyage from the recess takes six days, and that on foot the length of the Illyrian country is as much as thirty days, though in my opinion he makes the distance too great.Strabo's estimate for the length of the Illyrian seaboard, all told (cp. 7.. 5. 3-4), amounts to 5,800 stadia. In objecting to Theopompus' length of the Illyrian country on foot, he obviously wishes, among other things, to make a liberal deduction for the seaboard of the Istrian peninsula. Cp. 6. 3. 10. And he also says other things that are incredible: first, that the seasThe Adriatic and the Aegaean. are connected by a subterranean passage, from the fact that both Chian and Thasian pottery are found in the Naro River; secondly, that both seas are visible from a certain mountain;The Haemus (cp. 7. 5. 1). and thirdly, when he puts down a certain one of the Liburnides islands as large enough to have a circuit of five hundred stadia;The coastline of Arbo is not much short of 500 stadia. The present translator inserts “a certain one”; others emend so as to make Theopompus refer to the circuit of all the Liburnides, or insert “the least” (th\n e)laxi/ston), or leave the text in doubt. and fourthly, that the Ister empties by one of its mouths into the Adrias. In Eratosthenes, also, are some false hearsay statements of this kind—“popular notions,”See 2. 4. 2 and 10. 3. 5. as Polybius calls them when speaking of him and the other historians.
+Now the whole Illyrian seaboard is exceedingly well supplied with harbors, not only on the continuous coast itself but also in the neighboring islands, although the reverse is the case with that part of the Italian seaboard which lies opposite, since it is harborless. But both seaboards in like manner are sunny and good for fruits, for the olive and the vine flourish there, except, perhaps, in places here or there that are utterly rugged. But although the Illyrian seaboard is such, people in earlier times made but small account of it—perhaps in part owing to their ignorance of its fertility, though mostly because of the wildness of the inhabitants and their piratical habits. But the whole of the country situated above this is mountainous, cold, and subject to snows, especially the northerly part, so that there is a scarcity of the vine, not only on the heights but also on the levels. These latter are the mountain-plains occupied by the Pannonians; on the south they extend as far as the country of the Dalmatians and the Ardiaei, on the north they end at the Ister, while on the east they border on the country of the Scordisci, that is, on the country that extends along the mountains of the Macedonians and the Thracians.
Now the Autariatae were once the largest and best tribe of the Illyrians. In earlier times they were continually at war with the Ardiaei over the salt-works on the common frontiers. The salt was made to crystallize out of water which in the spring-time flowed at the foot of a certain mountain-glen, for if they drew off the water and stowed it away for five days the salt would become thoroughly crystallized. They would agree to use the salt-works alternately, but would break the agreements and go to war. At one time when the Autariatae had subdued the Triballi, whose territory extended from that of the Agrianes as far as the Ister, a journey of fifteen days, they held sway also over the rest of the Thracians and the Illyrians; but they were overpowered, at first by the Scordisci, and later on by the Romans, who also subdued the Scordisci themselves, after these had been in power for a long time.
-The Scordisci lived along the Ister and were divided into two tribes called the Great Scordisci and the Little Scordisci. The former lived between two rivers that empty into the Ister—the Noarus,See 7. 5. 2. which flows past Segestica, and the MargusNow the Morava. (by some called the Bargus), whereas the Little Scordisci lived on the far side of this river,i.e. east of the Margus. and their territory bordered on that of the Triballi and the Mysi. The Scordisci also held some of the islands; and they increased to such an extent that they advanced as far as the Illyrian, Paeonian, and Thracian mountains; accordingly, they also took possession of most of the islands in the Ister. And they also had two cities—Heorta and Capedunum.The sites of these places are unknown. Groskurd and Forbiger identify them with what are now Heortberg (Hartberg) and Kappenberg (Kapfenstein). After the country of the Scordisci, along the Ister, comes that of the Triballi and the Mysi (whom I have mentioned before),7. 3. 7, 8, 10, 13. and also the marshes of that part of what is called Little Scythia which is this side the Ister (these too I have mentioned).7. 4. 5. These people, as also the Crobyzi and what are called the Troglodytae, live abovei.e. “in the interior and back of.” the region round about Callatis,Now Mangalia, on the Black Sea. Tomis,Now Kostanza. and Ister.Now Karanasib. Then come the peoples who live in the neighborhood of the Haemus Mountain and those who live at its base and extend as far as the Pontus—I mean the Coralli, the Bessi, and some of the MediCp. 7. 5. 7 and the footnote. and Dantheletae. Now these tribes are very brigandish themselves, but the Bessi, who inhabit the greater part of the Haemus Mountain, are called brigands even by the brigands. The Bessi live in huts and lead a wretched life; and their country borders on Mount Rhodope, on the country of the Paeonians, and on that of two Illyrian peoples—the Autariatae, and the Dardanians. Between theseThe word “these” would naturally refer to the Autariatae and the Dardanians, but it might refer to the Bessi (see next footnote). and the Ardiaei are the Dassaretii, the Hybrianes,The “Hybrianes” are otherwise unknown. Casaubon and Meineke emend to “Agrianes” (cp. 7. 5. 11 and Fragments 36, 37 and 41). If this doubtful emendation be accepted, the “these” (see preceding footnote) must refer to the Bessi. and other insignificant tribes, which the Scordisci kept on ravaging until they had depopulated the country and made it full of trackless forests for a distance of several days' journey.
+The Scordisci lived along the Ister and were divided into two tribes called the Great Scordisci and the Little Scordisci. The former lived between two rivers that empty into the Ister—the Noarus,See 7. 5. 2. which flows past Segestica, and the MargusNow the Morava. (by some called the Bargus), whereas the Little Scordisci lived on the far side of this river,i.e. east of the Margus. and their territory bordered on that of the Triballi and the Mysi. The Scordisci also held some of the islands; and they increased to such an extent that they advanced as far as the Illyrian, Paeonian, and Thracian mountains; accordingly, they also took possession of most of the islands in the Ister. And they also had two cities—Heorta and Capedunum.The sites of these places are unknown. Groskurd and Forbiger identify them with what are now Heortberg (Hartberg) and Kappenberg (Kapfenstein). After the country of the Scordisci, along the Ister, comes that of the Triballi and the Mysi (whom I have mentioned before),7. 3. 7, 8, 10, 13. and also the marshes of that part of what is called Little Scythia which is this side the Ister (these too I have mentioned).7. 4. 5. These people, as also the Crobyzi and what are called the Troglodytae, live abovei.e. “in the interior and back of.” the region round about Callatis,Now Mangalia, on the Black Sea. Tomis,Now Kostanza. and Ister.Now Karanasib. Then come the peoples who live in the neighborhood of the Haemus Mountain and those who live at its base and extend as far as the Pontus—I mean the Coralli, the Bessi, and some of the MediCp. 7. 5. 7 and the footnote. and Dantheletae. Now these tribes are very brigandish themselves, but the Bessi, who inhabit the greater part of the Haemus Mountain, are called brigands even by the brigands. The Bessi live in huts and lead a wretched life; and their country borders on Mount Rhodope, on the country of the Paeonians, and on that of two Illyrian peoples—the Autariatae, and the Dardanians. Between theseThe word “these” would naturally refer to the Autariatae and the Dardanians, but it might refer to the Bessi (see next footnote). and the Ardiaei are the Dassaretii, the Hybrianes,The “Hybrianes” are otherwise unknown. Casaubon and Meineke emend to “Agrianes” (cp. 7. 5. 11 and Fragments 36, 37 and 41). If this doubtful emendation be accepted, the “these” (see preceding footnote) must refer to the Bessi. and other insignificant tribes, which the Scordisci kept on ravaging until they had depopulated the country and made it full of trackless forests for a distance of several days' journey.
-The remainder of the country between the Ister and the mountains on either side of Paeonia consists of that part of the Pontic seaboard which extends from the Sacred Mouth of the Ister as far as the mountainous country in the neighborhood of the Haemus and as far as the mouth at Byzantium. And just as, in traversing the Illyrian seaboard, I proceeded as far as the Ceraunian Mountains, because, although they fall outside the mountainous country of Illyria, they afford an appropriate limit, and just as I determined the positions of the tribes of the interior by these mountains, because I thought that marksOthers wrongly emend “marks” to “outlines.” See critical note to Greek text, and especially cp. 17. 1. 48 where the “marks” on the wall of the well indicate the risings of the Nile. of this kind would be more significant as regards both the description at hand and what was to follow, so also in this case the seaboard, even though it falls beyond the mountain-line, will nevertheless end at an appropriate limit—the mouth of the Pontus—as regards both the description at hand and that which comes next in order. So, then, if one begins at the Sacred Mouth of the Ister and keeps the continuous seaboard on the right, one comes, at a distance of five hundred stadia, to a small town, Ister, founded by the Milesians; then, at a distance of two hundred and fifty stadia, to a second small town, Tomis; then, at two hundred and eighty stadia, to a city Callatis,On these three places, see 7. 5. 12. a colony of the Heracleotae;Cp. 7. 4. 2. then, at one thousand three hundred stadia, to Apollonia,Now Sizeboli. a colony of the Milesians. The greater part of Apollonia was founded on a certain isle, where there is a temple of Apollo, from which Marcus Lucullus carried off the colossal statue of Apollo, a work of Calamis,Flourished at Athens about 450 B.C. This colossal statue was thirty cubits high and cost 500 talents (Pliny 34.18). which he set up in the Capitolium. In the interval between Callatis and Apollonia come also Bizone,Now Kavarna. of which a considerable part was engulfed by earthquakes,Cp. 1. 3. 10. Cruni,Now Baltchik. Odessus,Now Varna. a colony of the Milesians, and Naulochus,In Pliny 4.18, “Tetranaulochus”; site unknown. a small town of the Mesembriani. Then comes the Haemus Mountain, which reaches the sea here;In Cape Emineh-bouroun (“End of Haemus”). then Mesembria, a colony of the Megarians, formerly called “Menebria” (that is, “city of Menas,” because the name of its founder was Menas, while “bria” is the word for “city” in the Thracian language. In this way, also, the city of Selys is called SelybriaOr Selymbria; now Selivri. and AenusNow Aenos. was once called PoltyobriaOr Poltymbria; city of Poltys.). Then come Anchiale,Now Ankhialo. a small town belonging to the Apolloniatae, and Apollonia itself. On this coast-line is Cape Tirizis,Cape Kaliakra. a stronghold, which LysimachusSee 7. 3. 8, 14. once used as a treasury. Again, from Apollonia to the Cyaneae the distance is about one thousand five hundred stadia; and in the interval are Thynias,Now Cape Iniada. a territory belonging to the Apolloniatae (Anchiale, which also belongs to the ApolloniataeThe parenthesized words seem to be merely a gloss (see critical note).), and also Phinopolis and Andriaca,The sites of these two places are unknown. which border on Salmydessus.Including the city of Salmydessus (now Midia). Salmydessus is a desert and stony beach, harborless and wide open to the north winds, and in length extends as far as the Cyaneae, a distance of about seven hundred stadia; and all who are cast ashore on this beach are plundered by the Astae, a Thracian tribe who are situated above it. The CyaneaeCp. 1. 2. 10 and 3. 2. The islet, or rock, on the Asiatic side was visible in the sixteenth century, but “is now submerged,”—”on the bight of Kabakos” (Tozer, op. cit., p. 198). Tozer (loc. cit.) rightly believes that the ancients often restricted the Cyanean Rocks to those on the European side—what are now the Oräkje Tashy (see Pliny 4. 27). are two islets near the mouth of the Pontus, one close to Europe and the other to Asia; they are separated by a channel of about twenty stadia and are twenty stadia distant both from the temple of the Byzantines and from the temple of the Chalcedonians.These temples were called the Sarapieium and the temple of Zeno Urius; and they were on the present sites of the two Turkish forts which command the entrance to the Bosporus (Tozer). And this is the narrowest part of the mouth of the Euxine, for when one proceeds only ten stadia farther one comes to a headland which makes the strait only five stadiaBut cp. “four stadia” in 2. 5. 23. in width, and then the strait opens to a greater width and begins to form the Propontis.
-Now the distance from the headland that makes the strait only five stadia wide to the harbor which is called “Under the Fig-tree “Now Galata. is thirty-five stadia; and thence to the Horn of the Byzantines,The Golden Horn. five stadia. The Horn, which is close to the wall of the Byzantines, is a gulf that extends approximately towards the west for a distance of sixty stadia; it resembles a stag's horn,So the harbor of Brindisi (6. 3. 6). for it is split into numerous gulfs—branches, as it were. The pelamydesA kind of tunny-fish. rush into these gulfs and are easily caught—because of their numbers, the force of the current that drives them together, and the narrowness of the gulfs; in fact, because of the narrowness of the area, they are even caught by hand. Now these fish are hatched in the marshes of Lake Maeotis, and when they have gained a little strength they rush out through the mouth of the lake in schools and move along the Asian shore as far as Trapezus and Pharnacia. It is herePharnacia (cp. 12. 3. 19). that the catching of the fish first takes place, though the catch is not considerable, for the fish have not yet grown to their normal size. But when they reach Sinope, they are mature enough for catching and salting. Yet when once they touch the Cyaneae and pass by these, the creatures take such fright at a certain white rock which projects from the Chalcedonian shore that they forthwith turn to the opposite shore. There they are caught by the current, and since at the same time the region is so formed by nature as to turn the current of the sea there to Byzantium and the Horn at Byzantium, they naturally are driven together thither and thus afford the Byzantines and the Roman people considerable revenue. But the Chalcedonians, though situated near by, on the opposite shore, have no share in this abundance, because the pelamydes do not approach their harbors; hence the saying that Apollo, when the men who founded Byzantium at a time subsequent to the founding of ChalcedonByzantium appears to have been founded about 659 B.C. (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v.). According to Herodotus (4. 144), Chalcedon (now Kadi Koi) was founded seventeen years earlier. Both were Megarian colonies. by the Megarians consulted the oracle, ordered them to “make their settlement opposite the blind,” thus calling the Chalcedonians “blind”, because, although they sailed the regions in question at an earlier time, they failed to take possession of the country on the far side, with all its wealth, and chose the poorer country. I have now carried my description as far as Byzantium, because a famous city, lying as it does very near to the mouth, marked a better-known limit to the coasting-voyage from the Ister. And above Byzantium is situated the tribe of the Astae, in whose territory is a city Calybe,i.e., “Hut,” called by Ptolemaeus (3. 11) and others “Cabyle”; to be identified, apparently, with the modern Tauschan-tepe, on the Toundja River. where Philip the son of Amyntas settled the most villainous people of his kingdom.Suidas (s.v. *dou/lwn po/lis) quotes Theopompus as saying that Philip founded in Thrace a small city called Poneropolis (“City of Villains”), settling the same with about two thousand men—the false-accusers, false-witnesses, lawyers, and all other bad mean; but Poneropolis is not to be identified with Cabyle if the positions assigned to the two places by Ptolemaeus (3. 11) are correct. However, Ptolemaeus does not mention Ponerpolois, but Philippopolis, which latter, according to Pliny (4. 18), was the later name of Poneropolis.
