The geography of Strabo

BOHFS CLASSICAL LIBKAKY.

SIR A BO.

VOL. I.

THE

GEOGRAPHY

STRABO,

LITERALLY TRANSLATED, WITH NOTES.

THE FIRST SIX BOOKS

BY H, C, HAMILTON, ESQ.

THE REMAINDER

BY W, FALCONER, M.A.,

LATE FELLOW OF EXETER COLLEGE, OXFORD.

IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

LONDON :
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

IV.

JOHN CHILDS AND SON, BUNGAY.

NOTICE.

THE present translation of Strabo, the great Geographer
of Antiquity, is the first which has been laid before the
English public. It is curious that a classic of so much
renown and intrinsic value should have remained a
comparatively sealed book to this country for so many
centuries ; yet such is the fact. It is true that the im-
perfect state of the Greek text, and the difficulty of
geographical identification, have always been appalling-
obstacles ; yet, after the acute and valuable labours of
Gossellin, Du Theil, Groskurd, and especially of Gustav
Cramer of Berlin, (whose text is followed in the pre-
sent volume,) we might fairly have expected that some
English scholar would have ventured to enter the field.
But the task, like many in a similar position, has been
reserved for the publisher of the Classical Library, and
he trusts it will be found conscientiously fulfilled.

The translation was, in the first instance, intrusted to
Mr. H. C. Hamilton, whose knowledge of the subject,
and familiarity with the various languages concerned,
peculiarly fitted him for the undertaking. His official

1O314 I

VI NOTICE.

duties, however, added to his anxious examination of
every thing which tended to illustrate his author, pre-
vented his proceeding with much speed; and it was
only after the lapse of three years that he had reached
the end of the sixth book. In the mean time it transpired
that Mr. W. Falconer, son of the editor of the Oxford
edition of the Greek text, had, after several years of
care and attention, produced a very excellent transla-
tion, meaning to publish it. Under the circumstances
it was deemed advisable to amalgamate the rival under-
takings, and it is a source of gratification to the pub-
lisher that the respective translators were each so well
satisfied with the labours of the other, that they as-
sented readily to his proposal of associating their names.
This is all it seems necessary to state here. Jn the
third volume will be given some account of the life and
labours of Strabo, and of the manuscripts and principal
editions ; also a complete index of the places mentioned
in the text, accompanied, where possible, by the modern
names.

H. G. B.

"VvO^i ^^

N^£ORN\*

STRABO'S GEOGRAPHY,

BOOK I.

INTRODUCTION.

SUMMARY.

That geographical investigation is not inconsistent with philosophy. — That
Homer gives proof of it throughout his poems. — That they who first wrote
on the science have omitted much, or given disjointed, defective, false, or
inconsistent accounts. — Proofs and demonstrations of the correctness of
this statement, with general heads containing a summary description of the
disposition of the whole habitable earth. — Credit to be attached to the
probabilities and evident proofs that in many regions the land and sea have
been shifted, and exchanged places with each other.

CHAPTER I.

I.1 IF the scientific investigation of any subject be the proper
avocation of the philosopher, Geography, the science of which
we propose to treat, is certainly entitled to a high place ; and
this is evident from many considerations. They who first
ventured to handle the matter were distinguished men.
Homer, Anaximander the Milesian, and Hecataeus, (his fel-
low-citizen according to Eratosthenes,) Democritus, Eudoxus,
Dicsearchus, Ephorus, with many others, and after these
Erastosthenes, Polybius, and Posidonius, all of them phi-
losophers.

ISor is the great learning, through which alone this sub-
ject can be approached, possessed by any but a person acquaint-
ed with both human and divine things,2 and these attainments
constitute what is called philosophy. In addition to its vast
importance in regard to social life, and the art of government,
Geography unfolds to us the celestial phenomena, acquaints us

1 The chapters and sectional divisions of Kramer's edition of the Greek
text have been generally followed in this translation.

2 TO. 9da Kal avQpwirtia, " the productions of nature and art."
VOL. i. B

STRABO. BOOK i.

with the occupants of the land and ocean, and the vegetation,
fruits, and peculiarities of the various quarters of the earth,
a knowledge of which marks him who cultivates it as a man
earnest in the great problem of life and happiness.

2. Admitting this, let us examine more in detail the points
we have advanced.

And first, [we maintain,] that both we and our predecessors,
amongst whom is Hipparchus, do justly regard Hefner as the
founder of geographical science, for he not only excelled all,
ancient as well as modern, in the sublimity of his poetry, but
also in his experience of social Jife. Thus it was that he not
only exjr^ed himself to become familiar with as many histQ-
ric facts as possible, and transmit fTiern to posterity, but also
with the various regions of The inliabited land and sea, some
intimately, others in a more general manner. For otherwise
he would not have reached the utmost limits of the earth, tra-
versing it in his imagination.

3. First, he stated that the earth was entirely encompassed
by the ocean, as in truth it is ; afterwards he described the
countries, specifying some by name, others more generally by
various indications, explicitly defining Libjja,1 Ethiopia, the
Sidonians, and the tErembi (by which latter are probably in-
tended the Troglodyte Arabians) ; and alluding to those far-
ther east and west as the lands washed by the ocean, for in
ocean he believed both the sun and constellations t<3 rise and
set.

" Now from the gently-swelling flood profound
The sun arising, with his earliest rays,
In his ascent to heaven smote on the fields." 2
" And now the radiant sun in ocean sank,
Dragging night after him o'er all the earth."3

The stars also he describes as bathed in the ocean.4

1 Africa.

2 T^Ten indeed the sun freshly struck the fields [with its rays], ascend-
ing heaven from the calmly-flowing, deep-moving ocean. Iliad vii. 421 ;
Odyssey xix. 433. These references relate to the Greek text ; any one
wishing to verify the poetic translation will find the place in Cowper,
by adding a few lines to the number adapted to the Greek. The prose
version is taken from Bohn's edition.

3 And the bright light of the sun fell into the ocean, drawing dark
night over the fruitful earth. Iliad viii. 485.

4 " Bright and steady as the star

Autumnal, which in ocean newly bathed,
Assumes fresh beauty." Iliad v. 6.

CHAP. T. § 4—6. INTRODUCTION. 3

4. He portrays the happiness of the people of the West, and
the salubrity of their climate, having no doubt heard of the
abundance of Iberia,1 which had attracted the arms of Hep-
cules,2 afterwards of the Phoenjcians, who acquired there an
extended rule, and finally of the Romans. There the airs of
Zephyr breathe, there the poet feigned the fields of Elysium,
when he tells us Menelaus was sent thither by the gods : —

" Thee the gods

Have destined to the blest Elysian isles,
Earth's utmost boundaries. Rha^ajpianthus there
For ever reigns, and there the human kind
Enjoy the easiest life ; no snow is there,
No biting winter, and no drenching shower,
But Zephyr always gently from the sea
Breathes on them, to refresh the happy race." 3

5. The Isles of the Blest 4 are on the extreme west of
Maurusia,5 near where its shore runs parallel to the opposite
coast of Spain ; and it is clear he considered these regions also
Blest, from their contiguity to the Islands.

6. He tells us also, that the Ethiopians are far removed, and
bounded by the ocean : far removed, —

" The Ethiopians, utmost of mankind,

These eastward situate, those toward the west."6

1 Gosselin remarks that in his opinion Strabo frequently attributes to
Homer much information of which the great poet was entirely ignorant :
the present is an instance, for Spain was to Homer a perfect terra in-
cognita.

2 The Phoenician Hercules, anterior to the Grecian hero by two or
three centuries. The date of his expedition, supposing it to have ac-
tually occurred, was about sixteen or seventeen hundred years before the
Christian era.

3 But the immortals will send you to the Elysian plain, and the bound-
aries of the Earth, where is auburn-haired Rhadamanthus ; there of a
truth is the most easy life for men. There is nor snow, nor long winter,
nor even a shower, but every day the ocean sends forth the gently blowing
breezes of the west wind to refresh men." Odyssey iv. 563.

4 The Isles of the Blest are the same as the Fortunate Isles of other
geographers. It is clear from Strabo's description that he alludes to the
Canary Islands ; but as it is certain that Homer had never heard of these,
irlS'probab'le that the passages adduced by Strabo have reference to the
Elysian Fields of Ba'ia in Campania.

5 The Maurusia of the Greeks (the Mauritania of the Latins) is now
known as Algiers and Fez in Africa.

6 The Ethiopians, who are divided into two divisions, the most dis-
tant of men. Odyssey i. 23.

B 2

STRABO. BOOK i.

Nor was he mistaken in calling them separated into two
divisions, as we shall presently show : and next to the ocean, —

" For to the banks of the Oceanus,
Where Ethiopia holds a feast to Jove,
He journey'd yesterday." *

Speaking of the Bear, he implies that the most northern part
of the earth is bounded by the ocean :

" Only star of these denied
To slake his beams in Ocean's briny baths."2

Now, by the " Bear " and the " Wain," he means the Arctic
Circle ; otherwise he would never have said, " It alone is de-
prived of the baths of the ocean," when such an infinity of
stars is to be seen continually revolving in that part of the
hemisphere. Let no one any longer blame his ignorance for
being merely acquainted with one Bear, when there are two.
It is probable that the second was not considered a constella-
tion until, on the Phoenicians specially designating it, and em-
ploying it in navigation, it became known as one to the Greeks.3
Such is the case with the Hair of Berenice, and Canopus.
whose names are but of yesterday ; and, as Aratus remarks,
there are numbers which have not yet received any designa-
tion. Crates, therefore, is mistaken when, endeavouring to
amend what is correct, he reads the verse thus :

Otof S' dfifjiopog tan \otrpCjv,
replacing 0177 by oloc,, with a view to make the adjective agree

1 For yesterday Jove went to Oceanus, to the blameless Ethiopians,
to a banquet. Iliad i. 423. The ancients gave the name of Ethi-
opians, generally, to the inhabitants of Interior Africa, the people who
occupied the sea-coast of the Atlantic, and the shores of the Arabian Gulf.
It is with this view of the name that Strabo explains the passage of
Homer; but the Mediterranean was the boundary of the poet's geographi-
cal knowledge ; and the people he speaks of were doubtless the inhabitants
of the southern parts of Phoenicia, who at one time were called Ethi-
opians. We may here remark too, that Homer's. ocean frequently means
the Mediterranean, sometimes probably the Nile. See also p. 48, n. 2.

2 But it alone is free from the baths of the ocean. Iliad xviii. 489 ;
Odyssey v. 275.

3 We are informed by Diogenes Laertius, that Thales was the first to
make known to the Greeks the constellation of the Lesser Bear. Now
this philosopher flourished 600 years before the Christian era, and conse-
quently some centuries after Homer's death. The name of &OIVIKIJ which
it received from the Greeks, is proof that Thales owed his knowledge of it to
the Phoenicians. Conf. Humboldl's Cosmos, vol. iii. p. 1GO, Bonn's edition.

CHAP. i. § 7. INTRODUCTION. 5

with the Arctic Circle, which is masculine ; instead of the
Arctic Constellation, which is feminine. The expression of
Heraclitus is far more preferable and Homeric, who thus figu-
ratively describes the Arctic Circle as the Bear, — " The Bear
is the limit of the dawn and of the evening, and from the re-
gion of the Bear we have fine weather." Now it is not the
constellation of the Bear, but the Arctic Circle, which is the
limit of the rising and the setting stars.

By the Bear, then, which he elsewhere calls the Wain,
and describes as pursuing Orion, Homer means us to under-
stand the Arctic Circle ; and by the ocean, that horizon into
which, and out of which, the stars rise and set. When he
says that the Bear turns round and is deprived of the ocean,
he was aware that the Arctic Circle [always] extended to the
sign opposite the most northern point of the horizon. Adapt-
ing the words of the poet to this view, by that part of the
earth nearest to the ocean we must understand the horizon, and
by the Arctic Circle that which extends to the signs which
seem to our senses to touch in succession the most northern
point of the horizon. Thus, according to him, this portion of
the earth is washed by the ocean. With the nations of the
North he was well acquainted, although he does not mention
them by name, and indeed at the present day there is no re-
gular title by which they are all distinguished. He informs
us of their mode of life, describing them as "wanderers,"
" noble milkers of mares," " living on cheese," and " without
wealth."1

7. In the following speech of Juno, he states that the ocean
surrounds the earth.

" For to the green earth's utmost bounds I go,
To visit there the parent of the gods,
Oceanus." 2

Does he not here assert that ocean bounds all its extremities,
and does it not surround these extremities ? Again, in the

1 Iliad xiii. 5. Gosselin says, Thrace (the present Roumelia) was in-
disputably the most northern nation known to Homer. He names the people
'iTTTTjjjuoXyoi, or living on mares' milk, because in his time they were a
nomade race. Strabo evidently gives a forced meaning to the words of
the poet, when he attempts to prove his acquaintance with the Scythians
and Sarmatians.

2 For I go to visit the limits of the fertile earth, and Oceanus, the
parent of the gods. Iliad xiv. 200.

o STRABO. BOOK i.

Hoplopoeia,1 he places the ocean in a circle round the border
of Achilles' shield. Another proof of the extent of his know-
ledge, is his acquaintance with the ebb and flow of the sea,
calling it " the ebbing ocean." 2 Again,

" Each day she thrice disgorges, and again
Thrice drinks, insatiate, the deluge down." 3

The assertion of thrice, instead of twice, is either an error of
the author, or a blunder of the scribe, but the phenomenon is
the same, and the expression soft-flowing,4 has reference to
the flood-tide, which has a gentle swell, and does not flow with
a full rush. Posidonius believes that where Homer describes
the rocks as at one time covered with the waves, and at an-
other left bare, and when he compares the ocean to a river, he
alludes to the flow of the ocean. The first supposition is cor-
rect, but for the second there is no ground ; inasmuch as there
can be no comparison between the flow, much less the ebb of
the sea, and the current of a river. There is more probability
in the explanation of Crates, that Homer describes the whole
ocean as deep-flowing, ebbing, and also calls it a river, and
that he also describes a part of the ocean as a river, and the
flow of a river ; and that he is speaking of a part, and not the
whole, when he thus writes : —

" When down the smooth Oceanus impell'd
By prosperous gales, my galley, once again,
Cleaving the billows of the spacious deep,
Had reach'd the ^Eaean isle."5

He does not, however, mean the whole, but the flow of the river
in the ocean, which forms but a part of the ocean. Crates

1 The eighteenth book of the Iliad.

2 Iliad xviii. 399 ; Odyss. xx. 65.

3 Thrice indeed each day it lets loose its waves, and thrice it ebbs
them back. Odyss. xii. 105.

Gosselin remarks, " I do not find any thing in these different passages of
Homer to warrant the conclusion that he was aware of the ebb and flow
of the tide ; every one knows that the movement is hardly perceptible in
the Mediterranean. In the Euripus, which divides the Isle of Negropont
from Bo20tia, the waters are observed to flow in opposite directions seve-
ral times a day. It was from this that Homer probably drew his ideas ;
and the regiilar current of the Hellespont, which carries the waters of the
Black Sea into the Mediterranean, led him to think that the whole ocean,
or Mediterranean, had one continued flow like the current of a river."

* Iliad vii. 422.

5 But when the ship left the stream of the river-ocean, and entered
on the wave of the wide-wayed sea. Odyssey xii. 1.

CHAP. I. § 8. INTRODUCTION. /

says, he speaks of an estuary or gulf, extending from the
winter tropic towards the south pole.1 Now any one quitting
this, might still be in the ocean ; but for a person to leave
the whole and still to be in the whole, is an impossibility.
But Homer says, that leaving the flow of the river, the
ship entered on the waves of the sea, which is the same as the
ocean. If you take it otherwise you make him say, that de-
parting from the ocean he came to the ocean. But this re-
quires further discussion. >j

8. Perception and experience alike inform us, that the earth^^
we inhabit is an island : since wherever men have approached
the termination of the land, the sea, which we designate ocean,
has been met with : and reason assures us of the similarity of
those places which our senses have not been permitted to sur-
vey. For in the east2 the land occupied by the Indians, and
in the west by the Iberians and Maurusians,3 is wholly en-
compassed [by water], and so is the greater part on the south4
and north.5 And as to what remains as yet unexplored by
us, because navigators, sailing from opposite points, have not
hitherto fallen in with each other, it is not much, as any one
may see who will compare the distances between those places
with which we are already acquainted. Nor is it likely that
the Atlantic Ocean is divided into two seas by narrow
isthmuses so placed as to prevent circumnavigation: how
much more probable that it is confluent and uninterrupted !
Those who have returned from an attempt to circumnavigate

1 This direction would indicate a gulf, the seaward side of which
should be opposite the Libo-notus of the ancients. Now the mutilated
passage of Crates has reference to the opening of the twelfth book of the
Odyssey, descriptive of Ulysses' departure from Cimmeria, after his visit
to the infernal regions. Those Cimmerians were the people who inha-
bited Campania, and the land round Bam, near to lake Avernus, and the
entrance into Hades. As these places are situated close to the bay of
Naples, which occupies the exact position described by Crates, it is pro-
bable this was the bay he intended.

2 What Strabo calls the eastern side of the continent, comprises that
portion of India between Cape Comorin and Tana-serim, to the west of
the kingdom of Siam : further than which he was not acquainted.

3 Strabo's acquaintance with Western Africa did not go further than
Cape Nun, 214 leagues distant from the Strait of Gibraltar.

4 By the south is intended the whole land from the Arabian Gulf or
Red Sea to Cape Comorin.

5 From Cape Finisterre to the mouth of the Elbe.

STRABO. BOOK i.

the earth, do not say they have been prevented from con-
tinuing their voyage by any opposing continent, for the sea re-
mained perfectly open, but through want of resolution, and
the scarcity of provision. This theory too accords better with
the ebb and flow of the ocean, for the phenomenon, both in the
increase and diminution, is every where identical, or at all
events has but little difference, as if produced by the agita-
tion of one sea, and resulting from one cause.

9. We must not credit Hipparchus, who combats this opinion,
denying that the ocean is every where similarly affected ; or that
even if it were, it would not follow that the Atlantic flowed in
a circle, and thus continually returned into itself. Seleucus,
the Babvlonian, is his authority for this assertion. For a further
investigation of the ocearTand its tides we refer to Posidonius
and Athenodorus, who have fully discussed this subject : we
will now only remark that this view agrees better with the uni-
formity of the phenomenon ; and that the greater the amount
of moisture surrounding the earth, the easier would the
heavenly bodies be supplied with vapours from thence.

10. Homer, besides the boundaries of the earth, which he
fully describes, was likewise well acquainted with the Medi-
terranean. Starting from the Pillars,1 this sea is encom-
passed by Libya, E^vpt, and Phoenicia, then by the coasts
opposite Cyprus, the Solymi,2 Lv_cia, and Caria, and then by
the shore winch stretches between Mycale^and Troas, and
the adjacent islands, every one of which he mentions, as well
as those of the Propontis4 and the Euxine, as far as Colchis,
and the locality of Jason's expedition. Furthermore, he was
acquainted with the Cimmerian Bosphorus,5 having known
the Cimmerians,6 and that not merelyhSy name, but as being
familiar with themselves. About his time, or a little be-
fore, they had ravaged the whole country, from the Bos-

1 The rocks of Gibraltar and Ceuta.

2 The mountaineers of the Taurus, between Lycia and Pisidia.

3 A mountain of Ionia near To~the Meander, and opposite the Isle of
Samos.

<T~the Sea of Marmora.

5 The Strait of Caffa, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of
Azof.

6 The Cimmerians, spoken of in Homer, were undoubtedly the in-
habitants of Campania, not those of the Bosphorus.

CHAP. i. $ 10. INTRODUCTION. 9

phorus to Ionia. Their climate he characterizes as dismal, in
the following lines : —

" With clouds and darkness veil'd, on whom the sun
Deigns not to look with his beam-darting eye,
* * * * »

But sad night canopies the woeful race." l

He must also have been acquainted with the Ister,2 since he
speaks of the Mysians, a Thracian race, dwelling on the banks
of the Ister. He knew also the whole Thracian3 coast ad-
jacent thereto, as far as the Peneus,4 for he mentions indi-
vidually the Preonians, Athos, the Axius,5 and the neigh-
bouring islands. From hence to Thesprotis 6 is the Grecian
shore, with the whole of which he was acquainted. He was
besides familiar with the whole of Italy, and speaks of Te-
mese 7 and the Sicilians, as well as the Whole of Spain 8 and
its fertility, as we have said, before. If he omits various in-
termediate places this must be pardoned, for even the compiler
of a Geography overlooks numerous details. We must for-
give him too for intermingling fabulous narrative with his his-
torical and instructive work. This should not be complained
of ; nevertheless, what Eratosthenes says is false, that the
poets aim at amusement, not instruction, since those who have
treated upon the subject most profoundly, regard poesy in
the light of a primitive philosophy. But we shall refute
Eratosthenes 9 more at length, when we have occasion again
to speak of Homer.

1 They are covered with shadows and darkness, nor does the shining

sun behold them with his beams but pernicious night

is spread over hapless mortals. Odyssey xi. 15 and 19.

The Danube.

Ancient Thrace consisted of the modern provinces of Bulgaria and
Roumelia.

A river of Thessaly, named at present Salampria.

Now the river Vardari.

Thesprotis, in Epirus, opposite Corfu.

Afterwards named Temsa. This town was in Citerior Calabria.
Sone think Torre de Nocera stands on the ancient site.

This is a misstatement, as before remarked.

This writer occupies so prominent a position in Strabo's work, that
no apology I think will be needed for the following extract from Smith's
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

"Eratosthenes of Cyrene was, according to Suidas, the son of Aglaus,
according to others, the son of Ambrosius, and was born B. c. 276. He
was taught by Ariston of Chius, the philosopher, Lysanias of Cyrene, the
grammarian, and Callimachus, the poet. He left Athens at the invitation

STRABO.

11. What we have already advanced is sufficient to prove
the father^of geography. Those who followed in

of Ptolemy Euergetes, who placed him over the library at Alexandria.
Here he continued till the reign of Ptolemy Epiphanes. He died at the
age of eighty, about B. c. 196, of voluntary starvation, having lost his
sight, and being tired of life. He was a man of very extensive learning :
we shall first speak of him as a geometer and astronomer.

" It is supposed that Eratosthenes suggested to Ptolemy Euergetes the
construction of the large armillte, or fixed circular instruments, which
were long in use at Alexandria ; but only because it is difficult to imagine
to whom else they are to be assigned, for Ptolemy the astronomer, though
he mentions them, and incidentally their antiquity, does not state to whom
they were due. In these circles each degree Avas divided into six parts.
We know of no observations of Eratosthenes in which they were probably
employed, except those which led him to the obliquity of the ecliptic,
which he must have made to be 23° 51' 20"; for he states the distance of
the tropics to be eleven times the eighty -third part of the circumference.
This was a good observation for the times. Ptolemy the astronomer was
content with it, and according to him Hipparchus used no other. Of his
measure of the earth we shall presently speak. According to Nicoma-
chus, he was the inventor of the KOVKIVOV, or Cribrum Arithmeticum, as it
has since been called, being the well-known method of detecting the
prime numbers by writing down all odd numbers which do not end
with 5, and striking out successively the multiples of each, one after the
other, so that only prime numbers remain.

" We still possess under the name of Eratosthenes a work, entitled
KaraTtpioym, giving a slight account of the constellations, their fabulous
history, and the stars in them. It is however acknowledged on all hands
that this is not a work of Eratosthenes. * * * The only other writ-
ing of Eratosthenes which remains, is a letter to Ptolemy on the dupli-
cation of the cube, for the mechanical performance of which he had
contrived an instrument, of which he seems to contemplate actual use in
measuring the contents of vessels, &c. He seems to say that he has had
his method engraved in some temple or public building, with some verses,
which he adds. Eutocius has preserved this letter in his comment on
book ii. prop. 2, of the sphere and cylinder of Archimedes.

" The greatest work of Eratosthenes, and that which must always make
his name conspicuous in scientific history, is the attempt which he made
to measure the magnitude of the earth, in which he brought forward and
used the method which is employed to this day. Whether or no he was
successful cannot be told, as we shall see ; but it is not the less true that
he was the originator of the process by which we now know, very nearly
indeed, the magnitude of our own planet. Delambre says that if it were
he who advised the erection of the circular instruments above alluded to,
he must be considered as the founder of astronomy : to which it may be
added, that he was the founder of geodesy without any if in the case.
The number of ancient writers who have alluded to this remarkable oper-
ation (which seems to have obtained its full measure of fame) is very great,
and we shall not attempt to combine their remarks or surmises : it is
enough to say that the most distinct account, and one of the earliest, is
found in the remaining work of Cleomedes.

CHAP. i. § 11. INTRODUCTION. 11

his track are also well known as great men and true philoso-
phers. The two immediately succeeding Homer, according

" At Syene in Upper Egypt, which is supposed to be the same as, or near
to, the town of Assouan, (Lat. 24° 10' N., Long. 32° 59' E. of Greenwich,)
Eratosthenes was told (that he observed is very doubtful) that deep w^ells
were enlightened to the bottom on the day of the summer solstice, and
that vertical objects cast no shadows. He concluded therefore, that Syehe
was on the tropic, and its latitude equal to the obliquity of the ecliptic,
which, as we have seen, he had determined : he presumed that it was in
the same longitude as Alexandria, in which he was out about 3°, which
is not enough to produce what would at that time have been a sensible
error. By observations made at Alexandria, he determined the zenith of
that place to be distant by the fiftieth part of the circumference from the
solstice, which was equivalent to saying that the arc of the meridian be-
tween the two places is 7° 12'. Cleomedes says that he used the (TKO^J/,
or hemispherical dial of Berosus, in the determination of this latitude.
Delambre rejects the idea with infinite scorn, and pronounces Cleomedes
unworthy of credit ; and indeed it is not easy to see why Eratosthenes
should have rejected the gnomon and the large circular instruments, un-
less, perhaps, for the following reason. There is a sentiment of Cleomedes
which seems to imply that the disappearance of the shadows at Syene on
the day of the summer solstice was noticed to take place for 300 stadia
every way round Syene. If Eratosthenes took his report about the phe-
nomenon (and we have no evidence that he went to Syene himself) from
those who could give no better account than this, we may easily under-
stand why he would think the GKCL^I] quite accurate enough to observe
with at his own end of the arc, since the other end of it was uncertain by
as much as 300 stadia. He gives 500 stadia for the distance from Alex-
andria to Syene, and this round number seems further to justify* us in
concluding that he thought the process to be as rough as in truth it was.
Martianus Capella states that he obtained this distance from the measures
made by order of the Ptolemies (which had been commenced by Alex-
ander) : this writer then implies that Eratosthenes did not go to Syene
himself.

" The result is 250,000 stadia for the circumference of the earth, which
Eratosthenes altered into 252,000, that his result might give an exact
number of stadia for the degree, namely, 700 ; this of course should
have been 694|. Pliny calls this 31,500 Roman miles, and therefore
supposes the stadium to be the eighth part of a Roman mile, or takes
for granted that Eratosthenes used the Olympic stadium. It is likely
enough that the Ptolemies naturalized this stadium in Egypt ; but never-
theless, it is not unlikely that an Egyptian stadium was employed. If
we assume the Olympic stadium, (202£ yards,) the degree of Eratos-
thenes is more than 79 miles, upwards of 10 miles too great. Nothing
is known of any Egyptian stadium. Pliny asserts that Hipparchus, but
for what reason he does not say, wanted to add 25,000 stadia to the cir-
cumference as found by Eratosthenes. According to Plutarch, Eratos-
thenes made the sun to be 804 millions of stadia from the earth, and the
moon 780,000. According to Macrobius, he made the diameter of the
sun to be 27 times that of the earth. With regard to the other merits of

12 STRABO.

BOOK I.

to Eratosthenes, were Anaximander, the disciple and fellow-
citizen of Thales, and Hecatasus the Milesian. Anaximander

Eratosthenes, we must first of all mention what he did for geography,
which was closely connected with his mathematical pursuits. It was
Eratosthenes who raised geography to the rank of a science ; for previ-
ous to his time it seems to have consisted, more or less, of a mass of in-
formation scattered in books of travel, descriptions of particular countries,
and the like. All these treasures were accessible to Eratosthenes in the
libraries of Alexandria ; and he made the most profitable use of them,
by collecting the scattered materials, and uniting them into an organic
system of geography, in his comprehensive work entitled Tewypa^tica, or
as it is sometimes but erroneously called, ytwypa^otJ/ifj/a or yfwypa^ta.
It consisted of three books, the first of which, forming a sort of Intro-
duction, contained a critical review of the labours of his predecessors
from the earliest to his own times, and investigations concerning the form
and nature of the earth, which, according to him, was an immoveable
globe, on the surface of which traces of a series of great revolutions were
still visible. He conceived that in one of these revolutions the Mediter-
ranean had acquired its present form ; for according to him it was at one
time a large lake covering portions of the adjacent countries of Asia and
Libya, until a passage was forced open by which it entered into commu-
nication with the ocean in the west. The second book contained what is
now called mathematical geography. His attempt to measure the magni-
tude of the earth has been spoken of above. The third book contained
the political geography, and gave descriptions of the various countries,
derived from the works of earlier travellers and geographers. In order
to be able to determine the accurate site of each place, he drew a line
parallel with the equator, running from the Pillars of Hercules to the
extreme east of Asia, and dividing the whole of the inhabited earth into
two halves. Connected with this work was a new map of the earth, in
which towns, mountains, rivers, lakes, and climates were marked accord-
ing to his own improved measurements. This important work of Eratos-
thenes forms an epoch in the history of ancient geography : but unfor-
tunately it is lost, and all that has survived consists in fragments quoted
by later geographers and historians, such as Polybius, Strabo, Marcianus,
Pliny, and others, who often judge of him unfavourably, and controvert
his statements ; while it can be proved that in a great many passages they
adopt his opinions without mentioning his name. Marcianus charges
Eratosthenes with having copied tBe substance of the work of Timos-
thenes on Ports, (irfpi Xt/isvw?',) to which he added but very little of his
own. This charge may be well-founded, but cannot have diminished the
value of the work of Eratosthenes, in which that of Timosthenes can
have formed only a very small portion. It seems to have been the very
overwhelming importance of the geography of Eratosthenes, that called
forth a number of opponents, among whom we meet with the names of
Polemon, Hipparchus, Polybius, Serapion, and Marcianus of Heracleia.
* * * Another work of a somewhat similar nature, entitled 'Epjwi/c, was
written in verse, and treated of the form of the earth, its temperature,
the different zones, the constellations, and the like. * * * Eratosthenes
distinguished himself also as a philosopher, historian, grammarian, &c."

CHAP. i. $ 12-14. INTRODUCTION.

was the first to publish a geo<rraphical_chart. Heca'

a work [on the same subject], wliich we" can identity ao ms

by means of his other writings.

12. Many have testified to the amount of knowledge which
this subject requires, and Hipparchus, in his Strictures on
Eratosthenes, well observes, " that no one can become really
proficient in geography, either as a private individual or as a
professor, without an acquaintance with astronomy, and a
knowledge of eclipses. For instance, no one could tell whe-
ther Alexandria~~m Egypt were north or south of Babylon,
nor yet the intervening distance, without observing the lati-
tudes.1 Again, the only means we possess of becoming ac-

"quainted with the longitudes of different places is afforded by
the eclipses of the sun and moon." Such are the very words
of Hipparchus.

13. Every one who undertakes to give an accurate descrip-
tion of a place, should be particular to add its astronomical
and geometrical relations, explaining carefully its extent, dis-
tance, degrees of latitude, and " climate."2 Even a builder
before constructing a house, or an architect before laying out
a city, wxmld take these things into consideration ; much
more should he who examines the whole earth : for such
things in a peculiar manner belong to him. In small dis-
tances a little deviation north or south does not signify, but
when it is the whole circle of the earth, the north extends to
the furthest confines of Scv.thia,3 or Keltica,4 and the south to
the extremities of Ethiopia : there is" a wide difference here.
The case is the same~~sliould we inhabit India or Spain, one
in the east, the other far w^est, and, as we are aware, life anti-
podes5 to each other.

14. The [motions] of the sun and stars, and the centripetal

1 The ancients "portioned out the globe by bands or zones parallel to
the equator, which they named K\ip.ara. The extent of each zone was
determined by the length of the solstitial day, and thus each diminished
in extent according as it became more distant from the equator. The
moderns have substituted a mode of reckoning the degrees by the eleva-
tion of the pole, which gives the latitudes with much greater accuracy.

2 Literally, the heat, cold, and temperature of the atmosphere.

3 Tartary. 4 Frajipc.

Kylander and Casaubon remark that Strabohere
use of the term antipodes ; the antipodes of Spain and India being" in

5 Xylander and Casaubon remark that Strabo here makes an improper
se of the term antipodes
the southern hemisphere.

14 STRABO. BOOK i.

force meet us on the very threshold of such subjects, and
compel us to the study of astronomy, and the observation of
such phenomena as each of us may notice ; in which too, very
considerable differences appear, according to the various
points of observation. How could any one undertake to
write accurately and with propriety on the differences of the
various parts of the earth, who was ignorant of these matters ?
and although, if the undertaking were of a popular charac-
ter, it might not be advisable to enter thoroughly into detail,
still we should endeavour to include every thing which could
be comprehended by the general reader.

15. He who has thus elevated his mind, will he be satisfied
with any thing less than the whole world ? If in his anxiety
accurately to portray the inhabited earth, he has dared to
survey heaven, and make use thereof for purposes of instruc-
tion, would it not seem childish were he to refrain from ex-
amining-the whole earth, of which the inhabited is but a part,
its size, its features, and its position in the universe ; whether
other portions are inhabited besides those on which we dwell,
and if so, their amount ? What is the extent of the regions
not peopled ? what their peculiarities, and the cause of their
remaining as they are ? Thus it appears that the knowledge
of geography is connected with meteorology ] and geometry,
that it unites the things of earth to the things of heaven, as
though they were nearly allied, and not separated.

" As far as heaven from earth."2

16. To the various subjects which it embraces let us add
natural history, or the history of the animals, plants, and
other~cftfferent productions oT the earth and~sea, whether ser-
viceable or useless, and my original statement will, I think,
carry perfect conviction with it.

That he who should undertake this work would be a bene-
factor to mankind, reason and the voice of antiquity agree.
The poets feign that they were the wisest heroes who tra-
velled and wandered most in foreign climes : and to be fami-
liar with many countries, and the disposition of the inhabitants,
is, according to them, of vast importance. Nestor prides him-

1 Meteorology, from juercwpoc, aloft, is the science which describes and
explains the various phenomena which occur in the region of the atmos-
phere.

2 Homer, Iliad viii. 16.

CHAP. i. § 16. INTRODUCTION.

self on having associated with the Lapithae,1 to whon
" having been invited thither from the Apian2 land
So does Menelaus : —

<( Cyprus, Phoenicia, Sidon, and the shores

Of Egypt, roaming without hope I reach'd ;

In distant Ethiopia thence arrived,

And Lib^'a, where the lambs their foreheads show

With budding horns defended soon as yean'd."3

Adding as a peculiarity of the country,

" There thrice within the year the flocks produce."* Y

And of Egypt : — " Where the sustaining earth is most pro-
lific."5 And Thebes,

" the city with an hundred gates,
Whence twenjjMLhousand chariots rush to war."6

Such information greatly enlarges our sphere of knowledge,
by informing us of the nature of the country, its botanical and
zoological peculiarities. To these should be added its marine
history ; for we are in a certain sense amphibious, not exclu-
sively connected with the land, but with the sea as well.
Hercules, on account of his vast experience and observation,
was described as " skilled in mighty works."7

All that we have previously stated is confirmed both by the
testimony of antiquity and by reason. fOne consideration
however appears to bear in a peculiar manner on the case in
point ; viz. the importance of geography in a political view.
For the sea and the earth in which we dwell furnish theatres

1 A people of Thessaly, on the banks of the Peneus.

2 The former name of the Morea, and more ancient than Peloponnesus.
Iliad i. 270.

3 Having wandered to Cyprus, and Phoenice, and the Egyptians, I
came to the Ethiopians, and Sidonians, and Erembi, and Libya, where
the lambs immediately become horned. Odyssey iv. 83.

4 Odyssey iv. 86.
3 Homer says,

ry TrXtTcrra (p'spei ^ti'^wpoc dpovpa

•fcapjuaica. Odyssey iv. 229.

Which Cowper properly renders : —

" Egypt teems

With drugs of various powers. "

Strabo, by omitting the word (pap^aica from his citation, alters to a
certain degree the meaning of the sentence.

6 Iliad ix. 383, et seq. 7 Odyssey xxi. 26.

16 STRABO.

BOOK. I

for action ; limited, for limited actions ; vast, for grander
deeds ; but that which contains them all, and is the scene of
the greatest undertakings, constitutes what we term the habit-
able earth ; and they are the greatest generals who, subduing
nations and kingdoms under one sceptre, and one political
administration, have acquired dominion over land and sea. It is
clear then, that geography is essential to all the transactions of
the statesman, informing us, as it does, of the position of the
continents, seas, and oceans of the whole habitable earth. In-
formation of especial interest to those who are concerned to
know the exact truth of such particulars, and whether the places
have been explored or not : for government will certainly be bet-
ter administered where the size and position of the country, its
own peculiarities, and those of the surrounding districts, are
understood. Forasmuch as there are many sovereigns who rule
in different regions, and some stretch their dominion overofrhers'
territories, and undertake the government of different nations
and kingdoms, and thus enlarge the extent of their dominion,
it is not possible that either themselves, nor yet writers on
geography, should be equally acquainted with the whole, but
to both there is a great deal more or less known. Indeed,
were the whole earth under one government and one adminis-
tration, it is hardly possible that we should be informed of
every locality in an equal degree; for even then we should be
most acquainted with the places nearest us : and after all, it
is better that we should have a more perfect description of
these, since, on account of their proximity, there is greater
need for it. We see there is no reason to be surprised that
there should be one chorographer l for the Indians, another for
the Ethiopians, and a third for the Greeks and Romans.
What use would it be to the Indians if a geographer should
thus describe Boeotia to them, in the words of Homer : —

" The dwellers on the rocks
Of Aulis follow'd, with the hardy clans
Of Hyria, Schcenus, Scolus."2

To us this is of value, while to be acquainted with the Indies

1 Chorography, a term used by Greek writers, meaning the description
of particular districts.

2 Iliad ii. 496. Four cities of Boeotia. The present name of Aulis is
Vathi, situated on the Strait of Negropont The modern names of the
other three cities are unknown.

CHAP. i. § 17. INTRODUCTION.

and their various territorial divisions would be use
could lead to no advantage, which is the only criter
worth of such knowledge.

17. Even if we descend to the consideration of such trivial
matters as hunting, the case is still the same ; for he will be
most successful in the chase who is acquainted with the size
and nature of the wood, and one familiar with the locality
will be the most competent to superintend an encampment,
an ambush, or a march. But it is in great undertakings that
the truth shines out in all its brilliancy, for here, while the
success resulting from knowledge is grand, the consequences
of ignorance are disastrous. The fleet of Agamemnon, for in-
stance, ravaging Mysia, as if it had been the Trojan territory,
was compelled to a shameful retreat. Likewise the Persians
and Libyans,1 supposing certain straits to be impassable, were
very near falling into great perils, and have left behind them
memorials of their ignorance; the former a monument to
Salganeus on the Euripus, near Chalcis, whom the Persians
slew, for, as they thought, falsely conducting their fleet from the
Gulf of Malea2 to the Euripus ; and the latter to the memory
of Pelorus, who was executed on a like occasion. At the time
of the expedition of Xerxes, the coasts of Greece were covered
with wrecks, and the emigrations from JEolia and Ionia furn-
ish numerous instances of the same calamity. On the other
hand, matters have come to a prosperous termination, when
judiciously directed by a knowledge of the locality. Thus it
was at the pass of Thermopylae that Ephialtes is reported to
have pointed out to the Persians a pathway over the moun-
tains, and so placed the band of Leonidas at their mercy, and
opened to the Barbarians a passage into Pylae. But passing
over ancient occurrences, we think that the late expeditions

1 By Libyans are here intended Carthaginians. The events alluded to Y
by Strabo may be found in Pomponius Mela and Valerius Maximus, whose
accounts however do not entirely accord. That of Valerius Maximus, who

is followed by Servius, tells us that Hannibal, on his return to Africa,
observed his pilot Pelorus was taking the sEips by the coast of Italy, and
suspecting him therefore of treachery, caused him to be executed. He
did not know at the time the intention of Pelorus to take him through
the Strait of Messina, but afterwards, when aware of the excellence of the
passage, caused a monument It) be raised to the memory of the unfor-
tunate pilot. Strabo, in his ninth book, gives us the history of Salganeus,
and the monument erected to him on the shores of Negropont.

2 The Gulf of Zeitun.

VOL. I. C

18 STRABO.

BOOK I.

of the Romans against the Parthians furnish an excellent ex-
ample, where, as in those against the Germans and Kelte, the
Barbarians, taking advantage of their situation, [carriecTon the
war] in marsjies, woods, and pathless deserts, deceiving the
ignorant enemy as to the position of different places, and con-
cealing the roads, and the means of obtaining food and
necessaries.

18. As we have said, this science has an especial reference
to the occupations and requirements of statesmen, with whom
also political and ethical philosophy is mainly concerned ; and
here is an evidence. We distinguish the different kinds of
civil government by the office of their chief men, denominat-
ing one government a monarchy, or kingdom, another an
aristocracy, a third a democracy ; for so many we consider
are the forms of government, and we designate them by
these names, because from them they derive their primary
characteristic. For the laws which emanate from the sove-
reign, from the aristocracy, and from the people all are differ-
ent. The law is in fact a type of the form of government.
It is on this account that some define right to be the in-
terest of the strongest. If, therefore, political philosophy
is advantageous to the ruler, and geography in the actual
government of the country, this latter seems to possess some
little superiority. This superiority is most observable in
real service.

19. But even the theoretical portion of geography is by no
means contemptible. On the one hand, it embraces the arts^
mathematics, and natural, science ; on the other, history and
fa^le. Not that this latter can have any distinct advantage :
for instance, if any one should relate to us the wanderings of
Ulysses, Menelaus, and Jason, he would not seem to have
added directly to our fund of practical knowledge thereby,
(which is the only thing men of the world are interested in,)
unless he should convey useful examples of what those wan-
derers were compelled to suffer, and at the same time afford
matter of rational amusement to those who interest themselves
in the places which gave birth to such fables. Practical men
interest themselves in these pursuits, since they are at once
commendable, and afford them pleasure ; but yet not to any
great extent. In this class, too, will be found those whose
main object in life is pleasure and respectability : but these

CHAP. i. § 20. INTRODUCTION.

by no means constitute the majority of mankind, wl
ally prefer that which holds out some direct advantage. The
geographer should therefore chiefly devote himself to what is
practically important. He should follow the same rule in
regard to history and the mathematics, selecting always
that which is most useful, most intelligible, and most au-
thentic.

20. Geometry and astronomy, as we before remarked, seem
absolutely indispensable in this science. This, in fact, is evi-
dent, that without some such assistance, it would be impossi-
ble to be accurately acquainted with the configuration of the
earth ; its climat a, l dimensions, and the like information.

As the size of the earth has been demonstrated by other
writers, we shall here take for granted and receive as accurate
what they have advanced. We shall also assume that the
earth is spheroidal, that its surface is likewise""spheroidal, and
above all, that bodies have a tendency towards its centre,
which latter point is clear to the perception of the most aver-
age understanding. However we may show summarily that
the earth is spheroidal, from the consideration that all things
however distant tend to its centre, and that every body is at-
tracted towards its^ centre
pToved from observations
evidence of the senses, and common observation, is alone re-
quisite. The convexity of the sea is a further proof of this
to those who have sailed ; for tliey cannot perceive lights at a
distance when placed at the same_level as tKeTr J^yes, but if
raised on^high, they at once become perceptible to vision,
tKough at the same time further removed. So, when the eye
is raised, it sees what before was utterly imperceptible.
Homer speaks of this when he says,

Lifted up on the vast wave he quickly beheld afar.2

Sailors, as they approach their destination, behold the shore
continually raising itself to their view ; and objects which
had at first seemed low, begin to elevate themselves. Our
gnomons, also, are, among other things, evidence of the revolu-
tiorfof the heavenly bodies ; and common seTTse at once shows us,

1 Vide preceding note on this word, p. 13, n. 1.

2 Odyssey v. 393.

c 2

5 centre, and that every body is at-
of Jjravity ; this is more distinctly
of the sea and sky, for here the

STRABO. BOOK i.

that if the depth of the earth were infinite,1 such a revolution

^_

'Every information respecting the climata2 is contained in
the " Treatises on Positions." 3

21. Now there are some facts which we take to be estab-
lished, viz. those with which every politician and general
should be familiar. For on no account should they be so
uninformed as to the heavens and the position of the earth,4
that when they are in strange countries, where some of the
heavenly phenomena wear a different aspect to what they
have been accustomed, they should be in a consternation, and
exclaim,

" Neither west

Know we, nor east, where rises or where sets
The all-enlightening sun." 5

Still, we do -not expect that they should be such thorough
masters of the subject as to know what stars rise and set
together for the different quarters of the earth ; those which
have the same meridian line, the elevation of the poles, the
signs which are in the zenith, with all the various phenomena
which differ as well in appearance as reality with the varia-
tions of the horizon and arctic circle. With some of these
matters, unless as philosophical pursuits, they should not bur-
den themselves at all ; others they must take for granted with-
out searching into their causes. This must be left to the care
of the philosopher ; the statesman can have no leisure, or very
little, for such pursuits. Those who, through carelessness and
ignorance, are not familiar with the glo^e and the circles
traced uponjt, some parallel to each other, some at right
angles to the former, others, again, in an oblique direction ;
nor yet with the position of the trogics, equator, and zodiac,
(that circle through which the sun travels in his course, and
by which we reckon the changes of season and the winds,)
such persons we caution against the perusal of our work. For

1 Allusion is here made to the theory of Xenophanes of Colophon and
Anaximenes his disciple, who imagined the earth bore the form of a vast
mountain, inhabited at the summit, but whose roots stretched into in-
finity. The Siamese at the present day hold a similar idea.

2 See note l, p. 13. 3 Iltpi ru>v OIK^CTEWV.

4 Meaning, the different appearances of the heavenly bodies at various
parts of the earth.

5 Odyssey x. 190.

CHAP. i. § 22, 23. INTRODUCTION.

if a man is neither properly acquainted with ti
nor with the variations of the horizon and arctic
such similar elements of mathematics, how ca>
prehend the matters treated of here ? So for one wno does
not know a right line from a curve, nor yet a circle, nor a
plane or spherical surface, nor the seven stars in the firm-
ament composing the Great Bear, and such like, our work is
entirely useless, at least for the present. Unless he first ac-
quires such information, he is utterly incompetent to the study
of geography. * So those who have written the works en-
titled " On Ports," and " Voj^ges Roufld the V^orld," have
performed their task imperfectly, since they have omitted to
supply the requisite information from mathematics and as-
tronomy.* l

"22. The present undertaking is composed in a lucid style,
suitable alike to the statesman and the general reader, after
the fashion of nwHisiory.2 By a statesman we do not intend
an illiterate person, but one who has gone through the course
of a liberal and philosophical education. For a man who has
bestowed no attention on virtue or intelligence, nor what
constitutes them, must be incompetent either to blame or
praise, still less to decide what actions are worthy to be placed
on record.

23. Having already compiled o^ur Historical Memoirs, which,
as we conceive, are a valuable addition both to political and
moral philosophy, we have now determined to follow itjip with
the present work, which has been prepared on the same sy_s-^
tern as tn"e former, and for the same class of readers, but more
particularly for those who are in high stations of life. And
as our former production contains only the most striking
events in the lives of distinguished men, omitting trifling and
unimportant incidents ; so here it will be proper to dismiss
small and doubtful particulars, and merely call attention
to great and remarkable transactions, such in fact as are use-

1 This sentence has been restored to what was evidently its original
position. In the Greek text it appears immediately before section 23,
commencing, " Having already compiled," &c. The alteration is borne
out by the French and German translators.

2 Strabo here alludes to his 'Icrropiica 'IVo^vT/ftara, cited by Plutarch
(Lucullus, 28, Sulla. 26). This work, in forty-three books, began where
the HistOTfof Polypius ended, and was probably continued to the battle «*.
of Actium. Smith, Gr. and Rom. Biog.

2 STRABO. BOOK i.

ful, memorable, and entertaining. In the colossal works of
the sculptor we do not descend into a minute examination of
particulars, but look principally for perfection in the general
ensemble. This is the only method of criticism applicable to
the present work. Its proportions, so to speak, are colossal ; it
deals in the generalities and main outlines of things, except
now and then, when some minor detail can be selected, calcu-
lated to be serviceable to the seeker after knowledge, or the
man of business.

We now think we have demonstrated that our present un-
dertaking is one that requires great care, and is well worthy
of a philosopher.

CHAPTER II.

1. No one can [justly] blame us for having undertaken to
write on a subject already often treated of, unless it appears
that we have done nothing more than copy the works of former
writers. In our opinion, though they may have perfectly
treated some subjects, in others they have still left much to
be completed ; and we shall be justified in our performance,
if we can add to their information even in a trifling degree.
At the present moment the conquests of the Romans and Par-
thians have added much to our knowledge, which (as was well
observed by Eratosthenes) had been considerably increased by
the expedition of Alexander. This prince laid open to our
view the greater part of Asia, and the whole north of Europe
as far as the Danube. And the Romans [have discovered Cous]
the entire wesToF Eupope as far as the river Elbe, which di-
vides Germany, and the country beyond theTster to the river
Dniester. The country beyond this to the MaBOtis,1 and the
coasts extending along Colchis,2 was brought to light by Mithri-
dates, surnamed Eupator, and his generals. To the Parthians
we are indebted for a better acquaintance with Hyrcania,3 Bac-

1 The Sea of Azof. 2 Mingrelia ; east of the Euxine.

3 A large country of Asia to the south of the eastern part of the Cas-
pian Sea. It became much restricted during the Parthian rule, contain-

CHAP. ii. § 2. INTRODUCTION.

triana,1 and the land of the Scythians2 lying beyond
before we knew but little. Thus we can add much ii
not supplied by former writers, but this will best be seen wiien
we come to treat on the writers who have preceded us ; and
this method we shall pursue, not so much in regard to the
primitive geographers, as to Eratosthenes and those subsequent
to him. As these writers far surpassed the generality in the
amount of their knowledge, so naturally it is more difficult to
detect their errors when such occur. If I seem to contradict
those most whom I take chiefly for my guides, I must claim
indulgence on the plea, that it wras never intended to criticise
the whole body of geographers, the larger number of whom
are not worthy of consideration, but to give an opinion of
those only who are generally found correct. Still, while
many are beneath discussion, such men as Eratosthenes. Po-
sidonius, Hipparchus, Poly^bius, and others of their stamp,
deserve our hignjest consideration.

2. Let us first examine Eratosthenes, reviewing at the same
time what Hipparchus has advanced against him. Eratos-
thenes is much too creditable an historian for us to believe
what Polemon endeavours to charge against him, that he had
not even seen Athens. At the same time he does not merit
that unbounded confidence which some seem to repose in him,
although, as he himself tells us, he passed much of his time
with first-rate [characters]. Never, says he, at one period,
and in one city, were there so many philosophers flourishing
together as in my time. In their number was Ariston and
Arcesilaus. This, however, it seems is not sufficient, nbut you
musTalso be able to choose who are the real guides whom it is
your interest to follow. He considers Arcesilaus and Ariston
to be the coryphaei of the philosophers who flourished in his
time, and is ceaseless in his eulogies of Apelles and Bion,

ing only the north of Comis, east of Masanderan, the country near Corcan
or Jorjan, (Dshiordshian, ) and the west of the province of Khorassan.

1 A country of Asia, on the west bounded by Aria, south by the moun-
tains of Paropamisus, east by the Emodi montes, north by Sogdiana,
now belongs to the kingdom of Afhganistan. Bactriana was anciently
the centre of Asiatic commerce.

2 A general name given by the Greeks and Romans to a large portion
of Asia, and divided by them into Scythia intra et extra Imaum, that is,
on either side of Mount Imaus. This mountain is generally thought to
answer to the Himalaya mountains of Thibet.

24 STRABO.

BOOK I.

the latter of whom, says he, was the first to deck himself in
the flowers of philosophy, but concerning whom one is often
likewise tempted to exclaim, " How great is Bion in spite of
his rags ! " 1 It is in such instances as the following that the
mediocrity of his genius shows itself.

Although at Athens he became a disciple of Zeno2 of
Citium, he makes no mention of his followers ; while those
who opposed that philosopher, and of whose sect not a trace
remains, he thinks fit to set down amongst the [great charac-
ters] who flourished in his time. His real character appears
in his Treatise on Moral Philosophy,3 his Meditations, and
some similar productions. He seems to have held a middle
course between the man who devotes himself to philosophy,
and the man who cannot make up his mind to dedicate hjm-
self to it : and to have studied the science merely as a relief
from*liTs other pursuits, or as a pleasing and instructive recre-
ation. In his other writings he is just the same; but let
these things pass. We will now proceed as well as we can to
the task of rectifying his geography.

First, then, let us return to the point which we lately de-
ferred.

3. Eratosthenes says that the poet directs his whole atten-
tion to the amusement of the mind, and not at all to its in-
struction. In opposition to his idea, the anpients define poesy
a,s a primjtive philosophy, guiding our lijeTrom infancy, and
pleasantly regulating our morals, our tastes, and our actions.
*The [Stoj-es] oT'our day affirm that the only^ wise man is the
poet. On this account the earliest lessons which the citizens
oF Greece convey to their children are from the poets ; cer-

1 This seems to be a paraphrase of Homer's verse on Ulysses, Odyssey
xviii. 74.

O'irjv £K paiciwv 6 yepwv tTTiyovvida <f>aivei.

What thews
And what a haunch the senior's tatters hide.

Cowper.

2 Zeno, of Citium, a city in the island of Cyprus, founded by Phoenician
settlers, was the son of Mnaseas.

3 Hepi rutv 'AyaOaiv, is the title given by Strabo, but we find from
Harpocrates and Clemens Alexandrinus, that properly it was Hepi 'Aya-

Kai KctKuiv, or " Conceniinj^Go/)d and EyjJJThmgs," which we have
rendered in the text " Morarphiloiophy."

CHAP. ii. § 3. INTRODUCTION.

tainly not alone for the purpose of amusing their mine
for their instruction. Nay, even the professors of music, who
give lessons on the harp, lyre, and pipe, lay claim to our con-
sideration on the same account, since they say that [the ac-
complishments which they teach] are calculated to form and
improve the character. It is not only among the Pythagoreans
that one hears this claim supported, for Aristoxenus is of that
opinion, and Homer too regarded the bards as amongst the
wjgest of mankind.

Of this number was the guardian of Clytemnestra, " to
whom the s_on of Atreus, when he set out forTroy, gave
earnest charge to preserve his ,wife," 1 whom ^Egisthus was
unabje to seduce, until " leading the bard to a desert island,
heleft him,"2 and then

" The queen he led, not willing less than he,
To his own mansion."3

But apart from all such considerations, Eratosthenes con-
tradicts himself; for a little previously to the sentence which
we have quoted, at the commencement of his Essay on Geo-
graphy, he says, that " all the ancient poets took delight in
showing their knowledge of such matters. Homer inserted
into his poetry all that he knew about the Ethiopians, Egypt,
and Libya. Of all that related to Greece and the neighbour-
ing places he entered even too minutely into the details, de-
scribing Thisbe as " abounding in doves," Haliartus, " grassy,"
Anthedon, the " far distant," Litaea, " situated on the sources
of the Cephissus,"4 and none of his epithets are without their
meaning." But in pursuing this method, what object has he
in view, to amuse [merely], or to instruct ? The latter, doubt-
less. Well, perhaps he has told the truth in these instances,
but in what was beyond his observation both he and the other
writers have indulged in all the marvels of fable. If such be
the case the statement should have been, that the poets relate
some things for mere amusement, others for instruction ; but
he affirms that they do it altogether for amusement, without
any view to information ; and by way of climax, inquires,
What can it add to Homer's worth to be familiar with many

1 Odyssey iii. 267. 2 Ib. iii. 270. 3 Ib. iii. 272.

4 Thisbe, Haliartus, Anthedon, cities of Boeotia; Litaea, a city of Phocis.
The Cephissus, a large river, rising in the west of Phocis.

26 STRABO.

BOOK I.

lands, and skilled in strategy, agriculture, rhetoric, and simi-
lar information, which some persons seem desirous to make
him possessed of. To seek to invest him with all this know-
ledge is most likely the effect of too great a zeal for his honour.
Hipparchus observes, that to assert he was acquainted with
every art and science, is like saying that an Attic eiresion& l
bears pears and apples.

As far as this goes, Eratosthenes, you are right enough ;
not so, however, when you not only deny that Homer was
possessed of these vast acquirements, but represent poetry in
general as a tissue of old wives' fables, where, to use your
own expression, every thing thought likely to amuse is
cooked up. I ask, is it of no value to the auditors2 of the
poets to be made acquainted with [the history of] different
countries, with strategy, agriculture, and rhetoric, and such-
like things, which the lecture generally contains.

4. One thing is certain, that the poet has bestowed all these
gifts upon Ulysses, whom beyond any of his other [heroes]
he loves to adorn with every virtue. He says of him, that he

" Discover'd various cities, and the mind
And manners learn'd of men in lands remote."3

That he was

" Of a piercing^wit and deeply wise."*

He is continually described as " the destroyer of cities," and
as having vanquished Troy, by his counsels, his advice, and
his deceptive art. Diomede says of him,

" Let him attend me, and through fire itself
We shall return ; for none is wise as he." 5

He prides himself on his skill in husbandry, for at the har-
vest [he says],

1 A harvest-wreath of laurel or olive wound round with wool, and
adorned with fruits, borne about by singing-boys at the Hvavt-fyia and
6apy?7\ia, while offerings were made to Helios and the Hours : it was
afterwards hung up at the house-door. The song was likewise called
eiresione, which became the general name for all begging-songs.

2 Auditors,] a.Kpow/igj/oig. In Greece there was a class of lectures
where the only duty of the professors was to explain the works of the
poets, and point out the beauties which they contained. The students
who attended these lectures were styled a*cpoarae, or auditors, and the
method of instruction a*:p6a<7ic.

3 Odyssey i 3. * Iliad iii. 202. s Ib. x. 246.

CHAP, n, § 5, 6. INTRODUCTION.

" I with my well-bent sickle in my hand,
Thou arm'd with, one as keen." l

And also in tillage,

" Then shonldst thou see
How straight my furrow should be cut and true." 2

And Homer was not singular in his opinion regarding
these matters, for all educated people appeal to him in favour
of the idea that such practical knowledge is one of the chief
means of acquiring understanding.

5. That eloquence is regarded as the wisdom of sgeech,
Ulysses manifests throughout the whole poem, both in the
Trial,3 the Petitions,4 and the Embassy.5 Of him it is said by
Antenor,

" But when he spake, forth from his breast did flow
A torrent swift as winter's feather'd snow." 6

Who can suppose that a poet capable of effectively intro-
ducing into his scenes rhetonCfens, generals, and various other
characters, each displacing some peculiar excellence, was na-
thing more than a dipll or juggler, "capable only of cheating
or flattering his hearer, and notjof instructing hjm.

Are we not all agreed that the chiej^merit of a poej; con ^

sists in his accurate representation of the antics of litp ? Can
this be done by a mere driveller, unacquainted with the world ?
The excellence of a goej is not to be measured by the sajoe
standard asTEat of a mecjianic or a blacksmith, where hojiour
and~"vTrtue have nothing to do with our_estimate. But the
poet and the individual are connected, and he only can be-
come a good_j)oet, who is in the firsj^ instance a worthy man.
^6. To denytKat our poet possesses the graces of oratory is
using us hardly indeed. What is so befitting an orator, what
so poetical as eloquence, and who so sweetly eloquent as Ho-
mer ? But, by heaven ! you'll say, there are other styles of
eloquence than those peculiar to poetry. Of course [I admit
this] ; in poetry itself there is the tragic and the comic style ;
in prose, the historic and the forensic. But is not language

1 Odyssey xviii. 367. 2 Ib. xviii. 374.

3 The second book of the Iliad. 4 The ninth book of the Iliad.

5 The deputation of Menelaus and Ulysses to demand back Helen,
alluded to by Antenor, in the third book of the Iliad.

6 But when he did send forth the mighty voice from his breast, and
words like unto wintry flakes of snow, no longer then would another
mortal contend with Ulysses. Iliad iii. 221.

28 STRABO.

BOOK I.

a generality, of which poetry and prose are forms ? Yes, lan-
guage is; but are not the rhetorical, the eloquent, and the
florid styles also ? I answer, that flowery prose is nothing but
an imitation of poetry. Ornatepoetry was the first to make
its appearance, and was well received. Afterwards it ^vas
closely imitated by writers in the time of Cadmus, Phere-
cydes, and Hecatseus. The mejre was the only thing Dis-
pensed with, every other poetic grace being carefully preserved.
As time" advanced, one after another of its b^ajaties was
discarded, till at last it camejiawn from its glory into our
commoi^prose. In the same way we may say that conaedy
took its rise from tragedy, but descended from its loft}? gran-
deur into what we now call the common parlance of claily ^e-
And when [we find] the ancient writers making use of the
expression " to sing," to designate eloquence of style, this
in itself is an "eTtctence that poetry is the source and ojigin
of all ornamented and rhetorical language. Poetry in an-
cient days was on every occasion accompanied by melody.
The song or ode was but^a modulated speecji,irom wheffceme
words rhapsody, tragedy, comecfy,1 are derived ; and since
originally eloquence was the term made use of for the poetical
effusions which were always of the nature of a song, it soon
happened [that in speaking of poetry] some said, to sing, others,
to be eloquent ; and as the one term was early misapplied to
prose compositions, the other also was soon applied in the
same way. Lastly, the very term ppose, which is applied to
language not clothed in metre, seems to indicate, as it were,
its descent from an elevation or chariot to the ground.2

7. Homer accurately describes many distant countries, and
not only Greece and the neighbouring places, as Eratosthenes
asserts. His romance, too, is in better style than that of his suc-
cessors. He does not make up wondrous tales on every occasion,

1 So much of the meaning of this sentence depends upon the orthogra-
phy, that its force is not fully perceptible in English ; the Greek is as
follows: TOVTO 8' f)v r} ySrj Aoyoc ^iijjii\i(r}ikvoQ ' at])' ov dij pa^^Siav r'
tXeyov teal TpayySiav Kai KWfKpdiav.

2 This last sentence can convey little or no meaning to the English
reader ; its whole force in the original depending on verbal association.
Its general scope however will be evident, when it is stated that in
Greek, the same word, 7rt£dc, which means a " foot-soldier," signifies also
" arose composition." Hence Strabo's allusion to the chariot. The
Latins borrowed the expression, and used sermo pedestris in the same
sense.

CHAP. ii. § 8. INTRODUCTION.

but to instruct us the better often, and especially in the
sey, adds to the circumstances which have come under his
actual observation, allegories, wise harangues, and enticing
narrations. Concerning which, Eratosthenes is much mis-
taken when he says that both Homer and his commentators
are a pack of fools. But this subject demands a little more of
our attention.

8. To begin. The poets were by no means the first to
avail themselves of myths. States and lawgivers had taken
advantage of them long before, having observed the consti-
tutional bias of mankind. Man is eager after knowledge, and
the love of legend is but tEeTprelude thereto. This is why
childfeh begm fo~ listen [to fables], and are acquainted with
them before any other kind of knowledge ; the cause of this is
that the myth introduces them to a new train of ideas, relating
not to every-day occurrences, but something in addition to
these.

A charm hangs round whatever is new and hitherto un-
kQOwn,~inspiring us with a desire to become acquainted with
it, but when the wonderful and the marvellous are likewise
present, our delight is increased until at last it becomes a
philtre of study. To children we are obliged to hold out such
enticements, in order that in riper years, when the mind is
powerful, and no longer needs such stimulants, it may be
prepared to enter on the study of actuaLcejalities.

Every illiteFate and uninstructed man is yet a child, and
takes delight in fable. With the partially informed it is much
the same ; reason is not all-powerful wifhiEThim, and he still
possesses the tastes of a child. But the marvellous, which
is capable of excitingjjear as well as pleasure, influences not
childhood only, but age as well. As we relate to children
pleasing tales to incite them [to any course] of action, and
frightful ones to deter them, such as those of Lamia,1
Ephialtes,3 and Mormolyca.4 So numbers of our citize*ns

1 A female phantom said to devour children, used by nurses as a bug-
bear to intimidate their refractory^ charges.

2 In later times there were thrgfi-Horgons, Stheino, Euryale, and Me-
dusa, but Homer seems to have known but one.

3 One of the giants, who in the waragainst the_g_ods was deprived of
his left eye by Apollo, and of the righfby Hercules.

4 The same^hantom as Mormo, with which the Greeks used to frighten
little children.

xorgo,*

Jns are \

V

30 STRABO. BOOK i.

incited to deeds of virtue by the beauties of fable, when they
hear the poets in a strain of enthusiasm recording noble ac-
tions, such as the labours of Hercules or Theseus, and the
honours bestowed on them by tfie gods, or even when they
see paintings, sculptures, or figures bearing their romantic
evidence to sucli""events. In the same way they are re-
strained from vicious courses, when they think they have
received from the gods by oracles or some other invisible in-
timations, threats, menaces, or chastisements, or even if they^
only believe they have befallen others. The great mass of
women and common people, cannot be induced by mere force
of reason to devote themselves to EJetypvIrtue, ancf lionesty ;
superstition must_ therefore be_employed, and even this is in-
sufficient without the aid of the marvellous and the terrible.
For what are the thunderbolts, the asgis, the trident, the
torches, the dragons, the barbed thyrses, the arms oTtne gods,
and all the paraphernalia of antique tlieology, but fables em-
ployed by the founders of states, as bugbears to frighten
timorous minds.

Such was mythology ; and when our ancestors found it ca-
pable oi subserving the purposes of social and political life,
and even contributing to the knowledge of truth, they conti-
nued the education of childhood to rnaturer years, and main-
tained that poetry was sufficient to form the understanding of
every age. In course of time history and our present philo-
sophy were introduced; these, however, suffice but for the
chosen few,, and to the present day poetry is the main agent
which instructs our people and crowds our theatres. Homer
here stands pre-eminent, but in truth all the early historians
and natural philosophers were mythologists as well.

9. Thus it is that our_poet, though he sometimes employs
fiction for the purposes of instruction, always gives the pre-
ferejQce to truth ; he makes use of what is false, merely toler-
ating it in order the more easily to lead and govern the mul-
titude. As a man

"Binds •with a golden verge
Bright silver: "l

so Hgmer, heightening by fiction actual occurrences, adorns
and embellishes his subject ; but his end is always the same
as that of the historian, who relates nothing but facts. In
1 Odyssey vfm

CHAP. ii. §10- INTRODUCTION. 31

this manner he undertook the narration of the Trojan war,
gilding it with the beauties of fancy and the wanderings of
Ulysses ; but we shall never find Homer inventing an empty
fable apart from the inculcation of truth. It is ever the case
that a person lies most successfully, when he intermingles
[into the falsehood] a sprinkling of truth. Such is the re-
mark of Polybius in treating of the wanderings of Ulysses ;
such is alsoTlTe' meaning of the verse,

" He fabricated many falsehoods, relating them like truths :" l

not all, but many falsehoods, otherwise it would not have
looked like the truth. Homer's narrative is founded on history.
He tells us that king ^olus governed the Lipari Islands, that
around Mount JEtna and Leontini dwelt the Cyclopae, and cer-
tain Loestrygonians inhospitable to strangers. That at that
time the districts surrounding the strait were unapproachable ;
and Scylla and Charybdis were infested by banditti. In like
manner in the writings of Homer we are informed of other
freebooters, who dwelt in divers regions. Being aware that
the Cimmerians dwelt on the Cimmerian Bosphorus, a dark
northern country, he felicitously locates them in a gloomy re-
gion close by Hades, a fit theatre for the scene in the wander-
ings of Ulysses. That he was acquainted with these people
we may satisfy ourselves from the chroniclers, who report an
incursion made by the Cimmerians either during his life-time
or just before.

10. Being acquainted with Colchis, and the voyage of Ja-
scp to JEa, and also with the historical and fabulous relations
concerning Circe and Medea, their enchantments and their
various other points ofe*re1Temblance, he feigns there was a
relationship between them, notwithstanding the vast distance
by which they were separated, the one dwelling in an inland
creek of the Euxine, and the other in Italy, and both of them
beyond the ocean.

It is possible that Jason -himself wandered as far as Italy,
for traces of the Argonautic expedition are pointed out
near the Ceraunian2 mountains, by the Adriatic,3 at the Pos-
sidonian4 Gulf, and the isles adjacent to Tyrrhenia.5 The

1 Odyssey xix. 203.

2 The mountains of Chimera in Albania. 3 The Gulf of Venice.
4 The Gulf of Salerno. 5 The Grecian name for Tuscany.

32 STRABO.

BOOK I.

Cyaneae, called by some the Symplegades,1 or Jostling Rocks,
which render the passage through the Strait of Constanti-
nople so difficult, also afforded matter to our poet. The
actual existence of a place named -5Sa, stamped credibility
upon his -ZEsea ; so did the Symplegades upon the Planctae,
(the Jostling Rocks upon the Wandering Rocks,) aid the
passage of Jason through the midst of them ; in the same
way Scylla and Charybdis accredited the passage [of Ulysses]
past those rocks. In his time people absolutely regarded the
Euxine as a kind of second ocean, and placed those who had
crossed it in the same list with navigators who had passed the
Pillars.2 It was looked upon as the largest of our seas,
and was therefore par excellence styled the Sea, in the
same way as Homer [is called] the Poet. In order there-
fore to be well received, it is probable he transferred the scenes
from the Euxine to the ocean, so as not to stagger the general
belief. And in my opinion those Solymi who possess the
highest ridges of Taurus, lying between Lycia and Pisidia,
and those who in their southern heights stand out most con-
spicuously to the dwellers on this side Taurus, and the inha-
bitants of the Euxine by a figure of speech, he describes as
being beyond the ocean. For narrating the voyage of Ulysses
in his ship, he says,

" But Neptune, traversing in his return
From Ethiopia's sons, the mountain heights
Of Solymfe, descried him from afar." 3

It is probable he took his account of the one-eyed Cyclopae
from Scythian history, for the Arimaspi, whom Aristseus
of Proconnesus describes in his Tales of the Arimaspi, are
said to be distinguished by this peculiarity.

1 1 . Having premised thus much, we must now take into
consideration the reasons of those who assert that Homer

1 Several small islands, or rather reefs, at the entrance of the Strait of
Constantinople. They took their name of Symplegades from the varying
positions they assumed to the eyes of the voyager, owing to the sinuosities
of the Strait.

2 Unfortunately for Strabo's illustration, no Grecian navigator had ever
passed the Strait of Gibraltar in Homer's time.

3 The powerful Shaker of the Earth, as he was returning from the
Ethiopians, beheld him from a distance, from the mountains of the So-
lymi. Odyssey v. 282.

CHAP. ii. § 12. INTRODUCTION. 33

makes Ulysses wander to Sicily or Italy, and also of those who
denied this. The truth is, he may be equally interpreted on
this subject either way, according as we take a correct or in-
correct view of the case. Correct, if we understand that he
was convinced of the reality of Ulysses' wanderings there,
and taking this truth as a foundation, raised thereon a poet-
ical superstructure. And so far this description of him is
right ; for not about Italy only, but to the farthest extremities
of Spain, traces of his wanderings and those of similar adven-
turers may still be found. Incorrect, if the scene-painting is
received as fact, his Ocean, and Hades, the oxen of the sun,
his hospitable reception by the goddesses, the metamorphoses,
the gigantic size of the Cyclopa? and Lasstrygonians, the mon-
strous appearance of Scylla, the distance of the voyage, and
other similar particulars, all alike manifestly fabulous. It is
as idle to waste words with a person who thus openly maligns
our poet, as it would be with one who should assert as true
all the particulars of Ulysses' return to Ithaca,1 the slaughter
of the suitors, and the pitched battle between him and the
Ithacans in the field. But nothing can be said against the
man who understands the words of the poet in a rational way.
12. Eratosthenes, though on no sufficient grounds for so
doing, rejects both these opinions, endeavouring in his attack
on the latter, to refute by lengthened arguments what is mani-
festly absurd and unworthy of consideration, and in regard to
the former, maintaining a poet to be a mere gossip, to whose
worth an acquaintance with science or geography could not
add in the least degree : since the scenes of certain of Homer's
fables are cast in actual localities, as Ilium,2 Pelion,3 and Ida;4
others in purely imaginary regions, such as those of the Gor-
gons and Geryon. " Of this latter class," he says, " are the
places mentioned in the wanderings of Ulysses, and those who
pretend that they are not mere fabrications of the poet, but

1 There is some doubt as to the modern name of the island of Ithaca.
D'Anville supposes it to be the island of Thiaki, between the island of
Cephalonia and Acarnania, while Wheeler and others, who object to this
island as being too large to answer the description of Ithaca given by
Strabo, identify it with the little isle of Ithaco, between Thiaki and the
main-land.

2 A name of the city of Troy, from Ilus, son of Tros.

3 A mountain of Magnesia in Thessaly.

4 A mountain in the Troad.

VOL. I. D

34 STRABO. BOOK i.

have an actual existence, are proved to be mistaken by the
differences of opinion existing among themselves : for some of
them assert that the Sirenes of Homer are situated close to
Pelorus,1 and others that they are more than two thousand
stadia distant,2 near the Sirenussss,3 a three-peaked rock
which separates the Gulfs of Cumasa and Posidonium."
Now, in the first place, this rock is not three-peaked, nor
does it form a crest at the summit at all, but a long and nar-
row angle reaching from the territory of Surrentum4 to the
Strait of Capria,5 having on one side of the mountain the
temple of the Sirens, and on the other side, next the Gulf
of Posidonius, three little rocky and uninhabited islands,
named the Sirenes; upon the strait, is situated the Athe-
naeum, from which the rocky angle itself takes its name.

13. Further, if those who describe the geography of certain
places do not agree in every particular, are we justified in at
once rejecting their whole narration ? Frequently this is a
reason why it should receive the greater credit. For exam-
ple, in the investigation whether the scene of Ulysses' wan-
derings were Sicily or Italy, and the proper position of the
Sirenes, they differ in so far that one places them at Pelorus,
and the other at Sirenussas, but neither of them dissents from
the idea that it was some where near Sicily or Italy. They
add thereby strength to this view, inasmuch as though they
are not agreed as to the exact locality, neither of them makes
any question but that it was some where contiguous to Italy or
Sicily. If a third party should add, that the monument of
Parthenope, who was one of the Sirens, is shown at Naples,
this only confirms us the more in our belief, for though a
third place is introduced to our notice, still as Naples is situ-
ated in the gulf called by Eratosthenes the Cumasan, and

1 Cape Faro in Sicily.

2 The stadia here mentioned are 700 to a degree; thus 2000 stadia
amount to rather more than 57 marine leagues, which is the distance in
a direct line from Cape Faro to the Capo della Minerva.

3 The Sirenussoe are the rocks which form the southern cape of the
Gulf of Naples, and at the same time separate it from the Gulf of Salerno.
This cape, which was also called the promontory of Minerva, from the
Athenaeum which stood there, preserves to this day the name of Capo
della Minerva.

4 Now Surrento.

5 The island of Capri is opposite to the Capo della Minerva.

CHAP. ii. $ 14, 15. INTRODUCTION.

which is formed by the Sirenussae, we are n

still that the position of the Sirenes was some w

That the poet did not search for accuracy it

detail we admit, but neither ought we to expect ,

at the same time we are not to believe that he composed his
poem without inquiring into the history of the Wandering,
nor where and how it occurred.

14. Eratosthenes "thinks it probable that Hesiod, having
heard of the wanderings of Ulysses, and of their having taken
place near to Sicily and Italy, embraced this view of the case,
and not only describes the places spoken of by Homer, but
also JEtna, the Isle of Ortygia,1 near to Syracuse, and Tyr-
rhenia. As for Homer, he was altogether unacquainted with
these places, and further, had no wish to lay the scene of the
wanderings in any well-known locality." What ! are then
jEtna and Tyrrhenia such well-known places, and Scyllaeum,
Charybdis, Circseum,2 and the Sirenussae, so obscure ? Or is
Hesiod so correct as never to write nonsense, but always fol-
low in the wake of received opinions, while Homer blurts out
whatever comes uppermost ? Without taking into consider-
ation our remarks on the character and aptitude of Homer's
myths, a large array of writers who bear evidence to his state-
ments, and the additional testimony of local tradition, are
sufficient proof that his are not the inventions of poets or con-
temporary scribblers, but the record of real actors and real
scenes.

15. The conjecture of Polybius in regard to the particulars
of the wandering of Ulysses is excellent. He says that jEplus
instructed sailors how to navigate the strait, a difficult matter
on account of the currents occasioned by the ebb and flow,
and was therefore called the dispenser of the winds, and re-
puted their king.

In like manner Danaus for pointing out the springs of
water that were in Argos, and Ajjreus for showjng the re-
trograde movement of the sun in tfi*e heavens, from being"
merer soothsayers and diviners, were raised to the dignity of
kings. And the priests of the Egyptians, the Chaldeajis, f
and Magi, distinguished for their wisdom above those around*
them, ootained from our predecessors honour and authority ;

1 Now the Island of St. Marcian. 2 Monte Circello, near to Terracina.

D 2

STRABO. BOOK i.

and so it is that in each of the gods, we worship the discoverer
of some useful art.

Having thus introduced his subject, he does not allow us to
consider the account of ^Eolus, nor yet the rest of the Odys-
sey, as altogether mythical. There is a spice of the fabulous
here, as well as in the Trojan War,1 but as respects Sicily,
the poet accords entirely with the other historians who
have written on the local traditions of Sicily and Italy. He
altogether denies the justness of Eratosthenes' dictum, "that
we may hope to discover the whereabout of Ulysses' wander-
ings, when we can find the cobbler who sewed up the winds
in the leathern sack." " And [adds Polybius] his description
of the hunt of the galeotes2 at Scylla,

' Plunged to her middle in the horrid den
She lurks, protruding from the black abyss
Her heads, with which the ravening monster dives
In quest of dolphins, dog-fish, or of prey
More bulky,'3

accords well with what takes place around Scyllaeum : for the
thunny-fish, carried in shoals by Italy, and not being able to
reach Sicily, fall into [the Strait], where they become the
prey of larger fish, such as dolphins, dog-fish, and other ceta-
cea, and it is by this means that the galeotes (which are also
called sword-fish) and dogs fatten themselves. For the same
thing occurs here, and at the rising of the Nile and other .
rivers, as takes place when a forest is on fire. Vast crowds
of animals, in flying from the fire or the water, become the
prey of beasts more powerful than themselves."

16. He then goes on to describe the manner in which they
catch the sword-fish at Scyllaeum. One look-out directs the
whole body of fishers, who are in a vast number of small
boats, each furnished with two oars, and two men to each
boat. One man rows, the other stands on the prow, spear in
hand, while the look-out has to signal the appearance of a
sword-fish. (Thisjish, when swimming, has about a tlu'rd of
its body above wjiter.) As it passes the boat, the fisjier. darts
the sgear from his hand, and when this is withdrawn, it leaves
the shargjxnnt with which it is furnished sticking in the flesh

1 The Iliad. 2 Sword-fish.

3 And fishes there, watching about the rock for dolphins and dogs, and
if she can any where take a larger whale. Odyssey xii. 95.

CHAP. ii. § 17. INTRODUCTION. 37

of the fish : this point is barbed, and loosely fixed to the spear
for the purpose ; it has a long'end fastened to it ; this they pay
out to the wounded fish, till it is exhausted with its struggling
and endeavours at escape. Afterwards they trail it to the
shore, or, unless it is too large and full-grown, haul it into
the boat. If the spear should fall into the sea, it is not lost,
for it is jointed of oak and pine, so that when the oak sinks
on account of its weight, it causes the other end to rise, and
thus is easily recovered. It sometimes happens that the rower
is wounded, even through the boat, and such is the size of the
sword with which the galeote is armed, such the strength of
the fish, and the method of the capture, that [in danger] it is
not surpassed by the chase of the wild boar. From these facts
(he says) we may conclude that Ulysses' wanderings were close
to Sicily, since Homer describes Scylla l as engaging in a pur-
suit exactly similar to that which is carried on at ScyllaBum.
As to Charybdis, he describes just what takes place at the
Strait of Messina :

" Each day she thrice disgorges," 2

instead of twice, being only a mistake, either of the scribe or
the historian.

17. The customs of the inhabitants of Meninx3 closely cor-
respond to the description of the Lotophagi. If any thing
does not correspond, it should be attributed to change, or to
misconception, or to poetical licence, which is made up of
history, rhetoric, and fiction. Truth is the aim of the histo-
rical portion, as for instance in the Catalogue of jShips,4 where
the poet informs us of the peculiarities of each place, that one
is rocky, another the furthest city, that this abounds in doves,
and that is maritime. A lively interest is the end of the
rhetorical, as when he points to us the combat ; and of the
fiction, pleasure and astonishment. A mere fabrication would
neither be persuasive nor Homeric ; and we know that his poem

1 There is a very fine medallion in the Bibliothfeque Nationale de
France, portraying Scylla as half woman, half dolphin, with a trident
in her left hand, and seizing a fish with her right. From her middle pro-
trude two half-bodied dogs, who assist the monster in swimming.

2 Odyssey xii. 105.

3 At this place there was an altar consecrated to Ulysses. Meninx is
now known as the island of Zerbi, on the side of the Bay of Cabus, on
the coast of Africa.

4 The second book of the Iliad.

STRABO. BOOK i.

is generally considered a scientific treatise, notwithstanding
what Eratosthenes may say, when he bids us not to judge poems
by the standard of intellect, nor yet look to them for history.
It is most probable that the line

" Nine days by cruel storms thence was I borne
Athwart the fishy deep," 1

should be understood of merely a short distance, (for cruel
storms do not blow in a right, course,) and not of being carried
beyond the ocean, as if impelled by favourable winds. " And,"
says Polybius, "allowing the distance from Malea2 to the
Pillars to be 22,500 stadia, and supposing the rate of
passage was the same throughout the nine days, the voyage
must have been accomplished at the speed of 2500 stadia per
diem : now who has ever recorded that the passage from Lycia
or Rhodes to Alexandria, a distance of 4000 stadia, has been
made in two days ? To those who demand how it was that
Ulysses, though he journeyed thrice to Sicily, never once na-
vigated the Strait, we reply that, long after his time, voyagers
always sedulously avoided that route."

18. Such are the sentiments of Polybius; and in many
respects they are correct enough ; but when he discusses the
voyage beyond the ocean, and enters on minute calculations
of the proportion borne by the distance to the number of days,
he is greatly mistaken. He alleges perpetually the words of
the poet,

"Nine days by cruel storms thence was I borne ;"

but at the same time he takes no notice of this expression,
which is his as well,

" And now borne sea-ward from the river stream
Of the Ocean us;"3

and this,

" In the island of Ogygia, the centre of the sea,"4

1 And from thence I was carried for nine days over the fishy sea by
baleful winds. Odyssey ix. 82.

2 Cape Maleo off the Morea. The distance from this point to Gibraltar
is now estimated at 28° 34'. The 22,500 stadia of Polybius would equal
32o 8' 34". He was therefore out in his calculation by 3° 34' 34".

3 But when the ship left the stream of the river ocean. Odyss. xii. 1.

4 Vide Odyssey i. 50.

CHAP. ii. § 19. INTRODUCTION. 39

and that the daughter of Atlas1 dwells there. And the follow-
ing concerning the PliaeaciafTs.

" Remote amid the billowy deep, we hold
Our dwelling, utmost of all human kind,
And free from mixture with a foreign race." 2

These passages clearly refer to the Atlantic Ocean,3 but
though so plainly expressed, Polybius slily manages to overlook
them. iHere he is altogether wrong, though quite correct
about tne wandering of Ulysses having taken place round
Sicily and Italy, a fact which Homer establishes himself.
Otherwise, what poet or writer could have persuaded the
Neapolitans to assert that they possessed the tomb of Parthe-
nope4 the Siren, or the inhabitants of Cuma3, DicaBarchia,5
and Vesuvius [to bear their testimony] to Pyriphlegethoii, the
Marsh of Acherusia,6 to the oracle of the dead which was near
Aornus,7 and to Baius and Misenus,8 the companions of Ulys-
ses. The same is the case with the Sirenussae, and the Strait
of Messina, and Scylla, and Charybdis, and JEolus, all which
things should neither be examined into too rigorously, nor
yet [despised] as groundless and without foundation, alike re-
mote from truth ancl historic value.

19. Eratosthenes seems to have had something like this
view of the case himself, when he says, " Any one would be-
lieve that the poet intended the western regions as the scene
of Ulysses' wanderings, but that he has departed from fact,
sometimes through want of perfect information, at other times
because he wished to give to scenes a more terrific and mar-
vellous appearance than they actually possessed." So far
this is true, but his idea of the object which the poet had in

1 Calypso.

2 And we dwell at a distance, the farthest in the sea of many waves,
nor does any other of mortals mingle with us. Odyssey vi. 204.

3 Gosselin has satisfactorily demonstrated that Strabo is wrong in sup-
posing that these passages relate to the Atlantic Ocean, and most of our
readers will come at once themselves to the same conclusion. Those,
however, who wish for proofs, may refer to the French translation, vol. i.
p. 51, n.

* The ancient name of the city of Naples.

5 Puteoli, now Pozzuolo, in Campania.

6 Mare Morto, south of Bai'a, and near to the ruins of Mycene.

7 Aornus or Avernus : this lake, which lies about one mile north of
Bai'a, still retains its ancient appellation.

8 Vide Virgil, ^neid vi. 162.

40 STRABO. BOOK i.

view while composing, is false; real advantage, not trifling,
being his aim. We may justly reprehend his assertion on this
point, as also where he says, that Homer places the scene of
his marvels in distant lands that he may lie the more easily.
Remote localities have not furnished him with near so many
wonderful narrations as Greece, and the countries thereto ad-
jacent; witness the labours of Hercules, and Theseus, the
fables concerning Crete, Sicily, and the other islands ; besides
those connected with Cithaerum, Helicon,1 Parnassus,2 Pelion,3
and the whole of Attica and the Peloponnesus. Let us not
therefore tax the poets with ignorance on account of the myths
which they employ, and since, so far from myth being the
staple, they for the most part avail themselves of actual oc-
currences, (and Homer does this in a remarkable degree,) the
inquirer who will seek how far these ancient writers have
wandered into fiction, ought not to scrutinize to what extent
the fiction was carried, but rather what is the truth concern-
ing those places and persons to which the fictions have been
applied ; for instance, whether the wanderings of Ulysses did
actually occur, and where.

20. On the whole, however, it is not proper to place the
works of Homer in the common catalogue of other poets,
without challenging for him a superiority both in respect of
his other [excellences] and also for the geography on which
our attention is now engaged.

If any one were to do no more than merely read through
the Triptolemus of Sophocles, or the prologue to the Bacchce
of Euripides, and then compare them with the care taken by
Homer in his geographical descriptions, he would at once
perceive both the difference and superiority of the latter, for
wherever there is necessity for arrangement in the localities
he has immortalized, he is careful to preserve it as well in
regard to Greece, as to foreign countries.

" They

On the Olympian summit thought to fix

Huge Ossa, and on Ossa's towering head

Pelion with all his forests,"4

1 Cytheeron and Helicon, two mountains of Boeotia, the latter of which
is now named Zagaro Voreni.

2 Parnassus, a mountain of Phocis, near Delphi.

3 Pelion, a mountain of Magnesia, in Thessaly.

4 They attempted to place Ossa upon Olympus, and upon Ossa leafy

CHAP. ii. §20. INTRODUCTION. 41

" And Juno starting from the Olympian height
O'erflew Pieria and the lovely plains
Of broad Emathia ; l soaring thence she swept
The snow-clad summit of the Thracian hills2
Steed-famed, nor printed, as she pass'd, the soil,

*******
From Athos 3 o'er the foaming billows borne." 4

In the Catalogue he does noj describe his cities in regular
order, because here there was no necessity, but both the
people and foreign countries he arranges correctly. " Having
wandered to Cyprus, and Phcenice, and the Egyptians, I came
to the Ethiopians, and Sidonians, and Erembi, and Libya." 5
Hipparchus has drawn attention to this. But the two tra-
gedians, where there was great necessity for proper arrange-
ment, one6 where he introduces Bacchus visiting the nations,
the other7 Triptolemus sowing the earth, have brought in
juxta-position places far remote, and separated those which
were near.

" And having left the wealthy lands of the Lydians and
Phrygians, and the sunny plains of the Persians and the Bac-
trian walls, and having come over the stormy land of the
Medes, and the Happy Arabia."8 And the Triptolemus is
just as inaccurate.

Further, in respect to the winds and climates, Homer shows
the wide extent of his geographical knowledge, for in his

Pelion. Odyssey xi. 314. The mountains Pelion, Ossa, and Olympus,
bounded the eastern coasts of Thcssaly.

1 Pieria and Emathia, two countries of Macedonia.

2 The mountains of Macedonia ; this latter name was unknown to Ho-
mer, who consequently describes as Thracian, the whole of the people
north of Thessaly.

3 The Mount Santo of the moderns.

4 Juno, hastening, quitted the summit of Olympus, and having passed
over Pieria, and fertile Emathia, she hastened over the snowy mountains
of equestrian Thrace, most lofty summits. * * * * From Athos she
descended to the foaming deep. Iliad xiv. 225.

5 Odyssey iv. 83.

6 Euripides, Bacchse, towards commencement.

7 Sophocles.

8 The inaccuracy of the description consists in this ; that Bacchus
leaving Lydia and Phrygia should have taken his course by Media into
Bactriana, and returned by Persia into Arabia Felix. Perhaps too, for
greater exactness, Strabo would have had the god mention particularly
the intermediate countries through which he necessarily passed, as Cap-
padocia, Armenia, Syria, &c.

42 STRABO. BOOK i.

topographical descriptions he not unfrequently informs us of
both these matters. Thus,

" My abode
Is sun-burnt Ithaca.

Flat on the deep she lies, farthest removed
Toward the west, while situate apart,
Her sister islands face the rising day." l

And,

" It has a two-fold entrance,

One towards the north, the other south." -

And again,

" Which I alike despise, speed they their course
With right-hand flight towards the ruddy east,
Or leftward down into the shades of eve."3

Ignorance of such matters he reckons no less than confusion.

" Alas ! my friends, for neither west

Know we, nor east ; where rises or where sets

The all-enlightening sun."*

Where the poet has said properly enough,

" As when two adverse winds, blowing from Thrace,
Boreas and Zephyrus,"5

Eratosthenes ill-naturedly misrepresents him as saying in an
absolute sense, that the west wind blows from Thrace ; where-
as he is not speaking in an absolute sense at all, but merely of
the meeting of contrary winds near the bay of Melas,6 on the
Thracian sea, itself a part of the ^Egrean. For where Thrace
forms a kind of promontory, where it borders on Macedonia,7

1 But it lies low, the highest in the sea towards the west, but those
that are separated from it [lie] towards the east and the sun. Odyssey
ix. 25.

2 Vide Odyssey xiii. 109, 111.

3 Which I very little regard, nor do I care for them whether they fly
to the right, towards the morn and the sun, or to the left, towards the
darkening west. Iliad xii. 239.

4 O my friends, since we know not where is the west, nor where the
morning, nor where the sun. Odyssey x. 190.

5 The north and west winds, which both blow from Thrace. Iliad
ix. 5.

6 Now the Bay of Saros.

7 These two provinces are comprised in the modern division of Rou-
melia. A portion of Macedonia still maintains its ancient name Maki-
dunia.

CHAP. ii. § 20. INTRODUCTION. 43

it takes a turn to the south-west, and projects into the ocean,
and from this point it seems to the inhabitants of Thasos,
Lemnos, Imbros, Samothracia,1 and the surrounding sea, that
the west winds blow.2 So in regard to Attica, they seem to
come from the rocks of Sciros,3 and this is the reason why
all the westerly winds, the north-west more particularly, are
called the Scirones. Of this Eratosthenes was not aware,
though he suspected as much, for it was he who described
this bending of the land [towards the south-west] which we
have mentioned. But he interprets our poet in an absolute
sense, and then taxes him with ignorance, because, says he,
" Zephyr blows from the west, and off Spain, and Thrace does
not extend so far." Does he then think that Homer was not
aware that Zephyr came from the west, notwithstanding the
careful manner in which he distinguishes its position when he
writes as follows :

" The east, the south, the heavy-blowing Zephyr,
And the cold north- wind clear." 4

Or was he ignorant that Thrace did not extend beyond the
Pjeonian and Thessalian mountains.5 To be sure he was well
acquainted with the position of the countries adjoining Thrace
in that direction, and does he not mention by name both the
maritime and inland districts, and tells us of the Magnetae,6
the Malians,7 and other Grecian [territories], all in order, as
far as Thesprotis;8 also of the Dolopes9 bordering on Paeo-

1 The modern names of these places are Thaso, Stalimene, Imbro, and
Samothraki,

2 Strabo, as well as Casaubon in his notes on this passage, seems to
have made an imperfect defence of Homer. The difficulty experienced,
as well by them as Eratosthenes, arose from their overlooking the fact
that Macedonia was a part of Thrace in Homer's time, and that the
name of Macedon did not exist.

3 These rocks were situated between the city of Megara and the isth-
mus of Corinth.

4 And the south-east and the south rushed together, and the hard-
blowing west, and the cold-producing north. Odyssey v. 295.

5 The western part of Thrace, afterwards named Macedonia ; having
Pfeonia on the north, and Thessaly on the south.

6 The Magnetae dwelt near to Mount Pelion and the Pelasgic Gulf,
now the Bay of Volo.

7 These people dwelt between Mount Othrys, and the Maliac Gulf,
now the Gulf of Zeitun.

8 The maritime portion of Epirus opposite Corfu.

9 In the time of Homer the Dolopes were the neighbours of the Paeo-

44 STRABO.

BOOK I.

nia, and the Sellae who inhabit the territory around Dodona1
as far as the [river] Achelous,2 but he never mentions
Thrace, as being beyond these. He has evidently a predilec-
tion for the sea which is nearest to him, and with which he is
most familiar, as where he says,

" Commotion shook

The whole assembly, such as heaves the flood
Of the Icarian deep." 3

21. Some writers tell us there are but two principal winds,
the north and south, and that the other winds are only a
slight difference in the direction of these two. That is, (sup-
posing only two winds, the north and south,) the south wind
from the commencement of the summer quarter blows in a
south-easterly direction ; and from the commencement of the
winter quarter from the east. The north wind from the de-
cline of the .summer, blows in a westerly direction, and from
the decline of the winter, in a north-westerly direction.

In support of this opinion of the two winds they adduce
Thrasyalces and our poet himself, forasmuch as he mentions
the north-west with the south,

" From the north-west south,"4
and the west with the north,

" As when two adverse winds, blowing from Thrace,
Boreas and Zephyrus." 5

But Posidonius remarks that none of those who are really
acquainted with these subjects, such as Aristotle, Timosthenes,

mans, and dwelt in the north of that part of Thrace which afterwards
formed Macedonia. Later, however, they descended into Thessaly, and
established themselves around Pindus.

1 Dodona was in Epirus, but its exact position is not known.

2 Now Aspro-potamo, or the White River ; this river flows into the
sea at the entrance of the Gulf of Corinth.

3 And the assembly was moved, as the great waves of the Icarian sea.
Iliad ii. 144.

4 'Apylcrrcro Noroio, Iliad xi. 306, xxi. 334. ' Apygffrjje strictly speak-
ing means the north-west, and although, to an English ear, the north-west
south seems at first absurd, yet in following up the argument which Strabo
is engaged in, it is impossible to make use of any other terms than those
which he has brought forward, and merely to have translated dpyserrao
Noroio by Argest-south, would have mystified the passage without cause.
We do not here attempt to reconcile the various renderings of dpygorao
Noroio by Homeric critics, as Strabo's sense alone concerns us.

5 The north and west winds, which both blow from Thrace. Iliad ix. 5.

CHAP. ii. $ 22. INTRODUCTION. 45

and Bion the astronomer, entertain so mistaken an opinion in
regard to the winds. They say that the north-east (Caecias)
blows from the commencement of summer, and that the south-
west wind (Libs), which is exactly opposite to this, blows from
the decline of winter. And again, the south-east wind (Eurus),
which is opposite to the north-west wind ( Argestes), from the
commencement of winter. The east and west winds being
intermediate.

When our poet makes use of the expression "stormy zephyr,"
he means the wind which is now called by us the north-west ;
and by the "clear-blowing zephyr" our west wind ; our Leuco-
notus is his Argestes-notus, or clearing south wind,1 for this
wind brings but few clouds, all the other southern winds
bringing clouds and rain,2

" As when whirlwinds of the west
A storm encounter from the clearing south."3

Here he alludes to the stormy zephyr, which very frequently
scatters the feathery clouds brought up by the Leuconotus,
or, as it is called by way of epithet, the clearing south.

The statements made by Eratosthenes in the first book of
his Geography, require some such correction as this.

22. Persisting in his false views in relation to Homer, he
goes on to say, " He was ignorant that the Nile separated into
many mouths, nay, he was not even acquainted with the name
of the river, though Hesiod knew it well, for he even
mentions it." 4 In respect of the name, it is probable that it

Noroc, the clearing south wind, Horace's Notus Albus ; —
in the improved compass of Aristotle, dpyscrr/jf was the north-west wind,
the Athenian GKEIOWV.

2 Tou XoiTroy Norow o\ov Evpoy TTWC OVTOQ. MSS. i. e. all the other
southern winds having an easterly direction. We have adopted the sug-
gestion of Kramer, and translated the passage as if it stood thus, TOV Xoi-
TTOV Norow oAfpow TTWQ OVTOQ.

3 As when the west wind agitates the light clouds of the clearing
south, striking them with a dreadful gale. Iliad xi. 305.

4 Gosselin observes that Hesiod lived about forty years after Homer, and
he mentions not only the Nile, but also the Po, with which certainly Homer
was unacquainted. He speaks too of the Western Ocean, where he places
the Gorgons, and the garden of the Hesperides. It is very likely that these
various points of information were brought into Greece by the Car-
thaginians. The name Nile seems to be merely a descriptive title ; it is
still in use in many countries of India, where it signifies water. The
river known subsequently as the Nile, was, in Homer's time, called the

46 STRABO. BOOK i.

had not then been given to the river, and as to the mouths, if
they were obscure and little known, will not every one excuse
him for not being aware whether there were several or merely
one ? At that time, the river, its rising, and its mouths were
considered, as they are at the present day, amongst the most
remarkable, the most wonderful, and most worthy of record-
ing of all the peculiarities of Egypt : who can suppose that
those who told our poet of the country and river of Egypt, of
Egyptian Thebes, and of Pharos, were unaware of the many
embouchures of the Nile ; or that being aware, they would
not have described them, were it not that they were too ge-
nerally known? "But is it not inconceivable that Homer
should describe Ethiopia, and the Sidonians, the Erembi, and
the Exterior Sea,1 — should tell us that Ethiopia was divided
into two parts, and yet nothing about those things which were
nearer and better known ?" Certainly not, his not describing
these things is no proof that he was not acquainted with them.
He does not tell us of his own country, nor yet many other
things. The most probable reason is, they were so generally
known that they did not appear to him worth recording.2

23. Again, they are entirely wrong when they allege as a
mark of Homer's ignorance, that he describes the island of
Pharos3 as entirely surrounded by the sea. On the contrary,
it might be taken advantage of as a proof that our poet was
not unacquainted with a single one of the points concerning
Egypt which we have just been speaking of: and thus we

River of Egypt, or the River Egyptus; by the latter of which titles he
was acquainted with it. See Odyssey xvii. 448.

1 By this expression is intended the Atlantic.

2 Gosselin remarks that the arguments made use of by Strabo are not
sufficiently conclusive. The country with which the Greeks were best
acquainted was Greece, undoubtedly, and it is this land which Homer
has described with the greatest exactness of detail.

3 An island opposite to Alexandria, and seven stadia distant therefrom.
The Ptolemies united it to the main-land by means of a pier, named
Hepta-stadium, in allusion to its length. The sands which accumulated
against the pier became the site of the present city of Alexandria. It
was not on this island that the celebrated Pharos of Alexandria was
erected, but on a desolate rock a little to the N. E. It received the same
name as the island, to which it was joined by another pier. As to the
passage of Homer, (Odyssey iv. 354 — 357,) where he says that Pharos is
one day's sail from the Egyptus, he does not mean Egypt, as Strabo fan-
cies, but the mouth of the Nile, which river in his time was called the
Egyptus, and probably fell into the sea about one day's sail from Pharos.

CHAP. ii. $ 24. INTRODUCTION. 47

demonstrate it : — Every one is prone to romance a little in
narrating his travels, and Menelaus was no exception to the
rule. He had been to Ethiopia,1 and there heard much dis-
cussion concerning the sources of the Nile, and the alluvium
which it deposited, both along its course, and also at its
mouths, and the large additions which it had thereby made to
the main-land, so as fully to justify the remark of Herodotus2
that the whole of Egypt was a gift from the river ; or if not
the whole, at all events that part of it below the Delta, called
Lower Egypt. He had heard too that Pharos was entirely
surrounded by sea, and therefore misrepresented it as entirely
surrounded by the sea, although it had long ago ceased so to
be. Now the author of all this was Homer, and we therefore
infer that he was not ignorant concerning either the sources
or the mouths of the Nile.

24. They are again mistaken when they say that he was
not aware of the isthmus between the sea of Egypt and the
Arabian Gulf, and that his description is false,

" The Ethiopians, utmost of mankind,

These eastward situate, those toward the west."3

Nevertheless he is correct, and the criticism of the moderns
is quite out of place : indeed, there is so little truth in the
assertion that Homer was ignorant of this isthmus, that I will
venture to affirm he was not only acquainted with it, but has
also accurately defined it. But none of the grammarians, not

1 We have before remarked that the Ethiopia visited by Menelaus
was not the country above Egypt, generally known by that name, but an
Ethiopia lying round Jaffa, the ancient Joppa.

2 " The priests stated also that Menes was the first of mortals that
ever ruled over Egypt ; to this they added that in the days of that
king, all Egypt, with the exception of the Thebaic nome, was but a
morass ; and that none of the lands now seen below Lake Moeris, then
existed ; from the sea up to this place is a voyage by the river of seven
days. I myself am perfectly convinced the account of the priests in this
particular is correct ; for the thing is evident to every one who sees and
has common sense, although he may not have heard the fact, that the
Egypt to which the Hellenes navigate, is a land annexed to the Egyp-
tians, and a gift from the river ; and that even in the parts above the lake
just mentioned, for three days' sail, concerning which the priests relate
nothing, the country is just of the same description." Herod, ii. § 5.

3 The Ethiopians, who are divided into two parts, the most distant of
men, some at the setting of the sun, others at the rising. Odyssey i. 23.

48 STRABO. BOOK. i.

even the chiefs of their number, Aristarchus and Crates, have
understood the words of our poet on this subject. For they
disagree as to the words which follow this expression of
Homer,

" The Ethiopians, utmost of mankind,

These eastward situate, those towards the west," 1

Aristarchus writing,

" These towards the west, and those towards the east,"
and Crates,

" As well in the west as also in the east."

However, in regard to their hypotheses, it makes no difference
whether the passage were written this way or that. One of
them, in fact, takes what he considers the mathematical
view of the case, and says that the torrid zone is occupied by
the ocean,2 and that on each side of this there is a temperate
zone, one inhabited by us and another opposite thereto. And
as we call the Ethiopians, who are situated to the south, and
dwell along the shores of the ocean, the most distant on the
face of the inhabited globe ; so he supposed that on the other
side of the ocean,3 there were certain Ethiopians dwelling
along the shores, who would in like manner be considered the
most distant 4 by the inhabitants of the other temperate zone ;
and thus that the Ethiopians were double, separated into two
divisions by the ocean. He adds, " as well in the west as also
in the east," because as the celestial zodiac always corresponds
to the terrestrial, and never exceeds in its obliquity the space
occupied by the two Ethiopias, the sun's entire course must
necessarily be within this space, and also his rising and setting,
as it appears to different nations according to the sign which
he may be in.

He (Crates) adopted this version, because he considered it
the more astronomical. But it would have maintained his
opinion of the division of the Ethiopians into two parts, and

1 Odyssey i. 23.

2 Many ancient writers entertained the opinion that the regions sur-
rounding the terrestrial equator were occupied by the ocean, which formed
a circular zone, separating our continent from that which they supposed
to exist in the southern hemisphere. To the inhabitants of this second
continent they gave the name of Antichthones.

3 The Southern Ocean.

4 Or nearest to the equator.

CHAP. II.

INTRODUCTION. 49

at the same time have been much more simple, had he said
that the Ethiopians dwelt on either side of the ocean from the
rising to the setting of the sun. In this case what difference
does it make whether we follow his version, or adopt the
reading of Aristarchus,

" These towards the west, and those towards the east ? "

which also means, that whether east or west, on either side
of the ocean, Ethiopians dwell. But Aristarchus rejects this
hypothesis. He says, " The Ethiopians with whom we are
acquainted, and who are farthest south from the Greeks,
are those described by the poet as being separated into two
divisions. But Ethiopia is not so separated as to form two
countries, one situated towards the west, the other towards
the east, but only one, that which lies south of the Greeks
and adjoins Egypt ; but of this the poet was ignorant, as well
as of other matters enumerated by Apollodorus, which he has
falsely stated concerning various places in his second book,
containing the catalogue of the ships."

25. To refute Crates would require a lengthened argu-
ment, which here perhaps may be considered out of place.
Aristarchus we commend for rejecting the hypothesis of
Crates, which is open to many objections, and for referring
the expression of the poet to our Ethiopia. But the remain-
der of his statement we must discuss. First, his minute ex-
amination of the reading is altogether fruitless, for whichever
way it may have been written, his interpretation is equally
applicable to both ; for what difference is there whether you
say thus — In our opinion there are two Ethiopian, one to-
wards the east, the other to the west; or thus — For they
are as well towards the east as the west ? Secondly, He
makes false assumptions. For admitting that the poet was
ignorant of the isthmus,1 and that he alludes to the Ethiopia
contiguous to Egypt, when he says,

The Ethiopians separated into two divisions ;2

what then ? Are they not separated into two divisions, and
could the poet have thus expressed himself if he had been in
ignorance ? Is not Egypt, nay, are not the Egyptians, sepa-

1 The isthmus of Suez. 2 Odyssey i. 23.

VOL. i. E

50 STUABO. BOOK i.

rated into two divisions by the Nile from the Delta to Syene,1
These towards the west, those towards the east ?

And what else is Egypt, with the exception of the island
formed by the river and overflowed by its waters ; does it not
lie on either side of the river both east and west ?

Ethiopia runs in the same direction as Egypt, and resem-
bles it both in its position with respect to the Nile, and
in its other geographical circumstances. It is narrow, long,
and subject to inundation ; beyond the reach of this inunda-
tion it is desolate and parched, and unfitted for the habitation
of man ; some districts lying to the east and some to the west
of [the river]. How then can we deny that it is separated into
two divisions ? Shall the Nile, which is looked upon by some
people as the proper boundary line between Asia and Libya,2
and which extends southward in length more than 10,000 stadia,
embracing in its breadth islands which contain populations of
above ten thousand men, the largest of these being Meroe, the
seat of empire and metropolis of the Ethiopians, be regarded
as too insignificant to divide Ethiopia into two parts ? The
greatest obstacle which they who object to the river being
made the line of demarcation between the two continents are
able to allege, is, that Egypt and Ethiopia are by this means
divided, one part of each being assigned to Libya, and the
other to Asia, or, if this will not suit, the continents cannot
be divided at all, or at least not by the river.

26. But besides these there is another method of dividing
Ethiopia. All those who have 'sailed along the coasts of
Libya, whether starting from the Arabian Gulf,3 or the
Pillars,4 after proceeding a certain distance, have been
obliged to turn back again on account of a variety of
accidents ; and thus originated a general belief that it was
divided midway by some isthmus, although the whole of

1 This explanation falls to the ground when we remember, that prior to
the reign of Psammeticus no stranger had ever succeeded in penetrating
into the interior of Egypt. This was the statement of the Greeks them-
selves. Now as Psammeticus did riot flourish till two and a half centu-
ries after Homer, that poet could not possibly have been aware of the
circumstances which Strabo brings forward to justify his interpretation
of this passage which he has undertaken to defend.

2 Africa. 3 The Red Sea.
4 The Strait of Gibraltar.

CHAP. ii. § 27. INTRODUCTION. 51

the Atlantic Ocean is confluent, more especially towards
the south. Besides, all of these navigators called the final
country which they reached, Ethiopia, and described it
under that name. Is it therefore at all incredible, that
Homer, misled by such reports, separated them into two
divisions, one towards the east and the other west, not
knowing whether there were any intermediate countries
or not? But there is another ancient tradition related by
Ephorus, which Homer had probably fallen in with. He
tells us it is reported by the Tartessians,1 that some of the
Ethiopians, on their arrival in Libya,2 penetrated into the
extreme west, and settled down there, while the rest occupied
the greater part of the sea-coast ; and in support of this state-
ment he quotes the passage of Homer,

The Ethiopians, the farthest removed of men, separated into two
divisions.