+The remainder of the country between the Ister and the mountains on either side of Paeonia consists of that part of the Pontic seaboard which extends from the Sacred Mouth of the Ister as far as the mountainous country in the neighborhood of the Haemus and as far as the mouth at Byzantium. And just as, in traversing the Illyrian seaboard, I proceeded as far as the Ceraunian Mountains, because, although they fall outside the mountainous country of Illyria, they afford an appropriate limit, and just as I determined the positions of the tribes of the interior by these mountains, because I thought that marksOthers wrongly emend “marks” to “outlines.” See critical note to Greek text, and especially cp. 17. 1. 48 where the “marks” on the wall of the well indicate the risings of the Nile. of this kind would be more significant as regards both the description at hand and what was to follow, so also in this case the seaboard, even though it falls beyond the mountain-line, will nevertheless end at an appropriate limit—the mouth of the Pontus—as regards both the description at hand and that which comes next in order. So, then, if one begins at the Sacred Mouth of the Ister and keeps the continuous seaboard on the right, one comes, at a distance of five hundred stadia, to a small town, Ister, founded by the Milesians; then, at a distance of two hundred and fifty stadia, to a second small town, Tomis; then, at two hundred and eighty stadia, to a city Callatis,On these three places, see 7. 5. 12. a colony of the Heracleotae;Cp. 7. 4. 2. then, at one thousand three hundred stadia, to Apollonia,Now Sizeboli. a colony of the Milesians. The greater part of Apollonia was founded on a certain isle, where there is a temple of Apollo, from which Marcus Lucullus carried off the colossal statue of Apollo, a work of Calamis,Flourished at Athens about 450 B.C. This colossal statue was thirty cubits high and cost 500 talents (Pliny 34.18). which he set up in the Capitolium. In the interval between Callatis and Apollonia come also Bizone,Now Kavarna. of which a considerable part was engulfed by earthquakes,Cp. 1. 3. 10. Cruni,Now Baltchik. Odessus,Now Varna. a colony of the Milesians, and Naulochus,In Pliny 4.18, “Tetranaulochus”; site unknown. a small town of the Mesembriani. Then comes the Haemus Mountain, which reaches the sea here;In Cape Emineh-bouroun (“End of Haemus”). then Mesembria, a colony of the Megarians, formerly called “Menebria” (that is, “city of Menas,” because the name of its founder was Menas, while “bria” is the word for “city” in the Thracian language. In this way, also, the city of Selys is called SelybriaOr Selymbria; now Selivri. and AenusNow Aenos. was once called PoltyobriaOr Poltymbria; city of Poltys.). Then come Anchiale,Now Ankhialo. a small town belonging to the Apolloniatae, and Apollonia itself. On this coast-line is Cape Tirizis,Cape Kaliakra. a stronghold, which LysimachusSee 7. 3. 8, 14. once used as a treasury. Again, from Apollonia to the Cyaneae the distance is about one thousand five hundred stadia; and in the interval are Thynias,Now Cape Iniada. a territory belonging to the Apolloniatae (Anchiale, which also belongs to the ApolloniataeThe parenthesized words seem to be merely a gloss (see critical note).), and also Phinopolis and Andriaca,The sites of these two places are unknown. which border on Salmydessus.Including the city of Salmydessus (now Midia). Salmydessus is a desert and stony beach, harborless and wide open to the north winds, and in length extends as far as the Cyaneae, a distance of about seven hundred stadia; and all who are cast ashore on this beach are plundered by the Astae, a Thracian tribe who are situated above it. The CyaneaeCp. 1. 2. 10 and 3. 2. The islet, or rock, on the Asiatic side was visible in the sixteenth century, but “is now submerged,”—”on the bight of Kabakos” (Tozer, op. cit., p. 198). Tozer (loc. cit.) rightly believes that the ancients often restricted the Cyanean Rocks to those on the European side—what are now the Oräkje Tashy (see Pliny 4. 27). are two islets near the mouth of the Pontus, one close to Europe and the other to Asia; they are separated by a channel of about twenty stadia and are twenty stadia distant both from the temple of the Byzantines and from the temple of the Chalcedonians.These temples were called the Sarapieium and the temple of Zeno Urius; and they were on the present sites of the two Turkish forts which command the entrance to the Bosporus (Tozer). And this is the narrowest part of the mouth of the Euxine, for when one proceeds only ten stadia farther one comes to a headland which makes the strait only five stadiaBut cp. “four stadia” in 2. 5. 23. in width, and then the strait opens to a greater width and begins to form the Propontis.
+Now the distance from the headland that makes the strait only five stadia wide to the harbor which is called “Under the Fig-tree “Now Galata. is thirty-five stadia; and thence to the Horn of the Byzantines,The Golden Horn. five stadia. The Horn, which is close to the wall of the Byzantines, is a gulf that extends approximately towards the west for a distance of sixty stadia; it resembles a stag's horn,So the harbor of Brindisi (6. 3. 6). for it is split into numerous gulfs—branches, as it were. The pelamydesA kind of tunny-fish. rush into these gulfs and are easily caught—because of their numbers, the force of the current that drives them together, and the narrowness of the gulfs; in fact, because of the narrowness of the area, they are even caught by hand. Now these fish are hatched in the marshes of Lake Maeotis, and when they have gained a little strength they rush out through the mouth of the lake in schools and move along the Asian shore as far as Trapezus and Pharnacia. It is herePharnacia (cp. 12. 3. 19). that the catching of the fish first takes place, though the catch is not considerable, for the fish have not yet grown to their normal size. But when they reach Sinope, they are mature enough for catching and salting. Yet when once they touch the Cyaneae and pass by these, the creatures take such fright at a certain white rock which projects from the Chalcedonian shore that they forthwith turn to the opposite shore. There they are caught by the current, and since at the same time the region is so formed by nature as to turn the current of the sea there to Byzantium and the Horn at Byzantium, they naturally are driven together thither and thus afford the Byzantines and the Roman people considerable revenue. But the Chalcedonians, though situated near by, on the opposite shore, have no share in this abundance, because the pelamydes do not approach their harbors; hence the saying that Apollo, when the men who founded Byzantium at a time subsequent to the founding of ChalcedonByzantium appears to have been founded about 659 B.C. (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v.). According to Herodotus (4. 144), Chalcedon (now Kadi Koi) was founded seventeen years earlier. Both were Megarian colonies. by the Megarians consulted the oracle, ordered them to “make their settlement opposite the blind,” thus calling the Chalcedonians “blind”, because, although they sailed the regions in question at an earlier time, they failed to take possession of the country on the far side, with all its wealth, and chose the poorer country. I have now carried my description as far as Byzantium, because a famous city, lying as it does very near to the mouth, marked a better-known limit to the coasting-voyage from the Ister. And above Byzantium is situated the tribe of the Astae, in whose territory is a city Calybe,i.e., “Hut,” called by Ptolemaeus (3. 11) and others “Cabyle”; to be identified, apparently, with the modern Tauschan-tepe, on the Toundja River. where Philip the son of Amyntas settled the most villainous people of his kingdom.Suidas (s.v. *dou/lwn po/lis) quotes Theopompus as saying that Philip founded in Thrace a small city called Poneropolis (“City of Villains”), settling the same with about two thousand men—the false-accusers, false-witnesses, lawyers, and all other bad mean; but Poneropolis is not to be identified with Cabyle if the positions assigned to the two places by Ptolemaeus (3. 11) are correct. However, Ptolemaeus does not mention Ponerpolois, but Philippopolis, which latter, according to Pliny (4. 18), was the later name of Poneropolis.
-These alone, then, of all the tribes that are marked off by the Ister and by the Illyrian and Thracian mountains, deserve to be mentioned, occupying as they do the whole of the Adriatic seaboard beginning at the recess, and also the sea-board that is called “the left parts of the Pontus,” and extends from the Ister River as far as Byzantium. But there remain to be described the southerly parts of the aforesaidSee 7. 5. 1. mountainous country and next thereafter the districts that are situated below them, among which are both Greece and the adjacent barbarian country as far as the mountains. Now Hecataeus of Miletus says of the Peloponnesus that before the time of the Greeks it was inhabited by barbarians. Yet one might say that in the ancient times the whole of Greece was a settlement of barbarians, if one reasons from the traditions themselves: PelopsSee 8. 3. 31, 4. 4, 5. 5 and 12. 8. 2. brought over peoplesSee the quotation from Hesiod (2 following) and footnote on “peoples.” from Phrygia to the Peloponnesus that received its name from him; and DanaüsSee 8. 6. 9, 10. from Egypt; whereas the Dryopes, the Caucones, the Pelasgi, the Leleges, and other such peoples, apportioned among themselves the parts that are inside the isthmus—and also the parts outside, for Attica was once held by the Thracians who came with Eumolpus,son of Poseidon, king of the Thracians, and reputed founder of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Daulis in Phocis by Tereus,See 9. 3. 13. CadmeiaThebes and surrounding territory (9. 2. 3, 32). by the Phoenicians who came with Cadmus, and Boeotia itself by the Aones and Temmices and Hyantes. According to Pindar, “there was a time when the Boeotian tribe was called “Syes.”
Pind. Fr. Dith. 83 (Bergk)Strabo identifies “Hyantes” with “Syes”=“Hyes,” i.e. “swine.” Moreover, the barbarian origin of some is indicated by their names—Cecrops, Godrus, Aïclus, Cothus, Drymas, and Crinacus. And even to the present day the Thracians, Illyrians, and Epeirotes live on the flanks of the Greeks (though this was still more the case formerly than now); indeed most of the country that at the present time is indisputably Greece is held by the barbarians—Macedonia and certain parts of Thessaly by the Thracians, and the parts above Acarnania and Aetolia by the Thesproti, the Cassopaei, the Amphilochi, the Molossi, and the Athamanes—Epeirotic tribes.
-As for the Pelasgi, I have already discussed them.5. 2. 4. As for the Leleges, some conjecture that they are the same as the Carians, and others that they were only fellow-inhabitants and fellow-soldiers of these; and this, they say, is why, in the territory of Miletus, certain settlements are called settlements of the Leleges, and why, in many places in Caria, tombs of the Leleges and deserted forts, known as “Lelegian forts,” are so called. However, the whole of what is now called Ionia used to be inhabited by Carians and Leleges; but the Ionians themselves expelled them and took possession of the country, although in still earlier times the captors of Troy had driven the Leleges from the region about Ida that is near Pedasus and the Satnioïs River. So then, the very fact that the Leleges made common cause with the Carians might be considered a sign that they were barbarians. And Aristotle, in his Polities,Only fragments of this work are now extant (see Didot Edition, Vol. IV, pp. 219-296). also clearly indicates that they led a wandering life, not only with the Carians, but also apart from them, and from earliest times; for instance, in the Polity of the Acarnanians he says that the Curetes held a part of the country, whereas the Leleges, and then the Teleboae, held the westerly part; and in the Polity of the Aetolians (and likewise in that of the Opuntii and the Megarians) he calls the Locri of today Leleges and says that they took possession of Boeotia too; again, in the Polity of the Leucadians he names a certain indigenous Lelex, and also Teleboas, the son of a daughter of Lelex, and twenty-two sons of Teleboas, some of whom, he says, dwelt in Leucas.Now Santa Maura (cp. 10. 2. 2). But in particular one might believe Hesiod when he says concerning them: “For verily Locrus was chieftain of the peoples of the Leleges, whom once Zeus the son of Cronus, who knoweth devices imperishable, gave to Deucalion—peoplesIn the Greek word for “peoples” (laou/s) Hesoid alludes to the Greek word for “stones” (la=as). Pindar (Olymp. 9. 46 ff.) clearly derives the former word from the latter: “Pyrrha and Deucalion, without bed of marriage, founded a Stone Race, who were called Laoi.” One might now infer that the resemblance of the two words gave rise to the myth of the stones. picked out of earth”;
Hes. Fr. 141.3 (Paulson for by his etymologyThat is, of “Lelges.” In the Greek the root leg appears in (1) “Leleges.” (2) “picked,” and (3) “collection.” he seems to me to hint that from earliest times they were a collection of mixed peoples and that this was why the tribe disappeared. And the same might be said of the Caucones, since now they are nowhere to be found, although in earlier times they were settled in several places.
-Now although in earlier times the tribes in question were small, numerous, and obscure, still, because of the density of their population and because they lived each under its own king, it was not at all difficult to determine their boundaries; but now that most of the country has become depopulated and the settlements, particularly the cities, have disappeared from sight, it would do no good, even if one could determine their boundaries with strict accuracy, to do so, because of their obscurity and their disappearance. This process of disappearing began a long time ago, and has not yet entirely ceased in many regions because the people keep revolting; indeed, the Romans, after being set up as masters by the inhabitants, encamp in their very houses.Now standing empty. Be this as it may, PolybiusPolybius 30.16. says that Paulus,Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus (consul 182 and 168 B.C.) in 168 B.C. after his subjection of Perseus and the Macedonians, destroyed seventy cities of the Epeirotes (most of which, he adds, belonged to the Molossi),See 7. 7. 8. and reduced to slavery one hundred and fifty thousand people. Nevertheless, I shall attempt, in so far as it is appropriate to my description and as my knowledge reaches, to traverse the several different parts, beginning at the seaboard of the Ionian Gulf—that is, where the voyage out of the Adrias ends.
-Of this seaboard, then, the first parts are those about Epidamnus and Apollonia. From Apollonia to Macedonia one travels the Egnatian Road, towards the east; it has been measured by Roman miles and marked by pillars as far as CypselaNow Ipsala. and the HebrusNow the Maritza. River—a distance of five hundred and thirty-five miles. Now if one reckons as most people do, eight stadia to the mile, there would be four thousand two hundred and eighty stadia, whereas if one reckons as Polybius does, who adds two plethra, which is a third of a stadium, to the eight stadia, one must add one hundred and seventy-eight stadia—the third of the number of miles. And it so happens that travellers setting out from Apollonia and Epidamnus meet at an equal distance from the two places on the same road.Or, as we should say, the junction of the roas is equidistant from the two places. Now although the road as a whole is called the Egnatian Road, the first part of it is called the Road to Candavia (an Illyrian mountain) and passes through Lychnidus,Now Ochrida. a city, and Pylon, a place on the road which marks the boundary between the Illyrian country and Macedonia. From Pylon the road runs to BarnusNow the Neretschka Planina Mountain. through HeracleiaHeracleia Lyncestis; now Monastir. and the country of the Lyncestae and that of the Eordi into EdessaNow Vodena. and PellaThe capital of Macedonia; now in ruins and called Hagii Apostoli. and as far as Thessaloniceia;Now Thessaloniki or Saloniki. and the length of this road in miles, according to Polybius, is two hundred and sixty-seven. So then, in travelling this road from the region of Epidamnus and Apollonia, one has on the right the Epeirotic tribes whose coasts are washed by the Sicilian Sea and extend as far as the Ambracian Gulf,The Gulf of Arta. and, on the left, the mountains of Illyrla, which I have already described in detail, and those tribes which live along them and extend as far as Macedonia and the country of the Paeonians. Then, beginning at the Ambracian Gulf, all the districts which, one after another, incline towards the east and stretch parallel to the Peloponnesus belong to Greece; they then leave the whole of the Peloponnesus on the right and project into the Aegaean Sea. But the districts which extend from the beginning of the Macedonian and the Paeonian mountains as far as the StrymonNow the Struma. River are inhabited by the Macedonians, the Paeonians, and by some of the Thracian mountaineers; whereas the districts beyond the Strymon, extending as far as the mouth of the Pontus and the Haemus, all belong to the Thracians, except the seaboard. This seaboard is inhabited by Greeks, some being situated on the Propontis,Now the Sea of Marmara. others on the Hellespont and the Gulf of Melas,Now the Gulf of Saros. and others on the Aegaean. The Aegaean Sea washes Greece on two sides: first, the side that faces towards the east and stretches from Sunium,Now Cape Colonna. towards the north as far as the Thermaean GulfNow the Gulf of Saloniki. and Thessaloniceia, a Macedonian city, which at the present time is more populous than any of the rest; and secondly, the side that faces towards the south, I mean the Macedonian country, extending from Thessaloniceia as far as the Strymon. Some, however, also assign to Macedonia the country that extends from the Strymon as far as the Nestus River,Now the Mesta. since Philip was so specially interested in these districts that he appropriated them to himself, and since he organized very large revenues from the mines and the other natural resources of the country. But from Sunium to the Peloponnesus lie the Myrtoan, the Cretan, and the Libyan Seas, together with their gulfs, as far as the Sicilian Sea; and this last fills out the Ambracian, the Corinthian, and the CrisaeanSee footnote on 6.. 1. 7. Gulfs.
-Now as for the Epeirotes, there are fourteen tribes of them, according to Theopompus, but of these the Chaones and the Molossi are the most famous, because of the fact that they once ruled over the whole of the Epeirote country—the Chaones earlier and later the Molossi; and the Molossi grew to still greater power, partly because of the kinship of their kings, who belonged to the family of the Aeacidae,Aeacus was son of Zeus and Aegina, was king of the Isle of Aegina, was noted for his justice and piety, and was finally made one of the three judges in Hades. and partly because of the fact that the oracle at DodonaDodona was situated to the south of Lake Pambotis (now Janina), near what is now Dramisi. was in their country, an oracle both ancient and renowned. Now the Chaones and the Thesproti and, next in order after these, the Cassopaei (these, too, are Thesproti) inhabit the seaboard which extends from the Ceraunian Mountains as far as the Ambracian Gulf, and they have a fertile country. The voyage, if one begins at the country of the Chaones and sails towards the rising sun and towards the Ambracian and Corinthian Gulfs, keeping the Ausonian SeaSee 2. 5. 20, 2. 5. 29, 5. 3. 6. on the right and Epeirus on the left, is one thousand three hundred stadia, that is, from the Ceraunian Mountains to the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. In this interval is Panormus,Now Panormo. a large harbor at the center of the Ceraunian Mountains, and after these mountains one comes to Onchesmus,Now Santi Quaranta. another harbor, opposite which lie the western extremities of Corcyraea,Now Kerkyra or Corfu. and then still another harbor, Cassiope,“Cassope” is probably the correct spelling; now Cassopo, the name of a harbor and cape of Corfu. from which the distance to Brentesium is one thousand seven hundred stadia. And the distance to Taras from another cape, which is farther south than Cassiope and is called Phalacrum,Now Cape Drasti, at the southern end of Corfu. is the same. After Onchesmus comes Poseidium,In Thesprotia (see Ptolemaeus 3.13.3); now Cape Scala. and also ButhrotumNow Butrinto. (which is at the mouth of what is called Pelodes Harbor, is situated on a place that forms a peninsula, and has alien settlers consisting of Romans), and the Sybota.Now called the Syvota. The Sybota are small islands situated only a short distance from the mainland and opposite Leucimma, the eastern headland of Corcyraea. And there are still other small islands as one sails along this coast, but they are not worth mentioning. Then comes Gape Cheimerium, and also Glycys Limen,“Sweet Harbor”; now Port Splantza (Phanari). into which the River AcheronNow the Phanariotikos. empties. The Acheron flows from the Acherusian LakeNow Lago di Fusaro. and receives several rivers as tributaries, so that it sweetens the waters of the gulf. And also the ThyamisNow the Kalamas. flows near by. Cichyrus,The exact side of Cichyrus is uncertain (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Ephyre”). the Ephyra of former times, a city of the Thesprotians, lies above this gulf, whereas PhoeniceNow Phiniki. lies above that gulf which is at Buthrotum. Near Cichyrus is Buchetium, a small town of the Cassopaeans, which is only a short distance above the sea; also Elatria, Pandosia, and Batiae, which are in the interior, though their territory reaches down as far as the gulf. Next in order after Glycys Limen come two other harbors—Comarus,Now Gomaro. the nearer and smaller of the two, which forms an isthmus of sixty stadiaIn width. with the Ambracian Gulf, and Nicopolis, a city founded by Augustus Caesar, and the other, the more distant and larger and better of the two, which is near the mouth of the gulf and is about twelve stadia distant from Nicopolis.Now in ruins near Prevesa.
-Next comes the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. Although the mouth of this gulf is but slightly more than four stadia wide, the circumference is as much as three hundred stadia; and it has good harbors everywhere. That part of the country which is on the right as one sails in is inhabited by the Greek Acarnanians. Here too, near the mouth, is the sacred precinct of the Actian Apollo—a hill on which the temple stands; and at the foot of the hill is a plain which contains a sacred grove and a naval station, the naval station where Caesar dedicated as first fruits of his victoryIn the Battle of Actium, 31 B.C. the squadron of ten ships—from vessel with single bank of oars to vessel with ten; however, not only the boats, it is said, but also the boat-houses have been wiped out by fire. On the left of the mouth are Nicopolis and the country of the Epeirote Cassopaeans, which extends as far as the recess of the gulf near Ambracia.Now Arta. Ambracia lies only a short distance above the recess; it was founded by Gorgus, the son of Cypselus. The River AratthusOtherwise called Arachthus; now the Arta. flows past Ambracia; it is navigable inland for only a few stadia, from the sea to Ambracia, although it rises in Mount Tymphe and the Paroraea. Now this city enjoyed an exceptional prosperity in earlier times (at any rate the gulf was named after it), and it was adorned most of all by Pyrrhus, who made the place his royal residence. In later times, however, the Macedonians and the Romans, by their continuous wars, so completely reduced both this and the other Epeirote cities because of their disobedience that finally Augustus, seeing that the cities had utterly failed, settled what inhabitants were left in one city together the city on this gulf which was called by him Nicopolis;“Victory-city.” and he so named it after the victory which he won in the naval battle before the mouth of the gulf over Antonius and Cleopatra the queen of the Egyptians, who was also present at the fight. Nicopolis is populous, and its numbers are increasing daily, since it has not only a considerable territory and the adornment taken from the spoils of the battle, but also, in its suburbs, the thoroughly equipped sacred precinct—one part of it being in a sacred grove that contains a gymnasium and a stadium for the celebration of the quinquennial games,the Ludi Quinquennales, celebrated every four years (see Dio Cassius 51.1). the other part being on the hill that is sacred to Apollo and lies above the grove. These games—the Actia, sacred to Actian Apollo—have been designated as Olympian,So in the course of time games at numerous places (including Athens, Ephesus, Naples, Smyrna, Tarsus) came to be called “Olympian” in imitation of those at Olympia. The actual term used, for those at Tarsus at least, was *)isolu/mpia, “equal to the Olympian” (C. I. 4472). and they are superintended by the Lacedaemonians. The other settlements are dependencies of Nicopolis. In earlier times also the Actian Games were wont to be celebrated in honor of the god by the inhabitants of the surrounding country—games in which the prize was a wreath—but at the present time they have been set in greater honor by Caesar.
-After Ambracia comes Argos Amphilochicum, founded by Alcmaeon and his children. According to Ephorus, at any rate, Alcmaeon, after the expedition of the Epigoni against Thebes, on being invited by Diomedes, went with him into Aetolia and helped him acquire both this country and Acarnania; and when Agamemnon summoned them to the Trojan war, Diomedes went, but Alcmaeon stayed in Acarnania, founded Argos, and named it Amphilochicum after his brother; and he named the river which flows through the country into the Ambracian Gulf “Inachus,” after the river in the Argeian country. But according to Thucydides,Thuc. 2.68. Amphilochus himself, after his return from Troy, being displeased with the state of affairs at Argos, passed on into Acarnania, and on succeeding to his brother's dominion founded the city that is named after him.
-The Amphilochians are Epeirotes; and so are the peoples who are situated above them and border on the Illyrian mountains, inhabiting a rugged country—I mean the Molossi, the Athamanes, the Aethices, the Tymphaei, the Orestae, and also the Paroraei and the Atintanes, some of them being nearer to the Macedonians and others to the Ionian Gulf. It is said that Orestes once took possession of Orestias—when is, exile on account of the murder of his mother—and left the country bearing his name; and that he also founded a city and called it Argos Oresticum. But the Illyrian tribes which are near the southern part of the mountainous country and those which are above the Ionian Gulf are intermingled with these peoples; for above Epidamnus and Apollonia as far as the Ceraunian Mountains dwell the Bylliones, the Taulantii, the Parthini, and the Brygi. Somewhere near by are also the silver mines of Damastium,The site of Damstium is unknown. Imhoof-Blumer (Ztschr. f. Numism. 1874, Vol. I. pp. 99 ff.) think that is might be identified with what is now Tepeleni, on the Viosa River. But so far as is now known, there is no silver ore in Epeirus or Southern Illyria. Philippson (Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Damastion”) suggests that Argyrium (now Argyrocastro, on the Viosa) might be connected with the presence of silver. around which the Dyestae and the Encheleii (also called Sesarethii) together established their dominion; and near these people are also the Lyncestae, the territory Deuriopus, Pelagonian Tripolitis, the Eordi, Elimeia, and Eratyra. In earlier times these peoples were ruled separately, each by its own dynasty. For instance, it was the descendants of Cadmus and Harmonia who ruled over the Encheleii; and the scenes of the stories told about them are still pointed out there. These people, I say, were not ruled by men of native stock; and the Lyncestae became subject to Arrabaeus, who was of the stock of the Bacchiads (Eurydice, the mother of Philip, Amyntas' son, was Arrabaeus' daughter's daughter and Sirra was his daughter); and again, of the Epeirotes, the Molossi became subject to Pyrrhus, the son of Neoptolemus the son of Achilles, and to his descendants, who were Thessalians. But the rest were ruled by men of native stock. Then, because one tribe or another was always getting the mastery over others, they all ended in the Macedonian empire, except a few who dwelt above the Ionian Gulf. And in fact the regions about Lyncus, Pelagonia, Orestias, and Elimeia, used to be called Upper Macedonia, though later on they were by some also called Free Macedonia. But some go so far as to call the whole of the country Macedonia, as far as Corcyra, at the same time stating as their reason that in tonsure, language, short cloak, and other things of the kind, the usages of the inhabitants are similar,That is, to those of the Macedonians. although, they add, some speak both languages. But when the empire of the Macedonians was broken up, they fell under the power of the Romans. And it is through the country of these tribes that the Egnatian RoadSee 7. 7. 4. runs, which begins at Epidamnus and Apollonia. Near the Road to CandaviaSee 7. 7. 4. are not only the lakes which are in the neighborhood of Lychnidus,Now Ochrida. on the shores of which are salt-fish establishments that are independent of other waters, but also a number of rivers, some emptying into the Ionian Gulf and others flowing in a southerly direction—I mean the Inachus, the Aratthus, the Acheloüs and the Evenus (formerly called the Lycormas); the Aratthus emptying into the Ambracian Gulf, the Inachus into the Acheloüs, the Acheloüs itself and the Evenus into the sea—the Acheloüs after traversing Acarnania and the Evenus after traversing Aetolia. But the Erigon, after receiving many streams from the Illyrian mountains and from the countries of the Lyncestae, Brygi, Deuriopes, and Pelagonians, empties into the Axius.
-In earlier times there were also cities among these tribes; at any rate, Pelagonia used to be called Tripolitis,“Country of three cities.” one of which was Azorus; and all the cities of the Deuriopes on the Erigon River were populous, among which were Bryanium, Alalcomenae, and Stubara. And Cydrae belonged to the Brygi, while Aeginium, on the border of Aethicia and Tricca,Now Trikala. belonged to the Tymphaei. When one is already near to Macedonia and to Thessaly, and in the neighborhood of the Poeus and the Pindus Mountains, one comes to the country of the Aethices and to the sources of the Peneius River, the possession of which is disputed by the Tymphaei and those Thessalians who live at the foot of the Pindus, and to the city Oxineia, situated on the Ion River one hundred and twenty stadia from Azorus in Tripolitis. Near by are Alalcomenae, Aeginium, Europus, and the confluence of the Ion River with the Peneius. Now although in those earlier times, as I have said, all Epeirus and the Illyrian country were rugged and full of mountains, such as Tomarus and Polyanus and several others, still they were populous; but at the present time desolation prevails in most parts, while the parts that are still inhabited survive only in villages and in ruins. And even the oracle at Dodona,See articles s.v. “Dodona” in Pauly-Wissowa and Encyclopedia Britannica. like the rest, is virtually extinct.
- This oracle, according to Ephorus, was founded by the Pelasgi. And the Pelasgi are called the earliest of all peoples who have held dominion in Greece. And the poet speaks in this way: “O Lord Zeus, Dodonaean, Pelasgian”;
Hom. Il. 16.233 and Hesiod: “He came to Dodona and the oak-tree, seat of the Pelasgi.”
Hes. Fr. 212 (Rzach) The Pelasgi I have already discussed in my description of Tyrrhenia;5. 2. 4. and as for the people who lived in the neighborhood of the temple of Dodona, Homer too makes it perfectly clear from their mode of life, when he calls them “men with feet unwashen, men who sleep upon the ground,”Hom. Il. 16.235. that they were barbarians; but whether one should call them “Helli,” as Pindar does, or “Selli,” as is conjectured to be the true reading in Homer, is a question to which the text, since it is doubtful, does not permit a positive answer. Philochorus says that the region round about Dodona, like Euboea, was called Hellopia, and that in fact Hesiod speaks of it in this way: “There is a land called Hellopia, with many a corn-field and with goodly meadows; on the edge of this land a city called Dodona hath been built.”
Hes. Fr. 134 (Rzach) It is thought, Apollodorus says, that the land was so called from the marshesThe Greek for marshes is “Hele.” around the temple; as for the poet, however, Apollodorus takes it for granted that he did not call the people who lived about the temple “Helli,” but “Selli,” since (Apollodorus adds) the poet also named a certain river Selleeïs. He names it, indeed, when he says, “From afar, out of Ephyra, from the River Selleeïs”
Hom. Il. 2.659; 15.531; however, as Demetrius of Scepsis says, the poet is not referring to the Ephyra among the Thesprotians, but to that among the Eleians, for the Selleeïs is among the Eleians, he adds, and there is no Selleeïs among the Thesprotians, nor yet among the Molossi. And as for the myths that are told about the oak-tree and the doves, and any other myths of the kind, although they, like those told about Delphi, are in part more appropriate to poetry, yet they also in part properly belong to the present geographical description.
-In ancient times, then, Dodona was under the rule of the Thesprotians; and so was Mount Tomarus,Now Mt. Olytsika. or Tmarus (for it is called both ways), at the base of which the temple is situated. And both the tragic poets and Pindar have called Dodona “Thesprotian Dodona.” But later on it came under the rule of the Molossi. And it is after the Tomarus, people say, that those whom the poet calls interpreters of Zeus—whom he also calls “men with feet unwashen, men who sleep upon the ground”Hom. Il. 16.235.—were called “tomouroi”; and in the Odyssey some so write the words of Amphinomus, when he counsels the wooers not to attack Telemachus until they inquire of Zeus: “If the tomouroi of great Zeus approve, I myself shall slay, and I shall bid all the rest to aid, whereas if god averts it, I bid you stop.”
Hom. Od. 16.403 For it is better, they argue, to write “tomouroi” than “themistes”; at any rate, nowhere in the poet are the oracles called “themistes,” but it is the decrees, statutes, and laws that are so called; and the people have been called “tomouroi” because “tomouroi” is a contraction of “tomarouroi,” the equivalent of “tomarophylakes.”“Guardians of Mt. Tomarus.” Now although the more recent critics say “tomouroi,” yet in Homer one should interpret “themistes” (and also “boulai”) in a simpler way, though in a way that is a misuse of the term, as meaning those orders and decrees that are oracular, just as one also interprets “themistes” as meaning those that are made by law. For example, such is the case in the following: “to give ear to the decree“Boulê.” of Zeus from the oak-tree of lofty foliage.
Hom. 14.328
-At the outset, it is true, those who uttered the prophecies were men (this too perhaps the poet indicates, for he calls them “hypophetae,”“interpreters.” and the prophets might be ranked among these), but later on three old women were designated as prophets, after Dione also had been designated as temple-associate of Zeus. Suidas,Little is known of this Suidas except that he wrote a History of Thessaly and a History of Euboea. however, in his desire to gratify the Thessalians with mythical stories, says that the temple was transferred from Thessaly, from the part of Pelasgia which is about Scotussa (and Scotussa does belong to the territory called Thessalia Pelasgiotis), and also that most of the women whose descendants are the prophetesses of today went along at the same time; and it is from this fact that Zeus was also called “Pelasgian.” But Cineas tells a story that is still more mythical. . .
+These alone, then, of all the tribes that are marked off by the Ister and by the Illyrian and Thracian mountains, deserve to be mentioned, occupying as they do the whole of the Adriatic seaboard beginning at the recess, and also the sea-board that is called “the left parts of the Pontus,” and extends from the Ister River as far as Byzantium. But there remain to be described the southerly parts of the aforesaidSee 7. 5. 1. mountainous country and next thereafter the districts that are situated below them, among which are both Greece and the adjacent barbarian country as far as the mountains. Now Hecataeus of Miletus says of the Peloponnesus that before the time of the Greeks it was inhabited by barbarians. Yet one might say that in the ancient times the whole of Greece was a settlement of barbarians, if one reasons from the traditions themselves: PelopsSee 8. 3. 31, 4. 4, 5. 5 and 12. 8. 2. brought over peoplesSee the quotation from Hesiod (2 following) and footnote on “peoples.” from Phrygia to the Peloponnesus that received its name from him; and DanaüsSee 8. 6. 9, 10. from Egypt; whereas the Dryopes, the Caucones, the Pelasgi, the Leleges, and other such peoples, apportioned among themselves the parts that are inside the isthmus—and also the parts outside, for Attica was once held by the Thracians who came with Eumolpus,son of Poseidon, king of the Thracians, and reputed founder of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Daulis in Phocis by Tereus,See 9. 3. 13. CadmeiaThebes and surrounding territory (9. 2. 3, 32). by the Phoenicians who came with Cadmus, and Boeotia itself by the Aones and Temmices and Hyantes. According to Pindar, “there was a time when the Boeotian tribe was called “Syes.”
Pind. Fr. Dith. 83 (Bergk)Strabo identifies “Hyantes” with “Syes”=“Hyes,” i.e. “swine.” Moreover, the barbarian origin of some is indicated by their names—Cecrops, Godrus, Aïclus, Cothus, Drymas, and Crinacus. And even to the present day the Thracians, Illyrians, and Epeirotes live on the flanks of the Greeks (though this was still more the case formerly than now); indeed most of the country that at the present time is indisputably Greece is held by the barbarians—Macedonia and certain parts of Thessaly by the Thracians, and the parts above Acarnania and Aetolia by the Thesproti, the Cassopaei, the Amphilochi, the Molossi, and the Athamanes—Epeirotic tribes.