27. These and other more stringent arguments may be
urged against Aristarchus and those of his school, to clear
our poet from the charge of such gross ignorance. I assert
that the ancient Greeks, in the same way as they classed all
the northern nations" with which they were familiar under the
one name of Scythians, or, according to Homer, INomades, and

1 The Tartessians were the inhabitants of the island of Tartessus, formed
by the two arms of the Baetis, (the present Guadalquiver,) near the mouth
of this river. One of these arms being now dried up, the island is re-
united to the mainland. It forms part of the present district of Andalusia.
The tradition, says Gosselin, reported by Ephorus, seems to me to resem-
ble that still preserved at Tingis, a city of Mauritania, so late as the sixth
century. Procopius (Vandalicor. ii. 10) relates that there were two
columns at Tingis bearing the following inscription in the Phoenician
language, " We are they who fled before the brigand Joshua, the son of
Naue (Nun)." It does not concern us to inquire whether these columns
actually existed in the time of Procopius, but merely to remark two in-
dependent facts. The first is the tradition generally received for more
than twenty centuries, that the coming of the Israelites into Palestine
drove one body of Canaanites, its ancient inhabitants, to the extremities
of the Mediterranean, while another party went to establish, among the
savage tribes of the Peloponnesus and Attica, the earliest kingdoms known
in Europe. The second observation has reference to the name of Ethio-
pians given by Ephorus to this fugitive people, as confirming what we
have before stated, that the environs of Jaffa, and possibly the entire of
Palestine, anciently bore the name of Ethiopia : and it is here we must
seek for the Ethiopians of Homer, and not in the interior of Africa.

3 Africa.

E 2

52 STRABO. BOOK i.

afterwards becoming acquainted with those towards the west,
styled them I£slts and Iberians ; sometimes compounding the
names into Keltiberians, or Keltoscythians, thus ignorantly
uniting various distinct nations ; so I affirm they designated
as Ethiopia the whole of the southern countries towards the
ocean. Of this there is evidence, for ^Eschylus, in the Pro-
metheus Loosed,1 thus speaks:

There [is] the sacred wave, and the coralled bed of the Erythraean
Sea, and [there] the luxuriant marsh of the Ethiopians, situated near
the ocean, glitters like polished brass ; where dafly"m the soft and tepid
stream, the all-seeing sun bathes his undying self, and refreshes his weary
steeds.

And as the ocean holds the same position in respect to the
sun, and serves the same purpose throughout the whole south-
ern region,2 he3 therefore concludes that the Ethiopians inha-
bited the whole of the region.

And Euripides in his Phaeton4 says that Clymene was
given

" To Merops, sovereign of that land
Which from his four-horsed chariot first
The rising sun strikes with his golden rays ;
And which its swarthy neighbours call
The radiant stable of the Morn and Sun."

Here the poet merely describes them as the common stables
of the Morning and of the Sun ; but further on he tells us
they were near to the dwellings of Merops, and in fact the
whole plot of the piece has reference to this. This does not
therefore refer alone to the [land] next to Egypt, but rather
to the whole southern country extending along the sea-coast.
28. Ephorus likewise shows us the opinion of the ancients
respecting Ethiopia, in his Treatise on Europe. He says, " If
the whole celestial and terrestrial globe were divided into
four parts, the Indians would possess that towards the east,
theHEthiopians towards the south, the Kelts towards the
west, and the Scythians towards" the north." He adds that
Ethiopia is largerTEan Scythia ; for, says"he, it appears that
the country of the Ethiopians extends from the rising to the
setting of the sun in winter ; and Scythia is opposite to it.

1 This piece is now lost. 2 TO /u£<7»jju/3piv6v i

3 ^Eschylus. 4 This piece is now lost.

CHAP. ii. § 28. INTRODUCTION. 53

It is evident this was the opinion of Homer, since he places
Ithaca

Towards the gloomy region,1

that is, towards the north,2 but the others apart,
Towards the morning and the sun,

by which he means the whole southern hemisphere : and again

when he says,

" speed they their course
With right-hand flight towards the ruddy east,
Or leftward down into the shades of eve." 3

Ami again,

" Alas ! my friends, for neither west

Know we, nor east, where rises or where sets

The all-enlightening sun." 4

Which we shall explain more fully when we come to speak
of Ithaca.5

When therefore he says,

" For to the banks of the Oceanus,
Where Ethiopia holds a feast to Jove,
Hejourney'd yesterday,"6

we should take this in a general sense, and understand by it
the whole of the ocean which washes Ethiopia and the south-
ern region, for to whatever part of this region you direct
your attention, you will there find both the ocean and Ethi-
opia. It is in a similar style he says,

" But Neptune, traversing in his return
From Ethiopia's sons the mountain heights
Of Solyme, descried him from afar." 7

1 Odyssey ix. 26.

2 Strabo is mistaken in interpreting TrpoQ Z,6<f>ov towards the north.
It means here, as every where else, " towards the west," and allusion in
the passage is made to Ithaca as lying west of Greece.

3 Whether they fly to the right towards the morn and the sun, or to
the left towards the darkening west. Iliad xii. 239.

4 O my friends ! since we know not where is the west, nor where the
morning, nor where the sun that gives light to mortals descends beneath
the earth, nor where he rises up again. Odyssey x. 190.

5 In Book x.

6 For yesterday Jove went to Oceanus to the blameless Ethiopians, to
a banquet. Iliad i. 423.

7 The powerful shaker of the earth, as he was returning from the
Ethiopians, beheld him from a distance, from the mountains of the Solymi.
Odyssey v. 282.

54 STRABO. HOOK i.

which is equal to saying, " in his return from the southern
regions," l meaning by the Solymi, as I remarked before, not
those of Pisidia, but certain others merely imaginary, having
the same name, and bearing the like relation to the naviga-
tors in [Ulysses'] ship, and the southern inhabitants there
called Ethiopians, as those of Pisidia do in regard to Pontus
and the inhabitants of Egyptian Ethiopia. What he says
about the cranes must likewise be understood in a general
sense.

" Such clang is heard

Along the skies, when from incessant showers
Escaping, and i'rom winter's cold, the cranes
Take wing, and over ocean speed away.
Woe to the land of dwarfs ! prepared they fly
For slaughter of the small Pygmaean race." l

For it is not in Greece alone that the crane is observed to
emigrate to more southern regions, but likewise from Italy
and Iberia,3 from [the shores of] the Caspian, and from Bac-
triana. But since the ocean extends along the whole south-
ern coast, and the cranes fly to all parts of it indiscriminately
at the approach of winter, we must likewise believe that the
Pygmies4 were equally considered to inhabit the whole of it.

1 This would be true if Homer had lived two or three centuries later,
when the Greeks became acquainted with the Ethiopians on the eastern
and western coasts of Africa. But as the poet was only familiar with
the Mediterranean, there is no question that the Ethiopians mentioned in
this passage are those of Phoenicia and Palestine.

2 Which, after they have escaped the winter and immeasurable shower,
•with a clamour wing their way towards the streams of the ocean, bearing
slaughter and fate to the Pygmaean men. Iliad iii. 3.

3 Gosselin is of opinion that this Iberia has no reference to Spain, but
is a country situated between the Euxine and Caspian Seas, and forms
part of the present Georgia. He assigns as his reason, that if Strabo had
meant to refer to Spain, he would have mentioned it before Italy, so as
not to interrupt the geographical order, which he is always careful to
observe.

4 Pygmy, (Trwyjuatoc,) a being \vhose length is a Trvyju./}, that is, from the
elbow to the hand. The Pygmaei were a fabulous nation of dwarfs, the
Lilliputians of antiquity, who, according to Homer, had every spring to
sustain a war against the cranes on the banks of Oceanus. They were
believed to have been descended from Pygmasus, a son of Dorus and
grandson of Epaphus. Later writers usually place them near the sources
of the Nile, whither the cranes are said to have migrated every year
to take possession of the field of the Pygmies. The reports of them have
been embellished in a variety of ways by the ancients. Hecatajus, for

CHAP. ii. $ 28. INTRODUCTION. oo

And if the moderns have confined the term of Ethiopians
to those only who dwell near to Egypt, and have also re-
stricted the Pygmies in like manner, this must not be
allowed to interfere with the meaning of the ancients. "VVe
do not speak of all the people who fought against Troy as
merely Acha^ans and Argives, though Homer describes the
whole under those two names. Similar to this is my remark
concerning the separation of the Ethiopians into two divi-
sions, that under thaFrlesignation we snould understand the
whole of the nations inhabiting the sea-board from east to
west. The Ethiopians taken in this sense are naturally se-
parated into two parts by the Arabian Gulf, which occupies
a considerable portion of a meridian circle,1 and resembles a
river, being in length nearly 15,000 stadia,2 and in breadth not
above 1000 at the widest point. In addition to the length,
the recess of the Gulf is distant from the sea at Pelusium only
three or four days' journey across the isthmus. On this ac-
count those who are most felicitous in their division of Asia
and Africa, prefer the Gulf3 as a better boundary line for the

example, related that they cut down every corn -ear with an axe, for they
were conceived to be an agricultural people. When Hercules came into
their country, they climbed with ladders to the edge of his goblet to
drink from it ; and when they attacked the hero, a whole army of them
made an assault upon his left hand, while two made the attack on his
right. Aristotle did not believe that the accounts of the Pygmies were
altogether fabulous, but thought that they were a tribe in Upper Egypt,
who had exceedingly small horses, and lived in caves. In later times we
also hear of Northern Pygmies, who lived in the neighbourhood of Thule :
they are described as very short-lived, small, and armed with spears like
needles. Lastly, we also have mention of Indian Pygmies, who lived
under the earth on the east of the river Ganges. Smith, Diet. Biog. and
Mythol. Various attempts have been made to account for this singular
belief, which however seems to have its only origin in the love of the
marvellous.

1 It must be observed that the Arabian Gulf, or Red Sea, does not run
parallel to the equator, consequently it could not form any considerable
part of a meridian circle ; thus Strabo is wrong even as to the physical po-
sition of the Gulf, but this is not much to be wondered at, as he supposed
an equatorial division of the earth into two hemispheres by the ocean.

2 15,000 of the stadia employed by Strabo were equivalent to 21° 25'
43". The distance from the Isthmus of Suez to the Strait of Bab-el-
Mandeb, following our better charts, is 20° 15'. Strabo says nearly 15,000
stadia ; and this length may be considered just equal to that of the Arabian
Gulf. Its breadth, so fur as we know, is in some places equal to 1800
stadia.

3 The Arabian Gulf, or Red Sea.

56 STRABO.

BOOK I.

two continents than the Nile, since it extends almost entirely
from sea to sea, whereas the Nile is so remote from the ocean
that it does not by any means divide the whole of Asia from
Africa. On this account I believe it was the Gulf which the
poet looked upon as dividing into two portions the whole
southern regions of the inhabited earth. Is it possible, then,
that he was unacquainted with the isthmus which separates
this Gulf from the Egyptian Sea ? 1

29. It is quite irrational to suppose that he could be accu-
rately acquainted with Egyptian Thebes,2 which is separated
from our sea3 by a little less than 5000 4 stadia ; and yet ig^
norant of the recess of the Arabian Gulf, and of the isthmus
there, whose breadth is not more than 1000 stadia. Still
more, would it not be ridiculous to believe that Homer was
aware the Nile was called by the same name as the vast country
[of Egypt], and yet unacquainted with the reason why?
especially since the saying of Herodotus would occur to him,
that the country was a gift from the river, and it ought there-

1 The Mediterranean.

2 Aristotle accounts for Homer's mentioning Thebes rather than Mem-
phis, by saying that, at the time of the poet, the formation of that part of
Egypt by alluvial deposit was very recent. So that Memphis either did
not then exist, or at all events had not then obtained its after celebrity.
Aristotle likewise seems to say that anciently Egypt consisted only of the
territory of the Thebaid, mi TO apxalov 17 AiyvTrroc, 0i?/3ai KaXovpsvai.

3 The Mediterranean.

4 Gosselin says, •" Read 4000, as in lib. xvii. This correction is indi-
cated by the following measure given by Herodotus ;

From the sea to Heliopolis 1500 stadia

From Heliopolis to Thebes » . . . . 4860

6360

The stadium made use of in Egypt at the time of Herodotus consisted of
lllli to a degree on the grand circle, as may be seen by comparing the
measure of the coasts of the Delta furnished by that historian with our
actual information. The length of this stadium may likewise be ascer-
tained by reference to Aristotle. In the time of Eratosthenes and Strabo,
the stadium of 700 to a degree was employed in Egypt. Now 6360 sta-
dia of 1111^ to a degree make just 4006 stadia of 700: consequently
these two measures are identical, their apparent inconsistency merely re-
sulting from the different scales by which preceding authors had expressed
them." This reasoning seems very plausible, but we must remark that
Col. Leake, in a valuable paper " On the Stade as a Linear Measure,"
published in vol. ix. of the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, is
of opinion that Gosselin's system of stadia of different lengths cannot be
maintained.

CHAP. ii. § 30. INTRODUCTION.

fore to bear its name. Further, the best known pec
of a country are those which have something of the
a paradox, and are likely to arrest general attention, ui tnis
kind are the rising of the Kile, and the alluvial depo-
sition at its mouth. There is nothing in the whole country to
which travellers in Egypt so immediately direct their inquiries,
as the character of the Nile ; nor do the inhabitants possess
any thing else equally wonderful and curious, of which to in-
form foreigners ; for in fact, to give them a description of the
river, is to lay open to their view every main characteristic of
the country. It is the question put before every other by
those who have never seen Egypt themselves. To these con-
siderations we must add Homer's thirst after knowledge, and
his delight in visiting foreign lands, (tastes which we are as-
sured both by those who have written histories of his life, and
also by innumerable testimonies throughout his own poems,
he possessed in an eminent degree,) and we shall have abund-
ant evidence both of the extent of his information, and the
felicity with which he described objects he deemed important,
and passed over altogether, or with slight allusion, matters
which were generally known.

30. These Egyptians and Syrians 1 whom we have been
criticising fill one with amazement. They do not understand
[Homer], even ^when he is describing their own, countries,
but accuse himof ignorance where, as our argument proves,
they are open to the charge themselves. Not to mention a
thing is clearly no evidence that a person is not acquainted
with it.2 Homer does not tell us of the change in the cur-
rent of the Euripus, nor of Thermopylae, nor of many other re-
markable things well known to the Greeks ; but was he there-
fore unacquainted with them ? He describes to us, although
these men, who are obstinately deaf, will not hear : they have
themselves to blame.

Our poet applies to rivers the epithet of " heaven-sent."
And this not only to mountain torrents, but to all rivers alike,
since they are all replenished by the showers. But even what

1 Namely Crates and Aristarchus. The last was of Alexandria, and
consequently an Egyptian^ Crates was of Cilicia, which was regarded
as a part of Syria. *^~ ^

2 This is a very favourite axiom with Strabo, notwithstanding he too
often forgets it himself.

STEABO. BOOK i.

is general becomes particular when it is bestowed on any
object par excellence. Heaven-sent, when applied to a moun-
tain torrent, means something else than when it is the epithet
of the ever-flowing river ; but the force of the term is doubly
felt when attributed to the Nile. For as there are hyperboles
of hyperboles, for instance, to be " lighter than the shadow of
a cork," " more timid than a Phrygian hare," 1 " to possess an
estate shorter than a Lacedaemonian epistle ; " so excellence
becomes more excellent, when the title of " heaven-sent " is
given to the Nile. The mountain torrent has a better claim
to be called heaven-sent than other rivers, but the Nile ex-
ceeds the mountain torrents, both in its size and the lengthened
period of its overflow. Since, then, the wonders of this river
were known to our poet, as we have shown in this defence,
when he applies this epithet to the Nile, it must only be un-
derstood in the way we have explained. Homer did not
think it worth mentioning, especially to those who were ac-
quainted with the fact, that the Nile had many mouths, since
this is a common feature of numerous other rivers. Alcasus2
does not mention it, although he tells us he had been in
Egypt. One might infer the fact of its alluvial deposit, both
from the rising [of the river] and what Homer tells us con-
cerning Pharos. For his account, or rather the vulgar report

1 The Phrygians were considered to be more timid than any other
people, and consequently the hares of their country more timid than those
of any other. We see then a twofold hyperbole in the expression that
a man is more timid than a Phrygian hare.

2 Alceeus of Mitylene in the island of Lesbos, the earliest of the JEo-
lian lyric poets, began to flourish in the forty-second Olympiad (B. c.
610). In the second year of this Olympiad we find Cicis and Antime-
nidas, the brothers of Alcams, fighting under Pittacus against Melan-
chrus, who is described as the tyrant of Lesbos, and who fell in the conflict
Alcaeus does not appear to have taken part with his brothers on this occa-
sion ; on the contrary, he speaks of Melanchrus in terms of high praise.
Alcseus is mentioned in connexion with the war in Troas, between the
Athenians and Mitylenaeans, for the possession of Sigaeum. During the
period which followed this war, the contest between the nobles and the
people of Mitylene was brought to a crisis. The party of Alcaeus en-
gaged actively on the side of the nobles, and was defeated. When he and
his brother Antimenidas perceived that all hope of their restoration to
Mitylene was gone, they travelled over different countries. Alcaeus visited
Egypt, and appears to have written poems in which his adventures by
sea were described. Horace, Carm. ii. 13. 26. See Smith's Diet, of
Biog. and Mythol.

CHAP. ii. $ 31. INTRODUCTION. 59

concerning Pharos, that it was distant from the mainland a
whole day's voyage, ought not to be looked upon as a down-
right falsehood.

It is clear that Homer was only acquainted with the rising
and deposit of the river in a general way, and concluding
from what he heard that the island had been further removed
in the time of Menelaus from the mainland, than it was in
his own, he magnified the distance, simply that he might
heighten the fiction. Fictions however are not the offspring
of ignorance, as is sufficiently plain from those concerning
Proteus, the Pygmies, the efficacy of charms, and many others
similar to these fabricated by the poets. They narrate these
things not through ignorance of the localities, but for the sake
of giving pleasure and enjoyment. But [some one may in-
quire], how could he describe [Pharos], which is without
water as possessed of that necessary ?

" The haven there is good, and many a ship
Finds watering there from rivulets on the coast." l

[I answer,] It is not impossible that the sources of water may
since have failed. Besides, he does not say that the water
was procured from the island, but that they went thither on
account of the safety of the harbour ; the water was probably
obtained from the mainland, and by the expression the poet
seems to admit that what he had before said of its being
wholly surrounded by sea was not the actual fact, but a hy-
perbole or fiction.

31. As his description of the wanderings of Menelaus may
seem to authenticate the charge of ignorance made against
him in respect to those regions, it will perhaps be best to
point out the difficulties of the narrative, and their explana-
tion, and at the same time enter into a fuller defence of our
poet. Menelaus thus addresses Telemachus, who is admiring
the splendour of his palace :

" After numerous toils

And perilous wanderings o'er the stormy deep,
In the eighth year at last I brought them home.
Cyprus, Phrenioia, Sidon, and the shores
Of Egypt, roaming without hope, I reach'd,

1 But in it there is a haven with good mooring, from whence they take
equal ships into the sea, having drawn black water. Odyssey iv. 358.

60 STRABO. BOOK i.

In distant Ethiopia thence arrived,
And Libya." l

It is asked, What Ethiopians cou'd he have met with on
his voyage from Egypt ? None are to be found dwelling by our
sea,2 and with his vessels3 he could never have reached the
cataracts of the Nile. Next, who are the Sidonians ? Cer-
tainly not the inhabitants of Phoenicia ; for having mentioned
the genus, he would assuredly not particularize the species.4
And then the Erembi ; this is altogether a new name. Our
contemporary Aristonicus, the grammarian, in his [observ-
ations] on the wanderings of Menelaus, has recorded the
opinions of numerous writers on each of the heads under
discussion. It will be sufficient for us to refer to them
very briefly. They who assert that Menelaus went by sea to
Ethiopia, tell us he directed his course past Cadiz into the
Indian Ocean ;5 with which, say they, the long duration of his
wanderings agrees, since he did not arrive there till the eighth
year. Others, that he passed through the isthmus6 which
enters the Arabian Gulf; and others again, through one of
the canals. At the same time the idea of this circumnaviga-
tion, which owes its origin to Crates, is not necessary ; we do
not mean it was impossible, (for the wanderings of Ulysses are

1 Certainly having suffered many things, and having wandered much,
I was brought in my ships, and I returned in the eighth year ; having
wandered to Cyprus, and Phoenice, and the Egyptians, I came to the
Ethiopians and Sidonians, and Erembians, and Libya. Odyssey iv. 81.

2 On the coasts of the Mediterranean.

3 Strabo intends to say that the ships of Menelaus were not constructed
so as to be capable of being taken to pieces, and carried on the backs of
the sailors, as those of the Ethiopians were.

4 Having mentioned the Phoenicians, amongst whom the Sidonians are
comprised, he certainly would not have enumerated these latter as a
separate people.

5 That is to say, that he made the entire circuit of Africa, starting
from Cadiz, and doubling the Cape of Good Hope. Such was the opinion
of Crates, who endeavoured to explain all the expressions of Homer after
mathematical hypotheses. If any one were to inquire how Menelaus, who
was wandering about the Mediterranean, could have come into Ethiopia,
Crates would answer, that Menelaus left the Mediterranean and entered
the Atlantic, whence he could easily travel by sea into Ethiopia. In
this he merely followed the hypothesis of the mathematicians, who said
that the inhabited earth in all its southern portion was traversed by the
Atlantic Ocean, and the other seas contiguous thereto.

6 The Isthmus of Suez. This isthmus they supposed to be covered
by the sea, as Strabo explains further on.

CHAP. ii. § 31. INTRODUCTION. 61

not impossible,) but neither the mathematical hypothesis, nor
yet the duration of the wandering, require such an explan-
ation ; for he was both retarded against his will by accidents
in the voyage, as by [the tempest] which he narrates five
only of his sixty ships survived ; and also by voluntary delays
for the sake of amassing wealth. Nestor says [of him],

" Thus he, provision gathering as he went,
And gold abundant, roam'd to distant lands." l

[And Menelaus himself],

• " Cyprus, Phoenicia, and the Egyptians' land
I wandered through."2

As to the navigation of the isthmus, or one of the canals,
if it had been related by Homer himself, we should have
counted it a myth ; but as he does not relate it, we regard
it as entirely extravagant and unworthy of belief. We
say unworthy of belief, because at the time of the Trojan war
no canal was in existence. It is recorded that Sesostris, who
had planned the formation of one, apprehending that the level
of the sea was too high to admit of it, desisted from the un-
dertaking.3

Moreover the isthmus itself was not passable for ships, and
Eratosthenes is unfortunate in his conjecture, for he con-
siders that the strait at the Pillars was not .then formed,

1 Thus far he, collecting much property and gold, wandered with his
ships. Odyssey iii. 301.

2 Odyssey iv. 83.

3 Strabo here appears to have followed Aristotle, who attributes to Se-
sostris the construction of the first canal connecting the Mediterranean,
or rather the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, with the Red Sea. Pliny has
followed the same tradition. Strabo, Book xvii., informs us, that
other authors attribute the canal to Necho the son of Psammeticus ; and
this is the opinion of Herodotus and Diodorus. It is possible these au-
thors may be speaking of two different attempts to cut this canal. Sesos-
tris nourished about 1356 years before Christ, Necho 615 years before the
same era. About a century after Necho, Darius the son of Hystaspes
made the undertaking, but desisted under the false impression that the
level of the Red Sea was higher than that of the Mediterranean. Ptolemy
Philadelphus proved this to be an error, by uniting the Red Sea to the
Nile without causing any inundation. At the time of Trajan and Hadrian
the communication was still in existence, though subsequently it became
choked up by an accumulation of sand. It will be remembered that a
recent proposition for opening the canal was opposed in Egypt oil similar
grounds.

62 STEABO.

BOOK I.

so that the Atlantic should by that channel communicate
with the Mediterranean, and that this sea being higher
than the Isthmus [of Suez], covered it ; but when the Strait
[of Gibraltar] was formed, the sea subsided considerably ; and
left the land about Casium1 and Pelusium2 dry as far over
as the Red Sea.

But what account have we of the formation of this strait,
supposing it were not in existence prior to the Trojan war ?
Is it likely that our poet would make Ulysses sail out through
the Strait [of Gibraltar] into the Atlantic Ocean, as if that
strait already existed, and at the same time describe Mene-
laus conducting his ships from Egypt to the Red Sea, as if it
did not exist. Further, the poet introduces Proteus as say-
ing to him,

" Thee the gods

Have destined to the blest Elysian Isles,
Earth's utmost boundaries."3

And what this place was, namely, some far western region,
is evident from [the mention of] the Zephyr in connexion
with it :

" But Zephyr always gently from the sea
Breathes on them."4

This, however, is very enigmatical.

32. But if our poet speaks of the Isthmus of Suez as ever
having been the strait of confluence between the Mediterra-
nean and the Red Seas, how much more credit may we attri-
bute to his division of the Ethiopians into two portions, being
thus separated by so grand a strait ! And what commerce
could he have carried on with the Ethiopians who dwelt by
the shores of the exterior sea and the ocean ? Telemachus
and his companions admire the multitude of ornaments that
were in the palace,

"Of gold, electrum, silver, ivory."5

Now the Ethiopians are possessed of none of these produc-
tions in any abundance, excepting ivory, being for the most

1 Mount El Kas. 2 Tineh.

3 But the immortals will send you to the Elysian plain, and the bound-
aries of the earth. Odyssey iv. 563.

4 But ever does the ocean send forth the gently blowing breezes of the
west wind. Odyssey iv. 567.

5 Odyssey iv. 7,3. See Strabo's description of electrum, Book iii, c.
ii. § 8.

CHAP. ii. § 32. INTRODUCTION. 63

part a needy and nomad race. True, [you say,] but adjoin-
ing them is Arabia, and the whole country as far as India.
One of these is distinguished above all other lands by the
title of Felix,1 and the other, though not dignified by that
name, is both generally believed and also said to be pre-
eminently Blessed.

But [we reply], Homer was not acquainted with India, or
he would have described it. And though he knew of the
Arabia which is now named Felix, at that time it was by no
means wealthy, but a wild country, the inhabitants of which
dwelt for the most part in tents. It is only a small district
which produces the aromatics from which the whole territory
afterwards received its name,2 owing to the rarity of the com-
modity amongst us, and the value set upon it. That the
Arabians are now flourishing and wealthy is due to their vast
and extended traffic, but formerly it does not appear to have
been considerable. A merchant or camel-driver might attain
to opulence by the sale of these aromatics and similar com-
modities ; but Menelaus could only become so either by plun-
der, or presents conferred on him by kings and nobles, who
had the means at their disposal, and wished to gratify one so
distinguished by glory and renown. The Egyptians, it is
true, and the neighbouring Ethiopians and Arabians, were
not so entirely destitute of the luxuries of civilization, nor so
unacquainted with the fame of Agamemnon, especially after the
termination of the Trojan war, but that Menelaus might have
expected some benefits from their generosity, even as the
breastplate of Agamemnon is said to be
" The gift

Of Cinyras long since ; for rumour loud

Had Cyprus reached."3

And we are told that the greater part of his wanderings were
in Phoenicia, Syria, Egypt, Africa, around Cyprus, and, in
fact, the whole of our coasts and islands.4 Here, indeed, he
might hope to enrich himself both by the gifts of friendship

1 Blessed.

2 The name of Arabia Felix is now confined to Yemen. A much
larger territory was anciently comprehended under this designation, con-
taining the whole of Hedjaz, and even Nedjed-el-Ared. It is probable
that Strata) here speaks of Hedjaz, situated about two days' journey
south of Mecca.

3 Iliad xi. 20. 4 Of the Mediterranean.

64 STRABO.

BOOK I.

and by violence, and especially by the plunder of those who had
been the allies of Troy. They however who dwelt on the ex-
terior ocean, and the distant barbarians, held out no such en-
couragement : and when Menelaus is said to have been in
Ethiopia, it is because he had reached the frontiers of that coun-
try next Egypt. But perhaps at that time the frontiers lay more
contiguous to Thebes than they do now. At the present day the
nearest are the districts adjacent to Syene and Philse,1 the former
town being entirely in Egypt, while PhilaB is inhabited by a
mixed population of Ethiopians and Egyptians. Supposing
therefore he had arrived at Thebes, and thus reached the
boundary -line of Ethiopia, where he experienced the munifi-
cence of the king, we must not be surprised if he is described
as having passed through the country.2 On no better au-
thority Ulysses declares he has been to the land of the Cy-
clops, although he merely left the sea to enter a cavern which
he himself tells us was situated on the very borders of the
country : and, in fact, wherever he came to anchor, whether
at -ZEolia, Laestrygonia, or elsewhere, he is stated to have
visited those places. In the same manner Menelaus is said
to have been to Ethiopia and Libya, because here and there
he touched at those places, and the port near Ardania above
Parcetonium3 is called after him "the port of Menelaus."4

33. When, after mentioning Phoenicia, he talks of Sidon,
its metropolis, he merely employs a common form of expres-
sion, for example,

He urged the Trojans and Hector to the ships.5

For the sons of magnanimous CEneus were no more, nor was he himself
surviving ; moreover, fair-haired Meleager was dead.8

He came to Ida — and to Gargarus.7

1 Philse was built on a little island formed by the Nile, now called
El-Heif.

2 This is evidently Strabo's meaning ; but the text, as it now stands,
is manifestly corrupt.

3 El-Baretun. A description of this place will be found in the
17th book.

4 At this port it was that Agesilaus terminated his glorious career.

5 Iliad xiii. 1. Strabo means that Homer, after having spoken of the
Trojans in general, mentions Hector in particular.

6 Iliad ii. 641. Having mentioned the sons of CEneus collectively, he
afterwards distinguishes one of them by name.

7 Iliad viii. 47. Gargarus was one of the highest peaks of Ida.

CHAP. ii. § 33. INTRODUCTION. 65

He possessed Euboea, Chalcis, and Eretria.1
Sappho likewise [says],

Whether Cyprus, or the spacious-harboured Paphos.2

But he had some other cause besides this for mentioning
Sidon immediately after having spoken of the Phoenicians :
for had he merely desired to recount the nations in order, it
would have been quite sufficient to say,

Having wandered to Cyprus, Phcenice, and the Egyptians, I came to
the Ethiopians.3

But that he might record his sojourn amongst the Sidonians,
which was considerably prolonged, he thought it well to refer
to it repeatedly. Thus he praises their prosperity and skill
in the arts, and alludes to the hospitality the citizens had
shown to Helen and Alexander. Thus he tells us of the
many [treasures] of this nature laid up in store by Alex-
ander.4

" There his treasures lay,
Works of Sidonian women, whom her son,
The godlike Paris, when he crossed the seas
With Jove-begotten Helen, brought to Troy."5

And also by Menelaus, who says to Telemachus,

' I give thee this bright beaker, argent all,
But round encircled with a lip of gold.
It is the work of Vulcan, which to me
The hero Phaedimus presented, king
Of the Sidonians, when on my return
Beneath his roof I lodged. I make it thine." 6

Here the expression, " work of Vulcan," must be looked upon
as a hyperbole : in the same way all elegant productions are

1 Iliad ii. 536. Chalcis and Eretria were two cities of Euboea.

2 We have here taken advantage of Casaubon's suggestion to read
17 Travopp-og instead of 77 UdvopfjioQ, the Greek name for Palermo in
Sicily, which was not founded in the time of Sappho.

3 Odyssey iv. 83. * Paris.

5 Where were her variously embroidered robes, the works of Sidonian
females, which godlike Alexander himself had brought from Sidon, sailing
over the broad ocean, in that voyage in which he carried off Helen, sprung
from a noble sire. Iliad vi. 289.

6 I will give thee a wrought bowl : it is all silver, and the lips are
bound with gold; it is the work of "Vulcan: the hero Phaedimus, king
of the Sidonians, gave it [to me], when his home sheltered me, as I was
returning from thence, i wish to give this to thee. Odyssey xv. 115.

68 STRABO.

BOOK I.

said to be the work of Minerva, of the Graces, or of the Muses.
But that the Sidonians were skilful artists, is clear from the
praises bestowed [by Homer] on the bowl which Euneos gave
in exchange for Lycaon :

" Earth

Own'd not its like for elegance of form.

Skilful Sidonian artists had around

Etnbellish'd it, and o'er the sable deep

Phoenician merchants into Lemnos' port

Had borne it." l

34. Many conjectures have been hazarded as to who the
Erembi were : they who suppose the Arabs are intended, seem
to deserve the most credit.

Our Zeno reads the passage thus : —
I came to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the Arabians.
But there is no occasion to tamper with the text, which is of
great antiquity; it is a far preferable course to suppose a
change in the name itself, which is of frequent and ordinary
occurrence in every nation : and in fact certain grammarians
establish this view by a comparison of the radical letters.
Posidonius seems to me to adopt the better plan after all, in
looking for the etymology of names in nations of one stock and
community ; [thus between, the Armenians, Syrians, and Ara-
bians there is a strong affinity both in regard to dialect, mode
of life, peculiarities of physical conformation, and above all
in the contiguity of the countries. Mesopotamia, which is a
motley of the three nations, is a proof of this ; for the similar-
ity amongst these three is very remarkable. And though in
consequence of the various latitudes there may be some differ-
ence between those who dwell in the north2 and those of the
the south,3 and again between each of these and the inhabit-
ants of the middle region,4 still the same characteristics are
dominant in all.] Also the Assyrians and Arians have a great
affinity both to these people and to each other. And [Posi-
donius] believes there is a similarity in the names of these
different nations. Those whom we call Syrians style them-
selves Armenians and ArammaBans, names greatly like those of
the Armenians, Arabs, and Erembi. Perhaps this [last] term

1 But in beauty it much excelled [all] upon the whole earth, for the in-
genious Sidonians had wrought it cunningly, and Phoenician men had
carried it. Iliad xxiii. 742.

2 The Armenians. 3 The Arabs. * The Syrians.

CHAP. ii. § 35. INTRODUCTION. 67

is that by which the Greeks anciently designated the Arabs ;
the etymon of the word certainly strengthens the idea. Many
deduce the etymology of the Erembi from '{par ^u€cuv£<j/, (to go
into the earth,) which [they say] was altered by the people of a
later generation into the more intelligible name of Troglodytes,1
by which are intended those Arabs who dwell on that side of
the Arabian Gulf next to Egypt and Ethiopia. It is probable
then that the poet describes Menelaus as having visited these
people in the same way that he says he visited the Ethiopians ;
for they are likewise near to the Thebaid ; and he mentions them
not on account of any commerce or gain, (for of these there
was not much,) but probably to enhance the length of the
journey and his meed of praise : for such distant travelling
was highly thought of. For example, —

" Discover'd various cities, and the mind

And manners learn'd of men in lands remote.''2

And again :

" After numerous toils

And perilous wanderings o'er the stormy deep,
In the eighth year at last I brought them home."3

Hesiod, in his Catalogue,4 writes,

And the daughter of Arabus, whom gracious Hermes and Thronia,
descended from king Belus, brought forth.

Thus, too, says Stesichorus. Whence it seems that at that
time the country was from him named Arabia, though it is
not likely this was the case in the heroic period.5

35. There are many who would make the Erembi a tribe
of the Ethiopians, or of the Cephenes, or again of the Pygmies,
and a thousand other fancies. These ought to be regarded
with little trust ; since their opinion is not only incredible,
but they evidently labour under a certain confusion as to the

1 Dwelling in caverns.

2 He saw the cities of many men, and learned their manners. Odyssey
i. 3.

3 Having suffered many things, and having wandered much, I was
brouaht. Odyssey iv. 81.

4 See Hesiod, Fragments, ed. Loesner, p. 434.

5 This derivation of Arabia is as problematical as the existence of the
hero from whom it is said to have received its name ; a far more probable
etymology is derived from ereb, signifying the west, a name supposed to
have been conferred upon it at a very early period by a people inhabiting
Persia.

F 2

68 STRABO. BOOK i.

different characters of history and fable. In the same category
must be reckoned those who place the Sidonians and Phosni-
cians in the Persian Gulf, or somewhere else in the Ocean, and
make the wanderings of Menelaus to have happened there.
Not the least cause for mistrusting these writers is the man-
ner in which they contradict each other. One half would have
us believe that the Sidonians are a colony from the people
whom they describe as located on the shores of the [Indian]
Ocean, and who they say were called Pho3nicians from the
colour of the Erythraan Sea, while the others declare the
opposite.1

Some again would transport Ethiopia into our Phoenicia,
and make Joppa the scene of the adventures of Andromeda ;2
and this not from any ignorance of the topography of those
places, but by a kind of mythic fiction similar to those of
Hesiod and other writers censured by Apollodorus, who, how-
ever, couples Homer with them, without, as it appears, any
cause. He cites as instances what Homer relates of the
Euxine and Egypt, and accuses him of ignorance for pretend-
ing to speak the actual truth, and then recounting fable, all the
while ignorantly mistaking it for fact. Will anyone then accuse
Hesiod of ignorance on account of his Hemicynes* his Macro-
cephalif and his Pygmies ; or Homer for his like fables, and
amongst others the Pygmies themselves ; or Alcman 5 for de-
scribing the Steganopodes;* or ^Eschylus for his Cyno-
cephali? Sternophthalmi* and Monommati;9 when amongst
prose writers, and in works bearing the appearance of verit-
able history, we frequently meet with similar narrations, and
that without any admission of their having inserted such
myths. Indeed it becomes immediately evident that they
have woven together a tissue of myths not through ignorance

1 That is, that the Phoenicians and Sidonians dwelling around the Per-
sian Gulf are colonies from those inhabiting the shores of the Mediterranean.

2 As to this fact, upon which almost all geographers are agreed, it is
only rejected by Strabo because it stands in the way of his hypothesis.

3 Half men, half dogs. * Long-headed men.

5 A celebrated poet who flourished about seven centuries before the
Christian era, said to have been a native of Sardis in Lydia. Only three
short fragments of his writings are known to be in existence.

6 Men who covered themselves with their feet.
: Dog-headed men.

' People having their eyes in their breasts. 9 One-eyed.

CHAP. ii. § 36. INTRODUCTION. 69

of the real facts, but merely to amuse by a deceptive narra-
tion of the impossible and marvellous. If they appear to do
this in ignorance, it is because they can romance more fre-
quently and with greater plausibility on those things which
are uncertain and unknown. This Theopompus plainly con-
fesses in the announcement of his intention to relate the fables
in his history in a better style than Herodotus, Ctesias, Hel-
lanicus, and those who had written on the affairs of India.

36. Homer has described to us the phenomena of the ocean
under the form of a myth ; this [art] is very desirable in a
poet ; the idea of his Charybdis was taken from the ebb
and flow of the tide, and wras by no means a pure inven-
tion of his own, but derived from what he knew concerning
the Strait of Sicily.1 And although he states that the ebb
and flow occurred thrice during the four and twenty hours,
instead of twice,

" (Each day she thrice disgorges, and each day
Thrice swallows it,") 2

we must suppose that he said this not through any ignorance
of the fact, but for tragic effect, and to excite the fear which
Circe endeavours to infuse into her arguments to deter
Ulysses from departing, even at a little expense of truth.
The following is the language Circe makes use of in her
speech to him :

" Each day she thrice disgorges, and each day
Thrice swallows it. Ah! we 11 -forewarn'd beware
What time she swallows, that thou come not nigh,
For not himself, Neptune, could snatch thee thence." 3

And yet when Ulysses was ingulfed in the eddy he was not
lost. He tells us himself,

' It was the time when she absorb'd profound
The briny flood, but by a wave upborne,
I seized the branches fast of the wild fig,
To which bat-like I clung."4

1 The Strait of Messina.

2 For thrice in a day she sends it out, and thrice she sucks it in.
Odyssey xii. 105.

3 For thrice in a day she sends it out, and thrice she sucks it in terribly.
Mayest thou not come hither when she is gulping it ; for not even Nep-
tune could free thee from ill. Odyssey xii. 1U5.

4 She gulped up the briny water of the sea ; but I, raised on high to
the lofty fig-tree, held clinging to it, as a bat. Odyssey xii. 431.

70 STRABO. BOOK i.

And then having waited for the timbers of the wreck he seized
hold of them, and thus saved himself. Circe, therefore, had
exaggerated both the peril, and also the fact of its vomiting
forth thrice a day instead of twice. However, this latter is a
hyperbole which every one makes use of ; thus we say thrice-
happy and thrice-miserable.
So the poet,

" Thrice-happy Greeks ! " l
Again,

" O delightful, thrice-wished for ! " 2
And again,

" O thrice and four times." 3

Any one, too, might conclude from the passage itself that
Homer even here hinted at the truth, for the long time which
the remains of the wreck lay under water, which Ulysses, who
was all the while hanging suspended to the branches, so anxi-
ously desired to rise, accords much better with the ebb and
flow taking place but twice during the night and day instead
of thrice.

" Therefore hard

I clench'd the boughs, till she disgorged again

Both keel and mast. Not undesired by me

They came, though late ; for at what hour the judge,

After decision made of numerous strifes

Between young candidates for honour, leaves

The forum, for refreshment's sake at home,

Then was it that the mast and keel emerged." 4

Every word of this indicates a considerable length of time,
especially when he prolongs it to the evening, not merely say-
ing at that time when the judge has risen, but having adju-
dicated on a vast number of cases, and therefore detained
longer than usual. Otherwise his account of the return of the
wreck would not have appeared likely, if he had brought it
back again with the return of the wave, before it had been
first carried a long way off.

37. Apollodorus, who agrees with Eratosthenes, throws
much blame upon Callimachus for asserting, in spite of his

1 Odyssey v. 306. 2 Iliad viii. 488. 3 Iliad iii. 363.

4 But I held without ceasing, until she vomited out again the mast and
keel ; and it came late to me wishing for it : as late as a man has risen
from the forum to go to supper, adjudging many contests of disputing
youths, so late these planks appeared from Charybdis. Odyssey xii. 437.

CHAP. ii. § 38. INTRODUCTION. 71

character as a grammarian, that Gaudus1 and Corcyra2 were
among the scenes of Ulysses' wandering, such an opinion
being altogether in defiance of Homer's statement, and his de-
scription of the places as situated in the exterior ocean.3

This criticism is just if we suppose the wandering to have
never actually occurred, and to be merely the result of Ho-
mer's imagination ; but if it did take place, although in other
regions, Apollodorus ought plainly to have stated which they
were, and thus set right the mistake of Callimachus. Since,
however, after such evidence as we have produced, we cannot
believe the whole account to be a fiction, and since no other more
likely places have as yet been named, we hold that the gram-
marian is absolved from blame.

38. Demetrius of Skepsis is also wrong, and, in fact, the
cause of some of the mistakes of Apollodorus. He eagerly
objects to the statement of Neanthes of Cyzicus, that the
Argonauts, when they sailed to the Phasis,4 founded at
Cyzicus the temples of the Idsean Mother.5 Though their
voyage is attested both by Homer and other writers, he
denies that Homer had any knowledge whatever of the de-
parture of Jason to the Phasis. In so doing, he not only
contradicts the very words of Homer, but even his own asser-
tions. The poet informs us that Achilles, having ravaged
Lesbos6 and other districts, spared Lemnos7 and the adjoining
islands, on account of his relationship with Jason and his son
Euneos,8 who then had possession of the island. How should
he know of a relationship, identity of race, or other con-
nexion existing between Achilles and Jason, which, after all,
was nothing else than that they were both Thessalians, one
being of lolcos,9 the other of the Achaean Pthiotis,10 and yet

1 Gaudus, the little island of Gozo near Malta, supposed by Callima-
chus to have been the Isle of Calypso.

2 It seems more probable that Callimachus intended the island of Cor-
sura, now Pantalaria, a small island between Africa and Sicily.

8 The Atlantic. 4 A river of Colchis, hodie Fasz or Rion.

5 Cybele, so named because she had a temple on Mount Ida.

6 An island in the ^Egaean, now Meteline.

7 Hodie Lemno or Stalimene.

8 Euneos was the eldest of the children which Hypsipele, daxighter of
Thoas, king of Lemnos, had by Jason during his stay in that island.

9 A town sitiiated at the bottom of the Pelasgic Gulf, hodie Volo.

10 A country of Thessaly, which received its designation of Achaean,
from the same sovereign who left his name to Achaia in Peloponnesus.

72

STRABO.

was not aware how it happened that Jason, who was a Thes-
salian of lolcos, should leave no descendants in the land of his
nativity, but establish his son as ruler of Lemnos ? Homer
then was familiar with the history of Pelias and the daughters
of Pelias, of Alcestis, who was the most charming of them
all, and of her son

" Eumelus, whom Alcestis, praised
For beauty above all her sisters fair,
In Thessaly to king Admetus bore,"1

and was yet ignorant of all that befell Jason, and Argo, and
the Argonauts, matters on the actual occurrence of which all
the world is agreed. The tale then of their voyage in the
ocean from JEeta, was a mere fiction, for which he had no
authority in history.

39. If, however, the expedition to the Phasis, fitted out by
Pelias, its return, and the conquest of several islands, have at
the bottom any truth whatever, as all say they have, so also
has the account of their wanderings, no less than those of
Ulysses and Menelaus ; monuments of the actual occurrence
of which remain to this day elsewhere than in the writings of
Homer. The city of ^Ea, close by the Phasis, is still pointed
out. -ZEetes is generally believed to have reigned in Colchis,
the name is still common throughout the country, tales of the
sorceress Medea are yet abroad, and the riches of the country
in gold, silver, and iron, proclaim the motive of Jason's ex-
pedition, as well as of that which Phrixus had formerly un-
dertaken. Traces both of one and the other still remain.
Such is Phrixium,2 midway between Colchis and Iberia, and
the Jasonia, or towns of Jason, which are every where met
with in Armenia, Media, and the surrounding countries.
Many are the witnesses to the reality of the expeditions of
Jason and Phrixus at Sinope 3 and its shore, at Propontis, at the
Hellespont, and even at Lemnos. Of Jason and his Colchian
followers there are traces even as far as Crete,4 Italy, and the
Adriatic. Callimachus himself alludes to it where he says,

' Eumelus, whom Alcestis, divine amongst women, most beautiful in
form of the daughters of Pelias, brought forth to Admetus. Iliad
ii. 714.

2 Named Ideessa in the time of Strabo. Strabo, book xi. c. ii. § 18.

3 Sinub. * Candia.

CHAP. ii. § 40. INTRODUCTION. 73

" [The temple of] Apollo and [the Isle of] Anaphe,1
Near to Laconian Thera." 2

In the verses which commence,

" I sing how the heroes from Cytaean ^Eeta,
Return'd again to ancient ^Emonia."3

And again concerning the Colchians, who,

" Ceasing to plough with oars the Illyrian Sea,4
Near to the tomb of fair Harmonia,
Who was transform'd into a dragon's shape,
Founded their city, which a Greek would call
The Town of Fugitives, but in their tongue
Is Pola named."

Some writers assert that Jason and his companions sailed
high up the Ister, others say he sailed only so far as to be
able to gain the Adriatic : the first statement results altogether
from ignorance ; the second, which supposes there is a second
Ister having its source from the larger river of the same name,
and discharging its waters into the Adriatic, is neither incredi-
ble nor even improbable.5

40. Starting from these premises, the poet, in conformity
both with general custom and his own practice, narrates some
circumstances as they actually occurred, and paints others in
the colours of fiction. He follows history when he tells us of
JE>etes and Jason also, when he talks of Argo, and on the au-
thority of [the actual city of -fl2a], feigns his city of ^Ea3a,
when he settles Euneos in Lemnos, and makes that island
friendly to Achilles, and when, in imitation of Medea, he makes
the sorceress Circe

" Sister by birth of the all-wise ^etes," e

he adds the fiction of the entrance of the Argonauts into the
exterior ocean as the sequel to their wanderings on their re-
turn home. Here, supposing the previous statements admit-
ted, the truth of the phrase " the renowned Argo,"7 is evident,

1 Hodie The Isle of Nanfio.

2 Now the Island of Callistb, founded by Theras the Lacedaemonian
more than ten centuries before the Christian era.

3 A name of Thessaly. 4 The Gulf of Venice.

5 The erroneous opinion that one of the mouths of the Danube emptied
itself into the Adriatic is very ancient, being spoken of by Aristotle as a
well-known fact, and likewise supported by Theopompus, Hipparchus,
and many other writers.

6 Odyssey x. 137. 7 Odyssey xii. 70.

74 STRABO. BOOK i.

since, in that case, the expedition was directed to a populous
and well-known country. But if, as [Demetrius] of Skep-
sis asserts, on the authority of Miranermus, ^Eetes dwelt by
the Ocean, and Jason was sent thither far east by Pelias,
to bring back the fleece, it neither seems probable that such
an expedition would have been undertaken into unknown and
obscure countries after the Fleece, nor could a voyage to
lands desert, uninhabited, and so far remote from us, be con-
sidered either glorious or renowned.
[Here follow the words of Demetrius. J.

" Nor as yet had Jason, having accomplished the arduous journey, car-
ried off the splendid fleece from ^Ea, fulfilling the dangerous mission of
the insolent Felias, nor had they ploughed the glorious wave of the
ocean."

And again :

" The city of ./Eetes, where the rays of the swift sun recline on their
golden bed by the shore of the ocean, which the noble Jason visited."

CHAPTER III.

1. ERATOSTHENES is guilty of another fault in so fre-
quently referring to the works of men beneath his notice,
sometimes for the purpose of refuting them ; at others,
when he agrees with them, in order to cite them as authori-
ties. I allude to Damastes, and such as him, who even when
they speak the truth, are utterly unworthy of being appealed
to as authorities, or vouchers for the credibility of a statement.
For such purposes the writings of trustworthy men should only
be employed, who have accurately described much; and though
perhaps they may have omitted many points altogether, and
barely touched on others, are yet never guilty of wilfully falsi-
fying their statements. To cite Damastes as an authority is
little better than to quote the Bergaean,1 or Euemerus the
Messenian, and those other scribblers whom Eratosthenes

1 Antiphanes of Berga, a city of Thrace. This writer was so noted for
his falsehoods, that flepyai&tv came to be a proverbial term for design-
ating that vice.

CHAP. in. § 2. INTRODUCTION. To

himself sneers at for their absurdities. Why, he even points
out as one of the follies of this Damastes, his observation that
the Arabian Gulf was a lake ; 1 likewise the statement that
Diotimus, the son of Strombicus and chief of the Athenian
legation, sailed through Cilicia up the Cydnus2 into the river
Choaspes,3 which flows by Susa,4 and so arrived at that capital
after forty days' journey. This particular he professes to state
on the authority of Diotimus himself, and then expresses his
wonder whether the Cydnus could actually cross the Euphrates
and Tigris in order to disgorge itself into the Choaspes.5

2. However, this is not all we have to say against him.
Of many places he tells us that nothing is known, when
in fact they have every one been accurately described. Then
he warns us to be very cautious in believing what we are
told on such matters, and endeavours by long and tedious
arguments to show the value of his advice ; swallowing at
the same time the most ridiculous absurdities himself con-
cerning the Euxine and Adriatic. Thus he believed the
Bay of Issus6 to be the most easterly point of the Mediterra-
nean, though Dioscurias,7 which is nearly at the bottom of the
Pontus Euxinus, is, according to his own calculations, farther
east by a distance of 3000 stadia.8 In describing the northern
and farther parts of the Adriatic he cannot refrain from simi-
lar romancing, and gives credit to many strange narrations
concerning what lies beyond the Pillars of Hercules, inform-
ing us of an Isle of Kerne there, and other places now no-
where to be found, which we shall speak of presently.

Having remarked that the ancients, whether out on piratical

1 Thirty years before the time of this Damastes, Herodotus had de-
monstrated to the Greeks the real nature of the Arabian Gulf.

2 This river, called by the Turks Kara-sui, rises somewhere in Mount
Taurus, and before emptying itself into the sea, runs through Tarsus.

3 The Ab-Zal of oriental writers.

4 The ancient capital cf the kings of Persia, now Schuss.

5 The very idea that Diotimus could sail from the Cydnus into the Eu-
phrates is most absurd, since, besides the distance between the two rivers,
they are separated by lofty mountain-ridges.

6 Now the Bay of Ajazzo. 7 Iskuriah.

8 Gosselin justly remarks that this is a mere disputing about terms,
since, though it is true the Mediterranean and Euxine flow into each
other, it is fully admissible to describe them as separate. The same au-
thority proves that we ought to read 3600 and not 3000 stadia, which he
supposes to be a transcriber's error.

76 STRABO.

BOOK I.

excursions, or for the purposes of commerce, never ventured
into the high seas, but crept along the coast, and instancing
Jason, who leaving his vessels at Colchis penetrated into Ar-
menia and Media on foot, he proceeds to tell us that formerly
no one dared to navigate either the Euxine or the seas by
Libya, Syria, and Cilicia. If by formerly he means pe-
riods so long past that we possess no record of them, it is of
little consequence to us whether they navigated those seas or
not, but if [he speaks] of times of which we know any thing,
and if we are to place any trust in the accounts which have
come down to us, everj_one will admit that the anciejits appear
to have made longer journeys both by sea ancLlan,d than_th£ir
successors ; witness Bacchus, Hercules, nay Jason himself,
and" again Uly_sses and Menelaus, of whom itomer tells us.
It seems most probable thaF^Theseus and Pirithous are in-
debted to some long voyages for the credit they afterwards
obtained of having visited the infernal regions ; and in like
manner the Dioscuri l gained the appellation of guardians of
the sea, and the deliverers of sailors.2 The sovereignty of
the seaa-exe£CJ££d by Minos, and the navigation carried on
by thejPhoemciajja^is weljjiiiown. A little after the period
of the Trojan war they had penetrated beyond the Pillars of
Hercules, and founded cities as well there as to the midst of
the African coast.3 Is it not correct to number amongst the
ancients "^cieas,4 An tenor,5 the Heneti, and all the crowd of
warriors, who, after the destruction of Troy, wandered over
the face of the whole earth ? For at the conclusion of the war

1 Castor and Pollux.

2 Castor and Pollux were amongst the number of the Argonauts. On
their return they destroyed the pirates who infested the seas of Greece
and the Archipelago, and were in consequence worshipped by sailors as
tutelary deities.

3 The Phoenicians or Carthaginians despatched Hanno to found certain
colonies on the western coast of Africa, about a thousand years before
the Christian era.

* Strabo here follows the general belief that JEneas escaped to Italy
after the sack of Troy, a fact clearly disproved by Homer, Iliad xx. 307,
who states that the posterity of JEneas were in his time reigning at
Troy. To this passage Strabo alludes in his 13th book, and, contrary
to his general custom, hesitates whether to follow Homer's authority or
that of certain grammarians who had mutilated the passage in order to
flatter the vanity of the Romans, who took pride in looking up to ^Eneas
and the Trojans as their ancestors.

6 Antenor having betrayed his Trojan countrymen was forced to fly.

CHAP. m. § 3, 4. INTRODUCTION. < '

both the Greeks and Barbarians found themselves deprived,
*TKe one oTfKeir livelihood at .home, the ojther of the fruits of
their expedition ; ?o that when Troy was overthrown, the
victors, and still more the vanquished, who had survived the
conflict, were compelled by want to a life of .piracy ; and we
learn that they became the founders of many cities along the
sea^cpast beyond Greece,1 besides several inland jejfctlements.2

3. Again, having discoursed on the advance of knowledge
respecting the Geography of the inhabited earth, between the
time of Alexander and the period when he was writing, Era-
tosthenes goes into a description of the figure of the earth ;
not merely of the habitable earth, an account of which would
have been very suitable, but of the whole earth, which should
certainly have been given too, but not in this disorderly man-
ner. He proceeds to tell us that the earth is spheroidal, not
however perfectly so, inasmuch as it has certain irregula-
rities, he then enlarges on the successive changes of its form,
occasioned by water, fire, earthquakes, eruptions, and the
like; all of whichTs entirely out of place, for"" the spheroidal
form of the whole earth is the result of the system of the uni-
verse, and the phenomena which he mentions do not in the
least change its general form ; such little matters being en-
tirely ^ost in the great mass of the earth. Still they cause
variouspeTJuliarities m different parts of our globe, and result
from a variety of causes.

4. He points out as a most interesting subject for disquisi-
tion the fact of our^finding, often quite inland, two or three
thousand stadia fronTthe sea, vast numbers of muscle, ouster,
and scallop-shells, and salt-water lakes.3 He gives as an

It is generally stated that, taking with him a party of the Heneti, (a peo-
ple of Asia Minor close to the Euxine,) who had come to the assistance of
Priam, he founded the city of Padua in Italy. From this people the dis-
trict in which Padua is situated received the name of Henetia, afterwards
Venetia or Venice.

1 The coasts of Italy.

2 It is generally ^admitted that the events of the Trojan war gave rise
to numerous^ colonies.

3 lire word~Xr^i/o0dXa(7<7a frequently signifies a salt marsh. The
French editors remark that it was a name given by the Greeks to
lagoons mostly found in the vicinity of the sea, though entirely sepa-
rated therefrom. Those which communicated with the sea were termed
OTOiiaXiuvai.

78 STRABO. BOOK i.

instance, that about the temple ofAmmon.1 and along the road
to it for the space of SOOOstadia, there are yet found a vast
amount of oyster shells, many salt-beds, and salt springs bub-
bling up, besides which are pointed out numerous fragments
of wreck which they say have been cast up througlisome
opem!lg, and dolphins placed on pedestals with the inscription,
Of the delegates from Gyrene. Herein he agrees with the
opinion of Siralo the naturjd^^hilosppher, and Xanthus of
Lydia. Xanthus mentioned that in the reign of Arfaxerxes
tnere was so great a drought, that every river, lake, and well
was dried up : and that in many places he had seen a long way
from the sea fossil shells, some like cockles, others resembling
scallop shells, "also salt lakes in Arjmenia, Matiana,2 and
LowexJPhrygia, which induced him to believe that sea had
formerly been where the land now was. Sirato, who went more
deeply into the causes of these phenomena, was of opinion that
formerly there was np_exit to the Euxine as now at Byzan-
tium, but that the rivers running into it had forced a way
through, and thus let the waters escape into the Propontis,
and thence to the Hellespont.3 And that a like change had
occurred in the Mediterranean. For the sea being overflowed
by the rivers, had opened for itself a passage by the Pillars of
Hercules, and thus, much that was formerly covered by water,
had been left dry.4 He gives as the cause of this, that An-
ciently the levels of the Mediterranean and Atlantic werejnpt
TGe same, and states that a bank of earth, the remains of
tlifTancient separation of the two seas, is still stretched under
water from Europe to ^Africa. He adds, that the Euxine is
fEe~most shallow, and the seasof Crete, Sicily, and Sardinia
much deeper, which is occasioned by the number of large

1 See book xvii. c. iii.

2 A country close upon the Euxine.

3 The Strait of the Dardanelles.

4 At the time of Diodorus Siculus, the people of the Isle of Samo-
thracia preserved the tradition of an inundation caused by a sudden ris-
ing of the waters of the Mediterranean, which compelled the inhabitants
to fly for refuge to the summits of the mountains; and long after, the
fishermen's nets used to be caught by columns, which, prior to the catas-
trophe, had adorned their edifices. It is said that the inundation origin-
ated in a rupture of the chain of mountains which enclosed the valley which
has since become the Thracian Bosphorus or Strait of Constantinople,
through which the waters of the Black Sea flow into the Mediterranean.

CHAP. in. § 4. INTRODUCTION. 79

rivers flowing into the Euxine both from the north and east,
and so filling it up with mud, whilst the others preserve their
depth. This is the cause of the remarkable sweetness of the
Euxine Sea, and of the currents which regularly set towards the
deepest part. He gives it as his opinion, that should the rivers
continue to flow in the same direction, the Euxine will in time
be filled up [by the deposits], since already the left side of the
sea is little else than shallows, as also Salmydessus,1 and the
shoals at the mouth of the Ister, and the desert of Scythia,2
which the sailors call the Breasts. Probably too the temple of
Ammon was originally close to the sea, though now, by the con-
tinual deposit of the waters, it is quite inland : and he con-
jectures that it was owing to its being so near the sea that it be-
came so celebrated and illustrious, and that it never would have
enjoyed the credit it now possesses had it always been equally
remote from the sea. Egypt too [he says] was formerly
covered by sea as far_as the jmarshes nearJPelusium,3 Mount
Castus,"* and the Lake'^irHomsT Everi~at the~present time,
when salt is being "Hug in Egypt, the beds are found under
layers>6lrsand andmingled with fossil shells, as if this district
liacl ibrnferly been unoer"water, and as if the whole region
about Casium and Gerrha 6 had been shallows reaching to the
Arabian Gulf. The sea afterwards receding left the land un-
covered, and the Lake Sirbonis remained, which having after-
wards forced itself a passage, became a marsh. In like
manner the borders of the Lake Moeris resemble a sea-beach
rather than the banks of a river] Every one will admit that
formerly at various periods a great portion of the mainland
has been covered and again left bare by the sea. Likewise
that the land now covered by the sea is not all on the same
level, any more than that whereon we dwell ; which is now

1 Now Midjeh, in Roumelia, on the borders of the Black Sea. Strabo
alludes rather to the banks surrounding Salmydessus than to the town
itself.

2 The part of Bulgaria next the sea, between Varna and the Danube,
now Dobrudzie.

vLXineh. * El-Kas.

5 Lake Sebaket-Bardoil.

6 Probably the present Maseli. Most likely the place was so named
from the ytppa, or wattled huts, of the troops stationed there to prevent
the ingress of foreign armies into Egypt.

80 STEABO. BOOK i.

uncovered and has experienced so many changes, as Eratos-
thenes has observed. Consequently in the reasoning of Xan-
thus there does not appear to be any thing out of place.

5. In regard to Strato, however, we must remark that,
leaving out of the question the many arguments he has pro-
perly stated, some of those which he has brought forward are
quite inadmissible. For first he is inaccurate in stating that
the beds of the interior and the exterior seas have not the
same level, and that the depth of those two seas is different :
whereas the cause why the sea is at one time raised, at an-
other depressed, that it inundates certain places and again
retreats, is not that the beds have different levels, some
higher and some lower, but simply this, that the same beds
are at one time raised, at another depressed, causing the sea
to rise or subside with them ; for having risen they cause
an inundation, and when they subside the waters return to
their former places. For if it is so, an inundation will of
course accompany every sudden increase of the waters of
the sea, [as in the spring-tides,] or the periodical swelling
of rivers, in the one instance the waters being brought to-
gether from distant parts of the ocean, in the other, their
volume being increased. But the risings of rivers are not
violent and sudden, nor do the tides continue any length of
time, nor occur irregularly ; nor yet along the coasts of our
sea do they cause inundations, nor any where else. Con-
sequently we must seek for an explanation of the cause
either in the stratum composing the bed of the sea, or in that
which is overflowed ; we prefer to look for it in the former,
since by reason of its humidity it is more liable to shiftings
and sudden changes of position, and we shall find that in these
matters the wind is the great agent after all. But, I repeat
it, the immediate cause of these phenomena, is not in the fact
of one part of the bed of the ocean being higher or lower than
another, but in the upheaving or depression of the strata on
which the waters rest. Strato's hypothesis evidently originated
in the belief that that which occurs in rivers is also the case in
regard to the sea ; viz. that there is a flow of water from the
higher places. Otherwise he would not have attempted to ac-
count for the current he observed at the Strait of Byzantium in
the manner he does, attributing it to the bed of the Euxine being

CHAP. in. § 6, 7. INTRODUCTION. 81

higher than that of the Propontis and adjoining ocean, and
even attempting to explain the cause thereof: viz. that the
bed of the Euxine is filled up and choked by the deposit of
the rivers which flow into it ; and its waters in consequence
driven out into the neighbouring sea. The same theory he
would apply in respect to the Mediterranean and Atlantic,
alleging that the bed of the former is higher than that of the
latter, in consequence of the number of rivers which flow into
it, and the alluvium they carry along with them. In that case
there ought to be a like influx at the Pillars and Calpe,1 as
there is at Byzantium. But I waive this objection, as it might
be asserted that the influx was the same in both places, but
owing to the interference of the ebb and flow of the sea, be-
came imperceptible.

6. I rather make this inquiry : — If there were any reason
why, before the outlet was opened at Byzantium, the bed of the
Euxine (being deeper than either that of the Propontis2 or of
the adjoining sea3) should not gradually have become more
shallow by the deposit of the rivers which flow into it, allow-
ing it formerly either to have been a sea, or merely a vast
lake greater than the Palus Maeotis ? This proposition being
conceded, I would next ask, whether before this the bed of
the Euxine would not have been brought to the same level as
the Propontis, and in that case, the pressure being counter-
poised, the overflowing of the water have been thus avoided ;
and if after the Euxine had been filled up, the superfluous waters
would not naturally have forced a passage and flowed off, and
by their commingling and power have caused the Euxine and
Propontis to flow into each other, and thus become one sea ?
no matter, as I said above, whether formerly it were a sea or a
lake, though latterly certainly a sea. This also being conceded,
they must allow that the present efflux depends neither upon
the elevation nor the inclination of the bed, as Strato's theory
would have us consider it.

7. We would apply the same arguments to the whole of the
Mediterranean and Atlantic, and account for the efflux of the
former, not by any [supposed] difference between the elevation
and inclination of its bed and of that of the Atlantic, but at-

1 This city of Calpe was near Mount Calpe, one of the Pillars of Her-
cules.

2 Sea of Marmora. * The ./Egaean.

82 STRABO.

BOOK. 1.

tribute it to the number of rivers which empty themselves into
it. Since, according to this supposition, it is not incredible that,
had the whole of the Mediterranean Sea in times past been but
a lake filled by the rivers, and having overflowed, it might have
broken through the Strait at the Pillars, as through a cataract;
and still continuing to swell more and more, the Atlantic in
course of time would have become confluent by that channel,
and have run into one level, the Mediterranean thus becoming
a sea. In fine, the Physician did wrong in comparing the sea
to rivers, for the latter are borne down as a descending stream,
but the sea always maintains its level. The currents of
straits depend upon other causes, not upon the accumulation
of earth formed by the alluvial deposit from rivers, filling up
the bed of the sea. This accumulation only goes on at the
mouths of rivers. Such are what are called the Stethe or
Breasts at the mouth of the Ister,1 the desert of the Scythians,
and Salmydessus, which are partially occasioned by other
winter-torrents as well ; witness the sandy, low, and even coast
of Colchis,2 at the mouth of the Phasis,3 the whole of the coast
of Themiscyra,4 named the plain of the Amazons, near the
mouths of the Thermodon5 and Iris,6 and the greater part of
Sidene.7 It is the same with other rivers, they all resemble
the Nile in forming an alluvial deposit at their mouths, some
more, some less than others. Those rivers which carry but
little soil with them deposit least, while others, which traverse
an extended and soft country, and receive many torrents in
their course, deposit the greatest quantity. Such for example
is the river Pyramus,8 by which Cilicia has been considerably
augmented, and concerning which an oracle has declared, " This
shall occur when the wide waters of the Pyramus have enlarged
their banks as far as sacred Cyprus."9 This river becomes na-
vigable from the middle of the plains of Cataonia, and entering
Cilicia10 by the defiles of the Taurus, discharges itself into the
sea which flows between that country and the island of Cyprus.

Danube, 2 Mingrelia. 3 The river Fasz.

Now Djanik. » The river Thermeh. 6 The Jekil-Irmak.

Sidin, or Valisa, is comprised in the territory of Djanik, being part of
th ancient kingdom of Pontus.

The river Geihun.

Gosselin remarks that the alluvial deposit of this river is now no
nearer to Cyprus than it was at the time of the prediction.
10 Cilicia and Cataonia are comprised in the modern Aladeuli.

CHAP. in. § 8, 9. INTRODUCTION. 83

8. These river deposits are prevented from advancing fur-
ther into the sea by the regularity of the ebb and flow, which
continually drive them back. For after the manner of living
creatures, which go on inhaling and exhaling their breath con-
tinually, so the sea in a like way keeps up a constant motion
in and out of itself. Any one may observe who stands on the
sea-shore when the waves are in motion, the regularity with
which they cover, then leave bare, and then again cover up
his feet. This agitation of the sea produces a continual move-
ment on its surface, which even when it is most tranquil has
considerable force, and so throws all extraneous matters on
to the land, and

" Flings forth the salt weed on the shore." l

This effect is certainly most considerable when the wind is on
the water, but it continues when all is hushed, and even when
it blows from land the swell is still carried to the shore against
the wind, as if by a peculiar motion of the sea itself. To this
the verses refer —

" O'er the rocks that breast the flood
Borne turgid, scatter far the showery spray," 2
and,

" Loud sounds the roar of waves ejected wide." 3

9. The wave, as it advances, possesses a kind of power,
which some call the purging of the sea, to eject all foreign
substances. It is by this force that dead bodies and wrecks
are cast on shore. But on retiring it does not possess suffi-
cient power to carry back into the sea either dead bodies,
wood, or even the lightest substances, such as cork, which
may have been cast out by the waves. And by this means
when places next the sea fall down, being undermined by the
wave, the earth and the water charged with it are cast "back
again ; and the weight [of the mud] working at the same
time in conjunction with the force of the advancing tide, it is
the sooner brought to settle at the bottom, instead of being

1 Iliad ix. 7.

1 Being swollen it rises high around the projecting points, and spits
from it the foam of the sea. Iliad iv. 4'25.

3 The lofty shores resound, the wave being ejected [upon the beach].
Iliad xvii. 265.

G 2

84 STRABO.

BOOK I.

carried out far into the sea. The force of the river current
ceases at a very little distance beyond its mouth. Otherwise,
supposing the rivers had an uninterrupted flow, by degrees
the whole ocean would be filled in. from the beach on-
wards, by the alluvial deposits. And this would be inevitable
even were the Euxine deeper than the sea of Sardinia, than
which a deeper sea has never been sounded, measuring, as it
does, according to Posidonius, about 1000 fathoms.1

10. Some, however, may be disinclined to admit this ex-
planation, and would rather have proof from things more
manifest to the senses, and which seem to meet us at every
turn. Now deluges, earthquakes, eruptions of wind, and
risings in the bed of the sea, these things cause the rising
of the ocean, as sinking of the bottom causes it to become
lower. It is not the case that small volcanic or other islands
can be raised up from the sea, and not large ones, nor that
all islands can, but not continents, since extensive sinkings
of the land no less than small ones have been known ;
witness the yawning of those chasms which have ingulfed
whole districts no less than their cities, as is said to have
happened to Bura,2 Bizone,3 and many other towns at the
time of earthquakes : and there is no more reason why one
should rather think Sicily to have been disjoined from the
main-land of Italy than cast up from the bottom of the sea by
the fires of JEtna, as the Lipari and Pithecussan4 Isles have
been.

11. However, so nice a fellow is Eratosthenes, that though

1 The word opywia, here rendered fathoms, strictly means the length
of the outstretched arms. As a measure of length it equals four TTTJXHC,
or six feet one inch. Gosselin seems to doubt with reason whether they
ever sounded such a depth as this would give, and proposes to compute
it by a smaller stadium in use at the time of Herodotus, which would
have the effect of diminishing the depth by almost one half.

2 A city of Achaia near to the Gulf of Corinth. Pliny tells us it was
submerged during an earthquake, about 371 years before the Christian
era. According to Pausanias, it was a second time destroyed by the
shock of an earthquake, but again rebuilt by the inhabitants who survived.

3 A city placed by some in Thrace, but by others in Pontus ; a more
probable opinion seems to be that Bizone was in Lower Moesia, on the
westei-n side of the Euxine. Pomponius Mela asserts that Bizone was
entirely destroyed by an earthquake, but according to Strabo, (lib. vii.,)
who places it about 40 stadia from the sea, it was only partially de-
molished. 4 Ischia.

CHAP. in. § 11. INTRODUCTION. 85

he professes himself a mathematician,1 he rejects entirely the
dictum of Archimedes, who, in his work " On Bodies in Suspen-
sion," says that all liquids when left at rest assume a spherical
form, having a centre of gravity similar to that of the earth.
jTdictum which is~acknowledged by all who have the slight-
est pretensions to mathematical sagacity. He says that the
Mediterranean, which, according to his own description, is one
entire sea, has not the same level even at points quite close
to each other ; and offers us the authority of engineers for
this piece of folly, notwithstanding the affirmation of mathe-
maticians that engineering is itself only one division of the
mathematics. He tells us that Demetrius2 intended to cut
through the Isthmus of Corinth, to open a passage for his
fleet, but was prevented by his engineers, who, having taken
measurements, reported that the level of the sea at the Gulf
of Corinth was higher than at Cenchrea,3 so that if he cut
through the isthmus, not only the coasts near ^Egina, but
even JEgina itself, with the neighbouring islands, would be
laid completely under water, while the passage would prove
of little value. According to Eratosthenes, it is this which
occasions the current in straits, especially the current in the
Strait of Sicily,4 where effects similar to the flow and ebb of
the tide are remarked. The current there changes twice in
the course of a day and night, like as in that period the
tides of the sea flow and ebb twice. In the Tyrrhenian sea 5
the current which is called descendent, and which runs to-
wards the sea of Sicily, as if it followed an inclined plane,
corresponds to the flow of the tide in the ocean. We may
remark, that this current corresponds to the flow both in the
time of its commencement arid cessation. For it commences
at the rising and setting of the moon, and recedes when that
satellite attains its meridian, whether above [in the zenith] or
below the earth [in the nadir]. In the same way occurs the
opposite or ascending current, as it is called. It corresponds to

1 We have here followed the earlier editions, as preferable to Kramer,
who supplies firi before fJ.a9rjnaTiKOQ.

2 Demetrius Poliorcetes : the same intention is narrated by Pliny and
other historians of Julius Caesar, Caligula, and Nero.

3 Kankri. 4 Strait of Messina.

4 The sea which washes the shores of Tuscany. Strabo applies the
term to the whole sea from the mouth of the Arno to Sicily.

86 STRABO. BOOK i.

the ebb of the ocean, and commences as soon as the moon has
reached either zenith or nadir, and ceases the moment she
reaches the point of her rising or setting. [So far Eratosthenes.]
12. The nature of the ebb and flow has been sufficiently treat-
ed of by Posidonius and Athenodorus. Concerning the flux and
reflux of the currents, which also may be explained by phy-
sics, it will suffice our present purpose to observe, that in the
various straits these do not resemble each other, but each strait
has its own peculiar current. Were they to resemble each other,
the current at the Strait of Sicily l would not change merely
twice during the day, (as Eratosthenes himself tells us it does,)
and at Chalcis seven times ;2 nor again that of Constantinople,
which does not change at all, but runs always in one direction
from the Euxine to the Propontis, and, as Hipparchus tells us,
sometimes ceases altogether. However, if they did all de-
pend on one cause, it would not be that which Eratosthenes
has assigned, namely, that the various seas have different levels.
The kind of inequality he supposes would not even be found
in rivers only for the cataracts ; and where these cataracts
occur, they occasion no ebbing, but have one continued down-
ward flow, which is caused by the inclination both of the flow
and the surface ; and therefore though they have no flux or
reflux they do not remain still, on account of a principle of
flowing which is inherent in them ; at the same time they
cannot be on the same level, but one must be higher and one
lower than another. But who ever imagined the surface of
the ocean to be on a slope, especially those who follow a sys-
tem which supposes the four bodies we call elementary, to be
spherical.3 For water is not like the earth, which being of a
solid nature is capable of permanent depressions and risings,
but by its force of gravity spreads equally over the earth,

1 Strait of Messina.

2 Gosselin observes that Le Pfere Babin, who had carefully examined
the currents of the Euripus of Chalcis, says that they are regular during
eighteen or nineteen days of every month, the flux and reflux occurring
twice in the twenty-four hours, and following the same laws as in
the ocean ; but from the ninth to the thirteenth, and from the twenty-
first to the twenty-sixth, of each lunar month they become irregular, the
flux occurring from twelve to fourteen times in the twenty-four hours,
and the reflux as often.

3 See Plutarch, de Plac. Philos. lib. i. c. 14, and Stobams, Eel. Phys.
lib. i. c. 18.

CHAP. in. § 13. INTRODUCTION. 87

and assumes that kind of level which Archimedes has assign-
ed it.

13. To what we cited before concerning the temple of Am-
mon and Egypt, Eratosthenes adds, that to judge from ap-
pearances, Mount Casius1 was formerly covered by sea, and
the whole district now" known as Gerra lay under shoal water
touching the bay of the ErythraeanTSea,2 but was left dry on
the union3 of the [Mediterranean] Sea [with the ocean]. A
certain amphibology lurks here under this description of the
district lying under shoal water and touching the bay of the
Erythraean Sea; for to touch4 both means to be close to, and
also to be in actual contact with, so that when applied to
water it would signify that one flows into the other. I under-
stand him to mean, that so long as the strait by the PijjarsVf
Hercules remained closed, these marshes covered with shoal-
water extended as faras the ^AnibiajU^ulf, but on that pas-
sage being forced. .open, the Mediterranean, discharging itself
by the strait, became lower, and the land was left dry.

On the otherTiand, Hipparchus understands by the term
touching, that the Mediterranean, being over-full, flowed into
the Erythraean Sea, and he inquires how it could happen,
that as the Mediterranean flowed out by this new vent at the
Pillars of Hercules, the Erythraean Sea, which was all one
with it, did not flow away too, and thus become lower, but has
always retained the same level ? and since Eratosthenes sup-
poses the whole exterior sea to be confluent, it follows that the
Western Ocean5 and the Erythraean Sea are all one ; and thus
[remarks Hipparchus] as a necessary consequence, the sea be-
yond the Pillars of Hercules, the Erythraean Sea, and that also
which is confluent with it,6 have all the same level.

1 El-K^g. 2 The Arabian Gulf. Mr. Stephenson, while examin-

ing flie~Temsah Lakes, anciently called the Bitter Lakes, discovered re-
cent marine remains similar to those on the shores of the present sea,
clearly showing that the basin of the Temsah Lakes was the head of the
Arabian Gulf at a period geologically recent.

* We have here followed MSS. which all read vvveXOovviiG & T% $a-
\arrrjs. The French editors propose ovvevSovcrriG £e TYIQ flaXarrjjc, with
the sense of " but on the retiring of the Mediterranean," &c.

4 This accusation may not seem quite fair to the English reader.
Touch is the nearest term in our language by which we can express the
Greek vvvaTTTU), the use of which Strabo objects to in this passage ; still
the meaning of the English word is much too definite for the Greek.

5 The Atlantic. « Viz. the Mediterranean.

STRABO. BOOK i.

14. But, Eratosthenes would reply, I never said that, in con-
sequence of the repletion of the Mediterranean, it actually
flowed into the Erythraean Sea, but only that it approached
very near thereto : besides, it does not follow, that in one and
the self-same sea, the level of its surface must be all the same;
to instance the Mediterranean itself, no one, surely, will say it
is of the same height at Lechjeum l and at Cenchrea.2 This
answer Hipparchus anticipated in his Critique ; and being
aware of the opinion of Eratosthenes, was justified in attacking
his arguments. But he ought not to have taken it for granted,
that when Eratosthenes said the exterior sea was all one, he
necessarily implied that its level was every where the same.

15. Hipparchus rejects as false the [account] of the inscrip-
tion on the dolphins " by the delegates from Gyrene," but the
reason he assigns for this is insufficient, viz. that though Gyrene
was built in times of which we have record, no one mentions the
oracle,3 as being situated on the sea-shore. But what matters
it that no historian has recorded this, when amongst the other
proofs from which we infer that this place was formerly on
the sea-shore, we number this of the dolphins which were set
up, and the inscription, "by the delegates from Gyrene ?"4 Hip-
parchus agrees that if the bottom of the sea were raised up,
it would lift the water with it, and might therefore overflow
the land as far as the locality of the oracle, or more than 3000
stadia from the shore ; but he will not allow that the rising
would be sufficient to overflow the Island of Pharos and the
major portion of Egypt, since [he says] the elevation would
not be sufficient to submerge these. He alleges that if before
the opening of the passage at the Pillars of Hercules, the
Mediterranean had been swollen to such an extent as Eratos-
thenes affirms, the whole of Libya, and the greater part of
Europe and Asia, must long ago have been buried beneath its

1 The western part of the town of Corinth, situated in the sea of
Crissa. Its modern name is Pelagio.

2 Kankri. 3 Viz. the temple of Jupiter Ammon, mentioned above.
4 Gosselin remarks, Gyrene was founded 631 years before the Christian

era, and at that time the limits of the Mediterranean were the same as
they are now. Amongst the Greeks, dolphins were the ordinary symbols
of the principal seaport towns ; and if the delegates from Gyrene set up
this symbol of their country in the temple of Ammon, I see no reason
why Eratosthenes and Strabo should regard the offering as a proof that
the temple was on the sea-shore.

CHAP. in. § 16. INTRODUCTION. 89

waves. Besides, he adds, in this case the Euxine would in
certain places have been connected with the Adriatic, since
in the vicinity of the Euxine, [near to its source,]1 the Ister
is divided in its course, and flows into either sea, owing to the
peculiarities of the ground.2 To this we object, that the Ister
does not take its rise at all in the vicinity of the Euxine, but,
on the contrary, beyond the mountains of the Adriatic; neither
does it flow into both the seas, but into the Euxine alone, and
only becomes divided just above its mouths. This latter,
however, was an error into which he fell in common with
many of his predecessors. They supposed that there was
another river in addition to the former Ister, bearing the
same name, which emptied itself into the Adriatic, and from
which the country of Istria, through which it flowed, gained
that appellation. It was by this river they believed Jason
returned on his voyage from Colchis.

16. In order to lessen surprise at such changes as we have
mentioned as causes of the inundations and other similar
phenomena which are supposed to have produced Sicily, the
islands of JEolus,3 and the Pithecussas, it may be as well to
compare with these others of a similar nature, which either
now are, or else have been observed in other localities. A
large array of such facts placed at once before the eye would
serve to allay our astonishment ; while that which is uncommon
startles our perception, and manifests our general ignorance of
the occurrences which take place in nature and physical ex-
istence. For instance, supposing any one should narrate the
circumstances concerning Thera and the Therasian JEslands,
situafecTin the strait between Crete and the Cyrenaic,4 Thera
being itself the metropolis of Cyrene ; or those [in connexion

1 We have thought it necessary, with the French translators, to insert
these words, since although they are found in no MS. of Strabo, the ar-
gument which follows is clearly unintelligible without them.

2 Hipparchus, believing that the Danube emptied itself by one mouth
into the Euxine, and by another into the Adriatic Gulf, imagined that
if the waters of the Mediterranean were raised in the manner proposed
by Eratosthenes, the valley through which that river flows would have
been submerged, and so formed a kind of strait by which the Euxine
would have been connected to the Adriatic Gulf.

3 The Lipari Islands.

* There is some mistake here. Strabo himself elsewhere tells us that • /
the islands of Thera and Therasia were situated in the ^gaean Sea, near V
to the island of Nanfio. **

9° STRABO. BOOK i.

with] Ejpjt, and many parts of Greece. For midway be-
T&gcasia. flames rushed forth frorrPthe sea
for the^spSce of four.jlays ; causing the whole of it to boil
and be ajT~on^Hre ; and after a little an island tweTgfijjtaflia
in circumference, composed of the burning mass, was thrown
Jip. as if raised by machinery. After the cessation of this
phenomenon, the Rhodians, then masters of the sea, were
the first who dared to sail to the place, and Ifiey built
there on the island a temple to the Asphalian1 Neptune.
Posidonius remarks, that during an earthquake which occur-
recTm Phoenicia, a city situated above Si don was swallowed
up, and tliatriearly two-thirds of Sidon~aTso fell, but not sud-
denly, and therefore with no greatToss of life. That the same
occurred, though in a lighter form, throughout nearly the whole
of Syria, and was felt even in some of the Cyclades and the
Island of Euboea,2 so that the fountains of Arethusa, a spring
in Chalcis, were completely obstructed, and after some time
forced for themselves another opening, and the whole island
ceased not to experience shocks until a chasm was rent open
in the earth in the plain of Lelanto,3 from which poured a
river of burning mud.

T7. Many writers have recorded similar occurrences, but it
will suffice us to narrate those which have been collected by*
Demetrius of Skepsis.

Apropos of that passage of Homer : —

" And now they reach'd the running rivulets clear,

Where from Scamander's dizzy flood arise

Two fountains, tepid one, from which a smoke

Issues voluminous as from a fire,

The other, even in summer heats, like hail

For cold, or snow, or crystal stream frost-bound :"4

this writer tells us we must not be surprised, that although
the cold spring still remains, the hot cannot be discovered ;

1 " Defending from danger." More probably, in this instance, the
Securer of Foundations.

2 Egripo.

3 This plain was near the city of Chalcis, which at the present day
bears the same name as the island itself.

4 And reached the two fair -flowing springs, where the two springs of
the eddying Scamander rise. The one, indeed, flows with tepid water,
and a steam arises from it around, as of burning fire ; whilst the other
flows forth in the summer time, like unto hail, or cold snow, or ice from
water. Iliad xxii. 147.

CHAP. in. § 18. INTRODUCTION. 91

and says we must reckon the failing of the Lot spring as the
cause. He goes on to relate certain catastrophes recorded by
Democles, how formerly in the reign of Tantalus l there were
great earthquakes in Lydia and Ionia as far as the Troad,2
which swallowed up whole, villages lind overturned Mount
Sipylus ;3 marshes then became lakes, and the city of Trov was
covered by the waters.4 Pharos, near Egypt, which anciently
was an_Mand, may now be called a peninsula, and the same
may be said of J?y_re and Clazpmenae.5

During my stay at Alexandria in Egypt the sea rose so
high near Pelusium6 and Mount Casius7 as to overflow the
land, and convert the mountain into an island, so that a
journey from Casius into Phoenicia might have been under-
taken by water. We should not be surprised therefore if in
time to come the isthmus 8 which separates the Egyptian sea 9
from the Erythraean,10 should part asunder or subside, and be-
coming a strait, connect the outer and inner seas,11 similarly
to what has taken place at the strait of the Pillars.

At the commencement of this work will be found some
other narrations of a similar kind, which should be considered
at the same time, and which will greatly tend to strengthen our
belief both in these works of nature and also in its other changes.

18. The Piraeus having been formerly an, island, and lying
Wpav, or ofFThe shore, is said to have thus received its name.
Leucas,12 on the contrary, has been made an island by the
Corinthians, who cut through the isthmus which connected it
with the shore [of tHe mainland]. It is concerning this place
that Laertes is made to say,

1 Tantalus lived about 1387, B. c.

* Lydia and Ionia form the modern provinces of Aidin and Sarukan
in Anadoli. A part of the Troad still preserves the name of Troiaki.

2 A mountain in Maeonia, close to the city of Magnesia.

4 Ilus, who ascended the throne about 1400 years before the Christian
era, founded the city, to which he gave the name of Ilium. The old city
of Troy stood on a hill, and was safe from the inundation.

5 These two cities were built on little islets adjoining the continent.
Alexander connected them with the mainland by means of jetties.
Clazomenae was situated on the Gulf of Smyrna, near to a place now called
Vurla or Burla. The present appellation of Tyre, on the coast of Pho2-
nicia, is Sur.

6 Tineh. T El-Kas. 8 Of Suez.

9 That part of the Mediterranean adjoining Egypt.

10 The Red Sea. " The Red Sea and Mediterranean. 12 Sta. Maura.

92 STRABO. BOOK i.

" Oh that I posscss'd
Such vigour now as when in arms \ took
Nericus, continental city fair." !

Here man devoted his labour to make a separation, in
other instances to the construction of moles and bridges.
Such is that which connects the island opposite to Syracuse2
with the mainland. This junction is now effected by means
of a bridge, but formerly, according to Ibycus, by a pier of
picked stones, which he calls elect. Of Bura3 and Helice,4
one has been swallowed by an earthquake, the other covered
by the waves. Near to Methone,5 which is on the Hermionic
Gulf,6 a mountain seven stadia in height was cast up during a
fiery eruption ; during the day it could not be approached on
account of the heat and sulphureous smell ; at night it
emitted an agreeable odour, appeared brilliant at a distance,
and was so hot that the sea boiled all around it to a distance
of five stadia, and appeared in a state of agitation for twenty
stadia, the heap being formed of fragments of rock as large as
towers. Both Arne and Mideia7 have been buried in the
waters of Lake Copais.8 These towns the poet in his Cata-
logue9 thus speaks of;

" Arne claims

A record next for her illustrious sons,

Vine-bearing Arne. Thou wast also there

Mideia." 10

It seems that several Thracian cities have been submerged by
the Lake Bistonis,11 and that now called Aphnitis.12 Some also

1 Odyss. xxiv. 376.

I The island of Ortygia, now St. Marcian. * Diakopton.
4 Probably Bulika, according to others Trypia or Niora.

* Methone is the same town which Pausanias (1. ii. c.3'2) names Methona,
it was situated in the Argolis between Troezene and Epidaurus. The above
writer tells us that in the reign of Antigonus, son of Demetrius king of
Macedonia, there was a breaking out of subterranean fires close to Me-
thona. This event, which it is probable Strabo alludes to, occurred some
where between the year 277 and 244, oefore the Christian era. The town
still exists under its ancient name of Methona.

6 An error in all the MSS. The Saronic Gulf is intended.

r Vide Strabo, b. ix. c. ii. § 34, 35. 8 In Bceotia.

9 The Second Iliad, or Catalogue of Ships.

10 And those who inhabited grape-clustered Arne, and those [who in-
habited] Mideia. Iliad ii. 007.

II This Thracian lake or lagoon is now called Burum. It is formed by
the mouths of several rivers, and lies to the north of the isle of Thaso.

12 Diaskillo, a/. Biga.

CHAP. in. § 19. INTRODUCTION. 93

affirm that certain cities of Trerus were also overwhelmed, in
the neighbourhood of Thrace. Artemita, formerly one of the
Echinades,1 is now part of the mainland; the same has hap-
pened to some other of the islets near the Achelous, occasioned,
it is said, in the same way, by the alluvium carried into the
sea by that river, and Hesiod 2 assures us that a like fate
awaits them all. Some of ihe ^Etoljan ^promontories were
formerlj^Jslands. Asteria,3 called by Homer Asteris, is no^
longer what it was.

" There is a rocky isle

In the mid-sea, Samos the rudebetween

And Ithaca, not large, named Asteris.

It hath commodious havens, into which

A passage clear opens on either side."4

There is no good anchorage there now. Neither is there in
Ithaca the cavern, nor yet the temple of the nymphs described
to us by Homer. It seems more correct to attribute this to
change having come over the places, than either to the ignor-
ance or the romancing of the poet. This however, being
uncertain, must be left to every man's opinion.

19. Myrsilus tells us that Antissa5 was formerly an island,
and so called because it was opposite to Lesbos,6 then named
Issa. Now, however, it forms one of the towns of Lesbos.7
Seme have believed that Lesbos itself has been disjoined from
Mount Ida in the same way as Prochytas 8 and Pithecussa 9
from Misenum,10 CapreaB n from the Athenaeum, Sicily from

1 These are certain little islands at the mouth of the river Achelous, the
modern Aspropotamo, which formed the boundary between Acarnania
and ^Etolia. Now Curzolari.

2 It is supposed we should here read Herodotus. Conf. Herod, ii. 10,

3 Daskalio.

4 Now there is a certain rocky island in the middle of the sea, between
Ithaca and the rugged Samos, Asteris, not large ; and in it there are
havens fit for ships, with two entrances. Odyssey iv. 844.

5 That is to say, the territory opposite Issa ; probably the ruins near to
Kalas Limenaias.

6 The present island of Metelino.

7 'H. df'AvTiffffa v7)ffoq i\v Trportpoj/, we Mwpffi'Xof §r\GC rijg [ete] AeajScv
KaXovfitvrjQ 7rp6repoj>*I<r!777c, Kai rrjv vfjtrov'AvTifftrav KaXtlaOai avvefli).
Our rendering of this passage, though rather free, seemed necessary to the
clear explication of the Greek.

8 Procita. * Ischia.

10 Miseno, the northern cape of the Gulf of Naples.

11 Capri.

94 STRABO.

BOOK I.

Rhegium,1 and Ossa from Olympus.2 Many changes similar
to these have occurred elsewhere. The river Ladon in Ar-
cadia ceased for some time its flow. Duris informs us that
the Rhagas3 in Media gained that appellation from chasms
made in the ground near the Gates of the Caspian 4 by earth-
quakes, in which many cities and villages were destroyed, and
the rivers underwent various changes. Ion, in his satirical
composition of Omphale, has said of Eubcea,

" The light wave of the Euripus has divided the land of Euboea from
Bo2otia; separating the projecting land by a strait."

20. Demetrius of Callatis, speaking of the earthquakes
which formerly occurred throughout the whole of Greece,
states that a great portion of the Lichadian Islands and of
Kenaeum5 were submerged ; that the hot springs 'of ./Edepsus6
and Thermopylae were suppressed for three days, and that
when they commenced to run again those of .ZEdepsus gushed
from new fountains. That at Oreus7 on the sea-coast the
wall and nearly seven hundred houses fell at once. That the
greater part of Echinus,8 Phalara,9 and Heraclaea of Trachis 10
were thrown down, Phalara being overturned from its very
foundations. That almost the same misfortune occurred to
the Lamians11 and inhabitants of Larissa; that Scarpheia12
was overthrown from its foundations, not less than one
thousand seven hundred persons being swallowed up, and at

I Reggio.

* These two mountains are separated from each other by the river
Penaeus.

3 'Payac, a rent or chink. This town was sixty miles from Ecbatana ;
it was named by the Arabs Rai, and is now in ruins. It is the Rhages
in Tobias.

4 Certain mountain defiles, now called Firouz-Koh.

* A western promontory of Euboea, called by the modern Greeks
Kabo Lithari. The Lichadian Islands, which now bear the name of Li-
tada, are close by.

6 A city of Eubcea ; hod. Dipso. 7 In Euboea, now Orio.

8 Now Echino ; belonged to Thessaly and was near the sea.

9 Now Stillida ; situated on the Bay of Zeitoun.

10 A little town situated in a plain amongst the mountains. It received
its name from a tradition that Hercules abode there during the lime that
the pyre on Mount CEta was being prepared, into which he cast himself.

II Lamia in Thessaly.

12 A city of the Epi-Cnemidian Locrians in Achaia ; its present name
is Bondoniza.

CHAP. in. § 21. INTRODUCTION. 95

Thronium 1 more than half that number. That a torrent of water
gushed forth taking three directions, one to Scarphe and Thro-
nium, another to Thermopylae, and a third to the plains of
Daphnus in Phocis. That the springs of [many] rivers were
for several days dried up ; that the course of the Sperchius 2
was changed, thus rendering navigable what formerly were high-
ways ; that the Boagrius3 flowed through another channel;
that many parts of Alope, Cynus, and Opus were injured,4
and the castle of CEum. which commands the latter city, en-
tirely overturned. That part of the wall of Elateia5 was
thrown down ; and that at Alponus,6 during the celebration of
the games in honour of Ceres, twenty-five maidens, who had
mounted a tower to enjoy the show exhibited in the port,
were precipitated into the sea by the falling of the tower.
They also record that a large fissure was made [by the water]
through the midst of the island of Atalanta,7 opposite Eubrea,8
sufficient for ships to sail in ; that the course of the channel
was in places as broad as twenty stadia between the plains ;
and that a trireme being raised [thereby] out of the docks,
was carried over the walls.

21. Those who desire to instil into us that more perfect free-
dom from [ignorant] wonder, which Democritus and all other
philosophers so highly extol, should add the changes which have
been produced by the migrations of various tribes : we should
thus be inspired with courage, steadiness, and composure.
For instance, the Western Iberians,9 removed to the regions
beyond the Euxine and Colchis, being separated from Arme-

1 A town close to Scarpheia ; its ruins are said to be still visible at
Palaio Kastro.

2 Now Agriomela or Ellada, a river descending from Mount (Eta, and
emptying itself into the Bay of Zeitoun.

3 A torrent near Thronium ; its present name is Boagrio.

4 Three cities of the Opuntian Locrians ; Cynus, the port of Opus, is
now called Kyno.

5 One of the principal cities of Phocis, near the river Cephissus ; a
little village called Leuta stands on the ancient site.

6 Probably the Alpene in Locris mentioned by Herodotus.

7 The modern Talanta. 8 Egripo.

9 The Western Iberians are the people who inhabited Spain, and were
said to have removed into Eastern Iberia, a country situated in the centre
of the isthmus which separates the Euxine from the Caspian Sea. The
district is now called Carduel, and is a region of Georgia.

96

STRABO.

nia, according to Apollodorus, by the Araxes,1 but rather by
the Cyrus2 and Moschican mountains.3' The expedition of
the Egyptians into Ethiopia4 and Colchis. The migration of
the Heneti,5 who passed from Paphlagonia into the country
I bordering on the Adriatic Gulf. Similar ennVratipns were also
undertaken by the nations of Greece, tTuTlonians, Dorians,
Achaians, and .^Eolians ; and thlT^Enians,6 now next neighbours
ttTtHe jEtolians, formerly dwelt nealrTDotium 7 and Ossa, beyond
the Perrhsebi ; 8 ffie~" PerrhaelSI too are but wanderers here
theroselves. Our present work furnishes, numerous instances
of the same kind. Some of these are familiar to most readers,
but the migrations of the Carians. the Treres, the_Teucrians,
and" the jjjatae^or Gauls,9 are not so generally known. Nor
yet for ~tne mosTparT are the expeditions of their chiefs, for
instance, Madys the__^ythian, Tearko the Ethiopian, Cobus
of Trerus, Sesostris and Psammeticus the Egyptians ; uoj^are
those of the Persians from Cyrus to Xerxes familiar to every
one. The Kimmerians, or a~separ"ate tribe of them, called the
Treres, have frequently overrun the countries to the right of
the Euxine and those adjacent to them, bursting now into
Paphlagonia, now into Phrjgia, as they did when, according
to report, Midas 1() came to his death by drinking bull's blood.
Lygdamis lecl his followers into Lydia, passed througlTTonia,
jtoojTj-Jardis, but was slain in Cilicia. The Kioomerians and
jTreres frequently made similaFlncursions, until at last, as it
is reported, these latter, togetherlvTtlTftheir chief] Cobus, were

1 The river Aras. 2 The river Kur.

3 The mountains which border Colchis or Mingrelia on the south.

* According to Herodotus, Sesostris was the only Egyptian monarch
who ever reigned in Ethiopia. Pliny says he penetrated as far as the
promontory of Mosylon.

5 Veneti.

6 A small people of Thessaly, who latterly dwelt near Mount CEta,
which separated them from ^Etolia and Phocis.

A city and plahijnjrjiessaly, near to Mount Ossa.

Lacedon, at the time of Strabo dwelling north of the
river '

9 Few nations have wandered so far and wide as the Galatse. We meet
with them in Europe, Asia, and Africa, under the various names of Galatae,
Galatians, Gauls, and Kelts. Galatia, in Asia Minor, was settled by one
of these hordes.

10 There were many kings of Phrygia of this name.

CHAP. in. § 22. INTRODUCTION.

driven out by Madys, king of the " Scythians." ] Bu'

has been said in this place on the general history of tl ,

as each country will have a particular account.

22. We must now return to the point whence we digressed.
Herodotus hayingobserved that there-could be no such people
as ^HypejjjQiean s, inasmuch as there were no Hypernotii,2
Eratosthenes calls this argument ridiculous, and compares
it to the sophisnf, that" there are no epichserekaki,3 inasmuch
as there are no epichaeragathi ; 4 [adding] perhaps there are
Hypernotii ; since at all events in Ethiopia Notus does not
blow, although lower down it does.

It would indeed be strange, since winds blow under every
latitude, and especially the southern wind called Notus, if any
region could be found where this latter was not felt. On
the contrary, not only does Ethiopia experience our Notus,
but also the whole country which lies above as far as the
equator.5

If Herodotus must be blamed at all, it is for supposing that
the Hyperboreans were so named in consequence of Boreas, or
the north wind, not blowing upon them. The poets are allowed
much licence in their modes of expression ; but their com-
mentators, who endeavour always to give us the correct view,
tell us that the people who dwelt in the extreme north, were
styled Hyperboreans. The pole is the boundary of the northern

1 The text of Kramer follows most MSS. in reading " Kimmerians,"
but he points it out as a manifest error ; and refers to Herodotus i. 103.

2 By Hyperboreans are meant people who dwelt beyond the point from
whence the north wind proceeded : Hypernotii therefore should be those
who lived beyond the point of the procession of the south wind. The
remark of Herodotus will be found, lib. iv. § 36. It is simply this : Sup-
posing Hyperboreans, there ought likewise to be Hypernotii.

3 Those who exult over the misfortunes of their neighbours.

4 Those who rejoice in others' prosperity.

5 Gosselin observes, that what Strabo here says, is in accordance with
the geographical system of the ancients, who supposed that Africa did
not extend as far as the equator. As they distinguished the continent
situated in the northern from a continent which they believed to exist
in the southern hemisphere, and which they styled the Antichthones,
they called the wind, blowing from the neighbourhood of the equator,
in the direction of the two poles, a south wind for either hemisphere.
For example, if sailors should be brought to the equator by a north
wind, and that same wind should continue to waft them on their course
after having passed the line, it would no longer be called a north, but a
south wind.

VOL. i. ii

98 STEABO. BOOK i.

winds, and the equator of the southern ; these winds have no
other limit.

23. Eratosthenes next finds fault with the writers who fill
their narrative with stories evidently feigned and impossible ;
some as mere fable, but others as history, which did not de-
serve mention. In the discussion of a subject like his, he
should not have wasted his time about such trifles. Such is
the way in which this writer completes the First Book of his
Memoirs.

CHAPTER IV.

1. IN his Second Book Eratosthenes endeavours to correct
some errors in geography, and offers his own views on the
subject, any mistakes in which we shall endeavour in our turn
to set right. He is correct in saying that the inductions of
mathematics and natural philosophy should be employed, and

t thatif^the earth is spheroidal like_the u ni verse, it is inhabited

^* mall j>arts ; together with some other things of this nature.

Later writers do not agree with him as to the size of the

earth,1 nor admit his measurement. However Hipparchus,

when noting the cj]^sjial^rjD^aj^ances for each particular lo-

/ cality, adoptsjiis admeasurements, saying thaTtHose~fa^eri for
tTip: rnfirufinn of Mprn^2 Alftyapdria. and the Dnieper, dif-
fer but very slightly from the truth. JEratosthenes then en-
ters into a long discussion concerning the figure of the globe,
proving that the form of the earth together with the water is

/ -^spheroidal, as jls^_jhej^ea£f!ns. ^This however we imagine

^*~ was foreign to his purpose, and should have been disposed of
in the compass of a few words.

2. After this he proceeds to determine the breadth of the
habitable earth : he tells us, that measuring from the meridian
of Meroe3 to Alexandria, there are 10,000 stadia.

1 According to Gosselin, this does not allude to the size of the whole
earth, but merely that part of it which, according to the theory of the
ancients, was alone, habitable.

- Most probably Gherri in Sennaar.

3 Eratosthenes supposed that Meroe, Alexandria, the Hellespont, and

CHAP. iv. § 3, 4. INTRODUCTION. 99

From thence to the Hellespont 1 about 8100. Again;
from thence to the Dnieper, 50l)0 ; and thence to the parallel
of Thule,2 which Pytheas says is six (jays' sail north from
Britain, and near the Frozen Sea, other 11,500. To"whlch
iFw-e add 3400 stadia a5ove~T5Teroe in order to include the
Island of the Egyptians,3 the Cinnamon country, and Tapro-
bane,4 there will be in all 38,000 stadia.

3. We will let pass the rest of his distances, since they are
something near, — but that the Dnieper is under the same
parallel as Thule, what man in his senses could ever agree to
this ? Pytheas, who has given us the history of Thule, is known
to be a man upon whom no reliance can be placed, and other
writers who have seen Britain andj^rne,5 although they tell
us of many small islaricfsround Britain, make no mention
whatever of Thule. The length^f Britain itself is nearly the
saine ^_t]iat_o£J^eltica,6 opposite to which it extends. Alto-
gether it is not more than 5000 stadia in length, its outer-
most points corresponding to those of the opposite continent.
In fact the extreme points of the two countries lie opposite to
each other, the eastern extremity to the eastern, and the
western to the western: the eastern points are situated so
close as to be within sight of each other^ both at Kent and at
the mouths oT th^Tthme] But Pytheas tells us that the is-
land [of Britain] is more than 20,000 stadia in length, and
that Kent is some days' sail from France. With regard to
the locality of the Ostimii, and the countries beyond the
Rhine,7 as far as Scythia, he is altogether mistaken. The
veracity of a writer who has been thus false in describing
countries with which we are well acquainted, should not be
too much trusted in regard to unknown places.

4. Further, Hipparchus and many others are of opinion
that the parallel of latitude of the Dnieper does not differ

the inoxith of the Borysthenes or Dnieper, were all under the same
meridian.

1 The Dardanelles. 2 Iceland.

3 This Island of the Egyptians is the same which Strabo elsewhere calls
the Island of the Exiles, because it was inhabited by Egyptians who had
revolted from Psammeticus, and established themselves in the island. Its
exact situation is unknown.

4 Ceylon. 5 Ireland.

6 France. 7 Between the Rhine and Elbe.

H 2

STRABO.

from that of Britain ; since that of Byzantium and Marseilles
argjhe^arae. The degree of shadowlrom the jgnomon which
Ptheasstates he oBsSe3La£]Haiseilles beineecual

from that of Britain ; since that of Byzantium and Marseilles
1 a

yt

to that which Hipparchus says he fbmid_j.t_Byzantiuni ; the
periods of observation being in both cases~snmTar7r Now
irom Marseilles to the cejitre_gf..^ritain is ^ot~more__than
5000 stadia ; and if from the centre of Britain we advance
"norOfnot more than 4000 stadia, we arrive at a temDerature in
s which it is scarcely fjossible to exist. Such indeed is that of
••^^lerne.^ Consequently the far region in which Eratosthenes
/ places Thule must be totally uninhabitable. By what guess-
work he arrived at the conclusion that between the latitude
of Thule and the Dnieper there was a distance of 11,500
stadia I am unable to divine.

5. Eratosthenes being mistaken as to the breadth [of the
habitable earth], is necessarily wrong as to its length. The
most accurate observers, both ancient and modern, agree that
the known length of the habitable earth is more than twice
its breadth. Its length I take to be^frpm the [eastern] ex-
tremity of Xpdja 3 to the [westernmost] point of Spain ; 4 and
its breadth from [the south of] EthiojDia to theTatituae_pf lerne.
Eratosthenes, as we have said, reckoning its breadth from the
extremity of Ejhiogia toJThule, was forced to extend its length
beyond the true limits, that he might make it more than twice
as long as the breadth he had assigned to it. He says that
India, measured where it is narrowest,5 is 16,000 stadia to the
riyerlndus. If measured from its most prominent capes it
extenoTSDOO more.6 Thence to the Caspian Gates, 14,000.
From the Caspian Gates to the Euphrates,7 10,000. From

1 The latitudes of Marseilles and Constantinople differ by 20 16' 21".
Gosselin enters into a lengthened explanation on this subject, i. 158.

2 Ireland. 3 The eastern mouth of the Ganges.
'— ' '^CapT'St. Vincent.

5 In the opinion of Strabo and Eratosthenes, the narrowest portion of
India was measured by a line running direct from the eastern embouchure
of the Ganges to the sources of the Indus, that is, the northern side of India
bounded by the great chain of the Taurus.

6 Cape Comorin is the farthest point on the eastern coast. Strabo
probably uses the plural to indicate the capes generally, not confining
himself to those which project a few leagues farther than the rest.

7 The Euphrates at Thapsacus, the most frequented passage; hod,
El-Der.

CHAP. iv. $ 6. INTRODUCTION. 101

the Euphrates to the Nile, 5000. J Thence to the Cano-
pic2 mouth. 1300. From the Canopic mouth to Carthage.
13,500. From thence to the Pillars at least 8000. Which
make in all 70,800 stadia. To these [he says] should be add-
ed the curvature of Europe beyond the Pillars of Hercules,
fronting the Iberians, and inclining west, not less than 3000
stadia, and theTTeadlands, including that of the Ostimii, named
Cabasum,3 and the adjoining islands, the last of which, named
Uxisama,4 is distant, according to Pytheas, a three days' sail.
But he added nothing to its length by enumerating these last,
viz. the headlands, including that of the Ostimii, the island of
Uxisama, and the rest ; they are not situated so as affect the
length of the earth, for they all lie to the north, and belong to
Keltica, not to Iberia ; indeed it seems but an invention of
Pytheas. Lastly, to fall in with the general opinion that the
breadth ought not5 to exceed half the length, he adds to the
stated measure of its length 2000 stadia west, and as many east.
6. Further, endeavouring to support the opinion that it
is in accordance with natural philosophy to reckon the great-
est dimension of the habitable earth from east to west, he
says that, according to the laws of natural philosophy, the
habitable earth ought to occupy a greater length from east to
west, than its breadth from north to south. The temperate
zone, which we have already designated as the longest zone,
is that which the mathematicians denominate a continuous
circle returning upon itself. So that if the extent of the
Atlantic Ocean were not an obstacle, we might easily pass by
sea from Iberia to India,6 still keeping in the same parallel ;
the remaining portion of which parallel, measured as above
in stadia, occupies more than a third of the whole circle :
since the parallel drawn through Athens,7 on which we have
taken the distances from India to Iberia, does not contain in
the whole 200,000 stadia.