+As for the Pelasgi, I have already discussed them.5. 2. 4. As for the Leleges, some conjecture that they are the same as the Carians, and others that they were only fellow-inhabitants and fellow-soldiers of these; and this, they say, is why, in the territory of Miletus, certain settlements are called settlements of the Leleges, and why, in many places in Caria, tombs of the Leleges and deserted forts, known as “Lelegian forts,” are so called. However, the whole of what is now called Ionia used to be inhabited by Carians and Leleges; but the Ionians themselves expelled them and took possession of the country, although in still earlier times the captors of Troy had driven the Leleges from the region about Ida that is near Pedasus and the Satnioïs River. So then, the very fact that the Leleges made common cause with the Carians might be considered a sign that they were barbarians. And Aristotle, in his Polities,Only fragments of this work are now extant (see Didot Edition, Vol. IV, pp. 219-296). also clearly indicates that they led a wandering life, not only with the Carians, but also apart from them, and from earliest times; for instance, in the Polity of the Acarnanians he says that the Curetes held a part of the country, whereas the Leleges, and then the Teleboae, held the westerly part; and in the Polity of the Aetolians (and likewise in that of the Opuntii and the Megarians) he calls the Locri of today Leleges and says that they took possession of Boeotia too; again, in the Polity of the Leucadians he names a certain indigenous Lelex, and also Teleboas, the son of a daughter of Lelex, and twenty-two sons of Teleboas, some of whom, he says, dwelt in Leucas.Now Santa Maura (cp. 10. 2. 2). But in particular one might believe Hesiod when he says concerning them: “For verily Locrus was chieftain of the peoples of the Leleges, whom once Zeus the son of Cronus, who knoweth devices imperishable, gave to Deucalion—peoplesIn the Greek word for “peoples” (laou/s) Hesoid alludes to the Greek word for “stones” (la=as). Pindar (Olymp. 9. 46 ff.) clearly derives the former word from the latter: “Pyrrha and Deucalion, without bed of marriage, founded a Stone Race, who were called Laoi.” One might now infer that the resemblance of the two words gave rise to the myth of the stones. picked out of earth”;
Hes. Fr. 141.3 (Paulson for by his etymologyThat is, of “Lelges.” In the Greek the root leg appears in (1) “Leleges.” (2) “picked,” and (3) “collection.” he seems to me to hint that from earliest times they were a collection of mixed peoples and that this was why the tribe disappeared. And the same might be said of the Caucones, since now they are nowhere to be found, although in earlier times they were settled in several places.
+Now although in earlier times the tribes in question were small, numerous, and obscure, still, because of the density of their population and because they lived each under its own king, it was not at all difficult to determine their boundaries; but now that most of the country has become depopulated and the settlements, particularly the cities, have disappeared from sight, it would do no good, even if one could determine their boundaries with strict accuracy, to do so, because of their obscurity and their disappearance. This process of disappearing began a long time ago, and has not yet entirely ceased in many regions because the people keep revolting; indeed, the Romans, after being set up as masters by the inhabitants, encamp in their very houses.Now standing empty. Be this as it may, PolybiusPolybius 30.16. says that Paulus,Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus (consul 182 and 168 B.C.) in 168 B.C. after his subjection of Perseus and the Macedonians, destroyed seventy cities of the Epeirotes (most of which, he adds, belonged to the Molossi),See 7. 7. 8. and reduced to slavery one hundred and fifty thousand people. Nevertheless, I shall attempt, in so far as it is appropriate to my description and as my knowledge reaches, to traverse the several different parts, beginning at the seaboard of the Ionian Gulf—that is, where the voyage out of the Adrias ends.
+Of this seaboard, then, the first parts are those about Epidamnus and Apollonia. From Apollonia to Macedonia one travels the Egnatian Road, towards the east; it has been measured by Roman miles and marked by pillars as far as CypselaNow Ipsala. and the HebrusNow the Maritza. River—a distance of five hundred and thirty-five miles. Now if one reckons as most people do, eight stadia to the mile, there would be four thousand two hundred and eighty stadia, whereas if one reckons as Polybius does, who adds two plethra, which is a third of a stadium, to the eight stadia, one must add one hundred and seventy-eight stadia—the third of the number of miles. And it so happens that travellers setting out from Apollonia and Epidamnus meet at an equal distance from the two places on the same road.Or, as we should say, the junction of the roas is equidistant from the two places. Now although the road as a whole is called the Egnatian Road, the first part of it is called the Road to Candavia (an Illyrian mountain) and passes through Lychnidus,Now Ochrida. a city, and Pylon, a place on the road which marks the boundary between the Illyrian country and Macedonia. From Pylon the road runs to BarnusNow the Neretschka Planina Mountain. through HeracleiaHeracleia Lyncestis; now Monastir. and the country of the Lyncestae and that of the Eordi into EdessaNow Vodena. and PellaThe capital of Macedonia; now in ruins and called Hagii Apostoli. and as far as Thessaloniceia;Now Thessaloniki or Saloniki. and the length of this road in miles, according to Polybius, is two hundred and sixty-seven. So then, in travelling this road from the region of Epidamnus and Apollonia, one has on the right the Epeirotic tribes whose coasts are washed by the Sicilian Sea and extend as far as the Ambracian Gulf,The Gulf of Arta. and, on the left, the mountains of Illyrla, which I have already described in detail, and those tribes which live along them and extend as far as Macedonia and the country of the Paeonians. Then, beginning at the Ambracian Gulf, all the districts which, one after another, incline towards the east and stretch parallel to the Peloponnesus belong to Greece; they then leave the whole of the Peloponnesus on the right and project into the Aegaean Sea. But the districts which extend from the beginning of the Macedonian and the Paeonian mountains as far as the StrymonNow the Struma. River are inhabited by the Macedonians, the Paeonians, and by some of the Thracian mountaineers; whereas the districts beyond the Strymon, extending as far as the mouth of the Pontus and the Haemus, all belong to the Thracians, except the seaboard. This seaboard is inhabited by Greeks, some being situated on the Propontis,Now the Sea of Marmara. others on the Hellespont and the Gulf of Melas,Now the Gulf of Saros. and others on the Aegaean. The Aegaean Sea washes Greece on two sides: first, the side that faces towards the east and stretches from Sunium,Now Cape Colonna. towards the north as far as the Thermaean GulfNow the Gulf of Saloniki. and Thessaloniceia, a Macedonian city, which at the present time is more populous than any of the rest; and secondly, the side that faces towards the south, I mean the Macedonian country, extending from Thessaloniceia as far as the Strymon. Some, however, also assign to Macedonia the country that extends from the Strymon as far as the Nestus River,Now the Mesta. since Philip was so specially interested in these districts that he appropriated them to himself, and since he organized very large revenues from the mines and the other natural resources of the country. But from Sunium to the Peloponnesus lie the Myrtoan, the Cretan, and the Libyan Seas, together with their gulfs, as far as the Sicilian Sea; and this last fills out the Ambracian, the Corinthian, and the CrisaeanSee footnote on 6.. 1. 7. Gulfs.
+Now as for the Epeirotes, there are fourteen tribes of them, according to Theopompus, but of these the Chaones and the Molossi are the most famous, because of the fact that they once ruled over the whole of the Epeirote country—the Chaones earlier and later the Molossi; and the Molossi grew to still greater power, partly because of the kinship of their kings, who belonged to the family of the Aeacidae,Aeacus was son of Zeus and Aegina, was king of the Isle of Aegina, was noted for his justice and piety, and was finally made one of the three judges in Hades. and partly because of the fact that the oracle at DodonaDodona was situated to the south of Lake Pambotis (now Janina), near what is now Dramisi. was in their country, an oracle both ancient and renowned. Now the Chaones and the Thesproti and, next in order after these, the Cassopaei (these, too, are Thesproti) inhabit the seaboard which extends from the Ceraunian Mountains as far as the Ambracian Gulf, and they have a fertile country. The voyage, if one begins at the country of the Chaones and sails towards the rising sun and towards the Ambracian and Corinthian Gulfs, keeping the Ausonian SeaSee 2. 5. 20, 2. 5. 29, 5. 3. 6. on the right and Epeirus on the left, is one thousand three hundred stadia, that is, from the Ceraunian Mountains to the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. In this interval is Panormus,Now Panormo. a large harbor at the center of the Ceraunian Mountains, and after these mountains one comes to Onchesmus,Now Santi Quaranta. another harbor, opposite which lie the western extremities of Corcyraea,Now Kerkyra or Corfu. and then still another harbor, Cassiope,“Cassope” is probably the correct spelling; now Cassopo, the name of a harbor and cape of Corfu. from which the distance to Brentesium is one thousand seven hundred stadia. And the distance to Taras from another cape, which is farther south than Cassiope and is called Phalacrum,Now Cape Drasti, at the southern end of Corfu. is the same. After Onchesmus comes Poseidium,In Thesprotia (see Ptolemaeus 3.13.3); now Cape Scala. and also ButhrotumNow Butrinto. (which is at the mouth of what is called Pelodes Harbor, is situated on a place that forms a peninsula, and has alien settlers consisting of Romans), and the Sybota.Now called the Syvota. The Sybota are small islands situated only a short distance from the mainland and opposite Leucimma, the eastern headland of Corcyraea. And there are still other small islands as one sails along this coast, but they are not worth mentioning. Then comes Gape Cheimerium, and also Glycys Limen,“Sweet Harbor”; now Port Splantza (Phanari). into which the River AcheronNow the Phanariotikos. empties. The Acheron flows from the Acherusian LakeNow Lago di Fusaro. and receives several rivers as tributaries, so that it sweetens the waters of the gulf. And also the ThyamisNow the Kalamas. flows near by. Cichyrus,The exact side of Cichyrus is uncertain (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Ephyre”). the Ephyra of former times, a city of the Thesprotians, lies above this gulf, whereas PhoeniceNow Phiniki. lies above that gulf which is at Buthrotum. Near Cichyrus is Buchetium, a small town of the Cassopaeans, which is only a short distance above the sea; also Elatria, Pandosia, and Batiae, which are in the interior, though their territory reaches down as far as the gulf. Next in order after Glycys Limen come two other harbors—Comarus,Now Gomaro. the nearer and smaller of the two, which forms an isthmus of sixty stadiaIn width. with the Ambracian Gulf, and Nicopolis, a city founded by Augustus Caesar, and the other, the more distant and larger and better of the two, which is near the mouth of the gulf and is about twelve stadia distant from Nicopolis.Now in ruins near Prevesa.
+Next comes the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. Although the mouth of this gulf is but slightly more than four stadia wide, the circumference is as much as three hundred stadia; and it has good harbors everywhere. That part of the country which is on the right as one sails in is inhabited by the Greek Acarnanians. Here too, near the mouth, is the sacred precinct of the Actian Apollo—a hill on which the temple stands; and at the foot of the hill is a plain which contains a sacred grove and a naval station, the naval station where Caesar dedicated as first fruits of his victoryIn the Battle of Actium, 31 B.C. the squadron of ten ships—from vessel with single bank of oars to vessel with ten; however, not only the boats, it is said, but also the boat-houses have been wiped out by fire. On the left of the mouth are Nicopolis and the country of the Epeirote Cassopaeans, which extends as far as the recess of the gulf near Ambracia.Now Arta. Ambracia lies only a short distance above the recess; it was founded by Gorgus, the son of Cypselus. The River AratthusOtherwise called Arachthus; now the Arta. flows past Ambracia; it is navigable inland for only a few stadia, from the sea to Ambracia, although it rises in Mount Tymphe and the Paroraea. Now this city enjoyed an exceptional prosperity in earlier times (at any rate the gulf was named after it), and it was adorned most of all by Pyrrhus, who made the place his royal residence. In later times, however, the Macedonians and the Romans, by their continuous wars, so completely reduced both this and the other Epeirote cities because of their disobedience that finally Augustus, seeing that the cities had utterly failed, settled what inhabitants were left in one city together the city on this gulf which was called by him Nicopolis;“Victory-city.” and he so named it after the victory which he won in the naval battle before the mouth of the gulf over Antonius and Cleopatra the queen of the Egyptians, who was also present at the fight. Nicopolis is populous, and its numbers are increasing daily, since it has not only a considerable territory and the adornment taken from the spoils of the battle, but also, in its suburbs, the thoroughly equipped sacred precinct—one part of it being in a sacred grove that contains a gymnasium and a stadium for the celebration of the quinquennial games,the Ludi Quinquennales, celebrated every four years (see Dio Cassius 51.1). the other part being on the hill that is sacred to Apollo and lies above the grove. These games—the Actia, sacred to Actian Apollo—have been designated as Olympian,So in the course of time games at numerous places (including Athens, Ephesus, Naples, Smyrna, Tarsus) came to be called “Olympian” in imitation of those at Olympia. The actual term used, for those at Tarsus at least, was *)isolu/mpia, “equal to the Olympian” (C. I. 4472). and they are superintended by the Lacedaemonians. The other settlements are dependencies of Nicopolis. In earlier times also the Actian Games were wont to be celebrated in honor of the god by the inhabitants of the surrounding country—games in which the prize was a wreath—but at the present time they have been set in greater honor by Caesar.
+After Ambracia comes Argos Amphilochicum, founded by Alcmaeon and his children. According to Ephorus, at any rate, Alcmaeon, after the expedition of the Epigoni against Thebes, on being invited by Diomedes, went with him into Aetolia and helped him acquire both this country and Acarnania; and when Agamemnon summoned them to the Trojan war, Diomedes went, but Alcmaeon stayed in Acarnania, founded Argos, and named it Amphilochicum after his brother; and he named the river which flows through the country into the Ambracian Gulf “Inachus,” after the river in the Argeian country. But according to Thucydides,Thuc. 2.68. Amphilochus himself, after his return from Troy, being displeased with the state of affairs at Argos, passed on into Acarnania, and on succeeding to his brother's dominion founded the city that is named after him.
+The Amphilochians are Epeirotes; and so are the peoples who are situated above them and border on the Illyrian mountains, inhabiting a rugged country—I mean the Molossi, the Athamanes, the Aethices, the Tymphaei, the Orestae, and also the Paroraei and the Atintanes, some of them being nearer to the Macedonians and others to the Ionian Gulf. It is said that Orestes once took possession of Orestias—when is, exile on account of the murder of his mother—and left the country bearing his name; and that he also founded a city and called it Argos Oresticum. But the Illyrian tribes which are near the southern part of the mountainous country and those which are above the Ionian Gulf are intermingled with these peoples; for above Epidamnus and Apollonia as far as the Ceraunian Mountains dwell the Bylliones, the Taulantii, the Parthini, and the Brygi. Somewhere near by are also the silver mines of Damastium,The site of Damstium is unknown. Imhoof-Blumer (Ztschr. f. Numism. 1874, Vol. I. pp. 99 ff.) think that is might be identified with what is now Tepeleni, on the Viosa River. But so far as is now known, there is no silver ore in Epeirus or Southern Illyria. Philippson (Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. “Damastion”) suggests that Argyrium (now Argyrocastro, on the Viosa) might be connected with the presence of silver. around which the Dyestae and the Encheleii (also called Sesarethii) together established their dominion; and near these people are also the Lyncestae, the territory Deuriopus, Pelagonian Tripolitis, the Eordi, Elimeia, and Eratyra. In earlier times these peoples were ruled separately, each by its own dynasty. For instance, it was the descendants of Cadmus and Harmonia who ruled over the Encheleii; and the scenes of the stories told about them are still pointed out there. These people, I say, were not ruled by men of native stock; and the Lyncestae became subject to Arrabaeus, who was of the stock of the Bacchiads (Eurydice, the mother of Philip, Amyntas' son, was Arrabaeus' daughter's daughter and Sirra was his daughter); and again, of the Epeirotes, the Molossi became subject to Pyrrhus, the son of Neoptolemus the son of Achilles, and to his descendants, who were Thessalians. But the rest were ruled by men of native stock. Then, because one tribe or another was always getting the mastery over others, they all ended in the Macedonian empire, except a few who dwelt above the Ionian Gulf. And in fact the regions about Lyncus, Pelagonia, Orestias, and Elimeia, used to be called Upper Macedonia, though later on they were by some also called Free Macedonia. But some go so far as to call the whole of the country Macedonia, as far as Corcyra, at the same time stating as their reason that in tonsure, language, short cloak, and other things of the kind, the usages of the inhabitants are similar,That is, to those of the Macedonians. although, they add, some speak both languages. But when the empire of the Macedonians was broken up, they fell under the power of the Romans. And it is through the country of these tribes that the Egnatian RoadSee 7. 7. 4. runs, which begins at Epidamnus and Apollonia. Near the Road to CandaviaSee 7. 7. 4. are not only the lakes which are in the neighborhood of Lychnidus,Now Ochrida. on the shores of which are salt-fish establishments that are independent of other waters, but also a number of rivers, some emptying into the Ionian Gulf and others flowing in a southerly direction—I mean the Inachus, the Aratthus, the Acheloüs and the Evenus (formerly called the Lycormas); the Aratthus emptying into the Ambracian Gulf, the Inachus into the Acheloüs, the Acheloüs itself and the Evenus into the sea—the Acheloüs after traversing Acarnania and the Evenus after traversing Aetolia. But the Erigon, after receiving many streams from the Illyrian mountains and from the countries of the Lyncestae, Brygi, Deuriopes, and Pelagonians, empties into the Axius.