1 The Pelusiac mouth of the Nile, now Thineh or Farameh.

2 Close by Aboukir. 3 Cape S. Mahe. 4 Ushant.

* The text has TO irX'tov, but we have followed the suggestions of the
commentators in reading TO fir/ irXiov.

6 It is remarkable that this is the same idea which led Columbus to
the discovery of America, and gave to the islands off that continent the
name of the West Indies.

7 We have followed Kramer in reading Si "\Br}vSJvt instead of the £ta
Oiv&r of former editions.

102 STRABO.

BOOK I.

Here too his reasoning is incorrect. For this speculation
respecting the temperate zone which wejnhabit. and whereof
the habitable earth is a part, devolves properly on. those who
make mathematics their study. But it is not equally the
province of one treating of the habitable earth. For by this
term we mean only that portion of the temperate zone where
we dwell, and with which we are acquainted. But it is quite
possible that in the temperate zone there may be two or even
more habitable earths, especially near the circle of latitude
which is drawn through Athens and the Atlantic Ocean. After
this he returns to the form of_the earth, which he again
declares to be sr^heroidal. Here he exhibits the same churl-
ishness we have previously pointed out, and goes on abusing
Homer in his old style. He proceeds :

7. " There has been much argument respecting the conti-
nents. Some, considering them to be divided by the rivers Nile
and Tanais,1 have described them as islands ; while others sup-
poseitKenTto be peninsulas connected by the isthmuses between
the Caspian and the Euxine Seas, and between the Erythraean
Sea2 and Ecregma."3 He adds, that this question does not ap-
pear to him to be of any practical importance, but rather, as
Democritus observed, a bonej)fj2ojitenj;^^
Where there are no preciselxmndary marks, columns, or walls,
as at Colvjttus and Melite,4 it is easy for us to say such a place
is Colyttus, and such another Melite ; but not so easy to show
the exact limits: thus disputes have frequently arisen con-
cerning certain districts ; that, for instance, between the
Argives and Lacedaemonians concerning [the possession of]
Thyrea,5 and that between the Athenians and Bo30tians re-
lative to Oropus.6 Further, in giving names to the three con-
tinents, the Greeks did not take into consideration the whole
habitable eafttlTtmt merely^jtJieinjQffin_country and the land
exactly opposite, namely, Caria, which is now inhabitecf~Dy

1 The Nile being thought to separate Africa from Asia, and the Tanais,

pxDo^Eujiipe^ 2 The Red Sea-

3~Th"e~~namebf the mouth of the lake Sirbonis or Sebaket-Bardoil,
which opens into the Mediterranean. A line drawn from this embouch-
ure to the bottom of the Arabian Gulf, would give the boundary between
Africa and Asia. 4 Places in Attica.

5 Probably Thyrqs, a place situated close to the sea, just at the bound
ary of the two countries.

6 Oropo, on the confines of Attica and Boeotia.

CHAP. iv. § 8. INTRODUCTION. 103

the lonians and other neighbouring tribes. In course of time,
as HleyHdvanced further and daily became acquainted with,
new countries, this their division came to be general."

I take this last part first, and (to use Eratosthenes' own
words, not those of Democritus) willing to pick my bone of con-
tention, inquire, whether they who first made the division of
the three continents were the same persons as those who first
desired to distinguish their own land from that of the Carians
opposite, or whether they were only acquainted with Greece,
Caria, and some few other adjoining countries, and not with
Europe, Asia, or Africa ; but that others who followed them,
and were able to write a description of the habitable earth,
were the real authors of the division into three continents.
How did he know that these were not the men who made this
division of the habitable earth? And he who divided the
earth into three parts, giving to each portion the name of
" continent," could he not form in his mind a just idea of that
taken as a whole, which he had so parcelled out. But if in-
deed he were not acquainted with the whole habitable earth,
but merely made a division of some part thereof, pray what
portion of that part did he denominate Asia, or Europe, or
simply continent ? Such talk is altogether nonsense.

8. The reasoning of Eratosthenes, however, is still more
absurd, when he declares that he sees no advantage in being
acquainted with the exact boundaries of countries, and then
cites the example of Colyttus and Melite, which prove just
the contrary of his assertion. Surely if a want of certainty
respecting the boundaries of Thyrea and Oropus gave rise to
war, a knowledge of the limits of different districts must be
of practical importance. Will he tell us that the boundaries
of districts, or the limits of kingdoms, may be of some service,
but when applied to continents it is carrying the matter too
far. We reply, it is of equal consequence here. Suppose a
dispute between two powerful princes, one claiming the posses-
sion of Asia and the other of Africa, to which of these should
Egypt, I mean the country called Lower Egypt, appertain.
Will any one pass over such cases on account of their rarity ?
By no means. It is acknowledged by every one that the
limits of each continent ought to be defined by some notable
boundary, indicated by the configuration of the whole habit-
able earth. In following out this principle, we should not be

104 STRABO. BOOK i.

very particular if they who determine boundaries by the rivers
leave some districts undefined, since the rivers do not reach
from sea to sea, nor leave the continents altogether as islands.
9. At the close of the book Eratosthenes blames the system
of those who would divide all mankind into Greeks and Bar-
barians, and likewise those who recommended Alexander to
treat the Greeks as friends, but the Barbarians as enemies.1
He suggests, as a better course, to distinguish them ac-
cording to their virtues and their vices, " since amongst the
Greeks there are many worthless characters, andjuanvhighly
civilized are to be found amongst the Barbarians ; witness the
Indians ancTArijjai^oT still better the Romans and Carthagi-
"mans7 whose pqliticaJLs^stem is so beautii'nl|y perfect. Alex-
fancier, considering this, disregarded the advice which had been
offered him, and patronized without distinction any man he
considered to be deserving." But we would inquire whether
those men who thus divided the human race, abandoning one
portion to contempt, and exalting to dignity the other, were
not actuated to this because they found that on one side justice,
knowledge, and the force of reason reigned supreme, but their
contraries on the other. Alexander did not disregard the
advice tendered him, but gladly embraced and followed it,
respecting the wisdom of those wrho gave it ; and so far from
taking the opposite course, he closely pursued that which they
pointed out.

1 Aristotle was the giver of this sage counsel. 2 A people of Asia.

BOOK II.

SUMMARY.

In the Second Book, having proposed for discussion the [opinions] of Era-
tosthenes, he examines and refutes whatever that writer may have incor-
rectly said, determined, or laid down. He likewise brings forward many
statements of Hipparchus, which he disproves, and finishes with a short
exposition or synopsis of the whole subject, namely, geographical know-
ledge.

CHAPTER I.

1. IN the Third Book of his Geography Eratosthenes furnishes
us with a chart of the habitable earth. This he divides into
two portions, by a line running from east to west parallel to
the equator. He makes the Pillars of Hercules the boundary
of this line to the west, and to the east the farthest ridges of
those mountains which bound India on the north. From the
Pillars he draws ihe line through the Strait of Sicily,1 and the
southern extremities of Peloponnesus and Attica, tqjlh^des
and the Gulf of Issus.2 He says, " Through the whole of this
distance the line mentioned is drawn across the sea 3 and ad-
jacent continents ; the whole length of the Mediterranean as
far_asjCilicia extending in that direction. Thence it runs
nearly in a straight line along the whjp chain nf the Taurus
to India. The Taurus continuing in a straight line from the
"Pillars divides Asia through its whole length into two halves,
So that both the Taurus and the sea from

^
the Pillars hither 4 lie under the parallel of Athens."

2. He then declares that the ancient geographical chart
wants revision ; that in it the eastern portion of the Taurus

1 The Strait of Messina.

2 The Gulf of Aias. The town of Ai'as has replaced Issus, at the eastern
extremity of the Mediterranean.

3 The Mediterranean.

4 That is, the Mediterranean on the coast of Syria.

106 STRABO. BOOK n.

is made to run too far north, India itself being also too much
drawn in the same direction. One proof which he offers in
support of this is, that the most southern extremities of India-
are under the same latitude as Mejro"e7^as~attested by many,
both from astrono^icaT~observations and the temjp_erature of
the climate. From thence to the most northerly point by the
mountains of the Caucasus,1 there are 15,000 stadia, accord-
ing to Patrocles, a writer whom we are bound to believe, both
on account of his worth, and the vast amount of his geogra-
phical attainments. Now since the distance from Meroe to
the parallel of Athens is nearly the same, the most northerly
points of India next to the Caucasian mountains ought to be
under the same degree of latitude.

3. But there is another method (says Eratosthenes) of
proving this. The distance from the Gulf of Issus to the
Euxine, proceeding in a northerly direction towards Amisus2
and Sinope,3 is about 3000 stadia, which is as much as the
supposed extent of the mountains [of the Taurus].4 The tra-
veller who directs his course from Amisus due east,5 arrives
first at Colchis, then at the high lands by the Hyrcanian
Sea,6 afterwards at the road leading to Bactra,7 and beyond to
the Scythians; having the mountains always on the right.
The same line drawn through Amisus westward, crosses the
Propontis and Hellespont. From Meroe to the Hellespont
there are not more than 18,000 stadia.8 The distance is just
the same from the southern extremity of India to the land of
Bactria, if we add to the 15,000 stadia of that country the
3000 which its mountains occupy in breadth.

4. Hipparchus tries to invalidate this view of Eratosthenes,
by sneering at the proofs on which it rests. Patrocles, he
says, merits little credit, being contradicted by the two writers

1 Strabo does not here mean the Caucasus or Balkan, but the moun-
tains which stretch from Persia to Cochin China. At a later period the
several chains were known to the Greeks by the names of Paropamisus,
Emodi Montes, Imaiis, &c.

2 Samsun. 3 Sinub.

4 The great chain of the Taurus was supposed to occupy the whole
breadth of Asia Minor, a space of 3000 stadia. Eratosthenes is here at-
tempting to prove that these mountains occupy a like space in the north
of India.

5 Lit. to the equinoctial rising. 6 Another designation of the Caspian.
7 Balk. 8 Read 18,100 stadia.

CHAP. i. § 5, 6. INTRODUCTION. 107

Deimachus and Megasthenes, who say that the distance1
taken from the southern ocean, is in some places 20,000, in
others 30,000 stadia ; that in this assertion they are supported
by the ancient charts, and he considers it absurd to require
us to put implicit faith in Patrocles alone, when there is so
much testimony against him ; or that the ancient charts should
be corrected ; but rather that they should be left as they are
until we have something more certain on the subject.

5. This argument, I think, is in many instances unfounded.
Eratosthenes availed himself of the statements of many
writers, although Hipparchus alleges he was solely led by
Patrocles. Who then are the authors of the statement that
the southern extremity of India is under the same parallel
as Meroe ; and who are they who estimate2 the distance from
Meroe to the parallel passing through Athens ? Or who, again,
were those who asserted that the whole breadth occupied by
the mountains3 was equal to the distance from Cilicia to
Amisus ? Or who made known that, travelling from Amisus,
the course lay in a straight line due east through Colchis, the
[sea of] Hyrcania, so on to Bactria, and beyond this to the
eastern ocean,4 the mountains being always on the right hand ;
and that this same line carried west in a straight line, tra-
verses the Propontis and the Hellespont ? These things Era-
tosthenes advances on the testimony of men who had been on
the spot, and from the study of those numerous memoirs which
he had for reference in that noble library5 which Hipparchus
himself acknowledges to be gigantic.

6. Besides, the credibility of Patrocles can be proved by a
variety of evidence — the princes6 who confided to him so im-
portant trusts — the authors who follow his statements — and
those, too, who criticise them, whose names Hipparchus has
recorded. Since whenever these are refuted, the credit of
Patrocles is by so much advanced. Nor does Patrocles ap-
pear to state any thing improbable when he says that the army

1 i. e. The breadth of India.

2 Literally, " estimate at so much," referring to the estimate at the
conclusion of § 2.

3 Caucasus, in the north of India.

4 By the term t'y'a fldXarra, rendered " eastern ocean," we must
understand Strabo to mean the Bay of Bengal.

5 The Alexandrian.

6 Seleucus Nicator and Antiochus Soter.

108 STRABO. BOOK n.

of Alexander took but a very hasty view of every thing [in
India], but Alexander himself a more exact one, causing the
whole country to be described by men well acquainted with
it. Which description he says was afterwards put into his
hands by Xenocles the treasurer.

7. Again, in the second volume of his Commentaries, Hip-
parchus accuses Eratosthenes of himself throwing discredit on
the statement of Patrocles, on account of his differing with Me-
gasthenes, as to the length of India on its northern side ; 1 Me-
gasthenes stating the length at 16,000 stadia, and Patrocles
at 1000 less. Being biassed by a certain Itinerary, Eratos-
thenes was led to reject. them both on account of this discre-
pancy, and to follow the Itinerary. If then merely the differ-
ence of 1000 stadia is sufficient to cause the authority of
Patrocles to be rejected, how much more should this be the
case when we find a difference of 8000 stadia between his
statement and that of two writers who agree perfectly in
theirs, that the breadth of India is 20,000 stadia, while he
gives only 12,000 !

8. We reply, that [Eratosthenes] did not object [to the
statement of Patrocles] merely because it differed [from that
of Megasthenes], but because the statement of this latter as to
the stadia was confirmed by the Itinerary, an authority of no
mean importance. There is nothing wonderful in this, that
though a certain statement may be credible, another may be
more credible ; and that while in some instances we follow the
former, in others we may dissent from it on finding a more
trust-worthy guide. It is ridiculous to say that the greater
the difference of one writer from others, the less he should be
trusted. On the contrary, such a rule would be more applica-
ble in regard to small differences ; for in little particulars
the ordinary observer and the man of great ability are equally
liable to err. On the other hand, in great matters, the ordi-
nary run of men are more like to be deceived than the man
of superior talent, to whom consequently in such cases greater
deference is paid.

9. Generally speaking, the men who hitherto have written
on the affairs of India, were a set of liars. Deimachus holds
the first place in the list, Megasthenes comes next, while

1 The length of India is its measurement from -west to east.

CHAP. i. $ 10, 11. INTRODUCTION. 109

Onesicritus and Nearchus, with others of the same class,
manage to stammer out a few words [of truth]. Of this we
became the more convinced whilst writing the history of
Alexander. No faith whatever can be placed in Deimachus
and Megasthenes. They coined the fables concerning men
with ears large enough to sleep in, men without any mouths,
without noses, with only one eye, with spider-legs, and with
fingers bent backward. They renewed Homer's fable con-
cerning the battles of the Cranes and Pygmies, and asserted
the latter to be three spans high. They told of ants digging
for gold, of Pans with wedge-shaped heads, of serpents swal-
lowing down oxen and stags, horns and all; meantime, as
Eratosthenes has observed, reciprocally accusing each other
of falsehood. Both of these men were sent ambassadors to
Palimbothra,1 — Megasthenes to Sandrocottus, Deimachus to
Allitrochades his son ; and such are the notes of their residence
abroad, which, I know not why, they thought fit to leave.
Patrocles certainly does not resemble them ; nor do any other
of the authorities consulted by Eratosthenes contain such
absurdities.

10. 2If the meridian of__Rhodes and Byzantium has
been rightly determined to be the same, then that of Cili-
cia and Amisus has likewise been rightly determined ; many
observation^ having proved that the lines are parallel, and
that they never impinge on each other.

11. In like manner, that the voyage from Amisus to
Colchis, and the route to the Caspian, and thence on to
Bactra, are both due east, is proved by the winds, the sea-
sons, the fruits, and even the sun-risings. Frequently evi-
dence such as this, and general agreement, are more to be
relied on than the measurement taken by means of instru-
ments. Hipparchus himself was not wholly indebted to
instruments and geometrical calculations for his statement
that the Pillars and Cilicia lie in a direct line due east. For

1 Not Allahabad, as supposed by D'Anville, but Patelputer, or Patali-
putra, near Patna.

2 There would seem to be some omission here, although none of the
MSS. have any blank space left to indicate it. Groskurd has been at con-
siderable pains to supply what he thinks requisite to complete the sense,
but in a matter so doubtful we deemed it a surer course to follow the
Greek text as it stands.

STIIABO. BOOK ii.

that part of it included between the Pillars and the Strait of
Sicily he rests entirely on the assertion of sailors. It is
therefore incorrect to say that, because we cannot exactly
determine the duration of the longest and shortest days, nor
the degree of shadow of the gnomon throughout the moun-
tainous region between Cilicia and India, that therefore we
are unable to decide whether the line traced obliquely on
the ancient charts should or should not be parallel, and
consequently must leave it unreformed, keeping it oblique
as the ancient charts have it. For in the first place, not
to determine any thing is to leave it undetermined; and
to leave a thing undetermined, is neither to take one view
of the matter nor the other : but to agree to leave it as
the ancients have, that is to take a view of the case. It
would have been more consistent with his reasoning, if he
had told us to leave Geography alone altogether, since we
are similarly unable to determine the position of the Alps,
the Pyrenees, and the mountains of Thrace,1 Illyria,2 and
Germany. Wherefore should we give more credit to the
ancient writers than to the modern, when we call to mind
the numerous errors of their charts which have been pointed
out by Eratosthenes, and which Hipparchus has not attempted
to defend.

12. But the system of Hipparchus altogether teems with dif-
ficulties. Reflect for an instant on the following absurdity ; after
admitting that the southern extremity of India is under the
same degree of latitude as Meroe, and that the distance from
Meroe to the Strait of Byzantium is about 18,0003 stadia,
he then makes the distance from the southern extremity of
India to the mountains 30,000 stadia. Since Byzantium
and Marseilles are under the same parallel of latitude, as
Hipparchus tells us they are, on the authority of Pytheas,
and since Byzantium and the Dnieper4 have also the same
meridian, as Hipparchus equally assures us, if we take his
assertion that there is a distance of 3700 5 stadia between
Byzantium and the Dnieper, there will of course be a
like difference between the latitude of Marseilles and the

1 Thrace, now Roumelia.

- The situation of Illyria was on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Venice.

3 Read 18,100 stadia. 4 The mouth of the Dnieper.

5 Hipparchus stated 3800 stadia, not 3700.

CHAP. i. § 13, 14. INTRODUCTION. 1 1 1

Dnieper. This would make the latitude of the Dnieper
identical with that of Keltica next the Ocean ; for on pro-
ceeding 3700 stadia [north of Marseilles], we reach the
ocean.1

13. Again, we know that the Cinnamon Country is the
most southerly point of the habitable earth. According to
Hipparchus's own statement, the latitude of this country,
which marks the commencement of the temperate zone, and
likewise of the habitable earth, is distant from the equator
about 8800 stadia.2 And since he likewise says that from
the equator to the parallel of the Dnieper there are 34,000
stadia, there will remain a distance of 25,200 stadia be-
tween the parallel of the Dnieper (which is the same as
that which passes over the side of Keltica next the Ocean)
to that which separates the torrid from the temperate zone.
It is said that the farthest voyages now made north of Keltica
are to lerne,3 which lies beyond Britain, and, on account of
its extreme cold, barely sustains life ; beyond this it is thought
to be uninhabitable. Now the distance between Keltica and
lerne is estimated at not more than 5000 stadia ; so that on
this view they must have estimated the whole breadth of the
habitable earth at 30,000 stadia, or just above.

14. Let us then transport ourselves to the land opposite the
Cinnamon Country, and lying to the east under the same
parallel of latitude ; we shall there find the country named
Taprobane.4 This Taprobane is universally believed to be a
large island situated in the high seas, and lying to the south
opposite India. Its length in the direction of Ethiopia is above
5000 stadia, as they say. There are brought from thence to
the Indian markets, ivory, tortoise-shells, and other wares in
large quantities. Now if this island is broad in proportion to

1 Gosselin remarks that these 3700, or rather 3800 stadia, on proceed-
ing from Marseilles, would reach the latitude of Paris, and that of the
coasts in the neighbourhood of Treguier. Eratosthenes and Hipparchus
were out but 14' and some seconds in their calculation of the latitude of
Marseilles; but Strabo's error touching the same amounted to 3° 43' 28";
he consequently fixed the northern coasts of France at 45° 17' 18'', which
is about the latitude of the mouth of the Garonne.

2 These 8800 stadia, at 700 to a degree, amount to 12° 34' 17" of lati-
tude. This would be about the middle of Abyssinia.

3 Ireland. * The island of Ceylon.

STRABO. BOOH n.

its length, we cannot suppose that the whole distance,1 inclu-
sive of the space which separates it from India, is less than
3000 stadia, which is equal to the distance of the [southern]
extremity of the habitable earth from Meroe, since the
[southern] extremities of India and Meroe are under the same
parallel. It is likely there are more than 3000 stadia,2 but
taking this number, if we add thereto the 30,000 stadia, which
Deimachus states there are between [the southern extremity
of India] and the country of the Bactrians and Sogdians, we
shall find both of these nations lie beyond the temperate zone
and habitable earth.3 Who will venture to affirm such to be
the case, hearing, as they must, the statement made both by
ancients and moderns of the genial climate and fertility of
northern India, Hyrcania, Aria, Margiana, 4 and Bactriana
also ? These countries are all equally close to the northern
side of the Taurus, Bactriana being contiguous to that part
of the chain5 which forms the boundary of India. A country
blessed with such advantages must be very far from uninha-
bitable. It is said that in Hyrcania each vine produces a
metrete6 of wine, and each fig tree 60 medimni7 of fruit. That
the grains of wheat which fall from the husk on to the earth
spring up the year following ; that bee-hives are in the trees,
and the leaves flow with honey. The same may be met
with in the part of Media called Matiana,8 and also in Saca-

1 Viz. between its southern extremity and that of India.

2 Strabo and Eratosthenes supposed the extremity of India farther
south than Meroe; Hipparchus fixes it a little north of that city, at a
distance of 12,600 stadia from the equator.

3 These 30,000 stadia, added to the 12,600 of the preceding note, would
place Bactria under 60° 51' 26" north latitude, which is more than 24
degrees too far north.

* Both Aria and Margiana are in the present Khorasan.

5 This portion of the Taurus is called by the Indians Hindou Kho.

6 This was the principal Greek liquid measure, and was 3-4ths of the
medimnus, the chief dry measure. The Attic metretes was half as large
again as the Roman Amphora quadrantal, and contained a little less than
7 gallons. Smith.

7 The medimnus contained nearly 12 imperial gallons, or If bushel.
This was the Attic medimnus ; the JEginetan and Ptolemaic was half as
much again, or in the ratio of 3 : 2 to the Attic. Smith.

8 Matiana was a province of Media on the frontiers of the present
Kurdistan ; Sacasena, a country of Armenia on the confines of Albania
or Sehirvan ; Araxena, a province traversed by the river Araxes.

CHA.P. i. § 15, 16. INTRODUCTION. 113

sena and Araxena, countries of Armenia. In these three it
is not so much to be wondered at, since they lie more to the
south than Hyrcania, and surpass the rest of the country in
the beauty of their climate ; but in Hyrcania it is more re-
markable. It is said that in Margiana you may frequently
meet with a vine whose stock would require two men with
outstretched arms to clasp it, and clusters of grapes two cubits
long. Aria is described as similarly fertile, the wine being
still richer, and keeping perfectly for three generations in
unpitched casks. Bactviana, which adjoins Aria, abounds in
the same productions, if we except olives. •

15. That there are cold regions in the high and mountainpus

Erts of these countries is not to be wondered at ; since in the
lore] southern climates the mountains, and even the table-
ids, are cold. The districts next the Euxine, in Cappadocia,
are much farther north than those adjoining the Taurus.
Bagadania, a vast plain, situated between the mountains of
Argaeus l and Taurus, hardly produces any fruit trees, although
south of the Euxine Sea by 3000 stadia ; while the territory
round Sinope,2 Amisus,3 and Phanarrea abounds in olives.

The Oxus,4 which divides Bactriana from Sogdiana, is said
to be of such easy navigation that the wares of India are
brought up it into the sea of Hyrcania,5 and thence successively
by various other rivers to the districts near the Euxine.6

16. Can one find any fertility to compare with this near
to the Dnieper, or that part of Keltica next the ocean,7 where
the vine either does not grow at all, or attains no maturity.8
However, in the more southerly portions of these districts,9

1 Mount Argaeus still preserves the name of Ardgeh. The part of the
Taurus here alluded to is called Ardoxt Dag. 2 Sinub.

3 Samsoun. * The Gihon of the oriental writers. 5 The Caspian.

6 Gosselin says, the Oxus, or Abi-amu, which now discharges itself into
Lake Aral, anciently communicated with the Caspian. — The vessels car-
rying Indian merchandise used to come down the Oxus into the Caspian ;
they then steered along the southern coasts till they reached the mouth
of the Cyrus ; up this river they sailed to the sources of the Phasis, (the
Fasch,) and so descended into the Black Sea and Mediterranean. About
the middle of the 17th century the Russians endeavoured to re-open this
ancient route, but this effort was unsuccessful.

7 The north of France.

8 At the time of Strabo France was covered with forests and stagnant
water, which rendered its temperature damp and cold. It was not until
after considerable drainage about the fourth century that the vine began
to attain any perfection. 9 The Crimea.

114

STRABO.

close to the sea, and those next the Bosphorus,1 the vine brings
its fruit to maturity, although the grapes are exceedingly-
small, and the vines are covered up all the winter. And in
the parts near the mouth of the Palus Mseotis, the frost is so
strong that a general of Mithridates defeated the barbarians
here in a cavalry engagement during the winter, and on the
very same spot in a naval fight in summer, when the ice
was thawed. Eratosthenes furnishes us with the following
inscription, which he found in the temple of JEsculapius at
Panticapaseon,2 on a brazen vase which had been broken by
the frost : —

'.' If any one doubts the intensity of our winter's cold, let
him believe when he sees this vase. The priest Stratius
placed it here, not because he considered it a worthy offering
to the god, but as a proof of the severity of our winter."

Since therefore the provinces we have just enumerated
[are so superior in climate, that they] cannot be compared
with the countries surrounding the Bosphorus, nor even the
regions of Amisus and Sinope, (for every one will admit that
they are much superior to these latter,) it would be idle to
compare them with the districts near the Borysthenes and
the north of Keltica ; for we have shown that their tem-
perature is not so low as Amisus, Sinope, Byzantium, and
Marseilles, which are universally acknowledged to be 3700
stadia south of the Dnieper and Keltica.

17. If the followers of Deiraachus add to the 30.000 sta-
dia the distance to Taprobanc and the boundaries of the
torrid zone, which cannot be reckoned less than 4000 stadia,3
they will then remove Bactria and Aria from their actual
localities and place them 34,000 stadia from the torrid zone,
a distance equal to that which Hipparchus states to be be-
tween the equator and [the mouth of] the Dnieper, and
the two countries will therefore be removed 8800 stadia
north of [the mouth of] the Dnieper and Keltica ; for
there are reckoned to be 8800 stadia from the equator to the
parallel of latitude which separates the temperate from the tor-

1 The Strait of Zabache. 2 Kertsch in the Crimea.

3 Strabo is too fond of this kind of special pleading : before, in order to
controvert Hipparchus, he estimated this distance at 3000 stadia; now he
adds an additional thousand stadia in order to get a latitude which shall
be the southern limit of the habitable earth.

CHAP. i. § 17. INTRODUCTION. Ho

rid zone, and which crosses the Cinnamon Country.1 We have
proved that the regions not more than 5000 stadia north of
Keltica, as fur as lerne,2 are scarcely habitable, but their rea-
soning leads to the conclusion that there is another circle fitted
for the habitation of man, although 3800 stadia north of lerne.3
And that Bactra is still farther north than the mouth of the
Caspian or Hyrcanian Sea, which is distant about 6000 stadia
from the recess of the Caspian and the mountains of Armenia
and Media, and which appears to be the most northerly point
of the whole coast as far as India, with a sea navigable to
India all the way, as Patrocles, who had the government of
these regions, affirms. Now Bactriana stretches 1000 stadia
farther north. Beyond this the Scythians occupy a much
larger territory, bounded by the Northern Ocean : here they
dwell, though to be sure theirs is a nomade life. But we ask
how they could exist here at all, supposing even Bactra to be
beyond the limits of the habitable globe. The distance from
the Caucasus to the Northern Sea through Bactra would be

1 The Greek has Kiva/iw/to^opov 'ivdiKijg. We have omitted the lat-
ter word altogether from the translation, as being a slip of the pen.
Strabo certainly never supposed the Cinnamon Country to be any where in
India. 2 Ireland.

3 Perhaps it may aid the reader in realizing these different reasonings
if we give a summary of them in figures.

Strabo supposes that Hipparchus, reckoning from the
equator to the limits of the inhabited earth, . . 8,800 stadia

should have fixed the southern extremity of India more
to the north by ........ 4,000

and the northern extremity of India, according to the
measures of Deimachus, still more to the north by . . 30,000

Total 42,800

Now, Strabo adds, following Hipparchus, the northern
shores of Keltica and the mouth of the Dnieper, are
distant from the equator ....... 34,000

lerne, in a climate almost uninhabitable, was, according to
Strabo's own impression, situated to the north of Keltica . 5,000

39,000

Then, according to Hipparchus, the habitable latitudes
would extend still farther than lerne by . . . 3,800

Total 42,800

The great fertility of Bactriana, according to Strabo, appeared to be in-
consistent with a position so far towards the north. In this he was
correct.

i 2

STRABO. BOOK ii.

•e than 4000 stadia.1 This being added to the
? stadia north of lerne3 above-mentioned, will give
us the whole amount of uninhabitable land from lerne north-
ward 7800 stadia, and even omitting the 4000 stadia alto-
gether, those parts of Bactriana next the Caucasus will still
be 3800 stadia farther north than lerne, and 8800 farther
north than Keltica,4 and [the mouth] of the Dnieper.

18. Hipparchus narrates that at the Dnieper and [the
north of] Keltica, during the whole of the summer nights there
is one continued twilight from sun-set to sun-rise, but at the
winter solstice the sun never rises more than njjie cujriis above
the horizon.5 He adds that this phenomenon is yet more re-
markable in regions 6300 6 stadia north of Marseilles, (these
regions he supposes to be peopled by~Kelts, but I believe are
inhabited by Britons, and 2$00 stadia north of Keltica,) where
the sun at the winter solstice7 rises only six cubits above the
horizon. That at 91008 stadia north of Marseilles it only rises
four cubits, and not so much as three in the countries beyond,
and which I consider much farther north than le^rne.9 How-
ever, Hipparchus, on the authority of Pytheas, peaces them
south of Britain, and says that the longest day there consists
only of 19 hours ; 10 while in countries where the sun rises but
four cubits above the horizon, and which are situated 910011

1 These 4000 stadia do not accord with the distances elsewhere pro-
pounded by Strabo. Possibly he had before him various charts con-
structed on different hypotheses, and made his computations not always
from the same.

2 Viz. 3800. 3 Ireland. 4 France.

5 The astronomical cubit of the ancients equalled 2 degrees. It there-
fore follows that in the regions alluded to by Hipparchus, the sun at the
winter solstice rose no higher than 18 degrees above the horizon. This
would give a latitude of a little above 48 degrees. We afterwards find that
Hipparchus placed the mouth of the Dnieper, and that part of France
here alluded to. under 48° 29' 19", and we know that at this latitude, which
is only 20' 56" different from that of Paris, there is no real night during
the longest days of the summer. 6 Read 7700.

7 Lit., during the winter days, but the winter solstice is evidently
intended.

' 8 Read about 10,500. This correction is borne out by the astronomical
indications added by Hipparchus.

9 Strabo supposed the latitude of Ireland to be 52° 25' 42". Countries
north of this he considered to be altogether uninhabitable on account of
their inclemency.

10 Equinoctial hours. " Read 10,500, as above.

CHAP. i. $ 19. INTRODUCTION. 117

stadia north of Marseilles, the day has 18 hours. Conse-
quently [according to his hypothesis] the most southerly parts
of Britain must be north of these regions. They must therefore
be under the same parallel, or almost the same, as the parts of
Bactriana next to the Caucasus, which I have shown are, ac-
cording to the followers of Deimachus, 3800 stadia farther
north than lerne.1 Now if we add this to the number be-
tween Marseilles and lerne, we shall get 12,500 stadia. But
who ever made known to us that, in those parts, I mean, in
the vicinity of Bactra, this was the duration of the longest
day, or the height which the sun attains in the meridian at the
winter solstice ? All these things are patent to the eyes of
every man, and require no mathematical investigation ; there-
fore they certainly would have been mentioned by numerous
writers both amongst the ancients who have left us histories
of Persia, and by the later writers too, who have carried them
down to our own time. How, too, would their fertility,
which I have described above, harmonize with such a lati-
tude ? The facts here advanced are sufficient to give an
idea of the learned manner in which Hipparchus attempts to
controvert the reasoning of Eratosthenes by mere petitiones
principii.

19. Again, Eratosthenes wished to show the ignorance of
Deimachus, and his want of information concerning such mat-
ters, as proved by his assertion that India lies between the
autumnal equinox2 and winter tropic.3 Also in his blaming
Megasthenes, where he says that in the southern parts of India
the Greater and Lesser Bear are seen to set, and the shadows

1 Ireland. 2 The equinoctial line.

3 There is no doubt that the expressions which Deimachus appears to
have used were correct. It seems that he wished to show that beyond
the Indus the coasts of India, instead of running in a direction almost due
east, as the Greeks imagined they did, sloped in a direction between the
south and the north-east, which is correct enough. As Deimachus had
resided at Palibothra, he had had an opportunity of obtaining more exact
information relative to the form of India than that which was current at
Alexandria. This seems the more certain, as Megasthenes, who had also
lived at Palibothra, stated that by measuring India from the Caucasus to the
southern extremity of the continent, you would obtain, not its length, as
the Greeks imagined, but its breadth. These correct accounts were ob-
stinately rejected by the speculative geographers of Alexandria, because
they imagined a certain uninhabitable zone, into which India ought not to
penetrate.

118 STRABO. BOOK ii.

to fall both ways ; assuring us that such is not the case in
India.1 These assertions, says Eratosthenes, arise from the
ignorance of Deimachus. For it is nothing else than ignor-
ance to suppose that the autumnal equinox is not equally
distant from the tropics with the vernal ; since in both
equinoxes the sun rises at the same point, and performs a si-
milar revolution. Further, [he continues,] the distance from
the terrestrial tropic to the equator, between which, according
to Deimachus himself, India is situated, has been proved by
measurement to be much less than 20,000 stadia, consequently
his own statements prove that my assertion is correct, and not
his. For supposing India to be twenty or thirty thousand
stadia [in breadth] it could not be contained in the given
space, but if my estimate be taken it is simple enough. It
is another evidence of his want of information, to say that the
two Bears are not seen to set, or the shadows to fall both ways,
in any part of India, since 5000 stadia south of Alexandria2
both of these phenomena are observable. Thus reasons Eratos-
thenes ; whom Hipparchus again criticises in the same mis-
taken way. First he substitutes [in the text of Deimachus]
the summer in place of the winter tropic ; then he says that
the evidence of a man ignorant of astronomy ought not to be
received in a mathematical question ; as if Eratosthenes in the
main had actually been guided by the authority of Dei-
machus. Could he not see that Eratosthenes had followed

1 The truth of these facts depends on the locality where the observa-
tions are made. In the time of Alexander the most southern of the seven
principal stars which compose the Greater Bear had a declination of
about 61 degrees, so that for all latitudes above 29 degrees, the Wain
never set. Consequently if Deimachus were speaking of the aspect of
the heavens as seen from the northern provinces of India, the Punjaub
for instance, there was truth in his assertion, that the two Bears were
never seen to set there, nor the shadows to fall in contrary directions.
On the other hand, as Megasthenes appears to be-speaking of the south of
India, that is, of the peninsula situated entirely south of the tropic, it is
certain that he was right in saying that the shadows cast by the sun fell
sometimes towards the north, at others towards the south, and that ac-
cordingly, as we proceeded towards the south, the Bears would be seen
to set. The whole of Ursa Major at that time set at 29 degrees, and our
present polar star at 13 degrees. (3 of the Lesser Bear was at that time
the most northern of the seven principal stars of that constellation, and
set at 8° 45'. So that both Bears entirely disappeared beneath the ho-
rizon of Cape Comorin.

2 This would be at Syene under the tropic.

CHAP. i. §20. INTRODUCTION. 119

the general custom in regard to idle reasoners, one means of
refuting whom is to show that their arguments, whatever
they may be, go only to confirm our views.

20. It is by assuming as a fact that the southern extremity
of India is under the same parallel as Meroe, a thing affirmed
and believed by most writers, that we shall be best able to
show the absurdities of the system of Hipparchus. In the first
book of his Commentaries he does not object to this hypothe-
sis, but in the second book he no longer admits it ; we must
examine his reasons for this. He says, " when two countries
are situated under the same parallel, but separated by a great
distance, you cannot be certain that they are exactly under the
same parallel, unless the climata * of both the places are found
to be similar. Now Philo, in his account of a voyage by sea
to Ethiopia, has given us the clima of Meroe. He says that at
that place the sun is vertical forty-five days before the sum-
mer solstice,2 he also informs us of the proportion of shadow
thrown by the gnomon both at the equinoxes and solstices.
Eratosthenes agrees almost exactly with Philo. But not a
single writer, not even Eratosthenes, has informed us of the
clima of India ; but if it is the case, as many are inclined to
believe on the authority of Nearchus,3 that the two Bears
are seen to set in that country, then certainly Meroe and
the southern extremity of India cannot be under the same
parallel."4 [Such is the reasoning of Hipparchus, but we
reply,] If Eratosthenes confirms the statement of those authors

1 Small zones parallel to the equator ; they were placed at such a dis-
tance from each other, that there might be half an hour's difference be-
tween each on the longest day of summer. So by taking an observ-
ation on the longest day, you could determine the clima and consequently
the position of a place. This was equivalent to observing the elevation
of the pole. At the end of this second book Strabo enters into a long
description of the climata.

2 This observation, taken at the time of Hipparchus, would indicate a
latitude of 16° 48' 34."

3 Nearchus in speaking of the southern extremity of India, near Cape
Comorin, was correct in the assertion that in his time the two Bears
were there seen to set.

4 Hipparchus fixed the latitude of Meroe at 16° 51' 25", and the ex-
tremity of India at 18°. In the time of Alexander, the Lesser Bear was
not observed to set for either of these latitudes. Strabo therefore drew
the conclusion, that if Hipparchus had adopted the opinion of Nearchus,
he would have fixed the extremity of India south of Meroe, instead of
north of that city.

120 STRABO.

BOOK II.

who tell us that in India the two Bears are observed to set,
how can it be said that not a single person, not even Eratos-
thenes, has informed us of any thing concerning the clima of
India? This is itself information on that point. If, how-
ever, he has not confirmed this statement, let him be exoner-
ated from the error. Certain it is he never did confirm the
statement. Only when Deimachus affirmed that there was no
place in India from which the two Bears might be seen to set,
or the shadows fall both ways, as Megasthenes had asserted,
Eratosthenes thereupon taxed him with ignorance, regard-
ing as absolutely false this two-fold assertion, one half of
which, namely, that concerning the shadows not falling both
ways, Hipparchus himself acknowledged to be false ; for if
the southern extremity of India were not under the same
parallel as Meroe, still Hipparchus appears to have considered
it south of Syene.

21. In the instances which follow, Hipparchus, treating of
these subjects, either asserts things similar to those which we
have already refuted, or takes for granted matters which are
not so, or draws improper sequences. For instance, from the
computation [of Eratosthenes] that the distance from Baby-
lon to Thapsacus1 is 4800 stadia, and thence northward to
the mountains of Armenia2 2100 stadia more, it does not fol-
low that, starting from the meridian of that city, the distance
to the northern mountains is above 6000 stadia. Besides,
Eratosthenes never says that the distance from Thapsacus to
these mountains is 2100 stadia, but that a part thereof has
never yet been measured ; so that this argument [of Hippar-
chus], founded on a false hypothesis, amounts to nothing. Nor
did Eratosthenes ever assert that Thapsacus lies more than
4500 stadia north of Babylon.

22. Again, Hipparchus, ever anxious to defend the [accu-
racy of the] ancient charts, instead of fairly stating the words
of Eratosthenes concerning his third section of the habitable
earth, wilfully makes him the author of an assertion easy of
disproof. For Eratosthenes, following the opinion we before
mentioned, that a line drawn from the Pillars of Hercules
across the Mediterranean, and the length of the Taurus, would

1 Now Ruins, near Jerobolos, or Jerabees, the ancient Etiropus ; not
Deer or Deir.

2 Probably the present Barena, a branch of the Taurus.

CHAP. i. § 23. INTRODUCTION. 121

run due west and east,1 divides, by means of this line, the habit-
able earth into two portions, which he calls the northern and
southern divisions ; each of these he again essays to subdivide
into as many smaller partitions as practicable, which he deno-
minates sections.2 He makes India the first section of the
southern part, and Ariana3 the second; these two countries pos-
sessing a good outline, he has been able not only to give us an
accurate statement of their length and breadth, but an almost
geometrically exact description of their figure. He tells us that
the form of India is rhomboidal, being washed on two of its sides
by the southern and eastern oceans [respectively], which do not
deeply indent its shores. The two remaining sides are contained
by its mountains and the river [Indus], so that it presents a
kind of rectilinear figure.4 As to Ariana, he considered three
of its sides well fitted to form a parallelogram ; but of the
western side he could give no regular definition, as it was in-
habited by various nations ; nevertheless he attempts an idea
of it by a line drawn from the Caspian Gates5 to the limits
of Carmania, which border on the Persian Gulf. This side
he calls western, and that next the Indus eastern, but he does
not tell us they are parallel to each other ; neither does he say
this of the other sides, one bounded by the mountains, and the
other by the sea ; he simply calls them north and south.

23. Having in this manner but imperfectly traced the out-
lines of his second section, the third section, for various rea-
sons, is still less exact. The first cause has been already
explained, viz. that the line from the Caspian Gates to Car-
mania is not clearly defined, as the side of the section is
common both to the third and second sections. Secondly,
on account of the Persian Gulf interrupting the continuity of

1 This is rather free, but the text could not well otherwise be rendered
intelligibly.

2 atypayidaQ is the Greek word ; for which section is a poor equivalent,
but the best we believe the language affords.

3 The name of a considerable portion of Asia.

4 From Eratosthenes' description of India, preserved by our author in
his 1 5th book, we gather that he conceived the country to be something in
the form of an irregular quadrilateral, having one right, two obtuse, and
one acute angle, consequently none of its sides parallel to each other. On
the whole Eratosthenes' idea of the country was not near so exact as
that of Megasthenes.

5 The Caspian Gates are now known as the Strait of Firouz Koh.

122 STRABO.

BOOK II.

the southern side, as he himself tells us, he has been obliged to
take the measured road running through Susa and Persepolis to
the boundaries of Carmania and Persia, and suppose it straight.1
This road, which he calls the southern side, is a little more than
9000 stadia. He does not, however, tell us, that it runs parallel
to the northern side. It is also clear that the Euphrates, which
he makes the western boundary, is any thing but a straight
line. On leaving the mountains it flows south, but soon shifts
its course to the east ; it then again pursues a southerly di-
rection till it reaches the sea. In fact, Eratosthenes himself
acknowledges the indirect course of this river, when he com-
pares the shape of Mesopotamia, which is formed by the junc-
tion of the Tigris and Euphrates, to the cushion on a rower's
bench. The western side bounded by the Euphrates is not
entirely measured ; for he tells us that he does not know the
extent of the portion between Armenia and the northern
mountains,2 as it has not been measured. By reason of these
hinderances he states that he has been only able to give a very
superficial view of the third section, and that his estimate of
the distances is borrowed from various Itineraries, some of
them, according to his own description, anonymous. Hippar-
chus therefore must be considered guilty of unfairness, for
criticising with geometrical precision a work of this general
nature. We ought rather to be grateful to a person who gives
us any description at all of the character of such [unknown]
places. But when he urges his geometrical objections not
against any real statement of Eratosthenes, but merely against
imaginary hypotheses of his own creation, he shows too plainly
the contradictory bent of his mind.

24. It is in this general kind of description of the third
section that Eratosthenes supposes 10,000 stadia from the
Caspian Gates to the Euphrates. This he again divides
according to former admeasurements which he found pre-
served. Starting from the point where the Euphrates passes
near to Thapsacus, he computes from thence to the place
where Alexander crossed the Tigris 2400 stadia. The route

1 The ruins of Babylon, still called Babil, are on the Euphrates, near
Hilleh. Susa is now Suz or Schuss, and not Schoster or Toster. The
ruins of Persepolis remain, and may be seen near Istakar, Tchilminar,
and Nakchi-Rustan.

2 Between Thapsacus and Armenia.

CHAP. i. § 25, 26. INTRODUCTION. 123

thence through Gaugamela,1 the Lycus,2 Arbela,3 and Ecba-
tana,4 whither Darius fled from Gaugamela to the Caspian
Gates, makes up the 10,000 stadia, which is only 300 stadia
too much. Such is the measure of the northern side given
by Eratosthenes, which he could not have supposed to be pa-
rallel to the mountains, nor yet to the line drawn 'from the
Pillars of Hercules through Athens and Rhodes. For Thap-
sacus is far removed from the mountains, and the route from
Thapsacus to the Caspian Gates only falls in with the moun-
tains at that point.5 Such is the boundary on the northern
side.

25. Thus, says Eratosthenes, we have given you a description
of the northern side ; as for the southern, we cannot take its
measure along the sea, on account of the Persian Gulf,
which intercepts [its continuity], but from Babylon through
Susa and Persepolis to the confines of Persia and Carmania
there are 9200 stadia. This he calls the southern side, but
he does not say it is parallel to the northern. The differ-
ence of length between the northern and southern sides is
caused, he tells us, by the Euphrates, which after running
south some distance shifts its course almost due east.

26. Of the two remaining sides, he describes the western
first, but whether we are to regard it as one single straight
line, or two, seems to be undecided. He says, — From Thap-
sacus to Babylon, following the course of the Euphrates, there
are 4800 stadia ; from thence to the mouth of the Euphrates6
and the city of Teredon, 3000 7 more ; from Thapsacus north-
ward to the Gates of Armenia, having been measured, is
stated to be 1100 stadia, but the distance through Gordysea
and Armenia, not having yet been measured, is not given.
The eastern side, which stretches lengthwise through
Persia from the Red Sea towards Media and the north,
does not appear to be less than 8000 stadia, and measured
from certain headlands above 9000, the rest of the distance
through Parsetacena and Media to the Caspian Gates being
3000 stadia. The rivers Tigris and Euphrates flowing
from Armenia towards the south, after having passed the

1 Karmelis. 2 The Altun-Suyi, or River of Gold. 3 Erbil.

4 Hamedan. 5 Viz. at the Gates of the Caspian.

6 This ancient embouchure of the Euphrates is now known as Khor-
Abdillah. , 7 Read 3300.

STRABO. BOOK ii.

Gordysean mountains, and having formed a great circle which
embraces the vast country of Mesopotamia, turn towards the
rising of the sun in winter and the south, particularly the
Euphrates, which, continually approaching nearer and nearer
to the Tigris, passes by the rampart of Semiramis,1 and at
about 200 stadia from the village of Opis,2 thence it flows
through Babylon, and so discharges itself into the Persian
Gulf. Thus the figure of Mesopotamia and Babylon resem-
bles the cushion of a rower's bench. — Such are the words of
Eratosthenes.

27. In the Third Section it is true he does make some mis-
takes, which we shall take into consideration ; but they are
nothing like the amount which Hipparchus attributes to
him. However, we will examine his objections. [In the
first place,] he would have the ancient charts left just as
they are, and by no means India brought more to the south,
as Eratosthenes thinks proper. Indeed, he asserts that the
very arguments adduced by that writer only confirm him the
more in his opinion. He says, " According to Eratosthenes,
the northern side of the third section is bounded by a line of
10,000 stadia drawn from the Caspian Gates to the Euphrates,
the southern side from Babylon to the confines of Carmania
is a little more than 9000 stadia. On the western side, follow-
ing the course of the Euphrates, from Thapsacus to Babylon
there are 4800 stadia, and thence to the outlets of the river
3000 stadia more. Northward from Thapsacus [to the Gates
of Armenia] is reckoned 1100 stadia; the rest has not been
measured. Now since Eratosthenes says that the northern
side of this Third Section is about 10.000 stadia, and that the
right line parallel thereto drawn from Babylon to the eastern
side is computed at just above 9000 stadia, it follows that
Babylon is not much more than 1000 stadia east of the pas-
sage of [the Euphrates] near Thapsacus."

28. We answer, that if the Caspian Gates and the boundary
line of Carmania and Persia were exactly under the same me-
ridian, and if right lines drawn in the direction of Thapsacus
and Babylon would intersect such meridian at right angles,

1 Thought by Col. Rawlinson to be the Chal-i-Nimrud, usually sup-
posed to mark the site of the Median wall of Xenophon.

2 Situated on the Tigris.

CHAP. i. § 29. INTRODUCTION. 125

the inference would be just.1 For then the line [from the
common frontier of Carmania and Persia] to Babylon, if pro-
duced to the meridian of Thapsacus, would appear to the eye
equal, or nearly equal, to that from the Caspian Gates to
Thapsacus. Consequently, Babylon would only be east of
Thapsacus in the same proportion as the line drawn from the
Caspian Gates to Thapsacus exceeds the line drawn from the
frontier of Carmania to Babylon.2 Eratosthenes, however,
does not tell us that the line which bounds the western coast
of Ariana follows the direction of the meridian ; nor yet that
a line drawn from the Caspian Gates to Thapsacus would form
right angles with the meridian of the Caspian Gates. But
rather, that the line which would form right angles with the
meridian, would be one which should follow the course of the
Taurus, and with which the line drawn from the Caspian
Gates to Thapsacus would form an acute angle. Nor, again,
does he ever say that a line drawn from Carmania to Babylon
would be parallel to that drawn [from the Caspian Gates] to
Thapsacus ; and even if it were parallel, this would prove
nothing for the argument of Hipparchus, since it does not
form right angles with the meridian of the Caspian Gates.

29. But taking this for granted, and proving, as he imagines,
that, according to Eratosthenes, Babylon is east of Thapsacus
rather more than 1000 stadia, he draws from this false hy-
pothesis a new argument, which he uses to the following
purpose ; and says, If we suppose a right line drawn from
Thapsacus towards the south, and another from Babylon per-
pendicular thereto, a right-angled triangle would be the result;
whose sides should be, LA line drawn from Thapsacus to
Babylon ; 2. A perpendicular drawn from Babylon to the
meridian of Thapsacus ; 3. The meridian line of Thapsacus.
The hypotenuse of this triangle would be a right line drawn
from Thapsacus to Babylon, which he estimates at 4800 stadia.
The perpendicular drawn from Babylon to the meridian of
Thapsacus is scarcely more than 1000 stadia, the same
amount by which the line drawn [from the Caspian Gates] to

1 A line drawn from the frontiers of Carmania to Babylon would form
with the meridian an angle of about 50°. One from the Caspian Gates
to Thapsacus would form with the parallel merely an angle of about 30°.

2 Namely, 1000 stadia, by the hypothesis of Hipparchus, or 800 ac-
cording to Eratosthenes.

STRABO. BOOK ii.

Thapsacus exceeds that [from the common frontier of Car-
mania and Persia] to Babylon. The two sides [of the tri-
angle] being given, Hipparchus proceeds to find the third,
which is much greater than the perpendicular l aforesaid. To
this he adds the line drawn from Thapsacus northwards to
the mountains of Armenia, one part of which, according to
Eratosthenes, was measured, and found to be 1100 stadia ; the
other, or part unmeasured by Eratosthenes, Hipparchus esti-
mates to be 1000 stadia at the least : so that the two together
amount to 2100 stadia. Adding this to the [length of the]
side upon which falls the perpendicular drawn from Babylon,
Hipparchus estimated a distance of many thousand stadia
from the mountains of Armenia and the parallel of Athens
to this perpendicular, which falls on the parallel of Babylon.2
From the parallel of Athens3 to that of Babylon he shows
that there cannot be a greater distance than 2400 stadia, even
admitting the estimate supplied by Eratosthenes himself of
the number of stadia which the entire meridian contains;4
and that if this be so, the mountains of Armenia and the
Taurus cannot be under the same parallel of latitude as
Athens, (which is the opinion of Eratosthenes,) but many
thousand stadia to the north, as the data supplied by that
writer himself prove.

But here, for the formation of his right-angled triangle, Hip-
parchus not only makes use of propositions already overturned,
but assumes what was never granted, namely, that the hypo-
tenuse subtending his right angle, which is the straight line
from Thapsacus to Babylon, is 4800 stadia in length. What
Eratosthenes says is, that this route follows the course of the
Euphrates, and adds, that Mesopotamia and Babylon are encom-
passed as it were by a great circle formed by the Euphrates and
Tigris, but principally by the former of these rivers. So that
a straight line from Thapsacus to Babylon would neither follow
the course of the Euphrates, nor yet be near so many stadia
in length. Thus the argument [of Hipparchus] is overturned.
We have stated before, that supposing two lines drawn from

1 Or second side.

2 Hipparchus found by this operation that the distance from the paral-
lel of Babylon to that of the mountains of Armenia was 6795 stadia.

3 See Humboldt, Cosmos ii. p. 556, note, Bohn's edition.

4 Eratosthenes estimated 252,000 stadia for the circumference of the
earth.

CHAP. i. $ 30. INTRODUCTION. 127

the Caspian Gates, one to Thapsacus, and the other to
the mountains of Armenia opposite Thapsacus, and distant
therefrom, according to Hipparchus's own estimate, 2100
stadia at the very least, neither of them would be parallel to
each other, nor yet to that line which, passing through Baby-
lon, is styled by Eratosthenes the southern side [of the third
section]. As he could not inform us of the exact length of
the route by the mountains, Eratosthenes tells us the dis-
tance between Thapsacus and the Caspian Gates ; in fact, to
speak in a general way, he puts this distance in place of the
other ; besides, as he merely wanted to give the length of the
territory between Ariana and the Euphrates, he was not par-
ticular to have the exact measure of either route. To pretend
that he considered the lines to be parallel to each other, is
evidently to accuse the man of more than childish ignorance,
and we dismiss the insinuation as nonsense forthwith.

30. There, however, are some instances in which one may
justly accuse Eratosthenes. There is a difference in dissect-
ing limb by limb, or merely cutting off portions [indiscrimin-
ately], (for in the former you may only separate parts having
a natural outline, and distinguished by a regular form ; this
the poet alludes to in the expression,

" Cutting them limb from limb;" '

whereas in regard to the latter this is not the case,) and we
may adopt with propriety either one or other of these plans
according to the time and necessity. So in Geography, if you
enter into every detail, you may sometimes be compelled to
divide your territories into portions, so to speak, but it is a more
preferable way to separate them into limbs, than into such
chance pieces ; for thus only you can define accurately particular
points and boundaries, a thing so necessary to the geographer.
When it can be done, the best way to define a country is by
the rivers, mountains, or sea ; also, where possible, by the
nation or nations [who inhabit it], and by its size and con-
figuration. However, in default of a geometrical definition,
a simple and general description may be said always to an-
swer the purpose. In regard to size, it is sufficient to state
the greatest length and breadth ; for example, that the habit -

1 Odyssey ix. 291 ; Iliad x*iv. 409.

128 STRABO. BOOK ii.

able earth is 70,000 stadia long, and that its breadth is scarcely
half its length.1 And as to form, to compare a country to
any geometrical or other well-known figure. For example,
Sicily to a triangle, Spain to an ox-hide, or the Peloponnesus
to a plane-leaf.2 The larger the territory to be divided, the
more general also ought its divisions to be.

31. [In the system of Eratosthenes], the habitable earth
has been admirably divided into two parts by the Taurus and
the Mediterranean Sea, which reaches to the Pillars. On the
southern side, the limits of India have been described by a
variety of methods ; by its mountains,3 its river,4 its seas,5
and its name,6 which seems to indicate that it is inhabited
only by ojoej^eople.7 It is with justice too that he attributes
to it the form of a quadrilateral or rhomboid. Ariana is not
so accurately described, on account of its western side being
interwoven with the adjacent land. Still it is pretty well
distinguished by its three other sides, which are formed by
three nearly straight lines, and also by its name, which shows
it to be only one nation.8 As to the Third Section of Eratos-
thenes, it cannot be considered to be denned or circumscribed
at all; for that side of it which is common to Ariana is but
ill defined, as before remarked. The southern side, too,
is most negligently taken : it is, in fact, no boundary to the
section at all, for it passes right through its centre, leaving
entirely outside of it many of the southern portions. Nor

1 Strabo estimated the length of the continent at 70,000 stadia from
Cape St. Vincent to Cape Comorin, and 29,300 stadia as its breadth.

2 The ancient geographers often speak of these kind of resemblances.
They have compared the whole habitable earth to a soldier's cloak or
mantle, as also the town of Alexandria, which they styled %\ajuv£oad££.
Italy at one time to a leaf of parsley, at another to an oak-leaf. Sar-
dinia to a human foot-print. The isle of Naxos to a vine-leaf. Cyprus
to a sheep-skin; and the Black Sea to a Scythian bow, bent. The ear-
liest coins of Peloponnesus, struck about 750 years before the Christian
era, bear the impress of a tortoise, because that animal abounded on
the shores, and the divisions and height of its shell were thought to offer
some likeness to the territorial divisions of the little states of Pelopon-
nesus and the mountain-ridges which run through the middle of that
country. The Sicilians took for their symbol three thighs and legs,
arranged in such an order that the bended knees might resemble the
three capes of that island and its triangular form.

3 The chain of the Taurus. 4 The Indus.

3 The Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. 6 India.

7 Viz. Indians. 8 Ariana, or the nation of the Arians.

CHAP. i. $ 31. INTRODUCTION. 129

yet does it represent the greatest length of the section, for
the northern side is the longest.1 Nor, lastly, can the Eu-
phrates be its western boundary, not even if it flowed in a
right line, since its two extremes2 do not lie under the same
meridian. How then is it the western rather than the south-
ern boundary ? Apart from this, the distance to the Seas of
Cilicia and Syria is so inconsiderable, that there can be_no
reason why he should not have enlargedj the third section,
so as to include the kingdoms of Semiicamis and Ninus, who
are both of them known as Syrian monarch s ; the~first built
Babylon, which he made his royal residence ; the ^second
Nmus,3 the capital ofJSyjria;4 and the same dialect still ex-
is£s~on both sides of the Euphrates^*" The idea of thus dis-
membering so renowned a nation, and allotting its portions
to strange nations with which it had no connexion, is as pe-
culiarly unfortunate. Eratosthenes cannot plead that he was
compelled to do this on account of its size, for had it extended
as far as the sea and the frontiers of Arabia Felix and Egypt,
even then it would not have been as large as India, or even
Ariana. It would have therefore been much better to have
enlarged the third section, making it comprehend the whole
space as far as the Sea of Syria ; but if this were done, the
southern side would not be as he represents it, nor yet in a
straight line, but starting from Carmania would follow the
right side of the sea-shore from the Persian Gulf to the
mouth of the Euphrates ; it would then approach the limits
of Mesene5 and Babylon, where the Isthmus commences
which separates Arabia Felix from the rest of the continent.
Traversing the Isthmus, it would continue its course to the
recess of the Arabian Gulf and Pelusium,6 thence to the
mouth of the Nile at Canopus.7 Such would be the southern

1 By 800 stadia. 2 Viz. of the Euphrates. 3 Or Nineveh.

4 Syria, properly so called, extended from the shores of the Mediter-
ranean to the Euphrates. Between the Euphrates^and the Tigris lay
Mesopotamia, andTeyond the Tigris. Assyria. The wjiole of these
countries formerly bore the name of Syria?"" The Hebrews denominated
Mesopotamia^ Syria of the Rivers. The name Assyria seems to be no-
thing more than Syria with the article prefixed. Nineveh stood on the
eastern bank of the Tigris.

5 Mesene comprehends the low and sandy grounds traversed by the
Euphrates, immediately before it discharges itself into the Persian Gulf.

6 Tineh. 7 Moadieh, near to Aboukir.

VOL. I. K

STRABO. BOOK TI.

side. The west would be traced by the sea-shore from the
[river's] mouth at Canopus to Cilicia.1

32. The fourth section would consist of Arabia Felix,
the Arabian Gulf, and the whole of Egypt and Ethiopia. Its
length bounded by two meridians, one drawn through its most
western point, the other through its most eastern ; and its
breadth by two parallels through its most northern and south-
ern points. For this is the best way to describe the extent
of irregular figures, whose length and breadth cannot be de-
termined by their sides.

In general it is to be observed, that length and breadth are
to be understood in different ways, according as you speak of
the whole or a part. Of a whole, the greater distance is
called its length, and the lesser its breadth ; of a part, that
is to be considered the length which is parallel to the length
of the whole, without any regard whether it, or that
which is left for the breadth, be the greater distance. The
length of the whole habitable earth is measured from east to
west by a line drawn parallel to the equator, and its breadth
from north to south in the direction of the meridian ; conse-
quently, the length of any of the parts ought to be portions
of a line drawn parallel to the length of the whole, and their
breadth to the breadth of the whole. For, in the first place,
by this means the size of the whole habitable earth will be
best described ; and secondly, the disposition and configuration
of its parts, and the manner in which one may be said to be
greater or less than another, will be made manifest by thus
comparing them.

33. Eratosthenes, however, measures the length of the
habitable earth by a line which he considers straight, drawn
from the Pillars of Hercules, in the direction of the Caspian
Gates and the Caucasus. The length of the third section,
by a line drawn from the Caspian Gates to Thapsacus,
and of the fourth, by one running from Thapsacus through
Heroopolis to the country surrounded by the Nile : this
must necessarily be deflected to Canopus and Alexandria,
for there is the last mouth of the Nile, which goes by the
name of the Canopic2 or Heracleotic mouth. Whether

1 Along the coasts of Egypt, past Palestine and Syria, to the recess
of the Gulf of Issus, where Cilicia commences.

2 Canopus, near to Aboukir.

CHAP, i, § 34. INTRODUCTION. 131

therefore these two lengths be considered to form one
straight line, or to make an angle with Thapsacus, cer-
tain it is that neither of them is parallel to the length of the
habitable earth ; this is evident from what Eratosthenes has
himself said concerning them. According to him the length
of the habitable earth is described by a right line running
through the Taurus to the Pillars of Hercules, in the direc-
tion of the Caucasus, Rhodes, and Athens. From Rhodes to
Alexandria, following the meridian of the two cities, he says
there cannot be much less than 4000 stadia,1 consequently there
must be the same difference between the latitudes of Rhodes
and Alexandria. Now the latitude of Heroopolis is about the
same as Alexandria, or rather more south. So that a line,
whether straight or broken, which intersects the parallel of
Heroopolis, Rhodes, or the Gates of the Caspian, cannot be
parallel to either of these. These lengths therefore are
not properly indicated, nor are the northern sections any
better.

34. We will now return at once to Hipparchus, and see
what comes next. Continuing to palm assumptions of his own
[upon Eratosthenes], he goes on to refute, with geometrical
accuracy, statements which that author had made in a mere
general way. " Eratosthenes," he says, " estimates that there
are 6700 stadia between Babylon and the Caspian Gates,
and from Babylon to the frontiers of Carmania and Persia
above 9000 stadia ; this he supposes to lie in a direct line
towards the equinoctial rising,2 and perpendicular to the com-
mon side of his second and third sections. Thus, according
to his plan, we should have a right-angled triangle, with the
right angle next to the frontiers of Carmania, and its hypo-
tenuse less than one of the sides about the right angle !
Consequently Persia should be included in the second sec-
tion."3

1 It was a mistake common to Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and Strabo,
to fancy that Rhodes and Alexandria were under the same meridian. The
longitude of the two cities differs by 2<> 22' 45".

2 Due east.

3 The following is a Resume of the argument of Hipparchus, " The
hypotenuse of the supposed triangle, or the line drawn from Babylon to
the Caspian Gates being only 6700 stadia, would be necessarily shorter
than either of the other sides, since the line from Babylon to the fron-
tiers of Carmania is estimated by Eratosthenes at 9170, and that from
the frontiers of Carmania to the Caspian Gates above 9000 stadia.

K 2

132 STRABO. BOOK ii.

To this we reply, that the line drawn from Babylon to Car-
mania was never intended as a parallel, nor yet that which
divides the two sections as a meridian, and that therefore no-
thing has been laid to his charge, at all events with any just
foundation. In fact, Eratosthenes having stated the number
of stadia from the Caspian Gates to Babylon as above
given,1 [from the Caspian Gates] to Susa 4900 stadia,
and from Babylon [to Susa] 3400 stadia, Hipparchus runs
away from his former hypothesis, and says that [by draw-
ing lines from] the Caspian Gates, Susa, and Babylon,
an -obtuse-angled triangle would be the result, whose sides
should be of the length laid down, and of which Susa
would form the obtuse angle. He then argues, that "accord-
ing to these premises, the meridian drawn from the Gates of
the Caspian will intersect the parallel of Babylon and Susa
4400 stadia more to the west, than would a straight line
drawn from the Caspian to the confines of Carmania and
Persia ; and that this last line, forming with the meridian of
the Caspian Gates half a right angle, would lie exactly
in a direction midway between the south and the equinoctial
rising. Now as the course of the Indus is parallel to this
line, it cannot flow south on its descent from the mountains, as
Eratosthenes asserts, but in a direction lying between the
south and the equinoctial rising, as laid down in the ancient
charts." But who is there who will admit this to be an ob-
tuse-angled triangle, without also admitting that it contains a
right angle ? Who will agree that the line from Babylon to
Susa, which forms one side of this obtuse-angled triangle, lies
parallel, without admitting the same of the whole line as far
as Carmania ? or that the line drawn from the Caspian Gates
to the frontiers of Carmania is parallel to the Indus ? Never-
theless, without this the reasoning [of Hipparchus] is worth
nothing.

" Eratosthenes himself also states," [continues Hipparchus,2]

The frontiers of Carmania would thus be east of the Caspian Gates,
and Persia would consequently be comprised, not in the third, but in the
second section of Eratosthenes, being east of the meridian of the Caspian
Gates, which was the boundary of the two sections." Strabo, in the text,
points out the falsity of this argument.

1 Viz. 6700 stadia.

2 These two words, continues Hipparchus, are not in the text, but the ar-
gument is undoubtedly his.

CIIAI-. i. § 35. INTRODUCTION. 133

"that the form of India is rhomboidal ; and since the whole
eastern border of that country has a decided tendency to-
wards the east, but more particularly the extremest cape,1
which lies more to the south than any other part of the coast,
the side next the Indus must be the same."

35. These arguments may be very geometrical, but they
are not convincing. After having himself invented these
various difficulties, he dismisses them, saying, " Had [Eratos-
thenes] been chargeable for small distances only, he might
have been excused ; but since his mistakes involve thousands
of stadia, we cannot pardon him, more especially since he has
laid it down that at a mere distance of 400 stadia,2 such as
that between the parallels of Athens and Rhodes, there is a
sensible variation [of latitude]." But these sensible variations
are not all of the same kind, the distance [involved therein]
being in some instances greater, in others less ; greater, when
for our estimate of the climata we trust merely to the eye, or
are guided by the vegetable productions and the temperature
of the air ; less, when we employ gnomons and dioptric in-
struments. Nothing is more likely than that if you measure
the parallel of Athens, or that of Rhodes and Caria, by means
of a gnomon, the difference resulting from so many stadia3
will be sensible. But when a geographer, in order to trace a
line from west to east, 3000 stadia broad, makes use of a chain
of mountains 40,000 stadia long, and also of a sea which ex-
tends still farther 30,000 stadia, and farther wishing to point
out the situation of the different parts of the habitable earth
relative to this line, calls some southern, others northern, and
finally lays out what he calls the sections, each section con-
sisting of divers countries, then we ought carefully to examine
in what acceptation he uses his terms ; in what sense he says
that such a side [of any section] is the north side, and what
other is the south, or east, or west side. If he does not take
pains to avoid great errors, he deserves to be blamed, but
should he be guilty merely of trifling inaccuracies, he should
be forgiven. But here nothing shows thoroughly that Era-

1 Cape Comorin.

- 400 stadia, allowing 700 to a degree, would give 34' 17" latitude.
According to present astronomical calculations, the distance between the
parallels of Rhodes and Athens is 1° 36' 30".

3 Viz. 400 stadia, or 34' 17" of latitude.

134 STRABO. BOOK ii.

tosthenes has committed either serious or slight errors, for on
one hand what he may have said concerning such great dis-
tances, can never be verified by a geometrical test, and on
the other, his accuser, while endeavouring to reason like a
geometrician, does not found his arguments on any real data,
but on gratuitous suppositions.

36. The fourth section Hipparchus certainly manages
better, though he still maintains the same censorious tone,
and obstinacy in sticking to his first hypotheses, or others
similar. He properly objects to Eratosthenes giving as the
length of this section a line drawn from Thapsacus to Egypt,
as being similar to the case of a man who should tell us that
the diagonal of a parallelogram was its length. For Thap-
sacus and the coasts of Egypt are by no means under the
same parallel of latitude, but under parallels considerably
distant from each other,1 and a line drawn from Thapsacus to
Egypt would lie in a kind of diagonal or oblique direction
between them. But he is wrong when he expresses his sur-
prise that Eratosthenes should dare to state the distance be-
tween Pelusium and Thapsacus at 6000 stadia, when he says
there are above 8000. In proof of this he advances that the
parallel of Pelusium is south of that of Babylon by more than
2500 stadia, and that according to Eratosthenes (as he supposes)
the latitude of Thapsacus is above 4800 stadia north of that
of Babylon ; from which Hipparchus tells us it results that
[between Thapsacus and Pelusium] there are more than
8000 stadia. But I would inquire how he can prove that
Eratosthenes supposed so great a distance between the pa-
rallels of Babylon and Thapsacus ? He says, indeed, that such
is the distance from Thapsacus to Babylon, but not that there
is this distance between their parallels, nor yet that Thapsacus
and Babylon are under the same meridian. So much the
contrary, that Hipparchus has himself pointed out, that, accord-
ing to Eratosthenes, Babylon ought to be east of Thapsacus
more than 2000 stadia. We have before cited the statement
of Eratosthenes, that Mesopotamia and Babylon are encircled
by the Tigris and Euphrates, and that the greater portion of
the Circle is formed by this latter river, which flowing north
and south takes a turn to the east, and then, returning to a

1 The difference of latitude between Thapsacus and Pelusium is about
4° 27'.

CHAP. i. § 36, 37. INTRODUCTION. 135

southerly direction, discharges itself [into the sea]. So long
as it flows from north to south, it may be said to follow a
southerly direction ; but the turning towards the east and
Babylon is a decided deviation from the southerly direction,
and it never recovers a straight course, but forms the circuit
we have mentioned above. When he tells us that the journey
from Babylon to Thapsacus is 4800 stadia, he adds, following
the course of the Euphrates, as if on purpose lest any one
should understand such to be the distance in a direct line, or
between the two parallels. If this be not granted, it is alto-
gether a vain attempt to show that if a right-angled triangle
were constructed by lines drawn from Pelusium and Thap-
sacus to the point where the parallel of Thapsacus intercepts
the meridian of Pelusium, that one of the lines which form the
right angle, and is in the direction of the meridian, would be
longer than that forming the hypotenuse drawn from Thap-
sacus to Pelusium.1 Worthless, too, is the argument in con-
nexion with this, being the inference from a proposition not
admitted ; for Eratosthenes never asserts that from Babylon to
the meridian of the Caspian Gates is a distance of 4800
stadia. We have shown that Hipparchus deduces this from
data not admitted by Eratosthenes ; but desirous to controvert
every thing advanced by that writer, he assumes that from
Babylon to the line drawn from the Caspian Gates to the
mountains of Carmania, according to Eratosthenes' descrip-
tion, there are above 9000 stadia, and from thence draws his
conclusions.

37. Eratosthenes2 cannot, therefore, be found fault with on
these grounds ; what may be objected against him is as follows.
When you wish to give a general outline of size and confi-
guration, you should devise for yourself some rule which
may be adhered to more or less. After having laid down
that the breadth of the space occupied by the mountains
which run in a direction due east, as well as by the sea which
reaches to the Pillars of Hercules, is 3000 stadia, would you
pretend to estimate different lines, which you may draw within
the breadth of that space, as one and the same line ? We

1 The text here is evidently corrupt.

2 Gosselin makes some sensible remarks on this section ; we have
endeavoured to render it accurately, but much fear that the true meaning
of Strabo is now obscured by corruptions in the text.

136 STRABO.

BOOK II.

should be more willing to grant you the power of doing so
with respect to the lines which run parallel to that space than
with those which fall upon it; and among these latter,
rather with respect to those which fall within it than to
those which extend without it; and also rather for those
which, in regard to the shortness of their extent, would not
pass out of the said space than for those which would. And
again, rather for lines of some considerable length than for any
thing very short, for the inequality of lengths is less percep-
tible in great extents than the difference of configuration.
For example, if you give 3000 stadia for the breadth at the
Taurus, as well as for the sea which extends to the Pillars of
Hercules, you will form a parallelogram entirely enclosing
both the mountains of the Taurus and the sea ; if you divide it
in its length into several other parallelograms, and draw first
the diagonal of the great parallelogram, and next that of
each smaller parallelogram, surely the diagonal of the great
parallelogram will be regarded as a line more nearly parallel
and equal to the side forming the length of that figure than
the diagonal of any of the smaller parallelograms : and the
more your lesser parallelograms should be multiplied, the
more will this become evident. Certainly, it is in great
figures that the obliquity of the diagonal and its difference
from the side forming the length are the less perceptible, so that
you would have but little scruple in taking the diagonal as
the length of the figure. But if you draw the diagonal more
inclined, so that it falls beyond both sides, or at least beyond
one of the sides, then will this no longer be the case ; and
this is the sense in which we have observed, that when you at-
tempted to draw even in a very general way the extents of
the figures, you ought to adopt some rule. But Eratosthenes
takes a line from the Caspian Gates along the mountains,
running as it were in the same parallel as far as the Pillars,
and then a second line, starting directly from the mountains
to touch Thapsacus ; and again a third line from Thapsacus
to the frontiers of Egypt, occupying so great a breadth. If then
in proceeding you give the length of the two last lines [taken
together] as the measure of the length of the district, you will
appear to measure the length of one of your parallelograms by
its diagonal. And if, farther, this diagonal should consist of
a broken line, as that would be which stretches from the

CHAP. i. § 38, 39. INTRODUCTION. 137

Caspian Gates to the embouchure of the Nile, passing by
Thapsacus, your error will appear much greater. This is the
sum of what may be alleged against Eratosthenes.

38. In another respect also we have to complain of Hip-
parchus, because, as he had given a category of the state-
ments of Eratosthenes, he ought to have corrected his mis-
takes, in the same way that we have done ; but whenever he
has any thing particular to remark, he tells us to follow the
ancient charts, which, to say the least, need correction infi-
nitely .more than the map of Eratosthenes.

The argument which follows is equally objectionable, being
founded on the consequences of a proposition which, as we
have shown, is inadmissible, namely, that Babylon was not
more than 1000 stadia east of Thapsacus ; when it was
quite clear, from Eratosthenes' own words, that Babylon
was above 2400 stadia east of that place ; since from Thap-
sacus to the passage of the Euphrates where it was crossed
by Alexander, the shortest route is 2400 stadia, and the
Tigris and Euphrates, having encompassed Mesopotamia,
flow towards the east, and afterwards take a southerly direc-
tion and approach nearer to each other and to Babylon at
the same time : nothing appears absurd in this statement of
Eratosthenes.

39. The next objection of Hipparchus is likewise false.
He attempts to prove that Eratosthenes, in his statement
that the route from Thapsacus to the Caspian Gates is
10,000 stadia, gives this as the distance taken in a straight
line ; such not being the case, as in that instance the distance
would be much shorter. His mode of reasoning is after this
fashion. He says, " According to Eratosthenes, the mouth
of the Nile at Canopus,1 and the Cyanea?,2 are under the
same meridian, which is distant from that of Thapsacus 6300
stadia. Now from the Cyaneas to Mount Caspius, which is
situated close to the defile3 leading from Colchis to the Cas-

1 Moadieh, the mouth of the river close to Aboukir.

2 Certain little islets at the mouth of the canal of Constantinople, in the
Black Sea. These islands want about a degree and a quarter of being
under the same meridian as Moadieh.

3 Gosselin remarks, that the defile intended by Strabo, was probably
the valley of the river Kur, or the ancient Cyrus, in Georgia; and by
Mount Caspius we are to understand the high mountains of Georgia,

138 STRABO.

BOOK II.

pian Sea, there are 6600 stadia,1 so that, with the exception
of about 300 stadia, the distance from the meridian of the
Cyaneas to that of Thapsacus, or to that of Mount Caspius, is
the same : and both Thapsacus and Mount Caspius are, so
to speak, under the same meridian.2 It follows from this
that the Caspian Gates are about equi-distant between Thap-
sacus and Mount Caspius, but that the distance between
them and Thapsacus is much less than the 10,000 stadia men-
tioned by Eratosthenes. Consequently, as the distance in a
right line is much less than 10,000 stadia, this route, which
he considered to be in a straight course from the Caspian
Gates to Thapsacus, must have been a circumbendibus."

To this we reply, that Eratosthenes, as is usual in Geogra-
phy, speaks of right lines, meridians, and parallels to the
equator, with considerable latitude, whereas Hipparchus cri-
ticizes him with geometrical nicety, as if every line had been
measured with rule and compass. Hipparchus at the same
time himself frequently deciding as to right lines and paral-
lels, not by actual measurement, but mere conjecture. Such
is the first error of this writer. A second is, that he never
lays down the distances as Eratosthenes has given them, nor
yet reasons on the data furnished by that writer, but from
mere assumptions of his own coinage. Thus, where Era-
tosthenes states that the distance from the mouth of the
[Thracian Bosphorus] to the Phasis is 8000 stadia, from
thence to Dioscurias 600 stadia,3 and from Dioscurias to Cas-
pius five days' journey, (which Hipparchus estimates at 1000
stadia,) the sum of these, as stated by Eratosthenes, would
amount to 9600 stadia. This Hipparchus abridges in the fol-
lowing manner. From the Cyanese to the Phasis are 5600
stadia, and from the Phasis to the Caspius 1000 more.4 There-

whence the waters, which fall on one side into the Black Sea, and on the
other into the Caspian, take their rise.

1 Gosselin also observes, that on our charts this distance is about 8100
stadia of 700 to a degree. Consequently the difference between the
meridian of Thapsacus and that of Mount Caspius is as much as 4° 45',
in place of the 300 stadia, or from 25' to 26' supposed by Hipparchus.

2 On the contrary, Mount Caspius is east of the meridian of Thapsacus
by about 2500 stadia, of 700 to a degree.

3 Now Iskouriah. Dioscurias, however, is 800 stadia from the Phasis,
of 700 to a degree.

4 According to our improved charts, the distance from the meridian of

CHAP. i. § 40. INTRODUCTION. 139

fore it is no statement of Eratosthenes that the Caspius and
Thapsacus are under the same meridian, but of Hipparchus
himself. However, supposing Eratosthenes says so, does it
follow that the distance from the Caspius to the Caspian
Gates, and that from Thapsacus to the same point, are
equal.1

40. In the second book of his Commentaries, Hipparchus,
having again mooted the question concerning the mountains
of the Taurus, of which we have spoken sufficiently, proceeds
with the northern parts of the habitable earth. He then
notices the statement of Eratosthenes concerning the coun-
tries situated west of the Euxine,2 namely, that the three
[principal] headlands [of this continent], the first the Pelo-
ponnesian, the second the Italian, the third the Ligurian, run
from north [to south], enclosing the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian
Gulfs.3 After this general exposition, Hipparchus proceeds
to criticise each point in detail, but rather on geometrical than
geographical grounds ; on these subjects, however, the number
of Eratosthenes' errors is so overwhelming, as also of Timos-
thenes the author of the Treatise on the Ports, (whom Eratos-
thenes prefers above every other writer, though he often decides
even against him,) that it does not seem to be worth my time
to review their faulty productions, nor even what Hipparchus
has to say about them ; since he neither enumerates all their
blunders, nor yet sets them right, but only points out how

the Cyaneas to that of the Phasis is 6800 stadia, of 700 to a degree ; from
the Cyaneato Mount Caspius, 8080.

1 The meridian of Mount Caspius is about 2625 stadia nearer the
Caspian Gates than that of Thapsacus.

2 fitTa TOV Tlovrov, literally, after the Pontus.

3 Gosselin observes, that Eratosthenes took a general view of the salient
points of land that jutted into the Mediterranean, as some of the learned
of our own time have done, when remarking that most of the continents
terminated in capes, extending towards the south. The first promontory that
Eratosthenes speaks of terminated in Cape Malea of the Peloponnesus,
and comprised the whole of Greece ; the Italian promontory likewise ter-
minated Italy ; the Ligurian promontory was reckoned to include all Spain,
it terminated at Cape Tarifa, near to the middle of the Strait of Gibraltar.
As the Ligurians had obtained possession of a considerable portion of the
coasts of France and Spain, that part of the Mediterranean which washes
the shores of those countries was named the Ligurian Sea. It extended
from the Arno to the Strait of Gibraltar. It is in accordance with this
nomenclature that Eratosthenes called Cape Tarifa, which projects far-
thest into the Strait, the Ligurian promontory.

HO STRABO.

BOOK II.

they falsify and contradict each other. Still any one might cer-
tainly object to the saying of Eratosthenes, that Europe has but
three headlands, and considering as one that which terminates
by the Peloponnesus, notwithstanding it is broken up into so
many divisions. In fact, Sunium 1 is as much a promontory as
Laconia, and not very much less south than Malea,2 forming a
considerable bay.3 and the Thracian Chersonesus4 and Suni-
um5 form the Gulf of Melas,6 and likewise those of Macedonia.7
Added to this, it is manifest that the majority of the distances
are falsely stated, thus arguing an ignorance of geography
scarcely credible, and so far from requiring geometrical de-
monstration that it stands out prominent on the very face of
the statements. For example, the distance from Epidamnus8
to the Thermaic Gulf9 is above 2000 stadia ; Eratosthenes
gives it at 900. So too he states the distance from Alexandria
to Carthage at 13,000 10 stadia ; it is not more than 9000, that
is, if, as he himself tells us, Caria and Rhodes are under
the same meridian as Alexandria,11 and the Strait of Messina
under the same as Carthage,12 for every one is agreed that the
voyage from Caria to the Strait of Sicily does not exceed
9000 stadia.

It is doubtless permissible in very great distances to con-
sider as under one and the same meridian places which are
not more east and west of each other than Carthage is west
of the Strait ; 13 but an error of 3000 stadia is too much ; and
when he places Rome under the same meridian as Carthage,
notwithstanding its being so far west of that city, it is but

I Cape Colonna. 2 Cape Malio, or St. Angelo.

3 Strabo means the Saronic Gulf, now the Bay of Engia.

4 The peninsula of Gallipoli by the Dardanelles.

5 Trpoe TO Sounoi/. Strabo's meaning is, that the entire space of sea,
bounded on the north by the Thracian Chersonesus, and on the south by
Sunium, or Cape Colonna, forms a kind of large gulf.

6 Or Black Gulf; the Gulf of Saros.

7 The Gulfs of Contessa, Monte-Santo, Cassandra, and Salonica.

8 Durazzo, on the coast of Albania.

9 The Gulf of Salonica. 10 Read 13,500 stadia.

II It was an error alike shared in by Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and
Strabo, that Alexandria and Rhodes were under the same meridian, not-
withstanding the former of these cities is 2° 22' 45" east of the latter.

12 This is an error peculiar to Eratosthenes. The meridians of Carthage
and the Strait of Messina differ by 5° 45'.

13 The Strait of Messina.

CHAP. i. § 41. INTRODUCTION. 141

the crowning proof of his extreme ignorance both of these
places, and likewise of the other countries farther west as far
as the Pillars of Hercules.

41. Since Hipparchus does not furnish a Geography of his
own, but merely reviews what is said in that of Eratosthenes,
he ought to have gone farther, and corrected the whole of
that writer's mistakes. As for ourselves, it is only in those
particulars where Eratosthenes is correct (and we acknow-
ledge that he frequently errs) that we have thought it our
duty to quote his own words, in order to reinstate them in
their position, and to defend him when he could be acquitted
of the charges of Hipparchus ; never failing to break a
lance with the latter writer whenever his objections seemed
to be the result of a mere propensity to find fault. But when
Eratosthenes is grossly mistaken, and the animadversions of
Hipparchus are just, we have thought it sufficient in our
Geography to set him (Eratosthenes) right by merely stating
facts as they are. As the mistakes were so continual and
numerous, it was better not to mention them except in a
sparse and general manner. This principle in the details we
shall strive to carry out. In the present instance we shall
only remark, that Timosthenes, Eratosthenes, and those who
preceded them, were but ill acquainted with Iberia and Kel-
tica,1 and a thousand times less with Germany, Britain,
and the land of the Getae and Bastarnae.2 Their want of
knowledge is also great in regard to Italy, the Adriatic, the
Euxine, and the countries north of these. Possibly this last
remark may be regarded as captious, since Eratosthenes states,
that as to distant countries, he has merely given the admea-
surements as he finds them supplied by others, without vouch-
ing for their accuracy, although he sometimes adds whether
the route indicated is more or less in a right line. We should
not therefore subject to a too rigorous examination distances
as to which no one is agreed, after the manner Hipparchus
does, both in regard to the places already mentioned, and also
to those of which Eratosthenes has given the distance from
Hyrcania to Bactria and the countries beyond, and those from

1 Spain and France.

2 The Getae occupied the east of Moldavia and Bessarabia, between
the Danube and the Dniester. The Bastarnae inhabited the north of
Moldavia and a part of the Ukraine.

142 STRABO. BOOK n.

Colchis to the Sea of Hyrcania. These are points where we
should not scrutinize him so narrowly as [when he describes]
places situated in the heart of our continent,1 or others equally
well known ; and even these should be regarded from a geo-
graphical rather than a geometrical point of view. Hippar-
chus, at the end of the second book of his Commentaries on
the Geography of Eratosthenes, having found fault with cer-
tain statements relative to Ethiopia, tells us at the commence-
ment of the third, that his strictures, though to a certain
point geographical, will be mathematical for the most part.
As for myself, I cannot find any geography there. To me
it seems entirely mathematical ; but Eratosthenes himself
set the example ; for he frequently runs into scientific specu-
lations, having little to do with the subject in hand, and
which result in vague and inexact conclusions. Thus he is
a mathematician in geography, and in mathematics a geogra-
pher ; and so lies open to the attacks of both parties. In this
third book, both he and Timosthenes get such severe justice,
that there seems nothing left for us to do; Hipparchus is
quite enough.

1 The Greek has simply, Kara TTJV riireip&riv, in the continent, but
Strabo, by this expression, only meant to designate those parts of the
continent best known and nearest to the Greeks. The other countries,
in regard to which he pleads for some indulgence to be shown to Eratos-
thenes, are equally in the same continent. Kramer and other editors
suspect an error in the text here.

CHAP. ii. § 1, 2. INTRODUCTION. 143

CHAPTER II.

1. WE will now proceed to examine the statements made
by Posidonius in his Treatise on the Ocean. ThFs Treatise
contains much geographical info7rniatTon7^olnetimes given in a
manner conformable to the subject, at others too mathematical.
It will not, therefore, be amiss to look into some of his state-
ments, both now and afterwards, as opportunity occurs, taking
care to confine ourselves within bounds. Pie deals simply
with geography, when he tg.lla ns, t.hqt the ear {.h is spheroidal
and the universe too, and admits the necessary consequences
ot this hypothesis^ one of which is, that the earth contains
five zone's.

2. Posidonius informs us that Parmenides was the first to
make this division of the earth into five zones, but tEaT he
almost doubled the size of the torrid zone, which is situated
between the_ tropics, by bringing it beyond these into the
temperate zones.1 But according to Aristotle the torrid zone
is contained between the tropics, the temperate zones occupy-
ing the whole space between the tropics and the arctic cir-
cles.2 Both of these divisions Posidonius justly condemns,
for the torrid zone is properly the space rendered uninhabit-
able by the heat. Whereas more than half of the space be-
tween the tropics is inhabited, as we may judge by the
Ethiopians who dwell above Egypt. The equator divides the
whole of this space into two equal parts. Now from Syene,

1 According to Plutarch, both Thales and Pythagoras had divided the
earth into five zones. Since Parmenides lived one hundred and fifty years
after the first of these philosophers, lie cannot be considered the author
of this division. As Posidonius and Strabo estimated the breadth of the
torrid zone at 8800 stadia, and Parmenides is said to have nearly doubled
it, this would give 17,600 stadia, or 25° &' 34", taking this at 25° it would
appear that Parmenides extended the torrid zone one degree beyond the
tropics.

2 The Arctic Circles of the ancients were not the same as ours, but
varied for every latitude. Aristotle limited the temperate zone to those
countries which had the constellation of the crown in their Arctic Circle,
the brilliant star of that constellation in his time had a northern declina-
tion of about 36° 30', consequently he did not reckon that the temperate
zone reached farther north or south than 53° and a half. We shall see
that Strabo adopted much the same opinion, fixing the northern bounds
of the habitable earth at 54° 25' 42". Gosselin.

STRABO. BOOK n.

which is the limit of the summer tropic, to Meroe, there are
5000 stadia, and thence to the parallel of the Cinnamon
region, where the torrid zone commences, 3000 stadia. The
whole of this distance has been measured, and it may be gone
over either by sea or land ; the remaining portion to the equa-
tor is, if we adopt the measure of the earth supplied by Era-
tosthenes, 8800 stadia. Therefore, as 16,800 is to 8800, so is
the space comprised between the tropics to the breadth of the
torrid zone.

If of the more recent measurements we prefer those which
diminish the size of the earth, such as that adopted by Posi-
donius, which is about 180,000 stadia,1 the torrid zone will still
only occupy half, or rather more than half, of the space com-
prised between the tropics ; but never an equal space. [Re-
specting the system of Aristotle, Posidonius farther says,]
" Since it is not every latitude which has Arctic Circles,2 and
even those which do possess them have not the same, how
can any one determine by them the bounds of the temperate
zones, which are immutable?" Nothing however is proved
[against Aristotle] from the fact that there are not Arctic
Circles for every latitude, since they exist for all the inhabit-
ants of the temperate zone, on whose account alone the
zone receives its name of temperate. But the objection that
the Arctic Circles do not remain the same for every latitude,
but shift their places, is excellent.3

3. Posidonius, who himself divides the earth into zones, tells
us that " five is the number best suited for the explanation
of the celestial appearances, two of these are periscii,4 which
reach from the poles to the point where the tropics serve for
Arctic Circles ; two more are heteroscii,5 which extend from

1 JFor the circumference .

'r*"vlz7 TioulTfor ' thols e who dwell under the equator, or at the poles.

3 Strabo's argument seems to be this. It matters but little that there
may not be Arctic Circles for every latitude, since for the inhabitants of
the temperate zone they do certainly exist, and these are the only people
of whom we have any knowledge. But at the same time the objection is
unanswerable, that as these circles differ in respect to various countries,
it is quite impossible that they can fix uniformly the limits of the temper-
ate zone.

4 The polar circles, where the shadow, in the summer season, travels all
round in the twenty-four hours.

5 Those who live north and south of the tropics, or in the temperate
zones, and at noon have a shadow only falling one way.

CHAP. in. $ 1. INTRODUCTION. 14o

the former to the inhabitants of the tropics, and one between
the tropics, which is called amphiscius,1 but for matters re-
lative to the earth, it is convenient to suppose two other nar-
row zones placed under the tropics, and divided by them into
two halves, over which [every year] for the space of a
fortnight, the sun is vertical."2 These zones are remarkable
for being ex£rame_ly arid and sandy, producing noj^egetation
with the exception of silphium,3 and a parched grain somewhat
resembling wheat. This is caused by there being jip^moun-
tajns to attract the clouds and pn)duce._jcain, nor any rivers
flowing4 through the country. The consequence is that the
various species5 are born with woolly hair, crumpled horns,
protrudingjips, and wide nostrilsT their extremities being as
it were gnarled. Within these zones also dwell the Ichthyo-
phagi.6 He further remarks, that these peculiarities are
quite sufficient to distinguish the zones in question : those
which are farther south having a more salubrious atmosphere,
and being more fruitful and better supplied with water.

CHAPTER III.

1. POLYBIUS supposes six zones: two situated between the
poles and the arctic circles ; two between the arctic circles
and the tropics ; and two between the tropics which are di-
vided by the equator. However, it appears to me that the

1 Having at mid-day in alternate seasons the shadow falling north and
south.

2 Viz. Posidonius allowed for each of these small zones a breadth of
about 30', or 350 stadia, of 700 to a degree.

3 A plant, the juice of which was used in food and medicine. Bentley
supposes it to be the asa-foetida, still much eaten as a relish in the East.

* Posidonius was here mistaken ; witness the Niger, the Senegal, the
Gambia, &c.

5 The expression of Strabo is so concise as to leave it extremely doubt-
ful whether or not he meant to include the human race in his statement.
Looking at this passage, however, in connexion with another in the 15th
Book, we are inclined to answer the question in the affirmative.

8 Or living on fish, a name given by the Greek geographers to various
tribes of barbarians ; but it seems most frequently to a people of Gedrosia
on the coast of the Arabian Gulf. It is probably to these that Strabo
refers.

VOL. i. L

146 STRABO.

BOOK II.

division into five zones accords best both with the order of ex-
ternal nature and geography. With external nature, as re-
spects the celestial phenomena, and the temperature of the
atmosphere. With respect to the celestial phenomena, as the
Periscii and Amphiscii are thereby divided in the best pos-
sible manner, and it also forms an excellent line of separation
in regard to those who behold the stars from an opposite point
of view.1 With respect to the temperature of the atmosphere,
inasmuch as looked at in connexion with the sun, there are
three main divisions, which influence in a remarkable degree
both plants, animals, and every other animated thing, existing
either in the air, or exposed to it, namely, excess of heat,
want of heat, and a moderate supply of heat. In the division
into [five] zones, each of these is correctly distinguished.
The two frigid zones indicate the want of heat, being alike in
the temperature of their atmosphere ; the temperate zones
possess a moderate heat, and the remaining, or torrid zone, is
remarkable for its excess of heat.

The propriety of this division in regard to geography is
equally apparent ; the object of this science being to determine
the limits of that one of the temperate zones which we in-
habit. To the east and west, it is true, the boundaries are
formed by the sea, but to the north and south they are in-
dicated by the atmosphere ; which in the middle is of a grate-
ful temperature both to animals and plants, but on either
side is rendered intemperate either through excess or defect
of heat. To manifest this threefold difference, the division
of the globe into five zones becomes necessary. In fact,
the division of the globe, by means of the equator, into two
hemispheres, the one northern, wherein we dwell, and the
other southern, points to this threefold division, for the re-
gions next the equator and torrid zone are uninhabitable on
account of the heat, those next the poles on account of the
cold, but those in the middle are mild, and fitted for the habit-
ation of man.

Posidonius, in placing two zones under the tropics, pays no
regard to the reasons which influenced the division into five
zones, nor is his division equally appropriate. It is no more
than if he were to form his division into zones merely according
to the [countries inhabited] by different nations, calling one
1 Viz. the Heteroscii, or inhabitants of the temperate zones.

CHAP. in. § 2. INTRODUCTION. 147

the Ethiopian, another the Scythian and Keltic,1 and a third
the Intermediate zone.

2. Polybius, indeed, is wrong in bounding certain of his
zones by the arctic circles,2 namely, the two which lie under
them, and the two between these and the tropics. The im-
propriety of using shifting points to mark the limits of those
which are fixed has been remarked before ; and we have
likewise objected to the plan of making the tropics the
boundary of the torrid zone. However, in dividing the
torrid zone into two parts [Polybius] seems to have been
influenced by no inconsiderable reason, the same which led
us to regard the whole earth as properly divided by the equa-
tor into two hemispheres, north and south. We at once see
that by means of this division the torrid zone is divided into
two parts, thus establishing a kind of uniformity ; each hemi-
sphere consisting of three entire zones, respectively similar to
each other. Thus this partition3 will admit of a division
into six zones, but the other does not allow of it at all. Sup-
posing you cut the earth into two portions by a line drawn
through the poles, you can find no sufficient cause for di-
viding the eastern and western hemispheres into six zones ;
on the other hand, five would be preferable. For since both
the portions of the torrid zone, divided by the equator, are
similar and contiguous to each other, it would seem out of
place and superfluous to separate them ; whereas the temperate
and frigid zones respectively resemble each other, although
lying apart. Wherefore, supposing the whole earth to con-
sist of these two hemispheres, it is sufficient to divide them
into five zones. If there be a temperate region under the
equator, as Eratosthenes asserts, and is admitted by Poly-
bius, (who adds, that it is the most elevated part of the
earth,4 and consequently subject to the drenching rains occa-

1 The ancients named the people of southern Africa, Ethiopians ; those
of the north of Asia and Europe, Scythians; and those of the north-west of
Europe, Kelts.

2 That is, by arctic circles which differed in respect to various lati-
tudes. See Book ii. chap. ii. § 2, p. 144.

3 Viz. The partition of the earth into two hemispheres, by means of
the equator.

4 Gosselin concludes from this that Eratosthenes and Polybius gave to
the earth the form of a spheroid flattened at the poles. Other philoso-
phers supposed it was elongated at the poles, and flattened at the equator.

L 2

148 STRABO. BOOK n.

sioned by the monsoons bringing up from the north innumer-
able clouds, which discharge themselves on the highest lands,)
it-would be better to suppose this a third narrow temperate
zone, than to extend the two temperate zones within the
circles of the tropics. This supposition is supported by the
statements of Posidonius, that the course of the sun, whether
in the ecliptic, or from east to west, appears most rapid in
the region [of which we are speaking], because the rotations
of that luminary are performed with a speed increased in
proportion to the greater size of the circle.1

3. Posidonius blames Polybius for asserting that the region
of the earth, situated under the equator, is the highest, since
a spherical body being equal all round, no part can be de-
scribed as high ; and as to mountainous districts, there are
none under the equator, it is on the contrary a flat country,
about the same level as the sea ; as for the rains which swell
the Nile, they descend from the mountains of Ethiopia. Al-
though advancing this, he afterwards seems to adopt the other
opinion, for he says that he fancies there may be mountains
under the equator, around which the clouds assembling from
both of the temperate zones, produce violent rains. Here is
one manifest contradiction; again, in stating that the land
under the equator is mountainous, another contradiction ap-
pears. For they say that the ocean is confluent, how then
can they place mountains in the midst of it ? unless they
mean to say that there are islands. However, whether such
be the fact does not lie within the province of geography to
determine, the inquiry would better be left to him who makes
the ocean in particular his study.

4. Posidonius, in speaking of those who have sailed round
Africa, tells us that Herodotus was of opinion that some of those
sent out by Darius actually performed this enterprise;2 and

1 Gosselin justly observes that this passage, which is so concise as to
appear doubtful to some, is properly explained by a quotation from Ge-
minus, which states the arguments adduced by Polybius for believing that
there was a temperate region within the torrid zones.

2 Strabo seems to confound the account (Herodotus iv. 44) of the ex-
pedition sent by Darius round southern Persia and Arabia with the cir-
cumnavigation of Libya, (Herod, iv. 4'2,) which Necho II. confided to
the Phosnicians about 600 B. c., commanding them distinctly " to return
to Egypt through the passage of the Pillars of Hercules." See Humboldt's
Cosmos, ii. 4b8, note, Bonn's edition.

CHAP. in. § 4. INTRODUCTION. 149

that Heraclides of Pontus, in a certain dialogue, introduces
one of the Magi presenting himself to Gelon,1 and declaring
that he had performed this voyage ; but he remarks that this
wants proof. He also narrates how a certain Eudoxus of
Cyzicus,2 sent with sacrifices and oblations to the Corean
games,3 travelled into Egypt in the reign of Euergetes II. ;4
and being a learned man, and much interested in the pecu-
liarities of different countries, he made interest with the king
and his ministers on the subject, but especially for exploring
the Nile. It chanced that a certain Indian was brought to the
king by the [coastj-guard of the Arabian Gulf. They reported
that they had found him in a ship, alone, and half dead: but
that they neither knew who he was, nor where he came from,
as he spoke a language they could not understand. He was
placed in the hands of preceptors appointed to teach him the
Greek language. On acquiring which, he related how he had
started from the coasts of India, but lost his course, and
reached Egypt alone, all his companions having perished with
hunger ; but that if he were restored to his country he would
point out to those sent with him by the king, the route by sea
to India. Eudoxus was of the number thus sent. He set
sail with a good supply of presents, and brought back with
him in exchange aromatics and precious stones, some of which
the Indians collect from amongst the pebbles of the rivers,
others they dig out of the earth, where they have been formed
by the moisture, as crystals are formed with us.5

[He fancied that he had made his fortune], however, he
was greatly deceived, for Euergetes took possession of the
whole treasure. On the death of that prince, his widow,
Cleopatra,6 assumed the reins of government, and Eudoxus
was again despatched with a richer cargo than before. On

1 Gelon, tyrant of Syracuse, flourished towards the end of the fifth
century before Christ.

2 The ruins of this city still preserve the name of Cyzik. It was
situated on the peninsula of Artaki, on the south of the Sea of Marmora.

3 Games in honour of Proserpine, or Cora.

4 Ptolemy VII., king of Egypt, also styled Euergetes II.; he is more
commonly known by the surname of Physcon. His reign commenced
B. c. 170.

5 The ancients believed that crystals consisted of water which had been
frozen by excessive cold, and remained congealed for centuries. Vide
Pliny, lib. xxxvii. c. 9.

6 Cleopatra, besides being the wife, was also the niece of Ptolemy,

150 STRABO.

BOOK. II.

his journey back, he was carried by the winds above Ethi-
opia, and being thrown on certain [unknown] regions, he
conciliated the inhabitants by presents of grain, wine, and
cakes of pressed figs, articles which they were without;
receiving in exchange a supply of water, and guides for the
journey. He also wrote down several words of their lan-
guage, and having found the end of a prow, with a horse
carved on it, which he was told formed part of the wreck
of a vessel coming from the west, he took it with him, and
proceeded on his homeward course. He arrived safely in
Egypt, where no longer Cleopatra, but her son,1 ruled ; but
he was again stripped of every thing on the accusation of
having appropriated to his own uses a large portion of the
merchandise sent out.

However, he carried the prow into the market-place, and
exhibited it to the pilots, who recognised it as being come
from Gades.2 The merchants [of that place] employing
large vessels, but the lesser traders small ships, which they
style horses, from the figures of that animal borne on the
prow, and in which they go out fishing around Maurusia,3 as
far as the Lixus.4 Some of the pilots professed to recognise
the prow as that of a vessel which had sailed beyond the river
Lixus, but had not returned.5

From this Eudoxus drew the conclusion, that it was possi-
ble to circumnavigate Libya; he therefore returned home,
and having collected together the whole of his substance, set
out on his travels. First he visited Dicsearchia,6 and then
Marseilles, and afterwards traversed the whole coast as far as
Gades. Declaring his enterprise everywhere as he journeyed,
he gathered money sufficient to equip a great ship, and two
boats, resembling those used by pirates. On board these he
placed singing girls, physicians, and artisans of various kinds,

being the offspring of his former wife, whom he had divorced, by her
former marriage with Philometor.

' Ptolemy VIII. was nominally king, but his mother Cleopatra still
held most of the real authority in her hands. 2 Cadiz.

3 Western Mauritania, the modern kingdom of Fez.

4 This river is now named Lucos, and its mouth, which is about 30
leagues distant from Cadiz, is called Larais or Larache.

5 Humboldt, Cosmos ii. 489, note, mentions the remains of a ship of
the Red Sea having been brought to the coast of Crete by westerly currents.

0 Pozzuolo, close by Naples.

CHAP. in. §4. INTRODUCTION. 151

and launching into open sea, was carried towards India by
steady westerly winds.1 However, they who accompanied
him becoming wearied with the voyage, steered their course
towards land, but much against his will, as he dreaded the
force of the ebb and flow. What he feared actually occurred.
The ship grounded, but gently, so that it did not break up at
once, but fell to pieces gradually, the goods and much of the
timber of the ship being saved. With these he built a third
vessel, closely resembling a ship of fifty oars, and continuing
his voyage, came amongst a people who spoke the same lan-
guage as that some words of which he had on a former occa-
sion committed to writing. He further discovered, that they
were men of the same stock as those other Ethiopians, and
also resembled those of the kingdom of Bogus.2 However,
he abandoned his [intended] voyage to India, and returned
home. On his voyage back he observed an uninhabited island,
well watered and wooded, and carefully noted its position.
Having reached Maurusia in safety, he disposed of his ves-
sels, and travelled by land to the court of Bogus. He recom-
mended that sovereign to undertake an expedition thither.

This, however, was prevented on account of the fear of the
[king's] advisers, lest the district should chance to expose them
to treachery, by making known a route by which foreigners
might come to attack them. Eudoxus, however, became aware,
that although it was given out that he was himself to be sent
on this proposed expedition, the real intent was to aban-
don him on some desert island. He therefore fled to the
Roman territory, and passed thence into Iberia. Again, he
equipped two vessels, one round and the other long, furnished
with fifty oars, the latter framed for voyaging in the high seas,
the other for coasting along the shores. He placed on board
agricultural implements, seed, and builders, and hastened on
the same voyage, determined, if it should prove too long, to
winter on the island he had before observed, sow his seed,

1 Gosselin observes, that this steady westerly wind, so far from carry-
ing him towards India, would be entirely adverse to him in coasting along
Africa, and doubling Cape Bojador ; and infers from hence that Eudoxus
never really went that expedition, and that Strabo himself was ignorant
of the true position of Africa.

2 A name common to many sovereigns of the different parts of Mauri-
tania ; the king Bogus, or Bocchus, here spoken of, governed the king-
dom of Fez.

152 STRABO

BOOK II.

and having reaped the harvest, complete the expedition he
had intended from the beginning.

5. " Thus far," says Posidonius, " I have followed the history
of Eudoxus. What happened afterwards is probably known
to the people of Gades and Iberia ;" " but," says he, " all these
things only demonstrate more clearly the fact, that the in-
habited earth is entirely surrounded by the ocean."

" By no continent fettered in,
But boundless in its flow, and free from soil."

Posidonius is certainly a most strange writer ; he considers
that the voyage of the Magus,1 related by Heraclides, wants
sufficient evidence, and also the account given by Herodotus
of those sent out [to explore] by Darius. But this Bergcean2
nonsense, either the coinage of his own brain, or of some other
story-teller, in whom he trusts, he pretends to be worthy of
our belief. But in the first place, what is there credible in this
tale of the Indian missing his way ? The Arabian Gulf, which
resembles a river, is narrow, and in length is from 5000 to
10,000 stadia up to its mouth, where it is narrowest of all. It
is not likely that the Indians in their voyage out would have en-
tered this Gulf by mistake. The extreme narrowness of the
mouth must have warned them of their error. And if they en-
tered it voluntarily, then there was no excuse for introducing
the pretext of mistake and uncertain winds. And how did they
suffer all of themselves but one to perish through hunger ? And
how was it that this surviver was able to manage the ship, which
could not have been a small one either, fitted as it was for
traversing such vast seas ? What must have been his apti-
tude in learning the language of the country, and thus being
able to persuade the king of his competence, as leader of the
expedition ? And how came it that Euergetes was in want of
such guides, so many being already acquainted with this 'sea ?
How was it that he who was sent by the inhabitants of Cy-
zicus to carry libations and sacrifices, should forsake his city
and sail for India ? How was it that so great an affair was

1 Round Africa.

2 A term by which incredible narrations were designated. It owes its
origin to Antiphanes, a writer born at Berge, a city of Thrace, and famous
for trumping up false and auld- world stories. 'Btpyai&tv, was a pro-
verbial and polite term for lying.

CHAP. m. § 5. INTRODUCTION. -O55

intrusted to him ? And how came it that on his return, after
being deprived of every thing contrary to expectation, and
disgraced, a yet larger cargo of goods was intrusted to him ?
And when he had again returned into Ethiopia, what cause
induced him to write down the words, or to inquire whence
came the portion of the prow of the boat ? For to learn that
it was a ship of some sailing from the west, would have been
no information to him, as he himself would have to sail from the
west on his voyage back. When, on his return to Alexandria,
he was detected in having appropriated to himself much of
the merchandise, how came it that he was not punished, but
allowed to go about interrogating the pilots, and exhibiting
his bit of prow ? And that one of these fellows actually re-
cognised the relic, is it not delicious ! Eudoxus too believed it,
this is still richer ; and inspired by the hope, hastens home,
and then starts on a voyage beyond the Pillars of Hercules !
But he could never have left Alexandria without a pass-
port, still less after having stolen the royal property. To set
sail on the sly was impossible, as the port and every other
exit was kept by a numerous guard, which still exists, as we
very well know who have lived in Alexandria for a long time,
although it is not so strict since the Romans have had posses-
sion, but under the kings the guards were infinitely more alert.
But allowing that he reached Gades, that he there constructed
ships, and sailed thence with quite a royal fleet, when his vessel
was shattered, by what means was he able to construct a third
boat in a desert land ? And when, being again on his voyage, he
found that the Ethiopians of the West spoke the same language
as those of the East, how came it that he, so proud of his
travelling propensities, forgot the completion of his voyage,
when he must have had so good an expectation that there
was but little now left unexplored, but relinquishing these
prospects, set his mind on the expedition being undertaken
by Bogus ? HOAV did he become acquainted with the snare
spread for him by that king ? And what advantage would
have accrued to Bogus by making away with the man, rather
than by dismissing him ? When Eudoxus learned the plot
against himself, what means had he to- escape to safer quar-
ters ? It is true that not one of these situations was actually
impossible, but still they were difficult circumstances, such as
one rarely escapes from by any prosperous fortune. How-

STRABO.