+In earlier times there were also cities among these tribes; at any rate, Pelagonia used to be called Tripolitis,“Country of three cities.” one of which was Azorus; and all the cities of the Deuriopes on the Erigon River were populous, among which were Bryanium, Alalcomenae, and Stubara. And Cydrae belonged to the Brygi, while Aeginium, on the border of Aethicia and Tricca,Now Trikala. belonged to the Tymphaei. When one is already near to Macedonia and to Thessaly, and in the neighborhood of the Poeus and the Pindus Mountains, one comes to the country of the Aethices and to the sources of the Peneius River, the possession of which is disputed by the Tymphaei and those Thessalians who live at the foot of the Pindus, and to the city Oxineia, situated on the Ion River one hundred and twenty stadia from Azorus in Tripolitis. Near by are Alalcomenae, Aeginium, Europus, and the confluence of the Ion River with the Peneius. Now although in those earlier times, as I have said, all Epeirus and the Illyrian country were rugged and full of mountains, such as Tomarus and Polyanus and several others, still they were populous; but at the present time desolation prevails in most parts, while the parts that are still inhabited survive only in villages and in ruins. And even the oracle at Dodona,See articles s.v. “Dodona” in Pauly-Wissowa and Encyclopedia Britannica. like the rest, is virtually extinct.
+ This oracle, according to Ephorus, was founded by the Pelasgi. And the Pelasgi are called the earliest of all peoples who have held dominion in Greece. And the poet speaks in this way: “O Lord Zeus, Dodonaean, Pelasgian”;
Hom. Il. 16.233 and Hesiod: “He came to Dodona and the oak-tree, seat of the Pelasgi.”
Hes. Fr. 212 (Rzach) The Pelasgi I have already discussed in my description of Tyrrhenia;5. 2. 4. and as for the people who lived in the neighborhood of the temple of Dodona, Homer too makes it perfectly clear from their mode of life, when he calls them “men with feet unwashen, men who sleep upon the ground,”Hom. Il. 16.235. that they were barbarians; but whether one should call them “Helli,” as Pindar does, or “Selli,” as is conjectured to be the true reading in Homer, is a question to which the text, since it is doubtful, does not permit a positive answer. Philochorus says that the region round about Dodona, like Euboea, was called Hellopia, and that in fact Hesiod speaks of it in this way: “There is a land called Hellopia, with many a corn-field and with goodly meadows; on the edge of this land a city called Dodona hath been built.”
Hes. Fr. 134 (Rzach) It is thought, Apollodorus says, that the land was so called from the marshesThe Greek for marshes is “Hele.” around the temple; as for the poet, however, Apollodorus takes it for granted that he did not call the people who lived about the temple “Helli,” but “Selli,” since (Apollodorus adds) the poet also named a certain river Selleeïs. He names it, indeed, when he says, “From afar, out of Ephyra, from the River Selleeïs”
Hom. Il. 2.659; 15.531; however, as Demetrius of Scepsis says, the poet is not referring to the Ephyra among the Thesprotians, but to that among the Eleians, for the Selleeïs is among the Eleians, he adds, and there is no Selleeïs among the Thesprotians, nor yet among the Molossi. And as for the myths that are told about the oak-tree and the doves, and any other myths of the kind, although they, like those told about Delphi, are in part more appropriate to poetry, yet they also in part properly belong to the present geographical description.
+In ancient times, then, Dodona was under the rule of the Thesprotians; and so was Mount Tomarus,Now Mt. Olytsika. or Tmarus (for it is called both ways), at the base of which the temple is situated. And both the tragic poets and Pindar have called Dodona “Thesprotian Dodona.” But later on it came under the rule of the Molossi. And it is after the Tomarus, people say, that those whom the poet calls interpreters of Zeus—whom he also calls “men with feet unwashen, men who sleep upon the ground”Hom. Il. 16.235.—were called “tomouroi”; and in the Odyssey some so write the words of Amphinomus, when he counsels the wooers not to attack Telemachus until they inquire of Zeus: “If the tomouroi of great Zeus approve, I myself shall slay, and I shall bid all the rest to aid, whereas if god averts it, I bid you stop.”
Hom. Od. 16.403 For it is better, they argue, to write “tomouroi” than “themistes”; at any rate, nowhere in the poet are the oracles called “themistes,” but it is the decrees, statutes, and laws that are so called; and the people have been called “tomouroi” because “tomouroi” is a contraction of “tomarouroi,” the equivalent of “tomarophylakes.”“Guardians of Mt. Tomarus.” Now although the more recent critics say “tomouroi,” yet in Homer one should interpret “themistes” (and also “boulai”) in a simpler way, though in a way that is a misuse of the term, as meaning those orders and decrees that are oracular, just as one also interprets “themistes” as meaning those that are made by law. For example, such is the case in the following: “to give ear to the decree“Boulê.” of Zeus from the oak-tree of lofty foliage.
Hom. 14.328
+At the outset, it is true, those who uttered the prophecies were men (this too perhaps the poet indicates, for he calls them “hypophetae,”“interpreters.” and the prophets might be ranked among these), but later on three old women were designated as prophets, after Dione also had been designated as temple-associate of Zeus. Suidas,Little is known of this Suidas except that he wrote a History of Thessaly and a History of Euboea. however, in his desire to gratify the Thessalians with mythical stories, says that the temple was transferred from Thessaly, from the part of Pelasgia which is about Scotussa (and Scotussa does belong to the territory called Thessalia Pelasgiotis), and also that most of the women whose descendants are the prophetesses of today went along at the same time; and it is from this fact that Zeus was also called “Pelasgian.” But Cineas tells a story that is still more mythical. . .
- CineasCorais and Groskurd offer only 27 Fragments; Kramer has 57, his numbers running from 1 to 58 inclusive, except that number 42 is missing; Müller-Dübner have the same 57, though they correct the numbering from 42 to 57; Meineke, like Kramer, has no number 42, but changes Kramer's 1 to 1a and inserts seven new fragments,1, 11a, 16a, 16b, 23a, 58a, and 58b (the last two being 59 and 60 in the present edition). The present editor adds 28 more. Of these, five (1b, 16c, 27a, 55a, 61) are quotations from Strabo himself; nine (11b, 20a, 21a, 45a, 47a, 51a, 55b, 58) are from Stephanus Byzantinus; twelve (1c, 12a, 15a, 16d, 16e, 25a, 44a, 47b, 50a, 62, 63, 64) are from the notes of Eustathius on the Iliad and Odyssey; and two (65, 66) from his notes on the geographical poem of Dionysius Periegetes. All these fragments from Eustathius, except no. 62, are citations from "the Geographer," not from "Strabo," and so is 23a, which Meineke inserted; but with the help of the editor, John Paul Prichard, Fellow in Greek and Latin at Cornell University, starting with the able articles of Kunze on this subject (Rheinisches Museum, 1902, LVII, pp. 43 ff. and 1903, LVIII, pp. 126 ff.), has established beyond all doubt that "the Geographer" is "Strabo," and in due time the complete proof will be published. To him the editor is also indebted for fragment no. 66 (hitherto unnoticed, we believe), and for the elimination of certain doubtful passages suggester by Kunze. Meineke's numbers, where different from those of the present edition, are given in parentheses.The rest of Book VII, containing the description of Macedonia and Thrace, has been lost, but the following fragments, gathered chiefly from the Vatican and Palatine Epitomes and from Eustathius, seem to preserve most of the original matter.Manuscript A has already lost a whole quaternion (about 13 Casaubon pages = about 26 Greek pages in the present edition) each of two places, namely, from h( *libu/h (2. 5. 26) to peri\ au)th=s (3. 1. 6) and from kaq' au(tou/s to r(enti=nos e)na/millos (5. 4. 3). In the present case A leaves off at meta\ de/ (7. 7. 5) and resumes at the beginning of Book VIII. Assuming the loss of a third quaternion from A, and taking into account that portion of it which is preserved in other manuscripts, *o)/gxhsmon (7. 7. 5) to muqwde/steron (7. 7. 12), only about one-sixth of Book VII is missing; and if this is true the fragments here, although they contain some repetitions, account for most of the original matter of the missing one-sixth. says that there was a city in Thessaly,i.e., a city called Dodona. and that an oak-tree and the oracle of Zeus were transferred from there to Epeirus.
+ CineasCorais and Groskurd offer only 27 Fragments; Kramer has 57, his numbers running from 1 to 58 inclusive, except that number 42 is missing; Müller-Dübner have the same 57, though they correct the numbering from 42 to 57; Meineke, like Kramer, has no number 42, but changes Kramer's 1 to 1a and inserts seven new fragments,1, 11a, 16a, 16b, 23a, 58a, and 58b (the last two being 59 and 60 in the present edition). The present editor adds 28 more. Of these, five (1b, 16c, 27a, 55a, 61) are quotations from Strabo himself; nine (11b, 20a, 21a, 45a, 47a, 51a, 55b, 58) are from Stephanus Byzantinus; twelve (1c, 12a, 15a, 16d, 16e, 25a, 44a, 47b, 50a, 62, 63, 64) are from the notes of Eustathius on the Iliad and Odyssey; and two (65, 66) from his notes on the geographical poem of Dionysius Periegetes. All these fragments from Eustathius, except no. 62, are citations from "the Geographer," not from "Strabo," and so is 23a, which Meineke inserted; but with the help of the editor, John Paul Prichard, Fellow in Greek and Latin at Cornell University, starting with the able articles of Kunze on this subject (Rheinisches Museum, 1902, LVII, pp. 43 ff. and 1903, LVIII, pp. 126 ff.), has established beyond all doubt that "the Geographer" is "Strabo," and in due time the complete proof will be published. To him the editor is also indebted for fragment no. 66 (hitherto unnoticed, we believe), and for the elimination of certain doubtful passages suggester by Kunze. Meineke's numbers, where different from those of the present edition, are given in parentheses.The rest of Book VII, containing the description of Macedonia and Thrace, has been lost, but the following fragments, gathered chiefly from the Vatican and Palatine Epitomes and from Eustathius, seem to preserve most of the original matter.Manuscript A has already lost a whole quaternion (about 13 Casaubon pages = about 26 Greek pages in the present edition) each of two places, namely, from h( *libu/h (2. 5. 26) to peri\ au)th=s (3. 1. 6) and from kaq' au(tou/s to r(enti=nos e)na/millos (5. 4. 3). In the present case A leaves off at meta\ de/ (7. 7. 5) and resumes at the beginning of Book VIII. Assuming the loss of a third quaternion from A, and taking into account that portion of it which is preserved in other manuscripts, *o)/gxhsmon (7. 7. 5) to muqwde/steron (7. 7. 12), only about one-sixth of Book VII is missing; and if this is true the fragments here, although they contain some repetitions, account for most of the original matter of the missing one-sixth. says that there was a city in Thessaly,i.e., a city called Dodona. and that an oak-tree and the oracle of Zeus were transferred from there to Epeirus.
In earlier times the oracle was in the neighborhood of Scotussa, a city of Pelasgiotis; but when the tree was set on fire by certain people the oracle was transferred in accordance with an oracle which Apollo gave out at Dodona. However, he gave out the oracle, not through words, but through certain symbols, as was the case at the oracle of Zeus Ammon in Libya. Perhaps there was something exceptional about the flight of the three pigeons from which the priestesses were wont to make observations and to prophesy. It is further said that in the language of the Molossians and the Thesprotians old women are called "peliai""Pigeons." and old men "pelioi.""Pigeons." And perhaps the much talked of Peleiades were not birds, but three old women who busied themselves about the temple.
I mentioned Scotussa also in my discussion of Dodona and of the oracle in Thessaly, because the oracle was originally in the latter region.
According to the Geographer, a sacred oak tree is revered in Dodona, because it was thought to be the earliest plant created and the first to supply men with food. And the same writer also says in reference to the oracular doves there, as they are called, that the doves are observed for the purposes of augury, just as there were some seers who divined from ravens.
Among the Thesprotians and the Molossians old women are called "peliai" and old men "pelioi," as is also the case among the Macedonians; at any rate, those people call their dignitaries "peligones" (compare the "gerontes"The senators at Sparta were called "gerontes," literally "old men," "senators." among the Laconians and the Massaliotes).Cp. 4. 1. 5. And this, it is said, is the origin of the myth about the pigeons in the Dodonaean oak-tree.
The proverbial phrase, "the copper vessel in Dodona,"The phrase was used in reference to incessant talkers (Stephanus Byzantinus, s.v. *dwdw/nh). originated thus: In the temple was a copper vessel with a statue of a man situated above it and holding a copper scourge, dedicated by the Corcyraeans; the scourge was three-fold and wrought in chain fashion, with bones strung from it; and these bones, striking the copper vessel continuously when they were swung by the winds, would produce tones so long that anyone who measured the time from the beginning of the tone to the end could count to four hundred. Whence, also, the origin of the proverbial term, "the scourge of the Corcyraeans."
-Paeonia is on the east of these tribes and on the west of the Thracian mountains, but it is situated on the north of the Macedonians; and, by the road that runs through the city GortyniumGortynium (or Gortynia) was situated in Macedonia, to the south of the narrow pass now called "Demir Kapu," or (in Bulgarian) "Prusak." and Stobi,Now Sirkovo, to the north of the Demir Kapus Pass. it affords a passage to . . .The words to be supplied here are almost certainly "the narrow pass on the south." (through which the AxiusThe Vardar. flows, and thus makes difficult the passage from Paeonia to Macedonia—just as the Peneius flows through Tempe and thus fortifies Macedonia on the side of Greece). And on the south Paeonia borders on the countries of the Autariatae, the Dardanii, and the Ardiaei; and it extends as far as the Strymon.
+Paeonia is on the east of these tribes and on the west of the Thracian mountains, but it is situated on the north of the Macedonians; and, by the road that runs through the city GortyniumGortynium (or Gortynia) was situated in Macedonia, to the south of the narrow pass now called "Demir Kapu," or (in Bulgarian) "Prusak." and Stobi,Now Sirkovo, to the north of the Demir Kapus Pass. it affords a passage to . . .The words to be supplied here are almost certainly "the narrow pass on the south." (through which the AxiusThe Vardar. flows, and thus makes difficult the passage from Paeonia to Macedonia—just as the Peneius flows through Tempe and thus fortifies Macedonia on the side of Greece). And on the south Paeonia borders on the countries of the Autariatae, the Dardanii, and the Ardiaei; and it extends as far as the Strymon.
The HaliacmonThe Vistritza. flows into the Thermaean Gulf.
-Orestis is of considerable extent, and has a large mountain which reaches as far as Mount CoraxVardusia. in Aetolia and Mount Parnassus, About this mountain dwell the Orestae themselves, the Tymphaei, and the Greeks outside the isthmus that are in the neighborhood of Parnassus, Oeta, and Pindus. As a whole the mountain is called by a general name, Boëum, but taken part by part it has many names. People say that from the highest peaks one can see both the Aegaean Sea and the Ambracian and Ionian Gulfs, but they exaggerate, I think. Mount Pteleum, also, is fairly high; it is situated around the Ambracian Gulf, extending on one side as far as the Corcyraean country and on the other to the sea at Leucas.
+Orestis is of considerable extent, and has a large mountain which reaches as far as Mount CoraxVardusia. in Aetolia and Mount Parnassus, About this mountain dwell the Orestae themselves, the Tymphaei, and the Greeks outside the isthmus that are in the neighborhood of Parnassus, Oeta, and Pindus. As a whole the mountain is called by a general name, Boëum, but taken part by part it has many names. People say that from the highest peaks one can see both the Aegaean Sea and the Ambracian and Ionian Gulfs, but they exaggerate, I think. Mount Pteleum, also, is fairly high; it is situated around the Ambracian Gulf, extending on one side as far as the Corcyraean country and on the other to the sea at Leucas.
Corcyra is proverbially derided as a joke because it was humbled by its many wars.
Corcyra in early times enjoyed a happy lot and had a very large naval force, but was ruined by certain wars and tyrants. And later on, although it was set free by the Romans, it got no commendation, but instead, as an object of reproach, got a proverb: "Corcyra is free, dung where thou wilt."
There remain of Europe, first, Macedonia and the parts of Thrace that are contiguous to it and extend as far as Byzantium; secondly, Greece; and thirdly, the islands that are close by. Macedonia, of course, is a part of Greece, yet now, since I am following the nature and shape of the places geographically, I have decided to classify it apart from the rest of Greece and to join it with that part of Thrace which borders on it and extends as far as the mouth of the Euxine and the Propontis. Then, a little further on, Strabo mentions Cypsela and the Nebrus River, and also describes a sort of parallelogram in which the whole of Macedonia lies.