<ys came off with good luck, notwithstanding he
of danger. Besides this, how did it happen, that
ed from Bogus, he was not afraid to sail round
nd time, with all the requisites for taking up his
aDoae on me island ? All this too closely resembles the false-
hoods of Pytheas, Euhemerus, and Antiphanes. They how-
ever may be pardoned ; for their only aim was that of the
juggler. But who can forgive a demonstrator and philoso-
pher, and one too striving to be at the head of their order ? it
is really too bad !

6. However, he is right in attributing to earthquakes and
other similar causes, which we also have enumerated, the
risings, slips, and changes which at various periods come over
the earth. He did well, too, in citing the opinion of Plato,
" that the tradition concerning the Island of Atlantis might
be received as something more than a mere fiction, it having
been related by Solon on the authority of the Egyptian priests,
that tnis island, almost as large, as a. continent- wn.a formerly
in existence, although now: it had^disappeared." Posidonius
thinks it better to quote this than to say, " He who brought it
into existence can also cause it to disappear, as the poet did
the wall of the Achivi." l He (Posidonius) is also of opinion
that the emigration of the Cimbrians and other kindred races
from their native territory, was gradual, and occasioned by
the inundation of the sea, and by no means a sudden move-
ment.2 He supposes that the length of the inhabited earth is
about 70,000 stadia, being the half of the whole circle on
which it is taken ; so that, says he, starting from the west,
one might, aided by a continual east wind, reach India in so
many thousand stadia.

7. Next he undertakes to find fault with those who gave

1 The wall mentioned in Iliad, vii. 436, et seq. Gosselin says that
in the time of Aristotle the commentators of the Iliad, having vainly
sought for the ruins or other traces of the wall, the Philosopher came
to the conclusion that the wall was altogether a fiction of Homer's.
Strabo speaks further on this subject in the 13th Book.

2 As the above assertion is at variance with the statement of Strabo,
in his 7th Book, concerning Posidonius's views on this subject, it seems
probable that the passage as it stands is corrupt. It is more likely
Strabo wrote, " It is the opinion of Posidonius that the emigration of the
Cimbrians and other kindred races from their native territory was not
occasioned by an inundation of the sea, since their departure took place
at various times."

CHAP. in. §7. INTRODUCTION. 155

to the continents their present division, instead of marking
them out by lines drawn parallel to the equator, by which
means the different animals, plants, and temperatures would
have been distinguished, according as they approached the
frigid or the torrid zones ; so that each continent would have
formed a kind of zone. Afterwards, however, he overturns
and gives up altogether this view, bestowing every commend-
ation on the existing system, and thus making his argument
altogether worthless and of no avail. | In fact, the va-
rious arrangements [of a country] are not the result of pre-
meditation, any more than the diversities of nations or lan-
guages ; they all depend on circumstances and chance. Arts,
forms of government, and modes of life, arising from certain
[internal] springs, flourish under whatever climate they may
be situated ; climate, however, has its influence, and therefore
while some peculiarites are due to the nature of the country,
others are the result of institutions and education. It is not
owing to the nature of the country, but rather to their educa-
tion, that the Athenians cultivate eloquence, while the Lace-
daemonians do not ; nor yet the Thebans, who are nearer still.
Neither are the Babylonians and Egyptians philosophers by
nature, but by reason of their institutions and education. In
like manner the excellence of horses, oxen, and other animals,
results not alone from the places where they dwell, but also
from their breeding. Posidonius confounds all these distinc-
tions. 7

In praising the division of the continents as it now stands,
he advances as an argument the difference between the In-
dians and the Ethiopians of Libya, the former being more
robust, and less dried by the heat of the climate. It is on this
account that Homer, who includes them all under the title of
Ethiopians, describes them as being separated into two divi-
sions,

" These eastward situate, those toward the west."1

[Crates], to support his hypothesis, supposes another inhabited
earth, of which Homer certainly knew nothing ; and says that
the passage ought to be read thus, " towards the descending
sun," viz. when having passed the meridian, it begins to de-
cline.

1 Odyssey i. 23.

156 STRABO. BOOK IT.

8. First, then, the Ethiopians next Egypt are actually se-
parated into two divisions ; one part being in Asia, the other
in Libya, otherwise there is no distinction between them. But
it was not on this account that Homer divided the Ethiopians,
nor yet because he was acquainted with the physical supe-
riority of the Indians, (for it is not probable that Homer had
the slightest idea of the Indians, since, according to the asser-
tion of Eudoxus, Euergetes was both ignorant of India, and of
the voyage thither,) but his division rather resulted from the
cause we formerly mentioned. We have shown that as for
the alteration of Crates, it makes no difference whether it be
read so or not. Posidonius, however, says that it does make
a difference, and would be better altered into " towards the
descending [sun]." But in what can this be said to differ
from " towards the west," since the whole section of the he-
misphere west of the meridian is styled " the west," not only
the mere semicircle of the horizon. This is manifested by the
following expression of Aratus,

" Where the extremities of the west and east blend together." l
However, if the reading of Posidonius be preferable to that of
Crates, any one may likewise claim for it a superiority over
that of Aristarchus. So much for Posidonius. There are, how-
ever, many particulars relating to Geography, which we shall
bring under discussion ; others relating to Physics, which
must be examined elsewhere, or altogether disregarded ; for
he is much too fond of imitating Aristotle's propensity for
diving into causes, a subject which we [Stoics] scrupulously
avoid, simply because of the extreme darkness in which all
causes are enveloped.

CHAPTER IV.

1. POLYBIUS, in his Chorography of Europe, tells us that it is
not his intention to examine the writings of the ancient geo-
graphers, but the statements of those who have criticised them,

1 Aratus, who lived about B. c. 270, was the author of two Greek
astronomical poems, called ^aivofisva and Aioa^t/a. It is from the
former of these that the above quotation is taken. Aratus, PhaDnom. v. 61.

CHAP. iv. §2. INTRODUCTION. 157

such as Diccearchus, Eratosthenes, (who was the last of those
who [in his time] had laboured on geography,) and Pytheas,
by •svhom many have been deceived. It is this last writer
who states that he travelled all over Britain on foot, and that
the island is above 40,000 stadia in circumference. It is like-
wise he who describes Thule and other neighbouring places,
where, according to him, neither earth, water, nor air exist,
separately, but a sort of concretion of all these, resembling
marine sponge, in which the earth, the sea, and all things
were suspended, thus forming, as it were, a link to unite the
whole together. It can neither be travelled over nor sailed
through. As for the substance, he affirms that he has beheld
it with his own eyes ; the rest, he reports on the authority o*f
others. So much for the statements of Pytheas, who tells us,
besides, that after he had returned thence, he traversed the
whole coasts of Europe from Gades to the Don.

2. Polybius asks, " How is it possible that a private indi-
vidual, and one too in narrow circumstances, could ever have
performed such vast expeditions by sea and land ? And how
could Eratosthenes, who hesitates whether he may rely on his
statements in general, place such entire confidence in what
that writer narrates concerning Britain, Gades, and Iberia?"
says he, " it would have been better had Eratosthenes trusted
to the Messenian 1 rather than to this writer. The former

1 Evemerus, or Euhemerus, a Sicilian author of the time of Alexander
the Great and his immediate successors, and a native of Messina. He is
said to have sailed down the Red Sea and round the southern coasts of
Asia to a very great distance, until he came to an island called Pancheca.
After his return from this voyage, he wrote a work entitled 'Ispa 'Ava~
ypaQr], which consisted of at least nine books. The title of this " Sacred
History," as we may call it, was taken from the avaypcr^at, or the in-
scriptions on columns and walls, which existed in great numbers in the
temples of Greece ; and Euhemerus chose it, because he pretended to have
derived his information from public documents of that kind, which he
had discovered in his travels, especially in the island of Panchsea. The
work contained accounts of the several gods, whom Euhemerus represented
as having originally been men who had distinguished themselves either
as warriors, kings, inventors, or benefactors of mankind, and who, after
their death, were worshipped as gods by the grateful people. This book,
which seems to have been wrritten in a popular style, must have been
very attractive ; for all the fables of mythology were dressed up in it as
so many true narratives ; and many of the subsequent-historians adopted
his mode of dealing with myths, or at least followed in his track, as we
rind to be the case with Polybius and Dionysius. Vide Smith.

158 STRABO.

BOOK II.

merely pretends to have sailed into one [unknown] country,
viz. Panchaea, but the latter, that he has visited the whole of
the north of Europe as far as the ends of the earth ; which
statement, even had it been made by Mercury, we should not
have believed. Nevertheless Eratosthenes, who terms Euhe-
merus a Bergaean, gives credit to Pytheas, although even
Diccearchus would not believe him."

This argument, " although even Dica3archus would not be-
lieve him," is ridiculous, just as if Eratosthenes ought to take
for his standard a writer whom Polybius is himself for ever
complaining of.1

The ignorance of Eratosthenes respecting the western and
northern portions of Europe, we have before remarked. But
both he and Dicaearchus must be pardoned for this, as neither
of them were personally familiar with those localities. But
how can one excuse Polybius and Posidonius ? especially Po-
lybius, who treats as mere hearsay what Eratosthenes and
Dicaearchus report concerning the distances of various places ;
and many other matters, about which, though he blames them,
he is not himself free from error. Dicaearchus states that
there are 10,000 stadia from the Peloponnesus to the Pillars,
and something above this number from the Peloponnesus to
the recess of the Adriatic.2 He supposes 3000 stadia between
the Peloponnesus and the Strait of Sicily ; thus there would
remain 7000 between the Strait of Sicily and the Pillars.3

" I will not inquire," says Polybius, " whether the statement
concerning the 3000 stadia is correct or not, but 7000 stadia

1 Every one will observe, that this criticism of Strabo is entirely gra-
tuitous and captious. Polybius cites Dicaearchus as a most credulous
writer, but states that even he would not believe Pytheas : how then
could so distinguished a writer as Eratosthenes put faith in his non-
sense ?

2 On the contrary, the distance in a right line from Cape Tenarum, off
the Peloponnesus, to the recess of the Adriatic Gulf, is only about half
the distance from the Peloponnesus to the Pillars of Hercules. This
mistake of Dicsearchus is a proof of the very slight acquaintance the
Greeks could have had with the western portions of the Mediterranean
in his time, about 320 years before the Christian era.

3 Literally, " He assigns 3000 to the interval which stretches towards
the Pillars as far as the Strait, and 7000 from the Strait to the Pillars."
The distance from Cape Tenarum to the Strait of Messina is in pro-
portion to the distance from the Strait of Messina to Gibraltar, about
3 to 10, not 3 to 7, as given by Dicaearchus.

CHAP. iv. §3. INTRODUCTION. 159

is not the correct measure [from the Strait of Messina to tfie
Pillars of Hercules], whether taken along the sea-shore, or
right across the sea. The coast closely resembles an obtuse
angle, one side reaching to the Strait of Sicily, the other to
the Pillars, the vertex being Narbonne. Now lei a triangle
be constructed, having for its base a right line drawn through
the sea, and its sides forming the aforementioned angle. The
side reaching from the Strait of Sicily to Narbonne is above
1 1,200 stadia, while the other is below 8000. Now the great-
est distance from Europe to Libya, across the Tyrrhenian
Sea,1 is not above 3000 stadia, and across the Sea of Sar-
dinia2 it is less still. But supposing that it too is 3000 stadia,
add to this 2000 stadia, the depth of the bay at Narbonne,
as a perpendicular from the vertex to the base of the obtuse-
angled triangle. It will, then, be clear even to the geo-
metrical powers of a child, that the entire coast from the Strait
of Sicily to the Pillars, does not exceed by more than 500
stadia the right line drawn across the sea ; adding to these
the 3000 stadia from the Peloponnesus to the Strait of Sicily,
the whole taken together will give a straight line3 above
double the length assigned by Dica3archus -, and, according to
his system, you must add in addition to these the stadia at the
recess of the Adriatic."

3. True, dear Polybius, (one might say,) this error [of Di-
casarchus] is manifested by the proof which you yourself
have given when you inform us that from the Peloponnesus
to Leucas4 there are 700 stadia ; from thence to Corcyra5 the
same number ; and the same number again from Corcyra to
the Ceraunian Mountains;6 and from the Ceraunian Moun-
tains to lapygia,7 following the coast of Illyria on the right,
6150 stadia.8 But the statement of Dicrearchus, that the

1 That part of the Mediterranean which lies on the coast of Italy,
from the mouth of the Arno to Naples.

2 The sea which washes the western coast of Sardinia.

J Viz. from the Peloponnesus to the Pillars of Hercules.
* Santa Maura, an island in the Ionian Sea. 6 Corfu.

6 The mountains of Chimera, forming the Cape della Linguetta on the
coast of Albania.

7 The maritime portion of Liburnia, comprised between the coasts of
Dalmatia and Istria. It is now comprehended in the district of Murlaka.

8 In all 6250 stadia.

160 STRABO.

BOOK II.

distance from the Strait of Sicily to the Pillars is 7000 stadia,
and also your view of the matter, are both of them equally
incorrect. For almost every one is agreed that the distance
measured straight across the sea is 12,000 stadia, and this co-
incides with the received calculation of the length of the in-
habited earth, which is estimated at above 70,000 stadia ; the
western portion of this from the Gulf of Issus l to the ex-
treme western point of Iberia is little less than 30,000 stadia,
and is thus calculated : from the Gulf of Issus to Rhodes 5000
stadia ; from thence to Cape Salmonium,2 which forms the
eastern extremity of Crete, 1000; the length of Crete to
Criu-metopon3 above 2000; thence to Cape Pachynus4 in
Sicily 4500, and from Pachynus to the Strait of Sicily above
1000 stadia; the run from the Strait to the Pillars 12,000;
and lastly, from the Pillars to the extremity of the said pro-
montory5 of Iberia, about 3000 stadia.6

In addition to this, the perpendicular7 is not correct, sup-
posing it true that Narbonne lies under almost the same pa-
rallel as Marseilles, and that this latter place is under the
same parallel as Byzantium ; which is the opinion of Hippar-
chus. Now the line drawn across the sea lies under the same
parallel as the Strait [of the Pillars] and Rhodes ; and the dis-
tance from Rhodes to Byzantium, which both lie under the same
meridian, is estimated at about 5000 stadia; to which the
above-mentioned perpendicular ought to be equal. But since
they say that from the recess of the Galatic Gulf, the great-
est distance across the sea from Europe to Libya is 5000
stadia, it seems to me that either there is some error in this
statement, or that at this point Libya must incline very much
to the north, and so come under the same parallel as the Pil-
lars. Polybius is likewise mistaken in telling us that this
said perpendicular terminates close to Sardinia ; for instead
of being close to Sardinia, it is far west thereof, having
almost the whole of the sea of Liguria8 between it and that

1 Issus, now Aias, a town of Cilicia on the confines of Syria, famous
for the battle between Alexander the Great and Darius, in consequence
of which it was called Nicopolis.

2 Salamoni. 3 Cape Krio.

4 Cape Passaro. 5 Cape St. Vincent.

6 Total 28,500 stadia. 7 Spoken of by Polybius.

8 The Gulf of Genoa.

CHAP. iv. § 4, 5. INTRODUCTION. 161

island. Besides this he makes the length of the sea-coast too
great ; but this [error] is not so considerable [as the two
preceding].

4. After this Polybius proceeds to set right the mistakes of
Eratosthenes. In this he is sometimes successful ; at others
his corrections are for the worse. For example, Eratos-
thenes gives 300 stadia from Ithaca to Corcyra; Poly-
bius makes it above 900. From Epidamnus to Thessa-
lonica Eratosthenes allows 900 stadia ; Polybius says above
2000. In these instances he is correct. But where Era-
tosthenes states that from Marseilles to the Pillars there
are 7000 stadia, and from the Pyrenees [to the same place]
6000, and Polybius alters this to more than 9000 from Mar-
seilles, and little less than 8000 from the Pyrenees,1 he is
quite mistaken, and not so near to the truth as Eratos-
thenes. For all are now agreed that, barring the indirect-
ness of the roads, the whole length of Iberia is not more
than 6000 stadia2 from the Pyrenees to its western limits;
notwithstanding Polybius gives 8000 stadia for the length
of the river Tagus, from its source to its outlets, and this
in a straight line without any reference to its sinuosities,
which in fact never enter into the geographical estimate,
although the sources of the Tagus are above 1000 stadia from
the Pyrenees. His remark is quite correct, that Eratosthenes
knew little about Iberia, and on this account sometimes
makes conflicting statements concerning it. He tells us, for
example, that the portion of this country situated on the sea-
coast as far as Gades is inhabited by Galatse,3 who possess
western Europe as far as Gades ; nevertheless, in his account
of Iberia he seems quite to have forgotten this, and makes
no mention of these Galatae whatever.

5. Again, however, Polybius makes an incorrect assertion,
in stating that the whole length of Europe is unequal to that
of Africa and Asia taken together. He tells us " that the en-

1 These measures are taken along the coast, in stadia of 700 to a de-
gree. Of these, from Marseilles to Gibraltar there are 9300, and from
the ancient promontory of Pyrenseum to Gibraltar 7380. Consequently
the corrections of Polybius were neither inaccurate nor uncalled for.

2 These 6000 stadia, taken in a direct line, are just the distance from
Cape St. Vincent to the chain of the Pyrenees.

3 Kelts.

16'2 STRABO.

BOOK II.

trance at the Pillars corresponds in direction to the equinoctial
west, and that the Don flows from the summer rising, con-
sequently the length of Europe is less than that of Asia and
Africa taken together by the space between the summer rising l
and the equinoctial rising,2 since Asia occupies the eastern
portion of the northern semicircle. Now, in addition to
the obscurity which Polybius throws over subjects which
might have been simply stated, it is false that the river
Don flows from the summer rising. For all who are ac-
quainted with these localities inform us that this river flows
from the north into the Mseotis, so that the mouth of the
river lies under the same meridian as that of the Mseotis ;
and so in fact does the whole river as far as is known.3

6. Equally unworthy of credit is the statement of those
who tell us, that the Don rises in the vicinity of the Danube,
and flows from the west ; they do not remember that between
these are the Dniester, the Dnieper, and the Bog, all great
rivers, which flow [into the Euxine Sea] ; one runs parallel to
the Danube, the other two to the Don. Now if at the present
day we are ignorant of the sources both of the Dniester, and also
of the Dnieper and Bog, the regions farther north must cer-
tainly be still less known. It is therefore a fictitious and
idle assertion, that the Don crosses these rivers, and then
turns northward on its way to discharge itself into the
Masotis, it being well known that the outlets to this river are
in the most northern and eastern portions of the lake.4

No less idle is the statement which has also been advanced,
that the Don, after crossing the Caucasus, flows northward;
and then turns towards the Moeotis.5 No one, however, [with
the exception of Polybius,] made this river flow from the east.
If such were its course, our best geographers would never

1 The rising of the sun in summer. 2 The east.

3 This- is an error into which Strabo fell with most of the ancient geo-
graphers. The course of the Don certainly begins from the north, but
afterwards it turns eastward, and then suddenly shifts to the west. So
that its entire course as known in the time of Strabo, differed from the
Palus Mseotis and Sea of Azof by about 9 degrees of longitude. Polybius
is here more exact than Strabo.

4 Palus Meeotis.

5 This was the opinion of Theophanes of Mytilene, who followed Pom-
pey in his expeditions to the East. The Caucasus here mentioned is that
which bounds Georgia in the north, and from whence the modern river
Kuban (the Vardanus of Pompey) takes its rise. This river does incline

CHAP. iv. § 7,8. INTRODUCTION. 163

have told us that its direction was contrary to that of the
Nile, and, so to speak, diametrically opposite thereto, as if the
course of both rivers lay under the same meridian.

7. Further, the length of the inhabited earth is measured
on a line parallel with the equator, as it is in this direction
that its greatest length lies : in the same way with respect
to each of the continents, we must take their length as it lies
between two meridians. The measure of these lengths con-
sists of a certain number of stadia, which we obtain either
by going over the places themselves, or roads or ways parallel
thereto. Polybius abandons this method, and adopts the new
way of taking the segment of the northern semicircle com-
prised between the summer rising and the equinoctial rising.
But no one ought to calculate by variable rules or measures
in determining the length of fixed distances : nor yet should
he make use of the phenomena of the heavens, which appear
different when observed from different points, for distances
which have their length determined by themselves and re-
main unchanged. The length of a country never varies,
but depends upon itself; whereas, the equinoctial rising and
setting, and the summer and winter rising and setting, de-
pend not on themselves, but on our position [with respect,
to them]. As we shift from place to place, the equinoctial
rising and setting, and the winter and summer rising and
setting, shift with us ; but the length 'of a continent always
remains the same. To make the Don and the Nile the bounds
of these continents, is nothing out of the way, but it is some-
thing strange to employ for this purpose the equinoctial rising
and the summer rising.

8. Of the many promontories formed by Europe, a better de-
scription is given by Polybius than by Eratosthenes ; but even
his is not sufficient. Eratosthenes only names three ; one at
the Pillars of Hercules, where Iberia is situated ; a second at
the Strait of Sicily, and containing Italy ; the third termin-
ated by the Cape of Malea,1 comprising all the countries situ-
ated between the Adriatic, the Euxine, and the Don. The
two former of these Polybius describes in the same manner

slightly to the north, and afterwards turns westward in its course to the
Palus Maoris. It is possible that some confusion between this river and
the Don gave occasion to the belief that the latter rose in the Caucasus.
1 Cape Malio, in the Morea. See also Humboldt's Cosmos ii. 482.
M '2

164 STRABO.

BOOK II.

as Eratosthenes, but the third, which is equally terminated
by the Cape of Malea1 and Cape Sunium,2 [he makes to]
comprehend the whole of Greece, Illyria, and some portion
of Thrace. [He supposes] a fourth, containing the Thracian
Chersonesus and the countries contiguous to the Strait,3 be-
twixt Sestos and Abydos. This is occupied by the Thracians.
Also a fifth, about the Kimmerian Bosphorus and the mouth
of the Maeotis. Let us allow [to Polybius] his two former
[promontories], they are clearly distinguished by unmistake-
able bays; the first by the bay between Calpe4 and the Sacred
Promontory5 where Gades6 is situated, as also by the sea
between the Pillars and Sicily ; the second7 by the latter sea
and the Adriatic,8 although it may be objected that the ex-
tremity of lapygia,9 being a promontory in itself, causes
Italy to have a double cape. But as for the remaining [pro-
montories of Polybius], they are plainly much more irregular,
and composed of many parts, and require some other division.
So likewise his plan of dividing [Europe] into six parts,
similar to that of the promontories, is liable to objection.

However, we will set to rights each of these errors sepa-
rately, as we meet with them, as well as the other blunders
into which he has fallen in his description of Europe, and the
journey round Africa. For the present we think that we have
sufficiently dwelt on those of our predecessors whom we have
thought proper to introduce as testimonies in our behalf, that
both in the matter of correction and addition we had ample
cause to undertake the present work.

1 Cape Malio. Gosselin is of opinion that some omission has occurred
in this passage, and proposes to substitute the following: "The two
former of these Polybius describes in the same manner as Eratosthenes,
but he subdivides the third. He comprehends within Cape Malea all
the Peloponnesus ; within Cape Sunium the whole of Greece, Illyria,
and a part of Thrace."

2 Cape Colonna. 3 The Strait of the Dardanelles.

4 The Rock of Gibraltar. 5 Cape St. Vincent. 6 Cadiz.

7 The Italian Promontory. 8 The Gulf of Venice.

9 Capo di Leuca.

CHAP. v. & 1. INTRODUCTION. 167

CHAPTER V.

1. AFTER these criticisms on the writers who have pre-
ceded us, we must now confine our attention to the ful-
filment of our promise. We start with a maxim we laid
down at the commencement, that whoever undertakes to
write a Chorography, should receive as axioms certain phy-
sical and mathematical propositions, and frame the rest of
his work in accordance with, and in full reliance on, these
principles. We have already stated [our opinion], that
neither builder nor architect could build house or city pro-
perly and as it ought to be, unless acquainted with the clima
of the place, its position in respect to celestial appearances,
its shape, magnitude, degree of heat and cold, and similar
facts ; much less should he [be without such information] who
undertakes to describe the situation of the various regions of
the inhabited earth.

Represent to the mind on one and the same plane-surface
Iberia and India with the intermediate countries, and define
likewise the west, the east, and the south, which are common
to every country. To a man already acquainted with the ar-
rangement and motions of the heavens, and aware that in
reality the surface of the earth is spherical, although here for
the sake of illustration represented as a plane, this will give a
sufficiently exact idea of the geographical [position of the va-
rious countries], but not to one who is unacquainted with those
matters. The tourist travelling over vast plains like those of
Babylon, or journeying by sea, may fancy that the whole
country stretched before, behind, and on either side of him is
a plane-surface ; he may be unacquainted with the counter-
indications of the celestial phenomena, and with the motions
and appearance of the sun and stars, in respect to us. But
such facts as these should ever be present to the mind of
those who compose Geographies, The traveller, whether
by sea or land, is directed by certain common appearances,
which answer equally for the direction both of the unlearned
and of the man of the world. Ignorant of astronomy, and
unacquainted with the varied aspect of the heavens, he be-

STEABO. BOOK ii.

rise and set, and attain the meridian, but with-
how this takes place. Such knowledge could
Ibject he has in view, any more than to know
the country he chances to be in may be under the
same latitude as his own or not. Even should he bestow a
slight attention to the subject, on all mathematical points he
will adopt the opinions of the place ; and every country has
certain mistaken views of these matters. But it is not for
any particular nation, nor for the man of the world who cares
nothing for abstract mathematics, still less is it for the reaper
or ditcher, that the geographer labours ; but it is for him who
is convinced that the earth is such as mathematicians declare
it to be, and who admits every other fact resulting from this
hypothesis. He requests that those who approach him shall
have already settled this in their minds as a fact, that they
may be able to lend their whole attention to other points.
He will advance nothing which is not a consequence of these
primary facts ; therefore those who hear him, if they have
a knowledge of mathematics, will readily be able to turn his
instructions to account ; for those who are destitute of this
information he does not pretend to expound Geography.

2. Those^ffiJiQ write ,jon__the science^of Geography should
trust entirely for the arrangement of the subject they^aTS
engagecTon to the geometersTwho have measured the whole
earth; they in thejr.jLurn to astrojiomersT~and these again to
^natural philosophers. Now natural philosophy iTpneoT the

The "perfect sciences" they define

in^onno external_Jiyj3othesi s, have the^^>rigi5»^and the
^

_

evidence of^their propositions^ in themselves^ Here are a
fe^Tof fhe faHifestablished by natural philosophers.2

The^eurth arid heavens arespheroidal.

The tendency of all bodies havingweight, is to a centre.

Further, the earth being spheroidal, and having the same

1 fi Se QvffiKi} apiTf) rig. We learn from the work entitled De Placitis
Philosophorum, commonly attributed to Plutarch, that the Stoics digni-
fied with the name of dperou, the three sciences of Physics, Ethics, and
Logic, QvaiKr), 'H0uc?}, Aoyiic/}. The exact meaning of dper?) in these
instances it is impossible to give, and Strabo's own explanation is perhaps
the best that can be had ; we have here rendered it, " perfect science," for
want of a better phrase.

2 <&VfflKOt.

CHAP. v. §3. INTRODUCTION. 167

centre as the heavens, is motionless, as well as the axis which /*
pass^sjErpjigh_botb_i^and the heavens. The hea*vens turn V
found both the~earth and itsTaxis, from east^to wes€ The i/
fixed stars^turn round with it, at the same rate ~asT5e whole.1
These fixed stars follow in their course parallel circles ;
the principal of which are, the equator, the two tropicT, and
the arctic circles. While the planets, the sun, and the moon,
describe_certain obli^ue^ circTeT^m^reTiendeJ within theTzo- ^
diac. AdmittingTTiese'points in whole or in partTastronomers
proceed to treat of other matters, [such as] the motions [of
the stars], their revolutions, eclipses, size, relative distance,
and a thousand similar particulars. On their side, geometers,
when measuring the size of the entire earth, avail themselves
of the data furnished by the natural philosopher and astro-
nomer ; and the geographer on his part makes use of those of
the geometer.

3. The heavens and the earth must be supposed to be
divided each into five zones, and the celestial zones to possess
the same names as those below. The motives for such a
division into zones we have already detailed. These zones
may be distinguished by circles drawn parallel to the equator,
on either side of it. Two of these will separate the torrid
from the temperate zones, and the remaining two, the tem-
perate from the frigid. To each celestial circle there shall
be one corresponding on earth, and bearing the same name,
and likewise zone for zone. The [two] zones capable of be-
ing inhabited, are styled temperate. The remaining [three]
are uninhabitable, one on account of the heat, the others be-
cause of the extreme cold. The same is the case with re-
gard to the tropical, and also to the arctic circles, in respect
of those countries for which arctic circles can be said to ex-
ist. Circles on the earth are supposed, corresponding to those
in the heavens, and bearing the same name, one for one.

As the whole heaven is separated into two parts by its
equator, it follows that the earth must, by its equator, be
similarly divided. The two hemispheres, both celestial and

1 We have followed the suggestion of Gosselin in reading T$ o\y, the
whole, instead of T<JJ TroXy, the pole, as in the text. Strabo having just
previously stated Uiat the axis of the earth was stationary, it does not
seem probable that he would immediately after speak of the motion of
the pole.

168 STRABO. BOOK ii.

terrestrial, are distinguished into north and south. Likewise
the torrid zone, which is divided into two halves by the equa-
tor, is distinguished as having a northern and southern side.
Hence it is evident that of the two temperate zones, one
should be called northern, the other southern, according to
the hemisphere to which it belongs. The northern hemi-
sphere is that containing the temperate zone, in which looking
from east to west, you will have the pole on your right hand,
and the equator on the left, or, in which, looking south, the
west will be on the right hand, and the east on the left. The
southern hemisphere is exactly the contrary to this.

It is clear that we are in one or other of these hemi-
spheres, namely, the north ; we cannot be in both :

" Broad rivers roll, and awful floods between,
But chief the ocean." l

And next is the torrid zone. But neither is there any ocean
in the midst of the earth wherein we dwell, dividing the
whole thereof, nor yet have we any torrid region. Nor is
there any portion of it to be found in which the climata are
opposite to those which have been described as characterizing
the northern temperate zone.

4. Assuming these data, and availing himself likewise of
astronomical observations, by which the position of every
place is properly determined, whether with respect to the
circles parallel to the equator, or to those which cut these
latter at right angles, in the direction of the poles, the ge-
ometer measures the region in which he dwells, and [judges
of the extent of] others by comparing the distance [between
the corresponding celestial signs]. By this means he dis-
covers the distance from the equator to the pole, which is a
quarter of the largest circle of the earth ; having obtained
this, he has only to multiply by four, the result is the [mea-
sure of the] perimeter of the globe.

In the same manner as he who takes the measures of the
earth, borrows the foundation of his calculations from the
astronomer, who himself is indebted to the natural philosopher,
so in like manner the geographer adopts certain facts laid
down as established by the geometer, before setting forth his

1 Odyssey xi. 156, 157.

CHAP. v. § 5. INTRODUCTION. 169

description of the earth we inhabit ; its size, form, nature, and
the proportion it bears to the whole earth. These latter points >i
are the peculiar business of the geographer. He will next I
enter on a particular description of every thing deserving no-
tice, whether on land or sea ; he will likewise point out what-
ever has been improperly stated by those who have preceded
him, especially by those who are regarded as chief authorities
in these matters.1

5. Let it be supposed that the earth and sea together form
a spheroidal body, and preserve one and the same level in all
the seas. For though some portions of the earth may be
higher, yet this bears so small a relation to the size of the
whole mass, as need not be noticed. The spheroid in conse-
quence is not so minutely exact as one might be made by the aid
of a turner's instrument, or as would answer the definition of a
geometer, still in general appearance, and looked at rough-
ly, it is a spheroid. Let the earth be supposed to consist of
five zones, with (1.) the equatorial circle described round it,
(2.) another parallel to this,2 and defining the frigid zone of
the northern hemisphere, and (3.) a circle passing through
the poles, and cutting the two preceding circles at right angles.
The northern hemisphere contains two quarters of the earth,
which are bounded by the equator and the circle passing
through the poles.

Each of these [quarters] should be supposed to contain a
four-sided district, its northern side being composed of one
half of the parallel next the pole ; its southern, by the half of
the equator ; and its remaining sides, by [two] segments of the
circle drawn through the poles, opposite to each other, and
equal in length. In one of these quadrilaterals (which of
them is of no consequence) the earth that we inhabit is situ-
ated, surrounded by sea, and similar to an island. This, as we
said before, is evident both to our senses and to our reason.
But should any one doubt thereof, it makes no difference so
far as Geography is concerned, whether you suppose the por-
tion of the earth we inhabit to be an island, or only admit
what we know from experience, viz. that whether you start

1 From this point Strabo, strictly speaking, commences his exposition
of the principles of Geography.

2 Strabo supposed this circle at a distance of 38,100 stadia from the
equator, or 54° 25' 42" of latitude.

170 STRABO.

BOOK II.

from the east or west, you may sail all round it. Certain
intermediate spaces may have been left [unexplored], but
these are as likely to be occupied by sea, as uninhabited
lands. The object of the geographer is to describe known
countries ; those which are unknown he passes over equally
with those beyond the limits of the inhabited earth. It
will therefore be sufficient for describing the contour of the
island we have been speaking of, if we join by a right line
the utmost points which, up to this time, have been explored
by voyagers along the coast on either side.

6. Let it be supposed that this island is contained in one
of the above quadrilaterals ; we must obtain its apparent mag-
nitude by subtracting our hemisphere from the whole extent
of the earth, from this take the half, and from this again the
quadrilateral, in which we state our earth to be situated. We
may judge also by analogy of the figure of the whole earth, by
supposing that it accords with those parts with whicli we are
acquainted. Now as the portion of the northern hemisphere,
between the equator and the parallel next the [north] pole, re-
sembles a vertebre or joint of the back-bone in shape, and as the
circle which passes through the pole divides at the same time
the hemisphere and the vertebre into two halves, thus forming
the quadrilateral ; it is clear that this quadrilateral to which
the Atlantic is adjacent, is but the half of the vertebre ; while at
the same time the inhabited earth, which is an island in this,
and shaped like a chlamys or soldiers cloak, occupies less than
the half of the quadrilateral. This is evident from geometry,
also1 from the extent of the surrounding sea, which covers
the extremities of the continents on either side, compressing
them into a smaller figure, and thirdly, by the greatest length
and breadth [of the earth itself]. The length being 70,000
stadia, enclosed almost entirely by a sea, impossible to navigate
owing to its wildness and vast extent, and the breadth 30,000
stadia, bounded by regions rendered uninhabitable on account
either of their intense heat or cold. That portion of the qua-
drilateral which is unfitted for habitation on account of the
heat, contains in breadth 8800 stadia, and in its greatest length
126,000 stadia, which is equal to one half of the equator, and

1 The whole of what follows to the end of the section is extremely em-
barrassing in the original ; we must therefore claim the indulgence of
the reader for any obscurity he may find in the translation.

CHAP. v. §7. INTRODUCTION. 171

larger than one half the inhabited earth ; and what is left is
still more.

7. These calculations are nearly synonymous with those
furnished by Hipparchus, who tells us, that supposing the
size of the globe as stated by Eratosthenes to be correct, we
can then subtract from it the extent of the inhabited earth,
since in noting the celestial appearances [as they are seen] in
different countries, it is not of much importance whether we
make use of this measure, or that furnished by later writers.
Now as the whole circle of the equator according to Eratos*
thenes contains 252,000 stadia, the quarter of this would be
63,000, that is, the space from the equator to the pole contains
fifteen of the sixty divisions l into which the equator itself is
divided. There are four [divisions] between the equator and
the summer tropic or parallel passing through Syene. The
distances for each locality are calculated by the astronomical
observations.

It is evident that Syene is under the tropic,' from the fact
that during the summer solstice the gnomon at mid-day casts
no shadow there. As for the meridian of Syene, it follows
very nearly the course of the Nile from Meroe to Alexandria,
a distance of about 10,000 stadia. Syene itself is situated
about mid-way between these places, consequently from thence
to Meroe is a distance of 5000 stadia. Advancing 3000
stadia southward in a right line, we come to lands unfitted for
habitation on account of the heat. Consequently the parallel
which bounds these places, and which is the same as that of
the Cinnamon Country, is to be regarded as the boundary and
commencement of the habitable earth on the south. If, then,
3000 stadia be added to the 5000 between Syene and Meroe,
there will be altogether 8000 stadia [from Syene] to the
[southern] extremity of the habitable earth. But from Syene
to the equator there are 16,800 stadia, (for such is the amount
of the four-sixtieths, each sixtieth being equivalent to
4200 stadia,) and consequently from the [southern] bound-
aries of the habitable earth to the equator there are 8800
stadia, and from Alexandria 21,800.2 Again, every one is

1 The Greeks, besides the division of the equator into 360 degrees, had
also another method of dividing it into sixty portions -or degrees.

2 These 21,800 stadia would give to Alexandria a latitude of 31° 8'
34" ; according to modern calculation it is 31° 1 1' 20" of latitude. The

172

STRABO.

agreed that the voyage from Alexandria to Rhodes, and thence
by Caria and Ionia to the Troad, Byzantium, and the Dnieper,
is in a straight line with the course of the Nile.1

Taking therefore these distances, which have been ascer-
tained by voyages, we have only to find out how far beyond
the Dnieper the land is habitable, (being careful always to
continue in the same straight line,) and we shall arrive at
a knowledge of the northern boundaries of our earth.

Beyond the Dnieper dwell the Roxolani,2 the last of the
Scythians with which we are acquainted ; they are never-
theless more south than the farthest nations3 we know of
beyond Britain. Beyond these Roxolani the country is unin-
habitable on account of the severity of the climate. The Sau-
romatse4 who live around the Ma30tis, and the other Scythians5
as far as the Scythians of the East, dwell farther south.

following presents Strabo's calculations of the latitude of the preceding
places in a tabular form.

Names of places.

Particular
Distance.

Total
Distance.

Latitudes.

Equator

Stadia.

o

Stadia.

o

0° 0' 0"

Limits of the habitable earth

8800
3000

8800
11800

12° 34' 17"
16° 51' 25"

Syene and the Tropic . .
Alexandria

5000
5000

16800
21800

24° 0' 0"
31° 8' 34"

1 Eratosthenes, Hipparehus, and Strabo, all believed that the longitude
of Rhodes was the same as that of Alexandria, although actually it is 2°
22' 45" west of that place. The coasts of Caria, Ionia, and the Troad
incline considerably to the west, while Byzantium is about 3° east of the
Troad, and the mouth of the Dnieper is above 3° 46' east of Byzantium.

* The Roxolani inhabited the Ukraine. It has been thought that from
these people the Russians derived their name.

3 Strabo here alludes to Ireland, which he placed north of England, and
believed to be the most northerly region fitted for the habitation of man.
He gave it a latitude of 36,700 stadia, equivalent to 52° 25' 42", which
answers to the southern portions of that island.

4 The Sauromatae, or Sarmatians, occupied the lands north of the sea of
Azof on either side of the Don.

6 The Scythians here spoken of dwelt between the Don and the
Wolga ; east of this last river were the Eastern Scythians, who were
thought to occupy the whole north of Asia.

CHAP. v. § 8. INTRODUCTION. 173

8. It is true that Pytheas of Marseilles affirms that the
farthest country north of the British island* is Thule ; for
which place he says the summer tropic and the arctic circle
is all one. But he records no other particulars concerning
it ; [he does not say] whether Thule is an island, or whether
it continues habitable up to the point where the summer
tropic becomes one with the arctic circle.1 For myself, I
fancy that the northern boundaries of the habitable earth are
greatly south of this. Modern writers tell us of nothing be-
yond lerne, which lies just north of Britain, where the peo-
ple live miserably and like savages on account of the severity
of the cold. It is here in my opinion the bounds of the ha-
bitable earth ought to be fixed.

If on the one hand the parallels of Byzantium and Mar-
seilles are the same, as Hipparchus asserts on the faith of
Pytheas, (for he2 says that at Byzantium the gnomon in-
dicates the same amount of shadow as Pytheas gives for
Marseilles,) and at the same time the parallel of the Dnieper
is distant from Byzantium about 3800 stadia, it follows, if
we take into consideration the distance between Marseilles
and Britain, that the circle which passes over the Dnieper
traverses Britain as well.3 But the truth is that Pytheas,
who so frequently misleads people, deceives in this instance
too.

It is generally admitted that a line drawn from the Pillars
of Hercules, and passing over the Strait [of Messina], Athens,
and Rhodes, would lie under the same parallel of latitude.4 It
is likewise admitted, that the line in passing from the Pillars to
the Strait of Sicily divides the Mediterranean through the

1 The tropic being placed at 24° from the equator by Strabo, and most
probably by Pytheas also, the latitude of Thule, according to the observ-
ation of this traveller, would be fixed at 66°, which corresponds with the
north of Iceland.

2 Hipparchus.

3 Hipparchus placed Marseilles and Byzantium 'at 30,142 stadia, or
43° 3' 38" of latitude, and estimated the parallel for the centre of Britain
at 33,942 stadia, or 48° 29' 19". Whereas Strabo only allowed for this
latter 32,700 stadia, or 46° 42' 51".

4 Viz. the 36° of latitude. The actual latitudes are as follow :
The Pillars of Hercules, or Strait of Gibraltar, 36°.

The Strait of Messina, 38° 12'.

Athens, 38<> 5'.

The middle of the Isle of Rhodes, 36° 18' ; and the city, 36o 28' 30".

174 STRABO. BOOK 11.

midst.1 Navigators tell us that the greatest distance from
Keltica to Libya, starting from the bottom of the Galatic Bay, is
5000 stadia, and that this is likewise the greatest breadth of
the Mediterranean. Consequently from the said line to the
bottom of the bay is 2500 stadia ; but to Marseilles the dis-
tance is rather less, in consequence of that city being more to
the south than the bottom of the bay.2 But since from
Rhodes to Byzantium is about 4900 3 stadia, it follows that
Byzantium must be far north of Marseilles.4 The distance
from this latter city to Britain is about the same as from By-
zantium to the Dnieper.5 How far it may be from Bri-
tain to the island of lerne is not known. As to whether
beyond it there may still be habitable lands, it is not our bu-
siness to inquire, as we stated before. It is sufficient for our
science to determine this in the same manner that we did the
southern boundaries. We there fixed the bounds of the ha-
bitable earth at 3000 stadia south of Meroe (not that these
were its exact limits, but because they were sufficiently near) ;
so in this instance they should be placed about the same num-
ber of stadia north of Britain, certainly not more than 4000.6

1 This mistake of Strabo caused the derangement in his chart of the
whole contour of this portion of the Mediterranean, and falsifies the posi-
tion of the surrounding districts.

2 Strabo having allowed 25,400 stadia, or 36» 17' 8", for the latitude
of Rhodes and the Strait of Messina, determined the latitude of Marseilles
at 27,700 stadia, or 39° 34' 17"; its real latitude being 43° 17' 45", as
exactly stated by Pytheas.

3 Or about 7°. The actual difference in latitude between Rhodes and
Byzantium is 4° 32' 54".

4 On the contrary, Marseilles is 2° 16' 21" north of Byzantium.

5 3800 stadia, or 5o 25' 43".

6 The following is a tabular form of the latitudes as stated by Strabo :

Stadia. Latitude.

From the equator to Alexandria 21,800 31° 8' 34"

From Alexandria to Rhodes, he computes in this '

instance 3600 stadia 25,400 36<> 17' 8"

From the parallel of Rhodes to Marseilles, about

2300 stadia 27,700 39° 34' 1 7"

From the parallel of Rhodes to the bottom of the

Galatic Gulf, 2500 stadia 27,900 39o 51' 25"

From Marseilles to the northern extremity of Gaul,

or the southern extremity of Britain, 3800

stadia 31,500 45° 0' 0"

From Marseilles to the middle of Britain, 50ft)

stadia 32,700 46o 42' 51"

CHAP. v. §9. INTRODUCTION. 175

It would not serve any political purpose to be well ac-
quainted with these distant places and the people who inhabit
them; especially if they are islands whose inhabitants can
neither injure us, nor yet benefit us by their commerce. The
Romans might easily have conquered Britain, but they did
not care to do so, as they perceived there was nothing to fear
from the inhabitants, (they not being powerful enough to at-
tack us,) and that they would gain nothing by occupying the
land. Even now it appears that we gain more by the customs
they pay, than we could raise by tribute, after deducting the
wages of the soldiers necessary for guarding the island and
exacting the taxes. And the other islands adjacent to this
would be still more unproductive.

9. If, then, to the distance between Rhodes and the Dnie-
per be added four thousand stadia north of the latter place,
the whole would come to 12,700 stadia; and since from
Rhodes to the southern limit of the habitable earth there are
16,600 stadia, its total breadth from north to south would be
under 30.000 stadia.1 Its length from west to east is stated
at 70,000 stadia, the distance being measured from the ex-
tremities of Iberia to those of India, partly over the land and
partly across the sea. That this length is contained within the
quadrilateral aforesaid, is proved by the proportion borne by
these parallels to the equator. Thus the length of the habit-
able earth is above twice its breadth. It has been compared

From the northern extremity of Gaul to the parallel Stadia. Latitude.

of the northern extremity of Britain, 2500 stadia 34,000 48° 34' 17"
From the northern extremity of Gaul to lerne, 5000

stadia 36,500 52° 8' 34"

From the northern extremity of Britain to the limits

of the habitable earth, 4000 stadia 38,000 54° 17' 9"

1 Namely, 29,300. stadia.

From Rhodes to Byzantium Strabo estimated 4900

From Byzantium to the Dnieper 3800

8700
From the Dnieper to the northern limits of the habitable

earth 4000

12,700
From Rhodes to the southern limits of the habitable earth 16,600

Total 29,300

176 STRABO.

BOOK II.

in figure to a chlamys, or soldier's cloak, because if every part
be carefully examined, it will be found that its breadth
is greatly diminished towards the extremities, especially in
the west.

10. We have now been tracing upon a spherical surface the
region which we state to be occupied by the habitable earth ;
and whoever would represent the real earth as near as possible
by artificial means, should make a globe like that of Crates, and
upon this describe the quadrilateral within which his chart of
geography is to be placed. For this purpose, however, a large
globe is necessary, since the section mentioned, though but a
very small portion of the entire sphere, must be capable of
properly containing all the regions of the habitable earth, and
presenting an accurate view of them to all those who wish to
consult it. Any one who is able will certainly do well to ob-
tain such a globe. But it should have a diameter of not less
than ten feet : those who cannot obtain a globe of this size,
or one nearly as large, had better draw their chart on a plane-
surface, of not less than seven feet. Draw straight lines,
some parallel, for the parallels [of latitude], and others at
right angles to these ; we may easily imagine how the eye
can transfer the figure and extent [of these lines] from a
plane-surface to one that is spherical. What we have just
observed of the circles in general, may be said with equal
truth touching the oblique circles. On the globe it is true
that the meridians of each country passing the pole have a
tendency to unite in a single point, nevertheless on the plane-
surface of the map, there would be no advantage if the right
lines alone which should represent the meridians were drawn
slightly to converge. The necessity for such a proceeding
would scarcely ever be really felt. Even on our globe itself1
the tendency of those meridians (which are transferred to the
map as right lines) to converge is not much, nor any thing
near so obvious as their circular tendency.

1 1. In what follows we shall suppose the chart drawn on
a plane-surface ; and our descriptions shall consist of what we
ourselves have observed in our travels by land and sea, and
of what we conceive to be credible in the statements and
writings of others. For ourselves, in a westerly direction we

1 The artificial globe of 10 ft. diameter.

CHAP. v. § 12. INTRODUCTION. 177

have travelled from Armenia to that part of Tyrrhenia1 which
is over against Sardinia ; and southward, from the Euxine to
the frontiers of Ethiopia.2 Of all the writers on Geography,
not one can be mentioned who has travelled over a wider ex-
tent of the countries described than we have. Some may
have gone farther to the west, but then they have never been
so far east as we have ; again, others may have been farther
east, but not so far west ; and the same with respect to north
and south. However, in the main, both we and they have
availed ourselves of the reports of others, from which to
describe the form, the size, and the other peculiarities of the
country, what they are and how many, in the same way that
the mind forms its conceptions from the information of the
senses. The figure, colour, and size of an apple, its scent,
feel to the touch, and its flavour, are particulars communi-
cated by the senses, from which the mind forms its concep-
tion of an apple. So in large figures, the senses observe the
various parts, while the mind combines into one conception
what is thus seen. And in like manner, men eager after know-
ledge, trusting to those who have been to various places,
and to [the descriptions of] travellers in this or that country,
gather into one sketch a view of the whole habitable earth.

In the same way, the generals perform every thing, never-
theless, they are not present every where, but most of their
success depends on others, since they are obliged to trust to
messengers, and issue their commands in accordance with the
reports of others. To pretend that those only can know who
have themselves seen, is to deprive hearing of all confidence,
which, after all, is a better servant of knowledge than sight
itself.

12. Writers of the present day can describe with more cer-
tainty [than formerly] the Britons, the Germans, and the dwell-
ers on either side of the Danube, the Getae,3 the Tyrigetae, the
Bastarnae,4 the tribes dwelling by the Caucasus, such as the

1 Tuscany.

2 Strabo was of Amasea, a city of Pontus, close to the Euxine. He
travelled through Egypt and reached Philae, which is about 100 stadia
above Syene, the commencement of Ethiopia.

3 The Gets occupied a portion of present Moldavia ; the Tyrigetae
were those of the Getae who dwelt along the banks of the Tyras or
Dniester.

4 The Bastarnae occupied the south and eastern portions of Poland.

VOL. I. N

178 STRABO.

BOOK IT.

Albanians and Iberians.1 We are besides possessed of a de-
scription of Hyrcania2 and Bactriana in the Histories of Par-
thia written by such men as Apollodorus of Artemita,3 who
have detailed the boundaries [of those countries] with greater
accuracy than other geographers.

The entrance of a Roman army into Arabia Felix under
the command of my friend and companion JElius Gallus,4
and the traffic of the Alexandrian merchants whose vessels
pass up the Nile and Arabian Gulf5 to India, have rendered
us much better acquainted with these countries than our pre-
decessors were. I was with Gallus at the time he was prefect
of Egypt, and accompanied him as far as Syene and the fron-
tiers of Ethiopia, and I found that about one hundred and
twenty ships sail from Myos-hormos6 to India, although, in
the time of the Ptolemies, scarcely any one would venture
on this voyage and the commerce with the Indies.

13. Our first and most imperative duty7 then, both in re-
spect to science and to the necessities of the man of business,
is to undertake to lay down the projection of the different coun-
tries on the chart in as clear a style as possible, and to signify
at the same time the relation and proportion they bear to the
whole earth. For such is the geographer's peculiar province.
It belongs to another science to give an exact description of
the whole earth, and of the entire vertebre of either zone, and

1 The Georgians of the present day. 2 Corcan.

3 The precise time when this writer lived is unknown. The work here
referred to is also mentioned by Athenseus, xv. p. 682.

4 Prefect of Egypt in the reign of Augustus. This expedition into Ara-
bia completely failed, through the treachery of the guide, a Roman named
Syllaeus. A long account of it is given by Strabo in the 16th book. " It
would be extremely interesting," says Professor Schmitz, " to trace this
expedition of ^Elius Gallus into Arabia, but our knowledge of that coun-
try is as yet too scanty to enable us to identify the route as described
by Strabo, who derived most of his information about Arabia from his
friend ^Elius Gallus."

5 Red Sea.

6 Myos-hormos, Mouse's Harbour, a sea-port of Egypt on the coast of
the Red Sea. Arrian says that it was one of the most celebrated ports
on fhis sea. It was chosen by Ptolemy Philadelphus for the convenience
of commerce, in preference to Arsinoe or Suez, on account of the diffi-
culty of navigating the western extremity of the gulf. It was called also
Aphroditis Portus, or the Port of Venus. Its modern name is Suffange-
el-Bahri, or " Sponge of the Sea." Lempriere.

7 Humboldt commends Strabo's zeal in prosecuting his gigantic work,
Cosmos ii. 557.

CHAP. v. $ U. INTRODUCTION. 179

as to whether the vertebre in the opposite quarter of the earth
is inhabited. That such is the case is most probable, but not
that it is inhabited by the same race of men as dwell with us.
And it must therefore be regarded as another habitable earth.
We however have only to describe our own.

14. In its figure the habitable earth resembles a chlamys,
or soldier's cloak, the greatest breadth of which would be
indicated by a line drawn in the direction of the Nile, com-
mencing from the parallel of the Cinnamon Country, and the
Island of the Egyptian Exiles, and terminating at the parallel
of lerna ; and its length by a line drawn from the west at
right angles to the former, passing by the Pillars of Hercules
and the Strait of Sicily to Rhodes and the Gulf of Issus,1
then proceeding along the chain of the Taurus, which divides
Asia, and terminating in the Eastern Ocean,2 between India
and the Scythians dwelling beyond Bactriana.

We must therefore fancy to ourselves a parallelogram, and
within it a chlamys-shaped figure, described in such a manner
that the length of the one figure may correspond to the length
and size of the other, and likewise breadth to breadth. The
habitable earth will therefore be represented by this kind of
chlamys. We have before said that its breadth is marked
out by parallels bounding its sides, and separating on either
side the portions that are habitable from those that are not.
On the north [these parallels] pass over lerna,3 and on the
side of the torrid zone over the Cinnamon Country. These
lines being produced east and west to the opposite extremities
of the habitable earth, form, when joined by the perpendicu-
lars falling from their extremities, a kind of parallelogram.
That within this the habitable earth is contained is evident,
since neither its greatest breadth nor length project beyond.
That in configuration it resembles a chlamys is also clear,
from the fact that at either end of its length, the extremities
taper to a point.4 Owing to the encroachments of the sea, it

1 The Gulf of Ai'as. 2 The Bay of Bengal.

3 Strabo seems here to confound the parallel of lerna with that of the
northern limits of the habitable earth, although a little above, as we have
seen, he determines these limits at 15,000 stadia north of lerna.

4 These narrowed extremities of the continent are, Spain on the west,
terminated by Cape St. Vincent, and on the east the peninsula of India,
terminated by Cape Comorin. This cape Strabo supposed w.as continued
in an easterly direction, and thus formed the most eastern portion of Asia.

K 2

180 STRABO.

BOOK II.

also loses something in breadth. This we know from those
who have sailed round its eastern and western points. They
inform us that the island called Taprobana l is much to the
south of India, but that it is nevertheless inhabited, and is
situated opposite to the island of the Egyptians and the Cin-
namon Country, as the temperature of their atmospheres is
similar. On the other side the country about the embouchure
of the Hyrcanian Sea2 is farther north than the farthest Scy-
thians who dwell beyond India, and lerna still more so. It
is likewise stated of the country beyond the Pillars of Her-
cules, that the most western point of the habitable earth is
the promontory of the Iberians named the Sacred Promontory.3
It lies nearly in a line with Gades, the Pillars of Hercules,
the Strait of Sicily, and Rhodes ;4 for they say that the ho-
rologes accord, as also the periodical winds, and the duration
of the longest nights and days, which consist of fourteen and
a half equinoctial hours. From the coast of Gades and Iberia
is said to have been formerly observed.5

Posidonius relates, that from the top of a high house in
a town about 400 stadia distant from the places men-
tioned, he perceived a star which he believed to be Canopus,
both in consequence of the testimony of those who having
proceeded a little to the south of Iberia affirmed that they
could perceive it, and also of the tradition preserved at Cni-
dus ; for the observatory of Eudoxus, from whence he is re-
ported to have viewed Canopus, is not much higher than these
houses ; and Cnidus is under the" same parallel as Rhodes,
which is likewise that of Gades and its sea-coast.

15. Sailing thence, Libya lies to the south. Its most
western portions project a little beyond Gades ; it afterwards

1 The island of Ceylon.

2 Strabo supposed the Hyrcanian or Caspian Sea communicated with
the northern ocean.

3 Cape St. Vincent.

4 Cape St. Vincent is north of Cadiz by 30' 30", north of the Strait of
Gibraltar, or Pillars of Hercules, by 1° 2', south of the Strait of Mes-
sina by 1° 10', and north of Rhodes by 33' 30".

5 Casaubon conjectures that the words TQV Kavo>/3ov originally occu-
pied the space of the lacuna. The passage would then stand thus— From
the coast of Cadiz and Iberia the star Canopus is said to have been for-
merly observed. Groskurd rejects this, and proposes to read TOVQ TrXrj-
aia.iTa.TovQ TOV KavdjjSov aarkctciQ, " the stars nearest to Canopus." But
this too is not certain, and the passage is otherwise evidently corrupt.

CHAP. v. § 16. INTRODUCTION. 181

forms a narrow promontory receding towards the east and
south, and becoming slightly broader, till it touches upon the
western Ethiopians, who are the last l of the nations situated
below Carthage, and adjoin the parallel of the Cinnamon Coun-
try. They, on the contrary, who sail from the Sacred Promon-
tory,2 towards the Artabri,3 journey northwards, having
Lusitania4 on the right hand. The remaining portion forms
an obtuse angle towards the east as far as the extremities
of the Pyrenees which terminate at the ocean. North-
ward and opposite to this are the western coasts of Britain.
Northward and opposite to the Artabri are the islands de-
nominated Cassiterides,5 situated in the high seas, but under
nearly the same latitude as Britain. From this it appears to
what a degree the extremities of the habitable earth are nar-
rowed by the surrounding sea.

16. Such being the configuration of the whole earth, it
will be convenient to take two straight lines, cutting each
other at right angles, and running the one through its greatest
length, and the other through its breadth. The former of these
lines will represent one of the parallels, and the latter one of
the meridians.6 Afterwards we must imagine other lines
parallel to either of these respectively, and dividing both the

1 The most southern. 2 Cape St. Vincent.

3 The Artabri inhabited the country around Cape Finisterre.

4 Principally contained in the modern kingdom of Portugal.

5 The Scilly Islands off the Cornwall coast.

6 We have long had the custom of tracing on every map the parallels
of latitude and longitude at every degree, or every five or ten degrees, as
the case may be. By means of these lines drawn at equal distances, the
eye at once recognises the relative position of any place in the map.
This method was not in use when Strabo wrote : at that time it was
customary to draw a meridian or longitude, and a parallel of latitude, for

^every important place of which the position was considered as determined.
This was certainly an obscure way of dividing the globe ; nevertheless it
is requisite to keep it in mind, in order that we may the more readily
understand the general language of our geographer, who instead of simply
stating the latitude and longitude of places, says such a place is situated
under the same latitude, or about the same latitude, as such another place,
&c. Ptolemy seems to have been the first who freed the study of geogra-
phy from the confusion inseparable from the ancient method. He substi-
tuted tables easy of construction and amendment ; where the position
of each place was marked by isolated numbers, which denoted the exact
latitude and longitude.

182 STRABO. BOOK n.

land and sea with which we are acquainted. By this means
the form of the habitable earth will appear more clearly to be
such as we have described it ; likewise the extent of the va-
rious lines, whether traced through its length or breadth, and
the latitudes [of places], will also be more clearly distinguish-
ed, whether north or south, as also [the longitudes] whether
east or west. However, these right lines should be drawn
through places that are known. Two have already been thus
fixed upon, I mean the two middle [lines] running through its
length and breadth, which have been already explained, and
by means of these the others may easily be determined. These
lines will serve us as marks to distinguish countries situated
under the same parallel, and otherwise to determine different
positions both in respect to the other portions of the earth, and
also of the celestial appearances.

17. The ocean it is which principally divides the earth into
various countries, and moulds its form. It creates bays, seas,
straits, isthmuses, peninsulas, and capes ; while rivers and
mountains serve to the same purpose. It is by these means
that continents, nations, and the position of cities are capable
of being clearly distinguished, together with those various
other details of which a chorographical chart is full. Amongst
these latter are the multitude of islands scattered throughout
the seas, and along every coast ; each of them distinguished
by some good or bad quality, by certain advantages or dis-
advantages, due either to nature or to art.

The natural advantages [of a place] should always be men-
tioned, since they are permanent. Advantages which are ad-
ventitious are liable to change, although the majority of those
which have continued for any length of time should not be
passed over, nor even those which, although but recent, have
yet acquired some note and celebrity. For those which con-
tinue, come to be regarded by posterity not as works of art,
but as the natural advantages of the place ; these therefore it
is evident we must notice. True it is, that to many a city
we may apply the reflection of Demosthenes1 on Olynthus

1 Demosthenes, Philipp. III. edit. Reisk. t. i. p. 117, 1. 22.— Demos-
thenes is here alluding to the cities which different Grecian colonies had
founded in the maritime districts of Thrace. The principal of these was
the opulent and populous city of Olynthus, which, together with others,

CHAP. v. § 18. INTRODUCTION. 183

and its neighbouring towns : " So completely have they van-
ished, that no one who should now visit their sites could say
that they had ever been inhabited ! "

Still we are gratified by visiting these and similar localities,
being desirous of beholding the traces of such celebrated
places, and the tombs of famous men. In like manner we
should record laws and forms of government no longer in ex-
istence, since these are serviceable to have in mind, equally
with the remembrance of actions, whether for the sake of imi-
tating or avoiding the like.

18. Continuing our former sketch, we now state that the
earth which we inhabit contains numerous gulfs, formed by
the exterior sea or ocean which surrounds it. Of these there
are four principal. The northern, called the Caspian, by
others designated the Hyrcanian Sea, the Persian and Ara-
bian Gulfs, formed by the [Southern] Sea, the one being
nearly opposite to the Caspian, the other to the Euxine ; the
fourth, which in size is much more considerable than the
others, is called the Internal and Our Sea.1 It commences
in the Avest at the Strait of the Pillars of Hercules, and
continues in an easterly direction, but with varying breadth.
Farther in, it becomes divided, and terminates in two gulfs ;
that on the left being called the Euxine Sea, while the other
consists of the seas of Egypt, Pamphylia, and Issus. All
these gulfs formed by the exterior sea, have a narrow en-
trance ; those of the Arabian Gulf, however, and the Pillars
of Hercules are smaller than the rest.2 The land which
surrounds these, as before remarked, consists of three divisions.
Of these, the configuration of Europe is the most irregular.
Libya, on the contrary, is the most regular ; while Asia holds a
middle place between the two. In all of these continents, the
regularity or irregularity of form relates merely to the inte-
rior coasts ; the exterior, with the exception of the gulfs be-

was taken, and razed to its foundations, by Philip of Macedon. Olyn-
thus has become famous through the three orations of Demosthenes,
urging the Athenians to its succour.

1 The Mediterranean.

2 The entrance to the Arabian Gulf is about six or seven marine
leagues, that of the Mediterranean two and three-fourths. The entrance
to the Persian Gulf is seven or eight leagues in extent ; while the Caspian,
being a lake, has of course no outlet whatever.

184 STRABO.

BOOK II.

fore mentioned, is unin dented, and, as I have stated, resembles
a chlamys in its form; any slight differences being of course
overlooked, as in large matters what is insignificant passes for
nothing. Since in geographical descriptions we not only aim at
portraying the configuration and extent of various places, but
also their common boundaries, we will remark here, as we have
done before, that the coasts of the Internal Sea 1 present a
greater variety in their appearance than those of the Exterior
[Ocean] ; the former is also much better known, its climate is
more temperate, and more civilized cities and nations are
here than there. We are also anxious to be informed where
the form of government, the arts, and whatever else ministers
to intelligence, produce the greatest results. Interest will
always lead us to where the relations of commerce and society
are most easily established, and these are advantages to be
found where government is administered, or rather where it is
well administered. In each of these particulars, as before
remarked, Our Sea2 possesses great advantages, and here
therefore we will begin our description.

19. This gulf,3 as before stated, commences at the Strait
of the Pillars ; this at its narrowest part is said to be 70 stadia.
Having sailed down a distance of 120 stadia, the shores widen
considerably, especially to the left, and you behold a vast sea,
bounded on the right by the shore of Libya as far as Carthage,
and on the opposite side by those of Iberia and Keltica as far
as Narbonne and Marseilles, thence by the Ligurian,4 and
finally by the Italian coast to the Strait of Sicily. The
eastern side of this sea is formed by Sicily and the straits on
either side of it. That next Italy being 7 stadia [in breadth],
and that next Carthage 1500 stadia. The line drawn from
the Pillars to the lesser strait of 7 stadia, forms part of the
line to Rhodes and the Taurus, and intersects the sea under
discussion about its middle ; this line is said to be 12,000 stadia,
which is accordingly the length of the sea. Its greatest
breadth is about 5000 stadia, and extends from the Galatic
Gulf, between Marseilles and Narbonne, to the opposite coast
of Libya.

1 Mediterranean.

2 Strabo here means the countries bordering the Mediterranean.

3 Viz. the Mediterranean. * The state of Genoa.

CHAP. v. §20. INTRODUCTION. 185

The portion of the sea which washes Libya is called the
Libyan Sea; that surrounding the land opposite is desig-
nated by the respective names of the Iberian, the Ligurian,1
and the Sardinian Seas, while the remaining portion as far as
Sicily is named the Tyrrhenian Sea.2 All along the coast
between the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Seas, there are numer-
ous islands, the largest of which are Sardinia and Cyrnus,3
always excepting Sicily, which is larger and more fertile than
any of our islands. The remainder are much smaller. Of
this number are, in the high sea, Pandataria4 and Pontia,5
and close to the shore JEthalia,6 Planasia,7 Pithecussa,8 Pro-
chyta,9 Capriae,10 Leucosia,11 and many others On the other 12
side of the Ligurian shore, and along the rest of the coast
as far as the Pillars, there are but few islands ; the Gymnasiae 13
and Ebusus 14 are of this number. There are likewise but
few islands along the coasts of Libya and Sicily. We may
mention however Cossura,15 JEgimurus,16 and the Lipari
Islands, likewise called the Islands of -ZEolus.

20. After Sicily and the straits on either side of it,17 there
are other seas, for instance, that opposite the Syrtes and the Cy-
renaic,18 the Syrtes themselves, and the sea formerly called the
Ausonian, but which, as it flows into and forms part of the
Sea of Sicily, is now included under the latter name. The
sea opposite to the Syrtes and the Cyrenaic is called the Li-
byan Sea ; it extends as. far as the Sea of Egypt.

The Lesser Syrtes 19 is about 1600 stadia in circumference.
On either side of its mouth lie the islands of Meninx 20 and
Kerkina.21 The Greater Syrtes 22 is (according to Eratosthenes)
5000 stadia in circuit, and in depth 1800, from the Hes-

I The Gulf of Genoa. 2 Vide Huraboldt's Cosmos, ii. 480.
3 Corsica. 4 Vento Tiene. 5 Ponza.

6 Elba. 7 Saint Honorat. 8 Ischia.

9 Procida. 10 Capri.

II A small island off the Capo della Licosa. 12 The western side.
13 Majorca and Minorca. 14 Ivi^a.

15 The island of Pantalaria.

18 Al Djamur, at the entrance of the Gulf of Tunis.

17 The Strait of Messina, and the strait separating Sicily and Cape
Bona on the African coast.

18 Of which Gyrene, now Curen, was the capital.

19 The Gulf of Cabes. 20 The Island of Gerbi.
21 The Island of Kerkeni. m Sidra, or Zalscho.

186 STRABO.

BOOK II.

perides l to Automala,2 and the frontier which separates the
Cyrenaic from the rest of Libya. According to others, its
circumference is only 4000 stadia, its depth 1500 stadia, and
the breadth at its mouth the same.

The Sea of Sicily washes Italy, from the Strait of Rhegium3
to Locris,4 and also the eastern coast of Sicily from Messene 5
to Syracuse6 and Pachynus.7 On the eastern side it reaches
to the promontories of Crete, surrounds the greater part of
Peloponnesus, and fills the Gulf of Corinth.8 On the north
it advances to the lapygian Promontory,9 the mouth of the
Ionian Gulf,10 the southern parts of Epirus,11 as far as the Am-
bracic Gulf,12 and the continuation of the coast which forms
the Corinthian Gulf, near the Peloponnesus.

The Ionian Gulf forms part of what we now call the Adri-
atic.13 Illyria forms its right side, and Italy as far as the
recess where Aquileia is situated, the left.

The Adriatic stretches north and west ; it is long and nar-
row, being in length about 6000 stadia, and its greatest breadth
1200. There are many islands situated here opposite the coasts
of Illyria, such as the Absyrtides,14 Cyrictica,15 and the Libyr-
nides,16 also Issa,17 Tragurium,18 the Black Corcyra,19 and
Pharos.20 Opposite to Italy are the Islands of Diomede.21 The

* Hesperides is the same city which the sovereigns of Alexandria after-
wards called Berenice. It is the modern Bernic or Bengazi.

2 Automala appears to have been situated on the most northern point
of the Greater Syrtes, on the confines of a small gulf, near to a place called
Tine, or the Marsh.

3 Now Reggio, on the Strait of Messina, which was also sometimes
called the Strait of Rhegium.

4 These were the Epizephyrian Locrians, or dwellers near the promon-
tory of Zephyrium. They were situated towards the extremity of Italy,
near Rhegium. Traces of their city are seen at Motta di Bourzano on the
eastern coast of Ulterior Calabria.

5 Messina. 6 Syragusa. 7 Cape Passaro.

8 The Gulf of Lepanto. 9 Cape Leuca or Finisterre.

10 The lower part of the Adriatic was designated the Ionian Gulf.

11 The portion of Greece opposite Corfu. 12 The Gulf of Arta.
13 The Gulf of Venice. u The Islands of Cherso and Ossero.

15 Apparently the Curicta of Pliny and Ptolemy, corresponding to the
island of Veglia.

16 The Libyrnides are the islands of Arbo, Pago, Isola Longa, Coronata,
&c., which border the coasts of ancient Liburnia, now Murlaka.

17 Lissa. 18 The Island of Traw. 19 Curzola. 20 Lesina.
21 The Islands of Tremiti.

CHAP. v. §21. INTRODUCTION. 187

Sea of Sicily is said to be 4500 stadia from Pachynus to
Crete, and the same distance to Tasnarus in Laconia.1 From
the extremities of lapygia to the bottom of the Gulf of Corinth
the distance is less than 3000 stadia, while from lapygia to
Libya it is more than 4000. In this sea are the Islands of
Corcyra 2 and Sybota,3 opposite the coasts of Epirus ; and be-
yond these, opposite the Gulf of Corinth, Cephallenia,4 Ithaca,
Zacynth,5 and the Echinades.6

21. Next to the Sea of Sicily, are the Cretan, Saronic,7
and Myrtoan Seas, comprised between Crete, Argia,8 and
Attica.9 Their greatest breadth, measured from Attica, is
1200 stadia, and their length not quite double the distance.
Within are included the Islands of Cythera,10 Calauria,11
JEgina,12 Salamis,13 and certain of the Cyclades.14 Adjacent to
these arethe^Eg£ean Sea,15 the Gulf of Melas,16 the Hellespont,17
the Icarian and Carpathian Seas,18 as far as Rhodes, Crete,
Cnidus, and the commencement of Asia. [In these seas] are
the Cyclades, the Sporades, and the islands opposite Caria,
Ionia, and JEolia, as far as the Troad, namely, Cos,19 Samos,20
Chios,21 Lesbos,22 and Tenedos ;23 likewise on the Grecian side
as far as Macedonia and the borders of Thrace, Eubrea,24 Scy-
ros,25 Peparethus,26 Lemnos,27 Thasos,28 Imbros,29 Samothra-
cia,30 and numerous others, of which it is our intention to speak
in detail. The length of this sea is about 4000 stadia, or rather

1 From Cape Pachynus or Passaro to Cape Krio, the ancient Criu-
metopon, on the western extremity of the Island of Crete, measures 4516
stadia of 700 to a degree.

2 Corfu.

3 Sibota, Sajades ; certain small islands between Epirus and Corcyra.

4 Cefalonia. 5 Zante.

6 The Curzolari Islands at the mouth of the Aspro-Potamo.

7 The Gulf of Engia. 8 A district of the Peloponnesus.
9 A part of the modern Livadia. 10 Cerigo.

11 Poro, or Poros, near the little Island of Damala, and connected to it
by a sand-bank.

12 Egina or Engia. 13 Koluri. 14 Islands surrounding Delos.
15 Egio-Pelago. I8 The Gulf of Saros. 17 The Dardanelles.

1S The sea surrounding the Islands of Icaria and Carpathos, now Ni-
karia and Scarpanto.

19 Stanko. » Same. 21 Skio. » Mytileni.

13 Tenedo. 24 Egripo, or Negropont. » Skyro.

26 Probably Piperi ; others suppose it to be Skopelo or Pelagonesi.

27 Stalimene. » Thaso. 29 Imbro. 30 Samothraki.

188 STRABO.

BOOK. II,

more,1 its breadth about 2000.2 It is surrounded by the
coast of Asia above mentioned, and by those of Greece from
Sunium3 northwards to the Thermaic Gulf4 and the Gulfs
of Macedonia,5 and as far as the Thracian Chersonesus.6

22. Here too is the strait, seven stadia in length, which is be-
tween Sestos 7 and Abydos,8 and through which the JEgaean
and Hellespont communicate with another sea to the north,
named the Propontis,9 and this again with another called the
Euxine. This latter is, so to speak, a double sea, for towards
its middle are two projecting promontories, one to the north,
on the side of Europe, and the other opposite from the coast
of Asia, which leave only a narrow passage between them,
and thus form two great seas. The European promontory
is named Criu-metopon ; 10 that of Asia, Carambis.11 They
are distant from each other about 2500 stadia.-12 The length
of the western portion of this sea13 from Byzantium to
the outlets of the Dnieper is 3800 stadia, its breadth
2000. Here is situated the Island of Leuca.14 The eastern
portion is oblong and terminates in the narrow recess
in which Dioscurias is situated. In length it is 5000 stadia,
or rather more, and in breadth about 3000. The entire cir-
cumference of the Euxine is about 25,000 stadia. Some have
compared the shape of its circumference to a Scythian bow
when bent, the string representing the southern portions of
the Euxine, (viz. the coast, from its mouth to the recess in
which Dioscurias is situated ; for, with the exception of Ca-
rambis, the sinuosities of the shore are but trifling, so that it

I The distance from the southern coast of Crete to the northern shores
of the ^Egaean is just 4200 stadia, or 120 marine leagues.

This is just the distance from Cape Colonna to Rhodes.

Cape Colonna. * The Gulf of Saloniki.

Those of Kassandra, Monte-Santo, and Contessa.

The peninsula of Gallipoli.

Semenik, or according to others, Jalowa.

8 Maito, or according to others, Avido. 9 Sea of Marmora.

10 Karadje-Burun, the southern point of the Crimea.

II Kerempi-Burun.

12 We should here read 1500 stadia. See French Translation, vol. i. p.
344, n. 3.

13 The Euxine.

14 Also called the Island of Achilles, and the Island of the Blessed,
now Ilan-Adassi.

CHAP. v. § 23, 24. INTRODUCTION. 189

may be justly compared to a straight line,) and the remainder
[of the circumference representing] the wood of the bow with
its double curve, the uppermost very much rounded, the lower
more in a straight line. So this sea forms two gulfs, the
western much more rounded than the other.

23. To the north of the eastern Gulf of the Pontus, is the
Lake Mceotis, whose perimeter is 9000 stadia or rather more.
It communicates with the Euxine by means of the Cimmerian
Bosphbrus,1 and the Euxine with the Propontis2 by the Thra-
cian Bosphorus, for such is the name given to the Strait of
Byzantium, which is four stadia in breadth. The length of
the Propontis from the Troad to Byzantium is stated to be
1500 stadia. Its breadth is about the same. It is in this
sea that the Island of the Cyziceni 3 is situated, with the other
islands around it.

24. Such and so great is the extent of the jEgsean Sea to-
wards the north.4 Again, starting from Rhodes, the [Medi-
terranean] forms the seas of Egypt, Pamphylia, and Issus,
extending in an easterly direction from Cilicia to Issus, a dis-
tance of 5000 stadia, along the coasts of Lycia, Pamphylia,
and the whole of Cilicia. From thence Syria, Phosnicia, and
Egypt surround the sea to the south and west as far as Alex-
andria. The Island of Cyprus is situated in the Gulfs of
Issus and Pamphylia, close to the Sea of Egypt. The passage
between Rhodes and Alexandria from north [to south] is
about 4000 stadia ; 5 sailing round the coasts it is double this
distance. Eratosthenes informs us that, although the above

1 The Strait of Zabache. 2 The Sea of Marmora.

3 The Island of Cyzicus was joined to the mainland by Alexander, and
thus formed a peninsula, notwithstanding Strabo describes it as an is-
land. Its present name is Artaki.

4 The extent of the jEgaean amongst the ancients was the same as the
Egio-Pelago, or Archipelago, with us. It was comprehended between the
southern coasts of Crete, the western coasts of Peloponnesus, the southern
coasts of Macedonia and Thrace, and the western borders of Asia Minor.
Strabo 'however, in his description, seems to comprise under the name of
the ^Egaean not only those parts of the Mediterranean south of the meri-
dian of Cape Matapan, but also the Propontis and the Euxine, as far as
the mouth of the river Halys, now Kizil-Ermak. In this however he
seems to be unique.

5 This is just the distance, says Gosselin, from the northern part of
Rhodes to Alexandria, but the route, instead of being from north to south,
as supposed by the ancients, is S. S. W.

190 STRABO. BOOK IT.

is the distance according to some mariners, others avow dis-
tinctly that it amounts to 5000 stadia ; while he himself, from
observations of the shadows indicated by the gnomon, calcu-
lates it at 3750.

That part of the Mediterranean Sea which washes the coasts
of Cilicia and Pamphylia together with the right side of the
Euxine,. the Propontis, and the sea-coast beyond this as far as
Pamphylia, form a kind of extensive Chersonesus, the isthmus
of which is also large, and reaches from the sea near Tarsus l
to the city of Amisus,2 and thence to the Themiscyran3 plain
of the Amazons. In fact the whole region within this line as
far as Caria and Ionia, and the nations dwelling on this side
the Halys,4 is entirely surrounded by the JEgseau and the
aforementioned parts of the Mediterranean and Euxine Seas.5
This is what we call Asia properly,6 although the whole con-
tinent bears the same name.

25. To speak shortly, the southernmost point of Our Sea
is the recess of the Greater Syrtes ; 7 next to this Alexandria
in Egypt, and the mouths of the Nile ; while the most north-
erly is the mouth of the Dnieper, or if the Maoris be con-
sidered to belong to the Euxine, (and it certainly does appear
to form a part of it,) the mouth of the Don. The Strait
at the Pillars is the most westerly point, and the most easterly
is the said recess, in which Dioscurias 8 is situated ; and not,
as Eratosthenes falsely states, the Gulf of Issus,9 which is
under the same meridian as Amisus10 and Themiscyra, and,
if you will have it so, Sidene as far as Pharnacia.11 Proceed-
ing thence in an easterly direction to Dioscurias, the distance
by sea is above 3000 stadia, as will be seen more plainly in
my detailed account of those countries. Such then is the Me-
diterranean.

I Tarsous. 2 Samsonn.

3 Themiscyra, a town of Cappadocia at" the mouth of the Thermodon,
(now the Termeh,) belonging to the kingdom of the Amazons. The ter-
ritories around it bore the same name. The plain is now comprehended
in the modern Djanik.

4 Kizil-Ermak.

5 Lit. the before-mentioned parts of the sea on either side.

6 Asia Minor, or Anadoli. 7 The Sidra of the moderns.
8 Iskouriah. 9 The Gulf of Aias. 10 Samsoun.

II The ruins of this city are said to be called by the modern Greeks
$i ovaKr] or TlXarkva indiscriminately.

CHAP. v. $ 26. INTRODUCTION.

26. We must now describe the countries which
it ; and here we will begin from the same point, w
commenced our description of the sea itself.

Entering the Strait at the Pillars, Libya, as far as the river
Nile, is on the right hand, and to the left, on the other side of
the Strait, is Europe, as far as the Don. Asia bounds both
these continents. We will commence with Europe, both be-
cause its figure is more varied, and also because it is the
quarter most favourable to the mental and social ennoblement
of man, and produces a greater portion of comforts than the
other continents.

Now the whole of Europe is habitable with the exception
of a small part, which cannot be dwelt in, on account of the
severity of the cold, and which borders on the Hamaxoeci,1
who dwell by the Don, Maeotis, and Dnieper. ~[ The win~
try and mountainous parts of the habitable earth would
seem to afford by nature but a miserable means of exist-
ence ; nevertheless, by good management, places scarcely in-
habited by any but robbers, may be got into condition. Thus
the Greeks, though dwelling amidst rocks and mountains,
live in comfort, owing to their economy in government and
the arts, and all the other appliances of life. Thus too the
JRomans, after subduing numprpns nntipna who were leading
a savage life, either induced by the rockiness of their coun-
tries, or want of ports, or severity of the cold, or for other
reasons scarcely habitable, have taught the arts of commerce
to many who were formerly in total ignorance, and spread
civilization amongst the most savage. Where 'the climate is
equable and mild, nature herself does much towards the pro-
duction of these advantages. As in such favoured regions
every thing inclines to peace, so those which are sterile gene-
rate bravery and a disposition to war. These two races re-
ceive mutual advantages from each other, the one aiding by
their arms, the other by their husbandry, arts, and institutions.
Harm must result to both when failing to act in concert, but
the advantage will lie on the side of those accustomed to arms,
except in instances where they are overpowered by multitudes.
This continent is very much favoured in this respect, being in-

1 Dwellers in waggons, or huts fixed^n wheels for the purpose of trans -
from one pasturage to another, as necessity might require.

192 STRABO. BOOK n.

terspersed with plains and mountains, so that every where the
foundations of husbandry, civilization, and hardihood lie side by
side. The number of those who cultivate the arts of peace, is,
however, the most numerous, which preponderance over the
whole is mainly due to the influence of the government, first of
the Greeks, and afterwards of the Macedonians and Romans.^!
Europe has thus within itself resources both for war [and
JjeaceJTlt is amply supplied with warriors, and also with men
fitted for the labours of agriculture, and the life of the towns.
It is likewise distinguished for producing in perfection those
fruits of the earth necessary to life, and all the useful metals.
Perfumes and precious stones must be imported from abroad,
but as far as the comfort of life is concerned, the want or the
possession of these can make no difference. The country like-
wise abounds in cattle, while of wild beasts the number is but
small. Such is the general nature of this continent.

27. We will now describe separately the various countries
into which it is divided. The first of these on the west is Iberia,
which resembles the liide^of an ox ^sjread_out] ; the eastern
portions, which correspond tcTthe neck, adjoining the neigh-
bouring country of Gaul. The two countries are divided on
this side by the chain" of mountains called the Pyrenees ; on
all its other sides it is surrounded by sea ; on the south, as
far as the Pillars, by jOur Sea ; and thence to the northern
extremity of the PyreneesHfry the Atlantic. The greatest
length of this country is about 6000 staSia^ its breadth 5000. *

28. JCast ofjjiis^is Keltica, which extends, as far as the

Itsnorthern side is washed by the entire of the
BritishjDhannel, for this island lies opposite and parallel to
it throughout, extending as much as 5000 stadia in length. Its
eastern side is bounded by the river Rhine, whose stream runs
gajiallel with the Pyrenees ; and its southern side commencing
from the Rhine, [is bounded] partly by the Alps, and partly by
Our__Sea ; where what is called the Galatic TJulf 2 runs in, and
on this are situated the far-famed cities of Marseilles and Nar-
bonne. Right opposite to the Gulf on the other side of the
land, lies another Gulf, called by the same name, Galatic,3 look-

1 From Cape Gata in Granada to the borders of Asturias the distance
is about 5000 stadia. But the greatest breadth of Spain is from Cape Gata
to Cape Belem in Gallicia, which equals 5890 stadia of 700 to a degree.

2 The Gulf of Lyon. 3 The Gulf of Aquitaine or Gascony.

\

CHAP. v. $ 29, 30. INTRODUCTION.

ing towards the north and Britain. It is here tl
breadth of Keltica is the narrowest, being contracte
an isthmus less than 3000 stadia, but more than 2000. \\
this region there is a mountain ridge, named Mount Cemme-
nus,1 which runs nearly at right angles to the Pyrenees, and
terminates in the central plains of Keltica.2 The Alps, which
are a very lofty range of mountains, form a curved line, the
convex side ofwhich is turnedLtowardalhe plains of Keltica,
"mentioned before^ and Mount Cemmenus, and the concave
towards JLiguria3 ajid J/taly.

The^Alps afe'mhabited by numerousjaations, but all Keltic
with the exception of the Ligurians, and these, though oi" a
different race, closely reseniblethem in their manner of life.
They inhabit that portion of the Alps which is next the Apen-
nines, and also a part of the Apennines themselves. This
latter mountain ridge traverses the whole length ojLItaly from
north to south, and terminates at the Straff of Sicily.

29. The first parts of Italy are the plains situated under
the Alps, as far as the recess of the Adriatic and the neigh-
bouring places.4 The parts beyond form a narrow and long
slip, resembling a peninsula, traversed, as I have said,
throughout its length by the Apennines ; its length is 7000
stadia, but its breadth is very unequal. The seas which form
the peninsula of Italy are, the Tyrrhenian, which commences
from the Ligurian, the Ausonian, and the Adriatic.5

30. j^tjr^talv_and_^eltica, the remainder of Europe ex-
tendstpwardstheeast, and is divided into two_by the Danube.
This riveFITows'lroPl west to.. .east, fl.nd disp.ha.rgp.a it.sp.1f into
the Euxine Sea, leaving on its left the entire of Germany com-
mencing from the Rhine, as wej^ as the whole of the Getre,

1 The Cevennes.

2 This ridge commences at the eastern part of the Pyrenees. Its
ramifications extend to about Dijon.

3 Genoa.

4 The Romans gave to the whole of this country, which was peopled by
a race of Keltic extraction, the name of Cisalpine Gaul, because situated
on this side the Alps, with respect to them. France was designated Trans-
alpine Gaul.

5 The Tyrrhenian or Tuscan Sea commenced about the mouth of the
Arno, and extended as far as Naples. The Ligurian Sea is the Gulf of
Genoa. The Ausonian Sea, afterwards called the Sea of Sicily, washes
the southern parts of Italy. The Adriatic Gulf, is the Gulf of Venice.

VOL. i. o

STRABO. BOOK n.

the Tyrigetae, the Bastarni, and the Sauromati, as far as the
river Don, and the Lake Maaotis,1 on its right being the
whole of Thrace and Illyrja,2 andin fine the rest of Greece.

fronting Europe lie the islands~which we have mentioned.
Without the Pillars, Gadeira,3 the Cassiterides,4 and the
Britannic Isles. Within the Pillars are the Gymnesian Is-
lands,5 the other little islands of the Phrenicians,6 the Mar-
seillais, and the Ligurians ; those fronting Italy as far as the
islands of ^Eolus and Sicily, and the whole of those 7 along
Epirus and Greece, as far as Macedonia and the Thracian
Chersonesus.

31. From the Don and the Maaotis8 commences [Asia] on
this side the Taurus ; beyond these is [Asia] beyond the
Taurus. For since this continent is divided into two by
the chain of the Taurus, which extends from the extremities
of Pamphylia to the shores of the Eastern Sea,9 inhabited
by the Indians and neighbouring Scythians, the Greeks
naturally called that part of the continent situated north
of these mountains [Asia] on this side the Taurus, and
that on the south [Asia] beyond the Taurus. Consequently
the parts adjacent to the Maeotis and Don are on this side
the Taurus. The first of these is the territory between the
Caspian Sea and the Euxine, bounded on one side 10 by the
Don, the Exterior Ocean,11 and the Sea of Hyrcania; on the
other 12 by the Isthmus where it is narrowest from the recess
of the Euxine to the Caspian.

Secondly, but still on this side the Taurus, are the coun-
tries above the Sea of Hyrcania as far as the Indians and

1 The Getae inhabited Moldavia. The Tyrigetae, or Getae of Tyras or
the Dniester, dwelt on the banks of that river. The Bastarni inhabited
the Ukraine. The Sarmatians, or Sauromatians, extended along either
bank of the Don and the environs of the Sea of Azof, the ancient Palus
Maeotis.

2 Thrace and Macedonia form part of the modern Roumelia : Illyria
comprehended Dalmatia, Bosnia, Croatia, &c.

3 Cadiz. 4 The Scilly Isles. 5 Majorca and Minorca.

6 Ivi^a, Formentera, Spalmador, &c. They were called Phoenician
Islands, because the Carthaginians had sent out a colony thither 160 years
after the founding of their city.

7 Namely all the islands of the Ionian and -ZEgaean Seas, from Corfu to
the Dardanelles.

8 The Sea of Azof. 9 The Bay of Bengal. 10 The North.
11 The Northern Ocean. 12 The south.

CHAP. v. § 32. INTRODUCTION. 195

Scythians, who dwell along the said sea l and Mount Imaus.
These countries are possessed on the one side by the Mseotse,2
and the people dwelling between the Sea of Hyrcania and the
Euxine as far as the. Caucasus, the Iberians3 and Albanians,4
viz. the Sauromatians, Scythians,5 Achaeans, Zygi, and Heni-
ochi : on the other side beyond the Sea of Hyrcania,6 by the
Scythians,7 Hyrcanians, Parthians, Bactrians, Sogdians, and
the other nations of India farther towards the north. To the
south, partly by the Sea of Hyrcania, and partly by the whole
isthmus which separates this sea from the Euxine, is situated the
greater part of Armenia, Colchis,8 the whole of Cappadocia 9 as
far as the Euxine, and the Tibaranic nations.10 Further [west]
is the country designated on this side the Halys,11 containing
on the side of the Euxine and Propontis the Paphlagonians,
Bithynians, Mysians, and Phrygia on the Hellespont, which
comprehends the Troad ; and on the side of the ^Egasan and
adjacent seas JEolia, Ionia, Caria, and Lycia. Inland is the
Phrygia which contains that portion of Gallo-Graecia styled
Galatia, Phrygia Epictetus,12 the Lycaonians, and the Lydians.
32. Next these on this side the Taurus are the mountaineers
of Paropamisus, and various tribes of Parthians, Medes, Ar-
menians, Cilicians, with "the Lycaonians,"13 and Pisidians.14

1 The Bay of Bengal.

2 Sarmatian Meeotae in the Greek text, but apparently incorrect.

3 Inhabitants of Georgia. * Inhabitants of Shirvan.

5 The Scythians here alluded to are the Tartars of Kuban ; the Achse-
ans and Zygi are the modern Ziketi ; the Heniochi are the Abkazeti.

6 East of the Caspian.

7 These Scythians are the Tartars of the Kharasm. The Hyrcanians
are the inhabitants of Daghistan and the Corcan. The Parthians occu-
pied the north of Khorasan ; the Bactrians the country of Balk. The
Sogdians inhabited Bukaria, where are Samarcand and the valley of
Al-Sogd. 8 Mingrelia.

9 Cappadocia comprehended a portion of the modern Roum and Kara-
mania between the Euphrates and the river Halys.

10 Under this name Strabo included a portion of the kingdom of Pontus
and other small tribes as far as Colchis.

11 Now the Kizil-Irmak.

12 The northern and western portions of Phrygia.

13 Probably an interpolation.

14 The mountaineers of Paropamisus were those who inhabited the
mountains which separate Bactriana from India. The Parthians occu-
pied the mountains north of the modern Khorasan. Under the name of
Medians Strabo comprehends the various nations who inhabited the
mountainous country between Parthia and Armenia. The Cilicians in-

o 2

196 STRABO.

BOOK II.

After these mountaineers come the people dwelling beyond
the Taurus. First amongst these is India, a nation greater
and more flourishing than any other ; they extend as far as
the Eastern Sea l and the southern part of the Atlantic. In
the most southerly part of this sea opposite to India is situated
the island of Taprobana,2 which is not less than Britain.
Beyond India to the west, and leaving the mountains [of the
Taurus] on the right, is a vast region, miserably inhabited,
on account of the sterility of its soil, by men of different
races, who are absolutely in a savage state. They are
named Arians, and extend from the mountains to Gedrosia
and Carmania.3 Beyond these towards the sea are the Per-
sians,4 the Susians,5 and the Babylonians,6 situated along the
Persian Gulf, besides several smaller neighbouring states. On
the side of the mountains and amidst the mountains are the
Parthians, the Medes, the Armenians, and the nations adjoin-
ing these, together with Mesopotamia.7 Beyond Mesopotamia
are the countries on this side the Euphrates ; viz. the whole
of Arabia Felix, bounded by the entire Arabian and Persian
G-ulfs, together with the country of the Scenitae and Phylarchi,
who are situated along the Euphrates and in Syria. Beyond
the Arabian Gulf and as far as the Nile dwell the Ethiopians8
and Arabians,9 and next these the Egyptians, Syrians, and
Cilicians,10 both those styled Trachiotse and others besides,
and last of all the Pamphylians.11

habited Aladeuli ; the Lycaonian mountaineers the mountains which se-
parate Karaman from Itch-iili ; and the Pisidians the country of Hamjd.

I The Bay of Bengal. 2 Ceylon.

3 The Arians inhabited Sigistan and a part of modern Persia. Strabo
gave the name of Arians to all the people who occupied the portions of
Asia comprised between the Indus and Persia, and between the chain of
the Taurus and Gedrosia and Carmania. In after-times the designation
of Arians was restricted to the inhabitants of the modern Khorasaii.
Gedrosia is Mekran ; Carmania yet preserves the name of Kerman.

4 Ancient Persia is the modern province of Pars, Pars, or Paras ; our
Persia being much more extensive than the ancient country designated
by the same name.

The Susians inhabited the modern Khosistan.
The Babylonians occupied the present Irak-Arabi.
Now al-Djezira.

Viz. the Ethiopians occupying the territory from Syene to Abyssinia.
The Troglodyte Arabians.
10 The Cilicians occupied the modern Itch-iili and Aladeuli ; the
Trachiotoe or mountaineers, the former of these countries.

II Pamphylia is the modern Tekieh.

CHAP. v. § 33. INTRODUCTION. 197

33. After Asia comes Libya, which adjoins Egypt and
Ethiopia. The coast next us, from Alexandria almost to the
Pillars, is in a straight line, with the exception of the Syrtes,
the sinuosities of some moderately sized bays, and the projec-
tion of the promontories by which they are formed. The side
next the ocean from Ethiopia up to a certain point is almost
parallel to the former ; but after this the southern portions
become narrowed into a sharp peak, extending a little beyond
the Pillars of Hercules, and giving to the country something
the figure of .a trapezium. Its appearance, both by the ac-
counts of other writers, and also the description given to our-
selves by Cnasus Piso, who was governor of this province, is
that of a panther's skin, being dotted over with habitations
surrounded by parched and desert land : these habitations
the Egyptians call Auases.1 This continent offers besides
several other peculiarities, which may be said to divide it
into three distinct portions. Most of the coast next us is very
fertile, more especially about the Cyrenaic and the parts about
Carthage, as far as Maurusia and. the Pillars of Hercules.2
Next the ocean it is likewise tolerably fitted for the habitation
of man ; but not so the centre of the country, which produces
silphium ;3 this for the most part is barren, rugged, arid sandy;
and the same is the case with regard to the whole of Asia
lying under the same right line which traverses Ethiopia, the
Troglodytic,4 Arabia, and the part of Gedrosia occupied by
the Ichthyophagi.5 The people inhabiting Libya are for the
most part unknown to us, as it has rarely been entered, either
by armies or adventurers. But few of its inhabitants from
the farther parts come amongst us, and their accounts are
both incomplete and not to be relied on. The sum of what
they say is as follows. Those which are most southern are
called Ethiopians.6 North of these the principal nations are

1 Or Oases, according to the common spelling.

2 That is to say, from Tunis to Gibraltar. The Maurusians, called by
the Latins Mauritanians, occupied the present Algiers and Fez.

3 Probably asa-foetida. * The Troglodytic extended along
the western coast of the Arabian Gulf.

5 The Ichthyophagi of Gedrosia inhabited the barren coasts of Mekran.

6 The term of Ethiopians was a generic name given by the Greeks and
Romans to the most southern inhabitants of Africa they at any time hap-
pened to be acquainted with ; consequently the position of this country
frequently shifted.

STRABO. BOOK ii.

the Garamantes, the Pharusians, and the Nigritae.1 Still
farther north are the Gaetuli. Close to the sea, and adjoin-
ing it next Egypt, and as far as the Cyrenaic, dwell the
Marmaridce.2 Above 3 the Cyrenaic and the Syrtes 4 are the
Psylli and Nasamones,5 and certain of the Gaetuli ; and after
them the Asbysta36 and Byzacii,7 as far as Carthage. Car-
thage is vast. Adjoining it are the Numidae ;8 of these people
the tribes best known to us are called the Masylies and the
Masaesylii. The most westerly are the Maurusians.9 The
whole land, from Carthage to the Pillars of Hercules, is fer-
tile. Nevertheless it abounds in wild beasts no less than
the interior ; and it does not seem improbable that the cause
why the name of Nomades,10 or Wanderers, was bestowed on
certain of these people originated in their not being able
anciently to devote themselves to husbandry on account of
the wild beasts. At the present day, when they are well
skilled in hunting, and are besides assisted by the Romans in
their rage for the spectacle of fights with beasts, they are both
masters of the beasts and of husbandry. This finishes what
we have to say on the continents.

34. It now remains for us to speak of the climata.11 Of

1 The Garamantas inhabited the Kawan ; Garama, their capital, is now
named Gherma. The Pharusians and Nigritae dwelt south of the present
kingdom of Morocco.

2 The Marmaridae extended west from Egypt, as far as Catabathmus,
near the present Cape Luco.

3 Viz. to the south and west. 4 The Gulfs of Sydra and Cabes.

5 The Psylli and Nasamones inhabited the eastern parts of the present
kingdom of Tripoli, above the Greater Syrtes and the desert of Barca.

6 The Asbystse were a people of Libya above Cyrene, where the temple
of Ammon stood ; Jupiter is sometimes called on that account Asbysteus.

7 The Byzacii occupied the southern parts of the kingdom of Tunis.

8 Greek, Nomades, or wandering shepherds, from which the Latins
formed the name Numidae. These people inhabited Algiers.

9 Carthage extended as far west as the promontory of Tretum, now
Sebta-Ras or the Seven Heads. From thence the Masylies inhabited as
far as Cape Carbon ; and from thence the Masaesylii possessed the country
as far as the river Molochath, now the Maluia, beyond which were the
Maurusians extending to the Atlantic.

10 Numidee.

11 The climata are zones parallel to the equator. The ancients ge-
nerally reckoned seven climata, which in the time of Hipparchus termi-
nated at 48° 30' 35", where the longest day consisted of sixteen hours.
He however multiplied these divisions and extended them farther towards
the poles. It is a great pity that Strabo has not noted all of them.

CHAP. v. $ 34. INTRODUCTION. 199

these too we shall give but a general description, commencing
with those lines which we have denominated elementary,
namely, those which determine the greatest length and breadth
of the [habitable earth], but especially its breadth.

To enter fully into this subject is the duty of astronomers.
This has been done by Hipparchus, who has noted down (as
he says) the differences of the heavenly appearances for every
degree of that quarter of the globe in which our habitable
earth is situated, namely, from the equator to the north pole.

What is beyond our habitable earth it is not however the
business of the geographer to consider. Nor yet even in re-
gard to the various parts of the habitable earth must too mi-
nute and numerous differences be noticed, since to the man
of the world they are perplexing ; it will suffice to give the
most striking and simple of the statements of Hipparchus.
Assuming, as he does himself after the assertion of Eratos-
thenes, that the circumference of the earth is 252,000 stadia,
the differences oi' the [celestial] phenomena, will not be great
for each [degree] within the limits between which the habitable
earth is contained. Supposing we cut the grand circle of the
earth into 360 divisions, each of these divisions will consist
of 700 stadia. This is the calculation adopted by [Hippar-
chus] to fix the distances, which [as we said] should be taken
under the before-mentioned meridian of Meroe. He com-
mences at the regions situated under the equator, and stopping
from time to time at every 700 stadia along the whole length
of the meridian above mentioned, proceeds to describe the
celestial phenomena as they appear from each. But the
equator is not the place for us to start from. For even if
there be there a habitable region, as some suppose, it forms a
habitable earth to itself, a narrow slip enclosed by the regions
uninhabitable on account of the heat ; and can be no part of
our habitable earth. Now the geographer should attend
to none but our own habitable earth, which is confined
by certain boundaries ; on the south by the parallel which
passes Over the Cinnamon Country ; l on the north by that
which passes over lerna.2 But keeping in mind the scheme
of our geography, we have no occasion to mark all the
places comprehended within this distance, nor yet all the ce-

1 According to Strabo, 12o 34' 17". * According to Strabo, 52o 25' 42 '.

200 STRABO. BOOK IT.

lestial phenomena. We must however commence, as Hippar-
chus does, with the southern regions.

35. He tells us that the people who dwell under the parallel
of the Cinnamon Country, which he places at 3000 stadia
south of Meroe,1 and 8800 [north] of the equator, live nearly
at equal distances between the equator and the summer tropic
which passes by Syene ; for Syene is 5000 stadia [north] of
Meroe. They are the first2 for whom the whole [constellation]
of the Lesser Bear is comprised within the Artie Circle, and
to whom it is always visible. For the bright and most southern
star, at the tip of the tail, is here contained within the Arctic
Circle, and appears to touch the horizon.

The Arabian Gulf lies eastward parallel to the said meri-
dian. Its egress3 into the Exterior Ocean is [in the same
latitude as] the Cinnamon Country, the place where anciently
they used to hunt the elephants. The parallel of the Cinna-
mon Country on the one side4 passes a little south of Tapro-
bana, or perhaps over its southern extremit/'; and on the
other side 5 over the most southern parts of Libya.6

36. At Meroe and Ptolemais7 in the Troglodytic the longest
day consists of thirteen equinoctial hours. These cities are at
nearly equal distances between the equator and Alexandria,
the preponderance on the side of the equator being only 1800
stadia. The parallel of Meroe passes on one side8 over un-
known countries, and on the other9 over the extremities of
India.10 At Syene, and at Berenice, which is situated on the
Arabian Gulf and in the Troglodytic, at the summer sol-
stice the sun is vertical, and the longest day consists of thirteen
equinoctial hours and a half, and the whole of the Greater
Bear appears within the Arctic Circle, with the exception of
his thighs, the tip of his tail, and one of the stars composing
his body. The parallel of Syene traverses on one side11 the

1 Now Gherri, on the banks of the Nile.

2 i. e. they are the most southern of those for whom, &c.

3 Bab-el-mandeb, The Gate of Tears. 4 The east. 5 The west.

6 This passage proves that in Strabo's opinion the continent of Africa
did not extend so far south as the equator,

7 This town was sometimes called Ptolemais Epitheras, having been
built by Eumedes in the reign of Philadelphus for the chase of elephants
and other wild animals.

8 On the west. 9 The east. 10 About Cape Comorin.
11 The east.

CHAP. v. § 37-39. INTRODUCTION. 201

portion of Gedrosia occupied by the Ichthyophagi, and India ;
and on the other side l the countries situated south of Gyrene
by rather less than 5000 stadia.

37. In all the countries situated between the tropic and
the equatorial circle, the shadows fall [alternately] on either
side, north and south. In those which are north of Syene
and beyond the summer tropic the shadows at mid-day fall to
the north. The former are called amphiscii, the latter hete-
roscii. There is also another method of determining what
places are under the tropic, which we spoke of in our observ-
ations on the zones. The soil is sandy, arid, and produces
nothing but silphium, while more to the south the land is
well irrigated and fertile.

38. In the countries situated about 400 stadia south of the
parallel of Alexandria and Cyrene, where the longest day con-
sists of fourteen equinoctial hours, Arcturus passes the zenith,
slightly declining towards the south. At Alexandria at the
time of the equinox the proportion which the gnomon bears
to the shadow is as five to seven.2 Thus they are south of
Carthage 1300 stadia, that is, admitting that in Carthage at
the time of the equinox the proportion which the gnomon
bears to the shadow is as eleven to seven. This parallel on
the one side3 passes by Cyrene and the regions 900 stadia
south of Carthage as far as. the midst of Maurusia;4 and on
the other side5 through Egypt,6 Crelosyria, Upper Syria,
Babylonia, Susiana,7 Persia,8 Carmania,9 Upper Gedrosia,10
and India.

39. AtPtolemais in Phoenicia,11 and at Sidon12 and Tyre,13
the longest day consists of fourteen hours and a quarter. These
cities are north of Alexandria by about 1600 stadia, and
north of Carthage about 700. In the Peloponnesus, and about
the middle of Rhodes, at Xanthus 14 in Lycia, or a little to the
south of this place, and at 400 stadia south of Syracuse,15 the
longest day consists of fourteen and a half equinoctial hours.
These places are distant from Alexandria 3640 stadia ....

I The west. - Kramer follows Gosselin in proposing to substitute
rpi'a in place of tTrra. 3 The west side. 4 Algiers and Fez.

5 The eastern side. e Lower Egypt is intended. 7 Khosistan.
8 The modern province of Pars. ° Kerman. 10 Upper Mekran.

II S. Jean d' Acre. 12 Seide. " Tsur.
14 Eksenide. 15 Siragusa

202 STRABO.

BOOK II.

This parallel, according to Eratosthenes, passes through Caria,
Lycaonia, Cataonia, Media, the Caspian Gates, and India next
the Caucasus.1

40. In the parts of the Troad next Alexandria2 in Am-
phipolis,3 Apollonia in Epirus,4 the countries just south of
Rome and north of Neapolis, the longest day consists of fif-
teen hours. This parallel is distant from that of Alexandria
in Egypt 7000 stadia to the north, above 28,800 stadia north
of the equator, and 3400 stadia from the parallel of Rhodes ;
it is south of Byzantium, Nicoea,5 and Marseilles 1500 stadia.
The parallel of Lysimachia6 is a little to the north, and ac-
cording to Eratosthenes passes through Mysia,7 Paphlagonia,
Sinope,8 Hyrcania,9 and Bactra.10

41. About Byzantium the longest day consists of fifteen
and a quarter equinoctial hours ; the proportion borne by the
gnomon to the shadow at the summer solstice, is as 120 to
42, minus one-fifth. These places are distant11 from the mid-
dle of Rhodes about 4900 stadia, and 30,300 from the equator.
Sailing into the Euxine and advancing 1400 stadia to the
north, the longest day is found to consist of fifteen and a half
equinoctial hours. These places are equi-distant between the
pole and equatorial circle ; the arctic circle is at their zenith,
the star in the neck of Cassiopeia is within this circle, the
star forming the right elbow of Pejseus being a little more to
the north.

42. In regions 3800 stadia north of Byzantium the longest
day consists of sixteen equinoctial hours ; the constellation
Cassiopeia being brought within the arctic circle. These
regions are situated around [the mouth of] the Dnieper and
the southern parts of the Masotis, at a distance from the equa-
tor of 34,100 stadia; and the northern part of the horizon
during almost all the summer nights is illuminated by the
light of the sun ; a certain degree of light continuing from
sunset to sunrise. For the summer tropic is distant from the

1 Caria occupied the southern and western parts of Anadoli, near the
Island of Rhodes. Lycaonia formed a part of the modern Karaman. Ca-
taonia was comprised in Aladeuli. Media is now Irak-Adjami. The
Caspian Gates are the defiles of Firouz-Koh.

2 Eski-Stambul. 3 Emboli or Jamboli. 4 Polina.

5 Isnik. 6 Eksemil. 7 Karasi in Anadoli. 8 Sinoub.

9 Corcan and Daghistan. 10 Balk. " To the north.

CHAP. v. § 43. INTRODUCTION. 203

horizon only the half and the twelfth part of a sign l [of the
zodiac], and this therefore is the greatest distance of the sun
below the horizon at midnight. With us when the sun is at
this distance from the horizon before sunrise and after sunset,
the atmosphere is enlightened to the east and west respect-
ively. In the winter the sun when at the highest is nine
cubits above the horizon.2 These places, according to Era-
tosthenes, are distant from Meroe rather more than 23,000
stadia,3 for he says that [from the parallel of Meroe] to the
Hellespont4 there are 18,000 stadia, and thence to the Dnieper
5000 more. In regions distant 6300 stadia from Byzan-
tium, and north of the Maeotis, the sun during the winter
time is, when highest, six cubits [above the horizon]. The
longest day consists of seventeen hours.

43. The countries beyond this which border upon the
regions uninhabitable on account of their cold, have no inter-
est to the geographer. He who desires to learn about them,
and the celestial phenomena which Hipparchus has de-
scribed, but which we pass over as being too much 'in detail
for our present undertaking, must seek for them in that author.
The statements of Posidonius concerning the periscii, the am-
phiscii, and the heteroscii are likewise too detailed. Still we
must touch on these points sufficiently to explain his view,
and to point out how far such matters are serviceable in geo-
graphy, and how far not. The terms made use of refer to
the shadows cast from the sun. The sun appears to the senses
to describe a circle parallel to that of the earth.5 Of those
people for whom each revolution of the earth produces a day
and a night, the sun being carried first over, then under,
the earth, some are denominated amphiscii, others hete-
roscii. The amphiscii are the inhabitants of countries in
which when a gnomon is placed perpendicularly on a plane
surface, the shadow which it casts at mid-day, falls first to
one side then to the other, as the sun illumines first this side,
then that. This however only occurs in places situated be-
tween the tropics. The heteroscii are those amongst whom
the shadow always falls to the north, as with us ; or to the

1 Or 17° 30'. This would indicate a latitude of 48° 38' 40".
8 The astronomical cubit was equal to two degrees.
3 Read 23,100. * The northern extremity of the Hellespont,

the universe.