@@ -236,24 +236,24 @@
Amphaxion. Two parts of speech.i.e., the preposition "amphi" ("on both sides of") and the noun "Axius" (the "Axius" River). A city. The ethnic of Amphaxion is Amphaxites.
The Peneius forms the boundary between Lower Macedonia, or that part of Macedonia which is close to the sea, and Thessaly and Magnesia; the Haliacmon forms the boundary of Upper Macedonia; and the Haliacmon also, together with the Erigon and the Axius and another set of rivers, form the boundary of the Epeirotes and the Paeonians.
For if, according to the Geographer, Macedonia stretches from the Thessalian Pelion and Peneius towards the interior as far as Paeonia and the Epeirote tribes, and if the Greeks had at Troy an allied force from Paeonia, it is difficult to conceive that an allied force came to the Trojans from the aforesaid more distant part of Paeonia.
-Of the Macedonian coastline, beginning at the recess of the Thermaean Gulf and at Thessaloniceia, there are two parts—one extending towards the south as far as Sunium and the other towards the east as far as the Thracian Chersonese, thus forming at the recess a sort of angle. Since Macedonia extends in both directions, I must begin with the part first mentioned. The first portion, then, of this part—I mean the region of Sunium—has above it Attica together with the Megarian country as far as the Crisaean Gulf; after this is that Boeotian coastline which faces Euboea, and above this coast-line lies the rest of Boeotia, extending in the direction of the west, parallel to Attica. And hesc. Strabo. says that the Egnatian Road, also, beginning at the Ionian Gulf, ends at Thessaloniceia.
-As for the ribbon-likeCp. 7. 3. 19. stretches of land, hesc. Strabo. says, I shall first mark off the boundary of the peoples who live in the one which is beside the sea near the Peneius and the Haliacmon. Now the Peneius flows from the Pindus Mountain through the middle of Thessaly towards the east; and after it passes through the cities of the Lapithae and some cities of the Perrhaebians, it reaches Tempe, after having received the waters of several rivers, among which is the Europus, which the poet called Titaresius,Hom. Il. 2.751 since it has its sources in the Titarius Mountain; the Titarius Mountain joins Olympus, and thence Olympus begins to mark the boundary between Macedonia and Thessaly; for Tempo is a narrow glen between Olympus and Ossa, and from these narrows the Peneius flows for a distance of forty stadia with Olympus, the loftiest mountain in Macedonia, on the left, and with Ossa, near the outlets of the river, on the right. So then, Gyrton, the Perrhaebian and Magnetan city in which Peirithoüs and Ixion reigned, is situated near the outlets of the Peneius on the right; and the city of Crannon lies at a distance of as much as one hundred stadia from Gyrton; and writers say that when the poet says, "Verily these twain from Thrace"
Hom. Il 13.301 and what follows, he means by "Ephyri" the Crannonians and by "Phlegyae" the Gyrtonians. But Pieria is on the other side of the Peneius.
+Of the Macedonian coastline, beginning at the recess of the Thermaean Gulf and at Thessaloniceia, there are two parts—one extending towards the south as far as Sunium and the other towards the east as far as the Thracian Chersonese, thus forming at the recess a sort of angle. Since Macedonia extends in both directions, I must begin with the part first mentioned. The first portion, then, of this part—I mean the region of Sunium—has above it Attica together with the Megarian country as far as the Crisaean Gulf; after this is that Boeotian coastline which faces Euboea, and above this coast-line lies the rest of Boeotia, extending in the direction of the west, parallel to Attica. And hesc. Strabo. says that the Egnatian Road, also, beginning at the Ionian Gulf, ends at Thessaloniceia.
+As for the ribbon-likeCp. 7. 3. 19. stretches of land, hesc. Strabo. says, I shall first mark off the boundary of the peoples who live in the one which is beside the sea near the Peneius and the Haliacmon. Now the Peneius flows from the Pindus Mountain through the middle of Thessaly towards the east; and after it passes through the cities of the Lapithae and some cities of the Perrhaebians, it reaches Tempe, after having received the waters of several rivers, among which is the Europus, which the poet called Titaresius,Hom. Il. 2.751 since it has its sources in the Titarius Mountain; the Titarius Mountain joins Olympus, and thence Olympus begins to mark the boundary between Macedonia and Thessaly; for Tempo is a narrow glen between Olympus and Ossa, and from these narrows the Peneius flows for a distance of forty stadia with Olympus, the loftiest mountain in Macedonia, on the left, and with Ossa, near the outlets of the river, on the right. So then, Gyrton, the Perrhaebian and Magnetan city in which Peirithoüs and Ixion reigned, is situated near the outlets of the Peneius on the right; and the city of Crannon lies at a distance of as much as one hundred stadia from Gyrton; and writers say that when the poet says, "Verily these twain from Thrace"
Hom. Il 13.301 and what follows, he means by "Ephyri" the Crannonians and by "Phlegyae" the Gyrtonians. But Pieria is on the other side of the Peneius.
The Peneius River rises in the Pindus Mountain and flows through Tempo and through the middle of Thessaly and of the countries of the Lapithae and the Perrhaebians, and also receives the waters of the Europus River, which Homer called Titaresius; it marks the boundary between MacedoniaIncluding Lower Macedonia (cp. Frag. 12). on the north and Thessaly on the south. But the source-waters of the Europus rise in the Titarius Mountain, which is continuous with Olympus. And Olyunpus belongs to Macedonia, whereas Ossa and Pelion belong to Thessaly.
-The Peneius rises, according to the Geographer, in that part of the Pindus Mountain about which the Perrhaebians live. . . . And Strabo also makes the following statements concerning the Peneius: The Peneius rises in the Pindus; and leaving Tricca on the left it flows around Atrax and Larissa, and after receiving the rivers in Thessaly passes on through Tempe. And he says that the Peneius flows through the center of Thessaly, receiving many rivers, and that in its course it keeps Olympus on the left and Ossa on the right. And at its outlets, on the right, is a Magnetan city, Gyrton, in which Peirithoüs and Ixion reigned; and not far from Gyrton is a city Crannon, whose citizens were called by a different name, "Ephyri," just' as the citizens of Gyrton were called "Phlegyae."
-Below the foot-hills of Olympus, along the Peneius River, lies Gyrton, the Perrhaebian and Magnetan city, in which Peirithoüs and Ixion ruled; and Crannon is at a distance of one hundred stadia from Gyrton, and writers say that when the poet says, "Verily these twain from Thrace,"
Hom. Il. 13.301 he means by "Ephyri" the Crannonians and by "Phlegyae" the Gyrtonians.Cp. Frag. 14.
+The Peneius rises, according to the Geographer, in that part of the Pindus Mountain about which the Perrhaebians live. . . . And Strabo also makes the following statements concerning the Peneius: The Peneius rises in the Pindus; and leaving Tricca on the left it flows around Atrax and Larissa, and after receiving the rivers in Thessaly passes on through Tempe. And he says that the Peneius flows through the center of Thessaly, receiving many rivers, and that in its course it keeps Olympus on the left and Ossa on the right. And at its outlets, on the right, is a Magnetan city, Gyrton, in which Peirithoüs and Ixion reigned; and not far from Gyrton is a city Crannon, whose citizens were called by a different name, "Ephyri," just' as the citizens of Gyrton were called "Phlegyae."
+Below the foot-hills of Olympus, along the Peneius River, lies Gyrton, the Perrhaebian and Magnetan city, in which Peirithoüs and Ixion ruled; and Crannon is at a distance of one hundred stadia from Gyrton, and writers say that when the poet says, "Verily these twain from Thrace,"
Hom. Il. 13.301 he means by "Ephyri" the Crannonians and by "Phlegyae" the Gyrtonians.Cp. Frag. 14.
The city of Crannon is at a distance of one hundred stadia from Gyrton, according to Strabo.
Homolium, a city of Macedonia and Magnesia. Strabo in his Seventh Book.
I have said in my description of Macedonia that Homolium is close to Ossa and is where the Peneius, flowing through Tempe, begins to discharge its waters.See 9. 5. 22, from which this Fragment is taken.
There were several different Ephyras, if indeed the Geographer counts as many as nine.Our text of Strabo mentions only seven. Benseler's Lexicon names nine and Pauly-Wissowa eight.
He (the Geographer) speaks of a city Gyrton, a Magnetan city near the outlets of the Peneius.
The city Dium, in the foot-hills of Olympus, is not on the shore of the Thermaean Gulf, but is at a distance of as much as seven stadia from it. And the city Dium has a village near by, Pimpleia, where Orpheus lived.
-At the base of Olympus is a city Dium. And it has a village near by, Pimpleia. Here lived Orpheus, the Ciconian, it is said—a wizard who at first collected money from his music, together with his soothsaying and his celebration of the orgies connected with the mystic initiatory rites, but soon afterwards thought himself worthy of still greater things and procured for himself a throng of followers and power. Some, of course, received him willingly, but others, since they suspected a plot and violence, combined against him and killed him. And near here, also, is Leibethra.
+At the base of Olympus is a city Dium. And it has a village near by, Pimpleia. Here lived Orpheus, the Ciconian, it is said—a wizard who at first collected money from his music, together with his soothsaying and his celebration of the orgies connected with the mystic initiatory rites, but soon afterwards thought himself worthy of still greater things and procured for himself a throng of followers and power. Some, of course, received him willingly, but others, since they suspected a plot and violence, combined against him and killed him. And near here, also, is Leibethra.
In the early times the soothsayers also practised music.
-After Dium come the outlets of the Haliacmon; then Pydna, Methone, Alorus, and the Erigon and Ludias Rivers. The Erigon flows from the country of the TriclariOtherwise unknown. through that of the Orestae and through Pellaea, leaves the city on the left,Tafel, Kramer, Meineke, and Forbiger think that Strabo wrote "Pelagonia" instead of "Pellaea" (or "the Pellaean country") and that "the city" which the Erigon leaves "on the left" is Heracleia Lyncestis (now Bitolia), for "Pellaea" seems to be used by no other writer and the Erigon leaves "the city" Pella "on the right," not "on the left." But both this fragment and Frag. 22 contain other errors which seem to defy emendation (cp. C. Müller, Index Variae Lectionis); for example, both make the Haliacmon empty between Dium and Pydna (and so does Ptolemaeus, 3.12). But lack of space requires that this whole matter be reserved for special discussions. and meets the Axius; the Ludias is navigable inland to Pella, a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia. Methone, which lies between the two cities, is about forty stadia from Pydna and seventy from Alorus. Alorus is in the inmost recess of the Thermaean Gulf, and it is called Thessaloniceia because of its fame.The text as it stands seems impossible, for Thessaloniceia, not Alorus, was in the innermost part of the gulf—unless, indeed, we assume that Strabo wrongly identified Alorus with Thessaloniceia. In any case, we should probably interpret "it" as referring to "the Thermaean Gulf" and "its" as meaning "Thessaloniceia's." Now Alorus is regarded as a Bottiaean city, whereas Pydna is regarded as a Pierian.Cp. Frag. 22. Pella belongs to lower Macedonia, which the Bottiaei used to occupy; in early times the treasury of Macedonia was here. Philip enlarged it from a small city, because he was reared in it. It has a headland in what is called Lake Ludias; and it is from this lake that the Ludias River issues, and the lake itself is supplied by an offshoot of the Axius. The Axius empties between Chalastra and Therma; and on this river lies a fortified place which now is called Abydon, though Homer calls it Amydon, and says that the Paeonians went to the aid of Troy from there, "from afar, out of Amydon, from wide-flowing Axius."
Hom. Il. 2.849 The place was destroyed by the Argeadae.
+After Dium come the outlets of the Haliacmon; then Pydna, Methone, Alorus, and the Erigon and Ludias Rivers. The Erigon flows from the country of the TriclariOtherwise unknown. through that of the Orestae and through Pellaea, leaves the city on the left,Tafel, Kramer, Meineke, and Forbiger think that Strabo wrote "Pelagonia" instead of "Pellaea" (or "the Pellaean country") and that "the city" which the Erigon leaves "on the left" is Heracleia Lyncestis (now Bitolia), for "Pellaea" seems to be used by no other writer and the Erigon leaves "the city" Pella "on the right," not "on the left." But both this fragment and Frag. 22 contain other errors which seem to defy emendation (cp. C. Müller, Index Variae Lectionis); for example, both make the Haliacmon empty between Dium and Pydna (and so does Ptolemaeus, 3.12). But lack of space requires that this whole matter be reserved for special discussions. and meets the Axius; the Ludias is navigable inland to Pella, a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia. Methone, which lies between the two cities, is about forty stadia from Pydna and seventy from Alorus. Alorus is in the inmost recess of the Thermaean Gulf, and it is called Thessaloniceia because of its fame.The text as it stands seems impossible, for Thessaloniceia, not Alorus, was in the innermost part of the gulf—unless, indeed, we assume that Strabo wrongly identified Alorus with Thessaloniceia. In any case, we should probably interpret "it" as referring to "the Thermaean Gulf" and "its" as meaning "Thessaloniceia's." Now Alorus is regarded as a Bottiaean city, whereas Pydna is regarded as a Pierian.Cp. Frag. 22. Pella belongs to lower Macedonia, which the Bottiaei used to occupy; in early times the treasury of Macedonia was here. Philip enlarged it from a small city, because he was reared in it. It has a headland in what is called Lake Ludias; and it is from this lake that the Ludias River issues, and the lake itself is supplied by an offshoot of the Axius. The Axius empties between Chalastra and Therma; and on this river lies a fortified place which now is called Abydon, though Homer calls it Amydon, and says that the Paeonians went to the aid of Troy from there, "from afar, out of Amydon, from wide-flowing Axius."
Hom. Il. 2.849 The place was destroyed by the Argeadae.
Abydon, Abydonis; a place in Macedonia, according to Strabo.
The Axius is a muddy stream; but HomerHom. Il. 21.158 calls it "water most fair," perhaps on account of the spring called Aea, which, since it empties purest water into the Axius, proves that the present current readingSee Frag. 23. of the passage in the poet is faulty. After the Axius, at a distance of twenty stadia, is the Echedorus;Now the Gallico. then, forty stadia farther on, Thessaloniceia, founded by Gassander, and also the Egnatian Road. Cassander named the city after his wife Thessalonice, daughter of Philip son of Amyntas, after he had razed to the ground the towns in Crusis and those on the Thermaean Gulf, about twenty-six in number, and had settled all the inhabitants together in one city; and this city is the metropolis of what is now Macedonia. Among those included in the settlement were Apollonia, Chalastra, Therma, Garescus, Aenea, and Cissus; and of these one might suspect that Cissus belonged to Cisses,Also spelled "Cisseus" (wrongly, it seems), as in Frag. 24 q.v. whom the poet mentions in speaking of Iphidamas, "whom Cisses reared."
Hom. Il. 11.223
Crusis; a portion of Mygdonia. Strabo in his Seventh Book.
-Chalastra: a city of Thrace near the Thormaean Gulf—though Strabo, in his Seventh Book, calls it a city of Macedonia.
+Chalastra: a city of Thrace near the Thormaean Gulf—though Strabo, in his Seventh Book, calls it a city of Macedonia.
After the city Dium comes the Haliacmon River, which empties into the Thermaean Gulf. And the part after this, the seaboard of the gulf towards the north as far as the Axius River, is called Pieria, in which is the city Pydna, now called Citrum. Then come the cities Methone and Alorus. Then the Rivers Erigon and Ludias; and fromsc. "the mouth of the" (cp. Frag. 20). Ludias to the city of Pella the river is navigable, a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia. Methone is forty stadia distant from Pydna and seventy stadia from Alorus. Now Pydna is a Pierian city, whereas Alorus is Bottiaean.Cp. Frag. 20. Now it was in the plain before Pydna that the Romans defeated Perseus in war and destroyed the kingdom of the Macedonians, and it was in the plain before Methone that Philip the son of Amyntas, during the siege of the city, had the misfortune to have his right eye knocked out by a bolt from a catapult.
As for Pella, though it was formerly small, Philip greatly enlarged it, because he was reared in it. It has a lake before it; and it is from this lake that the Ludias River flows, and the lake is supplied by an offshoot of the Axius. Then the Axius, dividing both Bottiaea and the land called Amphaxitis, and receiving the Erigon River, discharges its waters between Chalastra and Therma. And on the Anius River lies the place which Homer calls Amydon, saying that the Paeonians went to the aid of Troy from there, "from afar, out of Amydon, from wide-flowing Axius."