204 STRABO. B. ii. c. v. § 43.

south, as amongst those who inhabit the other temperate zone.
This occurs in all those regions where the arctic circle is less
than the tropic. Where however it becomes the same as or
greater than the tropic, this shows the commencement of the
periscii, who extend thence to the pole. In regions where
the sun remains above the horizon during an entire revolution
of the earth, the shadow must evidently have turned in a com-
plete circle round the gnomon. On this account he named
them periscii. However they have nought to do with geo-
graphy, inasmuch as the regions are not habitable on account
of the cold, as we stated in our review of Pytheas. Nor is
there any use in determining the size of this uninhabitable
region, [it is enough to have established] that those countries,
having the tropic for their arctic circle, are situated beneath
the circle which is described by the pole of the zodiac l in the
[diurnal] revolution of the earth, and that the distance be-
tween the equator and the tropic equals four-sixtieths of the
great circle [of the earth].

1 The pole of the ecliptic.

BOOK III.
SPAIN.

CHAPTER I.

1 . HAVING thus given a general view of Geography, it will
now be proper to describe each separate country in detail, as
we engaged to do. We fancy that the method which we have
adopted in the division of our subject, up to this point, has
been correct ; and we now re-commence with Europe and the
various countries into which it is divided, on the same prin-
ciples as formerly, and induced by the same reasons.

2. The first division of this continent towards the west is
Iberia, as we before stated. The greater part of this country
is~but little fitted_fbr habitation ; consisting chiefly of moun-
tamsT^ooo1^ and plains~covered with a light meagre soil, the

^irrigation of which is likewise uncertain. The part next the
north, which borders on the oceanTTs extremely cold, and be-
sides its rugged character, has no communication or inter-
course with other [countries], and thus to dwell there is at-
tended with peculiar hardship. Such is the character of this
portion ; on the other hand, almost the whole of the south^is
fertile, especially what is bevond_Jhe JE>!U.ars [°f Hercules].
"TRis however will be shown more in detail, but we must first
describe the figure and extent [of the country].

3. In shape it resembles a hide stretched out in length from
west to east, the forepart l towards the east, its breadth being
from north to south. Its length is about 6000 stadia ; the
greatest breadth is 5000; while there are parts considerably less

1 The neck, &c.

206 STRABO. CAS. 137.*

than 3000, particularly in the vicinity of the Pyrenees, which
form the eastern side. This chain of mountains stretches with-
out interruption from north to south,1 and divides Keltica2
from Iberia. The breadth both of Keltica and Iberia is irre-
gular, the narrowest part in both of them from the Mediter-
ranean to the [Atlantic] Ocean being near the Pyrenees,
particularly on either side of that chain ; this gives rise to
gulfs both on the side of the Ocean, and also of the Mediterra-
nean ; the largest of these are denominated the Keltic or Ga-
latic Gulfs,3 and they render the [Keltic] Isthmus narrower
than that of Iberia.4 The Pyrenees form the. eastern side of
I jlberia, and the MediterranealTThTsouTEer^fi'om the Pyrenees
to the Pillars of Hercules, thence the extenoSFTocean'Tr"a's far
as the Sacred Promontory.6 The third or western side runs
V nearlyjg'arallel tojthe Pyrenees from the Sacred "Promontory
f to thepromontbry of the Artabri, called [Cape] Nerium.7
The fourth side extends hence to the northern extremity of
the Pyrenees.

4. We will now commence our detailed account, beginning
from the Sacred Promontory. This is the most_westem jDoint
not only of Europe, but of the whole habitable earth. For
the habitable earth is bounded to the west by two continents,
namely, the extremities of Europe and Libya,8 which are inha-
bited respectively by the Iberians and the Maurusians.9 But
the Iberian extremity, at the promontory10 we have mentioned,
juts out beyond the other as much as 1500 stadia.11 The re-
gion adjacent to this cape they call in the Latin tongue Cu-

* Note. The pages of Casaubon's edition of 1620 are given to facili-
tate reference to various editions and translations of Strabo.

1 The Pyrenees, on the contrary, range from east to west, with a slight
inclination towards the north. This error gives occasion to several of the
mistakes made by Strabo respecting the course of certain of the rivers in
France.

2 France. 3 The Gulfs of Lyons and Gascony.

* Gosselin remarks that the distance between S. Jean de Luz and Tar-
ragona, is rather less than that between Bayonne and Narbonne.

5 The Atlantic. 6 Cape St. Vincent. 7 Cape Finisterre.

8 Africa. 9 The Mauritanians. " 10 Cape St. Vincent.

11 Cape St. Vincent is about 1600 stadia west of Cape Spartel in Africa.
Strabo imagined that beyond this cape the African coast inclined to the
south-east. In reality it advances eleven degrees and a half farther west
to Cape Verd, which is 8° '29' west of Cape St. Vincent.

B. in. c. i. { 5 SPAIN 207

neum,1 which signifies a wedge. The promontory which
projects into the sea, Artemidorus (who states that he has
himself been at the place) compares to a ship ; three little
islands, [he says,] each having a small harbour, contribute
to give it this form ; the former island resembling the beak
of the ship, and the two latter the beams on each side
of the ship's bows. [He adds] that there is no temple of
Hercules shown there, as Ephorus falsely states, nor yet
any altar [to him] nor to any other divinity ; but m many
parts there are three or four stones placed together, which are
turned by all travellers who arrive there, m "accordance with
a certain local custom, and are changed in position by such as
turn them incorrectly.2 It is not lawful to offer sacrifice there,
nor yet to approach the place during the night, for it is
said that then the gods take^u^_their_abode at the place.
Those who go thither to view it stay at a neighbouring village
over-night, and proceed to the place on the morrow, carrying
water with them, as there is none to be procured there.

5. It is quite possible that these things are so, and we ought
not to disbelieve them. Not so however with regard to the
other common and vulgar reports ; for Posidonius tells us the
common people say that in the countries next the ocean the
sun appears larger jts^ he sets, and makes a noise resembling
^Ee^oumTof hot metal in cold water, as though the sea were
hissing as the sun was submerged in its depths. The state-
ment [of Artemidorus] is also false, that night folio wsjmme-
diately on the setting of the sun : it does not follow immedi-
ately, although certainJYjhe interval is short, as in other great
seas. For when he setsbehind mountains the agency of the
false light continues the day for a long period ; over the sea
the twilight is shorter, still darkness does not immediately
supervene. The same thing may be remarked in large plains.
The image of the sun is enlarged on the seas at its rising as
well as at its setting, because at these times a larger mass of

1 Herodotus is the first who speaks of a people of Iberia, to whom he
gives the name of Kuvr/o-toi or KvvijTeg: he describes them as inhabiting
the most western part of Europe, beyond the Pillars of Hercules.

2 This passage of Strabo relative to the rocking-stones has occasioned
much perplexity to the critics. We have attempted to render the Greek
words as near as possible. Many curious facts relative to rocking and
amber stones have been collected by Jabez Allies, F. S. A., in his work
on the Antiquities of Worcestershire, now in the press.

208 STEABO. CAS. 138.

exhalations rises from the humid element ; and the eye looking
through these exhalations, sees images refracted into larger
forms, as observed through tubes. The same thing happens
when the setting sun or moon is seen through a dry and thin
cloud, when those bodies likewise appear reddish. l Posidonius
tells us that, having himself passed thirty days at Gades,2
during which time he carefully observed the setting of the
sun, he is convinced of the falsity of Artemidorus's account.
This latter writer tells us, that at the time of its setting the
sun appears a hundred times larger than its ordinary size, and
that night immediately succeeds. If we attend to his account,
we cannot believe that he himself remarked this phenomenon
at the Sacred Promontory,3 for he tells us that no one can
approach during the night ; therefore they cannot approach at
sunset, since night immediately supervenes thereupon. Nei-
ther did he observe it from any other part of the coast washed
by the ocean, for Gades is upon the ocean, and both Posido-
nius and many others testify that there such is not the case.

6. The sea-coast next the Sacred Promontory forms on
one side the commencement of the western coast of Spain as
far as the outlet of the river Tagus ; and on the other forms
the southern coast as far as the outlet of another river, named
the Guadiana.4 Both of these rivers descend from the eastern
parts [of Spain] ; but the former, which is much larger than
the other, pursues a straight course towards the west, while the
Guadiana bends its course towards the south.5 They enclose
an extent of country peopled for the most part by Kelts and

1 We extract the following notice on this passage from Humboldt (Cos-
mos, vol. iii. 54, Bonn's edition). " This passage has recently been
pronounced corrupt, (Kramer i. 211,) and di vdXwv (through glass
spheres) substituted for Si av\u>v (Schneider, Eclog. Phys. ii. 273).
The magnifying power of hollow glass spheres, filled with water, (Seneca
i. 6,) was, indeed, as familiar to the ancients as the action of burning
glasses or crystals, (Aristoph. Nub. v. 765,) and that of Nero's emerald
(Plin. xxxvii. 5) ; but these spheres most assuredly could not have been
employed as astronomical measuring instruments. (Compare Cosmos i. p.
619.) Solar altitudes taken through thin light clouds, or through volcanic
vapours, exhibit no trace of the influence of refraction."

2 Cadiz. 3 Cape St. Vincent. * "Avag.

5 The Tagus, the Guadiana, and the Guadalquiver, pursue a course
nearly parallel to each other, and all incline towards the south before dis-
charging themselves into the sea ; the inclination of the Tagus is not equal
to that of the other rivers.

B. in. c. i. § 6. SPAIN. 209

certain Lusitanians,1 whom the Romans caused to settle here
from the opposite side of the Tagus. Higher up, the country
is inhabited by the Carpetani,2 the Oretani,3 and a large num-
ber of Vettones.4 . This district is moderately fertile, but that
which is beyond it to the east and south, does not give place
in superiority to any part of the habitable earth with which
it may be compared, in the excellence of its productions both
of land and sea. This is the country through which the river
Guadalquiver 5 flows. This river takes its rise irom the same
*paHs as the Guadiaha6 and the Taguo, and is between these
two in size.7 Like the Guadiana, the commencement of its
course flows towards the west, but it afterwards turns to the
south, and discharges itself at the same side of the coast as
that river.

From this river5 the country has received the name of
Beetica ; it is called Turdetania by the inhabitants, who are
"themselves denominated Turdetani, and Turduli. Some think
these two names refer to one nation, while others believe that
they designate two distinct people. Of this latter opinion
is Polybius, who imagines that the Turduli dwell more to
the north than the Turdetani. At the present day however
there does not appear to be any distinction between them.
These people are esteemed to be the most intelligent of all
the_Iberians ; they have a^njalphabet, and possess ancient
writings, £oems, and metrical laws six thousand Ygars^old. as
tKejTsay. The other Iberians are likewise furnished with an
aTghaBet, altboughliot or the same form, nor do they speak the
samejanguage. TEeTr country,*~~which Ts~on tins ""side"* the

1 Lusitania occupied the greater part of the present kingdom of Portu-
gal. It was from the countries north of the Tagus that the Romans
caused certain of the inhabitants to emigrate to the south side of that
river.

2 The Carpetani occupied a portion of New Castile, where the cities of
Madrid, Toledo, &c. are now situated.

3 These people inhabited the southern portions of New Castile, now oc-
cupied by the cities of Calatrava, Ciudad-real, Alcaraz, &c. They also
possessed a part of the Sierra-Morena.

4 The Vettones inhabited that part of Estremadura, where the cities
of Alcantara, Truxillo, &c. are now situated.

5 Baetis. • Anas.

7 The course of the Guadiana is longer than that of the Guadal-
quiver.

8 Viz. Turdetania.

VOL. i. P

210 STRABO. CASAUB. 139

Guadiana, extends eastward as far as Oretania,1 and southward
along the sea-coast from the outlets of the Guadiana to the
Pillars [of Hercules]. But it is necessary that I should enter
into "further particulars concerning this and the neighbouring
places, in order to illustrate their excellence and fertility.

7. Between this coast, where the Guadalquiver and Guadi-
ana discharge themselves, and the extremities of Maurusia,
the Atlantic Ocean forms the strait at the Pillars [of Hercules]
by which it is connected with the Mediterranean. Here is
situated Calpe,2 the mountain of the Iberians who are de-
nominated Bastetani, by others Bastuli. Its circumference is
not large, but it is so high and steep as to resemble an island in
the distance. Sailing from the Mediterranean into the At-
lantic, it is left on the right hand. At a distance of 40 stadia
from this [mountain] is the considerable and ancient city of
Carteia, formerly a marine jiraenal of the Iberians. Some
assert that it was foundedby Hercules ; of tEis number is
Timosthenes,3 who tells us it was anciently called Heraclasa,
and that vas^ walls and ship-sheds are still shown.

8. Next to these is Mellaria,4 where they make salted pro-
• visions. After this the city and river5 of Belo. Here the

merchandise and salted provisions for Tingis in Maurusia are
principally shipped. There was a city named Zelis6 near to
Tingis, but the Romans transferred it to the opposite coast
[of Spain], and having placed there in addition some of the
inhabitants of Tingis, and sent over also some of their own
people, they then gave to the city the name of Julia Joza.7
Beyond this is Gadeira,8 an island separated from Turdetania
by a narrow strait, and distant from Calpe about 750 stadia,
or, as others say, 800. This island has nothing to distinguish
it above others, but owing to the boldness of its people in

1 The mountainous country in which the Guadalquiver takes its source.

2 The rock of Gibraltar.

3 This Timosthenes was the admiral of Ptolemy II. Strabo mentions
him repeatedly.

4 The place on which this town formerly stood is now designated Val
de Vacca.

5 Rio Barbate. 6 Now Azzila.

7 Called by Pliny and Ptolemy Julia Tramducta. It appears to have
been situated at the western entrance of the Bay of Gibraltar, at the place
now called Al-Gesira.

8 jCadiz.

B. in. c. i. § 9. SPAIN.

their expeditions by sea, and their friendship witl
mans, has attained to that pitch of good fortune, that
situated at the farthest extremities of the earth, it pL^coses a
greater celebrity than any other island. But we will describe
it when we come to speak of the other islands.

9. Next after [Cadiz] is the port of Menestheus,1 and the
estuary near to Asta and Nebrissa.2 These estuaries are val-
leys filled by the sea during its flood-tides, up which you may
sail into the interior, and to the cities built on them, in the same
way as you sail up a river. Immediately after are the two out-
lets of the Guadalquiver.3 The island embraced by these mouths
has a coast of a hundred stadia, or rather more according to
others. Hereabouts is the Orjacje of Menestheus,4 and the tower
of Caspio,5 built upon a pock and washed on all sides by the
sea. This is an admirable wrork, resembling the Pharos, and
constructed for the safety of vessels. For the mud carried
out by the river forms shallows, and sunken rocks are also
scattered before it, so that a beacon was greatly needed.
Thence sailing up the river is the city of Ebura.6 and the
temple of Phosphorus,7 which they call Lux Dubia.s You
then pass up the other estuaries ; and after these the river
Guadiana, which has also two mouths,9 up either of which you
may sail. Lastly, beyond is the Sacred Promontory,10 distant
from Gadeira11 less than 2000 stadia. Some say that from
the Sacred Promontory to the mouth of the Guadiana there
are 60 miles ; thence to the mouth of the Guadalquiver 100 ;
and from this latter place to Gadeira 70.

1 An Athenian king, who led the Athenians against Troy. The port
of Menestheus is now Puerto Sta. Maria.

2 Hodie Lebrixa. 3 Baetis.

4 At or near the port of Menestheus, just mentioned.

5 Quintus Servilius Ceepio, a famous Roman general. Vide lib. iv. c.
i. § 13.

6 This city is not to be confounded with others of the same name in Spain.

7 Strabo is the only writer who speaks of this temple of Phosphorus.
It was no doubt a temple to Diana, who was named "Aprtyuc *wff0opog.
This temple, according to the "Spanish authors quoted by Lopez in his
translation of Strabo, corresponds to the present San-Lucar de Barrameda.

8 Strabo here gives the Latin Lucem ditbiam in Greek characters,
A-OVKep Sovfiiav.

9 The Guadiaua at-the present day has but one mouth.

10 Cape St. Vincent. u Cadiz.

p 2

212 STRABO. CASAUB. 141.

CHAPTER II.

1. TURDETANIA lies above the coast on this side the Guadi-
ana,1 and is intersected by the river GuajMcjuiver.2 It is
bounded on the west and north by the river Guadiana ; on the
east by certain of the Carpetani and the Oretani ; on the south
by those of the Bastetani who inhabit the narrow slip of coast
between Calpe and Gadeira, and by the sea beyond as far as the
Guadiana. The Bastetani whom I have mentioned, together
with the people on the other side the Guadiana, and many of
the places adjacent, belong to Turdetania. The size of this
country in its length and breadth does not exceed two thousand
stadia, still it contains a vast^umiber of towns ; twojyiadred, it
is said. Those best knownare^ituated/onthe rivers, estuaries,
and sea ; but the two which have acquired the greatest name and
importance are, Corduba, foundeji^X-M^C.eJlus,3 and the city
of the Gaditanians.4 The latter for its naval importance, and
its alliance with the Romans ; and the former on account of its
fertility and extent, a considerable portion of the Guadalquiver
flowing by it ; in addition to this it has been from its com-
mencement inhabited by picked men, whether natives or Ro-
mans ; and it was the first colony planted by the Romans in
these parts.

After this city and that of the Gaditanians, Hispalis5 is the
most noted. Thisalso is a Roman colony. Commerce is still

1 Anas. 2 Baetis.

3 Cordova, situated on the Guadalquiver in Andalusia. We do not
know~"wn"ether it were founded by the Marcellus who was praetor in
Thither Iberia, and created consul in the year of Rome 601, or Mar-
cellus who joined Pompey's party against Caesar. This city served for
the winter quarters of the Jiofflans, who during: summer made war on the
inhabitants"of the westein and nor thern^^rts ~of_S p aim It was the na-
trveTplace of the two Senecas and Lucan, and the chief emporium of
Ibejria. We may f5rm some idea "oftEe amount "of its popukticm from
the number of those who perished when taken by Csesar, as narrated by
Hirtius, Spanish War, § 34. But the period in which Cordova's glory
was at its zenith was during the empire of the Moors, in the eighth, ninth,
and tenth centuries, when it numbered 300,000 inhabitants.

4 Cadijs.

5 Seville. This city was surnamed Julia Romulensis. It was founded
by_Cjesar, and regarded as the second city of the province, alth~ougn7~as
we see, in the time of Strabo it was only third-rate.

B. in. c. ii. $ 2, 3. SPAIN. 213

carried on here, although at the present moment the city or *
Baetis l though not so finely built, is outshining it, on account
of the honour it has received from the soldiers of Caesar tak-
ing up their quarters there.

2. After these are Italica,2 and Ilipa,3 situated on the Gua-
dalquiver ; farther on are Astygis,4 Carmo,5 and Obulco ;
and besides these Munda,6 Ategua, Urso,7 Tukkis,8 Julia,9
and -ZEgua, where the sons of Pompey were defeated. None of
these places_are far from Corduba. " Munda is in some sort'
regardecTas thelnetropolis of the whole district. This place
is distant from Carteia 1400 10 stadia, and it was here that
Cnreus fled after his defeat, and sailing thence landed on a
rocky height overlooking the sea, where he was murdered.
His brother Sextus, having escaped from Corduba, after car-
rying on the war for a short time in Spain, caused a revolt
in Sicily. Flying thence into Asia he was seized at Mi-
letus n by the generals 12 of Antony, and executed. Amongst
theJKelts the most famous place is Conistorgis.13 Upon the
estuaries is Asta,14 in which the Gaditani mostly hold their
assemblies ; it is opposite the sea-port of the island, at a dis-
tance of not more than 100 stadia.

3. A vast number of people dwell along the Guadalquiver ;

and you may sail up it almost 1200 stadia from the sea to Cor-
duba, and the' places a little higher up. The banks and little
islets of this river are cultivated with the greatest diligence.

1 Strabo is the only writer who mentions this city of Bsetis. Casanbon
and others are inclined to the opinion that the MSS. are corrupted, and
that formerly another name stood here.

2 This city, the native place of the emperors Trajan and Adrian, and
the poet Silius Italicus, was founded by Publius Scipio in the second
Punic war, who placed here the soldiers inca.p.fyUafp(l frf)m tne perform-
ance of military service. It is supposed to correspond to Sevilla la Vieja,
about a league distant from Seville.

3 The Ilipa Ilia of Pliny and Illipula Magna of Ptolemy. Its exact
position is not determined.

4 Hodie Ecija on the Xenil. 5 Carmona.

6 Mjonda, sevenJeagues west of Malaga. 7 Osuna.

8 Hodie Martos, Pliny gave it the surname of Augusta Gemella.

9 The Itucci of Pliny, to which he gives the surname Virtus Julia.
0 We should probably read 430.

11 Kramer, using the criticism of Lachmann, observes that this is a mis-
reading for Midaium, and that a like mistake occurs in Appian.

12 Furnius and Titius. 13 In Lusitania.

14 About the spot where this city is supposed to have stood, between
Xerez and Tribugena, there is still a place called Mesa de Asta.

214 STRABO. CASAUB. 142.

The eye is also delighted with groves and gardens, which in
this district are met with in the highest perfection. As far
as Ispalis, which is a distance of not less than 500 stadia, the
river^is navigable for ships l of considerable size; buTlor the
cities higher up, as far as Ilipas, smaller vessels are employed,
and thence to Corduba river-boats. These are now con-
structed of _plan.ks joined together, but they were formerly
niade out of a single jrunk. Above this to Castlon the river is
no longer navigable. A chain of mountains, rich jn metal,
runs parallel to the Guadalquiver,2 approaching the river some-
times more, sometimes less, towards the north.

There is much silver found in the parts about Ilipas and
Sisapo, boj;h in that which is called the old town and the new.
There are copper and gold about the CotinaB.3 These moun-
tains are on the left as you sail up the river ; on the right
there is a vast and elevated plain^Jertile, full of large trees, and
containing excellent pasturage. The Guadiana 4 is likewise
navigable, but not for vessels equally large, nor yet so far up.
It is also bordered by mountains containing metal, and ex-
tends as far as the Tagus. Districts which contain metals must,
of necessity, be rugged and poorT5 as indeed are those ad-
joining Carpetania, and still more those next the j£elti-
berians. The same is the case with Baeturia, the plains of
"which, bordering on the Guadiana, are arid.

4. Turdetania, on the other hand, is marvellously fertile,
and abounds in every species of produce. The value of its
productions is doubled by means of exportation, the sur-
plus products finding a ready sale amongst the numerous
ship-owners. This results from its rivers and estuaries, which,
as we have said, resemble rivers, and by which you may sail
from the sea to the inland towns, not only in small, but even
in large-sized skiifs. For the whole country above the
coast, and situated between the Sacred Promontory 6 and the
Pillars, consists of an extended plain. Here in many places
anTliollowls running inland Irom the sea, which resemble
moderately-sized ravines or the beds of rivers, and extend

1 Strabo uses o\icdffiv a£to\6yoi£, but the English hulk would not bear
the same import in this place as the Greek.

2 Bcetis. 3 Cotillas, or perhaps Constantina near Almaden. * Anas.
5 Experience does not seem to warrant this conclusion.

8 Cape St. Vincent.

n. in. c. ii. § 5. SPAIN. 215

for many stadia. These are filled by the approach of the sea
at high tide, and may be navigated as easily, or even more
so than rivers. They are navigated much the same as rivers ;
the sea, meeting with no obstacle, enters like the flow of a river
at flood-tide. The sea comes in here with greater force than
in the other places ; for being forced from the wide ocean in-
to the narrow strait,1 formed by the coast of Maurusia and
Iberia, it experiences recoils, and thus is borne full into the
retiring parts of the land. Some of these shallows are left
dry as the tide ebbs, while others are never destitute of water ;
others again contain islands, of this kind are the estuaries
between the Sacred Promontory 2 and the Pillars, where the
tide comes in with more violence than at other places. Such
a tide is of considerable advantage to sailors, since it makes
the estuaries both fuller and more spacious, frequently swell-
ing them to a breadth of eight3 stadia, so that the whole land, so
to speak, is rendered navigable, thus giving wonderful facility
both for the export and import of merchandise. Nevertheless
there is some inconvenience. For in the navigation of the
rivers, the sailors run considerable danger both in ascend-
ing and descending, owing to the violence with which the
flood-tide encounters the current of the stream as it flows
down. The ebb-tides are likewise the cause of much damage
in these estuaries, for resulting as they do from the same
cause as the flood-tides, they are frequently so rapid as to
leave the vessel on dry land ; and herds in passing over to the
islands that are in these estuaries are sometimes drowned [in
the passage] and sometimes surprised in the islands, and en-
deavouring to cross back again to the continent, are unable,
and perish in the attempt. They say that certain of the
cattle, having narrowly observed what takes place, wait till
the sea has retired, and then cross over to the main-land.

5. The men [of the country], being well acquainted with
the nature of these places, and that the estuaries would very
well answer the same purpose as rivers, founded cities and
other settlements along them the same as along rivers. Of
this number are Asta, Nebrissa,4 Onoba,5 Ossonoba, Maenoba,

1 Of Gibraltar. 2 Cape St. Vincent.

3 The text here is evidently corrupt, but it is not easy to determine to
what extent the overflow reached at the time Strabo wrote.

4 Lebrixa. 5 Gibraleon.

21 6 STRABO. CASAUB. 143.

besides many others. The canals which have been cut in
various directions are also found usefujjnjbhe^tiaffic which is
carriecTon between place and place, both amongst the people
themselves and with foreigners. The conflux of water at the
flood-tides is also valuable, as rendering navigable the isthmuses
which separate the different pieces of water, thus making it
possible to ferry over from the rivers into the estuaries, and
from the estuaries into the rivers. Their trade is wholly carried
on with Italy and Rome. The navigation is excellent as far
as the Pillars, (excepting perhaps some little difficulties at the
Strait,) and equally so on the Mediterranean, where the voyages
are very calm, especially to those who keep the high seas. This
is a great advantage to merchant-vessels. The winds on the
high seas blow regularly ; and peace reigns there now, the
pirates having been put down, so that in every respect the
voyage is facile. Posidonius tells us he observed the singular
phenomenon in his journey from Iberia,1 that in this sea, as
far as the Gulf of Sardinia, the south-east 2 winds blow pe-
riodically. And on this account he strove in vain for three
whole months to reach Italy, being driven about by the winds
against the Gymnesian islands,3 Sardinia, and the opposite
coasts of Libya.

6. Large quantities of ^orn and wine are exported from
Turdetania, besides much. oil, which is of the first quality;4
also wax, honey, pitch, large quantities of the kermes-
berryj^nd vermilion not inferior to that of Sinope.6 The
country furnishes the timber for their shipbuilding. They
have likewise imn£raL_salt, and not a few salt streams.
A considerable quantity of salted fish is exported, not
only from hence, but also from the remainder of the coast
beyond the Pillars, equal to that of Pontus. Formerly they
exported large quantities of garments, but they now send the
[unmanufactured] wool, which is superior even to that of

1 Spain. 2 oe Evpoi. 3 Majorca and Minorca.

4 In his third book, Strabo, speaking of Campania, regards the oil of
Vcnai'rum as superior to any other. In this he agrees with Pliny, who
places in the second class the oils of Baetica and Istria. Pausanias con-
siders these two oils, both for beauty of colour and excellence of flavour,
inferior to that produced at Tithorea in Phocis, and which was sent to
Rome for the service of the emperor's table.

5 Coccus tinctorius, used to dye scarlet.

6 Sinoub, still a Turkish city of importance.

B. in. c. ii. § 6. SPAIN. 217

the Coraxi,1 and remarkable for its beauty. Rams for the pur-
pose of covering fetch a talent. The stuffs manufactured by
the Saltiatae 2 are of incomparable texture. There is a super-
abundance of cattle, and a great variety of game : while, on
the other hand, of destructive animals there are scarcely any,
with the exception of certain little hares which burrow in the
ground, and are called by some leberides.3 These creatures
destroy both seeds and trees by gnawing their roots. They
are met with throughout almost the whole of Iberia,4 and
extend to Marseilles, infesting likewise the islands. It is said
that formerly the inhabitants of the Gymnesian islandaJ,
sent a deputation to the Romans soliciting that a new land
might be given them, as they were quite driven out of their
country by these animals, being no longer able to stand against
their vast multitudes.6 It is possible that people should be
obliged to Iiave recourse to such an expedient for help in
waging war in so great an extremity, which however but sel-
dom happens, and is a plague produced by some pestilential
state of the atmosphere, which at other times has produced
serpents and rats in like abundance ; but for the ordinary in-
crease of these little hares, many ways of hunting have been
devised, amongst others by wild cats from Africa,7 trained for
the purpose. Having muzzled these, they turn them into the
holes, when they either drag out the animals they find there
with their claws, or compel them to fly to the surface of the
earth, where they are taken by people standing by for that
purpose. The large amount of the exports from Turdetania
is evinced by the size and number of their ships. Merchant-
izesail thence to Dicaearch'ia 8 and

1 A people inhabiting the western parts of the Caucasus.

2 This name occurs only irTStrabo: of the various conjectures which
have been hazarded on the subject, one of the most probable seems to be that
we should read Saltigetse, a people of Bastetania, mentioned by Ptolemy.

3 These were evidently rabbits. * Spain.

5 Majorca and Minorca.,

6 According to Pliny, (lib. viii. c. 55,) this deputation was sent to
Augustus to demand of him a military force, apparently for the purpose
of assisting the inhabitants in destroying the rabbits. The same writer
has brought together a variety of instances in which cities have been
abandoned or destroyed through similar causes. Vide lib. viii. c. 29. The
inhabitants of Abdera in Thrace were forced to quit their city on account
of the rats and frogs, and settled on the frontiers of Macedonia. (Justin.
lib. xv. c. 2.) 7 Ferrets. 8 Pozzuolo.

218 STRABO. CASAUB. 115.

Ostia, a Roman port ; they are in number nearly equal to thgge
which arrive from Libya: — " > /J/T./l^V^C-

V. Such is the wealth of tM inlanapart of Turdetania,
and its maritime portions are found fully to equal it in the
richness of their sea-productions. In fact, oysters and
every variety of shell-fish, remarkable both for their number
and size, are found along the whole of the exterior sea, but
here in particular. It is probable that the flow and ebb tides,
which are particularly strong here, contribute both to their
quantity and size, on account of the great number of pools and
standing waters which they form.1 The same is the case with
regard to all kinds of cetacea, narwhals, whales, and physe-
teri,2 which when they blow [up the water from their snouts]
appear to observers from a distance to resemble a cloud shaped
like a column. The congers are quite monstrous, far surpass-
ing in size those of our [sea] ;3 so are the lampreys, and many
other fish of the same kind. It is said that in Carteia there
are kerukae 4 and cuttle-fish which would contain as much as
ten cotylae.5 In the parts more exterior there are lampreys
and congers weighing 80 mince,6 and polypes" a talent,7 also
teuthidae 8 two cubits in length, with other fish in proportion.
jShoak^of rich fat thmmj_are driven hither from the sea-coast
beyond. They feed on the fruit of a species of stunted oak,
which grows_at the bottom of jhe_sea. and produces very large
acorns. The same_oaks grow in large numbers ^throughout
theland of Iberia, their roots are~oTT;he same size as those of
tn~e full-grown oak, although the tree itself never attains the
height of a low shrub. So great is the quantity of fruit which
it produces, that at the season when they are ripe, the whole
coast on either side of the Pillars is covered with acorns
which have been thrown up by the tides : the quantity however

1 We have here followed Gosselin's suggestion of Xi^vaaiav instead
of yvp.va.aiav, the reading of MSS.

2 A kind of whale, mentioned also by Aristotle, but which does not
seem to have been identified.

3 The Mediterranean.

4 A kind of shell-fish with a wreathed shell, which might be used as a
sort of trumpet. It is mentioned by Aristotle.

5 The cotyla held about three-fourths of a pint.

6 This weight equalled 15 oz. 83| grs.

7 The Euboic or Attic talent, which is here meant, equalled almost
57 Ib.

8 A kind of cuttle-fish or squid.

B. in. c. ii. § 8. SPAIN. 219

is always less on this side the Pillars [than on the other]. Po-
lybius states that these acorns are ejected [by the sea] as far
as [the shores of] Latium, unless, he adds, Sardo l and the
neighbouring districts also produce them. The thunny-fish
become gradually thinner, owing to the failure of their food,
as they approach the Pillars from the outer sea. This fish,
in fact, may be regarded as a kind of sea-hog, being fond of
the acorn, and growing marvellously fat upon it ; and when-
ever acorns are abundant, thunny-fish are abundant likewise.
8. Of the various riches of the aforenamed country,2 not
the least is its wealth in metals : this every one will particu-
larly esteem and admire. Of metals, in fact, the whole country
of the Iberians is full, although it is not equally fertile and
flourishing throughout, especially in those parts where the
metals most abound. It is seldom that any place is blessed
with both these advantages, and likewise seldom that the dif-
ferent kinds of metals abound in one small territory. Tur-
detania, however, and~the surrounding" districts surpass so
entirely in this respect, that however you may wish, words
cannot convey their excellence. Gold, silver, copper, and
iron^-£QMLJD a mount and of similar quality, not having been
hitherto discovered in any'other part of the world.3 Gold is
not only dug from the mines, but likewise collected; sand
containing gold being washed downJjYjhe rivers andUorrents.
It is frequently met with in aricTdistricts^ but here the gold
is not visible to the sight, whereas in those which are over-
flowed the grains of gold are seen glittering. On this account
they cause water to flow over the arid places in order to make
the grains shine ; they also dig pits, and make use of other
contrivances for washing the sand, and separating the gold
from it ; so that at the presentTcTay more gold is procured by
washing than by digging it from the mines. The Galataj
affirm that the mines along the Kemmenus mountains 4 and
their side of the Pyrenees are superior ; but most people prefer
those on this side. They say that sometimes amongst the

1 Sardinia. 2 Turdetania.

3 The, mineral riches of Spain are lauded in egtmLtenns by Herodo-,
tug, Aristotle^ Pliny, and many other writers. Wecan only remark, that
STthe present day the mineral wealth of that country scarcely justifies
such descriptions.

4 The Cevennes.

220 STRABO. CASAUB. 146.

grains of gold lumps havejeenjbund weighingjhalf apoandT
these they"call palce; they need but little refining?1 They
also say that in splitting open stones they find small lumps,
resembling paps. And that when they have melted the gold.
and purified it by means of a. kind of alnn^innna partly the re-
sidue left is electrum. This, which contains a mixture -of
silver_and gold, blsing again subjected to the fire, the silver is
separated and the gold left [pure] ; for this metal is easily
dissipated and fat,2 and on this account gold is most easily
melted by straw, the flame of which is soft, and bearing a simi-
larity [to the gold], causes it easily to dissolve : whereas coal,
besides wasting a great deal, melts it too much by reason of
its vehemence, and carries it off [in vapour]. In the beds of
the rivers the sand is either collected and washed in boats
close by, or else a pit is dug to which the earth is carried and
there washed. The furnaces for silver are constructed lofty,
in order that the vapour, which is dense and pestilent, may be
raised and carried off. Certain of the copper mines are called
gold mines, which would seem to show that formerly gold was
dug from them.

9. Posidonius, in praising the amount and excellence of the
metals, cannot refrain from his accustomed rhetoric, and be-
comes quite enthusiastic in exaggeration. He tells us we
are not to disbelieve the fable, that formerly the forests hav-
ing been set on fire, the earth, which was loaded with silver
and gold, melted, and threw up these metals to the surface,
forasmuch as every mountain and wooded hill seemed to be
heaped up with money by a lavish fortune. Altogether (he
remarks) any one seeing these places, could only describe them
as the inexhaustible treasuries of nature, or the unfailing ex-
chequer of some potentate ; for not only, he tells us, is this land
rich itself, but riches abound beneath it. So that amongst
these people the subterraneous regions should not be regarded
as the realms of Pluto, but of Plutus. Such is the flourished
style in which he speaks on this subject, that you would fancy

1 Pliny, (lib. xxxiii. c. 4,) writing on the same subject, says, " Inveni-
untur ita massse ; necnon in puteis etiam denas excedentes libras.
Palacras Hispani, alii palacranas, iidem quod minutum est balucem
vocant."

2 This passage is evidently corrupt, nor do any of the readings which
have been proposed seem to clear up the difficulties which it presents.

B. in. c. ii. § 9. SPAIN. 221

his turgid language had been dug from a mine itself. Dis-
coursing on the diligence of the miners, he applies to them the
remark [of Demetrius] of Phalaris, who, speaking of the sil-
ver mines of Attica, said that the men there dug with as
much energy as if they thought they could grub up Plutus
himself. He compares with these the activity and diligence
of the Turdetani, who are in the habit of cutting tortuous and
deep tunnels, and draining the streams which they frequently
encounter by means ot iLJgypfTan screws.1 As for the rest,2
they are quite different from the Attic miners, whose mining
(he remarks) may be justly compared to that enigma,3 What
I have taken up I have not kept, and what I have got I have
thrown away. Whereas the Turdetanians make a good profit,
since a fourth part of the ore which they extract from the
copper mines is [pure] copper, while from the silver mines
one person has taken as much as a Euboean talent. He says
that lin is not found upon the surface, as authors commonly
relate, but that it is dug up ; and that it is produced both in
places among the barbarians who dwell beyond the Lusjtanians
and in the islands Cassiterides ; and that from the Britannic Is-
lands it is carried to Marseilles. Amongst the Artabri,4 who are
flie last of the Lusitanians towards the north and west, he tells
us that the earth is powdered with silver, tin, and white gold,
that is, mixed with silver, the earth having been brought down
by the rivers : this the women scrape up with spades, and wash
in sieves, woven after the fashion of baskets. Such is the

1 Archimedes' Screw. It was called the Egyptian screw because in-
vented by Archimedes when in Egypt, and also because it was much
employed by the Egyptians in raising water from the Nile for the irri-
gation of their lands.

2 We read TO tit XOITTOV, according to Kramer's suggestion.

3 The following is the enigma alluded to. We have extracted it from
Mackenzie's Translation of the Life of Homer, attributed to Herodotus of
Halicarnassus. While the sailors and the towns-people of the Isle of los
(Nio) were speaking with Homer, some fishermen's children ran their ves-
sel on shore, and descending to the sands, addressed these words to the
assembled persons : " Hear us, strangers, explain our riddle if ye can."
Then some of those who were present ordered them to speak. " We
leave," say they, " what we take, and we carry with us that we cannot
take." No one being able to solve the enigma, they thus expounded it.
" Having had an unproductive fishery/' say they in explanation, "we sat
down on the sand, and being annoyed by the vermin, left the fish we
had taken on the shore, taking with us the vermin we could not catch."

4 These people inhabited the province of Gallicia in Spain.

222 STRABO. CASAUB. H7-

substance of what [Posidonius] tells us concerning the mines
[of Iberia].

10. Poly bi us, speaking of the silver mines of New Car-
thage,1 Tells us that they are extremely large, distant from
the city about 20 stadia, and occupy a circuit of 400 stadia,
that there are 40,000 men regularly engaged in them, and
that they yield^cTafly to the Kornan people [a revenue of]
25,000 drachmae. The rest of the process I pass over, as it
is too long, but as for the silver ore collected, he tells us that
it is broken up, and sifted through sieves over water ; that
what remains is to be again broken, and the water having
been strained off, it is to be sifted and broken a third time.
The dregs which remain after the fifth time are to be melted,
and the lead being poured off, the silver is obtained pure.
These silver mines still exist ; however they are no longer the
property"©!" the state, neither these nor those elsewhere, but
are possessed by private individuals. The goldjnines, on the
contrary, nearly all belong to the state. Both at Castlon2
and other places there are singular lead mines worked.. They
contain a small proportion of silver, but not sufficient to pay
for the expense of refining.

11. Not far from Castlon is the mountain in which they re-
port that the [river] Guadalquiver 3 takes its rise. They call it
silver mountain on account of the silver mines which it con-
tains.4 Polybius asserts that both the Guadiana 5 and this river
have their sources in Keltiberia, notwithstanding they are
separated from each other by a distance of 900 stadia ; G [this we
are to attribute to] the Keltiberians having increased in power,
and having consequently conferred their name on the surround-
ing country. It appears the ajncientsjuiew the Gruadalgjiiver
under the name of the Tart£&sus, and grades 7 with the neigh-
bouring islands under that of Erythia ; and it is thought that
we should understand in this sense the words of Stesichorus8
concerning the pastoral poet Geryon, that he was born " al-

1 Carthagena. 2 Caslona. 3 Baetis.

4 'llie Sierra Cazorla. 5 Anas.

6 These 900 stadia are equal to from 25 to 26 leagues, which is exactly
the distance from the sources of the Guadalquiver near to Cazorla to the
lagoons named Ojos de Guadiana, adjacent to Villa-Harta. 7 Cadiz.

8 A Greek poet born at Himera m Sicily, and who nourished about
B. c. 570: he lived in the time of Phalaris, and was contemporary with
Sappho, Alceeus, and Pittacus.

B. in. c. ii. J 12. SPAIN. 223

most opposite to the renowned Erythia, in a rocky cave near
to the abundant springs of the silver-bedded river Tartessus."
They say that on the piece of land enclosed between the two
outlets of this river there lormerTy stood a city, named^like
tKe~ river, Tartessus, and that the district was called Tartessis,
which the Turduli now inhabit. Eratosthenes likewise tells
us that the [country] near to Calpe l was called Tartessis, and
also Erythia the Fortunate Island. This Artemidorus con-
tradicts, and says that it is as false as his other statements,
that the Sacred Promontory2 is distant from Gades3 five
days' sail, when in fact they are [distant from each other] not
more than 1700 stadia.4 Likewise that the tide ceased at this
point, whereas it passes round the whole circuit of the habit-
able earth. That it is easier to pass from the northern parts
of Iberia into Keltica,5 than to proceed thither by sea ; with
many other things which he asserted on the faith of that
charlatan Pytheas.

12. Our_poet_£IIcjner] being very explicit, and possessing
great experience, gives one cause to believe that he was not
unfamiliar with_these localities. Of this any one may"T)e
convinced who wiH examine carefully what has been written
on these points, both the incorrect [comments], and likewise
those which are better and more truthful. One amongst these
incorrect ideas is, that he considered f Tartessis] to be the
farthest country towards the west, where, as he himself ex-
presses TfT"

The radiant sun in ocean sank,
Drawing night after him o'er all the earth.6

Now, since it is evident that night is ominous, and near to
Hades, arid Hades to Tartarus, it seems probable that [Homer],
having heard of Tartessus, took thence the name of Tartarus
to distinguish the farthest of the places beneath the earth, also
embellishing it with fable in virtue of the poetic licence. In
the same way, knowing that the Cimmerians dwelt in northern
and dismal territories near to the Bosphorus, he located them

1 The rock of Gibraltar. 2 Cape St. Vincent. 3 Cadiz.

4 This is exactly the distance from Cadiz to Cape St. Vincent, follow-
ing the coasts. It is from 48 to 49 leagues.

5 Gaul.

6 The bright light of the sun fell into the ocean, drawing dark night
over the fruitful earth. Iliad viii. 485.

224 STRABO. CASAUB. 149-

in the vicinity of Hades ; perhaps also on account of the com-
mon hatred of the lonians against this people. For they say
that in the time of Homer, or a little before, the Cimmerians
made an incursion as far as JEolia and Ionia. Always draw-
ing his fables from certain real facts, his Planetse l are modelled
on the Cyaneae. He describes them as dangerous rocks, as
they tell us the Cyaneasan rocks are, [and] on which account [in
fact] they are called Symplegades.2 He adds to this [the
account of] Jason's navigating through the midst of them.
The Straits of the Pillars3 and Sicily,4 likewise, suggested to
him the fable of the Planetae. Thus, even according to the
worst comments, from the fiction of Tartarus any one might
gather that Homer was acquainted with the regions about
Tartessus.

13. Of these facts, notwithstanding, there are better proofs.
For instance, the expeditions of Hercules and the Phoenicians
to this country were evidence to him of the wealth and luxury
of the people. They fell so entirely under the dominion of
the Phosnicians, that at the present day almost the whole of
the cities of Turdetania and the neighbouring places are in-
habited by them. It also seems to me that the expedition of
Ulysses hither, as it took place and was recorded, was the
foundation both of his Odyssey and Iliad, which he framed
upon facts collected into a poem, and embellished as usual
with poetical mythology. It is not only in Italy, Sicily, and a
few other places that vestiges of these [events] occur ; even in
Iberia a city is shown named Ulyssea,5 also a temple of
Minerva, and a myriad other traces both of the wandering
of Ulysses and also of other survivors of the Trojan war, which
was equally fatal to the vanquished and those who took Troy.
These latter in fact gained a Cadmean victory,6 for their
homes were destroyed, and the portion of booty which fell
to each was exceedingly minute. Consequently not only those
who had survived the perils [of their country], but the Greeks
as well, betook themselves to piracy, the former because they

1 Wandering rocks.

2 Entwining or conflicting rocks. Euripides, Medea, verse 2, gives
them the title of Symplegades.

3 Gibraltar. * The Strait of Messina.

5 Ulisipo or Lisbon.

6 A proverbial expression by which the Greeks described a victory
equally prejudicial to the victors and the vanquished.

B. in. c. ii. § 13. SPAIN. 225

had been pillaged of every thing ; the latter, on account of the
shame which each one anticipated to himself:
" The shame

That must attend us, after absence long

Returning unsuccessful, who can bear ? " l

In the same way is related the wandering of -ZEneas, of An-
tenor, and of the Heneti ; likewise of Diomedes, of Menelaus,
of Ulysses,2 and of many others. Hence the poet, knowing of
similar expeditions to the extremities of Iberia, and having
heard of its wealth and other excellencies, (which the Phoe-
nicians had made known,) feigned this to be the region of the
Blessed, and the Plain of Elysium, where Proteus informs
Menelaus that he is to depart to :

" But far hence the gods
Will send thee to Elysium, and the earth's
Extremest bounds ; there Rhadamanthus dwells,
The golden-haired, and there the human kind
Enjoy the easiest life ; no snow is there,
No biting winter, and no drenching shower,
But zephyr always gently from the sea
Breathes on them to refresh the happy race." 3

Now the purity of the air, arid the gentle breathing of the
zephyr, are both applicable to this country, as well as the
softness of the climate, its position in the west, and its
place at the extremities of the earth, where, as we have said,
he feigned that Hades was. By coupling Rhadamanthus
with it, he signifies that the place was near to Minos, of whom
he says,

" There saw I Minos, offspring famed of Jove;

His golden sceptre in his hand, he sat

Judge of the dead."4

Similar to these are the fables related by later poets ; such, for
instance, as the expeditions after the oxen of Geryon, and the

1 But still it would be disgraceful to remain here so long, and to return
home without fitting booty. Iliad ii. 2S8.

2 We should probably here read Menestheus.

3 But the immortals will send you to the Elysian plain, and the bound-
aries of the earth, where is auburn -haired Rhadamanthus ; there of a truth
is the most easy life for men. There is nor snow nor long winter, nor
ever a shower, but ever does the ocean send forth the gently blowing
breezes of the west wind to refresh men. Odyssey iv. 063.

* There then I beheld Minos, the illustrious son of Jove, having a golden
sceptre, giving laws to the dead. Odyssey xi. 567. Bohn's edition.
VOL. i. Q

226 STRABO. CASAUB. 150.

golden apples of the Hesperides, the Islands of the Blessed l
they speak of, which we know are still pointed out to us not
far distant from the extremities of Maurusia, and opposite
to Gades.

14. I repeat that the Phoenicians were the discoverers [of
these countries], for they possessed the better part of Iberia
and Libya before ting t(JIHftJ^'^rmip!T'j and continued masters
oT those places until their empire was overthrown by the
Romans. This also is an evidence of the wealth of Iberia :
in the expedition of the Carthaginians under Barcas,2 they
found, according to historians, that the people of Turdetania
used silver goblets3 and casks. One might guess too that it
was on account of this great_oprulence that the men of the
country, and their chiefs in particular, were styled long-lived.
Wherefore Anacreon thus sings, <P

" Neither would I desire the horn of Amalthea, nor to reign over Tar-
tessus one hundred and fifty years."

Herodotus too has preserved the name of the king, whom he
calls ^Arganthonius.4 The passage of Anacreon must there-
fore either be^understood [of this king], or some other like
him ; or else more generally thus, " nor to reign for a length-
ened period in Tartessus." Some writers 5 are of opinion that
Tartessus is the present Carteia.

15. The Turdejani not only enjoy a salubrious_climate, but
their manners are polished and urbane, as also^ar^e those
of the people_o£jveltica, by reason of their vicinity [to the
TurdetaniJ, or, According to Folybius, on account of their

1 The Canary Islands. 2 Hamilcar, the father of Hannibal.

3 We have preferred, in common with the French translation, and the
manuscript cited by Xylander, to read fyia\aiQ, instead of Qarvaig, think-
ing it probable that Strabo referred in the first instance to the drinking
vessels, and afterwards to the wine barrels, as being made of silver.

4 Herodotus, who wrote about a century after the time of Anacreon, ex-
pressly tells us that Arganthonius reigned during eighty years, and lived
one hundred and twenty (1. i. c. 163). Cicero, Valerius Maximus, and
Pliny report the same, apparently on the testimony of Herodotus.
Lucian, Phlegon, and Appian however state the life of Arganthonius at
one hundred and fifty years ; and what is remarkable, the two former,
Lucian and Phlegon, cite as their authority Anacreon and Herodotus.
Pliny, citing Anacreon, has taken the reign of one hundred and fifty years,
mentioned by the poet, as a life of that duration. The passage of Strabo
is evidently changed from its original form.

* Of the number are Pomponius Mela and Pliny.

B. in. c. in. $ 1. SPAIN. 227

being of the same stock, but not to so great a degree, for they
live for the mosTpart scattered in villages. The Turdetani, on
the other hand, especially those who dwell about the Guadal-
o^uiyer,1 have so entirely adooted the Roman mode of life, as
even to have forgotten their own language. They have for
the most part becqmcjJLatins,2 and received Roman colonists ;
so that a short time only is wanted before they will be all
Romans. The very names of .many of the .lawns at present,
such as Pax Augusta 3 amongst the Keltici, Augusta-Eme-
rita4 amongst the Turduli, Caesar- Augusta 5 amongst the
Keltiberians and certain other colonies, are proof of the change
of manners I have spoken of. Those of the Iberians who
adopt these new modes of life are styled togati. Amongst
their number are the Keltiberians, who formerly were re-
garded as the most uncivilized of them all. So much for
these.

CHAPTER III.

1. STARTING again from the Sacred Promontory,6 and con-
tinuing along the other side of the coast, we come to the gulf
near the Tagus, afterwards Cape Barbarium,7 and near to this
the outlets of the Tagus, which may be reached by sailing in
a straight course for a distance of 10 stadia.8 Here are estu-
aries, one of them more than 400 stadia from the said tower,
on a part of which Laccoea is situated.9 The breadth of
the mouth of the Tagus is about 20 stadia, its depth is so great
as to be capable of navigation by vessels of the greatest bur-
den. At the flood-tide the Tagus forms two estuaries in the

1 Baetis.

2 That is, been admitted to all the privileges of Roman citizenship.
Pliny tells us that in Baetica alone there were thirty cities enjoying this
distinction.

3 Bejain Alentejo: others, with less show of probability, say Badajoz the
capital of Estremadura.

4 Merida. ^Saragossa. 9 Cape St. Vincent. 7 Capo Espichel.

8 Coray reads two hundred and ten stadia, Groskurd and the French
translators adopt 200 ; but the whole passage is so manifestly corrupt,
that it scarcely seemed safe to hazard the correction.

9 The text is here very corrupt, and the explanations of the editors
and translators unsatisfactory.

Q 2

228 STRABO. CASATJK. 152.

plains which lie above it, so that the plain is inundated and
rendered navigable for a distance of 150 stadia. In the upper
estuary an island is formed about 30 stadia in length, and
nearly equal in breadth, which is fertile, and has excellent
vines. The island lies near to Moro,1 a city happily situ-
ated on a mountain close to the river, and about 500 stadia
from the sea. The country surrounding it is very fine, and
the ascent [of the Tagus] for a considerable way practicable
for vessels of a large size, the remainder is performed in river-
boats. Above Moro it is navigable for a yet longer distance.
Brutus, surnamed the Gallician, made use of this city as a
military station, when fighting against the Lusitanians, whom
he subdued. On the sides of the river he fortified Olysipo, in
order that the passage up the river and the carriage of neces-
saries might be preserved unimpeded. These therefore are
the finest cities near the Tagus. The river contains much
fish, and is full of oysters. It takes its rise amongst the Kel-
tiberians, and flows through the [country of the] Vettones,
Carpetani, and Lusitani, towards thejwest ; 2 to a certain dis-
tance it runs parallel with the Guadiana 3 and Guadalquiver,4
but parts from them as they decline towards the southern
coast.

2. Of those who dwell above the aforesaid mountains, the
Oretani are the most southern, extending in part as far as the
sea-coast on this side the Pillars. Next these towards the
north are the Carpetani, then the Vettones and Vaccasi, through
whose [country] the Douro5 flows as it passes Acontia,6 a
city of the Vaccaei. TEeTGallician s are the last, and inhabit
for the most part a mountainous country : on this account
they were the most difficult To subdue, and furnished his sur-
name to the conqueror of the Lusitanians ; in fact» at the
present day the greater part of the Lusitanians are beginning
to call themselves Gallicians. The finest cities of Oretania
are Qa^tulo "' and Oria.8

3. North of the Tagus is Ljisitania, the principal of the na-
tions of Iberia, and the one which has most frequently en-
countered the arms of the Romans. On the southern side

/ A city of Lusitania, hod. Al-Merim.
2 Literally towards the sunset at the equinox. 3 Anas. 4 Baetis.
5 During. ° This city is not mentioned elsewhere in Strabo.

Casloria. 8 Oreto.

B. in. c. in. § 4. SPAIN. 229

this country is bounded by the Tagus, on the west and north
by the ocean, on the east by the well-known nations of the
CarpetamTthe Vettones, the Vaccasi, the Gallicians, and by
others not worthy to be mentioned on account of their insig-
nificance and obscurity. On the other hand, certain his-
torians of the present day give the name of Lusitanians to all
of these nations.

To the east the Gallicians border on the nation of the As-
turians and Keltiberians, the others [border] on the Keltibe-
rians. In length Lusitaniais 3000 * stadia ; its breadth, which
is comprised between the eastern side and the opposite sea-
coast, is much less. The eastern part is mountainous and
rugged, while the country beyond, as far as the sea, consists
entirely of plains, with the exception of a few inconsiderable
mountains. On this account Ppsidomus remarks that Aristotle
was not correct in supposing that the ebb and flow of the tide
was occasioned by the sea-coast of Iberia and Maurusia.2 For
Aristotle asserted that the tides of the sea were caused by the
extremities of the land being mountainous and rugged, and
therefore both receiving the wave violently and also casting
it back. Whereas Posidonius truly remarks that they are for
the most part low andsandy.

4. The country which we are describing is fertile, and ir-
rigated by rivers both large and small, all of whichJlow from
the eastern parts parallel with the Tagus : most of them are
navigable and full of goldjust After the Tagus, the most
noted rivers are the Mondego 3 and the Vouga,4 which are
navigable but for a short distance. After these is the Douro,5
which flows from afar by Numaritia,6 and many other colonies
of the Keltiberians and Vaccaei ; it is capable of being navi-
gated in large vessels for a distance of nearly 800 stadia.
Besides these there are other rivers, after which is the [river]
of Lethe, which some call the Limaea,7 others the Belio,8 it
likewise rises amongst the Keltiberians and Vaccrei. After

1 nvpiuv Kai Tpia\i\'n>jv, in text, but plainly the result of some error.

2 We have followed the suggestion of Kramer in the rendering of this
passage, the Greek text being evidently corrupt.

3 Munda. 4 Vacua. 5 Durius.

6 A city situated near Soria in Old Castile. ' Now the Lima.

8 Xylander and many of the commentators propose to read 'OfiXiomiuva,
or Oblivion, in place of BtXiuiva. The conjecture seems extremely
probable.

230 STRABO. CASAUB. 153.

this is the Bsenis, (some call it the Minius,1) by far the largest
river of Lusitania,2 being navigable for a distance of 800
stadia. Posidonius says this too rises amongst the Canta-
brians.3 An island4 lies before its outlet, and two moles
affording anchorage for vessels. A natural advantage [of
this country] well deserving of commendation is, that the
banks of the rivers are so lofty as to be capable of containing
the entire of the water raised by the high tides of the sea,
without either being overfilled, or overflowing the plains. This
was the limitjof Brutug's expedition. Beyond there are many
other rivers parallel to those I have named.

5. The Artabri are the last of the people [on this coast].
They inhabit the promontory called Nerium, which* is the
boundary [of Iberia] on its western and northern sides.
Around it dwell the Keltici, a kindred race to those who are
situated along the Guadiana.6 They say that these lat-
ter, together with the Turduli, having undertaken an expedition
thither, quarrelled after they had crossed the river Lima,7
and, besides the sedition, their leader having also died, they re-
mained scattered there, and from this circumstance the river
was called the Lethe.8 The Artabri have besides many cities
established round the Gulf, which mariners and those familiar
with the places designate as the Port of the Artabri.
At the present day the Artabri are denominated the
Arotrebae. About tl^i^ty9 different nations occupy the coun-
try between the T'agusand the Artabri. Notwithstanding
the fertility of the country in corn, Battle, gold, silver, and

1 The Minho of the present day.

2 The Minho is far surpassed in size, both by the Duero and the
Tagus.

3 The text here is evidently incorrect. In the first place, the icai
avrov, which we have rendered this too, evidently sustained some
relation, no longer subsisting, to what preceded ; and in the second, the
sources of the Minho were not in Cantabria, but Gallicia.

* Strabo here appears to confound the mouth of the Minho with a
small bay about five leagues distant, near to the city of Bayona in
Gallicia, and before which there is still the small island of Bayona.

5 Cape Finisterre. 6 Anas. 7 Limaea.

8 Or the river of Oblivion, apparently because they forgot to return to
their owi

few of the MSS. read fifty, which number seems to be counte-
nanced by the statement of Pliny, that forty-six nations inhabited Lusi-
tania : but then the limits he set to the country were more extended than
those allowed by Strabo.

B. in. c. in. §6. SPAIN. 231

numerous other similar productions, the majority of its inhabit-
ants, neglecting to gain their subsistence from the ground,
parsed their lives in pillage and continual warfare, both be-
tween themselves and their neighbours, whom they used to
cross the Tagus [to plunder]. To this the Romans at length
put a stop by subduing them, and changing many of their
cities into villages, besides colonizing some of them better. /
The mountaineers, as was natural, were the first to com-
mence this lawless mode of life : for living but scantily, and
possessing little, they coveted the goods of others, who being
obliged to repulse them, of necessity relinquished their proper
employments, and instead of pursuing agriculture took up
arms. Thus it happened that their country, being neglected,
became barren notwithstanding its natural advantages, and
inhabited by bandits.

6. The Lusitanians are reported to be clever in laying am-
bushes, sharp, swift of foot, light,1 and easily disciplined as
soldiers. The small shield they make use of is two feet in
diameter, its outer surface Qpncave, and suspended by leather
tEongs ; it neither has rings nor handles. They have in addi-
tion 2 a poignard or dagger. Their corselets are for the most
part made of Hnen ; a lew have chain-coats and helmets with
triple crests, but the others use helmets composed of sinews.
The infantry wear greaves, each man is furnished with a
number of javelins ; some also use spears pointed with brass.
They report that some of those who dwell near to the river
Douro 3 imitate the Lacedaemonians in anointing their bodies
with oil, using hot air-baths made of heated stones, bathing
in cold water, and taking but one tidy and frugal meal
a day. The Lusitanians are frequent in the performance of
sacrifice ; they examine the entrails, but without cutting them
out of the body ; they also examine the veins of the side, and
practise augury by the touch. They likewise divine by the
entmih_of^a£tivje_enemies, whom they first cover with a mili-
tary cloak, and when stricken under the entrails by the
haruspex, they draw their first auguries from the fall [of the

1 The KovQoQ of the text signifies also a volatile disposition.

2 Some part of the sentence seems here to be wanting. It probably
contained a description of the kind of sword made use of.

3 Durius.

232 STRABO. CASAUB. 155.

t

victiml. They pjit. nfFlbp. rjg}]t ha-ndfl pf their prisoners., and

7. All the mountaineers are frugal, their beverage is water,
they sleep on the ground, and wear a profuse quantity of long
hairafter thejashion of w^men, which, they bind around the
Torehead when they go to battle.1 They subsist principally
on the^esh of the goat,, which animal they sacrifice to Mars?
as also prisoners taken in war, and , horses. They likewise
offer hecatombs of each kind after the manner of the Greeks,
described by Pindar,

,»' "To sacrifice a hundred of every [species]."2

They practise gymnastic exercises,3 both as heavy-armed
soldiers, and cavalry, also tjoxing, running, skirmishing, and
fighting in bands. For two-thirds of the year the mountaineers
feed on the.asprn, which they dry, bruise, and afterwards grind
and make intoakind of bread, which may be stored up for a long
period. They also usejbeer ; wine is very scarce, and what is
made they speedily consume in feasting with their relatives. In
^lace of oil thevjiise butter. Their meals they take sitting,
on seats put ujTround the walls, and they take place on these
according to their age and rank. The supper is carried round,
and wjhilstdrmkinp; they dance to the sound Qf fhp flntgjind

. trumpetTsprfngmg up and fljnlo'nor upon the knees.4

In JSastetania the wnnTen^daTK^ promiscuously jwjth_the
men^each holding the otEeps hand. They all dress in black,
Tfie majority of themin cloaks called saga, in which they
sleep on beds of straw. They make use of wooden vessels

Tike the Kelts. The women wear dresses and embroidered
garments. Instead of money, those who dwell far in the in-
terior exchange merchandise, or give pieces of silver cut off

1 This reminds one of the glibs the Irish used to wear down to a recent
period.

2 This passage is not found in any of the odes of Pindar now remaining.

3 The French translators observe, that we should probably understand
this passage as follows, They exercise themselves as light-armed infantry,
heavy-ai-med infantry, cavalry, &c.

4 Xenophon describes this, or one very similar, as the E£isian_dance :

TsXof #£ TO HtpOlKOV Wp^£lTO, KQOT&V TO.Q Trk\TO.Q' KO.I WJfAtt£e, KOI «£ct-

viaTctTo. " Last of all he danced the Persian dance, clashing his bucklers,
and in dancing fell on his knees.then sprang up again." Xen. Anab.
b. vi. c. I, lU.

B. III. C. III.

SPAIN. 233

from plates of that metal. Those condemned to death are
executedby stoning ; parricides are put to death without the
Frontiers or the "cities. They maxry according to the Qu^toms
of the Greeks.1 Their sick they expose upon the highways,
in the same way as the Egyptians2 did anciently, in .the
hope that some one who has experienced the malady may
be able to give them i advice. Up to the time of [the ex-
pedition of] Brutus tftey made use of vessels constructed of
skins for crossing the lagoons formed' by the tides } they
now have them formed out of the single jrujik of a tree, but
these are scarce. Their salt_is_purple, but beco^ies white
by pounding. The life of the mountaineers is such as I
have described, I mean those bordering the northern side of
Iberia, the Gallicians, the Asturians, and the Cantabrians,3
as far as the Vascons 4 and the Pyrenees. The mode of life
amongst all these is similar. But I am reluctant to fill my
page with their names, and would fain escape the disagree-
able task of writing them, unless perchance the Pleutauri,
the Bardyetse, the Allotriges,5 and other names still worse
and more out of the way than these might be grateful to
the ear of some one.

8. The rough and savage manners of these people is not
alone owing to their wars, tut likewise to their isolated posi-
tion, it being a long distance to reach them, whether by sea
or land. Thus the difficulty of communication has deprived

1 This is said to distinguish them from their neighbours, the inhabitants
of Majorca and Minorca, whose peculiar marriage ceremonies are thus
described by Diodorus Siculus, lib. v. c. 18: Hapd8o£ov *£e TI icai
Kara. TOVQ ya/iovg vouifiov Trap' OVTOIQ iariv' iv yap ralq Kara rot'f
ydfjLOVQ tvioxiat^, oiKtiwv re icai tpiXaiv Kara ri)v 7/Xuciav 6 TrpuJrog dti
Kal 6 dtvTtpog, icai oi \onrol Kara. TO t£)7£, jui'cryoirai rai£ vvutpaig dvd
/us/r>0£, la%a.rov TOV vv[i<piov rvy\dvovroQ ravrjjQ TTJQ Tifiijg.

2 The mention of Egyptians here seems surprising, inasmuch as no
writer appears to have recorded this as one of their customs. Of the
Assyrians it is stated, both by Herodotus, i. 197, and also by Strabo him-
self, xvi. cap. i. 746. It seems therefore most probable that Assyrians are
intended, Egyptians being merely an error of the transcriber.

3 Inhabitants of Biscay. 4 People of Navarre.

5 Who the Pleutauri were, we do not know. The Bardyetae appear to
be the same people whom Strabo afterwards speaks of as Bardyiti, or
Bardyali, who occupied a narrow slip of land between the east of Alava
and the west of Navarre. The Allotriges Casaubon supposes to be the
same as the Autrigones, who occupied the coast from Laredo to the Gulf
of Bilboa.

234 STRABO. CASAUB. 156.

them both of generosity of manners and of courtesy. At the
present time, however, they suffer less from this both on
account of their being at peace and the intermixture of
Romans. Wherever these [influences] are not so much ex-
perienced people are harsher and more savage. It is probable
that this ruggedness of character is increased by the barren-
ness of the mountains and some of the places which they
inhabit. At the present day, as I have remarked, all warfare
is put an end to, Augustus Csesar having subdued the Can-
tabrians l and the neighbouring nations, amongst whom the
system of pillage was mainly carried on in our day. So that
at the present time, instead of plundering the allies of the
Romans, the Coniaci and those who dwell by the sources of
the Ebro,2 with the exception of the Tuisi,3 bear arms
for the Romans. Tiberius, who succeeded Augustus Caesar,
carried out his intention of placing a military force of three
legions in these parts, by which means he has not only pre-
served peace, but introduced amongst some of them a civil
polity.

CHAPTER IV.

1. WHAT remains [to be described] of Iberia, is the sea-
coast of the Mediterranean from the Pillars to the Pyrenees,
and the whole of the inland country which lies above. The
breadth of this is irregular, its length a little above 4000
stadia. It has been remarked that the sea-coast4 is above
2000 stadia, and they say that from Mount Calpe,5 which is
near the Pillars, to New Carthage,6 there are 2200 stadia.
This coast is inhabited by the Bastetani, also called the Bas-
tuli, and in part by the Oretani. Thence7 to the Ebro the
distance is nearly as great. This [region] is inhabited by
the ^detani. On this side the Ebro to the Pyrenees and the
TrophieToF Pompey there are 1600 stadia. It is peopled by

1 Inhabitants of Biscay. 2 Iberus.

3 rrXrjv Towiffot : these words are manifestly corrupt, but none of the
various conjectural readings seem at all probable.

4 From the Pillars to the Sacred Promontory, or Cape St. Vincent.

5 The rock of Gibraltar. 6 Carthagena. 7 Viz. from Carthagena.

B. in. c. iv. § 2, 3. SPAIN. 235

a small portion of the Edetani, and the rest by a people named
the Indicetes, divided into four cantons.

2T^ Commencing our particular description from Calpe,
there is [first] the mountain-chain of Bastetania and the
Oretani. This is covered with thick woods and gigantic trees,
and separates the sea-coast from the interior. In many places
it also contains gold and other mines. The first city along
the coast is Malaca,1 which is about as far distant from
Calpe as Calpe. is from Gades.2 It is a maxtet for the
nomade tribes from the opposite coast, and there are great
stores of salt-fish there. Some suppose it to be the same as
Mamaca, which tradition reports to be the farthest west of
the cities of the Phocaei ; but this is not the case, for Maenaca,
which was situated at a greater distance from Calpe, is in ruins,
and preserves traces of having been a Grecian city, whereas
Malaca is nearer, and Pho3nician in its configuration. Next
in order is the city of the Exitani,3 from which the salted fish4
bearing that name takes its appellation.

3. After these comes Abdera,5 founded likewise by the
Phoenicians. Above these places, in the mountains, the city /
oTUlyssea6 is shown, containing atf-rnplp. t° Minervat ac- rr
cording to the testimony of PojiiJonius^ Artemidorus, and
Asclepiades the Myrlean,7 a man who taught literature in
Turdetania, and published a description of the nations dwell-
ing there. He says that in thft *pmp1<L££jynnprva were hung
up spears and prows of vessels, monuments of the_jyjLnd£rings

1 Malaga. 2 Cadiz.

3 Pomponius Mela gives this city the name of Hexi, or Ex, according
to another reading; Pliny names, it Sexi, with the surname of Firmum
Julium ; and Ptolemy, Sex. This is merely a difference relative to the
aspiration of the word, which was sometimes omitted, at other times ex-
pressed by the letters H or S indifferently.

4 Mentioned by Pliny, Athenaeus, Galen, and also by Martial, lib. vii.
Epigramm. 78,

Cum Saxetani ponatur cauda lacerti ;

Et bene si coenas, conchis immcta tibi est ;
Sumen, aprum, leporem. boletos, ostrea, mullos,

Mittis ; habes nee cor, Papile, nee genium.

5 Adra. 6 Lisbon. ?

^~A~sclepiades of MyrTea^a city of Bithynia, was a grammarian, and dis-
Jiipte of the celebrated grammarian, ApoUomjis. According to Suidas he
taught literature at Rome, under Pompey the Great. And it is probable
that it was with Pompey he afterwards passed into Spain.

236 STRABO. CASAUB. 157.

of Ulysses. That some of those who followed Teucer in his
expedition settled among the Gallicians ; l and that two cities
were there, the one called Hellenes,2 the other Amphilochi ;
but Amphilochus3 having died, his followers wandered into
the interior. He adds, that it is said, that some of the
followers of Hercules, and certain also of the inhabitants of
Messene, settled in Iberia. Both he and others assert that a
portion of Cantabria was occupied by Laconians. Here is
the city named Opsicella,4 founded by Ocela,5 who passed
into Italy with Antenor and his children. Some believe the
account of the merchants of Gades, asserted by Artemidorus,
that in Libya there are people living above Maurusia, near
to the Western Ethiopians, named Lotorjhagi, because they
feed on th£~teaves ami root of the lotus15 without wanting to

1 Teucer, the son of Telamon, king of the island of Salamis, being
driven out of the country by his father, founded in Cyprus the city of
Salamis. Justin adds, that after the death of his father he returned to the
island of Salamis; but being prevented by the son of Ajax, his brother,
from debarking, he went into Iberia, and took up his abode on the spot
where Cgrthagena was after warclsjmilt : that subsequently he removed
into the cbunrry of the Gallicians, and settled amongst them.

2 The Hellenes derived their name from Hellen the son of Deucalion
and Pyrrha. This name, which at first designated only a smallpeople of
Thgssajy, became afterwards the general appellation of the irmaDTtants of
the whole of Greece.

3 Amphilochus, on his return from Troy, founded with Mopsus the city
of Mallos in Qilicia. He afterwards retired to Argps, but not being con-
tented there he rejoined Mopsus, who however would no longer divide
with him the government of their common colony. This dispute resulted
in a remarkable combat, which cost the life of both. (Compare Strabo, 1.
xiv. c. 4.) Sophocles and other tragic poets have taken advantage of this
tradition. Herodotus likewise speaks of the voyages of Amphilochus into
Cilicia, and of the city of Poside'ium which he founded there, but he tells
us nothing of his death. Thucydides merely says that Amphilochus on his
return home after the Trojan war, being discontented with his compatriots,
founded in the Gulf of Ambracia a city which he named after his father-
land, Argos. Nojie of these traditions mention a voyage to Iberia.

4 Siebenkees suspects that thisTname sTTould be read Ocella. The Oce-
lenses in Lusitania are commended by Pliny.

5 Some MSS. read Opsicella.

6 Strabo, or rather Artemidorus, seems to have confused the two kinds
of lotus mentioned by the ancients. That whereof they ate the roo.ts and
the grajn is the lqtus_of the liile, and a plant of the species nymphcea.
The lotus alluded to in this instance is a shrub, (the rhamnus lotus of
Linnaeus,) named seedra by the inhabitants of Barbary, with whom the
fruit is an article of food. Herodotus mentions both kinds, (lib. ii. c. 92,
ancTiv. c. 177,) and Polybius describes the second, as an eye_-witness.

B. in. c. iv. § 4, 5. SPAIN.

drink ; for they possess [no drink], being without
These people they say extend as i'ar as the region^
Cyrene. There are others also called Lotpj)hagi, who inhabit
Memnx,1 one of the islands situated opposite the Lesser
Syrtes.2

4. No one should be surprised that the poet, in his fiction
descriptive of the wanderings of Ulysses, should have located
the majority of the ^scenes which he narrates without the Pil^
Jars,"nrthe Atlantic! For historical events of a sinularjchar-

acter did actually occur nejar tcTthe places, so that the other
circumstances which he feigned did not make his fiction in-
credible ; nor [should anyone be surprised] if certain persons,
putting faith in the historical accuracy and extensive know-
ledge of the poet, should have attempted to explain the poem
of Homer on scientific principles ; a proceeding undertaken
by Crates of Mallos,3 and some others. On the other hand,
there have been those who have treated the undertaking of
Homer so contemptuously, as not only 'to'cleny any such know-
ledge tcTtne poet, as though he were a ditcher or reaper, but
have stigmatized as fools those who commented on his writings.
And not one either of the grammarians, or of those skilled in
the mathematics, has dared to undertake their defence, or to
set right any mistakes in what they have advanced, or any
thing else ; although it seems to me possible both to grove
correct much that they have said, and also" to set right other
points, especially where they have been misled by putting
faith, in Pytheas, who was ignorant of the countries situated
along the ocean, both to the west and north. But we must
let these matters pass, as they require a particular and length-
ened discussion.

5. The settlement of the Grecians amongst these barbarous
nations may EeTegarded as theTesult of the division ^Fthese
latter into small tribes and sovereignties, having' on account
of thdrjaQroaej^ess nojunion amongst themselves, and there-
fore~powerless~against attacks from without. This morose-
ness is remarkably^grevalent amongst the Iberians, who are

1 The Island of Zerbi. 2 The Gulf of Cabes.

3 A celebrated stoic philosopher and grammarian contemporary with
Aristarchus. He was of Mallos, a city of Cilicia, and surnamed the
Critic and the Homeric, on account of the corrections, explanations, and
remarks which he composed in nme_J>poks on the poems of Homer.

238 STRABO. CASATJB. 158.

besides crafty in their manner, devoid of sincerity, insidious,
and predatory in their mode of life ; they are bold in little
adventures, but never undertake any thing of magnitude,
inasmuch as they have never formed any extended power or
confederacy. If they had had but the will to assist each other,

neither could the Carthaginians by making an incursion have

hem of the greater part
nor before__lhejn the Tv£ians, then Jjie Kelts, now called the

^^^•^^Mi"^*.

so easily depriyejLthem of the greater part of their country,

Keltiberians and Berones, nor after these the brigand Viria-
thus, and Sertorius,1 nor any others who desired power.
On this account the Romans, having carried the war into
Iberia, lo^muchjtime by reason of the number of different
sovereignties, having to conguer^first^one, tben^an other ; in
fact, it occjirjiejljnejirj^^ or even longer, before

they had gubdued the whole. — I return to my description.
><- 6. After Abdera2 is New_Carthage,3 founded by Asdrubal,
""*- who ^succeededJBarca s, tEe father QJLHannibal. It is by for
the most powerful^ city of this country, being impregnable,
and furnished with a noble wall, harbours, and a lake, besides
the silver mines already mentioned. The places in the vicinity
have an abundance of salted_fish, and it is besides the great
emporium of the sea merchandise for the interior, and like-
wise for the merchandise from the interior for exportation.
About midway along the coast between this city and the
Ebro, we meet with the outlet of the river Xucar,4 and a city
bearing the same name.5 It rises in a mountain belonging to
the chain which overlooks Malaca,6 and the regions around
Carthage, and may be forded on foot ; it is nearly parallel to
the Ebro, but not quite so far distant from Carthage as
from the Ebro. Between the XjJcaTand^Carth age are three f
small^ towns of the~peop^or^Iarseilles, not i'ar from thel
v"~rivei\ Of these thlTbest lEnown is He^i^rcs^opiumJ On the
T/ promontory there is a^templejto Diana of Ejphesus, held in c"
~^ great veneration. Sertorius used it as an arsenal, convenient
to the sea, both on account of its being fortifiecTand fitted for
piratical uses, and because it is visible from a great distance

1 Sertorius, on the return of Sylla to Rome, took refuge in Spain,
where he put himself at the head of the Romans who had revolted against
the republic ; he was assassinated by one of his officers.

2 Adra. 3 Carthagena. 4 Sucro.

5 That is, the ancient name, Sucro. 6 Malaga". r Denia or Artemus.

B. in. c. iv. § 7, 8. SPAIN. 239

to vessels approaching. It is called Dianium,1 from Diana.
Near to it are some fine iroj>works, andtwo small islands,
Planesia2 and Plumbaria,3 with a sea- water lake lying above,
of 400 stadia in circumference. Next is the island of Hercules, >
near to Carthage, and called Scombraria,4 on account of the
mackerel taken there, from which the finest garum5 is
made". It is distant 24 stadia from Carthage. On the
other side of the Xucar, going towards the outlet of the
Ebro, is Saguntum. founded by the Zacynthians. The_de_-
strnction of thisjmty_hy_jTannibalT contrary to his treaties with
the Romans, kindled the sejcond^^unic^war. Near to it are
the cities of Cherronesus,6 Oleastrum, and Cartalia, and the
colony of Dertossa,7 on the very passage of the Ebro. The
Ebro takes its source amongst the Cantabrians_; it flows
through an extended plain towards the south, running parallel
with the Pyrenees.

7. The first city between the windings of the Ebro and
the extremities of the Pyrenees, near to where the Trophies of
Pompey are erected, is Tarraco;8 it has no harbour, but is
situated on a bay, and possessied of many other advantages.
At the present day it is as well peopled as Carthage ; 9 for it is
admirably suited for the stay of the prefects,10 and is as it were
the metropolis, not only of [the country lying] on this side
the Ebro, but also of a great part of what lies beyond. The
near vicinity of the Gymnesian Islands,11 and Ebusus,12 which
are all of considerable importance, are sufficient to inform one
of the felicitous position of the city. Eratosthenes tells us
that it has a road-stead, but Artemidorus contradicts this, and
affirms that it scarcely possesses an anchorage.

8. The whole coast from the Pillars up to this place wants
harbours, but all the way from here to Emporium,13 the coun-
tries of the Leetani, the Lartokeetoe, and others, are both
furnished with excellent harbours and fertile. Emporium was
f'oundecTby the^eop^ofM^rseilles, and is about 4000 14 stadia

I Denia. 2 IsolaPlana. 3 S. Pola. 4 Islote.
5*^Tsauce so named from the garus, a small fish, from which originally

it was prepared. Afterwards it was made with mackerel and other fish.
Vide Pliny 1. xxxi. c.'7, 8.

6 Peniscola. » Tortosa. 8 Tarragona.

9 New Carthage, or Carthagena, is intended. lo Sent from Rome.

II Majorca and Minorca. ^Jviqa. l3 Ampurias.

4 "The text is here manifestly corrupt. Various other numbers, from

240 STRABO. CASAUB. 160.

distant from the Pyrenees, and the confines of Iberia and
Keltica. This is a very fine region, and possesses good ports.
Here also is Rhodope,1 a small town of the Emporitae, but
some say it was Joujid^,^yjybe^iiodians. Both here and in
Emporium they revej£nce the Ephesian Diana. The cause of
this we will explain when we come to speak of Massalia.2 In
former times the Emporita3 dwelt on a small island opposite,
now called the old city, but at the present day they inhabit
the mainland. The city is double, being divided by a Avail,
for in past times some of the Indiceti dwelt close by, who,
although they had a separate polity to themselves, desired, for
the sake of safety, to be shut in by a common enclosure with
the Grecians ; but at the same time that this enclosure should
be two- fold, being divided through its middle by a wall. In
time, however, they came to have but one government, a mix-
ture of Barbarian and Grecian laws ; a result which has taken
place in many other [states^].

9. A river3 flows near to it, which has its sources in the
Pyrenees ; its outlet forms a port for the Emporitas, who
are skilful workers in flax. Of the interior of their country
some parts ^re fertile, others covered with spartum, a rush
which flourishes in marshes, and is entirely useless : they
call this the June Plain. There are some who inhabit the
Pyrenean mountains as far as the Trophies of Pompey, on the
route which leads from Italy into Ulterior Iberia,4 and par-
ticularly into Bastica. This road runs sometimes close to the
sea, sometimes at a distance therefrom, particularly in the
western parts. From the Trophies of Pompey it leads to
Tarraco,5 through the June Plain, the Betteres,6 and the plain
called in the Latin tongue [the plain] of Marathon, on account

4 to 400, have been conjectured as the true reading. Gosselin and Gros-
kurd are in favour of 200.

1 Sic text. Siebenkees and Coray propose to read 'Po^of , and Casau-
bon also 'Pod?;, now Rosas. a Marseilles.

3 Probably the river Fluvia, the Alba of the ancients.

4 Iberia, or Spain, was anciently divided into two grand divisions, to
which the Romans gave the names of Citerior and Ulterior Iberia. Augus-
tus subdivided this latter into the two provinces of Baetica and Lusitania,
giving the name of Tarraco to Citerior Iberia. Nevertheless the ancient
names of Citerior and Ulterior continued in use long after this division.

5 Tarragona.

6 We are not exactly acquainted with this place, it is probably Vidre-
ras; though others suppose it to be Colonia Sagerra.

n. in, c. iv. § 10. SPAIN. 241

of the quantity of fennel growing there. From Tarraco [the
road runs] towards the passage of the Ebro at the city
of Dertossa;1 from thence having traversed the city of
Saguntum,2 and Setabis,3 it follows a course more and more
distant from the sea, till it approaches the Plain of Sparta-
rium, which signifies the Plain of Rushes. This is a vastjirid
j^lam, producing the species of - rush from which co?ds are
made, and which are exported to all parts, but particularly to
Jtalv.4 Formerly the road passed on through the midst of the
"plain, and [the city of] Egelastaa,5 which was both difficult
and long, but they have now constructed a new road close to
the sea, whichanerely touches upon the Plain of Rushes, and
leads to the same places as the former, [viz.] Castlon,6 and
Obulco,7 through which runs the road to Conduba and Gades.8 X
the two greatest emporia^^ofjberia"!. Obulco is distant about r
300 stadia from Corduba. Historians report that Caesar came
from Rome to Obulco, and to his army there, within the space
of twenty-seven days, when about to fight the battle of Munda.9
10. Such is the whole sea-coast from the Pillars to the
confines of the Iberians and Kelts. The interior of the
country lying above, and included between the mountains of
the Pyrenees and the northern side [of Iberia], as far as the
Asture^ is principally divided by two mountain chains ; the
one of these is parallel to the Pyjrenees, and takes its com-
mencement fromThlTcountry of the Cantabri, terminating at
the Mediterranean. This is called the Idubeda.10 Thejsecond,
springing from the middle [of this first], runs_towards the
west, inclining however to the south and t^e^sea-coast to-
wards the Pillars. At the commencement it consTst^oTlbare
hills, but after traversing the Plain of Spartarium, falls in
with the jorest lying abov^ Carthage,11 and the regions round
Malaca.12 It is named OrosgedaT13 The river Ebro flows be-
tween the Pyrenees ancTTxkibeda, and parallericTboth these
mountains. It is fed by the rivers and other waters carried down

I Tortosa. 2 Murviedro. 3 Xativa.

* The cordage of the famous vessel built by Hiero of Syracuse was
formed from the spartum of Iberia. Vid. Athenaeus, lib. v. p. 206.
5 Yniesta. 6 Caslona. 7 Porcuna. 8 Cordova and Cadiz.

9 Fought against Pompey.

10 The mountains of Burgos and Cuen^a, the Sierras of Oca, Lorenzo,
and Moncayo.

II Carthagena. Ia Malaga. 13 The Sierra de Toledo.

STRABO. CASATJB. 161.

from [the mountains]. Situated on the Ebro is the city of
Caesar Augusta,1 and the colony of Celsa,2 where there is a
stone bridge across the river. This country is inhabited by
many nations, the best known being that of the Jaccetani.3
Commencing at the foot of the Pyrenees, it widens out into
the plains, and reaches to the districts around Ilerda4 and
Osca,5 [cities] of the Hergetes not far distant from the Ebro.
It was in these cities, and in Calaguris,6 a city of the Gascons,
as well as those of Tarraco7 and Hemeroscopium,8 situated
on the coast, that Sertorius sustained the last efforts of the
war, after being ejected from the country of the Keltiberians.
He died at Osca, and it was near to Ilerda that Afranius and
Petreius, Pompey's generals, were afterwards defeated by
divus9 Cassar. Ilerda is distant 160 stadia from the Ebro, which
is on its west, about 460 from Tarraco, which is on the south,
and 540 from Osca, which lies to the north.10 Passing through
these places from Tarraco to the extremities of the Vascons
who dwell by the ocean, near Pompelon11 and the city of
QEaso12 situated on the ocean, the route extends 2400 stadia,
to the very^frontiers of Aguitaine and Iberia. It was in the
country of the Jaccetani that Sertorius fought against Pom--
pey, and here afterwards Sextus, Pompey's son, fought against
the generals of Caesar. The nation of the Vascons, in which
is Pompelon, or Pompey's city, lies north of Jaccetania.

1 1 . The side of the Pyrenees next Iberia is covered with
forests containing numerous kinds of trees and evergreens,
whilst the side next Keltica is bare : in the midst [the moun-
tains] enclose valleys admirably fitted for the habitation of

"Saragossa. . 2 Xelsa.

f They occupied the northern half of Catalonia.

4 Lerida. 5 Huesca. 6 Calahorra. 7 Tarragona.

8 Denia.

9 VTTO Kaivapoe TOV Srtov, by the deified Caesar. We have adopted the
Latin divus as the most suitable epithet for the emperor in an English
version.

10 Gosselin here labours to reconcile these distances with the actual
topography of those parts, but it is useless to attempt to make all the
loose statements furnished by Strabo tally with the exact distances of the
places he mentions by supposing the stadia to be so continually varied.

11 Pampeluna.

12 Gosselin is of opinion that this CEaso. is not Ojarco near Fontarabia,
but thinks it probable that Ea near Cape Machicaco is the site where it
stood.

B. in. c. iv. $ 12, 13. SPAIN. 243

man. These are mainly possessed by the Kerretani, a people
of the Iberians. The hams they cure are excellent, fully
equal to those of the Cantabrians, l and they realize no incon-
siderable profit to the inhabitants.

12. Immediately after passing Idubeda, you enter on Kel-
tiberia, a large and irregular country. It is for the most
part rugged, and watered by rivers, being traversed by the
Guadiana,2 the Tagus, and many other of the rivers which
flow into the western sea, but have their sources in Keltiberia.
Of their number is the Douro, which flows by Numantia3
and Serguntia. The Guadalquiver4 rises in Orospeda, and after
passing through Oretania, enters Bostica. The Berones inhabit
the districts north of the Keltiberians, and are neighbours of
the Conish Cantabrians. They likewise had their origin in
the Keltic expedition. Their city is Varia,5 situated near to
the passage of the Ebro. They are adjacent to the Bardyitse,
now called the Bardyli.6 To the west [of the Keltiberians]
are certain of the Astures, Gallicians, and Vaccaei, besides
Vettones and Carpetani. On the south are the Oretani, and
the other inhabitants of Orospeda, both Bastetani and Edetani,7
and to the east is Idubeda.

13. Of the four divisions into which the Keltiberians are
separated, the most powerful are the Aruaci, situated to the
east and south, near to the Carpetani and the sources of the
Tagus. Their most renowned city is Numantia. They
showed their valour in the war of twenty: years, waged by
the Keltiberians against the Romans ; for many armies of the
Romanytogether with their generals, were destroyed ; and in
the~end the Numantians, besieged within their city, endured
the famine with constancy, till, reduced to a very small num-
ber, they were compelled to surrender the place. The Lusones
are also situated to the east, and likewise border on the sources
of the Tagus. Segeda and Pallantia8 are cities of the Aru-

1 People of Biscay. 2 The ancient Anas.

3 The ruins of Numantiaare seen a little to the north of Soria. 4 Baetis.

5 Probably the small village of Varea, about half a league from Lo-
groiio ; D'Anville supposes it to be Logrono itself.

6 Aliter Bardyali.

7 Kramer has altered the text into 'ESrjTavCJv, all MSS. having SiTra-
v&v. There is little doubt they are the same people mentioned in section
14 as Sidetani. 8 Palencia.

K 2

244 STRABO. CASAUB. 162.

aci. Numantia is distant from Cgesar Augusta,1 situated as
we have said upon the Ebro, about 800 stadia. Near to Se-
gobriga and Bilbilis,2 likewise cities of the Keltiberians, was
fought the battle between Metellus and Sertorius. Polybius,
describing the people and countries of the Vaccsei and Kelti-
berians, enumerates Segesama3 and Intercatia amongst their
other cities. Posidonius tells us that Marcus Marcellus ex-
acted of Keltiberia a tribute of 600 talents, which proves that
the Keltiberians were a numerous and wealthy people, not-
withstanding the little fertility of their country.

narrates that Tiberius Gracchus destroyed 300 cities of the
Keltiberians. This Posidonius ridicules, and asserts that to
flat ter~Gracch us, Polybius described as cities the towers such
as are exhibited in the triumphal processions.4 This is not
incredible ; for both generals and historians easily fall into
this species of deception, by exaggerating their doings. Those
who assert that Iberia contained more than a thousand cities,
seem to me to have been carried away in a similar manner,
and to have denominated as cities what were merely large vil-
lages ; since, from its very nature, this country is incapable of
maintaining so many cities, on account of its sterility, wildness,
and its out-of-the-way position. Nor, with the exception of
those who dwell along the shores of the Mediterranean, is any
such statement confirmed by the mode of life or actions of
the inhabitants. The inhabitants of the villages, who con-
stitute the majority of the Iberians, are quite uncivilized.
Even the cities cannot very easily refine the manners [of
their inhabitants], as the neighbouring woods are full of
robbers, waiting only an opportunity to inflict injury on the
citizens.

14. Beyond the Keltiberians to the south are the inhabit-

1 Saragossa.

2 Baubola. 3 Sasamo, west of Briviesca.

4 Allusion is here made to the custom of the Roman generals, who
caused to be carried at their triumphs, representations in painting or
sculpture, not only of the kings or generals of the enemy, who had been
slain, but likewise of the forts, cities, mountains, lakes, rivers, and even
seas, conquered from the enemy. This usage explains the words of Cicero,
" portari in triumpho Massiliam vidimus." Appian, on occasion of the
triumph of Scipio, says, Hupyoi Tt Trapa^lpovrai /tiju?7/iara T&V '-

B. in. c. iv. § 15, 16. SPAIN. 245

ants of Orospeda and the country about the Xucar,1 the Side-
tani,2 [who extend] as far as Carthage,3 and the Bastetani
and Oretani, [who extendj almost as far as Malaca.4

15. All the Iberians, so to speak, were peltastse, furnished
with light arms for the purposes of robbery, and, as we de-
scribed the Lusitanians, using the javelin, the sling, and the
sword. They have some_cavalry interspersed amongst the
foot -soldiers, the horses are trained to traverse the mountains,
and to sink down on their knees at the word of command, in
case of necessity. Iberia produces abundance of antelopes
and wild horses. In many places the lakes are stocked. They
have fowl, swans, and birds of similar kind, and vast num-
bers of bustards. Beavers are found in the rivers, but the
castor does not possess the same virtue as that from the
Euxine,5 the drug from that place having peculiar pro-
perties of its own, as is the case in many other instances.
Thus Posidonius tells us that the Cyprian copper alone pro-
duces the cadmian stone, copperas-water, and oxide of copper.
He likewise informs us of the singular fact, that in Iberia the
crows are not black ; and that the horses of Keltiberia which
are spotted, lose that colour when they pass into Ulterior
Iberia. He compares them to the Parthian horses, for indeed
they are superior to allother breeds, both in fleetness and
their ease in speedj_travellmg;

16. Iberia produce? a large quantity of roots used in dye-
ing. In olives, vines, figs, and every kind of similar fruit-
trees, the Iberian coast next the Mediterranean abounds, they
are likewise plentiful beyond. Of the coasts next the' ocean,
that towards the north is destitute of them, on account of the
cold, and the remaining portion generally on account of the
apathy of the men, and because they do not lead a civilized,
life, but pass their days in poverty, only acting on the animal

~~ l Sucro, now Xucar.

3 The same people as the Edetani, mentioned in section 12.

3 Carthagena. 4 Malaga.

5 ATthe present day the best castor comes from Russia, but the greater
part of that found in shops is the produce of Canada. It is denominated
a stimulant and antispasmodic. Formerly it was much used in spasmodic
diseases, as hysteria and epilepsy. It is now considered almost inert, and
is seldom employed. After this description, it is scarcely necessary to
warn the reader against the vulgar error of confusing castor with castor
oil, which is extracted from the seeds of the Ricinus communis or castor oil
plant, a shrub growing in the West Indies.

246 STRABO. CASAUB. 164.

impulse, and living most corruptly. They do not attend to
ease or luxury, unless any one considers it can add to the
happiness of their lives to wash themselves and their wives in
, ptale urine kept in tanks, and to rinse their teeth with it, which
""they say is the custom both with the Cantabrians and their
neighbours.1 This practice, as well as that of sleeping on the
ground, is common both among the Iberians and Kelts. Some
say that the Gallicians are atheists, but that the Keltiberians,
and their neighbours to the north, [sacrifice] to a nameless
god, every full moon, at night, before TKeir doors, the whole
family passing the night in dancing and festival. The Vet-
tones, the first tinifTTTiey came to a Roman camp, and saw
certain of the officers walking up and down the roads for the
mere pleasure of walking, supposed that they were mad, and
offered to show them the way to their tents. For they
thought, when not fighting, one should remain quietly seated
at ease.2

17. What Artemidorus relates concerning the adornment
of certain of theirjvomen, must likewise be attributed to their
barbarous customs. He says that they wear iron collars
having crows fixed to them which bend over the head^andfall
forward considerably over the forehead. When they wish they
draw their veil over these .crows, so as to shade the whole
face : this they consider an ornament. Others wear a tym-
Tpahium3 surrounding the occiput, and fitting tight to the head
as far as the ears, turning over [and increasing] little by
little in height and breadth. Others again make bald the
front of the head, in order to display the foreliead to
greater advantage. Some twist their flowing hair round a
small style, ajoot_j]igh, and afterwards cover it with a black
veil. Of singularities like these many have been observed
and recorded as to all the Iberian nations in common, but

1 Apuleius, Catullus, and Diodorus Siculus all speak of this singular
custom.

2 A note in the French edition says, " This surprise of the Vettones is
nothing extraordinary. Amongst all barbarous nations, savages especially,
the promenade is an unknown exercise. When roused by necessity or
passion, they will even kill themselves with fatigue ; at other times they
remain in the most perfect inaction. The first thing which strikes a Turk
on coming to any of the polished nations of Europe, is to see men pro-
menading without any other aim but that of pleasure or health."

3 Head-dress shaped like a drum.

fc. in. c. iv. § 18. SPAIN.

particularly those towards the north, not only
their bravery, but likewise their cruelty and bruta
For in the war against the Cantabrians, mothers
their children sooner than suffer them to be captured ; and a
young boy, having obtained a sword, slew, at the command of
his father, both his parents and brothers, who had been made
prisoners and were bound, and a woman those who had been
taken together with her. A man being invited by a party of
drunken [soldiers] to their feast, threw himself into a fire.
These feelings are common both to theT£el7ic, Thracian, and
Scythian nations, as well as the valour not only of their men,
but likewise of their women. These till the.. ground,1 and
after parturition, having ]3ut their husbands instead of them-
selves tcTlbed, they wait upon them. Frequently in their
employment they wash and swathe their infants, sitting down
by some stream. JPosidonius tells us that In Liguria, his host
Charmoleon, a man who came from Marseilles, related to him,
that having hired some men and women to dig hisjand, one
of the women was seized with the pains_ of _ labour, and going
to a littlejlistance from where they were at work, she brought
forth, and returned immediately to her work, for fear she
might lose her pay. He observed that she was evidently
working in considerable pain, but was not aware of the
cause till towards evening, when he ascertained it, and sent
her away, having given her her wages. She then carried her
infant to a small spring, and having washed it, wrapped it up
in as good swaddling clothes as she could get, and made the
best of her way home.

18. Another practice, not restricted to the Iberians alone,
is for two to mount on one horse, so that in the event of a
conflict, one may be there to fight on foot. Neither are they
the only sufferers in being tormented with vast swarms of
mice, from which pestilential diseases have frequently ensued.
This occurred to the Romans in Cantabria, so that they caused
it to be proclaimed, that whoever would catch the mice should
receive rewards according to the number taken, and [even with
this] they were scarcely preserved, as they were suffering
besides from want of corn and other necessaries, it being
difficult to get supplies of corn from Aquitaine on account of

1 At the present day in Bilboa, the capital of Biscay, the \vcmigfl_stufjc
far more than the men ; they* load and unload vessels, anc
ITeacts' burden^ which require two men to place there.

-248 STRABO. CASAUE. 165.

the rugged nature of the country. It is a proof of the fero-
city of the Cantabrians, that a number of them having been
taken prisoners and fixed to the cross, they chanted songs of
triumph. Instances such as these are proofs ot' the Ferocity
oTtheir manners. There are others which, although not show-
ing them to be polished, are certainly not brutish. For ex-
ample, amongst the Cantabrians, the men give dowries to
their wives, and the daughters are lefTTiejrs, but they pro-
cure wives for their brothers. These things indicate a de-
gree oF'power in The woman, although they are no proof of
advanced 'civilization.1 It is also a custom with the Iberians
to furnish themselves with a poison, which kills without pain,
and which they procure from a herb resembling" rjarsley. This
they hold in readiness in case""of misfortune, ancTto devote
themselves for those whose cause they have joined, thus dying
for their sake.2

1 We must remark that so far from the dowry given by men to their wives
being an evidence of civilization, it is a custom common amongst barbarous
people, and indicative of nothing so much as the despotic power of the
man over the wife. These dowries were generally a sum of money from
the husband to the father of his intended, on the payment of which he
acquired the same power over her as over a slave. Aristotle, speaking of
the ancient Greeks, tells us expressly that they bought th"eir wives, (Polit.
ii. c. 8,) and observing that amongst barbarous nations women were always
regarded in the same light as slaves, he cites the example of the Cyclopes,
who exercised, according to Homer, sovereign authority over their families
(Odyss. 1. ix. 114). This custom was so well established amongst the
Greeks at the time of the poet, that he does not hesitate to introduce it
amongst the gods (Odyss. viii. 318). It was not unknown among the
Jews, and Strabo, in his fifteenth book, tells us that the Indians bought
their wives.

""•""Caesar and Athenasus attribute this custom to the Gauls, and Valerius
Maximus to the Keltiberians. Those men who attached themselves to
the interests of any prince or famous personage, and who espoused all his
quarrels, even devoting themselves to death on his account, are named by
Athenaeus triXo^owpoi, and by Caesar soldurii. Speaking of GOO soldiers
devoted in this manner to a Gaulish prince, named Adcantuannus, Caesar
(1. iii. c. 22) says, "Sibi mortem consciscant ; neque adhuc hominum
memoria repertus est quisquam, qui, eo interfecto cujus se amicitise
devovisset, mori recusaret." Plutarch tells us that Sertorius had in his
suite many thousand Iberians devoted to him. The following epitaph of
these men, who, after the death of Sertorius, sacrificed themselves, being
unwilling to survive him, was extracted by Swinburne from the Annals of
Catalonia. Hie multse quac se manibus

Q. Sertorii turmae, et terrae

Mortalium omnium parenti

Devovere, dum, eo sublato,

B. nr. c. iv. § 19. SPAIN. 249

19. Some, as I have said, state that this country is separated
into four divisions ; others, into five. It is not easy to state
any thing precisely on these points, both on account of the
changes which the places have undergone, and by reason of their
obscurity. In well-known and notable countries both the
migrations are known, and the divisions of the land, and the
changes of their names, and every thing else of the same
kind. Such matters being the common topics with every-
body, and especially with the Greeks, who are more talkative
than any__other jjepple. But in barbarous and out-of-the-way
countries, and such as are cut up into small divisions, and
lie scattered, the remembrance of such occurrences is not
nearly so certain, nor yet so full. If these countries are far
removed from the Greeks [our] ignorance is increased. For
although the Roman historians imitate the Greeks, they fall
far short of them. What they relate is taken from the Greeks,
very little being the result of their own ardour in acquiring
information. So that whenever any thing has been omitted
by the former there is not much supplied by the latter. Add
to this, that the names most celebrated are generally Grecian.
Formerly the name of Iberia was given to the whole country
between the Rhone and the isthmus formed by the two
Galatic gulfs ; whereas now they make the Pyjrenees its bound-
ary^ancT call it indiffeTently Iberia or Hispania ; others
have restricted Iberia to the country on this side the Ebro.1
Still earlier it bore the name of the Igletes,2 who inhabited
but a small district, according to Asclepiades the Myrlean.
The Romans_call the whole indifferently Iberia and Hispania,

Superesse taederet, et fortiter

Pugnando invicem cecidere,

Morte ad pra3sens optata jacent.

Valete posteri.

For the appalling means they adopted to hold out the city of Calaguris to
the last, see Valerius Maximus, lib. vii. cap. vi.

1 The country between the Ebro and the Pyrenees.

2 These Igletes are the same which Stephen of Byzantium names
Gletes, and by an error of the copyist Tletes. Herodotus places them
between the Cynetae, and the Tartessians, and Theopompus in the neigh-
bourhood of the Tartessians. The position between the Ebro and the
Pyrenees, which Asclepiades the Myrlean thus gives them, supports the
opinion of those who reckon that Rosas was founded by the Rhodians,
and that the people of Marseilles did not settle there till afterwards ; it is
more than probable that the Igletes were nothing more than Ignetes or
Gnetes of the Isle of Rhodes.

250 STRABO. CASAUB. 166.

but designate one portion of it Ulterior, and the other Citerior.
However, at different periods they have divided it differently,
according to its political aspect at various times.

20. At the present time some of the provinces having been
assigned to the people and senate of the Romans, and the
others to the emperor, Baetica appertains to the people, and a
praetor has been sent into the country, having under him a
quasstor and a lieutenant. Its eastern boundary has been
fixed near to Castlon.1 The remainder belongs to the em-
peror, who deputes two lieutenants, a prastor, and a consul.
The praetor with a lieutenant administers justice amongst the
Lusitanians, who are situated next Bastica, and extend as far
as the outlets of the river Douro, for at the present time this
district is called Lusitania by the inhabitants. Here is [the
city of] Augusta Emerita.2 What remains, which is [indeed]
the greater part of Iberia, is governed by the consul, who has
under him a respectable force, consisting of about three legions,
with three lieutenants, one of whom with two legions guards
the whole country north of the Douro, the inhabitants of
which formerly were styled Lusitanians, but are now called
Gallicians. The northern mountains, together with the Astu-
rian and Cantabrian, border on these. The river Melsus3
flows through the country of the Asturians, and at a little
distance is the city of No'iga,4 close to an estuary formed by
the ocean, which separates the Asturians from the Canta-
brians. The second lieutenant with the remaining legion
governs the adjoining district as far as the Pyrenees. The
third oversees the midland district, and governs the cities in-
habited by the togati, whom we have before alluded to as
inclined to peace, and who have adopted the refined manners
and mode of life of the Italians, together with the toga. These
are the Keltiberians, and those who dwell on either side of
the Ebro, as far as the sea-coast. The consul passes the
winter in the maritime districts, mostly administering justice

1 Caslona. 2 Merida.

8 Casaubon supposes that this is the river Ptolemy names Merus.
Lopez, Geograf. de Estrabon, lib. in. p. 232, thinks it the Narcea.

4 Pomponius Mela and Pliny coincide with Stfrabo in making this
city belong to the Asturians ; Ptolemy however describes it under the
name of Noega Ucesia as pertaining to the Cantabrians. Some say it
corresponds to the present Navia, others to Pravia. Groskurd reckons it
Gujon, or Navia, or Santander.

B. in. c. v. § 1. SPAIN. 251

either in [the city of] Carthage,1 or Tarraco.2 During the
summer he travels through the country, observing whatever
may need reform. There are also the procurators of the
emperor, men of the equestrian- rank, who distribute the pay
to the soldiers for their maintenance.

CHAPTER V.

1. OP the islands which are situated in front of Iberia, two
named the Pityussae, and two the Gymnasia?, (also called the
Baleares,) are situated on the sea-coast between Tarraco and
[the river] Xucar, on which Saguntum3 is built. The Pity-
uss29 are situated farther in the high seas and more to the
west than the Gymnasiae. One of the Pityussae is called
Ebusus,4 having a city of the same name. This island is 400
stadia in circumference, and nearly equal in- its breadth and
length. The other, [named] Ophiussa, is situated near to this,
but is desert, and much smaller. The larger5 of the Gymna-
sias contains two cities, Palma,6 and Polentia ;7 the latter lying
towards the east, the former towards the west. The length
of this island is scarcely less than 600 stadia, its breadth 200 ;
although Artemidorus asserts it is twice this size both in
breadth and length.8 The smaller island9 is about [2]70 stadia
distant from Polentia ; in size it is far surpassed by the larger
island, but in excellence it is by no means inferior, for both
of them are very fertile, and furnished with harbours. At
the mouths of these however there are rocks rising but a
little out of the water, which renders attention necessary in
entering them. The fertility of these places inclines the in-
habitants to peace, as also the people of Ebusus. But certain

1 Carthagena. 2 Tarragona.

3 Murviedro. 4 Ivic;a. 5 Majorca.

6 Palma. J Pollerca.

8 Gosselin observes that the greatest length of Majorca is 14 leagues
and a half; its breadth at the narrowest part 8 leagues ; and adds, that by
confounding stadia of unequal value, Strabo makes Majorca a long narrow
island, whereas in fact its form approaches nearer to that of a square.

9 Minorca.

252 STHABO. CASAUB. 168.

malefactors, though few in number, having associated with
the pirates in those seas, they all got a bad name, and Me-
tellus, surnamed Balearicus, marched against them. He it
was who built the cities. But owing to the great fertility of
the country, these people have always had enemies plotting
against them. Although naturally disposed to peace, they
bear the reputation of being most excellent slingers, which
art they have been proficient in since the time that the Phoe-
nicians possessed the islands. It is said that these l were the
first who introduced amongst the men [of the Baleares] the
custom of wearing; tunics with wide borders. They were ac-
customed to go_^nto battle naked, having a shield covered
with goat-skin in their hand, and a jaj£glin hardened by fire
at the "point, very rarely with an iron tip, and wearing round
the head three slings of black rush,2 hair, or sinew. The long
sling they use for hitting at far distances, the short one for
near marks, and the middle one for those between. From
childhood they were so thoroughly practised in the use of
slings, that bread was never distributed to the children till^they
had won_it by the sling? On this account Metellus, when
he was approaching the islands, spread pelts over the decks,
as a shelter from the slings. He introduced [into the country]
3000 Roman_colonists from Spain.

2. In addition to the fruitfulness of the land, noxious
animals are rarely to be met with. Even the rabbits, they
say, were not indigenous, but that a male and female having
been introduced by some one from the opposite continent,
from thence the whole stock sprung, which formerly was so
great a nuisance that even houses and trees were overturned,
[being undermined] by their warrens, and the inhabitants

1 Viz. the Phoenicians.

2 Immediately after the word ptXayKpaivaQ, which we have translated
black rush, the text of our geographer runs on as follows : " resembling
the schoenus, a species of rush from which cords are made. Philetas in
his Mercury [says] ' he was covered with a vile and filthy tunic, and about
his wretched loins was bound a strip of black rush, as if he had been girt
with a mere schoenus.' " It is evident that this passage is the scholium of
some ancient grammarian, and we have followed the example of the
French editors in inserting it in a note, as it is a great impediment in the
middle of Strabo's description of the equipment of the island warriors.

3 " Cibum puer a matre non accipit, nisi quern, ipsa monstrante, per-
cussit." Florus, lib. iii. c. 8. The same thing is stated by Lycophron,
v. 637, and Diodorus Siculus, 1. v. c. 18.

B. in. c. v. § 3. SPAIN. 253

were compelled, as we have related, to resort for refuge to the
Romans. However, at the present day the facility with
which these animals are taken, prevents them from doing in-
jury, consequently those who possess land cultivate it with
advantage. These [islands] are on this side of what are
called the Pillars of Hercules.

3. Near to them, are two small islands, one of which is
called the Island of Juno : some call these the Pillars. Be-
yond the Pillars is Gades,1 concerning which all that we have
hitherto remarked is, that it is distant from Calpe2 about 750
stadia, and is situated near to the outlet of the

Notwithstanding there is much can be said about it. For its in-
habitants equip the greatest number of ships, and the largest
in_size, both for our sea,4 and the exterior ("ocean], although
the island they inhabit is by no meansTarge, nor yet do they
possess much of the mainland, nor are masters of other islands.
They dwell for the most part onthese_a, only a few staying at
home or passing their time~~Tn Rome. Still, in amount of
population, their city does not seem to be surpassed by any
with the exception of Rome. I have heard that in a pensus
taken within our own times, there were enumerated five hun-
dred citizens of Gades of the equestrian order, a~rrumber
equalled by none of the Italian cities excepting that of the
Patavini.5 However, notwithstanding their vast number, its
inhabitants possess an island, in length6 not much above 100
stadia, and in some places only one stadium in breadth.
Originally the city in which they dwelt was extremely small,
but Balbus7 the Gaditanian, who received tne honours of a

<
1 Cadiz. 2 The rock of Gibraltar.

3 This mouth of the Guadalquiver, opposite Cadiz, no longer exists.

4 The Mediterranean. 5 Padua.

6 " The length of the island of Leon, at the extremity of which the city
of Cadiz is situated, is about 9500 toises, which are equivalent to 1UO
Olympic stadia." Gosselin.

7 L. Cornelius Balbus was a native of Cadiz, and descended from an
illustrious family in that town. His original name probably bore some
resemblance in sound to the Latin Balbus. Cadiz being one of the
federate cities, supported the Romans in their war against Sertorius in
Spain, and Balbus thus had an opportunity for distinguishing himself.
He served under the Roman generals Q. Mettellus Pius, C. Memmius,
and Pompey, and was present at the battles of Turia and Sucro. He
distinguished himself so much throughout the war, that Pompey confer-
red the Roman citizenship upon him, his brother, and his brother's sons ;

254 STRABO. CASAVB. 169.

triumph, added another to it which they call the New
Town. These two form the city of Didyme,1 which is not
above twenty stadia in circumference. In it, however,
they are not pressed for room, because few live at home, the
majority passing their lives on the sea, some too dwelling on
the opposite continent, and particularly on a little island ad-
jacent on account of its excellence. They have such a liking
for this place as almost to have made it a rival city to Di-
dyme. However, few in comparison inhabit either this or
the sea-port which Balbus constructed for them on the op-
posite continent. Their city is situated in the western parts
of the island. Near to it is the temple of Saturn, which

md is 01

terminates [Gades to the west], and is opposite the smaller
island. The temple of Hercules is on the other side, to the
east, where the island approaches nearest to the mainland,
being only separated therefrom by a strait of a stadium [in
breadth].2 They say that this temple is twelve miles from
the city, thus making the number of miles and the number of
[Hercules'] labours equal : but this is too great, being almost
equal to the length of the island. Now the length of the
island runs from west to east.

4. Pherecydes appears to have given to Gades the name of
Erythia, the locality of the myths concerning Geryon : others
suppose it to have been the island situated near to this city,
and separated from it by a strait of merely one stadium.
This they do on account of the excellence of its pasturage.

and this act of Pompey was ratified by the law of the consuls, Cn. Cor-
nelius Lentulus and L. Gellius, B. c. 72. It was probably in honour of
these consuls that Balbus took the Gentile name of the one, and the
praenomen of the other. It was for this Balbus that Cicero made the de-
fence which has come down to us. The reason which induced Strabo to
notice, as something remarkable, that Balbus had received the honours of
a triumph, we learn from Pliny, who, noticing the victories which he had
gained over the Garamantes and other nations of Africa, tells us he was
the only person of foreign extraction who had ever received the honour of
a triumph. " Omnia armis Romanis superata et a Cornelio Balbo
triumphata, uni huic omnium externo curru et Quiritium jure donate."
Plin. lib. v. c. 5. Soliuus likewise says of him, (cap. xxix. p. 54,)
" Primus sane de externis, utpote Gadibus genitus accessit ad gioriam
nominis triumphalis."

1 This word signifies " The Twins."

2 Gosselin says, the temple of Saturn appears to have stood on the
site of the present church of S. Sebastian, and that of Hercules at the
other extremity of the island on the site of St. Peter's.

a. in. c. v. § 5. SPAIN. 255

For the milk of the cattle which feed there does not yield any
whey, and they are obliged to mix it with large quantities of
water when they make cheese on account of its richness.
After fifty days the beasts [pasturing there] would be choked
unless they were let blood. The pasturage of the country is
dry, but it fattens wonderfully : and it is thought that from
this the myth concerning the oxen of Geryon took its rise.
The whole seashore however is possessed in common.1

5. Concerning the foundation of Gades, the Gaditanians
report that a certain oracle commanded the T^rians to found
a colony by the Pillars of Hercules. Those who were sent
out Tor the purpose of exploring, when they had arrived at
the strait by Calpe, imagined that the capes which form the
strait were the boundaries of the habitable earth, as well as of
the expedition of Hercules, and consequently they were what
the oracle termed the Pillars. They landed on the inside of
the straits, at a place where the city of the Exitani now stands.
Here they offered sacrifices, which however not being favour-
able, they returned. After a time others were sent, who ad-
vanced about 15002 stadia beyond the strait, to an island
consecrated to Hercules, and lying opposite to Onoba, a city of
Iberia : considering that here were the Pillars, they sacrificed
to the god, but the sacrifices being again unfavourable, they
returned home. In the third voyage they reached Gades,
and founded the temple in the eastern part of the island, and
the city in the west. On this account some consider that
the capes in the strait are the Pillars, others suppose Gades,
while others again believe that they lie still farther,
beyond Gades. There are also some who think that the
Pillars are Calpe,3 and the mountain of Libya which is
opposite, named Abilyx,4 and situated, according to Eratos-
thenes, amongst the Metagonians, a wandering race. Others
fancy that they are two small islands near to the for-
mer, one of which is named the Island of Juno. Artemidorus
speaks both of the Island of Juno and the temple there, but
makes no mention either of mount Abilyx, or the nation of

1 Groskurd supposes that we should here read, " [certain citizens of
Cadiz have appropriated to themselves possessions in the interior of the
island,] but the -whole sea-shore is inhabited in common," that is, by shep-
herds who pastured the grounds in common.

2 Goeselin shows that we ought to read 500 stadia in this place.

3 The rock of Gibraltar. < The Ape-mountain near Ceuta.

256 STRABO. CASAUB. 170.

the Metagonians.1 Some have transported hither the Planctce
and the Symplegades, supposing them to be the Pillars, which
Pindar calls the Gates of Gades, when he says that they were
the farthest limits at which Hercules arrived.2 Diccearchus,
Eratosthenes, and Polybius, with most of the Grecians, repre-
sent the Pillars as being close to the strait, while the Iberians
and Libyans place them at Gades, alleging that there is no-
thing at all resembling pillars close by the strait. Others
pretend that they are t.hpjjpillflrs of brags eight cubits high in
thetemple of Hercule.s at ftflfjes, on which is inscribed the
cost otJ erecting thatedifice ; and that the sailors coming there
on the completion of their voyage and sacrificing to Hercules,'
rendered the placejso famous that it ca"me To be regarded as
the termination ofthe lancTand sea. Posidonius thinks this
view the most probable of all, and looks upon" the oracle and
the several expeditions as a Phoenician invention.3 As for
the expeditions, what matters it whether any one should vehe-
mently deny or credit the account, as neither the one nor the
other would be inconsistent with reason : but the assertion
that neither the little islands, nor yet the mountains, bear
much resemblance to pillars, and that we should seek for
pillars, strictly so called, [set up] either as the termin-
ation of the habitable earth, or of the expedition of Her-
cules, has at all events some reason in it ; it being an an-
cient usage to set up such boundary marks. As for instance
the small column which the inhabitants of Rhegium 4 erected by
the Strait of Sicily, which is indeed a little tower ; and the
tower called after Pelorus, which is situated opposite to this
small column ; also the structures called altars 5 of the Philaeni,
about midway in the land between the Syrtes ; likewise it is
recorded, that a certain pillar was formerly erected on the
Isthmus of Corinth, which the lonians who took possession of
Attica and Megaris when they were driven out of the Pelo-
ponnesus, and those who settled in the Peloponnesus, set up
in common, and inscribed on the side next Megaris,

1 The text is corrupt, but it is needless to go through all the emenda-
tions proposed.

2 This passage of Pindar has not come down to us.

3 -^tvcffia 3>oiviKiic6v, a proverbial mode of speaking, having its origin
in the bad faith of the Phoenicians [fides Punica],

4 Regio.

5 Strabo, in his 1 7th book, gives a different locality to these altars.

B. in. c. v. § 6. . SPAIN. 257

" This is no longer Peloponnesus, but Ionia ; "
and on the opposite,

" This is Peloponnesus, not Ionia."

Alexander too erected altars as bonn^an'p.s pf hia T^rHan o,am-
j>3tign in those parts of the Jfodies he arrived at, which were
situated farthest towards the east, in imitation of Hercules and
Bacchus.1 That this custom existed, then, cannot be doubted.
6. It is probable that the places themselves took the same
name [as the monuments], especially after time had destroyed
the boundary marks which had been placed there, For in-
stance, at the present day the altars of the Philaeni no longer
exist, but the place itself bears that designation. Similarly
they say that in India neither the pillars of Hercules or Bac-
chus are to be seen, nevertheless certain localities being de-
scribed and pointed out to the Macedonians, they believed that
those places were the pillars in which they discovered any
trace either of the adventures of Bacchus or Hercules. In
the instance before us, it is notjmprobable that they who first
[visjied these_regions]. set up boundary marks fashioned by
the hand of man, such as altars, towers, and pillars, in the most
remarkable situations, to indicate the farthest distance they had
reached, (and straits, the surrounding mountains, and little
islands, are indubitably the most remarkable situations for
pointing out the termination or commencement of places,) and
that after these human monuments had decaved7 their names
descended to the places [where they had stood J ; whether that
were the little islands or the capes forming the strait. This
latter point it would not be easy now to determine ; the name
would suit either place, as they both bear some resemblance
to pillars ; I say bear some resemblance, because they are placed
in such situations as might well indicate boundaries. Now
this strait is styled a mouth, as well as many others, but the
mouth is at the beginning to those sailing into the strait, and
to those who are quitting it at the end. The little islands at
the mouth having a contour easy to describe, and being re-
markable, one might not improperly .compare to pillars. In
like manner the mountains overlooking the strait are promi-

1 These were twelve altars, of fifty cubits each, erected to the twelve
gods. Vide Diodorus Siculus, 1. xvii. c. 95.
VOL. i. s

STRABO. CASAUB. 172.

nent, resembling columns or pillars. So too Pindar might very
justly have said, " The Gaditanian Gates," if he had in mind
the pillars at the mouth ; for these mouths are very similar to
gates. On the other hand, Gades is not in a position to indi-
cate an extremity, but is situated about the middle of a long
coast forming a kind of gulf. The supposition that the pil-
lars of the temple of Hercules in Gades are^intended, appears
to me still less probable. It seems most likely that the name
was origmalfy conferred not by merchants, but generals, its
celebrity afterwards became universal, as was the ,case with
the Indian pillars. Besides, the inscription recorded refutes
this idea, since it contains no religious dedication, but a mere
list of expenses ; whereas the pillars of Hercules should have
been a record of the hero's wonderful deeds, not of Phosnician
expenditure.

7. Polybius relates that there is a spring within the temple
of Hercules at Gades, having a descent of a few steps to fresh
water, which is affected in a manner the reverse of the sea-
tides, subsiding at the flow of the tide, and springing at the
ebb. He assigns as the cause of this phenomenon, that air
rises from the interior to the surface of the earth ; when this
surface is covered by the waves, at the rising of the sea, the
air is deprived of its ordinary vents, and returns to the in-
terior, slopping up the passages of the spring, and causing a
want of water, but when the surface is again laid bare, the
air having a direct exit liberates the channels which feed
the spring, so that it gushes freely. Artemidorus rejects
this explanation, and substitutes one of his own, recording at
the same time the opinion of the historian Silanus ; but nei-
ther one or other of their views seems to me worth relating,
since both he and Silanus were ignorant in regard to these
matters. Posidonius asserts that the entire account is false,
and adds that there are two wells in the temple of Hercules,
and a third in the city. That the smaller of the two in the
temple of Hercules, if drawn from frequently, will become for
a time exhausted, but that on ceasing to draw from it, it fills
again : while in regard to the larger, it may be drawn from
during the whole day ; that it is true it becomes lower, like
all other wells, but that it fills again during the night when
drawing ceases. [He adds] that the ebb tide frequently hap-
pening to occur during the period of its re-filling, gave rise

B. in. c. v. § 8. SPAIN. 259

to the groundless belief of the inhabitants as to its being
affected in an opposite manner [to the tides of the ocean].
However it is not only related by him that it is a commonly
believed fact, but we have received it from tradition as much
referred to amongst paradoxes.1 We have likewise heard
that there are wells both within the city and also in the gar-
dens without, but that on account of the inferiority of this
water, tanks are generally constructed throughout the city for
the supply of water : whether likewise any of these reservoirs
give any signs of being affected in an opposite manner to the
tides, we know not. If such be the case, the causes thereof
should be received as amongst phenomena hard to be ex-
plained. It is likely that Poly bi us may have assigned the
proper reason ; but it is also likely that certain of the chan-
nels of the springs being damped outside become relaxed, and
so let the water run out into the surrounding land, instead of
forcing it along its ancient passage to the spring ; and there
will of course be moisture when the tide overflows.2 But if,
as Athenodorus asserts, the ebb and flow resemble the in-
spiration and expiration of the breath, it is possible that some
of the currents of water which naturally have an efflux on to
the surface of the earth, through various channels, the mouths
of which we denominate springs and fountains, are by other
channels drawn towards the depths of the sea, and raise it, so
as to produce a flood-tide ; when the expiration is sufficient,
they leave off the course in which they are then flowing, and
again revert to their former direction, when that again takes a
change.3

8. I cannot tell how it is that Posidonius, who describes the
Phoenicians as sagacious in other things, should here attribute

1 The text is tv role 7rapet£6£oic, which Gosselin renders, " Les ouv-
rages qui traitent des choses merveilleuses."

* Strabo's argument is here so weak, that one can hardly believe it
can have ever been seriously made use of.

3 This method of explaining the ebb and flow of the sea, by comparing
it to the respiration of animals, is not so extraordinary, when we remem-
ber that it was the opinion of many philosophers that the universe was
itself an animal. Pomponius Mela, (De Situ Orbis, lib. iii. c. 1,) speaking
of the tides, says, " Neque adhuc satis cognitum est, anhelitune suo id
mundus efficiat, retractamque cum spiritu regerat undam tmdique, si, ut
doctioribus placet, unum (lege universum) animal est ; an sint depress!
aliqui specus, quo reciprocata maria residant, atque itnde se rursus exu-
berantia attollant : an luna causas tantis meatibus praebeat."

s 2

260 STRABO. CASATJB. 173.

to them folly rather than shrewdness. The sun completes his
revolution in the space of a day and night, being a portion of
the time beneath the earth, and a portion of the time shining
upon it. Now he asserts that the motion of the sea corresponds
with the revolution of the heavenly bodies, and experiences
a diurnal,^montlily, and annual change, in strict accordance
witlTEne changes of the moon. For [he continues] when the
moon is ele"vated one sign of the zodiac1 above the horizon,
me sea l>egins sensibly to swell and cover the shores, until
she has attained her meridian Tbut when that satellite begins
to decline, tne sea again retires by degrees, until the moon
wants merely one sign of the zodiac from setting ; it then re-
mains stationary until the moon has set, and also descended
one sign of the zodiac below the horizon, when it again rises
until she has attained her meridian below the earth ; it then
retires again until the moon is within one sign of the zodiac of
her rising above the horizon, when it remains stationary until
the moon has risen one sign of the zodiac above the earth,
and then begins to rise as before. Such he describes to be the
diurnal revolution. In respect to the monthly revolution, [he
says] that the spring-tides occur at the time of the new moon,
when they decreasTTTmtil the first quartefTthey theifincrease
until full moon, when they again^decrease until the last quar-
ter^ after which they increase till the new moon ; [he adds]
that these increases ought to be understood both of their dur-
ation and speed. In regard to the annual revolution, he says
that he learned from the statements of the Gadifanians, that
both the ebb and flow tides were at their extremes at the
summer solstice : and that hence he conjectured that they de-
creased untiTthe [autumnal] equinox ; then increased till the
winter solstice ; then decreased again until the vernal equinox ;
and [liflally] increased until the summer solstice. But since
these revolutions occur twice in the four-and-twenty hours,
the sea rising twice and receding twice, and that regularly
every day and night, how is it that the filling and failing of
the well do not frequently occur during the ebb and flow of the
tide ? or if it be allowed that this does often occur, why does
it not do so in the same proportion ? and if it does so in the
same proportion, how comes it that the Gaditanians are not

1 Thirty degrees.

B. III. C. V. § 9. SPA 261

competent to observe what is of daily occurrence, while they
are nevertheless competent to the observing of revolutions
which occur but once in the year. ThatJPosidonius himself
credited these reports is evident from his own conjecture re-
specting the decrease and increase [of the sea] from solstice to
solstice. However, it is not likely, being an observant people,
that they should be ignorant of what actually occurred, whilst
giving credit to imaginary phenomena.

9. Posidonius tells us that Seleucus, a native of the country
next the Erythraean Sea.1 states that the regularity and irre-
gularity of the ebb and flow of the sea follow the different
positions of the moon in the zodiac ; that when she is in the
equinoctial signs the tides are regular, but that when she is
in the signs next the tropics, the tides are irregular both in
their height and force ; and that for the remaining signs the
irregularity is greater or less, according as they are more or
less removed from the signs before mentioned. Posidonius
adds, that during the summer solstice and whilst the moon
was full, he himself passed many days in the temple of Her-
cules at Gades, but could not observe anything of these annual
irregularities. However, about the new moon of the same
month he observed at Ilipa'2 a great change in the reflux of
the water of the Guadalquiver. as compared with previous
flood-tides, in which the water did not rise half as high as the
banks, and that then the water poured in so copiously, that
the soldiers there dipped their supply without difficulty, al-
though Ilipa is about 700 stadia from the sea. He says, that
the plains next the sea were covered by the tides to a distance
of 30 3 stadia, and to such a depth as to form islands, while
the basement of the temple in the enclosure dedicated to
Hercules, and the top of the mole in front of the harbour of
Gades, were not covered higher than 10 cubits, as observed
by actual soundings ; but if any one should add the double of
that for the occasional risings of the tide which occur, [nei-
ther] thus would he be able to estimate the violence with
which the full force of the high tide rushes over the plains.
Posidonius informs us that this violence [of_the_tide] is com-
mon to all the coagts of Spain on the Atlantic,4 but what he

1 The Persian Gulf. » Alcolea.

3 Some MSS. read 50 stadia.

4 This is the sense of the text, *aeav TTJV rvcXy

262 STRABO. CASAUB. 175.

relates concerning the Ebro is unusual and peculiar to itself,
for he says that it sometimes overflows after continued north
winds, although there may have been neither rains nor snows.
The cause of this [he supposes] to be the lake through which
the Ebro flows, its waters being driven by the winds into the
current of the river. l

10. The same writer mentions a tree at Gades, which had
boughs reaching to the ground ; its sword-shaped leaves often
measuring a cubit long, and four fingers broad. Also that
about Carthagena there was a tree whose thorns produced a
bark from which most beautiful stuffs were woven. As for the
tree [he saw] at Gades, we ourselves have observed a similar in
Egypt, so far as the inclination of the boughs is concerned, but
with a differently shaped leaf, and producing no fruit, which
according to him the other did. In Cappadocia there are stuffs
made from thorns, but it is not a tree which produces the
thorn from which the bark is taken, but a low plant ; he also
tells us of a tree at Gades, from which if a branch be broken
off a milk will flow, and if the root be cut a red fluid runs.
Thus much for Gades,

11. The Cassiterides are ten in number, and lie near each
other in the ocean towards the north from the haven of
the Artabri. One of them is desert, but the others are
inhabited by men in black cloaks, clad in tunics reaching
to the feet, girt about the breast, and walking with staves,
thus resembling the Furies we see in tragic representa-
tions.2 They subsist by their cattle, leading for the most part
a wandering life. Of the metals they have tin and lead ;
which with skins they barter with the merchants for earth-
enware, salt, and brazen vessels. Formerly the Pho3nicians
alone carried on this traffic from Gades, concealing the pas-
sage from every one ; and when the Romans followed a certain

1 We are not aware that the Ebro passes through any lake.

2 This is probably a description of the appearance of the Druids. Taci-
tus, (Ann. lib. xiv. 30,) speaking of the consternation into which the Druids
of Anglesey threw the Roman soldiers who had disembarked there, says,
" Druidaeque circum, preces diras, sublatis ad coolum manibus, fundentes,
novitate adspectus perculere milites, ut, quasi heerentibus membris, im-
mobile corpus vulneribus praeberent." Immediately before these words he
thus describes the women, "Stabat pro litore diversa acies, densa armis
virisque, intercursantibus feminis in modum furiarum, quae veste ferali,
crinibus dejectis, faces praeferebant.

B. in. c. v. § 11. SPAIN. 263

ship-master, that they also might find the market, the ship-
master of jealousy purposely ran his vessel upon a shoal,
leading on those who followed him into the same destructive
disaster ; he himself escaped by means of a fragment of the
ship, and received from the slate the value of the cargo he
had lost. The Romans nevertheless by frequent efforts dis-
covered the passage, and as soon as Publius Crassus, passing
over to them, perceived that the metals were dug out at a
little depth, and that the men were peaceably disposed, he
declared it to those who already wished to traffic in this sea for
profit, although the passage was longer than that to Britain.1
Thus far concerning Iberia and the adjacent islands.

1 Viz. that the Cassiterides are farther removed from the coasts of
Spain than the rest of the southern coasts of England.

BOOK IV.
GAUL.

SUMMARY.

The Fourth Book contains a description of the regions about Gaul, Spain,
and the Alps on this side, towards Italy. Likewise of Britain, and of
certain islands in the ocean which are habitable, together with the country
of the barbarians, and the nations dwelling beyond the Danube.

CHAPTER I.

1. NEXT in order [after Iberia] comes Keltica beyond the
Alps,1 the configuration and size of which has been already
mentioned in a general manner ; we are now to describe it
more particularly. Some divide it into the three nations of
the Aquitani. Belgse, and Keltse.2 Of these the Aquitani differ
completely from the other nations, not only in their language
but in their figure, which resembles more that of the Iberians
than the Galatas. The others are Galatae in countenance,
although they do not all speak the same language, but some
make a slight difference in their speech; neither is their
polity and mode of life exactly the same. These writers give
the name of Aquitani and Keltae to the dwellers near the
Pyrenees, whiclT are bounded by the Cevennes. For it has
lfe"en "stated that this Keltica is bounded on the west by the
mountains of the Pyrenees, which extend to either sea, both
the Mediterranean and the ocean ; on the jjast by the Rhine,
which is parallel to the Pyrenees ; on the north by the ocean,
from the northern extremities of the Pyrenees to the mouths

1 Transalpine Gaul.

2 Gaul is properly divided into the four grand divisions of the Narbon-
naise, Aquitaine, Keltica, and Belgica. Strabo has principally copied
Caesar, who appears only to have divided Gaul into Aquitaine, Keltica, and
Belgica. Csesar however only speaks of the provinces he had conquered,
and makes no mention of the Narbonnaise, which had submitted to the
Romans before his time. Strabo seems to have thought that the Nar-
bonnaise formed part of Keltica.

B. iv. c. i. § 1. GAUL. 265

of the Rhine ; on the so_uth by the sea of Marseilles, and
Narbonne, and Ij^-thc Alps from Liguria to the sources of
the Rhine. The Cevennes lie at right angles to the Pyre-
nees, and traverse the plains for about 2000 stadia, terminating
in the middle near Lugdunum.1 They call those people Aqui-
tani who inhabit the northern portions of the Pyrenees, and
tEe Cevennes extending as far as the ocean, and bounded by
the ri ver G aronne ; and Keltse, those who dwell on the other
side oT the Garonne, towards the sea of Marseilles and Nar-
bonne, and touching a portion of the Alpine chain. This is
the division adopted by divus Caesar in his Commentaries.2
But Augustus Caesar, when dividing the country into four
parts, united the KeltaB to the Narbonnaise ; the Aquitani
he preserved the same as Julius Caesar, but added thereto
fourteen other nations of those who dwelt between the Ga-
ronne and the river Loire,3 and dividing the rest into two
parts, the one extending to the upper districts of the Rhine
he made dependent upon Lugdunum, the other [he assigned]

1 Lyons.

2 The whole of this passage, says Gosselin, is full of mistakes, and it
would seem that Strabo quoted from an inexact copy of Caesar. To under-
stand his meaning, \ve must remember that he supposed the Pyrenees ex-
tended from north to south, instead of from east to west ; and since he
adds that these mountains divide the Cevennes at right angles, he must
have supposed that this second chain extended from east to west, instead
of from north to south. He likewise fancied that the Garonne, the
Loire, and the Seine ran from north to south like the Rhine. Start-
ing from such premises, it was impossible he could avoid confusion;
thus we find him describing the Aquitani as north of the Cevennes,
when in fact they dwelt north of the Pyrenees, between those moun-
tains and the Garonne, and west of the southern portions of the Cevennes.
Where he says that the Kelts dwelt on the other side or east of the Ga-
ronne, and towards the sea of Narbonne and Marseilles, it is clear that
he prolonged Keltica into the Narbonnaise, since this last province ex-
tended along the Mediterranean from the frontiers of Spain to the Alps.
Caesar had stated that the Gauls (the Kelts of Strabo) ipsorum lingua Kelta,
nostri Galli, dwelt between the Garonne, the Seine, the Marne, and the
Rhine. Finally, Strabo appears to have assigned the greater part of Gaul
to the Belgae in making them extend from the ocean, and the mouth of
the Rhine, to the Alps. This considerably embarrassed Xylander, but
as we have seen that Strabo transported a portion of the Kelts into the
Narbonnaise, it is easy to imagine that, in order to make these people
border on the Belgae, he was forced to extend them as far as the Alps,
near the sources of the Rhine. Ceesar located the Belgae between the
Seine, the ocean, and the Rhine. 3 Liger.

266 STEABO. CASATJB. 177.

to the Belgae. However, it is the duty of the Geographer to
describe the physical divisions of each country, and those which
result from diversity of nations, when they seem worthy of
notice ; as to the limits which princes, induced by a policy
which circumstances dictate, have variously imposed, it will
be sufficient for him to notice them summarily, leaving others
to furnish particular details.

2. The whole of this country is irrigated by rivers descend-
ing from the Alps, the Cevennes, and the Pyrenees, some of
which discharge themselves into the ocean, others into the
Mediterranean. The districts through which they flow are
mostly plains interspersed with hills, and having navigable
streams. The course of these rivers is so happily dis-
posed in relation to each other, that you may traffic from
one sea to the other,1 carrying the merchandise only a
small distance, and that easily, across the plains ; but for the
most part by the rivers, ascending some, and descending
others. The Rhone is pre-eminent in this respect, both be-
cause it communicates with many other rivers, and also be-
cause it flows into the Mediterranean, which, as we have said,
is superior to the ocean,2 and likewise passes through the
richest provinces of Gaul. The whole of the Narbonnaise
produces the same fruits as Italy. As we advance towards the
north, and the mountains of the Cevennes, the plantations of the
olive and fig disappear, but the others remain. Likewise the
vine, as you proceed northward, does not easily mature its
fruit. The entire of the remaining country produces in
abundance corn, millet, acorns, and mast of all kinds. No
part of it lies waste except that which is taken up in marshes
and woods, and even this is inhabited. The cause of this,
however, is rather a dense population than the industry of
the inhabitants. For ~ttie~ women there are both very_ prolific
and excellent nurses, while the men devote themselves rather
to Tvar tnanjiuspandry. However, their arms being now laid
asidX they are compelled to engage in agriculture. These
remarks apply generally to the whole of Transalpine Keltica.
We must now describe particularly each of the four divisions.

1 From the ocean to the Mediterranean, and vice versa.

2 Alluding to the superiority of the climate on the shores of the Medi-
terranean.

B. iv. c. i. $ 3. GAUL. THE NARBOXNAISE. 267

which hitherto we have only mentioned in a summary man-
ner. And, first, of the Narbonnaise.

3. The configuration of this country resembles a parallel-
ogram, the western side of which is traced by the ^Pyrenees,
the north by the Cevennes ; as for the other two sides, the
south is bounded by the sea between the Pyrenees and Mar-
seilles, and the east partly by the Alps,1 and partly by a line
drawn perpendicularly from these mountains to the foot of the
Cevennes, which extend towards the Rhone, and form a right
angle with the aforesaid perpendicular drawn from the Alps.
To the southern side of this parallelogram we must add the
sea-coast inhabited by the Massilienses2 and Salyes,3 as far as
the country of the Ligurians, the confines of Italy, and the river
Var. This river, aswe'Iiave said before,4 is the boundary of the
Narbonnaise and Italy. It is but small in summer, but in winter
swells to a breadth of seven stadia. From thence the coast
extends to the temple of the Pyrenaean Venus,5 which is the
boundary between this province and Iberia. Some, how-
ever, assert that the spot where the Trophies of Pompey stand
is the boundary between Iberia and Keltica. From thence
to Narbonne is 63 miles ; from Narbonne to_Nemauau^6 88 ; l\i.
from Nemausus through Ugernum7 and Tarusco, to the hot * *t£
waters called Sextiae8 near Marseilles, 53 ;9 from thence to Q \ \
Antipolis ancf the"" river Yar, 73 ; making in the total 277
miles. Some set down the distance from the temple of Venus
to the Var at 2600 stadia ; while others increase this number
by 200 stadia; for there are different opinions as to these
distances. As for the other road, which traverses the [coun-

1 We shall see in the course of this book, that under the name of Alps
Strabo includes the different mountain-chains separated from the range
of Alps properly so called. This accounts for his extending those moun-
tains on the west as far as Marseilles, and on the east beyond Istria.

2 The Marseillese. 3 The Salyes inhabited Provence.

* As Strabo has made no previous mention of this river, the words " as
we have said before " are evidently interpolated.

5 This temple was built on Cape Creus, which on that account received
the name of Aphrodisium. Many geographers confound this temple with
the portus V'eneris, the modern Vendres, which is at a short distance
from Cape Creus.

6 Nimes. " Beaucaire. 8 Aix.

9 Gosselin, who considers that the former numbers were correct, enters
at some length on an argument to prove that these 53 miles were 62, and
differs also in computing the succeeding numbers.

268 STRABO. "CASAUB. 179.

tries of the] Vocontii l and Cottius,2 from Nemausus3 to
Ugernum and Tarusco, the route is common ; from thence [it
branches off in two directions], one through Druentia and
Caballio,4 to the frontiers of the Vocontii and the commence-
ment of the ascent of the Alps, which is 63 miles ; the other
is reckoned at 99 miles from the same point to the other ex-
tremity of the Vocontii, bordering on the state of Cottius, as
far as the village of Ebrodunum.5 The distance is said to be
the same by the route through the village of Brigantium,6
Scingomagus,7 and the passage of the Alps to Ocelum,8 which
is the limit of the country of Cottius. However, it is con-
sidered to be Italy from Scingomagus. And Ocelum is 28
miles beyond this.

4. Marseilles, founded by the Phocaeans,9 is built in a stony
region. Its harbour lies beneath a rock, which is shaped
like a theatre, and looks towards the south. It is well sur-
rounded with walls, as well as the whole city, which is of
considerable size. Within the citadel are placed the JSrjhe-
§ium and the temple of the Delphian Apollo. This latter
temple is common to all the lonians ; the Ephesium is the
temple consecrated to Diana^of Ephesus. They say that
when the Phocseans were about to quit their country, an oracle
commanded them to take from Diana of Ephesus a conductor
for their voyage. On arriving at Ephesus they therefore in-
quired how they might be able to obtain from the goddess
what was enjoined them. The goddess appeared in a dream
to Aristarcha, one of the most honourablejwomen of the city,
anoTcommahded her to acco'm^anY the Fhocaeans, and to take
with her apian of the temple and statues.10 These things
being perforated, and tKe colony bein^fsettled, the Phocaeans

1 The cantons of Vaison and Die.

2 Cottius possessed the present »Brian9onnais. That portion of the
Alps next this canton took from this sovereign the name of the Cottian
Alps. Cottius bore the title of king ; and Augustus recognised his inde-
pendence ; he lived till the time of Nero, when his possessions became
a Roman province.

3 Nimes. * Durance and Cavaillon. 5 Embrun.

6 Brianfon. 7 Sezanne, or perhaps Chamlat de Seguin.

8 Uxeau. 9 About 600 years before the Christian era.

10 'A<f>iSpvp.d TI T&V ifp&v. Gosselin gives a note on these words, and
translates them in his text as follows, " one of the statues consecrated in
her temple."

B. iv. c. i. 5.* GAUL. THE NARBONNAISE. 269

temple, and evinced their great respect for Aristarcha
by making her priestess. All the colonies [sent out from
Marseille s] hold This goddess in peculiar reverence, preserving
both the shape of fRe^mage [of the goddess 1, and also every
rite observed in the metropolis.

5. The Massilians live under a well-regulated aristocracy.
They have a council composed of 600 persons called timu-
chi,1 who enjoy~this dignity for life. Fifteen of these preside
over the council, and have the management of current
affairs ; these fifteen are in their turn presided over by three
of their number, in whom rests the principal authority ; and
theseagamby one. No one can become a timuchus who has
noTcliildren, and who has not been a citizen for three genera-
tions.2" Their laws, which are the same as those of the
Ionian s, they expound in public. Their country abounds in
olives and vines, but on account of its ruggedness the wheat
is pnor. Consequently they trust more to the resources of
the sea than of the land, and avail themselves in preference of
their excellent position for commerce. Nevertheless they
have been enabled by the power of perseverance to take in
some of the surrounding plains, and also to found cities : of
this number are the cities they founded in Iberia as a ram-
part against the Iberians, in which they introduced the wor-
ship of Diana of Ephesus, as practised in theiFfather-land, with
the Grecian mode oFsacrifice. In this number too are Rhoa3
[and] Agatha,4 [built for defence] against the barbarians
dwelling around the river Rhone ; also Tauroentium,5 Olbia,6
Antipolis7 and Nicrea,8 [built aAJL~campart"| against the
nation of the Salyes and the Ligurians who inhabit the Alps.
They9 possess likewise drydocks^nd armouries. Formerly
they had an abundance oFyessels, arms, and machines, both
for the purposes of navigation and for besieging towns ; by
means of which they defended themselves against the bar-

, literally, one having honour and esteem.
3 We have seen no reason to depart from a literal rendering of the
Greek in this passage, its meaning, "whose ancestors have not been
citizens," &c., being self-evident.

3 This name has evidently been corrupted, but it seems difficult to de-
termine what stood originally in the text ; most probably it was Rhoda-
nnsia.

4 Agde. b Taurenti. 8 Eoube.

7 Antibes. s Nice. » The people of Marseilles.

270 STRABO. CASAUB. 180.

barians, and likewise obtained the alliance of the Romans, to
whom they rendered many important services ; the Romans
in their turn assisting in their aggrandizement. Sextius, who
defeated the Salyes, founded, not far from Marseilles, a city l
which was named after him and the hot waters, some of
which they say~have lostftheir heat.2 Here he established a
Roman garrison, and drove from the sea-coast which leads
from Marseilles to Italy the barbarians, whom the Massilians
were not able to keep back entirely. However, all he accom-
plished by this was to compel the barbarians to_kggp at a dis-
tance of twelve stadia froniTl'Bose" parts of the coast which
possessed good harbours, and at a distance of eight stadia
where it was rugged. The land which they thus abandoned,
he presented to the Massilians. In their city are laid up
"heaps ol'~booty taken liTnaval engagements against those who
disputed the sea unjustly. Formerly they enjoyed singular
good fortune, as well in other matters as also in their amity
with the Romans. Of this [amity] we find numerous signs,
amongst others the statue of .. Diana which the Romans dedi-
cated on the Aventine mount, of the same figure as that of the
Massilians. Their prosperity has in a great measure decayed
since the war of Pompey against Caesar, in which they sided
with the vanquished party. Nevertheless some traces of their
ancient industry may still be seen amongst the inhabitants,
especially the making of engines of war and sjiip-building.
Still as the surrounding barbarians, now that they are un-
der the dominion of the Romans, become daily more civil-
ized, and leave the occupation of war for the business
of towns and agriculture, there is no longer the same
attention paid by the inhabitants of Marseilles to these
objects. The aspect of the city at the present day is a
proof of this. For all those who profess to be menoftaste,
turn to the study of elocution and philosophy. Thus this city
for some little time Hack has becomeTschool for the barbari-
ans, and has communicated to*" the Galaue such a taste for

1 Aquse Sextise, nowjVix^

2 Solinus tells us that in his day the waters had lost their virtue, and
that their fame had declined. " Quarum calor, olim acrior, exhalatus
per tempora evaporavit; nee jam par est famae priori." Solin. cap. 8.
The victory of Sextius, mentioned by Strabo, is said to have been gained
in the year of Rome 629.

B. iv. c. i. § 6. GAUL. THE NARBONNAISE. 271

GreeJi^-literature, that they even draw contracts on the
Gfrecian model. While at the present day it so entices the
noblest of the Romans, that those desirous of studying resort
thither in preference to Athens. These the Galatae observ-
ing, and being at leisure on account of the peace, readily
devote themselves to similar pursuits, and that not merely
individuals, but the public generally ; professors of the arts
and sciences, and likewise of medicine, being employed not
only by private persons, but by towns for common instruc-
tion. Of the wiaiiom of the Massilians and the simplicity of
their life, the following will not be thought an insignificant
proof. The largest_dowry amongst them consists of one hun-
dred goldjpieces, with five for dress, and five more for golden
ornaments. More than this is not lawful. Cassar and his
successors treated with moderation the offences of which they
were guilty during the war, in consideration of their former
friendship ; and have preserved to the state the right of
governing according to its ancient laws. So that neither
Marseilles nor the cities dependent on it are under submis-
sion to the governors sent [into the Narbonnaise]. So much
for Marseilles.

6. The mountains of the Salyes incline gently from west
to north in proportion as they retire from the sea. The coast
runs west, and extending a short distance, about 100 stadia,
from Marseilles, it begins to assume the character of a gulf at
a considerable promontory near to certain stone quarries, and
extending to the Aphrodisium. the headland which terminates
the Pyrenees,1 forms the Galatic Gulf,2 which is also called the
Gulf of Marseilles : it is double, for in its circuit Mount Setium3
stands out together with the island of Blascon,4 which is situ-
ated close to it, and separates the two gulfs. The larger of these
is properly designated the Galatic Gulf, into which the Rhone
discharges itself ; the smaller is on the coast of Narbonne, and
extends as far as the Pyrenees. Narbonne is situated above the

1 The Cape de Creus, a promontory on which was the temple of the
Pyrenaean Venus.

2 The Gulf of I.vnns. 3 The Cape de Cette.

4 Gosselin says, " The Island of Blascon is a rock opposite Agde, on
which remains a fortified castle, which preserves the name of Brescon.
This rock has been connected with the mainland, to form the port of
Agde."

272 STRABO. CASAUB. 181.

outlets of the Aude l and the lake of Narbonne.2 It is the
principal commercial city on this coast. On the Rhone is
Arelate,3 a city and emporium of considerable traffic. The
1 distance between these two cities is nearly equal to that which
separates them from the aforesaid promontories, namely,
Narbonne from the Aphrodisium, and Arelate from the cape
of Marseilles. There are other rivers besides which flow on
either side of Narbonne, some from the Cevennes, others
from the Pyrenees. Along these rivers are situated cities
having but little commerce, and that in small vessels. The
rivers which proceed from the Pyrenees, are the Tet4 and the
Tech ; 5 two cities 6 are built on them, which bear respectively
the same name as the rivers. There is a lake near to Rusci-
no,7 and a little above the sea a marshy district full of salt-
springs, which supplies "dug mullets," for whoever digs two
or three feet and plunges a trident into the muddy water,
will be sure to take the fish, which are worthy of considera-
tion on account of their size ; they are nourished in the mud
like eels. Such are the rivers which flow from the Pyrenees
between Narbonne and the promontory on which is built the
temple of Venus. On the other side of Narbonne the follow-
ing rivers descend from the Cevennes into the sea. The
Aude,8 the Orbe,9 and the Rauraris.10 On one of these11 is
situated the strong city of Bagtera,12 near to Narbonne; on
the other Agatha,13 founded by the people of Marseilles.

7. Of one marvel of this sea-coast, namely the " dug mul-
lets," we have already spoken ; we will now mention another,
even more surprising. Between Marseilles and the outlets of
the Rhone there is a circular plain, about 100 stadia distant

2 At the present day Narbonne is not situated on the Aude, the course
of that river being changed. The lake of Narbonne, mentioned by Strabo,
is not the present lake of Narbonne, but the lake of Rubine.

3 Aries. 4 'PovffKivhtv. 5 o 'IXi&ppic.

6 Viz. Ruscino, now superseded by Perpjguan on the Tet ; and Ili-
birris, now Elne on the Tech.

T " This ancient city," says Gosselin, " no longer exists, with the ex-
ception of an old tower, scarcely a league from Perpignan, which still
bears the name of the Tower of Roussillon.

8 This river does not rise in the Cevennes, but in the Pyrenees.

9 *Op€tf . 10 This name is evidently corrupt ; the Arauris of
Mela and Ptolemy (the modern Herault) is probably intended.

11 The Orbe. l2 Beziers. 13 Agde.

B. iv. c. i. $ 7. GAUL. 273

from the sea, and about 100 stadia in diameter. It has
received the name of the Stony^Plain, from the circum-
stance of its being covered^ with stones the size of the fist,
from beneath which an abundant herbage springs up for
the pasturage of cattle. In the midst of it are water, salt-
springs, and^salt. The whole both of this district and that
above it is ^xposed to the wind, but in this plain the black
north,1 a violent and horrible wind, rages especially : for they
say that sometimes the stones are swept and rolled along, and
men hurled from their carriages and stripped both of their
arms and garments by the force of the tempest. Aristotle
tells us that these stones being cast up by the earthquakes
designated brastai,2 and falling on the surface of the earth, roll
into the hollow places of the districts ; but Posidonius, that
the place was formerly a lake, which being congealed during
a violent agitation, became divided into numerous stones,
like river pebbles or the stones by the sea-shore, which
they resemble both as to smoothness, size, and appearance.
Such are the causes assigned by these two [writers]; however,
neither of their opinions is credible,3 for these stones could
neither have thus accumulated of themselves, nor yet have
been formed by congealed moisture, but necessarily from the
fragments of large stones shattered by frequent convulsions.
.ZEscliyJus having, however, learnt of the difficulty of account-
ing for it, or having been so informed by another, has ex-
plained itjawjiy as a myth. He makes Prometheus utter the
following^ whilst directing Hercules the road from the Cau-
casus to the Hesperides :

" There you will come to the undaunted army of the Ligurians, where,
resistless though you be, sure am I you will not worst them in battle ; for
it is fated that there your darts shall fail you ; nor will you be able to
take up a stone from the ground, since the country consists of soft mould ;
but Jupiter, beholding your distress, will compassionate you, and over-
shadowing the earth with a cloud, he will cause it to hail round stones,
which you hurling against the Ligurian army, will soon put them to
flight ! " 4

Posidonius asks, would it not have been better to have

1 The French Use.

2 {fpdarai (retajjioi, earthquakes attended with a violent fermentation.

3 The text has, "both of their opinions are credible,' (iriOavbe fiev
ovv 6 Trap' aptyolv \6yog,) but this is discountenanced by the whole
sentence.

4 From the " Prometheus Loosed," which is now lost.
VOL. i. T

274 STRABO. CASAUB. 183.

rained down these stones upon the Ligurians themselves, and
thus have destroyed them all, than to make Hercules in need
of so many stones ? As for the number, they were necessary
against so vast a multitude ; so that in this respect the writer
of the myth seems to me deserving of more credit than he
who would refute it. Further, the poet, in describing it as
fated, secures himself against such fault-finding. For if you
dispute Providence and Destiny, you can find many similar
things both in human affairs and nature, that you would
suppose might be much better performed in this or that
way ; as for instance, that Egypt should have plenty of rain
of its own, without being irrigated from the land of Ethio-
pia. That it would have been much better if Paris had suf-
fered shipwreck on his voyage to Sparta, instead of expiating
his offences after having carried off Helen, and having been
the cause of so great destruction both amongst the Greeks
and Barbarians. Euripides attributes this to Jupiter :

" Father Jupiter, willing evil to the Trojans and suffering to the
Greeks, decreed such things."

8. As to the mouths of the Rhone, Polybius asserts that
there are but two, and blames Timaeus1 for saying five. Ar-
temidorus says that there are three. Afterwards Marius,
observing that the mouth was becoming stopped up and diffi-
cult of entrance on account of the deposits of mud, caused a
new channel to be dug, which received the greater part of the
river into it.2 This he gave to the people of Marseilles in
recompense for their services in the war against the Ambrones
and Toygeni.3 This canal became to them a source of much
revenue, as they levied a toll from all those who sailed up or
down it : notwithstanding, the entrance [to the river J still
continues difficult to navigate, on account of its great impetu-
osity, its deposits, and the [general] flatness of the country,
so that in foul weather you cannot clearly discern the land

1 The historian, son of Andromachus.

2 The mouths of the Rhone, like those of other impetuous rivers, are
subject to considerable changes, and vary from one age to another. Ptole-
my agrees with Polybius in stating that there are but two mouths to the
Rhone, and those which he indicates are at the present day almost en-
tirely filled up ; the one being at Aigues-Mortes, the other the canal now
called the Rhone-Mort.

3 Two Helvetian tribes who united themselves to the Cimbri to pass
into Italy, and were defeated near Aix by Marius.

B. iv. c. i. § 9. GAUL. THE NARBONNAISE. 275

even when quite close. On this account the people of Mar-
seilles, who wished by all means to inhabit the country, set up
towers as beacons ; they have even erected a temple to Diaiia
ofEphesus on a piece of thejand, which the mouths of the
rixfijs haveJ[onnje^Lintp_anislaiid. Above the outlets of the
Rhone is a salt-lake wluclTtney call Stomalimne.1 It abounds
in shell and other fish. There are some who enumerate this
amongst the mouths of the Rhone, especially those who say
that it has seven 2 mouths. But in this they are quite mis-
taken ; for there is a mountain between, which separates the
lake from the river. Such then is the disposition and extent
of the coast from the Pyrenees to Marseilles.

9. The [coast] which extends from this £lasJL.city] to the
river Var, and theJLigunans who dwell near it, contains the
Massilian cities of Tauroentium,3 Olbia,4 Antipolis,5 Nicsea,^
and the sea-port of Augustus Caesar, called Forum Julium,7
which is situated between Olbia and Antipolis, and distant
from Marseilles about 600 stadia. The Var is between Anti-
polis and Nicasa ; distant from the one about 20 stadia, from
the other about 60 ; so that according to the boundary now
marked Nicpea belongs to Italy, although it is a city of the peo-
ple^ of Marseilles, for they built 'these cities [as a defence]
against the barbarians who dwelt higher up the country, in
order to maintain the sea free, as the barbarians possessed the
land. For this [region] is mountainous and fortified by nature,
leaving however a considerable extent of plain country near
Marseilles ; but as you proceed towards the east the country is
so hemmed in by the mountains, as scarcely to leave a sufficient
road for passage by the sea-shore. The former districts are
inhabited by the Salyes,8 the latter by the Ligurians, who
border on Italy, of whom we shall speak afterwards. It should
here be mentioned, that although Antipolis is situated in
the Narbonnaise, and Nicaea in Italy, this latter is de-
pendent on Marseilles, anct Torms part of that province ; while

1 Now 1'etang de Berre or de Martigyes.

2 The French editors propose to read here five mouths, thus referring
to the opinion of Timseus. This, Kramer observes, Strabo probably in-
tended to do. Still, as there were some who were of opinion the Rhone
has seven mouths, as appears from Apoll. Rhod. Argonaut, iv. 634, he
did not venture to touch the text.

3 Taurenti. * Eoube. 5 Antibes. fi Nice. " Frejus.
8 Inhabitants of Provence.

"* T 2

276 STRABO. CASAUB. 184.

Antipolis is ranked amongst the Italian cities, and freed from
the government of the Marseillese by a judgment given against
them.

10. Lying off this narrow pass along the coast, as you com-
mence your journey from Marseilles, are the Stoecbades islands.1
Three of these are considerable, and two small. They are
cultivated by the people of Marseilles. Anciently they con-
tained a garrison, placed here to defend them from the attacks
of pirates, for they have good ports. After the Stoschades
come [the islands ofj Planasia2 and Lero,3 both of them in-
habited. In Lero, which lies opposite to Antipolis, is a
temple erected to the hero Lero. There are other small
islands not worth mentioning, some of them before Marseilles,
others before the rest of the coast which I have been describing.
As to the harbours, those of the seaport [of Forum- Julium] 4
and Marseilles are considerable, the others are but middling.
Of this latter class is the port Oxybius,5 so named from the
Oxybian Ligurians. — This concludes what we have to say of
this coast.

1 1 . The country above this is bounded principally by the
surrounding mountains and rivers. Of these the Rhone is
the most remarkable, being both the largest, and capable of
being navigated farther than any of the others, and also re-

vpeiving into it a greater number of tributaries ; of these we

Nmust speak in order. Commencing at Marseilles, and pro-

y ceeding to the country between the Alps and the Rhone, to

U; the river Durance, .dwell the Salyes for a space of 500 stadia.

From thence you proceed in a ferry-boat to the city of Ca-

ballio;6 beyond this the whole country belongs to the Cavari

as far as the junction of the Isere with the Rhone ; it is here

too that the Cevennes approach the Rhone. From the Durance

to this point is a distance of 700 stadia.7 The Salyes occupy

the plains and mountains above these. The Yocontii, Tri-

corii, Iconii, and Medylli, He above the Cavari.8 Between

the Durance and the Isere there are other rivers which flow

1 Les Isles d' Hieres, a row of islands off Marseilles.

2 Isle St. Houorat. 3 Isle Ste. Marguerite. 4 Frejus.
5 Between the river d' Argents and Antibes. 6 Cavaillon.

7 From the mouth of the Durance to the mouth of the Isere, following
the course of the Rhone, the distance is 24 leagues, or 7%20 Olympic stadia.

8 The Vocontii occupied the territories of Vaison and Die. The
Tricorii appear to have inhabited a small district east of Die, on the

B. iv. c. i. § 11. GAUL. THE NARBONNAISE.

277

from the Alps into the Rhone ; two of these, after having
flowed round the city of the Cavari, discharge themselves by
a common outlet into the Rhone. The Sulgas,1 which is the
third, mixes with the Rhone near the city of Vindalum,2
where Cnseus JEnobarbus in a decisive engagement routed
many myriads of the Kelts. Between these are the cities of
Avenio,3 Arausio,4 and Aeria,5 which latter, remarks Arte-
midorus, is rightly named aerial, being situated in a very lofty
position. The whole of this country consistsjifjjlains abound-
ing in pasturage, excepting on the route from Aeria to Avenio,
where there are narrow defiles and woods to traverse. It was
at the point where the river Isere and the Rhone unite near
the Cevennes, that Quintus Fabius Maximus -ZEmilianus,6 with
scarcely 30,000 men, cut to pieces 200,000 Kelts.7 Here he
erected a white stone as a trophy, and two temples, one to
Mars, and the other to Hercules. From the Isere to Vienne,
the metropolis of the Allobroges, situated on the Rhone, the
distance is 320 stadia. Lugdunuin8 is a little above Vienne
at the confluence of the Saone 9 and the Rhone. The distance
by land [from this latter city] to Lugdunum, passing through
the country of the Allobroges, is about 200 stadia, and rather
more by water. Formerly the Allobroges engaged in war,
their armies consisting of many myriads ; they now occupy
themselves in cultivating the plains and valleys of the Alps.
They dwell generally in villages, the most notable of them in-
habiting Vienne, which was merely a village, although
called the metropolis of their nation ; they have now improved
and embellished it as a city ; it is situated on the Rhone. So
full and rapid is the descent of this river from the Alps, that
the flow of its waters through Lake^Leman may be dis-
tinguished for many stadia. Having descended into the plains
of the countries of the Allobroges, and Segusii, it falls into
the Saone, near to Lugdunum, a city of the Segusii.10 The

banks of the Drac. The Iconii were to the east of Gap ; and the Medylli
in La Maurienne, along the Aar.

1 The Sorgue. 2 Vedene. 3 Avignon. 4 Orange.

5 Le mont Ventoux.

6 Casaubon remarks that ^Emilianus is a name more than this Roman
general actually possessed.

VLjvy states that 120,000 Kelts were slain, and Pliny, 130,000.
^ Lyons. 9 *Apap.

10 The Allobroges and Segusii were separated by the Rhone ; the former
inhabiting the left bank of the river.

278 STRABO. CASAUK. 186.

Saone rises in the Alps,1 and separates the Sequani, the ./Edui,
and the Lincasii.2 It afterwards receives the Doubs, a navi-
gable river which rises in the same mountains,3 still however
preserving its own name, and consisting of the two, mingles
with the Rhone. The Rhone in like manner preserves its
name, and flows on to Vienne. At their rise these three
rivers flow towards the north, then in a westerly direction,
afterwards uniting into one they take another turn and flow
towards the south, and having received other rivers, they
flow in this direction to the sea. Such is the country situ-
ated between the Alps and the Rhone.

12. The main part of the country on the other side of the
Rho.ne is inhabited by the Volcae, surnamed Arecomisci. Their
naval station is ft[fl J*bonne, ^which may justly be called the
emporium of all Gaul, as it far surpasses every^olher in the
multitude of those whojiegort4 to it. The Volcse border on
and Cavari being opposite to them on

the other side of the river. However, the name of the Cavari
has so obtained, that all the barbarians inhabiting near now
go by that designation ; nay, even those who are no longer
barbarians, but follow the Roman customs, both in their
speech and mode of life, and some of those even who have
adopted the Roman polity. Between the Arecomisci and the
Pyrenees there are some other small and insignificant nations.
Nemausus5 is the metropolis of the Arecomisci ; though far
inferior tojjarbonnfl both'as^ojts^mme^c^r^n'd the number
of ToreTgners attracted thither, it surpasses that city in the
number of its citizens ; for it has under its dominion four and
twenty different villages all well inhabited, and by the same
people, who pay tribute ; it likewise enjoys the rights of the
Latin towns, so that in Nemausus you meet with Roman
citizens who have obtained the honours of the sedile and quass-
torship, wherefore this nation is not subject to the orders
issued by the praetors from Rome. The city is situated on

1 The Saone rises in the Vosges.

2 These people are elsewhere called by Strabo Lingones, the name by
which they are designated by other writers.

3 The Doubs rises in the Jura, not in the Alps. Ptolemy falls into the
same mistake as Strabo.

4 We have here followed the proposed correction of Ziegler.

5 N lines.

B. iv. c. i. § 13. GAUL. THE NARBONNAISE. 279

the road from Iberia to Italy ; this road is very good in
the summer, bat muddy and overflowed by the rivers during
winter and spring. Some of these streams are crossed
in ferry-boats, and others by means of bridges constructed
either of wood orstone. The irmruTaTions~which destroy the
roads are'causeHnBy the winter torrents, which sometimes
pour down from the Alps even in summer-time after the
melting of the snows. To perform the route before mentioned,
the shortest way is, as we have said, across the territory of the
Vocontii direct to the Alps ; the other, along the coast of
Marseilles and Liguria, is longer, although it oifers an easier
passage into Italy, as the mountains are lower. Nemausus
is about 100 stadia distant from the Rhone, situated opposite
to the small town of laraseon, and about 720 stadia from
Narbonne. The Tectosages,1 and -certain others whom we
shall mention afterwards, border on the range of the Cevennes,
and inhabit its southern side as far as the promontory of
the Vote. Respecting all the others we will speak here-
after.

13. But the Tectosages dwell near to the Pyrenees, border-
ing for a small space the northern side of the Cevennes ;2 the
land they inhabit is rich in gold. It appears that formerly
they were so powerfuraind numerous, that dissensions having
arisen amongst them, they drove a vast multitude of their
number from their homes ; and that these men associating
with others of different nations took possession of Phrygia, next
to_Cappadocia, and the Paphlagonians. <5f this those who
areliow called the Tectosages afford us proof, for [Phrygia con-
tains] three nations, one of them dwelling near to the city of
Ancyra,3 being called the Tectosages ; the remaining two, the
Trocmi and Tolistobogii.4 The resemblance these nations bear
to the Tectosages is evidence~o7jtheir having immigratedjrom
KelticaTtKough we are unable to say from which district they
came, as there does not appear to be any people at the present
time bearing the name of Trocmi or Tolistobogii, who in-

1 This name is written diversely, Tectosages, Tectosagae, and Tectosagi.
It appears to be comp6sed of the two Latin words, " tectus," covered, and
" sagum," a species of cassock.

2 Viz. between Lodeve and Toulouse ; we must remember that Strabo .
supposed the chain of the Cevennes to run west and east.

3 Angora.

4 These three nations inhabited Galatia, of which Ancyra was the capital

280 STRABO. CASAUB. 188.

habit either beyond the Alps, the Alps themselves, or on this
side the Alps. It would seem that continual emigration has
drained them completely from their native country, a circum-
stance which has occurred to many other nations, as some
say that the Brennus, who Jed an expedition to Delphi,1 was a
i ; but we are unaple to say where the Prausi

formerly inhabited. It is said that the Tectosages took part in
the expedition to Delphi, and that the treasures found in the city
of Toulouse by the Roman general Caepio formed a portion of
the bootv^ained there, which was afterwards increased by
otterings which the citizens made from their own property, and
consecrated in order to conciliate the god.'2 And that it was
for daring to touch these that Ca^pio terminated so miserably
his existence, being driven from his country as a plunderer of
the temples of the gods, and leaving behind him his daughters,
who, as Timagenes informs us, having been wickedly violated,
perished miserably. However, the account given byvPosi-
doniu^ is the more credible. He tells us that the wealth found
in Toulouse amounted to somewhere about 15,000 taTentsTaTpart
ofwKIch was hidden in the chapels, and the remainder in the
sacred lakes, and that it was not coined [money], but gold and
silver in bullion. But at this time the temple of Delphi was
emptied of_these treasures, having been _pillaged by the
fhocaeans at the period of the Sacred war ; and supposing any
to have been left, it would have been distributed amongst
many. Nor is it probable that the Tectosages returned home,
since they came off miserably after leaving Delphi, and owing
to their dissensions were scattered here and there throughout
the country ; there is much more likelihood in the statement
made by Posidonius and many others, that the country
abounding in gold, and the inhabitants being superstitious,
and not living expensively, they hid their treasures in many
different places, the lakes in^particular affording them a hiding-
place for depositing~tKeir"gold and silver bullion. When the
Romans obtained possession of the country they put jojx-lhese
lakes to public sale, and many of the purchasers found therein

1 279 years before the Christian era.

2 Justin tells us that the Tectosages on returning to Toulouse_from the
expedition, were attacked with a pestilential malady, IromTwhich they
could find no relief until they complied with the advice of their augurs,
and cast the ill-gotten wealth into a lake. Justin, lib. xxxii. c. 3.

B. iv. c. i. § 14. GAUL. THE NARBONNAISE. 281

solid masses of silver. In Toulouse there was a sacred temple,
held in greatjreverence by the inhabitants of the surrounding
country, and on this account loaded with riches, inasmuch as
there were many who offered gifts, amTncTone dared to touch
them.

14. Toulouse is situated upon the narrowest part of the
isthmus which separates the ocean from the sea of Narbonne ;
the breadth of the [isthmus], according to Posidonius, being
less than 3000 stadia. The perfect similarity maintained
throughout this country both in respect tojts rivers, and to
the exterior and interior sea,1 appears to us worthy of especial
notice, as we have said before. This, on reflection, will prove to
be one main cause of the excellence of this country, since the
inhabitants are enabled mutually to communicate, and to pro-
cure from each other the necessaries of life ; this is peculiarly
the case at the present time, when on account of their leisure
from war they are devoting thp.msplves to agriculture and the
pursuits of social life. In this we are persuaded that we be-
hold theworFoO'rovidence ; such a disposition of these re-
gions not resulting from chance, but from the thought of some
[intelligence]. The Rhone, for instance, is navigable to a
considerable distance for vessels of heavy burden, which it is
capable of transmitting through various districts of the coun-
try by means of other rivers which fall into it, and are like-
wise fitted for the navigation of large vessels. To the Rhone
succeeds the Saone,2 and into this latter river falls the Doubs ;
thence the merchandise is carried by land to the river Seine ;
whence it is transported to the ocean and the [countries of
the] Lexovii and Caleti,3 the distance thence to Britain being
less than a day's journey. The navigation of the Rhone being
difficult on account of the rapidity of its current, the merchants
prefer to transport in waggons certain of their wares, which
are destined for the Arverni,4 and the river Loire,5 notwith-
standing the vicinity of the Rhone in some places, but the
road being level and the distance not far, (about 800 stadia,)
they do not make use of water carriage on account of the

1 The Atlantic and Mediterranean. 2 *Apap.

3 The Lexovii inhabited the southern banks of the Seine, Lizieux was
anciently their capital. The Caleti occupied the opposite side of the
Seine, and the sea-coast as far as Treport.

4 The inhabitants of Auvergne. 5 The ancient Liger.

STRABO. CASATTB. 189.

facility of the transport by land, from thence the merchandise is
easily conveyed by the Loire. This river flows from the Ce-
vennes into the ocean. From Narbonne the voyage to the
Aude l is short, but the journey by land to the river Garonne
longer, being as much as 700 or 800 stadia. The Garonne like-
wise flows into the ocean. Such is what we have to say con-
cerning the inhabitants of the Narbonnaise, who were for-
merly ^ named Kelts. In my opmToiT the" celebrity of the
Kelts induced the Grecians to confer that na_me on the whole
of the Galatce ; the~~vicmity of the Massilians may alsoliave
had sometEmg to do with it.2

CHAPTER II.

1 . WE must now speak of the AgmiaEli and the fourteen
Galatic nations pertaining to them, situated between the Ga-
ronne and thejLoire, some of which extend to the river Khone

"and the plainiTof the Narbonnaise. Generally speaking, the
Aquitani may be said to oliffer from theGalatic race, both as
to form of body and language, resembling''more nearly the
IbertaTis: They are bounded by the~Garonne, and dwell be-
tween this river and the Pyrenees. There are above twenty
nations which bear the name of Aquitani, small and obscure,

~the~ major part of them dwelling by the ocean, and the re-
mainder in the interior and by the extremities of the Cevennes,
as far as the Tectosages. This district, however, being too
small, they added to it the territory between the Garonne
and the Loire. These rivers are nearly parallel with the
Pyrenees, and form with them two parallelograms, bounded on
the remaining sides by the ocean and the mountains of the
Cevennes.3 Both of these rivers are navigable for a distance

1 *Ara%.

2 The whole of Gaul bore the name of Keltica long before the Romans
had penetrated into that country. After their conquest of the southern
provinces, they distinguished them from the rest of Keltica by conferring
on them the name of Gallia Narbonensis. Aristotle gave the name of
Kelts to the inhabitants of the country near Narbonne. Polybius tells us
that the Pyrenees separated the Iberians from the Kelts ; while Diodorus
Siculus fixed the position of the Kelts between the Alps and the Pyrenees.

3 " Strabo," says Gosselin, u always argues on the hypothesis that the

B. iv. c. ii. § 1. GAUL. AQUITAINE. 283

of about 2000 stadia.1 The Garonne, after being augmented
by three other rivers/2 discharges itself into the ["ocean] be-
tween the [country] of the Bituriges, surnamed the Vivisci,8
and that of the Santoni ;4 both of them Gallic nations.

The Bituriges are the only foreign people who dwell among
the Aquitam without forming a part of them. Their em-
porium is Burdegala,5 situated on a creek formed by the o
lets of the river. The Loire discharges itself between the
Pictones and the NamngtEe.6 Formerly there was an em-
porium on this river named Corbilon, mentioned by Polybius
wKeh speaking of the fictions of Pytheas. " The Marseillese,
[says he,] when interrogated by Scipio7 at their meeting, had
nothing to_teUa^ojit_^ritain worth mentioning, nor yet had
the peopleof the I^arbonnaise, nor those 6T Corbilon ; notwith-
standing these were the two principal cities of the district,
Pytheas alone dared to forge so many lies [concerning that
island]." Mediolanium8 is the capital of the Santoni. The
part of Aquitaino next the ocean is for the most part sandy
and meagre/ producing millet, but barren of all other bruits.
Here is the gulf wMch, with that on"tHe coast of Narbonne,
forms the isthmus. Both these gulfs9 go by the name of the
Galatic gulf. The former gulf belongs to the Tarbelli.10
These people possess the ri^eaLgoldJUJnes ; masses of gold as
big as the fist can contain, and requiring hardly any purifying,

Pyrenees run from south to north; that the Garonne and the Loire
flowed in the same direction ; that the Cevennes stretched from west to
east; and that the coasts of Gaul, from the Pyrenees, rose gently towards
the north, bending considerably east."

1 The Garonne becomes navigable at Cazferes near to Rieux, in the
ancient Comte de Comminges. From this point to its mouth, following
the sinuosities of the river, there are about 68 leagues of 20 to a degree,
or 2030 Olympic stadia. The Loire is navigable as far as St. Rambert,
about three leagues from St. Etienne-en-Forez, that is to say, double the
distance assigned by Strabo. 2000 stadia measured from the mouth of
the Loire would extend merely as far as Orleans.

2 Probably the Arriege, the Tarn, and the Dordogne.

3 'loaicuv MSS.

4 The present Saintes was the capital of this nation. 5 Bordeaux.

6 Poictiers was the capital of the Pictones or Pictavi, and Nantes of the
Namnetee.

7 Scipio ^Emilianus. 8 Saintes.
9 The Gulfs of Gascony and Lyons.

1C The Tarbelli occupied the sea-coast from the Pyrenees to the Lake of
Arcachon.

284 SIR ABO. CASAUB. 190.

being found in diggings scarcely beneath the surface of the
earth, the remainder consisting of dust and lumps, which like-
wise require but little working. In the interior and moun-
tainous parts [of Aquitaine] the soil is superior ; for instance,
in the district near the Pyrenees belonging to the Con venae,1
which name signifies people assembled from different countries
to dwell in one place. Here is the city of Lugdunum,2 and
the hot springs of the Onesii,3 which are most excellent for
drinking. The country of the Auscii 4 likewise is fine.

2. The nations between the Garonne and the Loire an-
nexed to the Aquitani, are the Elui,5 who commence at the
Rhone. After these the Vellaei,6 who were formerly com-
prehended amongst the Arverni,7 but now form a people to
themselves. After these Arverni come the Lemovices,8 and
Petrocorii,9 and after them the Nitiobriges,9 the Cadurci,9 and
the Bituriges,9 surnamed Cubi. Along the ocean we meet
with the Santoni, and Pictones,10 the former dwelling by the
Garonne, as we have stated, and the latter by the Loire. The
Ruteni and the Gabales ! l are in the vicinity of the Narbonnaise.
The Petrocorii and Bituriges-Cubi possess excellent iron-
wor^s, the Cadurci linen-factories, and the Ruteni silyer-
mines : the Gabales likewise possess silver-mines. On
certain amongst the Aquitani the Romans have conferred the
rights of Latin cities ; such for instance as the Auscii, and the
Convenae. , fflP-l.fif.

3. The Arverni are situated along the Loire. Nempssus,
*0 their metropolis, is built on the same river.12 This river having

. ^ flowed past Genabum,13 an emporium of the Carnutes,14 situated
about the"nnddle^Fits course, discharges itself into the ocean.
A great proof of the jormjer_£ower of the Arverni, is the fact
of th^fr^qu^ntjwars which they sustained against the Romans.,

I The Canton of Comminges. 2 St. Bertrand.

3 Xylander thinks that these Onesii may be identical with the Monesi
of Pliny. Gosselin says that the hot springs are probably the baths of
Bagnieres-sur-PAdour. * The territory of the city of Auch.

5 The inhabitants of Vivarais. 6 The inhabitants of Velai.

r The inhabitants of Auvergne. 8 The Limousins.

9 The inhabitants of Perigord, Agenois, Querci, and Berri.

10 The inhabitants of Saintonge and Poitou.

II The inhabitants of Rouergue and Gevaudan.

12 Gosselin supposes that this city is Clermont in Auvergne at some dis-
tance from the Allier.

13 Orleans. u The people of the Chartrain.

B. iv. c. m. § 1. GAUL. AQUITAINE. 285

sometimes with armies of^ 200,000 men, and sometimes with
double that number, which was the amount of their force
when they fought against divus Csesar underjhe command of
Vercingetorix.1 Before this they had brought 200,000 men
against Maximus JEmilianus, and the same number against
Domitius ^Enobarbus. Their battles with Cassar took place,
one in Gergovia,2 a city of the Arverni situated on a lofty
mountain, the birthplace of Vercingejprix ; the other, near
to Alesia,3 a city oTlhelilandubii, who border on the Arverni ;
this city is likewise situated on a high hill, surrounded by
mountains, and between two rivers. Here the war was ter-
minated by the capture of their leader. The battle with
Maximus JEmilianus was fought near the confluence of the
Isere and the Rhone, at the point where the mountains of the
Cevennes approach the latter river. That with Domitius was
fought lower down at the confluence of the Sulgas 4 and the
Rhone. The Arverni extended their dominion as far as
Narbonne and the borders of Marseilles, and exercised au-
thority over the nations as far as the Pyrenees, the ocean, and
the Rhine. Luerius,5 the father of Bituitus who fought against
Maximus and Domitius, is said to have been so distinguished
by his riches and luxury, that to give a proof of his opulence
to his friends, he caused himself to be dragged across a plain
in a car, whilst he scattered gold and silver coin in every
direction for those who followed him to gather up.

CHAPTER III.

1. NEXT in order after Aquitaine and the Narbonnaise,
is that portion [of Gaul] expending as far as the JRhine from

1 Caesar himself (lib. vii. c. 76) states the number at 248,000 men.

2 A city near Clermont.

3 Alise. The ruins of Alesia, says Gosselin, still exist near to Flavigni
jn^Boirgiindy, on Mount Auxois, between two small rivers, the Oze and the

Ozerain, which flow into the Brenne. 4 The Sorgue.

5 In Athenaeus, (lib. iv. p. 152,) this name is written Luernius.

286 STRABO. CASAUB. 191.

the rivejiLQire, and the Rhone, where it passes by Lugdunlm :v
in its descent from its source. The upper regions of this
district from the sources of the Rhine and Rhone, nearly to
the middle of the plains, pertain to Lugdunum ; the remainder,
with the regions next the ocean, is comprised in another divi-
sion which belongs to the Belga3. We will describe the two
together.

2. Lugdunum itself, situated on2 a hill, at the confluence
of the Saone3 and the Rhone, belongs to the Romans. It is the
most populous city after Narbonne. It carries on a great
commerce, and the Roman prefects here coin both gold and
silver money. Before this city, at the confluence of the
rivers, is situated the temple dedicated by all the Galatae in
common to Caesar .Augustus. The altar is splendid, and has
inscribed on it the names of sixty people, and images of them,
one for each, and also another great altar.4

This is the principal city of the nation of the Segusiani who
lie between the Rhone and the Doubs.5 The other nations
who extend to the Rhine, are bounded in part by the Doubs,
and in part by the Saone. These two rivers, as said before,
descend from the Alps, and, falling into one stream, flow into
the Rhone. There is likewise another river which has its
sources in the Alps, and is named the__Seine.6 It flows
parallel with the Rhine, through a nation bearing the same
name as itself,7 and so into the ocean. The Sequani are
bounded on the east by the Rhine, and on the opposite side
by the Saone. It is from them that the Romans procure
the finest salted-pork. Between the Doubs and Saone dwells
the nation oi the J£dui, who possess the city of Cabyllinum,8
situated on the Saone and the fortress of Bibracte.9 The

1 Lyons.

2 M'SS. read VTTO, " under," we have not hesitated to translate it iiri, like
the Italian, French, and German versions; although Kramer remarks
"paulo audacius," of Coray's reading tirl in the Greek. 3 "Apap.

4 Kramer says that aXXof is manifestly corrupt.— I have ventured to
translate it another altar.

5 Kramer concurs with Falconer and Gosselin in understanding this
passage to have been originally between the Rhone and the Loire.

6 S^Koavat,1. 7 The Sequani.

8 Chalons-sur-Saone.

9 Autun, accordinglo Gosselin. Beurect, according to Ferrarius.

B. iv. c. in. § 3. GAUL. THE LYONNAISE. 287

are said to be related to the_JfomajisAand they were
the first to enter into friendship and alliance with them. On
the other side of the Saone dwell the Sequani, who have for
long been at enmity with the Romans and ^Edui, having
frequently allied themselves with the Germans in their in-
cursions into Italy. It was then that they proved their strength,
for united to them the Germans were powerful, but when
separated, weak. • As for the jEdui, their alliance with the
Romans naturally rendered them the enemies of the Sequani,2
but the enmity was increased by their contests concerning the
river which divides them, each nation claiming the Sapne ex-
clusively for themselves, and likewise the jtolls on Yes_seis
passing. However, at the present time, the whole of it is under
the dominion of the Romans.

'6. The n"rsF~ofall the nations dwelling on the Rhine are
the Helvetii, amongst whom are the sources of that river in
Mount Adula,3 which forms part_of^the Alps. From this
mountain, but in an opposite direction, likewise proceeds the
Adda, which flows towards Cisalpine Gaul, and fills lake
Larius,4 near to which stands [the city of] Como ; thence it
discharges itself into the Po, of which we shall speak after-
wards. The Rhine also nows into vast marshes and a great
lake,5 which borders on the Rhaeti and Vindelici,6 who dwell
partly in the Alps, and partly beyond the Alps. Asinius
says that the length of this river is 6000 stadia, but 'such is
not the case, for taken in a straight line it does not much
exceed half that length, and 1000 stadia is quite sufficient to
allow for its sinuosities. In fact this river is so rapid that it
is difficult to throw bridges across it, although after its descent
from the mountains it is borne the remainder of the way
through level plains ; now how could it maintain its rapidity
and vehemence, if in addition to this level channel, we suppose
it also to have long and frequent tortuosities ? Asinius like-

1 Caesar, Tacitus, and other writers, also speak ojF_this relationship of
itH th

e Romans.
Lit " As for The ^Edui on these accounts indeed."

3 The sources of the Rhine take their rise in Mount St. Gothard and
Mount Bernardin, while the Adda rises in the glaciers of the Valteline.
Adula, however, may have been the name of the Rhaetian Alps.

4 The Lake of Como. 5 The Lake of Constance.

6 The Rheeti occupied the Tirol ; the Vindelici that portion of Bavaria
south of the Danube.

288 STRABO. CASAL-B. 193.

wise asserts that this river has two mouths, and blames those
who say that it has more.1 This river and the Seine embrace
within their tortuosities a certain extent of country, which
however is not considerable. They both flow from south to
north. Britain lies opposite to them ; but nearest to the
Rhine, from which you may see Kent, which is the most easterly
part of the island. The Seine is a little further. It was here
that divns Cgsar established^ dock-yard when he sailed to
Britain. The navigable portion of the Seine, commencing
from" the point where they receive the merchandise from the
Saone, is of greater extent than the [navigable portions] of
the Loire and Garonne. From Lugdunum2 to the Seine is [a
distance of] 1000 stadia, and not twice this distance from the
outlets of the Rhone to Lugdunum. They say that the Hel-
vetii,3 though rich in gold, nevertheless, devoted themselves to
pillage oliT)eholding the wealth jrf the^Cimbri,4 [accumulated
by that means ;] and that two out of their three tribes perished
entirely in their military expeditions, iiowever, the multitude
of descendants who sprang from this remainder was proved in
their war with divus Cassar. in which about 4QQ.OOO of their
number were destroyed ; the 8000 who survived the war,
being spared by the conqueror, that their country mi^ht not
be_ left desert, a prey to the neighbouring Germans.5

4. After the Helvetii, the Sequani6 and Mediomatrici 7
dwell along the Rhine, amongst whom are the Tribocchi,8 a
German nation who emigrated from their country hither.
Mount Jura, which is in the country of the Sequani, separates
that people from the Helvetii. To the west, above the Hel-
vetii and Sequani, dwell the JEdui and Lingones; the Leuci
and a part of the Lingones dwelling above the Mediomatrici.
The nations between the Loire and the Seine, and beyond the
Rhone and the Saone, are situated to the north near to the

1 Ptolemy says it has three. It appears that the ancient mouths of this
river were not the same as the present. 2 Lyons. 3 The Swiss.

4 Gosselin identifies the Cimbri as the inhabitants of Jutland or Den-
mark.

5 Casaubon remarks that the text must be corrupt, since Strabo's ac-
count of the Helvetii must have been taken from Ceesar, who (lib. i. c.
29) states the number of slain at 258,000, and the survivors at 110,000.

6 The Sequani occupied La Franche-Comte.

7 Metz was the capital of the Mediomatrici.

8 These people dwelt between the Rhine and the Vosges, nearly from
Colmar to Hagenau.

B. iv. c. in. § 4, 5. GAUL. THE LYONNAISE. 289

Allobroges,1 and the parts about Lyons. The most celebrated
amongst them are the Arverni and Carnutes,2 through both
of whose territories the- Loire flows before discharging itself
into the ocean. The distance from the rivers of Keltica to
Britain is 320 stadia ; for departing in the evening with the
ebb tide, you will arrive on the morrow at the island about
the eighth hour.3 After the Mediomatrici and Tribocchi,
the Treviri 4 inhabit along the Rhine ; in their country the
Roman generals now engaged in the German war have con-
structed a bridge. Opposite this place on the other bank of
the river dwelt the Ubii, whom Agrippa with their own con-
sent brought over to this side the Rhine.5 The Nervii.6
another^German nation, are contiguous to the Treviri ; and last
the Menapii, who inhabit either bank of the river near to its
outlets ; they dwell amongst marshes and forests, not lofty,
but consisting of dense and thorny wood. Near to these dwell
the Sicambri,7 who are likewise Germans. The country next
the whole [eastern] bank^is TnhaTnted by the Suevi, who are
also named Germans, but are superior both in power and
number to the others, whom they drove out, and who have
now taken refuge on this side the Rhine. Other tribes have
sway in different places ; they are successively a prey to the
flames of war, the former inhabitants for the most part being
destroyed.

5. The Senones, the Remi, the Atrebates, and the Ebu-
rones dwell west of the Treviri and Nervii.8 Close to the
Menapii and near the sea are the Morini, the Bellovaci, the
Ambiani, the Suessiones, and the Caleti, as far as the outlet

1 The Allobroges dwelt to the left of the Rhone, between that river and
the Isere.

2 The Arverni have given their name to Auvergne, and the Carnutes to
Chartrain.

3 Strabo here copies Caesar exactly, who, speaking of his second passage
into Britain, (lib. v. c. 8,) says: "Ad solis occasum naves solvit .... ae-
cessum estad Britanniam omnibus navibus meridiano fere tempore."

* The capital of these people is Treves.

5 Viz. to the western bank of the river.

6 The Nervii occupied Hainault, and the Comte de Namur.

7 The Sicambri occupied the countries of Berg, Mark, and Arensberg.
They afterwards formed part of the people included under the name of
Franci or Franks.

8 Bavai, to the south of Valenciennes, was the capital of the Nervii ;
Duricortora, now Rheims, of the Remi ; Arras of the Atrebates, and Ton-
gres of the Eburones.

VOL. i. u

290 STRABO. CASAru. 194.

of the river Seine.1 The countries of the Morini, the Atre-
bates, and the Eburones are similar to that of the Menapii.
It consists of a forest filled with low trees ; of great extent,
but not near so large as writers have described it, viz. 4000
stadia.2 It is named Ar duenna.3 In the event of warlike
incursions the inhabitants^ would interweave the flexible
brambly shrubs, thus stopping up the passages [into their
country]. They also fixed stakes in various places, and then
retreated with their whole families into the recesses of the
forest, to smalLJslands surrounded by marshes. During the
rainy season these proved secure hidinjr^places. but in times
of drought they were easily taken. However, at the present
time all the nations on this side the Rhine4 dwell in peace
under' the dominion of the Romans. The Parisii dwell along
the river Seine, and inhabit an island formed by the river ;
their city is Lucotocia.5 The Meldi and Lexovii border on
the ocean. The most considerable, however, of all these na-
tions are the Remi. Duricortora, their metropolis, is well
populated, and is the residence of the Roman prefects.

CHAPTER IV.

GAUL. THE BELG^E.

1. AFTER the nations mentioned come those of the Belgae,
who dwell next the ocean. Of their number are the V enetl,6
who fought a naval battle with Cassar. They had prepared
to resistjiis passage into Britain, beingj)ossessed oi ihejggfl-
merce |"of that island") themselves. But Caesar easily gained
the victory^ not ^however Dy means of his beaks, (Tor their

1 Terouane was the principal city of the. Morini, Beauvais of the Bel-
lovaci, Amiens of the Ambiani, Soissons of the Suessiones, and Lile-
bonne of the Caleti.

2 Caesar (lib. vi. c. 29) describes the forest of Ardennes as 500 miles
in extent.

•pgLldfiBnes. * West of the Rhine.

^Ptolemy names it Lucotecia ; Ceesar, Lutetia. Julian, who was pro-
claimed emperor by his army in this city, names it Leucetia.
6 The inhabitants of Vannes and the surrounding country.

B. iv. c. iv. § 2. GAUL. THE BELG^. 291

ships were constructed of solid wood,)1 but whenever their
ships were borne near to his by the wind, the Romans rent the
.Sails by means of scythes fixed on long handles : 2 for the sails
[of their ships 1 are made of leather to resist the violence of
the winds, and managed by chains instead of cables. They
construct their vessels with broad bottoms and high pnnp* and
prows, on account of the tides. They are built o/ thp \fooH
of the oak, oF which there is abundance. On this account, in-
stead of fitting the planks close together, they leave interstices
between them ; these they fill with sea-weed to prevent the
wood from drying up in dock for want of moisture ; for
the sea-weed is damp by nature, but the oak dry and arid.
In my opinion these Yeneti were the founders of the\ Yeneti
in the Adriatic, for almost all theTother Keltic nations in Italy
have passed over from the country beyond the Alps, as for
instance, the Boii3 and Senones.4 They are said to be
Paphlagonians merely on account of a similarity of name.
However, I do not maintain my opinion positively ; for in
these matters probability is quite sufficient. The Osismii are
the people whom Pytheas calls Ostimii ; they dwell on a
promontory which projects considerably into the ocean, but
not so far as Pytheas and those who follow him assert.5 As
for the nations between the Seine and the Loire, some are
contiguous to the Sequani, others to the Arverni.

2. The entire race which now goes by the name of Gallic,
or Galatic,6 is warlike, passionate, and always ready for fi^ht-
ing, but otherwise simple and not malicious. If irritated,
they rush in crowds to the conflict, openly and without any
circumspection ; and thus are easily vanquished by those who
employ stratagem. For any one may exasperate them when,
where, ancTunder whatever pretext he pleases ; he will al-

Neque enira his nostrae rostro nocere poterant; tanta erat in his
firmitudo. Caesar, lib. iii. c. 13.

2 Vide Caesar, lib. iii. c. 14.

3 The Boii, who passed into Italy, established themselves near to
Bologna.

" •* The Senones, or inhabitants of Sens, are thought to have founded
.Sienna in Italy.

» The promontory of Calbium, the present Cape Saint-Mahe, is here
alluded to.

6 Gosselin observes, " These people called themselves by the name of
Kelts ; the Greeks styled them Galatae, and the Latins Galli or Gauls."

u 2

292 STRABO. CASAUB. 196.

ways find them ready for danger, with nothing to support
them except their violence and daring. Nevertheless they
may be easily persuaded to devote themselves to any thing
useful, and have thus engaged both in science and letters.
Their power consists both in the jsize of their Bodies and_alsQ
in their numbers. Their frankness and simplicity lead them
easily to assemble in masses, ^each one feeling indignant at
what appears injustice to his neighbour. At the present
time indeed they are allatpeace, being in subjection and liv-
ing under the commancTof the Romans, who have subdued
them ; but we have described their customs as we understand
they existed in former times, and as they still exist amongst
the Germans. These two nations, both by nature and in
their form of government, are similar and related to each
other. Their countries border on each other, bejng separ-
ated by the^ river Rhine, and are for the most part similar.
Germany, however, is more to the north, if we compare to-
gether the southern and northern parts of the two countries
respectively. Thus it is that they can so easily change their
abode. They march in crowds in one collected army, or rather
remove with all theirfamilies, whenever^hey are ejeo.tp.djhy
~a moxe~powerful force. They were subdued by the Romans
much more easily than the Iberians ; for they began to wage
war witli these latter first, ancT ceased last, having in the
mean time conquered the whole of the nations situated be-
tween the Rhine and the mountains of the Pyrenees. For
these fighting in crowds and vast numbers, were overthrown
in crowds, whereas the Iberians kept themselves in reserve,
and broke up the war into a series of petty engagements,
showing themselves in different bands, sometimes here7some-
times there, like banditti. All the Gauls are warriors by
nature, but they fight better onn^rsebacF''than on footT and
tRftHowftr of f.frq Romqn qavalry is dr^wn^trom their"yyymher.
The rnost valiant ofMihemdwell tow
the ocean.

3. Of these they say that theJBelgae are the bravest. They
are divided into fifteen nations, and dwell near the ocean be-
tween the Rhine and the Loire, and have therefore sustained
themselves single-handed against the incursions of the Ger-
mans, the Cimbri,1 and the Teutons. The bravest of the
1 The Cirnbri inhabited Denmark and the adjacent regions.

B. iv. c. iv. § 3. GAUL. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 293

Belgae are the Bellovaci,1 and after them the Suessiones. The
amount of their population may be estimated by the fact that
formerly there were said to be 300,000 Belgae capable of
bearing arms.2 The numbers of the Helvetii, the Arverni,
andlheir allies, have already been mentioned. All this is a
proof both of the amount of the population ["of Gaul], and, as
before remarked, of tEe fecundity of their women, and the
ease with which they rearjth,gir_£hildren. The Gauls wear
the_sjigum, let their hair grow, and wearjshort breeches. In-
stead of tunicsTIiey wear a slashed garment with sleeves de-
scending aJittle below the hips'? The wool [of their sheep]]
is coarse, but long ; from it they weave the thick saga called
laines. However, in the northern parts the Eomans rear
fioclfs of sheep which they cover with skins, and which pro-
duce very fine wool. The equipment [of the Gauls] is in
keeping with the size of their bodies ; they have a lonp: sword
hanging at their right_side, a long_shield, and lances in propor-
tion, together with a madaris somewhat resembling a jave-
lin ; some of them also use bows and slings ; they have also a
"piece of wood resembling a pilum, which they hurl not out of
a thong, hiit from tlipir hfl.nd; anri to a farther distance than
an arrow. They principally make use of it in shooting
birds. To the present day most of them lie on the ground,
and take their me_als_seated on straw. They subsist princi-
pally onjnilk and ajTkmdFoQ[e*sh, especially that of swine,
which they eat bothTfresh^and salted. Their swine live in
the fields, ancTsurpass in height, strength, and swiftness. To
persons unaccustomed to approach them they are almost as
dangerous as wolves. The people dwell in great houses
arched, constructed~of planks and wicker, and covered with a
heavy thatcheoLroof. They have sheep and swine in such abun-
dance, that theysupply saga and salted pork in plenty, not only
to Rome but to most parts of Italy. Their governments were
for the most part aristocratic ; formerly they chose a governor
every year, and a military leader was likewise' elected by the
multitude.4 At the present day they are mostly under sub-

1 The inhabitants of the Beauvoisis. 2 Vide Caesar, lib. ii. c. 4.

8 This slashed garment is the smock frock of the English peasant
and the blouse of the continent.

4 Conf. Caesar, lib. vTTc. 13. Plebs pene servorum habetur loco, quae
per se nihil audet, et nulli adhibetur consilio.

294 STRABO. CASAUB. 197.

jection to the Romans. They have a peculiar castQmjnJJieir
Assemblies. If any one ma,]^s_j|n uproar or interrupts the
person speaking, an attendant advances with a_ drawn jswprd,
and commands him with menace to be silent ; if he persists,
the attendant does the same thing a second and tjburd_time ;
and finally, [if he will not obey,] cuts off from bis sagum so
largeji piece as to render the remainder useless. The labours
of the two sexes are distributed in a manner thejreverse~of
what^tJaej^ are with us. but this is a common thing with
numerous other barbarians.

4. Amongst [the Gauls] there are generally three divisions
of men especially reverenced, the Bards, the Vates. and the
Druids. The Bjr^s_jc^Qmpi)sed and chanted hymns ; the
^Vates occupied themselves with the sacrifices amT'the Jrtudy
Q£ nature ; while the Druids joined to the study of nature

that of moraLpJiJlQsopIiy^ The belief in the justice | or the
JDruids] is so great that the decision both of public and private
disputes is referred to them ; and they have before now, by
their decision, prevented armies from engaging when drawn
up in battle-array against each other. Alt' cases of murder
are particularly referred to them. When there is plenty of
these they imagine there will likewise be a plentiful harvest.
Both these and the others l assert that the soul is indestructi-
Jile, and Hkewisejthe world, but that sometimes fire and some-
Times water haveprevailed in making great changes.2

5. To their simplicity and vehemence, the Gauls join much
folly, arrogance, and love of ornament. They wear golden
_coliars round their necks, and bracelets on their ^rms and
wrists, and those who are of any dignity have garments
dyed and worked with gold. This lightness of character
makes them intolerable when they conquer, and throws them
into consternation when worsted. In addition to their folly,
they have a barbarous and absurd custom, common however
with many nations of the north, of suspending the-^heads of
their enemies from their horses' necKson their return from
battle, aHcT when they have~arrive"cT nailing them as a spec-
tacle to their gates. Posidonius says he witnessed this in
many different 'places, and was^ at first shocked, but became
familiar with it in time on account of its frequency. The

1 By the others are probably meant the Bards and Vates.

2 These opinions are also to be found in the Pythagorean philosophy.

B. iv. c. iv. § 6. GAUL. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 295

heads of any illustrious persons they embalm with cedar, ex-
hibit them to strangers, and would not sell them lor their
weight in gold.1 However, the Romans put a stop to these
customs, as well as to their modes_of^acrifice and divination,
which were quite opposite to those sanctioned by our laws.
They would strike a man devoted as an offering in his back

with a sword, and divme from his convulsive" throes. W^h- __ *^
out the Druids they never sacrifice. It is said they have r
"8fner~ modes oi' sacrificing their human victims ; that they //
pierce some of them with arrows, and crucify others in their ^u""*
temples ; and that they prepare a colossus of hay and wood,
into which they put cattle, beasts of all kinds,"ahd men, and
then set fire to it.

6. They say that in the ocean, not far from the coast, there
is a small island lying opposite to the outlet of the river £>
Loire, inhabited by Samnite women who are Bacchantes, and f
conciliate and appease that god by masteries and sacrifices. / /
No man is permitted to land on the island ; and when the C7u"*
women desire "To" have intercourse with the other sex, they
cross the^a, and afterwards return again1. They have a
custom of once a year unroofing the whole of the temple, and
roofing it again the same day before sun-set, each one
bringing some of the materials. If any one lets her burden
fall, she is torn in pieces by the others, and her limbs carried
round the temple with wild shouts, which they never cease
until their rage is exhausted. [They say] it always happens
that some one drops her burden, and is thus sacrificed.

But what Artemidorus tells us concerning the crows, par-
takes still more of fiction. He narrates that on the coast,
washed by the ocean, there is a harbour named the Port of
Two Crows, and that here two crows may be seen with their
right wings white. Those who have any dispute come here,
and eaclT one" having placed a plank for himself on a lofty
eminence, sprinkles crumbs thereupon ; the birds fly to these,
eat up the one and scatter the other, and he whose crumbs
are scattered gains the cause. This narration has decidedly
too much the air of fiction. What he narrates concerning
Ceres and Proserpine is more credible. He says that there /•/
is an island near Britain in which they perform sacrifices to kr'a

1 These particulars are taken from Posidonius. See also Diodorus
Siculus, lib. v. c. 29.

296 STRABO. CASATJB. 199.

these goddesses after the same fashion that they do in Samo-
thrace. The following is also credible, that a tree grows" in
Keltica similar to a fig, which produces a fruit resembling a
Corinthian capital, and which, being cut, exudes a poison-
ous juice which they use for poisoning their arrows. It
is well known that all the Kelts are fond of disputes ; and
that amongst them paederasty is not considered shameful.
Ephorus extends the size of Keltica too far, including within
it most of what we now designate as Iberia^ as far as Gades.
He states that the people are great admirers of the Greeks,
and relates many particulars concerning them not applicable
to their present state. This is one : — That they take great
£are noj to become fat or big-bellied, and that if any young
man exceeds the measure of Ifcertain girdle, he is punished.1
Such is our account of Keltica beyond the Alps.2

• CHAPTER V.

BRITAIN.

1. BRITAIN is triangular in form ; its longeaL-flide lies
parallel to Keltica, in length neither exceeding nor falling
short oi' it ; for each of them extends as much as 4300 or
4400 stadia : the side of Keltica extending from the mouths of
the Rhine to the northern extremities 'of thej^cejiees to-
wards Aquitaine ; and that of Britain, which commences at
Kent, its most eastern point, opposite the mouths of the
"Rhine, extending to the western extremity of thej^land,
which lies oyeragainst Aquitaine and the Pyrenees. This is
the shortest Imelrom the Pyrenees to the Khine ; the longest
is said to be 5000 stadia ; but it is likely that there is some

1 A similar custom existed amongst the Spartans ; the young people
were obliged to present themselves from time to time before the Ephori,
and if of the bulk thought proper for a Spartan, they were praised, if on
the contrary they appeared too fat, they were punished. Athen. 1. xii. p.
550. JElian, V. H. 1. xiv. c. 7. At Rome likewise it was the duty of the
censor to see that the equites did not become too fat ; if they did, they
were punished with the loss of their horse. Aulus Gellius, Noct. Att. 1.
vii. c. '22.

2 Transalpine Gaul.

B. iv. c. v. § 2. BRITAIN. 297

convergency of the river towards the mountain from a strictly
parallel position, there being an inclination of either toward
the other at the extremities next the ocean.

2. There are four passages commonly used from the con-
tinent to the island, namely, from the mouths of the rivers
Rhine, Seine, Loire, and Garonne ; but to such as set sail
from the parts about the Khine, the passage is not exactly
from its mouths, but from the Morini,1 who border on the
Menapii,2 among whom also is situated Itium,3 which divus
Caesar used as his_jiaYal station when about to pass over to
the island : he set sail by night, and arrived the next day about
the fourth hour,4 having completed a passage of 320 stadia,
and he found the corn in the _figlds. The greatest portion of
the island is level and woody, although many tracts are hilly.
It produces corn, cattle, gol_d, silver, andJLron, which things
are brought Whence, and also skins, and slaves, and dogs
sagacious in hunting ; the Kelts use these, as well as their'
native dogs, for the purposes of war. The men are taller

than the Kelts, with hair less yellow ; they are slighter inlEeir
persons^ As an instance oT their height, we ourselves saw at
Rome sqme_youths who were taller than the tallest there v
by as much as half_ji_foot, but their legs were bowed,
and in other respects they were not jjv^mmetrical in con-
formation. Their manners are in^part like those of the
Kelts, though in partjnore^smiple and barbarous ; insomuch
that some of them, though possessing plenty of milk, have not
skill enough to make cheese, and are totally unacquainted
with horticulture and other matters of husbandry. There
are sej^£ral_states amongst them. In their wars they make
use of chariots for the most part, as do some of the Kelts.
Forests are their cities ; for having enclosed an ample space

1 The coasts occupied by the Morini extended from la Canche to the
Yser.

2 The Menapii occupied Brabant.

3 General opinion places the port Itius at Wissant, near Cape Grisnez ;
Professor Airy, however, is of opinion that the portus Itius of Caesar is the
estuary of the Somme. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of
London, 1852, vol. ii. No. 30, p. 198.

4 Caesar passed twice into Britain : the first time he started about mid-
night, and arrived at the fourth hour of the day ; the second time he
started at the commencement of the night, and did not arrive until the
following day at noon, the wind having failed about midnight.

298 STRABO. CASAUB. 200.

with felled trees, they make themselves huts therein, and lodge
their collie, though not for 'any long continuance. Their at-
mosphere is more subject to rain than to snow ; even in their
clear days the mist continues for a considerable time, inso-
much that throughout the whole day the sun is only visible
for three or four hours about noon ; and this must be the case
also amongst the Morini, and the Menapii, and among all the
neighbouring people.

3. Divus Caggar twice passed over to thejsland, but quickly
returned, having efiectecT nottimg ~5F consequence, nor pro-
ceeded far into the country, as well on account of some com-
motions in Keltica, both among his own soldiers and among
the barbarians, as because of the loss of many of his ships at
the time of the full moon, when both the ebb and flow of
the tides were greatly" increased. * Nevertfieless " luT" gained

although he had

transported thither only two legions of his army, and brought
away hostages and slaves and much other booty. At the
present time7 lioweverT "soiaa-jQf-4he._:princes there have, by
their embassies and solicitations, obtainedthe friendship of
Augustus Cassar, dedicated their offerings in the Capitol, and
brought the whole island into intimate union with the
Romans. They pay butjnoderate duties both on the imports
and exports from Keltica; which are ivory bracelets and
necklaces, amber, vessels of glass, and small wares ; so that
thlflsTand scarcely needs iTgarrison, for at the least it would
require one legion and some cavalry to enforce tribute from
them ; and the total expenditure for the army would be equal
to the revenue collected ; for if a tribute were levied, of neces-
sity the imposts must be diminished, and at the same time
some danger would be incurred if force were to be em-
ployed.

4. There are also other small islands around Britain ; but
one, of great extent, lerna,2 lying parallel to it towards the

1 The fleet consisted of J.OOQ vessels, according to Cotta. (Athen. 1. vi.
c. 21.) The great loss sp/wcen 6f "by Strabo occurred before the first re-
turn of Caesar into Gaul. (Csesar, 1. iv. c. 28.) As to his second return, it
was occasioned, to use his own words, " propter repentinos Galliae
motus." L. v. c. 22.

2 Called by Caesar, Hibernia ; by Mela, Juverna ; and by Diodorus Sicu-
lus, Iris.

B. iv. c. v. § 5. IRELAND. ICELAND.

north, long, or rather, wide ; concerning which we
further than that its inhabitan

are

_more savage than _the Britons, feeding; on human flesh, ami
pnormnna ftatp.raj and (leeming it commendable to devour their
deceased fathers,1 as well as openly2 to have commerce not
only with other women, but ajso with their own mothers and
sist££S_.3 But this we relate perhaps without very competent
authority ; although to eat human flesh is said to be & Scy-
thian custom ; and during the severities of a siege, even the
Kelts, the Iberians, and many others, are reported to have
done the likel*

5. The account of Tbule is still more uncertain, on account
of its secluded situation; for they consider it to be the
northernmost of all lands of which the names are known.
The falsity of what Pytheas has related concerning this and
neighbouring places, is proved by what he has asserted of well-
known countries. For if, as we have shown, his description
of these is in the main incorrect, what he says of far distant
countries is still more likely to be false.5 Nevertheless, as far
as astronomy and the mathematics are concerned, he appears
to have reasoned correctly, that people bordering on the frozen

1 This custom resembles that related by Herodotus (lib. i. c. 216,
and iv. 26) of the Massagetae and Issedoni. Amongst these latter, when
the father of a family died, all the relatives_^§sjenibled at the house of the
deceased, and having slain certain animals, cut them and the jjody of the
deceased into small pieces, and having mixed the morsels together, re-
galed themselves on" the inhuman feast.

2 Strabo intends by Qavep&e what Herodotus expresses by pi%iv
ifi<^avea, KaQdrtep rolac 7rpo/3aroi(Ti (concubitum, sicuti pecoribits, in propa-
tulo esse) .

3 Herodotus, (1. iv. c. 180,) mentioning a similar practice amongst the
inhabitants of Lake Tritonis in Libya, tells us that the men owned the
children as_they resembled them respectively. Mela asserts the same of
the Garamantes. As to the 'commerce Jbetween relations, Strabo in his
16thT3ook, speaks of it as being /usuaramongst the Arabs. It was

torn amongst the early Greeks, fi omer makes the six sons of

"^Tuno addresses herself to Jupiter as " Et soror

ime of . /[
in his lyl
a cus- / ' v_

conu

TAn extremity to which the Gauls were driven during the war they
sustained against the Cimbri and Teutones, (Caesar, lib. vii. c. 77,) and
the inhabitants of Numantia in Iberia, when besieged by Scipio. (Va-
lerius Maxim us, lib. vii. c. 6.) The city of Potidaea in Greece experi-
enced a similar calamity. (Thucyd. lib. ii. c. 70. )

5 Pytheas placed Thule under the 66th degree of north latitude, which
is the latitude of the north of Iceland.

300 STRABO. CASAUB. 201.

zone would be destitute of cultivated fruits, and almost de-
prived of the domestic animals ; that their food would con-
sist of millet, herbs, fruits, and roots ; and that where there
was corn and honey they would make drink of these. That
, tEey would thresh their corn?"and store

it in vast_granaries, threshing-iloors being useless on account
oftEeTrain and want ol' sun.

CHAPTER VI.

THE ALPS.

1. HAVING described Keltica beyond the Alps,1 and the
nations who inhabit the country, we must now speak of the
Alps themselves and their inhabitants, and afterwards of the
whole of Italy ; observing in our description such arrange-
ment as the nature of the country shall point out.

The Alps do not commence at Monoeci Portus,2 as some have
asserted, but from the region whence the Apennines take
their rise about Genoa, a mercantile city of the Ligurians,
and at the marshes named Sabatorum Vada ; 3 for the Apen-
nines take their rise near Genoa, and the Alps near Saba-
torum Vada. The distance between Genoa and the Saba-
torum Vada is about 260 stadia. About 370 stadia farther
on is the little city of Albingaunum,4 inhabited by Ligurians
who are called Ingauni. From thence to the Monceci Portus is
480 stadia. In the interval between is the very considerable
city of Albium Intemelium,5 inhabited by the Intemelii. These
names are sufficient to prove that the Alps commence at the
Sabbatorum Vada. For the Alps were formerly called Albia
and Alpionia,6 and at the present day the high mountain in the
country of the lapodes,7 next to Ocra and the Alps, is named
Albius, showing that the Alps extend so far.

t * Transalpine Gaul. 2 Port Monaco. 3 Vadi. 4 Albinga.

5 Vintimille.

6 Kramer conjectures that instead of 'A\7ri6via, we should read

7 These people occupied the borders of the province of Murlaka, near
to Istria, on the Gulf of Venice. Mount Albius is still called Alben.

B. iv. c. vi. § 2, 3. THE ALPS. 301

2. Now since the Ligurians were divided into Ingauni
and Interaelii, it was natural that their maritime colonies
should be distinguished, one by the name of Albium Inteme-
lium, Alpine as it were, and the other by the more concise
form Albingaunum.1 To these two tribes of Ligurians already
mentioned, Polybius adds those of the Oxybii and Deciates.2
The whole coast from Monceci Portus to Tyrrhenia is
continuous, and without harbours excepting some small
roads and anchorages. Above it rise the rugged precipices of
the Alpine range, leaving but a narrow passage along the
sea. This district, but particularly the mountains, is inhabited
by Ligurians, principally subsisting on the produce of their
herds, and milk, and a drink made of barley. There is plenty
of wood here for the construction of ships ; the trees grow to
a vast jize, some of them Kavlng been found eight feet in
diameter. Much of the wood is veined, and not inferior to
cedar-wood for cabinet work. This wood, together with the
produce of their cattle, hides, and jioney, they transport to
the mart of Genoa, receiving in exchange for them the oil
and wine of Italy ; for the little [wine] which their country
produces is harsh and tastes of pitch. Here are bred the
horses and mules known as ginni, and here too are wrought
the Ligurian tunics and saga. In their country likewise there
is plenty of lingurium, called by some electrum.3 They use
but few cavalry in war ; their infantry arejgood. and excellent
slingers. Some have thought that their brazen shields prove
these people to be_of^Grecian origin.

'6. The Mono3ci Portus is merely a roadstead, not capable
of containing either many or large vessels. Here is a temple
dedicated to Hercules Monrocus.4 The name seems to show
it probable that the Massilian voyages along the coast ex-
tended as far as here. Monoeci Portus is distant from Anti-
polis rather more than 200 stadia. The Salyes occupy the
region from thence to Marseilles, or a little farther; they

1 Casaubon observes that the Roman writers separated the name
Albium Ingaunum, in the same manner as Albium Intemelium.

2 These two tribes inhabited the country round Frejus and Antibes as
far as the Var. 3 Or amber.

4 MOVOIKOC, an epithet of Hercules signifying " sole inhabitant." Ac-
cording to Servius, either because after he had driven out the Ligurians
he remained the sole inhabitant of the country ; or because it was not
usual to associate any other divinities in the temples consecrated to him.

302 STRABO. • CASAUB. 205.

inhabit the Alps which lie above that city, and a portion of
the sea-coast, where they intermingle with the Greeks. The
ancient Greeks gave to the Salyes the name of Ligyes,1 and to
the country which was in the possession of the Marseillese,
that of Ligystica.2 The later Greeks named them Kelto-
Ligyes,3 and assigned to them the whole, of the plains extend-
ing as far as Luerion4 and the Rhone. They arediyided
intotejacantons, and are capable of raising troops not only of
mlantry, Tmt of/cayalry also. [These people were the first of
the Transalpine Kelts whom the Romans subdued after main-
taining a lengthened war against' them and the Ligurians.
They closed [against the Romans] all the roads into Iberia
along the sea-coast, and carried on a system of pillage both
by sea and land. Their strength so increased that large
armies were scarcely able to force a passage. And after a
jvar of eighty years, the Romans were hardly able to obtain
a breadth of twelve "stadia for the purpose of making a public
road. After this, however, the Rwnaiis^^iitid.ued the whole of
them, and established among them a regular form of govern-
ment, and imposed a tribute.5

4. After trie Salyes, the Albienses, the Albio3ci,6 and the
Vocontii inhabit the northern portion of the mountains.
The Vocontii extend as far as the Allobriges, and occupy
vast valleys in the depths of the mountains, not inferior to
those inhabited by the Allobriges. Both the Allobriges and
Ligurians are subject to the pretors sent into the Narbonnaise,
but the Vocontii are governed by their own laws, as we have
1 1 said of the Volca3 of Nemausus.7 Of the Ligurians between
- v the Var and Genoa, those along the sea are considered Italians ;
while the mountaineers are governed_bv a prefect of the
eq uestrijmprder, as is the case in regard to other nations
wholly Barbarous.

1 At'yu££, or Ligurians. 2 AiyvGTiKrj, or Liguria.

3 Ke\roXiyu££, or Kelto-Ligurians.

4 Kramer is of opinion that we should adopt the suggestion of Man-
nert, to read here Avignon.

a We have adopted the reading of the older editions, which is also that
of the French translation. Kramer however reads Qoflov, and adds $6pov
in a note.

6 The Albioeci are named Albici in Caesar ; the capital city is called by
Pliny Alebece Reiorum ; it is now Riez in Provence.

J Nimes.

B. iv. c. vi. § o, 6. THE ALPS. 303

5. After the Vocontii, are the Iconii, the Tricorii, and the
Medulli ; .who inhabit the loftiesFridges of the mountains,
foTlhey say that some of them have on almost perpendicular
ascent of 100 stadia, and a similar descent to the frontiers
of Italy. In these high-lands there is a gr§at_lake; there
are also two springs not far distant from each other ; one
of these gives rise to the Durance, which flows like a
torrent into the Rhone, and to the Durias,1 which flows in
an opposite direction ; for it mingles with the , Fo after
having pursued its course through the country of the Sa-
lassi2 into Cisalpine Keltica. From the other source, but
much lower down, rises the __£{L_itgelf, large and rapid,
which as it advances becomes still vaster, and at the same
time more gentle. As it reaches the plains it increases in
breadth, being augmented by numerous [other rivers], and
thus it becomes less impetuous in its course, and its current
is weakened. Haying become the largest river in Europe.
with the exception ot 'the i)anube,^it discharges itself into the
Adriatic Sea. The Medullilire situated considerably above
the confluence of the Isere and the Rhone.

6. On the opposite_side of the mountains, sloping towards
JItaly, dwell the Jaurini,4 a Liguriah nation, together with
certain other Ligurians. What is called the land of Ideon-
nus 5 and Cottius belongs to these Ligurians. Beyond them
and the Po are the Salassi ; above whom in the summits [of the
Alps] are the Kentrones, the Catoriges, the Veragri, the
Nantuatse,6 Lake Leman,7 traversed by the Rhone, and the

1 There are two rivers of this name which descend from the Alps and
discharge themselves into the Po. The Durias which rises near the
Durance is the Durias minor of the ancients, and the Doria Riparia of
the moderns ; this river falls into the Po at Turin.