Hom. Il. 2.849Cp. Frag. 20. But since the Axius is muddy and since a certain spring rises in Amydon and mingles "water most fair" with it, therefore the next line, "Axius, whose water most fair is spread o'er Aea,"
Hom. Il. 2.850The usual meaning of "aea" in Homer is "earth." is changed to read thus, "Axius, o'er which is spread Aea's water most fair"
Hom. Il. 2.850; for it is not the "water most fair" of the Axius that is spread over the face of the earth, but that of the spring o'er the Axius.
In the phrase 'spread o'er Aiai,' or 'Aian,'The Greek dative and accusative forms, respectively, of Aia)., some are of the opinion that 'Aea' means, not the earth, but a certain spring, as is clear from what the Geographer says, namely: the Amydon in Homer was later called Abydon, but it was destroyed; and there is a spring near Amydon called Aea, which empties purest water into the Axius; and this river, since it is filled from many rivers, flows muddy. Therefore, he says, the current reading, 'Axius's water most fair spreads o'er Aea,' is faulty, because it is clearly not the water of the Axius that spread o'er the spring, but the reverse. Then the Geographer goes on somewhat gruffly to find fault with the opinion that Aea refers to the earth, and appears disposed to eject such diction from the Homeric poem altogether.
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@
Opposite Canastrum,The same as "Canastraeum" (Fr. 25 and 31). a cape of Pallene, is Derrhis, a headland near Cophus Harbor; and these two mark off the limits of the Toronaean Gulf. And towards the east, again, lies the cape of Athos, which marks off the limit of the Singitic Gulf. And so the gulfs of the Aegaean Sea lie in order, though at some distance from one another, towards the north, as follows: the Maliac, the Pagasitic, the Thermaean, the Toronaean, the Singitic, the Strymonic. The capes are, first, Poseidium, the one between the Maliac and the Pegasitic; secondly, the next one towards the north, Sepias; then the one on Pallene, Canastrum; then Derrhis; then come Nymphaeum, on Athos on the Singitic Gulf, and Acrathos, the cape that is on the Strymonic Gulf (Mt. Athos is between these two capes, and Lemnos is to the east of Mt. Athos); on the north, however, the limit of the Strymonic Gulf is marked by Neapolis.Now Kavala.
Acanthus, a city on the Singitic Gulf, is on the coast near the canal of Xerxes. Athos has five cities, Dium, Cleonae, Thyssus, Olophyxis, Acrothol; and Acrothol is near the crest of Athos. Mt. Athos is breast-shaped, has a very sharp crest, and is very high, since those who live on the crest see the sun rise three hours before it rises on the seaboard. And the distance by sea around the peninsula from the city Acanthus as far as Stageirus,Now in ruins near Nizvoro. the city of Aristotle, is four hundred stadia. On this coast is a harbor, Caprus by name, and also an isle with the same name as the harbor. Then come the outlets of the Strymon; then Phagres, Galepsus, Apollonia, all cities; then the month of the Nestus,Now Mesta. which is the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace as fixed by Philip and his son Alexander in their times. There is also another set of cities about the Strymonic Gulf, as, for instance, Myrcinus, Argilus, Drabescus, and Datum.See footnote on "Datum," Frag. 36. The last named has not only excellent and fruitful soil but also dock-yards and gold mines; and hence the proverb, "a Datum of good things," like that other proverb, "spools of good things."
There are very many gold mines in Crenides, where the city PhilippiNow Filibedjik (see footnote on "Datum," Frag. 36. now is situated, near Mt. Pangaeum.Now Pirnari. And Mt. Pangaeum as well has gold and silver mines, as also the country across, and the country this side, the Strymon River as far as Paeonia. And it is further said that the people who plough the Paeonian land find nuggets of gold.
-Mt. Athos is high and breast-shaped; so high that on its crests the sun is up and the people are weary of ploughing by the time cock-crowThe third watch of the night. begins among the people who live on the shore. It was on this shore that Phamyris the Thracian reigned, who was a man of the same pursuits as Orpheus.See Frag. 18. Here, too, is to be seen a canal, in the neighborhood of Acanthus, where Xerxes dug a canal across Athos, it is said, and, by admitting the sea into the canal, brought his fleet across from the Strymonic Gulf through the isthmus. Demetrius of Scepsis, however, does not believe that this canal was navigable, for, he says, although as far as ten stadia the ground is deep-soiled and can be dug, and in fact a canal one plethrum in width has been dug, yet after that it is a flat rock, almost a stadium in length, which is too high and broad to admit of being quarried out through the whole of the distance as far as the sea; but even if it were dug thus far, certainly it could not be dug deep enough to make a navigable passage; this, he adds, is where Alexarchus, the son of Antipater,One of the foremost Macedonian generals (b. 497-d. 319 B.C.); also the father of Cassander. laid the foundation of Uranopolis, with its circuit of thirty stadia. Some of the Pelasgi from Lemnos took up their abode on this peninsula, and they were divided into five cities, Cleonae, Olophyxis, Acrothoï, Dium, Thyssus. After Athos comes the Strymonic Gulf extending as far as the Nestus, the river which marks off the boundary of Macedonia as fixed by Philip and Alexander; to be accurate, however, there is a cape which with Athos forms the Strymonic Gulf, I mean the cape which has had on it a city called Apollonia.The same Apollonia mentioned in Frag. 33. It was razed to the ground by Philip. It must have been somewhere between Neapolis and the mouth of the Nestus. Cp. Frag. 32, where Neapolis is spoken of as marking the northern limit of the gulf. The first city on this gulf after the harbor of the Acanthians is Stageira, the native city of Aristotle, now deserted; this too belongs to the Chalcidians and so do its harbor, Caprus, and an isleNow Kapronisi. bearing the same name as the harbor. Then come the Strymon and the inland voyage of twenty stadia to Amphipolis. Amphipolis was founded by the Athenians and is situated in that place which is called Ennea Hodoi."Nine Roads." Then come Galepsus and Apollonia, which were razed to the ground by Philip.
+Mt. Athos is high and breast-shaped; so high that on its crests the sun is up and the people are weary of ploughing by the time cock-crowThe third watch of the night. begins among the people who live on the shore. It was on this shore that Phamyris the Thracian reigned, who was a man of the same pursuits as Orpheus.See Frag. 18. Here, too, is to be seen a canal, in the neighborhood of Acanthus, where Xerxes dug a canal across Athos, it is said, and, by admitting the sea into the canal, brought his fleet across from the Strymonic Gulf through the isthmus. Demetrius of Scepsis, however, does not believe that this canal was navigable, for, he says, although as far as ten stadia the ground is deep-soiled and can be dug, and in fact a canal one plethrum in width has been dug, yet after that it is a flat rock, almost a stadium in length, which is too high and broad to admit of being quarried out through the whole of the distance as far as the sea; but even if it were dug thus far, certainly it could not be dug deep enough to make a navigable passage; this, he adds, is where Alexarchus, the son of Antipater,One of the foremost Macedonian generals (b. 497-d. 319 B.C.); also the father of Cassander. laid the foundation of Uranopolis, with its circuit of thirty stadia. Some of the Pelasgi from Lemnos took up their abode on this peninsula, and they were divided into five cities, Cleonae, Olophyxis, Acrothoï, Dium, Thyssus. After Athos comes the Strymonic Gulf extending as far as the Nestus, the river which marks off the boundary of Macedonia as fixed by Philip and Alexander; to be accurate, however, there is a cape which with Athos forms the Strymonic Gulf, I mean the cape which has had on it a city called Apollonia.The same Apollonia mentioned in Frag. 33. It was razed to the ground by Philip. It must have been somewhere between Neapolis and the mouth of the Nestus. Cp. Frag. 32, where Neapolis is spoken of as marking the northern limit of the gulf. The first city on this gulf after the harbor of the Acanthians is Stageira, the native city of Aristotle, now deserted; this too belongs to the Chalcidians and so do its harbor, Caprus, and an isleNow Kapronisi. bearing the same name as the harbor. Then come the Strymon and the inland voyage of twenty stadia to Amphipolis. Amphipolis was founded by the Athenians and is situated in that place which is called Ennea Hodoi."Nine Roads." Then come Galepsus and Apollonia, which were razed to the ground by Philip.
From the Peneius, he says, to Pydna is one hundred and twenty stadia. Along the seaboard of the Strymon and the Dateni are, not only the city Neapolis, but also DatumAppian Bellum Civile 4.105 and also Harpocration say the Datum was the earlier name of Philippi and that Crenides was the name of the same place in still earlier times. Leake (Northern Greece, Vol. III, pp. 223-4), Kiepert (Alte Geographic 315), Forbiger (Strabo Vol. II, p. 140, footnote, 175), Besnier (Lexique Geog. Ancienne s.v. "Neapolis"), Lolling (Hellenische Landeskunde, 220, 230) identify Datum with Neapolis. But Heuzey (quoted by Philippson, Pauly-Wissowa s.v. "Datum") tries to reconcile these disagreements and the above statement of Strabo by assuming that originally Datum was that territory east of Mt. Pangarum which comprised the Plain of Philippi, the basin of the Angites River (including Drabescus now Drama), and the adjacent coast; and that later Neapolis (now Kavala) was founded on the coast and Datum was founded on the site of Crenides, and still later the city of Datum was named Philippi. itself, with its fruitful plains, lake, rivers, dock-yards, and profitable gold mines; and hence the proverb, "a Datum of good things," like that other proverb, "spools of good things." Now the country that is on the far side of the Strymon, I mean that which is near the sea and those places that are in the neighborhood of Datum, is the country of the Odomantes and the Edoni and the Bisaltae, both those who are indigenous and those who crossed over from Macedonia, amongst whom Rhesus reigned. Above Amphipolis, however, and as far as the city Heracleia,Heracleia Sintica (now Zervokhori). is the country of the Bisaltae, with its fruitful valley; this valley is divided into two parts by the Strymon, which has its source in the country of the Agrianes who live round about Rhodope; and alongside this country lies Parorbelia, a district of Macedonia, which has in its interior, along the valley that begins at Eidonene, the cities Callipolis, Orthopolis, Philippopolis, Garescus.If one goes up the Strymon, one comes to Berge;Now Tachyno (Leake, Northern Greece, Vol. III, p. 229). it, too, is situated in the country of the Bisaltae, and is a village about two hundred stadia distant from Amphipolis. And if one goes from Heracleia towards the north and the narrows through which the Strymon flows, keeping the river on the right, one has Paeonia and the region round about Doberus,The site of the city Doberus is uncertain (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v.), though it appears to have been somewhere near Tauriana. Rhodope, and the Haemus Mountain on the left, whereas on the right one has the region round about the Haemus.The text, which even Meineke retains, is translated as it stands, but Strabo probably wrote as follows: "one has Paeonia and the region round about Doberus on the left, whereas on the right one has the parts round about Rhodope and the Haemus Mountain. This side the Strymon are Scotussa, near the river itself, and Arethusa, near lake Bolbe.Now Beschikgoel. Furthermore, the name Mygdones is applied especially to the people round about the lake. Not only the Axius flows out of the country of the Paeonians, but also the Strymon, for it flows out of the country of the Agrianes through that of the Medi and Sinti and empties into the parts that are between the Bisaltae and the Odomantes.
The Strymon River rises in the country of the Agrianes who live round about Rhodope.
Some represent the Paeonians as colonists from the Phrygians, while others represent them as independent founders. And it is said that Paeonia has extended as far as Pelagonia and Pieria; that Pelagonia was called Orestia in earlier times, that Asteropaeus, one of the leaders who made the expedition from Paeonia to Troy, was not without good reason called "son of Pelegon," and that the Paeonians themselves were called Pelagonians.
@@ -278,20 +278,20 @@
Since the "paeanismos"i.e., "the chanting of the paean." of the Thracians is called "titanismos" by the Greeks, in imitation of the cryThe cry to Titan. uttered in paeans, the Titans too were called Pelagonians.
It is clear that in early times, as now, the Paeonians occupied much of what is now Macedonia, so that they could not only lay siege to Perinthus but also bring under their power all Crestonia and Mygdonis and the country of the Agrianes as far as Pangaeurum.See Frag. 34. Philippi and the region about Philippi lie above that part of the seaboard of the Strymonic Gulf which extends from Galepsus as far as Nestus. In earlier times Pllilippi was called Crenides, and was only a small settlement, but it was enlarged after the defeat of Brutus and Cassius.In 42 B.C., after which it was made a Roman colony.
What is now the city Philippi was called Crenides in early times.
-Off this seaboard lie two islands, Lemnos and Thasos. And after the strait of Thasos one comes to AbderaNow Balastra. and the scene of the myths connected with Abderus. It was inhabited by the Bistonian Thracians over whom Diomedes ruled. The Nestus River does not always remain in the same bed, but oftentimes floods the country. Then come Dicaea,Now, perhaps, Kurnu. a city situated on a gulf, and a harbor. Above these lies the Bistonis,Now Bourougoel. a lake which has a circuit of about two hundred stadia. It is said that, because this plain was altogether a hollow and lower than the sea, Heracles, since he was inferior in horse when he came to get the mares of Diomedes, dug a canal through the shore and let in the water of the sea upon the plain and thus mastered his adversaries. One is shown also the royal residenceThat is, the town of the royal palace, as "Camici" (6. 2. 6) was the "royal residence" of Cocalus. of Diomedes, which, because of its naturally strong position and from what is actually the case, is called Cartera Come."Strong Village." After the lake, which is midway between, come Xantheia,Xantheia was situated on the mountain now called Xanthi. Maroneia,Now Maronia. and Ismarus,Now Ismahan. the cities of the Cicones. Ismarus, however, is now called Ismara; it is near Maroneia. And near here, also, Lake Ismaris sends forth its stream; this stream is called Odysseium. And here, too, are what are called the Thasiön Cephalae.Literally, "Heads of the Thasii"; referring, apparently, to certain headlands occupied by Thasians. But the people situated in the interior are Sapaei.
+Off this seaboard lie two islands, Lemnos and Thasos. And after the strait of Thasos one comes to AbderaNow Balastra. and the scene of the myths connected with Abderus. It was inhabited by the Bistonian Thracians over whom Diomedes ruled. The Nestus River does not always remain in the same bed, but oftentimes floods the country. Then come Dicaea,Now, perhaps, Kurnu. a city situated on a gulf, and a harbor. Above these lies the Bistonis,Now Bourougoel. a lake which has a circuit of about two hundred stadia. It is said that, because this plain was altogether a hollow and lower than the sea, Heracles, since he was inferior in horse when he came to get the mares of Diomedes, dug a canal through the shore and let in the water of the sea upon the plain and thus mastered his adversaries. One is shown also the royal residenceThat is, the town of the royal palace, as "Camici" (6. 2. 6) was the "royal residence" of Cocalus. of Diomedes, which, because of its naturally strong position and from what is actually the case, is called Cartera Come."Strong Village." After the lake, which is midway between, come Xantheia,Xantheia was situated on the mountain now called Xanthi. Maroneia,Now Maronia. and Ismarus,Now Ismahan. the cities of the Cicones. Ismarus, however, is now called Ismara; it is near Maroneia. And near here, also, Lake Ismaris sends forth its stream; this stream is called Odysseium. And here, too, are what are called the Thasiön Cephalae.Literally, "Heads of the Thasii"; referring, apparently, to certain headlands occupied by Thasians. But the people situated in the interior are Sapaei.
Topeira is near Abdera and Maroneia.
The aforesaid Ismarus, in later times called Ismara, is, they say, a city of the Cicones; it is near Maroneia, where is also a lake, the stream of which is called Odysseium; here too is a hero-temple of Maron, as the Geographer records.
The Sinti, a Thracian tribe, inhabit the island Lemnos; and from this fact Homer calls them Sinties, when he says, "where me the Sinties . . ."
Hom. Il. 1.594cp. Thuc. 2.98
Lemnos: first settled by the Thracians who were called Sinties, according to Strabo.
After the Nestus River, towards the east, is the city Abdera, named after Abderus, whom the horses of Diomedes devoured; then, near by, the city Picaea, above which lies a great lake, Bistonis; then the city Maroneia.