2 Gosselin observes : — The Salassi occupied the country about Aouste,
or Aoste. The name of this city is a corruption of Augusta Praetoria
Salassorum, which it received in the time of Augustus. The Durias
•which passes by Aouste is the Durias major, the modern Doria Baltea.
Its sources are between the Great Saint Bernard and Mont Blanc.

3 The Ister of the classics.

4 Augusta Taurinorum, hodie Turin, was the capital of these people.

5 Various conjectures have been hazarded concerning this name, of
which there appears to be no other mention.

6 The Kentrones occupied la Tarentaise ; the Catoriges, the territories
of Chorges and Embrun ; the Veragri, a part of the Valais south of the
Rhone ; and the Nantuatse, Le Chablais.

7 The Lake of Geneva.

304 STRABO. CASAUB. 204.

sources of that river. Not far from these are the sources of
the Rhine, and Mount Adulas,1 from whence the Rhine flows
towards the north; likewise the Adda,2 which flows in an
opposite direction, and discharges itself into Lake Larius,3
near to Como. Lying above Como, which is situated at the
roots of the Alps, on one side are the Rhoeti and Vennones
towards the east,4 and on the other the Lepontii, the Triden-
tini, the Stoni,5 and numerous other small nations, poor and
addicted to robbery, who in former times possessed Italy.
At the present time some of them have been destroyed, and
the others at length civilized, so that the passes over the
mountains through their territories, which were formerly few
and difficult, now run in every direction, secure from any
danger of these people, and as accessible as art can make them.
For Augustus Caesar not only destroyed the robbers, but im-
proved the character of the roads as far as practicable, although
he could not every where overcome nature, on account of the
rocks and immense precipices ; some of which tower above
the road, while others yawn beneath ; so that departing ever
so little [from the path], the traveller is in inevitable danger
of falling down bottomless chasms. In some places the road
is so narrow as to make both the foot traveller and his beasts
of burden, who are unaccustomed to it, dizzy ; but the animals
of the district will carry their burdens quite securely. These
things however are beyond remedy, as well as the violent
descent of vast masses of congealed snow from above, capable
of overwhelming a whole company at a time, and sweeping
them into the chasms beneath. Numerous masses lie one upon
the other, one hill of congealed snow being formed upon ano-
ther, so that the uppermost mass is easily detached at any time
from that below it, before being perfectly melted by the sun.
7. A great part of the country of the Salassi lies in a deep
valley, formed by a chain of mountains which encloses the
district on either side ; a part of them however inhabit the

1 Saint Gotharcl.

2 The Adda does not flow from the same mountain as the Rhine.

3 The Lake of Como.

4 The Rhoeti are the Grisons ; the Vennones, the people of the Val
Telline.

5 The Lepontii inhabited the Haul Valais, and the valley of Leven-
tina ; the Trideritini occupied Trente ; the Stoni, Steneco.

6 The valley of Aouste.

B. iv. c. vi. § 7. THE ALPS. 30£

overhanging ridges. The route of those who are desirous of
passing from Italy over these mountains, lies through the
aforesaid valley. Beyond this the road separates into two.
The one which passes through the mountain peaks, known as
the Pennine Alps, cannot be traversed by carriages ; the
other, which runs through the country of the Centrbnes, lies
more to the west.1 The country of the Salassi contains gold
mines, of which formerly, in the days of their power, they
were masters, as well as of the passes. The river Doria
Baltea2 afforded them great facility in obtaining the metal by
[supplying them with water] for washing the gold, and they
have emptied the main bed by the Numerous trenches cut for
drawing the water to different places. This operation, though
advantageous in gold hunting, wasjniuripus to the a^ricultur-
ists below, as it deprived them of the irrigation 01 a river,
which, by the height of its position, was capable of watering
their plains. This gave rise to frequent wars between the
two nations ; when the Romans gained the dominion, the
Salassi lost bnth thpirjyold works and their country, but as
tTiey still possessed the mountains, they continued to sell
water to the public contractors of the gold mines ; with whom
there were continual disputes on account of the avarice of the
contractors, and thus the Roman generals sent into the coun-
try were ever able to find a pretext for commencing war.
And, until very recently, the Salassi at one time waging war
against the Romans, and at another making peace, took occa-
sion to inflict numerous damages upon those who crossed over
their mountains, by their system of plundering ; and even
exacted from Decimus Brutus, on his flight from Mutina,3 a
drachm per man. Messala, likewise, having taken up his
winter quarters in their vicinity, was obliged to pay them,
both for his fire-wood, and for the elm-wood for making jave-
lins for the exercise of his troops. In one instance they
plundered the treasures of Caesar,4 and rolled down huge

1 These two routes still exist. The former passes by the Great Saint
Bernard, or the Pennine Alps ; the latter traverses the Little Saint Ber-
nard, and descends into La Tarentaise, formerly occupied by the Cen-
trones.

2 Anciently Durias. 3 Modena.

4 It does not appear that Julius Caesar is hero intended, for he mentions
nothing of it in his Commentaries. It seems more probable that Strabo used

STRABO. CASAUB. 200.

[ock upon the soldiers under pretence of making
>uilding bridges over the rivers. Afterwards
)nrpletely overthrew them, and carried them to
Roman colony which had been planted as a
bulwark against the Salassi, although the inhabitants were
able to do but little against them until the nation was destroy-
ed ; their numbers amounted to 36,000 persons, besides 8000
men capable of bearing arms. Terentius Varro, the general
who defeated them, sold them all by public auction, as enemies
taken in war. Three thousand Romans sent out by Augustus
founded the city of Augusta,2 on the spot where Varro had
encamped, and now the whole surrounding country, even to
the summits of the mountains, is at peace.

8. Beyond, both the eastern parts of the mountains, and
those likewise inclining to the south, are possessed by the
Rhseti and Vindelici, who adjoin the Helvetii and Boii, and
press upon their plains. The Rhsetj extend as far as Italy
above Verona and Como. The Rhastian wine, which is
esteemedTnbt inferior to the finest wines of Italy, is produced
[from vines which grow] at the Toot of the mountains. These
people extend also as far as the districts through which the
Rjiirijg, flows. The Lepontii and Camuni are of their nation.
The Vindelici and Norici possess, for the most part, the
opposite side of the mountains together with the Breuni and
Genauni, who form part of the Illyrians.3 All these people
were continually making incursions both into the neighbour-
ing parts of Italy, and into [the countries] of the Helvetii,

the expression of Ceesar in its wider sense of Emperor, and alludes to
Augustus, of whom he speaks immediately after.

1 Ivrea. 2 Aouste.

3 The limits of these barbarous nations were continually varying ac-
cording to their success in war, in general, however, the Rhaeti possessed
the country of the Grisons, the Tyrol, and the district about Trent.
The Lepontii possessed the Val Leventina. The Camuni the Val
Camonica. The Vindelici occupied a portion of Bavaria and Suabia;
on their west were the Helvetii or Swiss, and on the north the Boii, from
whom they were separated by the Danube ; these last people have left
their name to Bohemia. The Norici possessed Styria, Carinthia, a part of
Austria and Bavaria to the south of the Danube. The Breuni have given
their name to the Val Braunia north of the Lago Maggiore ; and the
Genauni appear to have inhabited the Val Agno, between Lake Maggiore
and the Lake of Como, although Strabo seems to place these people on
the northern side of the Alps, towards the confines of Illyria.

H. iv. c. vi. § 9. THE ALPS. 307

the Sequani,1 the Boii, and the Germans.2 But the Licattii,
the Clautinatii, and the Vennones 3 proved the boldest amongst
the Vindelici ; and the Eucantii and Cotuantii amongst the
Rhaeti. Both the Estiones and Brigantii belong to the
Vindelici ; their cities are Brigantium, Campodunum, and
Damasia, which may be looked upon as the Acropolis of the
Licattii. It is narrated, as an instance of the extreme brutality
of these robbers towards the people of Italy, that when they
have taken any village or city, they not only puMojiualtLall
the men capable of bearing arms, but likewise all the male
children, and do not even stop here, but murder every preg-
nanT woman who, their diviners say, will bring forth a male
infant.*

9. After these come certain of the Norici, and the Garni,
who inhabit the country about the Adriatic Gulf and Aqui-
leia. The Taurisci belong to the Norici. Tiberius and his
brother Drusus in one summer put a stop to their lawless in-
cursions, so that now for three and thirty years5 they have
lived quietly and paid their tribute regularly. Throughout
the whole region of the Alps there are hilly districts capable
of excellent cultivation, and well situated valleys ; but the
greater part, especially the summits of the mountains inhabited
by the robbers, are barren and unfruitful, both on account of
the frost and the ruggedness of the land. On account of the
want of food and other necessaries the mountaineers have
sometimes been obliged to spare the inhabitants of the plains,
that they might have some people to supply them ; for these
they have given them in exchange, resin, pitch, torches,

1 The people of Tranche Comte.

2 The Germans of Wirtemberg and Suabia.

3 The Licattii appear to have inhabited the country about the Lech,
and the Clautinatii that about the Inn ; the Vennones the Val Telline.

4 This disgusting brutality however is no more barbarous than the in-
tention put by Homer into the mouth of Agamemnon, " the king of men,"
which Scholiasts have in vain endeavoured to soften or excuse —

TU>V fJLJ]TlQ VTIlKtyvyOl aiTTVV O\f9()OV,
X«7pa£ 0' T)fl(TSp(lQ- fJLTjd' OVTLVtt ydffTtpl fi^T^f)

Kovpov iovra 0lpoi, /17/cT 0£ 0uyof d\\' ufta iravrtg
'iXtov i£a7roXoiar', aicf]Sf.ffToi /cat dtyavroi.

Iliad vi. 57—60.

5 This expedition of Tiberius took place in the eleventh year of the
Christian era; Strabo therefore must have written his fourth book in the
44th year.

x 2

308 STRABO.

CASATJB. 207.

wax, cheese, and honey, of which they have plenty. In the
Mount Apennine * which lies above the Garni there is a lake
which runs out into the Isar, which river, after receiving
another river, the Aude,2 discharges itself into the Adriatic.
From this lake there is also another river, the Atesinus, which
flows into the Danube.3 The Danube itself rises in the
mountains which are split into many branches and numerous
summits. For from Liguria to here the summits of the Alps
stretch along continuously, presenting the appearance of one
mountain ; but after this they rise and fall in turns, forming
numerous ridges and peaks. The first of these is beyond the
Rhine and the lake4 inclining towards the east, its ridge
moderately elevated ; here are the sources of the Danube
near to the Suevi and the forest of Hercynia.5 The other
branches extend towards Illyria and the Adriatic, such are
the Mount Apennine, already mentioned, Tullum and Phli-
gadia,6 the mountains lying above the Vindelici from whence
proceed the Duras,7 the Clanis,8 and many other rivers which
discharge themselves like torrents into the current of the
Danube.

. ^ 10. Near to these regions dwell the lapodes, (a nation now

r? Vmixed with the Illyrians, and Kelts,) close to them is [the

n Mount] Ocra.9 Formerly the lapodes were numerous, in-

habiting either side of the mountain, and were notorious for

their predatory habits, but they have been entirely reduced

and brought to subjection by Augustus Caspar. Their cities are

1 The Carnic, or Julian Alps, is intended. 2 "Ara£.

3 There is, remarks Gosselin, a palpable mistake in this passage. We
neither know of a river named the Isar nor yet the Atax discharging
themselves into the Adriatic. Atesinus or Athesis are the ancient names
of the Adige, but this river flows into the Adriatic, and not, as Strabo
seems to say, into the Danube. The error of the text appears to result
from a transposition of the two names made by the copyists, and to ren-
der it intelligible we should read thus : — " There is a lake from which pro-
ceeds-, the Atesinus, (or the Adige,) and which, after having received the
Atax, (perhaps the Eisach, or Aicha, which flows by Bolzano,) discharges
itself into the Adriatic. The Isar proceeds from the same lake, and
[passing by Munich] discharges itself into the Danube."

4 Apparently the lake of Constance. 5 The Black Forest.

6 These two chains are in Murlaka, they are now named Telez ana
Flicz.

7 The Traun or Wiirm. 8 The Glan in Bavaria.
9 The Julian Alps, and Birnbaumerwald. "~

B. iv. c. vi. $ 11. THE ALPS. 309

Metulum,1 Arupenum,2 Monetium,3 and Vendon.4 After these
is the city of Segesta,5 [situated] in a plain. Near to it
flows the river Save,6 which discharges itself into the Danube.
This city lies in an advantageous position for carrying on war
against the Dacians.7 Ocra forms the lowest portion of the Alps,
where they approach the territory of the Carni, and through
which they convey the merchandise of Aquileia in waggons to
Pamportus.8 This route is not more than 400 stadia. From
thence they convey it by the rivers as far as the Danube and
surrounding districts, for a navigable river9 which flows out of
Illyria, passes by Pamportus, and discharges itself into the Save,
so that the merchandise may easily be carried down both to
Segesta, and to the Pannonians, and Taurisci.10 , It is near
this city,11 that the Kulp12 falls into the Save. Both of these
rivers are navigable, and flow down from the Alps. The
Alps contain wild horses and cattle, and Polybius asserts that
an animal of a singular form is found there ; it resembles a
stag except in the neck and hair, which are similar to those
6T~a wild boar ; under its chin it has a .tuft of hair about a
span long, and the thickness of the tail of a young horse.13

11. One of the passages over the mountains from Italy into
Transalpine and northern Keltica is that which passes through
the country of the Salassi, and leads to Lugdunum.14 Jliis /
[route] is divided into two ways, one practicable for carriages,
but longer, which crosses the country of the Centrones, the
other steep and narrow, but shorter ; this crosses the Pennine
[Alps]. Lugdunum is situated in the midst of the country,
serving as an Acropolis, both on account of the confluence of

1 Probably M (idling.

2 Auersperg, "oFthe Flecken Mungava. 3 Mottnig or Mansburg.
4 Windisch Gr'atz, or Brindjel. 5 Now Sisseck.

6 The text reads Rhine,T)ut we have, in common with Gosselin, follow-
ed the correction of Cluvier, Xylander, and Tyrwhitt.

7 The Dacians occupied a part of Hungary, Transylvania, Wallachia,
and a portion of Moldavia.

8 Coray suggests Nauportus, now Ober-Laibach in Krain. This sug-
gestion is extremely probable, however Pamportus occurs twice in the
fext.

9 The river Laibach.

10 The Pannonians occupied a portion of Austria and Hungary. The
Taurisci, who formed part of the former people, inhabited Styria.

11 Segesta. 12 The ancient Colapis.

? This is a description of the elk (cervus alces of Linn.). This animal
no longer exists either in France or in the Alps. M Lyons.

310 STRABO. CASAUB. 208.

the rivers, and of its being equally near to all parts. It was
on this account that Agrippa cut all the_ roads from this [as
a Centre 1 one running through the mountains of the Ce-
vennes to the Santones l and Aquitaine,2 another towards the
Jlhine ; a third towards the ocean by the country of the
jSelTovaci 3 and Ambiani,4 and aTourth towards the Narbon-
naise and the coast of Marseilles.5 The traveller, also, leaving
Lugdunum and the country above on his left, may pass over
the Pennine Alps themselves, the Rhone, or Lake Leman, into
the plains of the Hely^tii, whence there is a passage through
MounTTlura into the country of the Sequani, and Lingones ;
here the road separates into two routes, one running to the
Rhine, and the other G to the ocean.

12. Polybius tells us that in his time the gold mines were
so rich about Aquileia, but particularly in the countries of
the Taurisci Norici, that if you dug but two feet below the
surface you found gold, and that the diggings [generally] were
not deeper than fifteen feet. In some instances the gold was
found pure in lumps about the size of a bean or lupin, and
which diminished in the fire only about one eighth ; and in
others, though requiring more fusion, was still very profitable.
Certain Italians7 aiding the barbarians in working [the
mines], in the space of two months the value of gold was
diminished throughout the whole of Italy by one third. The
Taurisci on discovering this drove out their fellow-labourers,
and only sold the gold themselves. Now, however, the
Romans possess all the gold mines. Here, too, as well as in
Iberia, the rivers yield gold-dust as well as the diggings,

1 La Saintonge. 2 Gascony. 3 Beauvoisis.

4 Picardie.

5 From Lyons this route passed by Vienne, Valence, Orange, and
Avignon; here it separated, leading on one side to Tarascon, Nitnes,
Beziers, and Narbonne, and on the other to Aries, Aix, Marseilles, Fr6-
jus, Antibes, &c.

6 This other route, says Gosselin, starting from Aouste, traversed the
Great Saint Bernard, Valais, the Rhone, a portion of the Vaud, Mount
Jura, and so to Besancon and Langres, where it separated, the road to the
right passing, by Toul, Metz, and Trfeves, approached the Rhine at May-
ence ; while that to the left passed by Troies, Chalons, Rheims, and
Bavai, where it again separated and conducted by various points to the
sea-coast.

7 The Italians also went into Spain, and there engaged in working
the mines. Vide Diodorus Siculus, lib. v. c. 36, 38.

B. iv. c. vi. § 12. THE ALPS. 31 1

though not in such large quantities. The same writer, speak-
ing of the extent and height of the Alps, compares with them
the largest mountains of Greece, such asTaygetum,1 Lycaeum,2
Parnassus,3 Olympus,4 Pelion,5 Ossa,6 and of Thrace, as
the Hoemus, Rhodope, and Dunax, saying that an active
person might almost ascend any of these in a single day,
and go round them in the same time, whereas five days
would not be sufficient to ascend the Alps, while their length
along the plains extends 2200 stadia.7 He only names four
passes over the mountains, one through Liguria close to the
Tyrrhenian Sea,8 a second through the country of the Taurini,9
by which Hannibal passed, a third through the country
of the Salassi,10 and a fourth through that of the Rhreti,11 all
of them precipitous. In these mountains, he says, there are
numerous lakes ; three large ones, the first of which is Bena-
cus,12 500 stadia in length and 130 in breadth, the river
Mincio flows from it. The second is the Verbanus,13 400
stadia [in length], and in breadth smaller than the preceding ;

1 A mountain of Laconia.

3 In Arcadia, some suppose it to be the modern Tetragi, others Dia-
phorti, and others Mintha. 3 In Phocis, lapara, or Liokura.

4 Olympus is a mountain range of Thessaly, bordering on Macedonia,
its summit is thirty miles north of Larissa, in lat. 40o 4' 32" N., long.
22o 25' E. Its estimated height is 9745 feet.

5 Petras or Zagora.

6 Now Kissovo ; it is situated to the east of the river Peneus, imme-
diately north of Mount Pelion, and bounds the celebrated vale of Tempe
on one side.

7 Gosselin observes, both Polybius and Strabo extended the Alps from
the neighbourhood of Marseilles to beyond the Adriatic Gulf, a distance
twice 2200 stadia. It appears probable from the words of Polybius
himself, (lib. ii. c. 14,) that he merely intended to state the length of
the plains situated at the foot of the mountains, which bound Italy on
the north ; and in fact the distance in a right line from the foot of the
Alps about Rivoli or Pignerol to Rovigo, and the marshes formed at the
mouths of the Adige and Po, is 63 leagues, or 2200 stadia of 700 to a
degree.

8 This route passes from Tortona, by Vadi, Albinga, Vintimille, and
Monaco, where it crosses the maritime Alps, and thence to Nice, Antibes,
&c. Gosselin.

9 This route passes by Brian^on, Mont Genevre, the Col de Sestri^re,
and the Val Progelas. " 10 The passage by the Val Aouste.

" This route, starting from Milan, passed east of the lake of Como by
Coire, and then by Bregentz to the Lake of Constance.
ia The Lago di Garda. 13 Lago Maggiore.

312 STRABO. CASATJB. 209.

the great river Ticino l flows from this [lake]. The third
is the Larius,2 its length is nearly 300 stadia, and its breadth
30, the river Adda flows from it. All these rivers flow
into the Po. This is what we have to say concerning the
Alpine mountains.

1 Ticinus. We have followed the example of the French translators
in making the Ticino to flow from the Lago Maggiore, and the Adda
from the Lake of Como ; by some inexplicable process the text of Strabo
has been corrupted and these rivers transposed. Kramer notices the
inconsistency of the text.

2 The Lake of Como.

BOOK V.
ITALY,

SUMMARY.

The Fifth Book contains a description of Italy from the roots of the Alps to
the Strait of Sicily, the Gulf of Taranto, and the region about Posidonium ;
likewise of Venetia, Liguria, Agro Piceno, Tuscany, Rome, Campania,
Lucania, Apulia, and the islands lying in the sea between Genoa and
Sicily.

CHAPTER I.

1 . AT the foot of the Alps commences the region now known
as Italy. The ancients by Italy merely understood (Enotria,
which reached from the Strait of Sicily to the Gulf of Taranto,
and the region about Posidonium,1 but the name has extended
eyen to the foot of the Alps ; comprehending on one side that
portion of T^Tguria situated by the sea, from the confines of
Tyrrhenia to the Var ; and on the other, that portion of Istria
which extends as far as Pola. It seems probable that the
first inhabitants were named Italians, and, being successful,
they communicated their name to the neighbouring tribes,
and this propagation [of name] continued until the Romans
obtained dominion. Afterwards, when the Romans conferred
on the Italians the privileges of equal citizenship, and thought
fit to extend the same honour to the Cisalpine Galatas and
Heneti,2 they comprised the whole under the general denomin-
ation of Italians and Romans ; they likewise founded amongst
them numerous colonies, some earlier, some later, of which it
would be difficult to say which are the most considerable.

2. It is not easy to describe the whole of Italy under* any
one geometrical figure ; although some say that it is a pro-
montory of triangular form, extending towards the south and
winter rising, with its apex towards the Strait of Sicily, and

1 The Gulf of Salerno. 2 Venetians.

314 STRABO. CASAUB. 210.

its base formed by the Alps [No one can allow this

definition either for the base or one of the sides,] although it
is correct for the other side which terminates at the Strait,
and is washed by the Tyrrhenian Sea. But a triangle, pro-
perly so called, is a rectilinear figure, whereas in this instance
both the base and the sides are curved. So that, if I agree, I
must add that the base and the sides are of a curved figure,
and it must be conceded to me that the eastern side deviates,
as well ; otherwise they have not been sufficiently exact in
describing as one side that which extends from the head of
the Adriatic to the Strait [of Sicily]. For we designate as a
side a line without any angle ; now a line without any angle
is one which does not incline to either side, or but very little ;
whereas the line from Ariminum1 to the lapygian promon-
tory,2 and that from the Strait [of Sicily] to the same pro-
montory, incline very considerably. The same I consider to
be the case with regard to the lines drawn from the head of
the Adriatic and lapygia, for meeting about the neighbour-
hood of Ariminum and Ravenna, they form an angle, or if not
an angle, at least a strongly defined curve. Consequently, if the
coast from the head [of the Adriatic] to lapygia be con-
sidered as one side, it cannot be described as a right line ;
neither can the remainder of the line from hence to the Strait
[of Sicily], though it may be considered another side, be said
to form a right line. Thus the figure [of Italy] may be said
to be rather quadrilateral than trilateral, and can never with-
out impropriety be called a triangle. It is better to confess
that you cannot define exactly ungeometrical figures.

3. [Italy], however, may be described in the following man-
ner. The roots of the Alps are curved, and in the form of a
gulf, the head turned towards Italy ; the middle of the gulf
in the country of the Salassi, and its extremities turned, the
one towards Ocra and the head of the Adriatic, the other
towards the coast of Liguria as far as Genoa, a mercantile
city of the Ligurians, where the Apennines fall in with the
Alps. Immediately under [the Alps] there is a considerable
plain, of about an equal extent of 2100 stadia both in breadth
and length ; its southern side is closed by the coast of the
Heneti3 and the Apennines, which extend to Ariminum and

1 Rimini. 2 Capo cli Leuca. 3 Venetians.

B. v. c. i. § 3. ITALY. 315

Ancona ; for these mountains, commencing at Liguria, enter
Tyrrhenia, leaving but a narrow sea-coast ; they afterwards
retire by degrees into the interior, and having reached the
territory of Pisa, turn towards the east in the direction of
the Adriatic as far as the country about Ariminum and
Ancona, where they approach the sea-coast of the Heneti at
right angles. Cisalpine Keltica is enclosed within these
limits, and the length ot the coast joined^to that of the moun-
tains is 6300 stadia ; its breadth rather less than 2000. The
remainder of Italy is long and narrow, and terminates in two
promontories, one1 extending to the Strait of Sicily, the other2
to lapygia. It is embraced on one side by the Adriatic,3 on
the other by the Tyrrhenian Sea.4 The form and size of the
Adriatic resembles that portion of Italy bounded by the
Apennines and the two seas, and extending as far as lapygia
and the isthmus which separates the Gulf of Taranto from
that of Posidonium.5 The greatest breadth of both is about
1300 stadia, and the length not much less than 6000. The
remainder of the country is possessed by the Bruttii, and cer-
tain of the Leucani. Polybius tells us, that traversing the
sea-coast on foot from lapygia6 to the Strait [of Sicily] there
are 3000 stadia, the coast being washed by the Sea of Sicily ;
but that going by water it is 500 stadia less. The Apen-
nines, after approaching the country about Ariminum and
Ancona, and determining the breadth of Italy at this point
from sea to sea, change their direction and divide the whole
country throughout its length. As far as the Peucetii and
Leucani they do not recede much from the Adriatic, but on
arriving at the Leucani they decline considerably towards
the other sea,7 and traversing the remainder of the distance
through the Leucani and Bruttii, terminate at Leucopetra,8
in Reggio. Such is a general description of the whole of
present Italy. We will now endeavour to undertake a de-
scription of its various parts. And, first, of those situated
below the Alps.

1 The peninsula occupied by the people named Brettii, or Bruttii.

2 The peninsula now designated Terra di Lecce, and called by the
ancients sometimes lapygia, at others Messapia, Calabria, and Salentina.
The isthmus of this peninsula was supposed to be formed by a line drawn
from Brindisi to Taranto. 3 The Gulf of Venice.

4 The Sea of Tuscany. * The Gulf of Salerno.

8 Capo di Leuca. J The Mediterranean. 8 Capo dell' Armi.

316 STRABO. CASAUB. 212.

4. This is a superb plain variegated with fruitful hills.
The Po divides it almost through its midst, one side being
denominated Cispadana, and the other Transpadana. Cispa-
dana comprehends that part next the Apennines and Liguria,

jand Transpadana the reTnamcTer^ The" former [division] is
inhabited by Ligurian and Keltic nations, the former inhabit-
ing the mountains and thelatter the plains ; and the latter
[division] by Kelts and Heneti. These Kelts are of the

.ce as the Transalpjne^elts. Concerning the Heneti

ere are two'traditions, some saying that they are a 'colony
of those Kelts of the same name who dwell by the ocean.1
Others *ay that they are descended from the Veneti of Paph-
lagonia, who took refuge here with Antenor after the Trojan
war"; and they give as a proof of this the attention these peo-
ple* bestow on rearing horses ; which, though now entirely
abandoned, was formerly in great esteem among them, result-
ing from the ancient rage for breeding mules, which Homer
thus mentions :

" From the Eneti for forest mules renowned."2

It was here that Dionysius, the tyrant of Sicily, kept his stud
of race-horses. And, in consequence, the Henetian horses were
much esteemed in Greece, and their breed in great repute for
a long period.

5. The whole of this country3 is full of rivers and marshes,
especially the district of the Heneti, which likewise experi-
ences the tides of the_ sea. This is almost the only part of
our sea4 which is influenced in the samejnanner as the ocean,
and, like it, has ebb and flood tides. In consequence most of
the plain is covered with lagoons.5 The inhabitants have dug
canals and dikes, after the manner of Lower Egypt, so that
part of the country is drained and cultivated, and the rest is
navigable. Some of their cities stand in the midst of water
like islands, others are only partially surrounded. Such as
lie above the marshes in the interior are situated on rivers
navigable for a surprising distance, the Po in particular,

1 OfVannes.

2 From the Heneti, whence is the race of wild mules. Iliad ii. 857.

3 Transpadana. 4 The Mediterranean.

5 The whole of the coast from Ravenna to Aquileia at the bottom of the
Gulf of Venice is still covered with marshes and lagoons, as it was in the
time of Strabo. The largest of these lagoons are at the mouths of the
Po, the others at the mouths of the torrents which descend from the Alps

B. v. c. i. § 6, 7. ITALY. CISALPINE GAUL. 317

which is both a large river, and also continually swelled by
the rains and snows. As it expands into numerous outlets,
its mouth is not easily perceptible and is difficult to enter.
But experience surmounts even the greatest difficulties.

6. Formerly, as we have said, the district next this river
was chiefly inhabited bv Kelts. The principal nations of
these Kelts were the Boii, the Insubri, and the Senones and .
Ga3sata3, who in one of their incursions took possession of
KoTne. The Romans afterwards entirely extirpated these
latter, and expelled the Boii from their country, who then
inigr rated to the land about the Danube, where they dwelt
wTthlhe Taurisci, and warred against the Dacians until the
whole nation was destroyed ; and they left to the surround-

ing tribes this sheep-pasturing district of Illyria. The Insubri '
still exist; their metropolis is Mediolanum,1 which formerly fa ( ^
was a village, (for they all dwelt in villages,) but is now a
considerable city, beyond the Po, and almost touching the
Alps. Near to it is Verojia, a large city, and the smaller
towns Brescia, Mantua, Reggio, and Como. This latter was
but a very indifferent colony, having been seriously impaired
by the Rhasti who dwelt higher up, but it was repeopled by
Pojn^ey Strabo, father of Pompey the Great. Afterwards ^
Caius Scipio2 transferred thither 3000 men, and finally divus
Caesar peopled jt^with. 500Qjmen, the most distinguished of
wHom wer^5dOJjrreeks. Heconferred on these the privileges
of citizens, arid enrolled them amongst the inhabitants. They
not only took up their abode here, but left their name to the
colony itself; for all the inhabitants taking the name of
NfOk-w/utT-cu, this was translated [into Latin], and the place
called Novum-Comum. Near to this place is Lake Larius,3 C^ *
which is filled by the river Adda, and afterwards flows out
into the Po. The sources of this river, as well as those of
the Rhine, rise in Mount Adulas.4

7. These cities are situated high above the marshes ;
near to them is Patavium,5 the finest of all the cities in this

1 Milan.

2 Apparently a mistake for Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus ; we
are unacquainted with any Caius Scipio. 3 The Lake of Como.

4 The source of the Adda is at the foot of Mount BrauIFo ; the~three
sources of the Rhine issue from Mounts St. Bernardin, St. Barnabe, and
Crispalt, at a considerable distance from the source of the Adda.

5 Padua.

318 STRABO. CASAUB. 213.

district, and which at the time of the late census1 was said to
contain 500 equites. Anciently it could muster an army of
120,000 men. The population and skill of this city is
evinced by the vast amount of manufactured goods it sends
to the Roman market, especially clothing of all kinds. It com-
municates with the sea by a river navigable from a large har-
bour [at its mouth], the river runs across the marshes for a dis-
tance of 250 stadia. This harbour,2 as well as the river,3 is
named Medoacus. Situated in the marshes is the great [city of]
Ravenna, built entirely on piles,4 and traversed by canals^
wfiich you cross by bridges or ferry-boats. At the full tides
it is washed by a considerable quantity of sea-water, as well
as by the river, and thus the sewage is carried off, and the
air purified ; in fact, the district is considered so salubrious
that the [Roman]governors have selected it as a spot to bring
up and exercisethe gladiators in. ~lt is* a remarkable pecu-
liarity oftms place, that, though situated in the midst of a
marsh, the air is perfectly innocuous ; the same is the case with
respect to Alexandria in Egypt, where the malignity of the
lake during summer is entirely removed by the rising of the
river which covers over the mud. Another remarkable pecu-
liarity is that of its vines, which, though growing in the
marshes, make very quickly and yield a large amount of fruit,
but perish in four or five years. Altinum5 stands likewise
in the marshes, its situation being very similar to that of
Ravenna. Between them is Butrium,6 a small city of Ravenna,
and Spina,7 which is now a village, but wajs anciently a Cele-
brated (jjrecian citv. In fact, the treasures ^of the Spimtae
are shown at Delphi, and it is, besides, reported in history that

1 This appears to have been the last census of the three taken under
the reign of Augustus. The first occurred in the year of Rome 726, twenty-
eight years before the Christian era ; the number of citizens then amounted
to 4,064,000, or, according to Eusebius, 4,011,017. The second was in the
year of Rome 746, eight years before the Christian era; the number of
citizens was then found to be 4,163.000. The third census was in the
year of Rome 767, in the fourteenth year of the Christian era ; the num-
ber of citizens at this time was 4,037,000, according to the monument of
Ancyra, but according to Eusebius, 9,070,000.

2 Chioggia. 3 The Bacchiglione.

4 £wXo7ray//e 0X77. We have followed the rendering of the French
translators ; however, Guarini, Buonaccivoli, Xylander, Siebenkees, and
Brequigny, all understand Strabo to mean that the city was built entirely
of wood. 5 Altino. 6 Bulrio. 7 Spinazino.

B.V. c. i. $8. ITALY. CISALPINE GAUL. 319

they had dominion over the sea. They say that it formerly
stood on the sea ; now, however, the district is inland about 90
stadia from the sea. Ravenna is reported to have been
founded by Thessalians, who not being able to sustain the
violence of the Tyrrheni, welcomed into their city some of the
Ombrici, who still possess it, while they themselves returned
home. These cities for the most part are surrounded, and, as
it were, washed by the marshes.

8. Opitergium,1 Concordia, Atria,2 Vicetia,3 as well as
some smaller cities, are less annoyed by the marshes : they
communicate by small navigable canals with the sea. They
say that Atria was formerly a famous city, from which the
Adriatic Gulf, with a slight variation, received its name.
Aquileia, which is the nearest to the head [of the gulf], was
founded by the Romans,4 to keep in check the barbarians
dwelling higher up. You may navigate transport ships to
it up the river Natisone for more than sixty stadia. This
is the trading city with the .nations of Illyrians who dwell
round the Danube. Some deal in marine merchandise,
and carry in waggons wine in wooden casks and oil, and
others exchange slaves, cattle, and hides. Aquileia is with-
out the limits of the Heneti, their country being bounded
by a river which flows from the mountains of the Alps,
and is navigable for a distance of 1200 stadia, as far as the
city of Noreia,8 near to where Cnseus Carbo was defeated
in his attack upon the Kimbrians.6 This place contains fine
stations for gold washing and iron-works. At the very
head of the Adriatic is the Timavum,7 a temple conse-
crated to Diomede, worthy of notice. For it contains a har-
bour and a fine grove, with seven springs of fresh water,
which fall into the sea in a broad, deep river.8 Polybius,
however, says that, with the exception of one, they are all salt
springs, and that it is on this account the place is called by
the inhabitants — the source and mother of the sea. Posi-
donius, on the other hand, tells us that the river Timavo, after
flowing from the mountains, precipitates itself into a chasm,

1 Oderzo. - Aclria. 3 Viceiiza.

4 About the year 186 before the Christian era.

5 Friesach in Steiermark. 6 113 years before the Christian era.
7 S. Giovanni del Carso. 8 The present Timavo.

320 STEABO. CASAUII. 215.

and after flowing under ground about 130 stadia, discharges
itself into the sea.

9. That Diomedes did hold sovereignty over the country
around this sea,1 is proved both by the Diomedean islands,2
and the traditions concerning the Daunii and Argos-Hippium.3
Of these we shall narrate as much as may be serviceable to
history, and shall leave alone the numerous falsehoods and
myths ; such, for instance, as those concerning Phaethon and
the Heliades 4 changed into alders near the [river] Erida-
nus, which exists no where, although said to be near the Po ;5
of the islands Electrides, opposite the mouths of the Po, and
the Meleagrides,6 found in them ; none of which things exist
in these localities.7 However, some have narrated that honours
are paid to Diomedes amongst the Heneti, and that they
sacrifice to him a white horse ; two groves are likewise pointed
out, one [sacred] to the Argian Juno, and the other to the
-ZEtolian Diana. They have too, as we might expect, fictions
concerning these groves ; for instance, that the wild beasts in
them grow tame, that the deer herd with wolves, and they
suffer men to approach and stroke them; and that when
pursued by dogs, as soon as they have reached these groves,

1 The Adriatic.

2 The three islands of Tremiti, namely Domenico, Nicola, and Caprara,
opposite Monte Gargano. 3 Arpino.

4 Phaethusa, Lampetie, and Lampethusa. See Virg. Eel. vi. 62 ; JEn.
x. 190; Ovid Met. ii.

5 Either this passage has undergone alteration, or else Strabo is the
only writer who informs us that certain mythological traditions distin-
guished the Eridanus from the Po, placing the former of these rivers in the
vicinity of the latter. The pere Bardetti thinks the Greeks originally
confounded the Eretenus, a tributary of the Po, with the name Eridanus.

6 Probably Guinea-hens.

7 Strabo seems here to doubt that the Electrides islands ever existed,
but the French translators, in a very judicious note, have explained that
the geographical features of the country about the mouths of the Po had
undergone very considerable changes on account of the immense alluvial
deposit brought down from the mountains by that river, and suggest that
these islands had been united to the main-land long before Strabo's time,
for which reason he would not be able to verify the ancient traditions.
Even at the present day the Cavalier Negrelli is employing his celebrated
engineering science in making the communication between the Po and
the Adriatic navigable, and so rendering the countries bordering on the
Ticino, Adda, Mincio, Trebbia, Panono, and the adjacent lakes ac-
cessible to steam-boats from the Adriatic.

B. v. c. i. § 10. ITALY. CISALPINE GAUL. 321

the dogs no longer pursue them. They say, too, that a certain
person, well known for the facility with which he offered him-
self as a pledge for others, being bantered on this subject by
some hunters who came up with him having a wolf in leash,
they said in jest, that if he would become pledge for the wolf
and pay for the damage he might do, they would loose the bonds.
To this the man consented, and they let loose the wolf, who
gave chase to a herd of horses unbranded, and drove them
into the stable of the person who had become pledge for him.
The man accepted the gift, branded the horses with [the
representation of] a wolf, and named them Lucophori. They
were distinguished rather for their swiftness than gracefulness.
His heirs kept the same brand and the same name for this
race of horses, and made it a rule never to part with a single
mare, in order that they might remain sole possessors of the
race, which became famous. At the present day, however, as
we have before remarked, this [rage for] horse-breeding has
entirely ceased.

After the Timavum l comes the sea-coast of Istria as far as
Pola, which appertains to Italy. Between [the two] is the
fortress of Tergeste, distant from Aquileia 180 stadia. Pola
is situated in a gulf forming a kind of port, and containing
some small islands,2 fruitful, and with good harbours. This city
was anciently founded by the Colchians sent after Medea,
who not being able to fulfil their mission, condemned them-
selves to exile. As Callimachus says,

" It a Greek would call

The town of Fugitives, but in their tongue

'Tis Pola named."

The different parts of Transpadana are inhabited by the
Heneti and the IstriL as far as Pola ; above the Heneti, by
the Garni, the Cenomani, the Medoaci, and the Symbri.3 These
nations were formerly at enmity with the Romans, but the
Cenomani and Heneti allied themselves with that nation, both
prior to the expedition of Hannibal, when they waged war
with the Boii and Symbrii,3 and also after that time.

10. Cispadana comprehends all that country enclosed be-

1 The Timavum, or temple consecrated to Diomede.

2 The Isola di Brioni, Conversara, and S. Nicolo. Pliny calls them
Insulae Pullarise.

3 This name is probably corrupt ; Cora-y proposes to read Insubri.

322 STRABO. CASAUB. 216.

tween the Apennines and the Alps as far as Genoa and the
Vada-Sabbatorum.1 The greater part was inhabited by the
Boii, the Ligurians, the Senones, and Gassatas ; but after the
depopulation of the Boii, and the destruction of the Gsesatse
and Senones, the Ligurian tribes and the Roman colonies
alone remained. The nation of the Ombrici2 and certain of
the Tyrrheni are also mixed amongst the Romans. These
two nations, before the aggrandizement of the Romans, had
some disputes with each other concerning precedence. Having
only the river Tiber between, it was easy to commence war
upon each other ; and if the one sent out an expedition against
any nation, it was the ambition of the other to enter the same
country with an equal force. Thus, the Tyrrheni, having
organized a successful expedition against the barbarians
[dwelling in the countries] about the Po, but having speedily
lost again through their luxury [all they had acquired], the
Ombrici made war upon those who had driven them out.
Disputes arose between the Tyrrheni and Ombrici concern-
ing the right of possessing these places, and both nations
founded many colonies ; those, however, of the Ombrici were
most numerous, as they were nearest to the spot. When the
Romans gained the dominion, they sent out colonies to
different parts, but preserved those which had been formerly
planted by their predecessors. And although now they are
all Romans, they are not the less distinguished, some by the
names of Ombri and T^xrieni, others by those of Heneti,
Ligurians, and Insubri.

11. Both in Cispadana and around the Po there are some
fine cities. Placentia3 and Cremona, situated about the mid-
dle of the country, are close to each other. Between these
and Ariminum,4 are Parma, Mutina,5 and Bononia,6 which is
near to Ravenna ; amongst these are smaller cities on the
route to Rome, as Acara,7 Rhegium-Lepidum,8 Macri-Campi,9
where a public festival is held every year, Claterna,10Forum-
Cornelium ; H while Faventia 12 and Ca5sena, situated near to the
river Savio13 and the Rubicon,14 are adjacent to Ariminum.

1 Vadi. 2 The Umbrians, or Umbri, of Roman History.

3 Piacenza. * Rimini. 5 Modena. 6 Bologna.

"• Probably corrupt. 8 Reggio in Modena.

9 Between Parma and Modena, the Val di Montirone and Orte Ma-
grada. 10 Quaderna. u Imola. l2 Faenza.

13 Ancient Sapis. u Probably Pisatello.

B. v. c. i. § 11. ITALY. CISALPINE GAUL. 323

Ariminum, like Ravenna, is an ancient colony of the Ombri,
but both of them have received also Roman colonies. Ari-
minum has a port and a river1 of the same name as itself.
From Placentia to Ariminum there are 1300 stadia. About
36 miles above Placentia, towards the boundaries of the king-
dom of Cottius, is the city of Ticinum,2 by which flows a river 3
bearing the same name, which falls into the Po, while a little
out of the route are Clastidium,4 Derthon,5 and Aquae- Stati-
ellae.6 But the direct route as far as Ocelum,7 along the Po
and the Doria Riparia,8 is full of precipices, intersected by nu-
merous other rivers, one of which is the Durance,9 and is about
1 60 miles long. Here comme'nce the Alpine mountains and Kel-
tica.10 Near to the mountains above Luna is the city of Lucca.
Some [of the people of this part of Italy] dwell in villages,
nevertheless it is well populated, and furnishes the greater
part of the military force, and of4 equites, of whom the senate
is partly composed. Derthon is a considerable city, situated
about half way on the road from Genoa to Placentia, which
are distant 400 stadia from each other. Aquae- Statiellae is
on the same route. That from Placentia to Ariminum we
have already described, but the sail to Ravenna down the Po
requires two days and nights. A11 great part of Cispadana
likewise was covered by marshes, through which Hannibal
passed with difficulty on his march into Tyrrhenia.12 But
Scaurus drained the plains by navigable canals from the Po 13
to the country of the Parmesans. For the Trebia meeting
the Po near Placentia, and having previously received many
other rivers, is over-swollen near this place. I allude to the
Scaurus 14 who also made the JEmilian road through Pisa
and Luna as far as Sabbatorum, and thence through Der-
thon. There is another JEmilian road, which continues the
Flaminian. For Marcus Lepidus and Caius Flaminius being
colleagues in the consulship, and having vanquished the
Ligurians, the one made the Via Flaminia from Rome across

1 The Marecchia. 2 Pavia. 3 The Ticino.

4 Castezzio. 5 Tortona. 6 Acqui, on the left bank of the Bormia.
7 Ucello. 8 Aovpiae. 9 The ancient Dmentia.

10 Transalpine Gaul. u From here to the word Derthon the text

appears to be corrupt. 12 Tuscany.

13 Clavier proposes to read " from Placentia to Parma ; " he has been
followed throughout the passage by the French translators.

14 M. ^Emilius Scaurus.

324 STRABO. f CASAUB. 218.

Tyrrhenia and Ombrica as far as the territory of Ariminum,1
the other, the road as far as Bononia,2 and thence to Aquileia 3
by the roots of the Alps, and encircling the marshes. The
boundaries which separate from the rest of Italy this country,
which we designate Citerior Keltica,4 were marked by the
Apennine mountains above Tyrrhenia and the river Esino,5
and afterwards by the Rubicon.6 Both these rivers fall into
the Adriatic.

12. The fertility of this country is proved by its population,
the size of its cities, and its wealth, in all of which the
Romans of this country surpass the rest of Italy. The culti-
vated land produces fruits in abundance and of every kind,
and the woods contain such abundance of mast, that Rome is
principally supplied from the swine fed there. Being well
supplied with w.ater, millet grows there in perfection. This
affords the greatest security against famine, inasmuch as mil-
let resists any inclemency of the atmosphere, and never fails,
even when there is scarcity of other kinds of grain. Their
pitch-works are amazing, and their casks give evidence of the
abundance of wine : these are made of wood, and are larger
than houses, and the great supply of pitch allows them to be
sold cheap. The soft wool and by far the best is produced
in the country round Mutina7 and the river Panaro ;8 while
the coarse wool, which forms the main article of clothing
amongst the slaves in Italy, is produced in Liguria and the
country of the .Symbri. There is a middling kind grown
about Patavium,9 of which the finer carpets, gausapi,10 and
every thing else of the same sort, whether with the wool on

1 Strabo here falls into a mistake in attributing to C. Flaminius Nepos,
who was consul in the year of Rome 567, 187 years before the Christian
era, the construction of the Via Flaminia which led from the Portus
Flumentana to the city of Ariminum. According to most Latin authors,
this grand route was formed by C. Flaminius Nepos, censor in the year
of Rome 534, and 220 years before the Christian era (the same who
three years afterwards was slain at the battle of Thrasymenus). Livy,
whose authority is certainly of great weight, speaking of the grand road
made by C. Flaminius Nepos, consul in the year of Rome 567, states ex-
pressly that it led from Bologna to Arezzo. Hist. lib. xxxix. § 2.

2 Bologna. 3 Maft'ei proposes to substitute Placentia for Aquileia.

4 Cisalpine Gaul.

5 The ancient JEsis, now Esino, named also Fiumesino.

6 Probably the Pisatello. 7 Modena. 8 The Scultanna of antiquity.
9 Padua. 10 A kind of cassock with long hair.

B. v, c. ii. § 1. ITALY. ETRURIA. 325

one or on both sides, are made. The mines are not worked
now so diligently, because not equally profitable with those of
Transalpine Keltica and Iberia ; but formerly they must have
been, since there were gold-diggings even in Vercelli, near
to Ictimuli,1 both which villages are near to Placentia.2
Here we finish our description of the first part of Italy, and
pass on to the second.

CHAPTER II.

1. IN the second place, we shall treat of that portion of Ligu-
ria situated in the Apennines, between the Keltica3 already
described and Tyrrhenia. There is nothing worth mention-
ing about it, except that the people dwell in villages, ploughing
and digging the intractable land, or rather, as Posidonius ex-
presses it, hewing the j*ocks.

The third division contains the Tyrrhenians, who dwell "~
next the former, and inhabit the plains extending to the
Tiber, which river, as far as its outlet, washes the side towards
the east, the opposite side being washed by the Tyrrhenian
and Sardinian sea. The Tiber flows from the Apennines, and
is swelled by many rivers ; it flows partly through Tyrrhenia,
dividing it in the first instance from Ombffca,4 afterwards I
from the Sabini and the Latini, who are situated next Rome |
as far as tHe^ea-coast ; so ^Kat these countries are bounded """"
in their breadth by the river [Tiber] and the Tyrrhenians,
and in their length by each other. They extend upwards
towards the Apennines which approach the Adriatic. The
fip^t5 are the Ombrici, after these the Sabini, and finally the
inhabitants of Latium. They all commence from the river.
The country of fnlT Latini extends on one side along the sea-
coast from Ostia to the city of Sinuessa, on the other it
is bounded by the land of the Sabini, (Ostia is the port of
Rome, through which the Tiber passes in its course,) it

1 Probably Victimolo. 2 Piacenza.

3 Gallia Cispadana. 4 'OfiflpiKij, now Ombria.

5 Or nearest to the Adriatic.

326 STRABO. CASAUB. 219.

extends in length as far as Campania and the Saninitic moun-
tains. The country of the Sabini lies between the Latini
and the Ombrici, it likewise extends to the Saninitic moun-
tains, but approaches nearer to the Apennines inhabited by
the Vestini, the Peligni, and the Marsi. The Ombrici lie
between the country of the Sabini and Tyrrhenia, but extend
beyond the mountains as far as Ariminum,1 and Ravenna.
The Tyrrheni, commencing from their own sea and the Tiber,
extend to the circular chain of mountains which stretches
from Liguria to the Adriatic. We will now enter into a
detailed account, commencing with these.

2. The Tyrrheni have now received from the Romans the
surname of Etrusci and Tusci. The Greeks thus named them
from Tyrrhenus the son of Atys, as they say, who sent hither
a-colonyTrom Lydia. Atys, who was one of the descendants
of Hercules and Omphale, and had two sons, in a time of
famine and scarcity determined by lot that Lydus should re-
main in the country, but that Tyrrhenus, with the greater
part of the people, should depart. Arriving here, he named
the country after himself, Tyrrhenia, and founded twelve
cities, having appointed as their governor Tarcon, from
whom the city of Tarquinia [received its name], and who, on
account of the sagacity which he had displayed from child-
hood, was feigned to have been born with hoary hair. Placed
originally under one authority, they became flourishing ; but
it seems that in after-times, their confederation being broken
up and each city separated, they yielded to the violence of
the neighbouring tribes. Otherwise they would never have
abandoned a fertile country for a life of piracy on the sea,
roving from one ocean to another ; since, when united they
were able not only to repel those who assailed them, but to
act on the offensive, and undertake long campaigns. After
fa~' the founjda^p^i^f^p^eiJDejnaratus arrived here, bringing
with him people^ from^Corinth.2 He was received at Tar-
quinia, where he had_a_son, named Lucumo, by a woman of
that country.3 Lucumo becoming the friend ~of Ancus Mar-

1 Rimini.

2 Larcher calculates that it was about the year of Rome 91, or 663
years before the Christian era, that Demaratus, flying from the tyranny of
Cypselus at Corinth, established himself in Tyrrhenia.

3 Strabo here mentions only one son of Demaratus, to whom he gives

B. v. c. ii. § 3. ITALY. ETRURIA. 327

cius, king of the Romans, succeeded him on the throne, and
assumed the name of Lucius~^KrquTnTuT Priscus. Both he
and his father did mnghjor^j.h^^ of Tyrrhenia.

the one by means of the numerous artists who had followed
him from tj^eiEIaative country TThe other having the resou rces
oTRome^ It is saicT thaT the triumphal costume of the con-
suls, as well as that of the other magistrates, was introduced '
from the Tarquinii, with the fasces, axes, trumpets, sacrifices,
divination, and music employed by the Romans in their
public ceremonies. His son, the second Tarquin, named Su-
perbus, who was driven from his throne, was the last king
Rome]. Porsena, king of Clusium,2 a city of Tyrrhe
endeavoured to replace him on the throne by force of arms,
but not being able he made peace3 with the Romans, and
departed in a friendly way, with honour and loaded with gifts.
3. Such are the facts concerning the celebrity of the Tyr-
rheni, to which may be added the explojjs_oLj3iejCaeretani,4
who defeated the Galatae after they had taken Rome. Having
attacked them as they were departing through the country of
the Sabini, they took from them, much against their will, the
ransom which the Romans had willingly paid to them ; besides
this, they_toojcjin^e^jtheir_proj^£tipjn thosejvvho fledjfcp them
out of RomeT the sacred fire and the priestesses of Vesta/?
The Romans, influenced by those who then misgoverned the
city, seen^oXto^ayje_be^n_pr^ejljjmindful of this service ;
for although they conferred on them the rights of citizenship,
they did not enrol them amongst the citizens ; and further,
they inscribed upoji the same.,joll with the Cgretani, others
who did not enjoy as great privileges as they did. However,

the name of Lucumo ; in this latter statement he is supported by Diony-
sius Halicarnassus. Livy also mentions a young citizen of Clusium
named Lucumo. But there is reason to believe that these three writers
were deceived by the writers whom they followed. It seems to be in-
contestable that Lucumo was the designation of the chief of each of the
twelve cities of Etruria.

1 Dionysius Halicarnassus relates that after a brisk war the cities of
Etruria submitted to Tarquinius Priscus, and that the Romans permitted
him to accept this foreign royalty, and still hold the throne of Rome.
No historian that we are aware of, with the exception of Strabo, men-
tions the benefits received by Etruria from that prince.

2 Chiusi. 3 B. c. 508.
* The people of Cerveteri.

5 This is also related by Livy and Valerius Maximus.

328 STRABO. CASAUB. 220.

amongst the Greeks this city was highly esteemed both for
its bravery and rectitude of conduct ; for they refrained from
piracy, with favourable opportunities for engaging in it, and
dedicated at Delphi the treasure, as it was called, of the
Agyllasi ; for their country was formerly named Agylla, though
now Caerea. It is said to have been founded by Pelasgi from
Thessaly. The Lydians, who had taken the name of Tyr-
rheni, having engaged in war against the Agyllaei, one of them,
approaching the wall, inquired the name of the city ; when
one of the Thessalians from the wall, instead of answering the
question, saluted him with xdipe.1 The Tyrrheni received this
as an omen, and having taken the city they changed its name.
This city, once so flourishing and celebrated, only preserves
the traces [of its former greatness] ; the neighbouring hot
springs, named Caeretana,2 being more frequented than it, by
the people attracted thither for the sake of their health.

t4. Almost every one is agreed that the Pelasgi were an ancient
race spread throughout the whole of Greece, but especially in
the^ountry oftEe JEolians near to Thessaly. Ephorus,
however, says that he considers fney wefe~ originally Arca-
dians, who had taken up a warlike mode of life ; and having
persuaded many others to the same course, imparted their own
name to the whole, and became famous both among the Greeks,
and in every other country where they chanced to come.
Homer informs us that there were colonies of them in Crete,
for he makes Ulysses say to Penelope —

" Diverse their language is ; Achaians some,
And some indigenous are ; Cydonians there,
Crest-shaking Dorians, and Pelasgians dwell." 3

And that portion of Thessaly between the outlets of the
Peneius4 and the Thermopylae, as far as the mountains of
Pindus, is named Pelasgic Argos, the district having formerly
belonged to the Pelasgi. The poet himself also gives to Do-
donaean Jupiter, the epithet of Pelasgian : —

1 A Grecian form of salutation, equivalent to our " good-morning."

2 Cseri, according to Holstenius, the Bagni di Sasso, Cluvier con-
sidered it Bagni di Stigliano.

3 Odyssey xix. 175. And there is a different language of different men
mixed together ; there are in it Achaians, and magnanimous Eteocretans,
and Cydonians, and crest-shaking Dorians, and divine Pelasgians.

4 The Salambria, Costum.

B. v. c. ii. § 5. ITALY. ETRURIA. 329

" Pelasgian, Dodoneean Jove supreme." '

Many have likewise asserted that the nations of the Epirus
are Pelasgic, because the dominions of the Pelasgi extended
so far. And, as many of the heroes have been named Pelasgi,
later writers have applied the same name to the nations over
which they were the chiefs. Thus Lesbos 2 has been callecT"
Pelasgic, and Homer has called the people bordering on the
Cilices in the Troad Pelasgic : —

" Hippothous from Larissa, for her soil
Far-famed, the spear-expert Pelasgians brought." 3

Ephorus, when he supposes that they were a tribe of Arca-
dians, follows Hesiod, who says,

" The sons born of the divine Lycaon, whom formerly Pelasgus begot."
Likewise jiEschylus in his Suppliants, or Danaids, makes their
race to be of Argos near Mycenae. Ephorus likewise says that
Peloponnesus was named Pelasgia ; and Euripides, in the
Archelaus, says,

" Danaus, who was the father of fifty daughters, having arrived in Argos»
inhabited4 the city of Inachus, and made a law that those who had before
borne the name of Pelasgiotae throughout Greece should be called Danai."

Anticlides says, that they first colonized about Lemnos and
Imbros, and that some of their number passed into Italy with
Tyrrhenus, the son of Atys. And the writers on the Athenian
Antiquities,5 relate of the Pelasgi, that some of them came to
Athens, where, on account of their wanderings, and their set-
tling like birds in any place where they chanced to come,
they were called by the Athenians PelargiP

5. They say that the greatest length of Tyrrhenia, which is
along the coast from Luna to Ostia, is about 2500 stadia ; and
that its breadth in the direction of the mountains is less than
half that number. Then from Luna to Pisa there are more than
400 stadia ; from thence to Volaterrae 7 280 ; thence to Pop-

1 Iliad xvi. 223. 2 Metelino.

3 Iliad ii. 840, Hippothous led the tribes of the spear-skilled Pelasgians,
of those who inhabited fertile Larissa.

4 We have followed the example of the French translators in reading
$Ki]ffiv with all MSS. Groskurd and Kramer adopt the views of Xy-
lander and Siebenkees in substituting $KIGIV.

5 Oi rrfv 'ArOida (ruyypa^avrtg. 'A.rQiQ was a title given to their works
by many authors who wrote on Athenian Antiquities, as Philochorus, An-
drotion, Amelesagoras, Hellanicus, &c.

8 Or Storks. 7 Volterra.

330 STRABO. CASAU-B. 222.

Ionium 270 ; and from Poplonium to Cossa1 near 800, or as
some say, 600. Polybius, however, says that there are not2 in
all 1330.3 Of these Luna is a city and harbour ; it is named by
the Greeks, the harbour and city of Selene.4 The city is not
large, but the harbour5 is very fine and spacious, containing in
itself numerous harbours, all of them deep near the shore ; it
is in fact an arsenal worthy of a nation holding dominion for
so long a time over so vast a sea. The harbour is surrounded
by lofty mountains,6 from whence you may view the sea 7
and Sardinia, and a great part of the coast on either side. Here
are quarries of marble, both white and marked with green, so
numerous and large, as to furnish tablets and columns of one
block ; and most of the material for the fine works, both in
Rome and the other cities, is furnished from hence. The
transport of the marble is easy, as the quarries lie near to the
sea, and from the sea they are conveyed by the Tiber. Tyr-
rhenia likewise supplies most of the straightest and longest
planks for building, as they are brought direct from the
mountains to the river. Between Luna and Pisa flows the
Macra,8 a division which many writers consider the true bound-
ary of Tyrrhenia and Liguria. £isa was founded by the
Pjsatse of the Peloponnesus, who went under Nestor to the
expedition again sTTroy, but in their voyage~horne wandered
out of their course, some to Metapontium,9 others to the Pisatis ;
they were, however, all called Pylians. The city lies between
the two rivers Arno10 and ^Esar,11 at their point of confluence ;
the former of which, though very full, descends from Arretium12
not in one body, but divided into three ; the second flows

Ruins near Ansedonia.

Coray here reads ovv for OVK. Kramer considers the passage corrupt.

The French translation here gives 1460, and a note by Gosselin.

~2e\r)rT], the moon. 5 The bay of Spezia.

The mountains of Carrara. 7 The Mediterranean.

Other writers mention a river Macra, but none of them, as it appears,
a district in Italy bearing that name. Kramer supposes that Strabo wrote
Trora/uov, and not %u)piovt the reading of all MS§.

* Near the mouth of the river Basiento. 10 The ancient Arnus.

11 Corresponding to the present Serchio, which discharges itself into the
sea, and not into the Arno. The time when this change of direction took
place is not recorded, but traces of the ancient name and course of the
river remain in the Osari, which, after flowing a short distance through a
marshy district, falls into the sea between the Serchio and Arno.

12 Arezzo.

B. v. c. ii. §6. ITALY. ETRURIA. 331

down from the Apennines. Where they fall into one current,
the shock between them is so great as to raise the water to
that height, that people standing on either bank are not able
to see each other ; so that necessarily the voyage up from
the sea is difficult. This voyage is about 20 stadia. There
is a tradition, that when these rivers first descended from the
mountains they were impeded by the inhabitants of the dis-
trict, lest falling together they should inundate the country ;
however, they promised not to inundate it, and they have kept
their word. This city appears to have been formerly flourish-
ing, and at the present day it still maintains its name, on
account of its fertility, its marble-quarries, and its wood for
building ships, which formerly they employed to preserve
themselves from danger by sea ; for they were more warlike
than the Tyrrheni, and were constantly irritated by the Ligu-
rians, troublesome neighbours, who dwelt on the coast. At
the present day the wood is mostly employed for building
houses in Rome, and in the country villas [of the Romans],
which resemble in their gorgeousness Persian palaces.

6. The country of the Volaterrani 1 is washed by the sea.
Their city is situated in a deep hollow on the top of a high
hill. The wall of the city is built round its summit, which is
flat and precipitous on every side. From its base, the ascent
upward is fifteen stadia, steep and difficult. Here certain
of the Tyrrhenians and of those proscribed by Sulla,2 took
their stand, and having organized four bands, sustained a
siege for two years, and at last secured articles of truce be-
fore surrendering the place. Poplonium is situated on a lofty
promontory, which projects into the sea, and forms a cher-
sonesus. It likewise sustained a siege about the same time. This
little place is now deserted, with the exception of the temples
and a few houses ; the sea-port, which is situated at the root
of the mountain, is better inhabited, having both a small har-
bour and ship-sheds. This appears to me the only one of the
ancient Tyrrhenian cities situated on the sea ; the reason
being that this territory affords no harbours. • The founders
[of the cities] therefore either avoided the sea altogether, or
threw up fortifications in order that they might not become
the ready prey of those who might sail against them. On the

1 Volterra. 2 Eighty-one years B. c.

3M STRABO. CASAUB. 223.

summit [of the cape] there is a look-out for thunnies.1 From
this city there is an indistinct and distant view of Sardinia.
Cyrnus,2 however, is nearer, being distant from Sardinia about
60 stadia. While JEthalia3 is much nearer to the continent
than either, being distant therefrom only 300 4 stadia, and the
same number from Cyrnus. Poplonium is the best starting-
place to any of the three mentioned islands. We ourselves ob-
served them from the height of Poplonium, in which place
we saw certain mines which had been abandoned, we also saw
the craftsmen who work the iron brought from JEthalia ; for
they cannot reduce it into bars in the furnaces on the island,
and it is therefore transferred direct from the mines to the
continent. There is another remarkable circumstance, that
the exhausted mines of the island in course of time are again re-
filled similarly to what they say takes place at the platamonesb
in Rhodes, the marble-quarries in Paros, and the salt-mines
in India, mentioned by Clitarchus. Eratosthenes was there-
fore incorrect in saying that from the mainland you could
neither see Cyrnus nor Sardinia ; and so was Artemidorus in
his assertion, that both these places lay in the high sea at a
distance of 1200 stadia. For whatever others might, I cer-
tainly could never have seen them at such a distance, however
carefully I had looked, particularly Cyrnus. .JEthalia has a
harbour named Argoiis,6 derived, as they say, from the [ship]
Argo, Jason having sailed hither, seeking the abode of Circe
as Medea wished to see that goddess ; and that from the sweat
scraped off by the Argonauts and hardened, are formed the
variegated pebbles now seen on the beach.7 This and similar
traditions prove what we before stated, that Homer did not
invent them all himself, but, hearing the numerous current
stories, he merely transferred the scenes to other localities
and exaggerated the distances : as he makes Ulysses wander

1 This was a regular business. A man was posted on a high place, from
which he could see the shoals coming, and make a sign to the fishermen.

2 Corsica. 3 The island of Elba.

* The French translation has 200 in text, while it states in a note that
all manuscripts give 300, and continues to discuss the real distance at
some length. Kramer says, in a note, that MS. Vatic. No. 482, has 200.

3 T[\ara}iS)vaQ is here adopted is preference to any attempt at trans-
lation. It is probable they were quarries of the cream-coloured limestone
of the island. 6 Porto Ferrajo.

7 Gosselin supposes that the crystals of iron, abundant in the island of
Elba, are here alluded to.

B. v. c. ii. § 7. ITALY. CORSICA. SARDINIA. 333

over the ocean, so does he narrate of Jason, as he too had
been renowned for his travels : and the same he likewise re-
lates of Menelaus. This is what we have to say of JEthalia.

7. Cyrnus is called by the Romans Corsica ; it is poorly in-
habited, being both rugged and in many parts entirely inac-
cessible, so that the mountaineers, who live by plunder, are
more savage than wild beasts. Whenever any Roman general
invades the country, and, penetrating into the wilds, seizes a
vast number of slaves, it is a marvel to behold in Rome how
savage and bestial they appear. For they either scorn to live,
or if they do live, aggravate their purchasers by their apathy and
insensibility, causing them to regret the purchase-money, how-
ever small.1 We must remark, however, that some districts are
habitable, and that there are some small cities, for instance
Blesino, Charax, Eniconiae, and Vapanes.2 The chorogra-
pher3 says that the length of this island is 160 miles, its breadth
70 ; that the length of Sardinia is 220, and its breadth 98.
According to others, the perimeter of Cyrnus is said to be about
12004 stadia, and of Sardinia 4000. A great portion of this
latter is rugged and untranquil ; another large portion is fertile
in every production, but particularly in wheat. There are many
cities, some are considerable, as Caralis5 and Sulchi.6 There
is however an evil, which must be set against the fertility of
these places ; for during the summer the island is unhealthy,
more particularly so in the most fertile districts ; in addition
to this, it is often ravaged by the mountaineers, whom they
call Diagesbes,7 who formerly were named lolaenses. For it
is said that lolaus8 brought hither certain of the children of
Hercules, and established himself amongst the barbarian pos-

1 The testimony of Diodorus is just to the contrary. The Corsican slaves
appear better fitted than any others for performing useful services ; their
physical constitution being peculiarly adapted thereto. Diodor. Sic.
1. v. § 13.

2 None of these names are found in Ptolemy's description of Corsica.
Diodorus Siculus has names somewhat similar.

3 It is uncertain to whom Strabo here alludes. The French translators
are of opinion that he alludes to the chart of Agrippa.

4 The French translators read with their manuscript 1394, Trtpt rpttr-
XiXiovf, K. T. X., about 3200.

5 Cagliari.

6 Cluvier is of opinion that the modern Palma di Solo corresponds to
Sulchi. 7 Some manuscripts read Diagebres.

8 The nephew of Hercules, being the son of Iphiclus, his brother.

334 STRABO. CASATJB. 225.

sessors of the island, who were Tyrrhenians. Afterwards the
Phoenicians of Carthage became masters of the island, and,
"assisted by the inhabitants, carried on war against the Romans ;
but after the subversion of the Carthaginians, the Romans
became masters of the whole. There are four nations of moun-
taineers, the Parati, Sossinati, Balari, and the Aconites. These
people dwell in caverns. Although they have some arable
land, they neglect its cultivation, preferring rather to plunder
what they find cultivated by others, whether on the island or
on the continent, where they make descents, especially upon
the Pisatse. The prefects sent [into Sardinia] sometimes resist
them, but at other times leave them alone, since it would cost
too dear to maintain an army always on foot in an unhealthy
place : they have, however, recourse to the arts of stratagem,
and taking advantage of the custom of the barbarians, who
always hold a great festival for several days after returning
from a plundering expedition, they then fall upon them, and
capture many. There are rams here which, instead of wool,
have hair resembling that of a goat ; they are called musmones,
and the inhabitants make corselets of their hides. They like-
wise arm themselves with a pelta and a small sword.

8. Along the whole coast between Poplonium and Pisa these
islands are clearly visible ; they are oblong, and all three
nearly parallel,1 running towards the south and Libya. JEtha-
lia is by far smaller than either of the other two. The
chorographer says that the shortest passage from Libya to
Sardinia is 300 2 miles. After Poplonium is the city of Cossae,
situated at a short distance from the sea : there is at the head
of the bay a high hill upon which it is built ; below it lies the
port of Hercules,3 and near to it a marsh formed by the sea.4
At the summit of the cape which commands the gulf is a look-
out for thunnies ; for the thunny pursues his course along
the coast, from the Atlantic Ocean as far as Sicily, in search
not only of acorns, but also of the fish which furnishes the
purple dye. As one sails along the coast from Cossse to Ostia

1 That is, Corsica and Sardinia run in a line north and south, and Elba
lies to one side ; the Trapa'XXqXoi <rx^ov at rptig is an example showing
how happily a circumstance may be expressed in Greek, while no amount
of labour will adapt an English equivalent.

2 The real distance, according to Gosselin, is 1 1 5 miles.

3 Porto Ercole. * The Stagno d'Orbitello.

B. v. c. n. $ 9. ITALY. ETRURIA. 335

there are the towns of Gravisci,1 Pyrgi,2 Alsium,3 and Fre-
gena.4 [From Cossae] to Gravisci is a distance of 300 stadia,
and between them is the place named Regis- Villa. This is said
to have been the royal residence of Maleos the Pelasgian ; they
report that after he had reigned here for some time, he de-
parted with his Pelasgians to Athens. These were of the
same tribe as those who occupied Agylla. From Gravisci to
Pyrgi is a little less than 180 stadia, and the sea-port town
of the Ca3retani is 30 stadia farther. [Pyrgi] contains a tem-
ple of Ilethyia5 founded by the Pelasgi, and which was for-
merly rich, but it was plundered by Dionysius the tyrant of
the Sicilians, at the time6 of his voyage to Cyrnus.7 From
Pyrgi to Ostia is 260 stadia ; between the two are Alsium
and Fregena. Such is our account of the coast of Tyrrhenia.
9. In the interior of the country, besides the cities already
mentioned, there are Arretium,8 Perusia,9 Volsinii,10 Sutrium ;J1
and in addition to theslTare numerous small cities, as Blera,12
Fejrentinum,13I]alerium,uFj,liscum,15 Nepita.16 Statonia,17 and
many others ; some of which exist in their original state, others
have been colonized by the Romans, or 'partially ruined by
them in their~wars, viz. those they frequently waged against
the Veii18 and the Fidenae.19 Some say that the inhabitants
of Falerium are not Tyrrhenians, but Falisci, a distinct nation ;
others state further, that the Falisci speak a language peculiar
to themselves ; some again would make it ^Equum-Faliscum on

1 Situated in the marshy plain commanded by the heights of Corneto,
between the Mignone and the Marta.

2 This town stood on the site of the present S. Severa, at the mouth
of the Rio-Castrica.

3 The ancient Alsium occupied the site of the place now called Statua ;
below it are the vestiges of the Portus Alsiensis, at the embouchure of the
Rio-Cupino, a little to the east of Palo. 4 Torre Macarese.

5 The Roman Lucina, in later times identical with Diana.

6 About the year 384 before the Christian era. 7 Corsica.

8 Arezzo. 9 Perugia. 10 Bolsena. u Sutri. 12 Bieda.

3 The French translation understands this to be the modern Ferenti,
near Viterbo. 14 Sta. Maria di Falari.

15 Probably another name for Falerium. I8 Nepi.

17 Castro, or Farnese, near Lake Mezzano.

8 This ancient city was probably situated near the Isola Farnesia,
about the place where Storta now stands.

19 Fidense was situated on the left bank of the Tiber, near its confluence
with the Anio, now the Teverone, 40 stadia from Rome. The ruins are
near the villages Giubileo and Serpentina.

STRABO. CASAUB. 226.

ia Flaminia, lying between Ocricli l and Rome. Below
Mount Soracte 2 is the city of Feronia, having the same name
as a certaingoddess of the country, highly reverenced by
the surrounHmg people : here_is_hex_tem£le, in which a re-
markable ceremony is performed, for those possessed by the
divinity pass over a large bed of burmng^coal and ashes bare-
foot, unhurt. A great concourse of people assemble to assist
I at the festival, which is celebrated yearly, and to see the
\ said spectacle. Arretium,3 near the mountains, is the most
"Inland city : it is distant from Rome 1200 stadia : from
Clusium4 [to Rome] is 800 stadia. Near to these [two cities]
is Perusia.5 The large and numerous lakes add to the fertility
of this country,6 they are navigable, and stocked with fish and
aquatic birds. Large quantities of typha,7 papyrus, and
anthela8 are transported to Rome, up the rivers which flow
from these lakes to the Tiber. Among these are the lake
Ciminius,9 and those near the Volsinii,10 and Clusium,11 and
Sabatus,12 which is nearest to Rome and the sea, and the far-
thest Trasumennus,13 near Arretium. Along this is the pass by
which armies can proceed from [Cisalpine] Keltica into Tyr-
rhenia ; this is the one followed by Hannibal. There are two ;
the other leads towards Ariminum across Ombrica, and is
preferable as the mountains are considerably lower ; how-
ever, as this was carefully guarded, Hannibal was com-
pelled to take the more difficult, which he succeeded in
forcing after having vanquished Flaminius in a decisive en-
gagement. There are likewise in Tyrrhenia numerous hot
springs, which on account of their proximity to Rome, are
not less frequented than those of Baiae, which are the most
famous of all.

10. Ombrica lies along the eastern boundary of Tyrrhenia,
and commencing from the Apennines, or rather beyond those
mountains, [extends] as far as the Adriatic. For com-

I Hodie Otricoli : the ancient town was situated nearer the Tiber than
the modern. 2 Monte di S. Silvestro.

3 Arezzo. * Chiusi. 5 Perugia. 6 Tyrrhenia.

7 An aquatic plant, perhaps the Typha of Linnaeus, used in making
lamp -wicks, and for other purposes to which tow was applied.

8 The downy substance growing on the flowering reed.

9 The Lago di Vico or di Ronciglione. 10 Lago di Bolsena.

II Now only marshes. 12 Lago di Bracciano.

13 All MSS. are corrupt at this word. It is now called Lago di Perugia.

B. v. c. ii. § 10. ITALY. UMBRIA. 337

mencing from Ravenna, the Ombrici inhabit the neighbouring
country together with the cities of Sarsina, Ariminum,1 Sena,2
f and Marinum. f 3 To their country likewise belongs the river
Esino,4 Mount Cingulum, [the city of] Sentinum,5 the river
Metaurus, and the Fanum Fortunae ;6 for about these parts
are the boundaries which separate ancient Italy and [Cisalpine]
Keltica on the side next the Adriatic, although the boundary
has frequently been changed by the chief men of the state. First
they made the Esino the boundary; afterwards the river Rubicon :
the Esino being between Ancona and Sena, and the Rubicon
between Ariminum and Ravenna, both of them falling into the
Adriatic. At the present day, however, since Italy compre-
hends the whole country as far as the Alps, we need take no
further notice of these limits. All allow that Ombrica7 extends
as far as Ravenna, as the inhabitants are Ombrici. From
Ravenna to Ariminum they say is about 300 stadia. Going
from Ariminum to Rome by the Via Flaminia, the whole
journey lies through Ombrica as far as the city of Ocricli8
and the Tiber, a distance of 1350 stadia. This, consequently,
is the length [of Ombrica] ; its breadth varies. The cities of
considerable magnitude situated on this side the Apennines
along the Via Flaminia, are Ocricli on the Tiber, Laroloni,9
and Narnia,10 through which the Nera n flows. This river dis-
charges itself into the Tiber a little above Ocricli ; it is not
navigable for large vessels. After these are Carsuli and
Mevania,12 past which latter the Teneas 13 flows, by which river
the merchandise of the plain is transported in small vessels to
the Tiber. There are also other cities well populated, rather
on account of the route along which they lie, than for their
political importance. Such are Forum Flaminium,14 Nuceria 15
where wooden vases are manufactured, and Forum Sempro-
nium.16 Going from Ocricli to Ariminum, on the right of the

1 Rimini. - Sinigaglia.

3 Apparently an interpolation ; vide Kramer's edition, vol. i. p. 358, n.

4 The ^Esis. 5 Sentina. 6 Fano. 1 Umbria. 8 Otricoli.

9 No such city as this is mentioned in any other writer; the word as
it now stands is evidently corrupt.

10 Narni. ll The ancient Nar. l2 Bevagna.

13 Mevania stood at the junction of the Tinia (now Timia) and the
Topino.

14 Forfiamma, or Ponte-Centesimo, or the village of Vescia.
, ls Nocera Camellaria. 16 Fosscmbruno.

338 STRABO. CASAUB. 228.

way are Interamna,1 Spoletium,2 Asisium,3 and Camerta,
situated in the mountains which bound Picenum. On the
other side4 are Ameria,5 Tuder,6 a well-fortified city, Hispel-
lum,7 and Iguvium,8 near to the passes of the mountain. The
whole of this country is fertile, but rather too mountainous,
and producing more rye9 than wheat for the food of the in-
habitants. The next district, Sabina, is mountainous, and
borders on Tyrrhenia in like manner. The parts of Latium
which border on these districts and the Apennines are very
rugged. These two nations 10 commence from the Tiber and
Tyrrhenia, and extend as far as the Apennines which advance
obliquely towards the Adriatic : Ombrica extends, as we have
said, beyond as far as the sea. We have now sufficiently
described the Ombrici.

CHAPTER III.

1. THE Sabini occupy a narrow country, its length from the
Tiber and the small city of Nomentum11 to the Vestini being
1000 stadia. They have but few cities, and these have suffer-
ed severely in their continual wars [with the Romans]. Such
are Amiternum12 and Reate,13 which is near to the village of
Interocrea 14 and the cold waters at Cotyliae, which are taken by
patients, both as drink and as baths, for the cure of various
maladies. The rocks of Foruli,15 likewise, belong to the Sa-
bini ; fitted rather for rebellion than peaceable habitation.
Cures is now a small village, although formerly a famous city :
whence came Titus Tatius and Numa Pompilius, kings of
Rome. From this place is derived the name of Quirites, which
the orators give to the Romans when they address the
people. Trebula,16 Eretum,17 and other similar places, must

I Terni. 2 Spbleto. 3 Between Spoleto and Camerino.

4 The left side of the Via Flaminia. 5 Amelia. 6 Todi. 7 Hispello.
8 Eugubbio, or Gubbio, where the celebrated inscriptions \vere found
in 1440. 9 Zeid. 10 Sabina and Latium.

II Probably Lamentana Vecchia.

12 Groskurd considers this to be Amatrice. u Rieti.

14 Interdoco, between Rieti and Aquila.

15 Civita Tommassa, or rather Forcella.

16 Monte Leone della Sabina. 17 Chaupy considers this to be Rimane.

B. v. c. in. $ 2. ITALY. THE SABINI. LATIUM. 339

be looked upon rather as villages than cities. The whole land
[of Sabina] is singularly fertile in olive-trees and vines, it
produces also many acorns, and besides has excellent cattle :
the mules bred at Reate1 are much celebrated. In one
word, the whole of Italy is rich both in cattle and vegetable
productions ; although certain articles may be finer in some
districts than in others. The race of the Sabini is extremely
ancient, they are Autochthones. The Picentini and Samnitae
descend from them, as do the Leucani from these latter, and
the Bruttii again from these. A proof of their antiquity may
be found in the bravery and valour which they have main-
tained till the present time. Fabius,2 the historian, says that
the Romans first knew what wealth was when they became
masters of this nation. The Via Salaria, which however does
not extend far, runs through their country : the Via Nomen-
tana, which commences likewise at the Porta Collina, falls
in with the Via Salaria near to Eretum, a village of Sabina
lying above the Tiber.

2. Beyond Sabina is Latium, wherein the city of Rome is
situated. It comprises many places which formed no part of
ancient Latium. For the JEqui, the Volsci, the Hernici, the
aborigines around Rome, the Rutuli who possessed ancient
Ardea, and many other nations, some larger, some smaller,
formed so many separate states around Rome, when that city
was first built. Some of these nations, who dwelt in villages,
were governed by their own laws, and subjected to no com-
mon tribe. They say3 that JEneas, with his father Anchises
and his child Ascanius, arrived at Laurentum,4 near to Ostia
and the bank of the Tiber, where he built a city about 24
stadia above the sea. That Latinus, the king of the abor-
igines who then dwelt on the site where Rome now stands,
employed his forces to aid JEneas against the neighbouring
Rutuli who inhabited Ardea, (now from Ardea to Rome is a
distance of 160 stadia,) and having gained a victory, he built
near to the spot a city, to which he gave the name of his
daughter Lavinia. However, in a second battle, commenced
by the Rutuli, Latinus fell, and .^Eneas, being conqueror, suc-

J Rieti. 2 He flourished about 216 years before the Christian era.

5 Gosselin calls our attention to the difference between Strabo's rela-
tion of these, occurrences, and the events as commonly recounted by the
Greek and Latin authors. * Near the spot now called Paterno.

z 2

340 STRABO. CASAUB. 229.

ceeded this prince on the throne, and conferred on his subjects
the name of Latini. After the death both of himself and his
father, Ascanius founded Alba,1 on Mount Albanus,2 situated
about the same distance from Rome as Ardea. Here the
Romans and Latini conjointly offer sacrifice to Jupiter. The
magistracy all assemble, and during the period of the solem-
nity the government of the city is intrusted to some dis-
tinguished youth. The facts related of Amulius and his
brother Numitor, some of which are fictitious, while others
approach nearer the truth, occurred four hundred years later.
These two brothers, who were descended from Ascanius, suc-
ceeded conjointly to the government of Alba, which extended
as far as the Tiber. However, Amulius the younger, having
expelled the elder, governed [alone]. Numitor had a son and
a daughter ; the former Amulius treacherously murdered in
the chase ; the latter, that she might remain childless, he made
a priestess of Vesta, thus imposing virginity upon her. This
[daughter] they name Rhea Silvia. Afterwards he discovered
that she was pregnant, and when she had given birth to
twins, he, out of respect to his brother, placed her in confine-
ment, instead of putting her to death, and exposed the boys
by the Tiber according to a national usage. According to
the mythology, Mars was the father of these children, and
when they were exposed they were discovered and suckled
by a she-wolf. Faustulus, one of the swine-herds of the place,
took and reared them up, and named one Romulus, the other
Remus. (We must understand that Faustulus, who took them
up and nourished them, was an influential man, and a subject
of Amulius.) Having arrived at man's estate, they waged
war upon Amulius and his sons ; and having slain them,
restored the government to Numitor. They then returned
home and founded Rome, in a locality selected rather through
necessity than choice, as the site was neither fortified by
nature, nor sufficiently large for a city of importance. In
addition to this, the neighbourhood supplied no inhabitants ;
for those who dwelt around, even though touching the very
walls of the newly founded city, kept to themselves, and

1 Cluvier placed the ancient Alba on the east shore of Lake Albano,
about Palazzuolo. Holstenius thinks that it was on the southern shore,
in the locality of Villa-Domitiana. The Abbe de Chaupy places it
farther to the east of Monte Albano. 3 Monte Albano.

R. v. c. in. § 2. ITALY. LATIUM. 341

would have nothing at all to do with the Albani. Collatia,
Autemnae, Fidenre, Labicum,1 and similar places are here
alluded to, which then were small cities, but are now villages
possessed by private individuals ; they are distant from Rome
30 or 40 2 stadia, or rather more. Between the fifth and sixth
mile-stone which marks the distance from Rome there is a
place named Festi ; this they say was at that time the limit
of the Roman territory, and at the present day, both here and
in numerous other places which they consider to have been
boundaries, the priests offer the sacrifice denominated Am-
barvia.3 They say that, at the time of the foundation [of the

1 The sites of these places are much disputed.

2 Kramer considers this 40 an interpolation.

3 Usually Ambarvalia, sacrifices performed by the Fratres Arvales,
who formed " a college or company of twelve in number, and were so call-
ed, according to Varro, from offering public sacrifices for the fertility of the
fields. That they were of extreme antiquity is proved by the legend
which refers their institution to Romulus ; of whom it is said, that when
his nurse, Acca Laurentia, lost one of her twelve sons, he allowed himself
to be adopted by her in his place, and called himself and the remaining
eleven— Fratres Arvales. (Cell. vi. 7.) We also find a college called
the Sodales Titii, and as the latter were confessedly of Sabine origin, and
instituted for the purpose of keeping up the Sabine religious rites, (Tac.
Ann. i. 53,) there is some reason for the supposition of Niebuhr, that
these colleges corresponded one to the other — the Fratres Arvales being
connected with the Latin, and the Sodales Titii with the Sabine element of
the Roman state ; just as there were two colleges of the Luperci, the
Fabii and the Quinctilii, the former of whom seem to have belonged to
the Sabines.

The office of the Fratres Arvales was for life, and was not taken away
even from an exile or captive. They wore, as a badge of office, a chaplet
of ears of corn fastened on their heads with a white band. The number
given on inscriptions varies, but it is never more than nine ; though, ac-
cording to the legend and general belief, it amounted to twelve. One of
their annual duties was to celebrate a three days' festival in honour of

Dea Dia, supposed to be Ceres Of this the master of the college,

appointed annually, gave public notice from the temple of Concord on the
Capitol. On the first and last of these days, the college met at the house
of their president, to make offerings to the Dea Dia ; on the second day
they assembled in the grove of the same goddess, about five miles south
of Rome, and there offered sacrifices for the fertility of the earth. An
account of the different ceremonies of this festival is preserved in an
inscription, which was written in the first year of the emperor Helioga-
balus, (A. D. 218,) who was elected a member of the college under the
name of M. Aurelius Antoninus Pius Felix. The same inscription con-
tains a hymn, which appears to have been sung at the festival from the
most ancient times.

Besides this festival of the Dea Dia, the Fratres Arvales were required

342 STRABO. CASAUB. 230.

city], a dispute arose in which Remus lost his life. The city
being built, Romulus assembled men from every quarter, and
instituted for an asylum a grove between the citadel and the
Capitol, to which whoever fled from the neighbouring states,
he proclaimed as Roman citizens. Not having wives for these
men, he appointed a horse-race in honour of Neptune, which
is celebrated to this day. Numbers [of spectators] having
assembled, particularly of the Sabini, he commanded that
each of those who were in want of a wife, should carry off
one of the assembled maidens. Titus Tatius, king of the
Quirites, took up arms to avenge the insult, but made peace
with Romulus on condition that their kingdoms should be
united, and that they should divide the sovereignty between

on various occasions under the emperors to make vows and offer up
thanksgivings, an enumeration of which is given in Forcellini. Strabo
indeed informs us that, in the reign of Tiberius, these priests performed
sacrifices called the Ambarvalia at various places on the borders of the
Ager Romanus, or original territory of Rome; and amongst others, at
Festi. There is no boldness in supposing that this was a custom handed
down from time immemorial ; and, moreover, that it was a duty of this
priesthood to invoke a blessing upon the whole territory of Rome. It is
proved by inscriptions that this college existed till the reign of the em-
peror Gordian, or A. D. 325, and it is probable that it was not abolished
till A. D. 400, together with the other colleges of the pagan priesthoods.

The private Ambarvalia were certainly of a different nature to those
mentioned by Strabo, and were so called from the victim hostia Ambar-
valis that was slain on the occasion, being led three times round the
corn-fields, before the sickle was put to the corn. This victim was ac-
companied by a crowd of merry-makers, (choriis et socii,) the reapers and
farm-servants, dancing and singing, as they marched along, the praises of
Ceres, and praying for her favour and presence while they offered her the
libations of milk, honey, and wine. (Virg. Georg. i. 338.) This cere-
mony was also called a lustratio, (Virg. Eel. v. 83,) or purification ; and
for a beautiful description of the holiday, and the prayers and vows made
on the occasion, the reader is referred to Tibullus (ii. 1). It is perhaps
worth while to remark that Polybius (iv. 21, § 9) uses language almost
applicable to the Roman Ambarvalia in speaking of the Mantineians,
who, he says, (specifying the occasion,) made a purification, and carried
victims round the city and all the country.

There is, however, a still greater resemblance to the rites we have been
describing, in the ceremonies of the Rogation or gang-week of the Latin
church. These consisted of processions through the fields, accompanied
with prayers (rogationes) for a blessing on the fruits of the earth, and
were continued during three days in Whitsun-week. The custom was
abolished at the Reformation in consequence of its abuses, and the peram-
bulation of the parish boundaries substituted in its place. ( Vide Hooker,
Eccl. Pol. v. 61, 2; Wheatley, Com. Pray. v. '20. Bohn's Standard
Library edition.)

B. v. c. in. § 3, 4. ITALY. LATIUM. 343

them. Tatius, however, was treacherously assassinated in
Lavinium, upon which Romulus, with the consent of the
Quirites, reigned alone. After him Numa Pompilius, formerly
a subject of Tatius, assumed the government, by the general
desire of the people. Such is the most authentic account of
the foundation of Rome.

3. However, there also exists another more ancient and
mythical account, to the effect that Rome was an Arcadian
colony planted by Evander. He entertained Hercules when
driving the oxen of Geryon, and being informed by his
mother Nicostrata, (who was skilled in the art of prophecy,)
that when Hercules should have completed his labours it was
fore-ordained that he should be enrolled amongst the gods ;
he informed him of the matter, consecrated to him a grove,
and offered sacrifice to him after the Grecian mode ; a sacri-
fice which is continued in honour of Hercules to this day.
The Roman historian Co3lius is of opinion that this is a proof
that Rome is a Grecian colony, the sacrifice to Hercules after
the Grecian mode having been brought over from their father-
land. The Romans also worship the mother of Evander
under the name of Carmentis,1 considering her one of the
nymphs.

4. Thus then the Latini originally were few in number,
and for the most part under no subjection to the Romans;
but afterwards, being struck by the valour of Romulus and
the kings who succeeded him, they all submitted. But the
jEqui,2 the Volsci, the Hernici ; and before them the Rutuli,
the aborigines, the Rhaeci, together with certain of the

* The Camenae, says Dr. Smith, were prophetic nymphs, and belonged to
the religion of ancient Italy, although later traditions represent them as
having been introduced into Italy from Arcadia. Two of the Cam en se
•were Antevorta and Postvorta; the third was Carmenta or Carmentis,
a prophetic and healing divinity, who had a temple at the foot of the
Capitoline hill, and altars near the Porta Carmentalis. The traditions
which assigned a Greek origin to her worship at Rome, state that her
original name was Nicostrata, and that she was called Carmentis from her
prophetic powers. (Serv. ad ^En. viii. 51, 336; Dionys. i. 15,32.)
According to these traditions, she was the mother of Evander, the Arca-
dian, by Hermes; and after having endeavoured to persuade her son to
kill Hermes, she fled with him to Italy, where she gave oracles to the
people and to Hercules. She was put to death by her son at the age of
110 years, and then obtained divine honours. Dionys. i. 31, &c.

2 This name is written in Strabo sometimes Ancoi, sometimes Afaovoi •
the Latin writers also named them differently, ^Equi, JEcani, ^Equicoli, &c]

344 STRABO. CASAUB. 231.

Argyrusci and the Preferni,1 being subdued, the whole of
their different countries were included under the name of
Latium. To the Volsci pertained the Pomentine plain,
bordering on the territory of the Latini, and the city of
Apiola, levelled to the ground2 by Tarquinius Priscus. The
-ZEqui principally were neighbours to the Quirites, whose
cities Tarquinius Priscus likewise devastated. His son took
Suessa,3 the metropolis of the Volsci. The Hernici dwelt
near to Lanuvium, Alba, and to Rome itself; neither were
Aricia,4 the Tellenae, and Antium 5 at any great distance.
The Albani were at first friendly with the Romans, speaking
as they did the same language, and being likewise of the
Latin stock ; and though they were under separate govern-
ments, this did not prevent them from marrying together,
nor from performing in common the sacred ceremonies at
Alba, and other civil rites. In after-time, however, war
having sprung up, Alba was entirely destroyed with the ex-
ception of the temple, and the Albani were declared citizens
of Rome. Of the other surrounding cities, those which
resisted were either destroyed or enfeebled, while others,
which were friendly to the Romans, flourished. At the pre-
sent day the coast from Ostia to the city of Sinuessa6 is
denominated the Latin coast ; formerly the country thus
designated extended only so far as Circasum.7 The interior
also [of Latium] was formerly small ; but it afterwards ex-
tended to Campania, the Samnitas, the Peligni,8 and other
nations dwelling around the Apennines.

5. The whole [of Latium] is fertile, and abounding in
every production, with the exception of a few districts along
the coast, which are marshy and unhealthy ; such as the
country of Ardea, the lands between Antium and Lanuvium
as far as Pometia, and certain of fhe districts of Setia,9
Terracina, and Circaeum. Some parts may also be too moun-

1 Privernates of Pliny ; the chief city is now called Piperno.

2 604 years u. c.

3 Suessa surnamed Pometia, to distinguish it from Suessa Aurunca, is
here alluded to. Its exact position does not appear to be known.

4 La Riccia. 5 Capo d' Anzo. 6 Monte Dragone.

7 Monte Circello.

8 According to Cluvier, Strabo was mistaken in making Latium extend
to the country of the Peligni, as these latter were always separated from
Latium by the Marsi. 9 Sezza.

B. T. c. in. § 5. ITALY. G45

tainous and rocky; but even these are not absolutely idle
and useless, since they furnish abundant pasturage, wood,
and the peculiar productions of the marsh and rock ; while
Ccecubum, which is entirely marshy, nourishes a vine, the
dendritis,1 which produces the most excellent wine. Of the
maritime cities of Latium, one is Ostia. This city has no port,
owing to the accumulation of the alluvial deposit brought
down by the Tiber, which is swelled by numerous rivers ;
vessels therefore bring to anchor further out, but not without
danger; however, gain overcomes every thing, for there is
an abundance of lighters in readiness to freight and un-
freight the larger ships, before they approach the mouth of
the river, and thus enable them to perform their voyage
speedily. Being lightened of a part of their cargo, they enter
the river and sail up to Rome, a distance of about 190 stadia.
Such is the city of Ostia, founded by Ancus Martius. Next
in order comes Antium, which city is likewise destitute of
any port ; it is situated on rocks, and about 260 stadia distant
from Ostia. At the present clay it is devoted to the leisure
and recreation of statesmen from their political duties, when-
ever they can find time, and is in consequence covered with
sumptuous mansions suited to such rusticating. The in-
habitants of Antium had formerly a marine, and even after
they were under subjection to the Romans, took part with the
Tyrrhenian pirates. Of this, first, Alexander sent to com-
plain; after him Demetrius, having taken many of these
pirates, sent them to the Romans, saying that he would sur-
render them their persons on account of their affinity to the
Greeks, and remarking at the same time, that it seemed to
him a great impropriety, that those who held sway over the
whole of Italy should send out pirates, and that they who had
consecrated in their forum a temple to the honour of the
Dioscuri,2 whom all denominated the Saviours, should like-
wise send to commit acts of piracy on Greece, which was the
father-land of those divinities. Hereupon the Romans put a
stop to this occupation [piracy]. Between these two cities
is Lavinium, which contains a temple of Venus common to all
the Latini, the care of which is intrusted to the priests of

1 The vine to which the term arbustive or hautain is applied, which
the French translators explain as a vine trained from the foot of a tree.
8 Castor and Pollux.

346 STRABO. CASATJB. 232.

Ardea. After this is Laurentum ; l and above these lies Ardea,
a colony of the Rutuli, 70 stadia from the sea ; near to it
is another temple of Venus, where all the Latini hold a public
festival. These regions have been ravaged by the Samnitse,
and only the traces of the cities left ; but even these are re-
verenced on account of the arrival of ^Eneas here, and of the
religious rites which they say were bequeathed from those
times.

6. At 290 stadia from Antium is Mount Circseum, insu-
lated by the sea and marshes. They say that it contains
numerous roots, but this perhaps is only to harmonize with'
the myth relating to Circe. It has a small city, together with
a temple to Circe and an altar to Minerva ; they likewise say
that a cup is shown which belonged to Ulysses. Between
[Antium and Circaeum] is the river Stura,2 which has a
station for ships : the rest of the coast is exposed to the south-
west wind,3 with the exception of this small harbour of Cir-
caeum.4 Above this, in the interior, is the Pomentine plain :
the region next to this was formerly inhabited by the Ausoni-
ans, who likewise possessed Campania : next after these the
Osci, who also held part of Campania ; now, however, as we
have remarked, the whole, as far as Sinuessa, belongs to the
Latini. A peculiar fate has attended the Osci and Ausonians ;
for although the Osci have ceased to exist as a distinct tribe,
their dialect is extant among the Romans, dramatic and
burlesque pieces composed in it being still represented at
certain games which were instituted in ancient times. And
as for the Ausonians, although they never have dwelt by the sea
of Sicily,5 it is named the Ausonian Sea. At 100 stadia
from Circseum is Tarracina, formerly named Trachina,6 on
account of its ruggedness ; before it is a great marsh, formed by
two rivers, the larger of which is called the Aufidus.7 This is
the first place where the Via Appia approaches the sea. This

1 Near Paterno. 2 Storas, the Astura of Pliny. 3 Libs.

4 Hodie, the Porto di Paula, connected with the Lake of S. Maria.

5 This does not appear to be in accordance with the statement of
Dionysius Halicarnassus and Pliny, that the Ausonians anciently pos-
sessed the whole coast, from the Strait of Messina to the entrance of the
Adriatic.

6 Or mountainous.

7 We should doubtless here read the Ufens, the modern Ufente.

B. v. c. in. § 6. ITALY. LATIUM. 347

road is paved from Rome to Brundusium,1 and has great
traffic. Of the maritime cities, these alone are situated on
it ; Tarracina, beyond it Formiae,2 Minturnoe,3 Sinuessa,4 and
towards its extremity Tarentum and Brundusium. Near to
Tarracina, advancing in the direction of Rome, a canal runs
by the side of the Via Appia, which is supplied at intervals
by water from the marshes and rivers. Travellers generally
sail up it by night, embarking in the evening, and landing in
the morning to travel the rest of their journey by the way :
however, during the day the passage boat is towed by mules.5
Beyond is Formias, founded by the Lacedaemonians, and
formerly called Hormias, on account of its excellent port. Be-
tween these [two cities],6 is a gulf which they have named
Caiata,7 in fact all gulfs are called by the Lacedaemonians
Caietae : some, however, sayfthat the gulf received this appella-
tion from [Caieta], the nurse of jiEneas. From Tarracina
to the promontory of Caiata is a length of 100 stadia. Here8
are opened vast caverns, which contain large and sumptuous
mansions. From hence to Formiaa is a distance of 40 stadia.
Between this city and Sinfoessa, at a distance of about 80
stadia from each, is Minturnae. The river Liris,9 formerly
named the Clanis, flows through it. It descends from the
Apennines, passes through the country of the Vescini,10 and
by the village of Fregellas, (formerly a famous city,) and so
into a sacred grove situated below the city, and held in great
veneration by the people of jS^inturnaa. There are two islands,
named Pandataria and Pontfa,11 lying in the high sea, and
clearly discernible from the! caverns. Although small, they
are well inhabited, are not) at any great distance from each
other, and at 250 stadia from the mainland. Caecubum is
situated on the gulf of Cajata, and next to it Fundi, a city
on the Via Appia. All these places produce excellent wines ;
but those of Cascubum, Fund\, and Setia12 are most in repute,
and so are theFalernian, Alban,13 and Statanian wines. Sinuessa
is situated in a gulf from which it takes its name, sinus signify-

1 BptvTeffiov, now Brindes. 3 Mola di Gaeta.

3 The ruins of this town are extant on either bank of the Garigliano,
the ancient Liris. 4 Rocca di Monte Dragone.

5 Compare Horace, Satir. 1. i. sat. 5. 6 Tarracina and Formiae.

7 Giii-ta. 8 At Sperlunga. • The Garigliano.

10 Vestini, MSS. " Ponza.

12 Sezza. The French translators think this should be Vescia. IS Albano.

348 SIR ABO.

ing [in Latin] a gulf. Near to it are some fine hot-baths,
good for the cure of various maladies. Such are the mari-
time cities of Latium.

7. In the interior, the first city above Ostia is Rome ; it is
the only city built on the Tiber. It has been remarked above,
that its position was fixed, not by choice, but necessity ; to
this must be added, that those who afterwards enlarged it,
were not at liberty to select a better site, being prevented by
what was already built. The first [kings] fortified the
Capitol, the Palatium, and the Collis Quirinalis, which was so
easy of access, that when Titus Tatius came to avenge the
rape of the [Sabine] virgins, he took it on the first assault.
Ancus Marcius, who added Mount Caelius and the Aventine
Mount with the intermediate plain, separated as these places
were both from each other and from what had been formerly
fortified, was compelled to do this of necessity ; since he did
not consider it proper to leave outside his walls, heights so
well protected by nature, to whomsoever might have a mind
to fortify themselves upon them, while at the same time he
was not capable of enclosing the whole as far as Mount Quiri-
nus. Servius perceived this defect, and added the Esquiline
and Viminal hills. As these were both of easy access from
without, a deep trench was dug outside them and the earth
thrown up on the inside, thus forming a terrace of 6 stadia
in length along the inner side of the trench. This terrace he
surmounted with a wall flanked with towers, and extending
from the Colline 1 to the Esquiline gate. Midway along the
terrace is a third gate, named after the Viminal hill. Such is
the Roman rampart, which seems to stand in need of other
ramparts itself. But it seems to me that the first [founders]
were of opinion, both in regard to themselves and their suc-
cessors, that Romans had to depend not on fortifications, but
on arms and their individual valour, both for safety and
-for wealth, and that walls were not a defence to men, but men
were a defence to walls. At the period of its commencement,
when the large and fertile districts surrounding the city be-
longed to others, and while it lay easily open to assault, there
was nothing in its position which could be looked upon as
favourable; but when by valour and labour these districts
became its own, there succeeded a tide of prosperity surpass-
1 Called also the Quirinal, and often Salara, according to Ovid.

B.V.C.III. §8. ITALY. LATIUM. ROME. 349

ing the advantages of every other place. Thus, notwith-
standing the prodigious increase of the city, there has been
plenty of food, and also of wood and stone for ceaseless build-
ing, rendered necessary by the falling down of houses, and
on account of conflagrations, and of the sales, which seem never
to cease. These sales are a kind of voluntary falling down of
houses, each owner knocking down and rebuilding one part or
another, according to his individual taste. For these purposes
the numerous quarries, the forests, and the rivers which con-
vey the materials, offer wonderful facilities. Of these rivers,
the first is the Teverone,1 which flows from Alba, a city of
the Latins near to the country of the Marsi, and from thence
through the plain -below this [city], till it unites with the
Tiber. After this come the Ner*5 and the Timia,3 which
passing through Onibrica fall into the Tiber, and the Chiana,4
which flows through Tyrrhenia and the territory of Clusiuin.5
Augustus Caesar endeavoured to avert from the city damages
of the kind alluded to, and instituted a company of freedmen,
who should be ready to lend their assistance in cases of con-
flagration ;6 whilst, as a preventive against the falling of houses,
he decreed that all new buildings should not be carried so
high as formerly, and that those erected along the public
ways should not exceed seventy feet in height.7 But these
improvements must have ceased only for the facilities afforded
by the quarries, the forests, and the ease of transport.

8. These advantages accrued to the city from the nature of
the country ; but the foresight of the Romans added others

1 Anio. 2 The Nar. 3 The Teneas of Strabo.

4 o KXovif , there were other rivers called Clanis as well as this.

5 Chiusi.

6 Suetonius likewise mentions this fact. Dion Cassius informs us that
Augustus, in the year of Rome 732, and twenty-two years before our
era, commanded that the curule ffidiles should promptly endeavour to
arrest the progress of conflagrations, and for this purpose placed at their
disposal 600 guards. Fifteen years afterwards he established a company
of seven freedmen, presided over by one of the equestrian order, to see
what means could be taken in order to prevent these numerous fires.
Augustus, however, was not the first to take precautions of this nature,
as we may learn from Livy, 1. ix. § 46; 1. xxxix. § 14; Tacit. Annal. 1.
xv. $ 43, and various other authorities.

7 Subsequent emperors reduced this standard still lower. See what
Tacitus says of Nero in regard to this point, Annal. 1. xv. § 43. Trajan
forbade that any house should be constructed above 60 feet in height.
Sextus Aurelius Victor, Epit. § 27.

350 STRABO. CASAUB. 235.

besides. The Grecian cities are thought to have flourished
mainly on account of the felicitous choice made by their found-
ers, in regard to the beauty and strength of their sites, their
proximity to some port, and the fineness of the country. But
the Roman prudence was more particularly employed on
matters which had received but little attention from the
Greeks, such as paving their roads, constructing aqueducts,
and sewers, to convey the sewage of the city into the Tiber.
In fact, they have paved the roads, cut through hills, and
filled up valleys, so that the merchandise may be conveyed by
carriage from the ports. The sewers, arched over with hewn
stones, are large enough in some parts for waggons loaded
with hay to pass through ; while so plentiful is the supply
of water from the aqueducts, that rivers may be said to flow
through the city and the sewers, and almost every house
is furnished with water-pipes and copious fountains. To
effect which Marcus Agrippa directed his special attention ;
he likewise bestowed upon the city numerous ornaments. We
may remark, that the ancients, occupied with greater and more
necessary concerns, paid but little attention to the beauti-
fying of Rome. But their successors, and especially those of
our own day, without neglecting these things, have at the
same time embellished the city with numerous and splendid
objects. Pompey, divus Caesar, and Augustus, with his chil-
dren, friends, wife, and sister, have surpassed all others in their
zeal and munificence in these decorations. The greater num-
ber of these may be seen in the Campus Martius, which to the
beauties of nature adds those of art. The size of the plain is mar-
vellous, permitting chariot-races and other feats of horseman-
ship without impediment, and multitudes to exercise themselves
at ball,1 in the circus2 and the palsestra. The structures which
surround it, the turf covered with herbage all the year round,

1 There were five modes of playing at ball ; ] . Throwing it up and
catching it ; 2. Foot-ball ; 3. A throwing of the ball from one to another
in a large party of players ; 4. A dashing of the ball to the ground
with force enough to rebound, when it was struck down again with the
palm of the hand, and a reckoning was kept of the number of times the
feat was repeated ; and 5. A ball thrown among the players, who all en-
deavoured to obtain possession of it ; this was a game of which we have
no accurate account, it was called apTraarbv, and Galen speaks of it,
TTfpt /jucpac or^aipaf, c. 2, p. 902,

2 Coray proposes to read didcy. at quoits.

B. v. c. in. § 9. ITALY. LATIUM. ROME. 351

the summits of the hills beyond the Tiber, extending from its
banks with panoramic effect, present a spectacle which the
eye abandons with regret. Near to this plain is another sur-
rounded with columns, sacred groves, three theatres, an
amphitheatre, and superb temples in close contiguity to each
other ; and so magnificent, that it would seem idle to describe
the rest of the city after it. For this cause the Romans, esteem-
ing it as the most sacred place, have there erected funeral monu-
ments to the most illustrious persons of either sex. The most
remarkable of these is that designated as the Mausoleum,1
which consists of a mound of earth raised upon a high founda-
tion of white marble, situated near the river, and covered to
the top with ever-green shrubs. Upon the summit is a bronze
statue of Augustus Caesar, and beneath the mound are the
ashes2 of himself, his relatives, and friends. Behind is a large
grove containing charming promenades. In the centre of the
plain,3 is the spot where this prince was reduced to ashes ; it
is surrounded with a double enclosure, one of marble, the
other of iron, and planted within with poplars. If from hence
you proceed to visit the ancient forum, which is equally filled
with basilicas, porticos, and temples, you will there behold the
Capitol, the Palatium, with the noble works which adorn them,
and the piazza of Livia, each successive place causing you
speedily to forget what you have before seen. Such is Rome.
9. Of the other cities of Latium., some are distinguished by
a variety of remarkable objects, others by the celebrated roads
which intersect Latium, being situated either upon, or near
to, or between these roads, the most celebrated of which are
the Via Appia, the Via Latina, and the Via Valeria. The
former of these bounds the maritime portion of Latium, as
far as Sinuessa, the latter extends along Sabina as far as the
Marsi, whilst between these is the Via Latina, which falls in
with the Via Appia near to Casilinum,4 a city distant from
Capua5 19 stadia. The Via Latina commences from the
Via Appia, branching from it towards the left, near to Rome.
It passes over the Tusculan mountain, between the city of
Tusculum6 and Mount Albanus ; it then descends to the little
city of Algidum,7 and the Pictae tavern ; afterwards the Via

' The tomb of Augustus. 2 Qrjicai, urns, Greek.