-Thrace as a whole consists of twenty-two tribes. But although it has been devastated to an exceptional degree, it can send into the field fifteen thousand cavalry and also two hundred thousand infantry. After Maroneis one comes to the city Orthagoria and to the region about SerrhiumCape Makri. (a rough coastingvoyage) and to Tempyra, the little town of the Samothracians, and to Caracoma,Caracoma (or Characoma, meaning a fortress?) is otherwise unknown. another little town, off which lies the island Samothrace, and to Imbros, which is not very far from Samothrace; Thasos, however, is more than twice as far from Samothrace as Imbros is. From Caracoma one comes to Doriscus,Now Tulsa. where Xerxes enumerated his army; then to the Hebrus, which is navigable inland to Cypsela,Now Ipsala. a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia. This, hesc. Strabo. says, was the boundary of the Macedonia which the Romans first took away from Perseus and afterwards from the Pseudo-Philip.The younger brother of Perseus, whom Perseus regarded as his heir. Now Paulus,Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus, in his second consulship, 168 B.C., defeated Perseus near Pydna. who captured Perseus, annexed the Epeirotic tribes to Macedonia, divided the country into four parts for purposes of administration, and apportioned one part to Amphipolis, another to Thessaloniceia, another to Pella, and another to the Pelagonians. Along the Hebrus live the Corpili, and, still farther up the river, the Brenae, and then, farthermost of all, the Bessi, for the river is navigable thus far. All these tribes are given to brigandage, but most of all the Bessi, who, Hesc. Strabo. says, are neighbors to the Odrysae and the Sapaei. BizyeBizye (now Viza) was the home of King Tereus (in the story of Philomela and Procne) and was the residence of the last Thracian dynasty, which was of the stock of the Odrysae. was the royal residence of the Astae. The term "Odrysae" is applied by some to all the peoples living above the seaboard from the Hebrus and Cypsela as far as OdessusNow Varna.—the peoples over whom Amadocus, Cersobleptes, Berisades, Seuthes, and Cotys reigned as kings.
+Thrace as a whole consists of twenty-two tribes. But although it has been devastated to an exceptional degree, it can send into the field fifteen thousand cavalry and also two hundred thousand infantry. After Maroneis one comes to the city Orthagoria and to the region about SerrhiumCape Makri. (a rough coastingvoyage) and to Tempyra, the little town of the Samothracians, and to Caracoma,Caracoma (or Characoma, meaning a fortress?) is otherwise unknown. another little town, off which lies the island Samothrace, and to Imbros, which is not very far from Samothrace; Thasos, however, is more than twice as far from Samothrace as Imbros is. From Caracoma one comes to Doriscus,Now Tulsa. where Xerxes enumerated his army; then to the Hebrus, which is navigable inland to Cypsela,Now Ipsala. a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia. This, hesc. Strabo. says, was the boundary of the Macedonia which the Romans first took away from Perseus and afterwards from the Pseudo-Philip.The younger brother of Perseus, whom Perseus regarded as his heir. Now Paulus,Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus, in his second consulship, 168 B.C., defeated Perseus near Pydna. who captured Perseus, annexed the Epeirotic tribes to Macedonia, divided the country into four parts for purposes of administration, and apportioned one part to Amphipolis, another to Thessaloniceia, another to Pella, and another to the Pelagonians. Along the Hebrus live the Corpili, and, still farther up the river, the Brenae, and then, farthermost of all, the Bessi, for the river is navigable thus far. All these tribes are given to brigandage, but most of all the Bessi, who, Hesc. Strabo. says, are neighbors to the Odrysae and the Sapaei. BizyeBizye (now Viza) was the home of King Tereus (in the story of Philomela and Procne) and was the residence of the last Thracian dynasty, which was of the stock of the Odrysae. was the royal residence of the Astae. The term "Odrysae" is applied by some to all the peoples living above the seaboard from the Hebrus and Cypsela as far as OdessusNow Varna.—the peoples over whom Amadocus, Cersobleptes, Berisades, Seuthes, and Cotys reigned as kings.
Odrysae: a tribe of Thrace; Strabo in his Seventh Book.
The Geographer, in pointing out the great extent of Thrace, says also that Thrace as a whole consists of twenty-two tribes.
The river in Thrace that is now called Rheginia used to be called Erigon.
Iasion and Dardanus, two brothers, used to live in Samothrace. But when Iasion was struck by a thunderbolt because of his sin against Demeter, Dardanus sailed away from Samothrace, went and took up his abode at the foot of Mount Ida, calling the city Dardania, and taught the Trojans the Samothracian Mysteries. In earlier times, however, Samothrace was called Samos.
Many writers have identified the gods that are worshipped in Samothrace with the Cabeiri, though they cannot say who the Cabeiri themselves are, just as the Cyrbantes and Corybantes, and likewise the Curetes and the Idaean Dactyli, are identified with them.
This Thracian island, according to the Geographer, is called Samos because of its height; for "samoi," he says, means "heights." . . . And the Geographer says that in olden times Samians from Mycale settled in the island, which had been deserted because of a dearth of crops, and that in this way it was called Samos. . . . And the Geographer records also that in earlier times Samothrace was called Melite, as also that it was rich; for Cilician pirates, he says, secretly broke into the temple in Samothrace, robbed it, and carried off more than a thousand talents.
-Near the outlet of the Hebrus, which has two mouths, lies the city Aenus,Now Enos. on the Melas Gulf;Gulf of Saros. it was founded by Mitylenaeans and Cumaeans, though in still earlier times by Alopeconnesians. Then comes Cape Sarpedon; then what is called the Thracian Chersonesus, which forms the Propontis and the Melas Gulf and the Hellespont; for it is a cape which projects towards the south-east, thus connecting Europe with Asia by the strait, seven stadia wide, which is between Abydus and Sestus, and thus having on the left the Propontis and on the right the Melas Gulf—so called, just as Herodotus7. 58. and Eudoxus say, from the Melas RiverNow called by the Turks "Kavatch Su." which empties into it. But Herodotus,7. 58. hesc. Strabo. says, states that this stream was not sufficient to supply the army of Xerxes. The aforesaid cape is closed in by an isthmus forty stadia wide. Now in the middle of the isthmus is situated the city Lysimacheia, named after the king who founded it; and on either side of it lies a city—on the Melas Gulf, Cardia, the largest of the cities on the Chersonesus, founded by Milesians and Clazomenians but later refounded by Athenians, and on the Propontis, Pactye. And after Cardia come Drabus and Limnae; then Alopeconnesus, in which the Melas Gulf comes approximately to an end; then the large headland, Mazusia; then, on a gulf, Eleus,The better spelling of the name is "Elaeus." where is the temple of Protesilaus, opposite which, forty stadia distant, is Sigeium,Now Yeni-scheher. a headland of the Troad; and this is about the most southerly extremity of the Chersonesus, being slightly more than four hundred stadia from Cardia; and if one sails around the rest of the circuit, towards the other side of the isthmus, the distance is slightly more than this.
+Near the outlet of the Hebrus, which has two mouths, lies the city Aenus,Now Enos. on the Melas Gulf;Gulf of Saros. it was founded by Mitylenaeans and Cumaeans, though in still earlier times by Alopeconnesians. Then comes Cape Sarpedon; then what is called the Thracian Chersonesus, which forms the Propontis and the Melas Gulf and the Hellespont; for it is a cape which projects towards the south-east, thus connecting Europe with Asia by the strait, seven stadia wide, which is between Abydus and Sestus, and thus having on the left the Propontis and on the right the Melas Gulf—so called, just as Herodotus7. 58. and Eudoxus say, from the Melas RiverNow called by the Turks "Kavatch Su." which empties into it. But Herodotus,7. 58. hesc. Strabo. says, states that this stream was not sufficient to supply the army of Xerxes. The aforesaid cape is closed in by an isthmus forty stadia wide. Now in the middle of the isthmus is situated the city Lysimacheia, named after the king who founded it; and on either side of it lies a city—on the Melas Gulf, Cardia, the largest of the cities on the Chersonesus, founded by Milesians and Clazomenians but later refounded by Athenians, and on the Propontis, Pactye. And after Cardia come Drabus and Limnae; then Alopeconnesus, in which the Melas Gulf comes approximately to an end; then the large headland, Mazusia; then, on a gulf, Eleus,The better spelling of the name is "Elaeus." where is the temple of Protesilaus, opposite which, forty stadia distant, is Sigeium,Now Yeni-scheher. a headland of the Troad; and this is about the most southerly extremity of the Chersonesus, being slightly more than four hundred stadia from Cardia; and if one sails around the rest of the circuit, towards the other side of the isthmus, the distance is slightly more than this.
Aenus; a city of Thrace, called Apsinthus. Strabo in his Seventh Book. The city Aenus is in the outlet of the Hebrus, which has two mouths, and was founded by Cumaeans; and it was so called because there was an Aenius River and also a village of the same name near Ossa.
The Thracian Chersonesus forms three seas: the Propontis in the north, the Hellespont in the east, and the Melas Gulf in the south, into which empties the Melas River, which bears the same name as the gulf.
On the isthmus of the Chersonesus are situated three cities: near the Melas Gulf, Cardia, and near the Propontis, Pactye, and near the middle, Lysimacheia. The length"Length" here means "breadth" (see Frag. 51). of the isthmus is forty stadia.
@@ -300,87 +300,87 @@
As for Sestus and the whole of the Chersonesus, I have already discussed them in my description of the regions of Thrace.
Sestus, a colony of the Lesbians, as is also Madytus, as the Geographer says, is a Chersonesian city thirty stadia distant from Abydus, from harbor to harbor.
The distance from Perinthus to Byzantium is six hundred and thirty stadia; but from the Hebrus and Cypsela to Byzantium, as far as the Cyanean Rocks, three thousand one hundred, as Artemidorus says; and the entire distance from the Ionian Gulf at Apollonia as far as Byzantium is seven thousand three hundred and twenty stadia, though Polybius adds one hundred and eighty more, since he adds a third of a stadium to the eight stadia in the mile. Demetrius of Scepsis, however, in his work
On the Marshalling of the Trojan ForcesThis work consisted of thirty books, and was written as an interpretation of Homer's catalogue (62 lines) of the Trojan forces (Hom. Il. 2.816-877), as Strabo says elsewhere (13. 1. 45). calls the distance from Perinthus to Byzantium six hundred stadia and the distance to Parium equal thereto; and he represents the Propontis as one thousand four hundred stadia in length and five hundred in breadth; while as for the Hellespont, he calls its narrowest breadth seven stadia and its length four hundred.
- There is no general agreement in the definition of the term "Hellespont": in fact, there are several opinions concerning it. For some writers call "Hellespont" the whole of the Propontis; others, that part of the Propontis which is this side Perinthus; others go on to add that part of the outer sea which faces the Melas Gulf and the open waters of the Aegaean Sea, and these writers in turn each comprise different sections in their definitions, some the part from Sigeium to Lampsacus and Cysicus, or Parium, or Priapus, another going on to add the part which extends from Sigrium in the Lesbian Isle. And some do not shrink even from applying the name Hellespont to the whole of the high sea as far as the Myrtoan Sea, since, as PindarFrag. 51 (Bergk) says in his hymns, those who were sailing with Heracles from Troy through Helle's maidenly strait, on touching the Myrtoan Sea, ran back again to Cos, because Zephyrus blew contrary to their course. And in this way, also, they require that the whole of the Aegaean Sea as far as the Thermaean Gulf and the sea which is about Thessaly and Macedonia should be called Hellespont, invoking Homer also as witness; for Homer says, "thou shalt see, if thou dost wish and hast a care therefor, my ships sailing o'er the fishy Hellespont at very early morn"
Hom. Il. 9.359; but such an argument is refuted by those other lines, "the hero,Peiroüs. son of Imbrasus, who, as we know, had come from Aenus,"
Hom. Il. 4.520 but he was the leader of the Thracians,Hom. Il. 2.844, 4.519 "all who are shut in by strong-flowing Hellespont";
Hom. Il. 2.845 that is, Homer would represent thoseThe Cicones, themselves inhabitants of Thraces. who are situated next after theseThe particular Thracians whose territory ended at Aenus, or the Hebrus River. as situated outside the Hellespont; that is, Aenus lies in what was formerly called Apsinthis, though now called Corpilice, whereas the country of the Cicones lies next thereafter towards the west.The argument of this misunderstood passage is as follows; Certain writers (1) make the Homeric Thrace extend as far as Crannon and Gyrton in Thessaly (Fr. 14, 16); then (2) interpret Homer as meaning that Peiroüs was the leader of all Thracians; therefore (3) the Homeric Hellespont extends to the southern boundary of Thessaly. But their opponents regard the clause "all who are shut in by strong-flowing Hellespont" as restrictive, that is, as meaning only those Thracians who (as "Aenus" shows) were east of the Cicones, or of Hebrus. Strabo himself seems to lean to the latter view.
+ There is no general agreement in the definition of the term "Hellespont": in fact, there are several opinions concerning it. For some writers call "Hellespont" the whole of the Propontis; others, that part of the Propontis which is this side Perinthus; others go on to add that part of the outer sea which faces the Melas Gulf and the open waters of the Aegaean Sea, and these writers in turn each comprise different sections in their definitions, some the part from Sigeium to Lampsacus and Cysicus, or Parium, or Priapus, another going on to add the part which extends from Sigrium in the Lesbian Isle. And some do not shrink even from applying the name Hellespont to the whole of the high sea as far as the Myrtoan Sea, since, as PindarFrag. 51 (Bergk) says in his hymns, those who were sailing with Heracles from Troy through Helle's maidenly strait, on touching the Myrtoan Sea, ran back again to Cos, because Zephyrus blew contrary to their course. And in this way, also, they require that the whole of the Aegaean Sea as far as the Thermaean Gulf and the sea which is about Thessaly and Macedonia should be called Hellespont, invoking Homer also as witness; for Homer says, "thou shalt see, if thou dost wish and hast a care therefor, my ships sailing o'er the fishy Hellespont at very early morn"
Hom. Il. 9.359; but such an argument is refuted by those other lines, "the hero,Peiroüs. son of Imbrasus, who, as we know, had come from Aenus,"
Hom. Il. 4.520 but he was the leader of the Thracians,Hom. Il. 2.844, 4.519 "all who are shut in by strong-flowing Hellespont";
Hom. Il. 2.845 that is, Homer would represent thoseThe Cicones, themselves inhabitants of Thraces. who are situated next after theseThe particular Thracians whose territory ended at Aenus, or the Hebrus River. as situated outside the Hellespont; that is, Aenus lies in what was formerly called Apsinthis, though now called Corpilice, whereas the country of the Cicones lies next thereafter towards the west.The argument of this misunderstood passage is as follows; Certain writers (1) make the Homeric Thrace extend as far as Crannon and Gyrton in Thessaly (Fr. 14, 16); then (2) interpret Homer as meaning that Peiroüs was the leader of all Thracians; therefore (3) the Homeric Hellespont extends to the southern boundary of Thessaly. But their opponents regard the clause "all who are shut in by strong-flowing Hellespont" as restrictive, that is, as meaning only those Thracians who (as "Aenus" shows) were east of the Cicones, or of Hebrus. Strabo himself seems to lean to the latter view.
Corpili: certain of the Thracians. Strabo, Seventh Book; their country is called Corpilice; for Aenus lies in what was formerly called Apsinthis, though now called Corpilice.
Tetrachoritae: the Bessi, according to Strabo in his Seventh Book. These are also called Tetracomi.
-For hesc. Strabo. says in the Seventh Book of the same workThat is, his Geography, previously mentioned. that he knew Poseidonius, the Stoic philosopher.This fragment and its context, as found in Athenaeus 14.75, requires special investigation. If the text of Atheaeus is right, he misquotes Strabo at least once. For the latter "in his Third Book" (3. 4. 11) speaks of "Cantabrian," not "Cibyric," hams. Again, the reading of the Greek text for "he" (in "he knew") present a grammatical problem; Kaibel makes "he" refer to Pompey, but it must in that context, refer to Strabo. And did Strabo really say that he knew Poseidonius? Or could he have known him? (See 16. 2. 10, where Strabo speaks of Poseidonius as "most widely-learned of all philosophers of out times.") Moreover, how could Poseidonius have been an associate of that Scipio (Africanus Minor) who captured Carthage? Is not Atheaeus confusing Poseidonius with Polybius, who was with Scipio at the destruction of Carthage? Or is he not confusing Poseidonius with Panaetius (see Casaubon-Schweighaüser, Animadv. in Athenaeum, Vol. VII, p. 645.
+For hesc. Strabo. says in the Seventh Book of the same workThat is, his Geography, previously mentioned. that he knew Poseidonius, the Stoic philosopher.This fragment and its context, as found in Athenaeus 14.75, requires special investigation. If the text of Atheaeus is right, he misquotes Strabo at least once. For the latter "in his Third Book" (3. 4. 11) speaks of "Cantabrian," not "Cibyric," hams. Again, the reading of the Greek text for "he" (in "he knew") present a grammatical problem; Kaibel makes "he" refer to Pompey, but it must in that context, refer to Strabo. And did Strabo really say that he knew Poseidonius? Or could he have known him? (See 16. 2. 10, where Strabo speaks of Poseidonius as "most widely-learned of all philosophers of out times.") Moreover, how could Poseidonius have been an associate of that Scipio (Africanus Minor) who captured Carthage? Is not Atheaeus confusing Poseidonius with Polybius, who was with Scipio at the destruction of Carthage? Or is he not confusing Poseidonius with Panaetius (see Casaubon-Schweighaüser, Animadv. in Athenaeum, Vol. VII, p. 645.