3 The Campus Martius. 4 The modern Capua.

5 S. Maria di Capoa. 6 Tuscolo. " L'Osteria deli' Aglio.

352 STRABO. CASAUB. 237.

Lavicana joins it, which commences, like the Via Praenestina,
from the Esquiline gate. This road, as well as the Esquiline
plain, the Via Lavicana leaves on the left ; it then proceeds a
distance of 120 stadia, or more, when it approaches Lavi-
cum, an ancient city now in ruins, situated on an eminence ;
this and Tusculum it leaves on the right, and terminates near
to Pictas in the Via Latina. This place is 210 stadia distant
from Home. Proceeding thence along the Via Latina there
are noble residences, and the cities Ferentinum,1 Frusino,2
by which the river Cosa flows, Fabrateria,3 by which flows
the river Sacco,4 Aquinum,5 a large city, by which flows the
great river Melfa,6 Interamnium, situated at the confluence
of two rivers, the Garigliano and another, Casinum, also an im-
portant city, and the last of those belonging to Latium. For
Teanum, called Sidicinum,7 which lies next in order, shows
by its name that it belongs to the nation of the Sidicini.
These people are Osci, a surviving nation of the Campani, so
that this city, which is the largest of those situated upon the Via
Latina, may be said to be Campanian ; as well as that of
Gales,8 another considerable city which lies beyond, and is
contiguous to Casilinum.9

10. As to the places situated on either side of the Via
Latina, those on the right are between it and the Via Appia ;
of their number are Setia10 and Signia,11 which produce wine,
that of Setia being one of the dearest wines, and that called
Signium the best for strengthening the stomach. Before this12
are Privernum,13 Cora,14 Suessa,15 'Trapontium/16 Velitrge,17
Aletrium,18 and also Fregellee,19 by which the Garigliano flows,
which discharges itself [into the sea] near Minturnre. Fre-
gellae, though now a village, was formerly a considerable city,
and the chief of the surrounding places we have just named.
Even now their inhabitants throng to it on market days, and

1 Ferentino, near to Vitorchiano. 2 Frusinone.

3 Falvaterra. 4 Trerus. 5 Aquino. 6 Melpis. 7 Teano.

8 Calvi. 9 Nova Capua. 10 Sezza. n Segni.

12 ?rpo #£ rail-rig. It seems doubtful whether TaurrjQ refers to Signia,
or the Via Appia. 13 This city was sacked by the last Tarquin.

14 Core. 15 Probably Torre Petrara.

16 Kramer supposes this name to be an interpolation ; the idea of
Cluvier, adopted by Siebenkees and Coray, is that we should here read
Zovlova rCjv HwfjitvTivdJV, Suessa Pometia.

'' Vellctri. 18 Alatri. 1D Ceperano.

B. v. c. in. § 11. ITALY. LATIUM. 353

for the performance of certain religious solemnities. Its de-
fection from the Romans was the cause of its ruin.1 Both
these, and also the cities lying on the Via Latina and beyond,
situated in the territories of the Hernici, JEqui, and Volsci,
were for the most part founded by the Romans. To the left
of the Via Latina, the cities between it and the Via Valeria,
are, Gabii,2 standing in the Via Prsenestina, it possesses a
stone-quarry, in greater demand at Rome than any other, and
is at an equal distance of about 100 stadia between Rome and
Praeneste.3 Then Praeneste, of which we shall have occasion
presently to speak. Then, in the mountains above Prasneste,
Capitulum, a small city of the Hernici, and Anagnia,4 a con-
siderable city ; Cereate,5 and Sora, by which the river Garig-
liano6 flows as it passes on toFregelhe, and Minturnas. After
these there are other places, and finally, Venafrum,7 from
whence comes the finest oil. This city is situated on a high
hill by the foot of which flows the Volturno,8 which passing by
Casilinum,9 discharges itself [into the sea] at a city10 bearing
the same name as itself. JEsernia11 and Alliphas,12 cities of
the Samnites, the former was destroyed in the Marsian war,13
the other still remains.

11. The Via Valeria, commencing from Tibura,14 leads to
the country of the Marsi, and to Corfinium,15 the metropolis
of the Peligni. Upon it are situated the Latin cities of Va-
leria,16 Carseoli,17 Alba,18 and near to it the city of Cuculum.19
Within sight of Rome are Tibura, Prseneste, and Tusculum.20
At Tibura is a tern pie of Hercules, and a cataract formed by the
fall of the Teverone,21 (which is here navigable,) from a great
height into a deep and wooded ravine close to the city. From
thence the river flows through a highly fertile plain along by

1 125, B. c.

2 Now called 1' Osteria del Pantano, situated very near the Castel dell'
Osa, and close by the lake Pantan de' Griffi. 3 Palestrina. * Anagni.

5 Cerretano. 6 Liris. 7 Venafro. 8 Vulturnus. 9 Capua.
10 Castel di Volturno. " Isernia. 12 Allife. 13 90 years B c. u Tivoli.

15 The modern Pentima is supposed to occupy the site where the cita-
del of Corfinium stood, and the church of S. Pelino, about three miles
from Popoli, stands on that of the ancient city of Corfinium.

16 We read with all MSS. and editions, Valeria, but Kramer, following
the conjectures of Cluvier and others, has adopted Varia in his text,

17 Carsoli. 18 Albi.

19 Groskurd considers this to be Cucullo, alias Scutolo.

20 II Tuscolo, above the modern town of Frascati. 21 The classic Artio.

VOL. I. 2 A

354 STRABO. CASAUB. 238.

the Tiburtine stone-quarries, those of the Gabii, and those
denominated the red-stone quarries. As both the carriage
from the quarries and the conveyance by river, are easy,
most of the Roman edifices are built of materials from hence.
In this plain flow the cold waters called Albula, they spring
from numerous fountains, and are taken both as a beverage and
as baths,1 for the cure of various diseases. Of the same kind
are the LabanaB,2 not far from these, on the Via Nomentana,
and near to Eretum.3 At PraBneste is the celebrated temple
and oracle of Fortune. Both this and the preceding city are
situated on the same chain of mountains, and are distant from
each other 100 stadia. Prseneste is 200 stadia from Rome,
Tibura less than that distance. They are said to be both
of Grecian foundation, Praeneste being formerly named Poly-
stephanus. They are both fortified, but Praeneste is the
stronger place of the two, having for its citadel a lofty moun-
tain, which overhangs the town, and is divided at the back
from the adjoining mountain range by a neck of land. This
mountain is two stadia higher than the neck in direct altitude.
In addition to these [natural] defences, the city is furnished
on all sides with subterraneous passages, which extend to the
plains, and some of which serve to convey water, while others
form secret ways ; it was in one of these that Marius 4 perished,
when he was besieged. Other cities are in most instances
benefited by a strong position, but to the people of Prabneste
it has proved a bane, owing to the civil wars of the Romans.

The waters from the sulphur-lake ; named the Solfatara di Tivoli.

2 Now the Lago di S. Giovanni, or Bagni di Grotta Marozza.

3 Prob. Cretona, not Monte Rotondo.

4 The younger Marius being entirely defeated by Sulla in the decisive
battle fought near Sacriportus, B. c. 82, Marius threw himself into Prae-
neste, where he had deposited the treasures of the Capitoline temple.
(Pliny H. N. 1. xxxiii. s. 5.) Sulla left Lucretius Opella to prosecute
the siege while he hastened on to Rome. Various efforts were made to
relieve Praeneste, but they all failed ; and after Sulla's great victory at
the Colline gate of Rome, in which Pontius Telesinus was defeated and
slain, Marius despaired of holding out any longer, and in company with
the brother of Telesinus attempted to escape by a subterraneous passage,
which led from the town into the open country ; but finding that their
flight was discovered, they put an end to one another's lives. According
to other accounts, Marius killed himself, or was killed by his slave at his
own request. Marius perished in the year of his consulship. Sniith,
D.ict. Biogr. and Myth.

B. v. c. in. § 12. ITALY. LATIUM. 355

For hither the revolutionary movers take refuge, and when
at lust they surrender, in addition to the injury sustained by
the city during the war, the country is confiscated, and the
guilt thus imputed to the guiltless. The river Verestis1
flows through this region. The said cities are to the east of
Rome.

12. But within-side the chain of mountains, [where these
cities are situated,] there is another ridge, leaving a valley be-
tween it and Mount Algidus ; it is lofty, and extends as far as
Mount Albanus.2 It is on this ridge that Tusculum is situated,
a city which is not wanting in adornment, being entirely sur-
rounded by ornamental plantations and edifices, particularly
that part of it which looks towards Rome. For on this side
Tusculum presents a fertile hill, well irrigated, and with
numerous gentle slopes embellished with majestic palaces.
Contiguous are the undulating slopes of Mount Albanus,
which are equally fertile and ornamented. Beyond are plains
which extend some of them to Rome and its environs, others
to the sea ; these latter are unhealthy, but the others are
salubrious and well cultivated. Next after Albanum is the
city Aricia, on the Appian Way. It is 160 stadia from
Rome. This place is situated in a hollow, and has a strong
citadel.3 Beyond it on one side of the way is Lanuvium,4 a
Roman city on the right of the Via Appia, and from which
both the sea and Antium may be viewed. On the other side
is the Artemisium,5 which is called Nemus,6 on the left side
of the way, leading from Aricia to the temple.7 They say
that it is consecrated to Diana Taurica, and certainly the rites
performed in this temple are something barbarous and Scythic.
They appoint as priest a fugitive who has murdered the pre-
ceding priest with his own hand. Apprehensive of an attack
upon himself, the priest is always armed with a sword, ready
for resistance. The temple is in a grove, and before it is a

1 The Abbe Chaupy is inclined to think that this was a name given to
the part nearest the source of the river which Strabo, § 9, calls the Trerus,
but Kramer thinks it was originally written 6 Tpjjpoc, and corrupted by
the copyists. 2 Monte Cavo.

3 We have translated literally txtl $' vpuq ipv/jivfiv aicpav, but it is
possible that Strabo may have meant that the citadel was built on a
height above the town ; if so the citadel would occupy the site of la Riccia.

4 Civita Lavinia, or, Citta della Vigna. 5 Or Grove of Diana.
6 Nemus Arieiae. 7 The text here appears to be mutilated.

2 A 2

356 STRABO. CASAUB. 240.

lake of considerable size. The temple and water are sur-
rounded by abrupt and lofty precipices, so that they seem to
be situated in a deep and hollow ravine. The springs by
which the lake is filled are visible. One of these is denomi-
nated Egeria, after the name of a certain divinity ; however,
their course on leaving the lake is subterraneous, but they
may be observed at some distance, when they rise to the
surface of the ground.

13. Near to these localities is Mount Albanus,1 which is
much higher than either the Artemisium or the heights sur-
rounding it, although these are sufficiently lofty and precipit-
ous. It has likewise a lake,2 much larger than that of the
Artemisium. Further forward than these are the cities on
the Via Latina, we have already mentioned. Alba3 is
the most inland of all the Latin cities ; it borders on
the Marsi, and is situated on a high hill near to Lake
Fucinus. This [lake] is vast as a sea, and is of great
service to the Marsi and all the surrounding nations. They
say, that at times its waters rise to the height of the moun-
tains which surround it, and at others subside so much, that
the places which had been covered with water reappear and
may be cultivated; however, the subsidings of the waters
occur irregularly and without previous warning, and are fol-
lowed by their rising again ; the springs fail altogether and
gush out again after a time ; as they say is the case with
the Amenanus,4 which flows through Catana,5 for after re-
maining dry for a number of years, it again flows. It is
reported that the Marcian6 water, which is drunk at Rome in
preference to any other, has its source in [Lake] Fucinus.
As Alba is situated in the depths of the country, and is be-
sides a strong position, the Romans have often employed it as
a place of security, for lodging important prisoners.7

1 Monte Cavo. 8 The Lago d'Albano.

3 Alba Fucensis is here intended : hod. Albi.

4 The Judicello. 5 Catania, in Sicily.

6 See Pliny in reference to the Aqua Marcia, Hist. Nat. 1. xxxi. § 24,
also 1. ii. § 106.

7 It served successively as a place of confinement for the kings Sy-
phax, Perseus, and Bituitus.

n. v. c. iv. $ 1, 2. ITALY. PICENUM. 357

CHAPTER IV.

1. AFTER having commenced with the nations about the
Alps, and the Apennine mountains which are near to these,
we proceeded from thence and passed through that portion of
the hither country lying between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the
Apennine mountains, which incline towards the Adriatic, as
far as the Samnites and the Campani. We will now return
again, and describe the mountaineers, and those who dwell at
the foot of the mountains ; whether on the coast of the Adriatic,
or in the interior. Thus, we must recommence from the
boundaries of Keltica.1

2. After the cities of the Ombrici, which are comprised be-
tween Ariminum2 and Ancona, comes Picenum. The Picentini
proceeded originally from the land of the Sabini. A woodpecker
led the way for their chieftains, and from this bird they have
taken their name, it being called in their language Picus, and is
regarded as sacred to Mars. They inhabit the plains extending
from the mountains to the sea ; the length of their country
considerably exceeds its breadth ; the soil is every where
good, but better fitted for the cultivation of fruits than grain.
Its breadth, from the mountains to the sea varies in different
parts. But its length ; from the river ^Esis3 to Castrum,4
sailing round the coast, is 800 stadia. Of its cities, Ancona
is of Grecian origin, having been founded by the Syracusans
who fled from the tyranny of Dionysius. It is situated upon
a cape, which bending round towards the north forms a har-
bour ; and it abounds in wine and wheat. Near to it is the
city of Auxumon,5 at a little distance from the sea. After it
are Septempeda,6 Pneuentia,7 Potentia,8 and Firmum Pice-
num,9 with its port of Castellum.10 Beyond, is the temple of
Cupra,11 built and dedicated by the Tyrrheni to Juno, who is
named by them Cupra; and after it the river Tronto,12

I Cisalpine Gaul. 2 Rimini.

3 The Fiumesino. 4 Giulia Nova. 5 Osimo. e S. Severino.

7 Probably for Pollentia, on the Chiento, opposite Urbisaglia.

8 Ruins, on the river Potenza, near to Porto di Recanati.

9 Fermo. 10 Porto di Fermo.

II Near to the river Monecchia, not far from Marano. 12 Truentum.

358 STRABO. CASAUB. 241.

with a city of the same name.1 Beyond this is Castrum
Novum,2 and the river Piomba,3 flowing from the city of
Adria,4 and having [at its mouth] the naval station of Adria,
which bears the same name as itself. In the interior is [the
city of Adria] itself and Asculum Picenum,5 a very strong
position, upon which is built a wall : the mountains which sur-
round it are not accessible to armies.6 Above Picenum are
the Vestini,7 the Marsi,8 the Peligni,9 the Marucini,10 and the
Frentani,11 a Samnitic nation possessing the hill-country, and
extending almost to the sea. All these nations are small, but
extremely brave, and have frequently given the Romans
proofs of their valour, first as enemies, afterwards as allies ;
and finally, having demanded the liberty and rights of citizens,
and being denied, they revolted and kindled the Marsian war.12
They decreed that Corfinium,13 the metropolis of the Peligni,
should be the capital for all the Italians instead of Rome : made
it their place d'armes, and new-named it Italica. Then, having
convoked deputies from all the people friendly to their design,
they created consuls14 and praetors, and maintained the war
for two 15 years, until they had obtained the rights for which
they struggled. The war was named the Marsian 1G war, be-

1 The position of this city is still disputed, it has been identified with
Porto d'Ascoli, Torre di Seguro, and other places.

2 Giulia Nova. * Matrinus. 4 Atri.
5 Ascoli. 6 The text is here defective.

7 The Vestini appear to have occupied the region where at present
Aquila, Ofena, Civita Aquana, Civita di Penna, Civita di St. Angelo,
and Pescara are situated.

8 They inhabited the canton in which are built Tagliacozzo, Scurcola,
Albi, Celano, Pescina, and the environs of Lake Celano.

* Inhabited the territories of Sulmona, Pentima, and Popolo.

10 Occupied the district of Tieti or Chieti.

11 Inhabited the right bank of the Sangro, the territory of Guasto, the
banks of the Trigno and Biferno, the district of Larino, the left bank of
the Fortore, and extended north-west t,owards Pescara.

»2 91 B. c. 13 Pentima near Popoli.

14 The first consuls were Q. Pompaedius Silo, and C. Aponius Mutilus ;
the praetors were Herius Asinius for the Marucini, C. Veltius Cato for the
Marsi, M. Lamponius and T. Cleptius for the Leucani, Marius Egnatius
Trebatius and Pontius Telesinus for the Samnites, C. Judacilius for the
Apuli or Picentini, and A. Cluentius for the Peligni. "Many other officers
besides these distinguished themselves in the several campaigns of the
Marsian war.

15 A note in the French translation would make the duration of the
Marsian war twelve years.

16 Diodorus Siculus agrees with Strabo, in asserting that this war was

B. v. c. iv. $ 2. ITALY. PICENUM. MAKSI. 359

cause that nation commenced the insurrection, and particularly
on account of Pompasdius.1 These nations live generally in
villages, nevertheless they are possessed of certain cities, some
of which are at some little distance from the sea, as Cor-
finium, Sulmo,2 Maruvium,3 and Teatea4 the metropolis of
the Marrucini. Others are on the coast, as Aternum5 on the
Picentine boundary, so named from the river [Aternus],
which separates the Vestini from the Marrucini. This river
flows from the territory of Amiternum and through the Ves-
tini, leaving on its right the Marrucini, who lie above the
Peligni, [at the place where the river] is crossed by a bridge.
The city, which bears the same name, (viz. Aternum,) be-
longs to the Vestini, but its port is used in common both by
the Peligni and the Marrucini. The bridge I have men-
tioned is about 24 stadia from Corfinium. After Aternum is
Orton,6 a naval arsenal of the Frentani, and Buca,7 which be-
longs to the same people, and is conterminous with the Apulian
Teanum.8 •fOrtonium9 is situated in the territory of the
Frentani. It is rocky, and inhabited by banditti, who con-
struct their dwellings of the wrecks of ships, and lead other-
called Marsian, because it had been commenced by the Marsi, 'Qvo/ta<r0a
<$g tj)T]<Tt Mapaticov [i. e. TroXtpov] IK TWV ap^avTwv TTJQ aTroaraffeuQ .
however, Velleius Paterculus asserts that the people of Asculum com-
menced the war, which was continued by the Marsi ; and Livy (Epit.
lib. Ixxii.) makes the Picentini the first to raise the standard of revolt.
1 Quintus PompaBdius Silo.

* Now Sulmona, about seven miles south-east of Corfinium. It was the
birth-place of Ovid.

Sulmo mihi patria est gelidis uberrimus undis. Ovid. Trist. iv. El. 9.
Marruvium, veteris celebratum nomine Marri,
Urbibus est illis caput. Sil. Ital. viii. 507.

We must place this city, with Holstenius, at San Benedetto, on the east-
ern shore of the lake, where inscriptions have been found which leave no
doubt on the subject. The coins of Marruvium have MARUB on the
reverse and a head of Pluto.

* Now Chieti, on the right bank of the Pescara. The family of Asinius
Pollio came originally from this place.

* Pescara. 6 Ortona-a-Mare.

7 Romanelli, (torn. iii. p. 40,) founding his opinion on ancient ecclesias-
tical records and the reports of local antiquaries, informs us that the ruins
of Buca exist at the present Penna.

8 According to Holstenius and Romanelli, Civitate; according to
others, Ponte Rotto.

9 Kramer is of opinion that this passage, from "Ortonium" to " life,"
is an interpolation posterior to the age of Strabo.

360 STRABO. CASATJB. 42.

wise a savage life, f Between Orton and Aternum is the rivsr
Sagrus,1 which separates the Frentani from the Peligni. From
Picenum to the Apuli, named by the Greeks the Daunii,2
sailing round the coast, is a distance of about 490 3 stadia.

3. Next in order after Latium is Campania, which extends
along the [Tyrrhenian] Sea ; above it is Samnium, in the
interior, extending as far as the Frentani and Daunii ; and
beyond are the Daunii, and the other nations as far as the
Strait of Sicily. We shall in the first place speak of Campa-
nia. From Sinuessa4 to Misenum5 the coast forms a vast
gulf; beyond this is another gulf still larger, which they
name the Crater.6 It is enclosed by the two promontories of
Misenum and the Athena3um.7 It is along the shores of these
[two gulfs] that the whole of Campania is situated. This
plain is fertile above all others, and entirely surrounded by
fruitful hills and the mountains of the Samnites and Osci.
Antiochus says that this country was formerly inhabited by
the Opici, and that these were called Ausones. Polybius
appears to consider these as two people, for he says that the
Opici and Ausones inhabit the country around the Crater.8
Others, however, state that it was originally inhabited by
Opici and Ausones, but was afterwards seized on by a nation
of the Osci, who were driven out by the Cumsei, and these
again by the Tyrrheni. Thus the possession of the plain was
much disputed on account of its great fertility. [They add
that the Tyrrheni] built there twelve cities, and named the
metropolis Capua. But luxury having made them effeminate,
in the same way that they had formerly been driven from the
banks of the Po, they were now forced to abandon this
country to the Samnites ; who in their turn fell before the
Romans. One proof of the fertility of this country is, that it
produces the finest corn. I allude to the grain from which a
groat is made superior to all kinds of rice, and to almost all other
farinacious food. They say that some of the plains are crop-
ped all the year round ; twice with rye, the third time with

1 Romanelli affirms that the mountain from which the river Alaro flows
is called Sagra, and Cramer considers that river to be the ancient Sagrus.
The Daunii formed only a portion of the Apuli.
We have followed Kramer's reading, rtrpaKoouov IvtvfiKovra.
The ruins of Monte Dragone. 5 Punta di Miseno.

The bay of Naples. 7 Punta della Campanella.

Thispassage is not found in the works of Polybius, as handed down to us.

B. v. c. iv. $ 4. ITALY. CAMPANIA. 361

panic, and occasionally a fourth time with vegetables. It is
likewise from hence that the Romans procure their finest
wines, the Falernian, the Statanian, and the Calenian. That
of Surrentum l is now esteemed equal to these, it having been
lately discovered that it can be kept to ripen. In addition to
this, the whole country round Venafrum, bordering on the
plains, is rich in olives.

4. The maritime cities [of Campania], after Sinuessa, are
Liternum,2 where is the sepulchral monument of the first of
the two Scipios, surnamed Africanus ; it was here that he
passed the last days of his life, having abandoned public
affairs in disgust at the intrigues of certain opponents. A
river of the same name3 flows by this city. In like manner
the Vulturnus bears the same name as the city4 founded
on it, which comes next in order : this river flows through
Venafrum5 and the midst of Campania. After these
[cities] comes Cumre,6 the most ancient settlement1 "of
the Chalcidenses and Cumaeans, for it is the oldest of all
[the Greek cities] in Sicily or Italy. The leaders of the
expedition, Hippocles the Cumasan and Megasthenes of
Chalcis, having mutually agreed that one of the nations should
have the management of the colony, and the other the honour
of conferring upon it its own name. Hence at the present
day it is named Cumae, while at the same time it is said
to have been founded by the Chalcidenses. At first this
city was highly prosperous, as well as the Phlegraean8 plain,
which mythology has made the scene of the adventures of the
giants, for no other reason, as it appears, than because the
fertility of the country had given rise to battles for its pos-
session. Afterwards, however, the Campanians becoming
masters9 of the city, inflicted much injustice on the inhabit-

1 Sorrento. 2 Torre di Patria. 3 Liternus. * Vulturnum. 6 Venafro.

* KV/IT/. The Greeks gave a singular form to this name of the ancient
seat of the Sibyl. Her chamber, which was hewn out of the solid rock,
was destroyed when the fortress of Cumae was besieged by Narses, who
undermined it.

7 Eusebius states that it was founded 1050 B. c., a few years before
the great migration of the lonians into Asia Minor.

9 We may observe that Strabo seems not to have restricted the
4>Xeypaiov irtfiiov to that which modern geographers term the Phlegraean
plains, which are contained between Cumae and the hills bordering the
Lake Agnano, a little beyond Pozzuolo, but, like Pliny, to have extended
it to the whole region, at present termed Terra di Lavoro.

8 A note in the French translation observes, that Diodorus Siculus

362 STRABO. CASA.UB. 243,

ants, and even violated their wives. Still, however, there
remain numerous traces of the Grecian taste, their temples,
and their laws. Some are of opinion that Cumse was so
called from TO. Kvpara, the waves, the sea-coast near it being
» rocky and exposed. These people have excellent fisheries.
On the shores of this gulf there is a scrubby forest, extending
over numerous acres of parched and sandy land. This they
call the Gallinarian l wood. It was there that the admirals
of Sextus Pompeius assembled their gangs of pirates, at the
time when he drew Sicily into revolt.2

5. Near to Cuma? is the promontory of Misenum,3 and
between them is the Acherusian Lake,4 which is a muddy es-
tuary of the sea. Having doubled Misenum, you come to
a harbour at the very foot of the promontory. After this the
shore runs inland, forming a deeply indented bay, on which
are Baiae and the hot springs, much used, both as a fashion-
able watering-place, and for the cure of diseases. Contiguous
to Baue is the Lucrine Lake,5 and within this the Lake Aver-
nus,6 which converts into a peninsula the land stretching from
the maritime district, situated between • it and Cuma3, as far
as Cape Misenum, for there is only an isthmus of a few stadia,
across which a subterraneous road is cut [from the head of
the gulf of Avernus] to Cumae and the sea [shore] on which
it stands. Former writers, mingling fable with history, have
applied to Avernus the expressions of Homer in his Invoca-
tion of Departed Spirits,7 and relate that here formerly was
an oracle of the dead,8 and that it was to this place that
Ulysses came. However, this gulf of Avernus is deep even
near the shore, with an excellent entrance, and is both as
to its size and nature a harbour ; but it is not used, on ac-
count of the Lucrine Gulf which lies before it, and is both large
and somewhat shallow. The Avernus is surrounded with
steep hills which encompass the whole of it, with the excep-

(lib. xii. § 76) places this event in the fourth year of the 89th Olympiad,
421 B. c. Livy (lib. iv. § 44) seems to place it a year later.

1 It is now called Pineta di Castel Volturno.

2 Forty years B. c. 3 Punta di Miseno. 4 Lago di Fusaro.

6 Lago Lucrino. This lake has almost disappeared, owing to a subter-
raneous eruption, which in 1538 displaced the water and raised the hill
called Monte Nuovo.

8 Lago d'Averno.

7 vijKvla, the title of the llth book of the Odyssey.

6 vtievofiavrelov, another title of the same (llth) book

B. v. c. iv. § 5. ITALY. CAMPANIA. 363

tion of the entrance. These hills, now so beautifully culti-
vated were formerly covered with wild forests, gigantic and
impenetrable, which overshadowed the gulf, imparting a feeling
of superstitious awe. The inhabitants affirm that birds, flying
over the lake, fall into the water,1 being stifled by the vapours
rising from it, a phenomenon of all Plutonian2 localities. They
believed, in fact, that this place was a Plutonium, around
which the Kimmerians used to dwell, and those who sailed
into the place made sacrifice and propitiatory offerings to the
infernal deities, as they were instructed by the priests who
ministered at the place. There is here a spring of water near
to the sea fit for drinking, from which, however, every one
abstained, as they supposed it to be water from the Styx :
[they thought likewise] that the oracle of the dead was
situated some where here ; and the hot springs near to the
Acherusian Lake indicated the proximity of Pyriphlegetbon.
Ephorus, peopling this place with Kimmerii, tells us that they
dwell in under-ground habitations, named by them Argilla3, and
that these communicate with one another by means of certain
subterranean passages ; and that they conduct strangers
through them to the oracle, which is built far below the sur-
face of the earth. They live on the mines together with the pro-
fits accruing from the oracle, and grants made to them by the
king [of the country]. It was a traditional custom for the serv-
ants of the oracle never to behold the sun, and only to quit their
caverns at night. It was on this account that the poet said,

" On them the Sun
Deigns not to look with his beam-darting eye." 3

At last, however, these men were exterminated by one of the
kings, the oracle having deceived him ; but [adds Ephorus]
the oracle is still in existence, though removed to another

1 Strabo is not the only one who mentions this : Virgil says,

" Spelunca alta fuit, vastoque immanis hiatu,
' Scrupea, tuta lacu nigro, nemorumque tenebris ;

Quam super haud ullse poterant impune volantes

Tendere iter pennis ; talis esse halitus atris

Faucibus effundens supera ad convexa ferebat ;

Unde locum Graii dixerunt nomine Avernum."

^Eneid. vi. 237.

2 The Greeks applied the term Plutonian to places where disagree-
able and pestilential exhalations arose.

3 " Nor ever does the light-giving Sun shine upon them."

Odys. xi. 15.

364 STRABO. CASAUB. 245.

place. Such were the myths related by our ancestors. But
now that the wood surrounding the Avernus has been cut
down by Agrippa, the lands built upon, and a subterranean
passage cut from Avernus to Cumse, all these appear fables.
Perhaps1 Cocceius, who made this subterranean passage,2
wished to follow the practice of the Kimmerians we have
already described, or fancied that it was natural to this place
that its roads should be made under-ground.

6. The Lucrine gulf extends in breadth as far as Baia3 ; it
is separated from the sea by a bank eight stadia in length,
and the breadth of a carriage-way ; this they say was con-
structed by Hercules when he drove away the oxen of Geryon.
But as the wave covered its surface in stormy weather, ren-
dering it difficult to pass on foot, Agrippa has repaired it.
Small vessels can put into it, but it is useless as a harbour.3
It contains abundant oyster-beds. Some take this to be the
Acherusian Lake, while Artemidorus confounds it with Aver-
nus. They say that Ba'i'se took its name from Baius one of
the companions of Ulysses, and Misenum from Misenu?.
Beyond is the strand and city of DicaBarchia. Formerly it
was nothing but a naval station of the Cuma3i. It was built
on an eminence. But at the time of the war with Hannibal, the
Romans established a colony there, and changed its name into
Puteoli,4 [an appellation derived] from its wells ; or, accord-
ing to others, from the stench of its waters, the whole district
from hence to BaTae and Cumaj being full of sulphur, fire, and
hot-springs. Some too are of opinion that it was on this ac-
count [that the country about] Cuma3 was named Phlegra,
and that the fables of the giants struck down by thunderbolts
owe their origin to these eruptions of fire and water. This
city has become a place of extensive commerce, having arti-
ficially constructed harbours, which were much facilitated by

1 The text here appears to have been corrupted.

2 We agree with Kramer in considering as an interpolation the words,
rt. Kai STTI "Nkav iroXtv tK £iKaiap%ia(; iiri ralg ~Ba.ia.iQ, and likewise
another at Neapolisfrom Diccearchia to Baite. It is generally supposed that
the Grolta di Pausilipo, or.Crypta Neapolitana, is of much greater antiquity
than the Augustan age, when Cocceius flourished. There is good reason
to refer that great undertaking to the Cumaei, of whose skill in works of
this nature we have so remarkable an instance in the temple of their sibyl.

3 Dion Cassius tells us, on the contrary, that owing to the exertions of
Agrippa, the gulfs both of Avernus and Lucrinus became excellent ports,
XififvaQ vavXox^TaTovg aTrefoigtv, 4 Pozzuoli.

B. v. c. iv. § 7. ITALY. CAMPANIA. 365

the facile nature of the sand, which contains much gypsum, and
will cement and consolidate thoroughly. For mixing this
sand witli chalk-stones they construct moles in the sea, thus
forming bays along the open coast, in which the largest trans-
port ships may safely ride. Immediately above the city lies
the Forum- Vulcani,1 a plain surrounded with hills which
seem to be on fire, having in many parts mouths emitting
smoke, frequently accompanied by a terrible rumbling noise ;
the plain itself is full of drifted sulphur.

7. After Dicaearchia is Neapolis,2 [founded3 originally] by
the Cumcei, but afterwards being peopled by Chalcidians, and
certain Pithecussreans and Athenians,4 it was on this account
denominated Naples.5 Here is pointed out the tomb of Par-

1 La Solfa-terra. 2 Naples.

3 Innumerable accounts exist relative to the foundation of this city.
The most prevalent fiction was that the siren Parthenope was cast upon
its shores, and from her it derived the name, by which it was usually
designated by the ancient poets.

Sirenum dedit una suum memorabile nomen
Parthenope muris Acheloias : aequore cujus
Regnavere diu cantus, quum dulce per undas
Exitium miseris caneret non prospera nautis.

Sil. Ital. xii. 33.

Scymnus of Chios mentions both the Phocaei and Cumaei as its founders.
Stephanus of Byzantium attributes its foundation to the Rhodians ; their
proximity is favourable to the claims of the Cumaei, and hence the con-
nexion of Naples with Euboea, alluded to by Statius, who was born there.
At te nascentem gremio mea prima recepit
Parthenope, dulcisque solo tu gloria nostro
Reptasti ; nitidum consurgat ad aethera tellus
Eubois, et pulchra tumeat Sebethos alumna. Silv. i. 2.
A Greek inscription mentions a hero named Eumelus as having had
divine honours paid to him, possibly as founder of the city. [See Capaccio,
Hist. Nap. p. 105. Martorelli de' Fenici primi abitatori di Napoli.]
This may illustrate the following lines, —

Di patrii, quos auguriis super aequora magnis
Littus ad Ausonium devexit Abantia classis,
Tu ductor populi longe emigrantis Apollo,
Cujus adhuc volucrem leva cervice sedentem
Respiciens blande felix Eumelis adorat. Silv. iv. 8, 45.

4 Probably those mentioned in a fragment of Timaeus, quoted by
Tzetzes, (ad Lycophr. v. 732 — 737,) as having migrated to Italy under
the command of Diotimus, who also instituted the XafjnradijQopia, which
was still observed at Naples in the time of Statius :

Tuque Actoea Ceres, cursu cui semper anhelo

Votivam taciti quassamus lampada mystae. Silv. iy, 8, 50.

5 Neapolis, or Naples, signifying the new city.

366 STRABO. CASAUB. 246.

thenope, one of the sirens, and a gymnastic sport is celebrated
by command of an oracle. In course of time the inhabitants,
having disagreed amongst themselves, admitted certain Cam-
panians ; thus being forced to regard in the light of friends
those most inimical to them, since their friends were hostile.
This is proved by the names of their demarchi, the earlier of
which are Grecian, but the latter a mixture of Campanian
with the Grecian names. Many traces of Grecian institution
are still preserved, the gymnasia, the ephebeia,1 the fratrias,2
and the Grecian names of people who are Roman citizens.
At the present time they celebrate, every fifth year, public
games for music and gymnastic exercises during many days,
which rival the most famous games of Greece. There
is here a subterranean passage, similar to that at Cumae,3
extending for many stadia along the mountain,4 between
Dicsearchia5 and Neapolis : it is sufficiently broad to let car-
riages pass each other, and light is admitted from the surface
of the mountain, by means of numerous apertures cut through a
great depth.6 Naples also has hot springs and baths not at all
inferior in quality to those at Baiae, but much less frequented,
for another city has arisen there, not less than Diccearchia,
one palace after another having been built. Naples still pre-
serves the Grecian mode of life, owing to those who retire
hither from Rome for the sake of repose, after a life of labour
from childhood, and to those whose age or weakness demands
relaxation. Besides these, Romans who find attractions in
this style of life, and observe the numbers of persons dwelling
there, are attracted by the place, and make it their abode.
8. Following this is the fortress of Heraclseum,7 built upon

1 Places of exercise for youth. 2 Societies.

3 Grotta di Pausilipo.

4 Pausilypus mons was the name of the ridge of hills which separates
the bay of Naples from that of Pozzuoli. This was probably given to it
on account of its delightful situation and aspect, which rendered it the
favourite residence of several noble and wealthy Romans.

5 Puteoli.

6 Seneca, in describing the Crypta Neapolitana, as it was then called,
gives an exaggerated account of the sombre horrors of the place. Perhaps
in his time the apertures had become obstructed, which was evidently
not the case at the time when Strabo, or the authority whom he follows,
visited the place.

7 Hercolano, or Herculaneum, by Cicero (to Atticus, vii. 3) called
Herculanum. It is probable that the subversion of this town was not

B. v. c. iv. § 8. ITALY. CAMPANIA. 367

a promontory which projects out into the sea, and which, on
account of the prevalence of the south-west wind, is a very
healthy spot. The Osci l originally possessed both this and
Pompeia,2 which is next to it, by which the river Sarno3
flows ; afterwards the Tyrrheni and Pelasgi,4 and then the
Samnites5 obtained possession of them, and the last6 in their
turn were driven from these regions. Pompeia is the port
for Nola,7 Nuceria,8 and Acerrae, which bears the same name as
the city near to Cremona. It is built on the river Sarno, by
which merchandise is received and exported. Above these
places is Mount Vesuvius, which is covered with very beautiful
fields, excepting its summit, a great part of which is level,
but wholly sterile. It appears ash-coloured to the eye,
cavernous hollows appear formed of blackened stones, looking
as if they had been subjected to the action of fire. From
this we may infer that the place was formerly in a burning
state with live craters, which however became extinguished
on the failing of the fuel. Perhaps this [volcano] may have
been the cause of the fertility of the surrounding country,
the same as occurs in Catana, where they say that that por-
tion which has been covered with ashes thrown up by the
fires of ^Etna is most excellent for the vine. The land about
Vesuvius contains fat, and a soil which has been subjected to
fire, and is very strong and productive of fruit : when this
fat superabounds, it is apt, like all sulphurous substances,
to take fire, but being dried up by evaporation, extinguished,
and pulverized, it becomes a productive earth. Adjoining

sudden, but progressive, since Seneca mentions a partial demolition
•which it sustained from an earthquake. (Nat. Qucest. vi. 1.) So many
books have been written on the antiquities and works of art discovered
in Herculaneum, that the subject need not be enlarged upon here.

1 Several inscriptions in Oscan, and Etruscan, characters have been
discovered in the ruins of Herculaneum. Lanzi, (torn, iii.,) — Komanelli
Viaggio a Pompei ed Ercolano.

2 Pompeii. 3 The ancient Sarnus.

4 These Pelasgi were established among the Tyrrhenians.

5 It is believed that the Samnites possessed both places, 310, B. c.

6 The Romans must have been masters of these cities 272, B. c.
(Livy, Epit. xiv.)

7 Nola resisted, under the able direction of Marcellus, all the efforts of
Hannibal after the battle of Canna?. A remarkable inscription in Oscan
characters relative to this town is explained by Lanzi, (torn. iii. 612,)
its name is there written NUFLA. See Cramer's Ancient Italy, vol. ii.
p. 211. 8 Nocera de' Pagani.

368 STRABO. CASAUB. 247.

Pompeia is Surrentum,1 [a city] of the Campanians. from
whence the Athenaeum,2 called by some the promontory of
the Sirenusae, projects [into the sea] ; upon its summit is the
temple of Minerva, founded by Ulysses. From hence to the
island of Capreas the passage is short; after doubling the
promontory you encounter various desert and rocky little
islands, which are called the SirenusaB.3 On the side towards
Surrentum there is shown a temple with the ancient offerings
of those who held this place in veneration. Here is the end
of the bay named Crater,4 which is bounded by the two pro-
montories of Misenum5 and the Athenasum, both looking
towards the south. The whole is adorned by the cities we
have described, by villas, and plantations, so close together
that to the eye they appear but one city.

9. In front of Misenum lies the island of Prochyta,6 which
has been rent from the Pithecussa?.7 Pithecussre was peopled
by a colony of Eretrians and Chalcidians, which was very
prosperous on account of the fertility of the soil and the pro-
ductive gold-mines ; however, they abandoned the island on
account of civil dissensions, and were ultimately driven out
by earthquakes, and eruptions of fire, sea, and hot waters.
It was on account of these eruptions, to which the island is
subject, that the colonists sent by Hiero,8 the king of Syracuse,
abandoned the island, together with the town which they
had built, when it was taken possession of by the Neapolitans.
This explains the myth concerning Typhon, who, they say,
lies beneath the island, and when he turns himself, causes
flames and water to rush forth, and sometimes even small

1 Sorrento. 8 Punta della Campanella.

3 The Sirenusse were three small rocks detached* from the land, and
celebrated as the islands of the Sirens ; they are now called Galli. See
Holsten. Adnot.p. 248 ; Romanelli, torn, iii.p. 619. Virgil, ^En. v. 864,
describes them as,

Jamque adeo scopulos advecta subibat ;

Difficiles quondam, multorumque ossibus albos.

It had been decreed that the Sirens should lire only till some one hearing
their song should pass on unmoved, and Orpheus, who accompanied the
Argonauts, having surpassed the Sirens, and led on the ship, they cast
themselves into the sea, and were metamorphosed into these rocks.

4 The bay of Naples. 5 Punta di Miseno.
6 Procida. 7 Ischia.

8 It appears that Hiero the First is here alluded to ; he ascended the
throne 478 years before the Christian era.

B. V. C. IV.

ITALY. 369

islands to rise in the sea, containing springs of hot water.
Pindar throws more credibility into the myth, by making it
conformable to the actual phenomena, for the whole strait
from Cumasa to Sicily is subigneous, and below the sea has
certain galleries which form a communication between [the
volcanos1 of the islands2] and those of the main-land. He
shows that JEtna is on this account of the nature described
by all, and also the Lipari Islands, with the regions around
Dicasarchia, Neapolis, Baire, and the PithecussaB. And mind-
ful hereof, [Pindar] says that Typhon lies under the whole of
this space.

"Now indeed the sea-girt shores beyond .Cumae, and Sicily, press on his
shaggy breast." 3

Timoeus,4 who remarks that many paradoxical accounts were
related by the ancients concerning the Pithecussoe, states,
nevertheless, that a little before his time, Mount Epomeus,5 in
the middle of the island, being shaken by an earthquake,
vomited forth fire ; and that the land between it and the coast
was driven out into the sea. That the powdered soil, after
being whirled on high, was poured down again upon the
island in a whirlwind. That the sea retired from it to a dis-
tance of three stadia, but after remaining so for a short time it
returned, and inundated the island, thus extinguishing the fire.
And that the inhabitants of the continent fled at the noise,
from the sea-coast, into the interior of Campania. It seems
that the hot-springs6 here are a remedy for those afflicted with
gravel. Capreas7 anciently possessed two small cities, after-
wards but one. The Neapolitans possessed this island, but
having lost Pithecussa3 in war, they received it again from
Csesar Augustus, giving him in exchange Caprese. This
[island] having thus become the property of that prince, he

1 The volcanos of Sicily, Lipari, Pithecusss, or Ischia, and Mount
Vesuvius. See Humboldt (Cosmos i. '238, note).

2 We, in common with the French translators and Siebenkees, have
adopted the vi}<rov£ found in the MS. of Pqter Bembo, and some others
cited by Casaubon.

3 Pindar Pyth. Od i. 32 ; Conf. Pindar. Olymp. Od. iv. 2.

4 This writer flourished about 264 years before the Christian era.

5 Epopeus mons, now sometimes called Epomeo, but more commonly
Monte San Nicolo.

6 The waters at the source Olmitello, in the southern part of the island,
are the most efficacious for this disease. 7 Capri.

VOL. i. 2 B

370 STRABO. CA.SAUB. 248.

has ornamented it with numerous edifices. Such then are the
maritime cities of Campania, and the islands lying opposite to it.

10. In the interior is the metropolis, Capua, being, as the
etymon of the name signifies, the head ; for in regard to it all
the other cities appear small, excepting Teanum-Sidicinum,1
which is a very considerable place. This city lies on the
Via Appia, as also the others which lead from hence to Brun-
dusium, [viz.] Callateria,2 Caudium,3 and Beneventum.4 On
the side of Rome is Casilinum,5 situated on the river Vultur-
nus.6 Here 540 men of Praneste sustained against Hannibal
in the height of his power so desperate a siege, that "by reason
of the famine, a rat7 was sold for two hundred drachma?, the
seller dying [of hunger], but the purchaser being saved. Han-
nibal observing some of them sowing turnip-seed near to the
wall, admired, as well he might, the patient courage of these
men, who hoped to hold out in the mean while, until these
turnips should be ready for food. However, we are assured
that they all survived, with the exception of a few who
perished either by famine or in war.

11. In addition to those just spoken of, there are these
Campanian cities which we have already mentioned, viz.
Cales,8 and Teanum-Sidicinum, the limits of which are
respectively marked out by the two temples of Fortune situ-
ated on either side of the Via Latina. Besides these are
Suessula,9 Atella,10 Nola,11 Nuceria,12 Acerrse,13 Abella,14 with

1 Teano.

2 Galazze. We have not hesitated to read Callateria, with all MSS.
Kramer has printed Ka\aria in text. Numismatic writers ascribe to
this, and not the Samnite Calatia, the coins with the head of Jupiter on
the obverse, and the legend, KALAT, and KALATI, in retrograde
Oscan characters on the reverse. Mionnet. Med. Ant. Suppl. vol. i. p.
232 ; Sestini, Monet. Vet. p. 13.

3 S. Maria di Goti, near to Forchia Caudina. 4 Benevento.
5 Nova Capua. 6 Volturno.

7 The text has nedipvov ; but we have adopted pvbg, the word pro-
posed by most of the Greek editors ; Valerius Maximus, Pliny, and Fron-
tinus all agreeing in the statement, that it was a rat which fetched this
enormous price. 8 Calvi. 9 Castel di Sessola, near Maddaloni.

10 Holstenius says that the ruins of Atella are still to be seen near S.
Arpino, or S. Elpidio, about two miles beyond Aversa.

11 Now Nola. It was one of the most ancient and important cities of
Campania ; though situated in an open plain, it resisted all the efforts of
Hannibal after the battle of Cannae. Here Augustus expired, in the same
room in wiiich his father Octavius had breathed his last. 12 Nocera.

13 Acerra near the source of the Agno, the ancient Clanius.
" Avella Vecchia.

K. v. c. IT. § 11, 12. ITALY. 371

other smaller settlements, some of which are said to be Sam-
nite.1 The Samnites, by making incursions into Latium as
far as Ardea, and afterwards devastating Campania itself,
greatly extended their power. The Campanians, being other-
wise accustomed to a despotic government, yielded ready
obedience to their commands. At the present day they have
been almost entirely exterminated by the various Roman
generals, and last of all by Sulla, who was absolute master of
the republic. He, after having by numerous battles extin-
guished the Italian revolt, observing that the Samnites, almost
without exception, remained in one body, and with one sole
intention, so that they had even marched upon Rome itself,
gave them battle under the walls, and as he had issued orders
to make no prisoners, many of them were cut to pieces on the
field, while the remainder, said to be about three or four
thousand men, who threw down their arms, were led off to
the Villa Publica in the Campus Martius, and there shut in ;
three days after soldiers were sent in who massacred the
whole; and when [Sulla] drew up his conscription list, he
did not rest satisfied until he had destroyed, or driven from
Italy, every one who bore a Samnite name. To those who re-
proached him for this animosity, he replied that he had learned
by experience that not a single Roman could rest in peace so
long as any of the Samnites survived. Thus their cities have
now dwindled into villages, some indeed being entirely de-
serted, as Boianum,2 Jisernia,3 Panna, Telesia4 adjoining
Venafrum, and others similar, none of which can be
looked upon as cities ; but in a country so renowned and
powerful as Italy, we thought proper to mention places even
of second-rate importance. [We should add that] Bene-
ventum5 and Venusia6 are still prosperous.

12. The following is the tradition concerning the [origin
of the] Samnites. The Sabines having been engaged for

1 Such was Nola, which our author in his sixth book evidently places
in the territory of the Samnites. 2 Bojano. 3 Isernia.

* The ruins of Telesia are to be seen about a mile from the modern
Telese. Allifse was between Telesia and Venafrum. 5 Benevento.

6 Venosa. The coins of Venusia have on the reverse the inscription VE.,
and an eagle resting on a thunderbolt. On the obverse, a head of Jupiter,
and sometimes of Bacchus. Sestini, Monet. Vet. p. 15. The Antiquitates
Venusinae and the Iter Venusinum were published at Naples in the last
century.

2 B 2

372 STRABO. CASATJB. 250.

a long period in war with the Ombrici, made a vow, common
with some of the Grecian nations, that they would consecrate
to the gods the productions of the year.1 They were victorious,
and accordingly of the productions,2 the one kind were sacri-
ficed, the other consecrated. However, in a time of scarcity,
some one remarked, that they ought likewise to have
consecrated the children. This then they did, and the chil-
dren born at that period were called the sons of Mars.3 When
these had grown up to manhood, they were sent forth, a bull
leading the way, to found a colony. The bull lay down to
rest in a place belonging to the Opici ; a people dwelling in
villages. These they drove out, and established themselves
in the place. The bull, according to the direction of the di-
viners, they sacrificed to Mars, who had given him to them
as a leader. It seems to have been in allusion to this that
their parents called them by the diminutive form of Sabelli.4
The name of Samnites, or, as the Greeks call them, Saunites,
originated in another cause. It is also said that certain Lace-
daemonians came to dwell amongst them, and that this is the
reason of their affection for the Greeks, and that certain of
them are called Pitanatas.5 The whole of this, however,
appears to be a mere fabrication of the Tarentini, interested
in flattering and conciliating to themselves a neighbouring
people, so powerful as to be able, on a time, to bring into the
field a force of eighty thousand foot-soldiers, and eight thou-
sand cavalry. There is said to be a law amongst the Sam-
nites, excellent in itself, and calculated to excite to virtue.
It is not lawful for fathers to give away their daughters to
whomsoever they may please ; but every year ten of the most
virtuous young women, and ten of the most virtuous young
men, are selected ; of these the most excellent young man
is married to the most excellent young woman, the second
to the second, and so on in order. Should he who re-

1 Casaubon conjectures that in place of the T<jj trei roury, we should
read ry tapi TOVTW, or, the productions of the spring : and it certainly
would seem that Strabo is here describing what the Latins called a vcr
sacrum. An ancient historian, speaking of the occurrence mentioned by
Strabo, says, " Quondam Sabini feruntur vovisse, si res communis mcli-
oribus locis constitisset, se ver sacrum facturos." Sisenn. Hist. lib. iv,.
ap. Non. Marcell. De doctor, indag. ed. 1683, fol. 2531. Festus, Sext. P.
Fest. De verb. sign. F. ed. 1699, p. 478, seems to have mentioned the same
thing. 2 The animals and fruits are intended. 3 Devoted to Mars.

4 Or little Sabines. 5 From Pitane, a place in Laconia.

B. v. c. iv. § 13. ITALY. 373

ceives this reward, afterwards change and become wicked, he
is dishonoured, and the wife who had been given is taken away
from him. Beyond are the Hirpini, who are also Samnites :
their name they take from the wolf, which conducted their
colony ; a wolf being called by the Samnites hirpos: these
people border on the Leucani in the interior. So much for
the Samnites.

13. The fertility of their country has been productive to
the Campanians of as much evil as good. Their luxury ran
to such a height, that they would invite to supper, in order to
exhibit pairs of fighting gladiators, the exact number of pairs
being regulated according to the distinction of the guests.
When, on their voluntary submission to Hannibal, they re-
ceived his soldiers into winter quarters,1 the pleasures [of the
place] rendered the men so effeminate, that Hannibal said,
although conqueror, that he was in danger of the enemy,
since his soldiers were returned to him women, arid no longer
men. When the Romans obtained the mastery,2 they inflicted
on them numerous ills, and ended by distributing their land
by lot.3 At the present day they are living in prosperity, and
on friendly terms with the [Roman] colonists, and preserve
their ancient reputation, both in respect to the size of their city
and the numbers of their population. Beyond Campania,
and the Samnites,4 and upon the Tyrrhenian Sea, dwells the
nation of the Picentini. This is a small off-shoot from the
Picentini who dwell near the Adriatic, and was transplanted
by the Romans to the Posidoniate Gulf,5 now called the Gulf of
Psestum. The city of Posidonia, which is built about the middle
of the gulf, is called Pa^stum.6 The Sybarites [when they
founded the city7] built the fortifications close upon the sea,
but the inhabitants removed higher up. In after time8 the
Leucani seized upon the city, but in their turn were deprived
of it by the Romans.9 It is rendered unhealthy by a river 10

1 B.C. 216. 2 211 B.C. 3 B. c.59%

4 We concur with Kramer in considering that the words fi«xPl #pfv-
ravwv, which occur immediately after Savvlnv, have been interpolated.

5 The Gulf of Salerno. • Pesti.

7 This city must have been founded nearly 540 years B. c., for Herod-
otus says (hat the Phocaeans were chiefly induced to settle on the shores
of CEnotria by the advice of a citizen of Posidonia, and they founded
Velia in the reign of Cyrus. B. i. 164. 8 442 B. c. 9 B. c. 274.

10 Apparently the Fiume Salso.

374 STRABO. CASATTB. 261.

which overflows the marshy districts in the neighbourhood.
Between the Sirenussse and Posidonia 1 is Marcina,2 a city
founded by the Tyrrheni, but inhabited by the Samnites.
[To go] from thence into Pompaea,3 through Nuceria,4 [you
cross] an isthmus of not more than 120 stadia. The Picentes
extend as far as the river Silaro,5 which separates their
country on this side from ancient Leucania.6 The water of
this river is reported to possess the singular property of
petrifying any plant thrown into it, preserving at the same
time both the colour and form.7 Picentia was formerly
the capital of the Picentes ; but they now dwell in villages,
having been ejected by the Romans8 for taking part with
Hannibal. Also, instead of doing military service, it has
been decreed that they shall be the public daily couriers and
letter-carriers ; [a penalty] which for the same cause has
been likewise inflicted on the Leucani and Bruttii. To keep
them in check, the Romans fortified Salernum, which is a
little above the sea. The distance from the Sirenussae to the
Silaro is 260 stadia.

1 Pesti. 2 Yietri. 3 Pompeii.

4 Nocera. 5 The ancient Silaris.

6 We are inclined to read Leucania with Du Theil. The Paris manu-
script, No. 1393, reads tcaviav.

1 Pliny, in his Natural History, (lib. ii. § 106,) has confirmed Strabo's
account. It appears from Cluvier that the people who inhabit the banks
of the Silaro are not acquainted with any circumstances which might
corroborate the statement. (Cluvier, Ital. Ant. lib. iv. c, 14.)

8 About B. c. 201.

BOOK VI.
ITALY.

SUMMARY.

The Sixth Book contains the remainder of Italy, and the regions within the
Adriatic, as far as Macedonia ; likewise a description of Apulia, Calabria,
the country by the Ionian Gulf, together with the adjacent islands, from
Sicily to the Ceraunian mountains, and on the other side as far as Carthage,
and the small islands lying near to it.

CHAPTER I.

1. AFTER the mouth of the Silaro,1 is Leucania, and the
temple of Argive Juno, founded by Jason. Near to this,
within 50 stadia, is Posidonia.2 Sailing thence, towards the
high sea, is the island of Leucosia,3 at a little distance from
the main-land. It bears the name of one of the Sirens, who
according to the mythology was cast up here, after having
been precipitated with her companions into the deep. The
promontory 4 of the island projects opposite the Sirenussae,5
forming the bay of Posidonium.6 After having made this
cape there is another contiguous bay, on which is built the
city which the Phocasans called Hyela when they founded it,
but others Ela from a certain fountain. People in the present
day call it Elea. It is here that Parmenides and Zeno, the
Pythagorean philosophers, were born. And it is my opinion
that through the instrumentality of those men, as well as by
previous good management, the government of that place was
well arranged, so that they successfully resisted the Leucani
and the Posidoniata?, notwithstanding the smallness of their
district and the inferiority of their numbers. They are

1 The ancient Silaris. 2 Pesti.

3 It is now called Licosa, and sometimes Isola piana ; several vestiges
of buildings were discovered on the island in 1696. Antonin. della Lucan.
p. ii. disc. 8. 4 Capo della Licosa.

5 Punta della Campanella. • Golfo di Salerno.

376 STRABO. CASAUB. 252.

compelled, therefore, on account of the barrenness of the soil,
to apply to maritime trade chiefly, to employ themselves in
the salting of fish, and in such other occupations. Antiochus ]
says that when Phocea was taken by Harpagus, the general
of Cyrus, those who had the means embarked with their
families, and sailed under the conduct of Creontiades, first to
Cyrnos and Marseilles, but having been driven thence, they
founded Elea ; 2 the name of which some say is derived from
the river Elees.3 The city is distant about two hundred
stadia from Posidonia. After this city is the promontory of
Palinurus. But in front of the Eleatis are the CEnotrides,
two islands4 having good anchorage.5 And beyond Palin-
urus are the promontory, harbour, and river of Pyxus ;6 the
three having the same name. This colony was founded 7 by
Micythus, then governor of Messina in Sicily ; but those who
were located here, except a few, abandoned the place. After
Pyxus are the gulf,8 the river,9 and the city 10 of Laiis. This,
the last n city of the Leucani, situate a little above the sea, is
a colony12 of the Sybarites, and is distant from Elea 400
stadia. The whole circuit of Leucania, by sea is 650 stadia.
Near to Laiis is seen the tomb of Draco, one of the com-
panions of Ulysses, and the oracular response, given to the
Italian Greeks, alludes to him :

1 Strabo here cites the historian Antiochus, but it is surprising that he
does not rather cite the writer from whom Antiochus seems to have
borroAved this account, we mean Herodotus, who relates it (lib. i.
$ 164). But Strabo, probably, looking upon Herodotus as a collector of
fables, chose rather to yield to the authority of Antiochus, who had
written very accurate memoirs upon Italy, and who was, likewise,
himself a very ancient author, (Dion. Halicarn. Antiq. Rom. lib. i. § 12,)
and flourished about 420 years before the Christian era.

2 Or Velia, founded 532 B.C., mentioned by Horace, Epist. I. xv. 1,
" Qua? sit hyems Veliae, quod ccelum, Vala, Salerni."

3 The modern Alento. 4 Now unknown.

5 Pliny affirms that these two islands were called, the one Pontia, the
other Ischia ; " Contra Veliam Pontia et Ischia, utrseque uno nomine
CEnotrides, argumentum possessa? ab CEnotriis Italia?." Hist. Nat. lib.
iii. § 13. If this reading be not faulty, Pliny will have placed in the
latitude, of which our author is now giving a description, a small island
bearing the same name, Pontia, as the island lying oft' Cape Misenum.

6 The Buxentum of the Latins.

7 471 years before the Christian era. e Gulf of Policastro.

9 Now the river Laino.

10 Called Laino in the time of Cluverius. Lib. iv. cap. 14.

11 Upon this coast. l~ Founded about the year 510 B. c.

B. vi. c. i. § 2. ITALY. 377

" Some day, around the Dragon's stony tomb,
A mighty multitude shall meet their doom."

For the Greeks of Italy, enticed by this prophecy, marched
against Laiis, and were defeated by the Leucani.1

2. Such, along the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea, are
the possessions of the Leucani, which at first did not reach
to the other sea ;2 the Greeks who dwelt on the Gulf of Taren-
tum possessed it. But before the coming of the Greeks there
were no Leucani, the Chones3 and (Enotri possessed these
territories. But when the Samnites had greatly increased,
and expelled the Chones and OEnotri, and driven the Leu-
cani into this region, while the Greeks possessed the sea-
coast on both sides as far as the straits, the Greeks and the
Barbarians maintained a lengthened contest. The tyrants of
Sicily, and afterwards the Carthaginians, at one time making
war against the Romans, for the acquisition of Sicily, and at
another, for Italy itself, utterly wasted all these regions. The
Greeks, however, succeeded in depriving the ancient inha-
bitants of a great portion of the midland country, beginning
even as early as the Trojan war ; they increased in power,
and extent of territory, to such a degree, that they called this
region and Sicily, the Magna Grcecia. But now the whole
region, except Tarentum, Rhegium, and Neapolis, has become
barbarian,4 and belongs partly to the Leucani and Bruttii,
partly to the Campani ; to these, however, only in name, but
iruly to the Romans; for these people have become Roman.
However, it is incumbent on one who is treating of uni-

1 About the year 390 before the Christian era.
a i. e. the Gulf of Tarentum.

3 Strabo seems here to distinguish the Chones from the CEnotri, and the
CEnotri from the Greeks. According to Cluvier (Ital. Antiq. cap. 16, p.
1323) here was a double error : " not only (says he) Aristotle, but Antio-
chus, according to Strabo's own testimony, positively affirmed that the
Chones and CEnotri were one and the same nation, and Dionysius of
Halicarnassus (Antiq. Roman, lib. i. § 11) makes no doubt that the
CEnotri were of Greek origin." But Mazochi justifies the distinction
between the Chones and the CEnotri, and shows cause to doubt that the
CEnotri were of Greek origin.

4 iKr/3£/3ap/3apJ}<r0ai. We think with Mazochi (Prodrom. ad Heracl.
pseph. diatrib. 2, cap. 7, sect. 2) that, by the above word, Strabo pro-
bably expressed that, at the time when he wrote, Tarentum, Rheggio,
and Naples were the only cities founded by the Greeks in Italy, which,
although become Roman, retained the language, laws, and usages of their
mother country.

378 STRABO. CASATJB. 253.

versal geography, to speak both of things as they now are,
and of some of those that have been, and especially when they
are important. Of the Leucani, who border upon the Tuscan
Sea, mention has already been made ; those who possess
the midland regions dwell above the Gulf of Tarentum,
but these, as well as the Bruttii, and the Samnites them-
selves, the progenitors of both, have been so maltreated
[by the Romans], that it is difficult to determine the bound-
aries of each people. The reason of this is, that there no
longer remains separately any of the institutions common to
these nations ; and their peculiarities of language, of military
and civil costume, and such particulars, have passed away ;
besides, even their places of abode, considered separately and
apart, possess nothing worthy of observation.

3. We will narrate in a general manner what we have
gathered concerning the Leucani, who dwell in the interior,
without too much care in distinguishing them from their
neighbours, the Samnites. Petilia1 is considered as the
metropolis of the Leucani, and is still well peopled. It owes
its foundation to Philoctetes, who was compelled to quit Meli-
boea on account of civil dissensions. Its position is so strong,
that the Samnites were formerly obliged to construct forts
around it for the defence of their territory. The ancient
Crimissa, situated near these places, was also founded by Philoc-
tetes. Apollodorus, in his description of the ships [of the
Greeks], narrates concerning Philoctetes, that, according to
certain writers, this prince having disembarked in the district
of Crotona, settled on the promontory of Crimissa, and built
the city of Chone2 above it, from which the inhabitants were
called Chones ; and that certain colonists being sent by him
into Sicily, to the neighbourhood of Eryx,3 with .ZEgestus the

1 It has been well observed by Cramer in his Ancient Italy, that Strabo
confused this Petilia of the Leucani with another better known of the
Bruttii, the foundation of which was attributed to Philoctetes. It is
observed by Antonini that Strabo contradicts himself, by ascribing to
Philoctetes the origin of a town in Leucania, for he states a few lines
further on that that hero occupied a part of the coast near Crotona, which
was in the territory of the Brnttii. Strabo's account, however, of the
existence of a Leucanian Petilia is confirmed by many inscriptions of
early date. The ruins of the town remain on the Monte della Stella.
Antonin. della Lucan. p. i. disc. 8. Romanelli, torn. i. p. 350.

2 According to some judicious antiquaries, the site of Chone is located
at Casabuona, near Strongoli. 3 Trapani del Monte.

n. vi. c. i. § 4. ITALY. THE BRUTTII. GRECIAN CITIES. 379

Trojan, founded jEgesta.1 In the inland districts are also
Grumentura,2 Vertinse,3 Calasarna,4 and other small villages,
reaching as far as Venusia,5 a city of some importance. This,
however, I consider to be a Samnite city, as are also those
which are next met with on going into Campania. Above
the Thurii lies the district called Tauriana.6 The Leucani
are of Samnite origin. Having vanquished the Posidoniates
and their allies, they took possession of their cities. At one
time the institutions of the Leucani were democratic, but
during the wars a king was elected by those who were pos-
sessed of chief authority : at the present time they are Roman.
4. The Bruttii occupy the remainder of the coast as far as
the Strait of Sicily, extending about 1350 stadia. Antiochus,
in his treatise on Italy, says that this district, which he in-
tended to describe, was called Italy, but that previously it had
been called CEnotria. The boundary which he assigns to it
on the Tyrrhenian Sea, is the river Lao,7 and on the Sea of
Sicily Metapontium, the former of which we have given as
the boundary of the Bruttii. He describes Tarentum, which
is next to Metapontium,8 as beyond Italy, calling it lapygian.
He also relates that, at a more ancient period, those who dwelt
on this side the isthmus, which lies next the Strait of Sicily,
were the only people who were called OEnotrians and Italians.
The isthmus is 160 stadia across between the two gulfs, namely,
that of Hipponium,9 which Antiochus called Napitinus, and

1 The ruins of this city, which was anciently called also Egesta, Acesta,
and Segesta, may be seen at Barbara, in the valley of Mazzara.

2 Kramer, following the suggestion of Xylander, has printed

TOV. I am inclined, however, to think that Hovfitvrm', the reading of
Manuscripts, is correct. According to Barrio, it occupied the situa-
tion of Gerenza, on the right bank of the Nieto.

3 Verzine on the Nieto. (Barr. lib. iv. cap. 18. Maraf. lib. iii. c. 18.)

* Calasarna is supposed by the Calabrian topographers to accord with
the site of Campania.

5 Venosa, situated about 15 miles south of the Aufidus. It was a
colony of importance before the war against Pyrrhus. After the disaster
at Cannae, it afforded a retreat to Varro and the few who escaped that
signal overthrow. Horace was born there in the year of the city 688.
About six miles from Venosa, on the site named Palazzo, was the Fons
Bandusiae. (Chaupy, Des c. de la maison de Camp, d' Horace, torn. iii.
p. 538.)

• Cluvier thought that we should read Qovpiavrj instead of Tavpiavr}.

1 Laos, now Lao. • Torre di Mare. 9 Golfo di S. Eufemia.

380 STRABO. CASAXJB. 255.

that of Scylletium.1 The circumnavigation of the peninsula,
which is comprised between this isthmus and the strait, is 2000
stadia. He says that afterwards the names of Italy and of the
CEnotrians were extended as far as Metapontium and the
Siritis ; the Chones, a people of CEnotrian descent, and highly
civilized, inhabited these districts, and called their country
Chone. However, this author has written in a very loose and
old-fashioned manner, without giving any definite boundaries
to the Leucani and Bruttii. Now Leucania is situated on the
Tyrrhenian and Sicilian Seas, extending on one coast from the
Silaro2 to the river Lao, and on the other from Metapontium3
to Thurii. Along the continent it stretches from the country
of the Samnites, as far as the isthmus between Thurii and
Cerilli,4 near the Lao. This isthmus is 300 stadia5 across.
Beyond are the Bruttii, who dwell on the peninsula ; in this
is included another peninsula, which is bounded by the isthmus
between Scylletium6 and the Hipponiate gulf.7 The nation
received its appellation from the Leucani, for they call run-
aways Bruttii, and they say that formerly they ran away from
them when employed as shepherds, and that afterwards their
independence was established through the weakness fbf the
Leucani], when Dion [of Syracuse] was prosecuting a war
against [the younger] Dionysius, and fomented hostilities
amongst all.8 This is all we shall remark as to the Leucani
and Bruttii.

1 Golfo di Squillace. Scylletium was once a Greek city of note, com-
municating its name to the gulf. Servius observes that the Athenians
who founded the colony were returning from Africa. There was a Greek
inscription found in 1791 relative to the Aa^TradrjSpo^ia, which seems to
confirm the tradition of the Athenian origin of Scylletium. It was the
birth-place of Cassiodorus.

2 SiXaptc. The Silaro, which divides Lucania from Campania, takes
its rise in the Apennines, in a district which formerly belonged to the
Hirpini ; and after receiving the Tanager, now Negro, and the Calor,
now Galore, falls into the Gulf of Salerno. Silius'ltalicus (viii. 582)
states that this river possessed the property of incrusting twigs with a
calcareous deposit :

" Nunc Silarus quos nutrit aquis, quo gurgite tradunt
Duritiem lapidum mersis inolescere ramis."
At its mouth was a haven named Portus Albernus.

3 Torre di Mare. 4 Cirella.

5 This measure, upon our charts, is 330 Olympic stadia.' Gosselin.

6 Golfo di Squillace. 7 The Golfo di S. Eufemia.

8 i&Tapa&v uiravTUQ 7rpo£ aTravTag. Lit. " He stirred up every body

B. vi. c. i. $ 5. ITALY. THE BRUTTII. GRECIAN CITIES. 381

5. From the Lao the first city is the Temesa1 of the Bruttii,
which at present is called Tempsa. It was founded by the Au-
sonians; afterwards the ./Etolians, under the command of Thoas,
gained possession of it. These were expelled by the Bruttii ;
Hannibal and the Romans have overthrown the Bruttii.2 In
the vicinity of Temesa is the Heroum of Polites, one of the
companions of Ulysses. It is surrounded by a thick grove of
wild olives. He was treacherously slain by the barbarians,
and became in consequence very wrathful, arid his shade so
tormented the inhabitants that they submitted to pay him a
tribute, according to the direction of a certain oracle. Thus
it became a proverb amongst them, " Let no one offend the
hero of Temesa," for they said that [for a long time he3] had
tormented them. But when the Epizephyrian Locrians took
the city, they feign that Euthymus the pugilist went out against
him, and having overcome him in fight, constrained him to
free the inhabitants from tribute.4 They say that the poet
intended this Temesa, and not the Tamassus5 in Cyprus, (for
it is said that the words are suitable to either,6) when he
sings,

against every bodv." It is conceived that the hostilities of the Bruttii
•were fomented by Dion in order to prevent the tyrant Dionysius from
deriving any aid from his Leucanian allies. The advancement of the
Bruttii to independence is computed by Diodorus Siculus to have taken
place about 397 years after the foundation of Rome, that is, 356 before
the Christian era.

1 The situation of Temesa has not yet been fully determined. Cluve-
rius fixes it about ten miles south of Amantea, near Torre Loppa. Ro-
manelli observes, however, that Cluverius has not allowed fof the difference
between the ancient and modern computation of distance. To rectify
this oversight, he makes choice of Torre del piano del Casale, nearly two
miles north of Torre Loppa, as the locality of this ancient site. The silver
coins of Temesa are scarce. They have the Greek epigraph, TEM.

2 After the second Punic war it was colonized by the Romans, who
called it Tempsa, B. c. 195.

3 We concur with Kramer in approving the proposition of Groskurd
to understand the words iicflvov ptv ovv Sid TTO\\OV as having been
originally written in the text immediately before i-jriKtloOai avrolt;.

4 They had been compelled to sacrifice a virgin annually in order to

appease his disturbed spirit.
* Borgo di Tamasso.

6 These words in parenthesis seem to have been interpolated by the
transcribers of our author. Both Temesa and Tamassus were rich in
metal, but the spelling of the name in Homer is more in accordance with
Temesa than Tamassus, and other poets have alluded to it, as Ovid. Met.
xv. 706,

382 STRABO. CASAUB. 256.

" in quest of brass
To Temesa."1

and certain copper-mines are pointed out near to the place,
which are now exhausted. Contiguous to it is Terina,2 which
Hannibal destroyed, when he found he could no longer retain
it ; at the time when he took refuge in the country of the
Bruttii.3 Next in order comes Cosentia,4 the metropolis of the
Bruttii. A little above it is Pandosia, which is strongly for-
tified, before which Alexander the Molossian king was over-
thrown. This prince was led astray by the oracle of Dodona,
which commanded him to avoid Acheron and Pandosia ;5 for
places with names like these being pointed out in Thesprotia,
caused him to lose his life6 here. The position has three
summits, and the river Acheron flows by it. He was also
mistaken in another oracle,

" 0 Pandosia, thou three-topp'd hill,

Hereafter many people thou shalt kill ;"

for he thought that it foreshowed the destruction of his ene-
mies, and not of his own people. They say that Pandosia7

" Evincitque fretum, Siculique angusta Pelori,

Hippotadseque domos regis, Temesesque metalla."
And Fast. v. 441,

" . . , . Temesseaque concrepat sera."
And Statius, Silv. i. 42,

" Et cui se toties Temese dedit hausta metallis."
1 Odyssey i. 184. 2 Nocera.

3 Hannibal, took refuge in Calabria about 209 years before the Chris-
tian era.

4 Cosenza, near the source of the Crathis, now Crati, represents
Cosentia. It was taken by Hannibal after the surrender of Petilia,
but towards the end of the war the Romans regained it.

5 AiaKiSi], irpO(£u\a£o fJLO\tiv 'A\£povariov vScap

Hav8offir]v 0', 061 TOL 0ai/ctTos TreTrpai/iei/os £O"rt.

Son of ^Eacus, beware of approaching the Acherusian water and Pan-
dosia, where death is destined for thee.
• About B. c. 330.

7 Commentators generally agree that this is the Pandosia memorable
for the defeat and death of Alexander, king of Epirus. The early Cala-
brian antiquaries have placed it at Castel Franco. D'Anville, in his map,
lays it down near Lao and Cirella. Modern investigators have sought its
ruins near Mendocino, between Cosenza and the sea, a hill with three
summits having been remarked there, which answers to the fatal height
pointed out by the oracle,

Tlavdoaria TpiKoXcove, TroAui/ TTOTI \a6v 6\icr<rw

B. vi. c. i. § 5. ITALY. THE BRUTTII. GRECIAN CITIES. 383

was formerly the residence of the GEnotrian kings. After
Cosentia is Hipponium,1 founded by the Locrians.2 The Ro-
mans took it from the Bruttii, who were in possession of it at
a subsequent period, and changed the name into Vibo-Valen-
tia.3 And because the meadows in its vicinity are luxuriant
and full of flowers, it is supposed that Proserpine came over
from Sicily to gather them, and from thence the custom among
women of this city, to gather flowers and plait garlands, pre-
vailed to such an extent, that they now think it shameful to
wear purchased garlands at the festivals.4 It also possesses
a harbour5 made by Agathocles,6 the tyrant of Sicily, when
he was in possession of the town. On sailing hence to the
Portus Herculis,7 we come to the point where the headlands
of Italy, as they stretch towards the Strait [of Sicily], begin
to turn westward. In this voyage we pass Medma,8 a city of
the same Locrians,9 which bears the name of a copious foun-
tain, and possessing at a short distance a naval station, called
Emporium.10 Very nigh is the river Metauro,11 as also a naval
station bearing the same name.12 The Lipari Isles lie off this
coast ; they are distant 200 stadia from the strait. They say
that they are the islands of JEolus, of whom the poet makes

together with a rivulet, Maresanto or Arconti ; which last name recalls
the Acheron denounced by another prediction, as so inauspicious to
the Molossian king. Scylax, in his Periplus, seems to place Pandosia,
together with Clampetia and Terina, near the western coast.

I Afterwards Vibo Valentia, now Monte-Leone.

3 Surnamed the Epizephyrii. Heyne supposes this took place B.C. 388.

3 B. c. 193.

4 There was a temple erected to Proserpine in these meadows, and a
building called " Amalthsea's horn," raised by Gelon of Syracuse.

5 The present harbour of Bivona.

6 He reigned from B. c. 317 to B. c. 289.

7 Now Le Formicole. The promontory named Capo Vaticano seems
to have been anciently known under the same appellation.

8 Medma, or Mesma, was situated on the right bank of the river
Mesima, which seems to retain traces of the name of the ancient city.
Antiquaries report that its ruins are seen between Nicotera and the river
Mesima. The epigraph on the coins of this city is generally MESMA,
or ME2MAIQN, and in a single instance MEAAMA.

9 That is, the Epizephyrian Locrians.

10 Cluverius considers this to be the modern Bagnara.

II The ancient river Metaurus is now also called Marro, and sometimes
Petrace. It was noted for the excellence of the thunny fish caught at
its mouth.

12 Metaurum. The site of this place is supposed to accord with that of
the town of Gioja.

384

STRABO. CASAUB. 256.

mention in the Odyssey.1 They are seven in number, and
are all easily distinguished both from Sicily and the coast of
the continent about Medma. We will speak of them in par-
ticular when we describe Sicily. After the river Metaurus,
there is another Metaurus.2 Next in order is Scylkeum, an
elevated cliff nearly surrounded by the sea. But connected
with the main-land by alow isthmus easily accessible on either
side, which Anaxilaus, the tyrant of Rhegiuni, fortified against
the Tyrrheni, and formed a commodious haven, and thus pre-
vented the pirates from passing through the strait. Next to
the Scylla3an promontory was that of Caenys, distant from
Medma 250 stadia. It is the last headland, and 'forms the
narrowest part of the Strait [of Sicily], being opposite to Cape
Pelorus on the Sicilian side, which is one of the three points
which give to that island the form of a triangle. Its aspect
is towards the rising of the sun in summer, whilst that of
Casnys looks towards the west. Indeed they both seem to
have diverged from the general line of coast in order to stand
out opposite each other.3 From Csenys to the Posidonium 4
[and] the Columna Rheginorum,5 the narrow part of the
strait stretches as much as 6 stadia, the shortest passage
across the strait is a little more. From the Columna [Rhegi-

1 Homer, Odyssey, lib. x.

2 There have been many suggestions for the correction of this passage.
Kramer thinks that Chiverius was happy in proposing Tlorap.bg instead
of Msraupoc, and that then the Cratais, now Solano, or Fiume de' Pesci,
would be the river which Strabo intended.

3 According to Pliny, these two promontories were separated by an
interval of twelve stadia, or a mile and a half, which accords with the
statement of Polybius. Thucydides, however, allows about two miles
and a half, which he considers to be the utmost possible distance. Topo-
graphers are divided as to the exact point of the Italian coast which
answers to Cape Caenys. The Calabrian geographers say the Punta del
Pezzo, called also Coda del Volpe, in which opinion Cluverius and D'An-
ville coincide, but Holstenius contends for the Torre del Cavallo, which
the French translators seem to favour. In fact, that may be the narrowest
point, still it does not answer so well to Strabo's description of the figure
and bearing of Cape Caenys as the Punta del Pezzo.

4 The temple or altar of Neptune.

5 The Columna Rhegina, as remarked by Cramer, (vol. ii. p. 427,)
was probably a pillar set up to mark the consular road leading to the
south of Italy. Strabo speaks of it as a small tower (book iii. c. v. § 5,
p. 265). In the Itinerary of Antoninus it is simply termed Columna, but
in the inscription relative to the Via Aquilia, it is called Statua. The
situation of this tower is generally identified with the site of La Catona.

B. vi. c. i. § 6. ITALY. THE BRUTTII. GRECIAN CITIES. 385

norum] to Rhegium, where the strait begins to widen, is a
hundred [stadia] as you advance in a direction towards the
exterior and eastern sea, which is called the sea of Sicily.

6. Rhegium l was founded by certain Chalcidenses, who, as
they say, were decimated as an offering to Apollo in a time
of scarcity, by order of an oracle, and afterwards removed
hither from Delphi, taking with them certain others from home.
As Antiochus says, the Zancloeans sent for the Chalcidenses,
and appointed Antimnestus chief over them. Certain fugi-
tives of the Messenians of Peloponnesus accompanied this
colony, who had been compelled to fly by those who refused
to give satisfaction to the Lacedaemonians for the violation 2
of the virgins at Limnre, whom they had abused when attend-
ing the religious festival, and had slain those who assisted
them. However when the fugitives had removed to Macistus,
they sent to the oracle complaining against Apollo and Diana
for suffering these 'things to happen notwithstanding they so
greatly honoured them, and inquiring how the devoted might
be saved. Apollo commanded to send them with the Chalci-
denses to Rhegium, and to be grateful, therefore, to his sister
Diana for that they were not lost but saved, as they should not
be destroyed with their country, which would be annihilated
shortly after by the Spartans.3 They acted in accordance with
the oracle, and thus it was that the rulers of the Rhegini were
all of Messenian race until the time of Anaxilaus.

Antiochus asserts that anciently the whole of this dis-
trict was inhabited by Sicilians and Morgetes ; and that they

1 Now Reggio, one of the most celebrated and flourishing cities of
Magna Grecia, founded about 696 years B. c. Cato affirms that it was
once in the possession of the Aurunci. The connexion which subsisted
between Rhegium and the Chalcidian colonies in Sicily, induced its inha-
bitants to take part with the Athenians in their first hostilities against
the Syracusans and Locrians. In the great Sicilian expedition, the Rhe-
gians observed a strict neutrality. While the Athenian fleet was moored
in their roads, they refused to admit the army within their walls, which
therefore encamped near the temple of Diana outside the town. Rhe-
gium subsequently pursued a similar policy, and suffered severely under
tyrants, but the Roman senate at length freed the unfortunate citizens.

3 Strabo here alludes to the crime which was perpetrated in the reign
of Teleclus, about 811 years before the Christian era. The division of
the Messenians into two parties, the one wishing and the other refusing
to give satisfaction, lasted about 150 years. See book vi. cap. iii. § 3.

3 It was taken by the Lacedaemonians about B. c. 668.

VOL. i. 2 c

STRABO. CASAUB. 258.

afterwards passed into Sicily when they were expelled by the
CEnotri. Some say that Morgantium l thus received its name
from the Morgetes. But the city of the Rhegini became very
powerful, and possessed many dependent settlements. It has
always been a bulwark for us against the island [of Sicily],
and, indeed, has recently served to that purpose when Sextus
Pompeius alienated Sicily.2 It was called Rhegium either,
as ^Eschylus says, because of the convulsion which had taken
place in this region ; for Sicily was broken from the continent
by earthquakes,

" Whence it is called Rhegium." 3

Others,4 as well as he, have affirmed the same thing, and ad-
duce as an evidence that which is observed about JEtna, and
the appearances seen in other parts of Sicily, the Lipari and
neighbouring islands, and even in the Pithecussse, with the
whole coast beyond them, which prove that it was not unlikely
that this convulsion had taken place. But now these mouths
being opened, through which the fire is drawn up, and the
ardent masses and water poured out, they say that the land in
the neighbourhood of the Strait of Sicily rarely suffers from
the effects of earthquakes ; but formerly all the passages to the
surface being blocked up, the fire which was smouldering be-
neath the earth, together with the vapour, occasioned terrible
earthquakes, and the regions, being disturbed by the force of
the pent-up winds, sometimes gave way, and being rent re-
ceived the sea, which flowed in from either side ; and thus
were formed both this strait and the sea which surrounds the
other islands in the neighbourhood. For Prochyta5 and the

1 It seems probable that Strabo here refers to Morgantium in Sicily,
which had disappeared in his days, and which he mentions in b. vi. c. ii.
$4.

2 Sextus Pompeius, having received from the senate the command of
the fleet, B. c. 43, in a short time made himself master of Sicily, which
he held till 36.

a This is a quotation from one of the missing works of ^Eschylus.

4 Virgil speaks of this great catastrophe, Mn. iii. 414,

" Haec loca, vi quondam et vasta convulsa ruina
(Tantum sevi longinqua valet mutare vetustas,)
Dissiluisse ferunt : cum protinus utraqiie tellus
Una foret, venit medio vi pontus, et undis
Hesperium Siculo latus abscidit : arvaque et urbes
Litore diductas angusto interluit aestu."

5 Procida.

B. vi. c. i. § 6. ITALY. THE BRUTTII. GRECIAN CITIES. 387

Pithecussae, as well as Caprene, Leucosia, the Sirenes, and
the (Enotrides, are but so many detached fragments from the
continent, but other islands have risen from the bottom of the
sea, a circumstance which frequently occurs in many places ;
for it is more reasonable to think that the islands in the midst
of the sea have been raised up from the bottom, and that those
which lie off headlands and are separated merely by a strait
were broken off from them. Still it is beside our purpose to
investigate thoroughly whether the name were given to the
city for these causes, or whether it were named by the
Samnites from the Latin word regium, which, signifies
royal, on account of its importance,1 for their chieftains par-
ticipated in the privileges of citizenship with the Romans, and
generally used the Latin language. But Dionysius (the elder),
having been treated with contempt by them, destroyed the
illustrious city which had founded many towns and produced
many distinguished characters, whether statesmen or men of
letters,2 for when he sought a consort from their city, they
offered him the hangman's daughter;3 but his son (Dionysius
the younger) partly restored it,4 and called it Phoebia. Dur-
ing the war with Pyrrhus, a body of Campanians destroyed
most of the citizens against the faith of treaties,5 and a little

1 It appears from the more ancient coins of Rhegium, that the original
name was REGION. In these the epigraph is REG. RECI. RECINOS, in
characters partaking more of the Oscan than the Greek form ; those of
more recent date are decidedly Greek, PH1\ PHFINQN, being inscribed
on them. A note in the French translation shows that the inhabitants of
Rhegium did not participate in the rights of Roman citizens till about 90
years before the Christian era.

2 Among these were many followers of Pythagoras, also Theagenes
Hippys, Lycus surnamed Butera, and Glaucus, who were historians;
Ibicus, Cleomenes, and Lycus the adoptive father of Lycophron, who
were poets ; Clearchus and Pythagoras, who were sculptors.

3 The Rhegians firmly opposed the designs of this tyrant ; and when,
under pretence of courting their alliance, he sought a consort from their
city, they replied with independent feeling that he might have their hang-
man's daughter. (See Diodorus Siculus, xiv. 44.) Had the other states
of Magna Grecia displayed the same energy, the ambitious views of this
artful prince might have been frustrated ; but after the defeat of their
forces on the Elleporus, now Callipari, they succumbed, and Rhegium,
after a gallant defence which lasted nearly a year, was compelled to yield,
about the year 398 B. c. The insulting tyrant sentenced the heroic Phyton,
who had commanded the town, to a cruel death, and removed the few
inhabitants that remained to Sicily.

4 B.C. 360. 5 B.C." 280.

2 c 2

388 STRABO. CASAUB. 259.

before the Marsic or social war, earthquakes destroyed most
of the towns ; l but after Augustus Cassar had driven Sextus
Pompeius out of Sicily, when he saw that the city was de-
ficient of inhabitants, he appointed certain of those who
accompanied the expedition to reside there, and it is now
tolerably well peopled.2

7. Sailing 50 stadia from Rhegium towards the east, we
meet the cape called Leucopetra, from the colour of the rock,
where they say the range of the Apennines terminates.3
Further on is Heraclseum.4 It is the last promontory, and
looks towards the south; for presently on doubling it the
course takes a south-western direction as far as the promon-
tory of lapygia,5 then it runs towards the north more and
more, and towards the west along the Ionian gulf. After the
Herculeum Promontorium is the head-land of Locris, which
is called Zephyrium,f) possessing a haven exposed to the west
winds, whence is derived its name. Then is the state of the
Locri Epizephyrii, a colony of Locrians transported by Evan-
thes from the Crissasan gulf, shortly after the foundation of
Crotona and Syracuse.7 Ephorus was not correct in stating

1 B.C. 91.

2 The defeat of Sextus Pompeius is referred to the year 36 B. c., but
there is no precise date mentioned for the establishment of the veteran
soldiers in Rhegium, which probably took place about the year 31 B. c.

3 Pliny computes the distance from Rhegium to Cape Leucopetra at 12
miles ; there is probably some error in the text, as there is no cape which
corresponds with the distance of 50 stadia from Rhegium. A note in the
French translation proposes to read 100 instead of 50 stadia. Topogra-
phers are not agreed in fixing the situation of the celebrated Leucopetra.
D'Anville places it at Capo Pittaro, Grimaldi at the Punta della Saelta,
and Cluverius, Holstenius, and Cellarius at the Capo dell' Armi. This latter
opinion seems more compatible with the statement of Pliny, and is also
more generally accredited.

4 The Herculeum Promontorium is known in modern geography as
Capo Spartivento.

5 The Promontorium lapygium, or Sallentinum, as it was sometimes
called, formed a remarkable feature in the figure of Italy, while the art
of navigation was in its infancy. It was a conspicuous land-mark to
mariners bound from the ports of Greece to Sicily. The fleets of Athens,
after having circumnavigated the Peloponnesus, usually made for Corcyra,
whence they steered straight across to the promontory, and then coasted
along the south of Italy. It seems from Thucydides (vi. 44) that there
was a haven here which afforded a shelter to vessels in tempestuous
weather.

0 Now Capo di Bruzzano. " The one 710, the other 734 years B. c.

K. vi. c. i. § 8. ITALY. THE BRUTTII. GRECIAN CITIES. 389

that they were a colony of the Locri Opuntii.1 They remained
at first during three or four years at Cape Zephyrium ; after-
wards they removed their city, with the assistance of certain
Syracusans who dwelt amongst them. There is also a foun-
tain called Locria in the place where the Locri first took up
their abode. From Rhegium to the Locri there are 600 stadia.
The city is built on a height, which they call Esopis.2

8. The Locri are believed to have been the first who com-
mitted their laws to writing, but after they had enjoyed the
advantage of these good laws for a very considerable time,
Dionysius [the younger], having been expelled3 from Syracuse,
found means to abuse them in a most abominable manner, for
he, entering into a private chamber where certain young brides
had been adorned for their nuptials, violated them ; he also
gathered the most beautiful virgins to his revels, and having
liberated doves with uncut wings, commanded the young
women to chase them round the apartment in a state of perfect
nudity, while on «ome he bound sandals of unequal height,
one being high and the other low, in order to make their
appearance in the pursuit the more unseemly. However he
paid dearly for this, for having returned €o Sicily to resume
his government, the Locri overpowered the guard he had left
in their city, freed themselves, and obtained possession of his
wife and children ; there were two of his daughters, and his
second son who had already attained the age of manhood ; the
eldest, however, called Apollocrates, accompanied his father
in the expedition. And although Dionysius himself entreated
them earnestly, as did also the Tarentines, to deliver the
prisoners for whatever ransom they should name, they re-
mained inexorable, and endured a siege and the wasting of
their country, that they might vent their rage on his daugh-
ters. After having exposed them to the most shameful out-

1 The opinion of Ephorus seems to be supported by many other writers,
and is generally preferred by modern critics. * Monte Esope.

3 This wicked prince, having been expelled from Syracuse, had found
refuge among the Locrians from the storm which threatened his existence ;
but, depraved as he was degraded, he repaid the kindness of the people,
who treated him as their kinsman because his mother Doris had been
the daughter of one of their principal citizens, with the basest treachery
and ingratitude. He introduced into their city a number of miscreants,
and having overpowered the inhabitants, gave loose to all the vicious pro-
pensities of his nature.

390 STRABO. CASATJB. 260.

rages, they strangled them, burnt their bodies, pounded their
bones, and cast them into the sea.1 Ephorus in speaking of
the written law of the Locri, which Zaleucus had most
judiciously selected from the Cretan, Lacedaemonian, and
Areopagite codes, says that Zaleucus was the first to establish
this principle, that whereas formerly lawgivers had left it to
the judges to award the punishments for the several offences,
he established a certain penalty in his laws, thinking that the
minds of the judges would not be led to attach the same penal-
ties for the same transgressions, which course he considered
expedient. He praises him also for having simplified the
law of contracts. [He says also] that the Thurians, being
desirous to improve [the code of Zaleucus] more than the
Locri had done, became more celebrated, but were less judi-
cious.2 For that state is not regulated by the best govern-
ment, where they guard against all manner of deceit by their
laws, but that wherein they abide by laws simply framed.
Plato also has observed that where there are many laws,
there there will be law-suits and evil lives, in the same way
as, where there are many physicians, there it is likely there is
much sickness.

9. There is a certain singular circumstance, respecting
grasshoppers, worthy of note. The river Alece3 divides
Rhegium from Locris, flowing through a deep ravine ; those
which are in the territory of the Locrians sing, but those on
the other side are silent ; and it is thought probable that this
is caused by the region being woody, and their membranes
being softened by dew do not produce sound ; but those on the
Locrian side being sunned, are dry and horny, so that the
sound is easily produced by them. The statue of Eunomus
the harper having a grasshopper seated on his harp is shown
at Locri. Timseus says, that this Eunomus was once contend-
ing at the Pythian games and disputed with Aristo of Rhe-
gium for the prize, and that Aristo declared that the people

1 Horrid as is the vengeance which the Locri took on these unfortunate
victims of a husband's and a father's crimes, it serves to confirm the'
accounts of the iniquity and barbarity of a prince, whose mean and im-
becile conduct at other times sanctions the notion that his intellect was
disordered.

2 We could almost wish to read this passage—" rendered them more
plausible, but impaired their utility."

3 The ancient Halex.

B.VI. c. i. §10. ITALY. THE .BRUTTII. GRECIAN CITIES. 391

of Delphi ought to take part with him, because his ancestors
were consecrated to the god, and sent out to found the colony ;
but Eunomus said that they could have no claim to contend
for melody with any one, because that among them even the
grasshoppers, who are the most gifted of all creatures, were
mute. Nevertheless Aristo was applauded, and had hopes of
obtaining the victory, but Eunomus was declared victorious,
and dedicated the said statue in his country, because that at
the contest one of the chords of his harp having broken, a
grasshopper taking his stand on it supplied the sound. Above
these towns the Bruttii possess the interior, and there is the
city Mamertium,1 and the forest which they call Sila, which
produces the best or Bruttian pitch.2 It yields fine trees, and
is well watered, extending over a length of 700 stadia.

10. After the Locri is the [river] Sagras,3 in the feminine
gender, on which is situated the altar of the Dioscuri, near
which ten thousand Locrians, with a small body of Rhegians
gained a victory over 130,000 Crotoniatre, whence they say
arose the proverb applied to incredulous people, " It is
more true than the victory of the Sagras." Some people add
to the mysterious account, that it was announced the same
day at the Olympic games to the people there assembled, and
this speedy news was found perfectly correct. They say that
this mischance was so unfortunate an event to the Crotoniatae,
that after it they did not long remain as a nation, on account

1 Although Strabo ascribes Mamertium to the Bruttii, it is more pro-
bable that it -was a colony of Campanian mercenaries, deriving their name
from Mamers, the Oscan Mars, who served under Agathocles, and other
princes of Sicily. The Mamertini were employed by the Romans against
Pyrrhus, whom they attacked in the woods and defiles about Rhegium.
Barrio (lib. ii. c. 10) and Maraf. (lib. iii. c. 25, f. 222) have identified
the site of this ancient town with Martorano, but it seems too distant
from Locri and Rhegium to accord with Strabo's description. Cluverius,
D'Anville, and Romanelli place it at Oppido, a bishop's see above Reggio,
and Gerace, where old coins are said to have been discovered. Cramer
(vol. ii. p. 439) thinks that the Mela? mentioned by Thucydides may have
been identical with Mamertium. Several remains of antiquity exist on
the site called Mela, in the vicinity of Oppido.

2 The pix Bruttia is noticed by Pliny, Columella. Dioscorides, and
other authorities mentioned by Bochart, Canaan, p. 595. Bochart looks
upon the Bruttii as a people known to the Phoenicians at a very remote
period.

3 Geographers differ much as to the modern river which corresponds
to this stream. Romanelli and Swinburne consider it to be the Alaro.

STRABO. CASAJTB. 261.

of the number of citizens who fell in the battle. After the
Sagras is Caulonia, which was at first called Aulonia, -from the
avAwv, or valley, in which it was situated ; but it is deserted,
for its former possessors were driven out by the barbarians,1
and have taken refuge in Sicily, and there founded [another]
Caulonia.2 After this is Scylletium,3 a colony of the Atheni-
ans, who set out under Menestheus ;.4 it is now called Scyla-
cium.5 Dionysius [the elder] allotted a portion of it to the
Locri, whilst it was in the possession of the Crotoniatae.6 The
Scylleticus Sinus received its name from this city. It toge-
ther with the Hipponiates Sinus forms the isthmus which we
have mentioned above.7 Dionysius8 undertook to build a wall
across the isthmus, at the time he was carrying on war against
the JLeusani, assigning as a pretext that it would afford security
to the inhabitants of the peninsula from the inroads of the bar-
barians dwelling beyond it ; but in truth his intention was to cut
off the communication of the Greeks with each other, and to
have the greater power over those who dwelt within the penin-
sula, but those who dwelt without9 assembled and prevented
the undertaking.

11. After Scylletium is the region of Crotona, and the

1 During the war against Pyrrhus, whose cause was espoused by Cau-
lonia, the city was pillaged by the Mamertini, the allies of the Romans.
The town was subsequently occupied by the Bruttii, who defended it
against the Romans in the second Punic war. Barrio and other Calabrian
topographers have fixed its site at Castro Vetere, but Strabo placed it on
the left bank of the Sagras, which is inconsistent with their supposition,
and it is still a subject of inquiry.

2 Cluvier (Sicil. ant. lib. ii.) reckons this place was situated between
Caltanis and Pietrapreccia. 3 Now Squillace.

4 Servius observes that these Athenians were returning from Africa,
Serv. JEn. iii. 552.

5 Saumaise (Exercit. Plin. p. 47, 57) thinks the true reading should be
Scylaceium, or Virgil could not have made the penultimate long.

. . . Attollit se diva Lacinia contra

Caulonisque arces, et navifragum Scylaceum. ^En. iii. 652.

6 About B. c. 389.

7 Book vi. cap. i. § 4.

8 Pliny seems to attribute to Dionysius the elder the project of cutting
not walling off the isthmus : " Itaque Dionysius major intercisam eo loco
adjicere Sicilise voluit." Hist. Nat. lib. iii. § 15. Grimaldi also is of
opinion that the circumstance mentioned by Strabo should be referred
to the first years of Dionysius the younger, about B. c. 366 — 359.

9 By those who dwelt without, Strabo doubtless intended the Croto-
niatae, and their allies.

B. vi. c. i. § 12. ITALY. THE BRUTTII. GRECIAN CITIES. 393

lapygum tria Promontoria,1 and after these the Lacinium,2
sacred to Juno, formerly rich and filled with many offerings.
But the distances have not been accurately stated. We can
only say that in a general way Polybius reckons 2300 3 stadia
from the strait4 to Lacinium,5 and 700 stadia from Lacinium
to the lapygian promontory. They call this the entrance of
the Gulf of Taranto. The extent of the gulf is considerable,
being 240 miles along the shore. As the chorographer says
... of 380 ... to a light person, Artemidorus : wanting also
by so many ... of the breadth of the mouth of the gulf.6
Its aspect looks towards the rising of the sun in winter.7 It
commenced from Lacinium, for presently on doubling the cape
you come to where the Greek cities formerly stood ; now they
no longer exist, with the exception of Tarentum. But on
account of the estimation in which certain of them were held,
it is worth while to speak of them somewhat in detail.

12. The first is Crotona, 150 stadia from Lacinium and the
river Esaro ;8 there is also a haven9 there, and another river

1 These three capes are now called Capo delle Castella, Capo Rizzuto,
and Capo della Nave.

2 Lacinium was about six miles from Crotona. The celebrated temple
of Juno derived its name from the promontory. According to Diodorus
Siculus, some ascribe its origin to Hercules. (Diod. Sic. iv. 24.) Its
ruins are in the early Doric style, with fluted pillars broader at the base
than at the capital. It measured about 132 yards in length, and 66 in
breadth. Its principal entrance opened to the west.

3 Gosselin follows the opinion that Polybius wrote 1300 stadia.

4 The Strait of Sicily.

5 The modern names of Cape Lacinium, viz. Capo delle Colonne and
Capo Nao, are derived from the remains of the temple, which is still
visible on its summit.

6 The text is here evidently deficient. Groskurd says that Strabo most
probably wrote as follows, " As the chorographer says, Artemidorus reck-
ons that [the journey would take 12 days for one travelling on foot], with
his girdle on; [but, to one sailing, the distance is 2000 stadia:] leaving
at the same time as many [for the mouth, as Polybius has given] for the
breadth of the mouth of the gulf." The French translators, however,
have attempted to read the text as follows, " The chorographer makes
it 240 miles, and Artemidorus says that it is 380 for a light traveller ;
a computation in which the breadth of the mouth is not included;" but
comment on it in several extensive notes.

7 South-east. 8 The ancient ^Esar.

9 Groskurd observes, Im Texte icai Xinfiv. Besser also, liest man
mit Cluv. \ifivri, and translates it " a salt-marsh ;" but Cramer, in his
description of ancient Italy, observes that the mouth of the river Esaro
formed a haven, which, however incommodious compared with those of

394 STRABO. CASAUB. 262.

Nieto,1 the name whereof is said to be derived from the fol-
lowing circumstance — they say that certain of the Greeks who
had wandered from the fleet which had besieged Troy, having
arrived in this place, disembarked to take a survey of the
country, and that the Trojan women who accompanied them
in the fleet, having observed the absence of the men, and
being wearied with a toilsome voyage, set fire to the fleet, so
that they were compelled to abide, when they saw, in addition
[to the loss of their ships], that the soil was very fertile.
Many others arriving soon after, and being desirous to live
near their fellow-countrymen, founded several settlements.
Most of them derived their names from the Trojans, and the
river Nieto received its appellation from the destruction2 [of
the ships]. But Antiochus relates that an oracle having com-
manded the Greeks to found Crotona, Myscellus went forth
to view the place, and having seen Sybaris already built on a
neighbouring river of the 'same name, thought it better, and
returned to the god to ask if he might be permitted to settle
in that, instead of the other ; but that the oracle answered, ap-
plying to him an epithet noticing his defective stature, (for
Myscellus was somewhat crook-backed,)

" 0 short-backed Myscellus, whilst seeking somewhat else of thyself,
Thou pursuest only misfortune : it is right to accept that which is prof-
fered to thee :"3

and that he returned and built Crotona, wherein he was as-
sisted by Archias,4 the founder of Syracuse, who happened to
touch at Crotona by chance, as he was proceeding to the colony
of the Syracusans. The lapyges possessed Crotona before
this time,5 as Ephorus relates. The city cultivated martial

Tarentum and Brundusium, was long a source of great wealth to Cro-
tona, as we are assured by Polybius, Frag. x. 1.

1 Nesethus. This river was said to derive its name from the circum-
stance of the captive Trojan women having there set fire to the Grecian
fleet.

2 NeaiQof, from vfjag and aiQeiv, " to burn the ships."

3 There is much obscurity in this oracular response. The various
manuscripts offer many readings.

4 A note in the French translation observes that the establishment of
Myscellus at Crotona took place about 709 or 703 years B. c., and that
Syracuse was founded as early as 735 years B. c.

5 According to some traditions, Crotona was very ancient, and derived
its name from the hero Croto. Thus Ovid :

B. vi. c. i. § 13. ITALY. THE BRUTTII. GRECIAN CITIES. 395

discipline and athletic exercises to a great extent, and in one
of the Olympic games all the seven wrestlers, who obtained
the palm in the stadium, were Crotoniatae ; whence, it seems,
the saying arose that the last wrestler of Crotona was the first
of the other Greeks, and hence they say also is the origin of
the expression, " more salubrious than Crotona," as instancing
a place which had something to show, in the number of wrest-
lers which it produced, as a proof of its salubrity and the ro-
bust frame of body which it was capable of rearing. Thus it
had many victors in the Olympic games, although it cannot
be reckoned to have been long inhabited on account of the
vast destruction of its citizens, who fell at the battle of the
Sagras. Its celebrity too was not a little spread by the num-
ber of Pythagoreans who resided there, and Milo,1 who was
the most renowned of wrestlers, and lived in terms of intimacy
with Pythagoras, who abode long in this city. They relate
that at a banquet of the philosophers, when one of the pillars
in the hall gave way, Milo sustained the ceiling while they
all escaped, and afterwards saved himself. It is likely that,
trusting to the same strength, he met his fate as related by
some, for whilst making his way through a thick wood, he
strayed considerably out of the path, when finding a great log
with wedges in it, he thrust both his hands and feet into the
fissure, intending to split it completely, but was only able to
force it enough to let the wedges fall out, when the gaping log
presently closed on him, and he, being taken as in a snare, was
devoured by wild beasts.

13. Beyond this, at the distance of 200 stadia, is situated
Sybaris,2 a colony settled by the Achseans, between the two

" Vixque pererratis quao spectant littora terris,
Invenit ^Esarei fatalia fluminis ora :
Nee procul hinc tumulum, sub quo sacrata Crotonis
Ossa tegebat humus. Jussaque ibi moenia terra
Condidit ; et nomen tumulati traxit in urbem."

Ovid. Metam. xv. 53.

1 Milo is said to have carried off the prize for wrestling from the G2nd
Olympiad, B. c. 532, and also to have commanded the 100,000 Crotoniatae
who engaged the hostile armies of Sybaris and destroyed their city, about
B. c. 509. Diod. Sic. xii. 9, &c.

2 Sybaris was said to have been founded by the people of Troczene not
long after the siege of Troy. Aristot. Politic, lib. v. cap. 3. Solin. viii.
But these were subsequently joined by a more numerous colony of Achae-
ans, about B. c. 720. Euseb. Chron. ii.

396 STRABO. CASAUB. 263.

rivers Crati l and Sybaris.2 Its founder was Is . . . . 3 the
Helicean.4 So great was the prosperity enjoyed by this city
anciently, that it held dominion over four neighbouring peo-
ple and twenty-five towns ; in the war with the Crotoniatre it
brought into the field. 300,000 men, and occupied a circuit of
50 stadia on the Crati. But on account of the arrogance and
turbulence of its citizens, it was deprived of all its prosperity
by the Crotoniatse in 70 5 days, who took the city, and turning
the waters of the river [Crati], overwhelmed it with an inun-
dation.6 Some time after, a few who had escaped came together
and inhabited the site of their former city, but in time they
were dispossessed by the Athenians7 and other Greeks, who
came and settled amongst them, .but they despised and subju-
gated- them, and removed the city to a neighbouring place,
calling its name Thurii, from a fountain of that name. The
water of the river Sybaris has the peculiar property of mak-
ing the horses which drink it shy,8 for which reason they keep
their horses away from the river. The Crati turns the hair
of those who bathe in it yellow, and sometimes white, but has

1 6 Kpa0t£. There was a stream of the same name in Achaia, from
whence the Italian Crathis, now Crati, derived its name. The Crathis
and Sybaris now join about 14 miles from the sea.

2 Now Cochile.

3 Koray objected to the old reading, 6 'ivtXiKtvg, and proposed instead
OtV. . . . 'E\tK£i»e ; Groskurd thought it better to translate it Ihr Erbauer

war Is aus Helike ; and Kramer has adopted this latter view,

which we have followed.

4 Helice was mentioned, book i. chap. iii. § 18. Ovid, Metam. xv. 293,
also speaks of this city,

" Si quseras Helicen et Buram Acha'idas urbes,
Invenies sub aquis ..."

5 The Epitome gives nine days.

6 The events which led to this catastrophe are thus related by Diodorus
Siculus : " A democratical party, at the head of which was Telys, having
gained the ascendency, expelled 500 of the principal citizens, who sought
refuge at Crotona. This city, upon receiving a summons to give up the
fugitives, or prepare for war, by the advice of Pythagoras chose the latter.
The armies met near the river Triunti, in the territory of Crotona, where
the brave citizens gained a complete victory."

7 At the instigation of Pericles, the Athenians sent out a colony under
the command of Lampon and Xenocritus, which arrived about 55 years
after the overthrow of Sybaris. Two celebrated characters are named
among those who joined this expedition, which was collected from dif-
ferent parts of Greece. These were Herodotus, and Lysias the orator.

8 Compare ^Elian. Hist. Anim. ii. 36.

». vi. c. i. § 14. ITALY. THE BRUTTII. GRECIAN CITIES. 397

been found salutary for the cure of many disorders. Thurii,
after having flourished for a long time, became a continual
prey to the aggressions of the Leucani,1 and afterwards the
Tarentini troubling them, they appealed to the Romans for
suceour, who, in course of time, sent a colony2 when it was
nearly deserted, and changed the name of the city to Copiae.3
14. After Thurii is Lagaria,4 a garrison fort ; it was origin-
ally settled by Epeius5 and the Phocenses ; hence is derived
the Lagaritan wine, sweet and delicate, and much recommended
by the physicians, as is likewise the Thurian wine, which is
reckoned among the best. Then comes the city of Heraclea,6
a little way from the sea, and two navigable rivers, the Agri"
and the Sinno,8 on which was the city Siris, founded by a Tro-
jan colony, but in course of time, when Heraclea was p«rple"d
with the citizens of Siris by the Tarentini, it became the har-
bour of Heraclea. Its distance from Heraclea was 24 stadia,
and from Thurii about 330.9 They point out the statue of the
Trojan Minerva, which is erected there, as a proof of its colo-
nization by the Trojans. They also relate as a miracle how
the statue closed its eyes when the suppliants, who had fled
for sanctuary to her shrine, were dragged away by the
lonians after they had taken the city ; 10 they say that these
lonians came to settle here, when they fled from the yoke of
the Lydians, and took the town of the Trojans u by force, call-
ing its name Polieum. They show, too, at the present time

I From B. c. 390 to 290. 2 About B. c. 194.

3 Caesar however calls it Thurii, and designates it a municipal town.
Civ. Bell. iii. "22. * Now La Nucara.

5 It is not ascertained -whether this leader were the architect of the
Horse of Troy.

6 Antiquaries seem agreed in fixing the site of this town at Policoro,
about three miles from the mouth of the Agri, where considerable re-
mains are still visible. The city is famous as the seat of the general
council of the Greek states, and the celebrated bronze tables on which
the learned Mazzocchi bestowed so much labour were discovered near its
site. Its coins represent Hercules contending with the lion, and bear
the epigraph HPA or HPAKAHIQN.

7 *A/cipi£. 8 27pic.

9 This accords very well with the distance given in the Itinerary of
Antoninus.

10 About B. c. 580.

II Kramer reads -^v^v in the text. We have followed the opinion of
the French translators, who have rendered it " possedee par des Troyens."
MSS. give various readings.

398 STRABO. CASA.UB. 264.

the statue that closes its eyes. It must, however, require a
good courage, not to assert that it appeared to have closed its
eyes, as that at Troy turned away its eyes from beholding the
violence offered to Cassandra, but to show it in the act of
winking : — but it is much more daring to make so many
statues of the Minerva rescued from Ilium, as those who de-
scribe them affirm, for there is a Minerva said to be Trojan
in the sense of having been rescued from that city, not only
at Siris, but at Rome, at Lavinium, and at Luceria. The
scene, too, of the daring of the Trojan female captives is as-
signed to many different places and appears incredible, although
it is by no means impossible. There are some who say that
Siris, and also that Sybaris on the Trionto,1 were founded by
the Rhodians. Antiochus says that the site of Siris having
become the subject of a contention between the Tarentini and
the Thurii, on that occasion commanded by Cleandridas the
-general who had been banished from Lacedasmon, the two
people came to a composition, and agreed to inhabit it in com-
mon, but that the colony2 should be considered as Tarentine ;
however, at a subsequent period both the name and the
locality were changed, and it was called Heraclea.3

lo. Next in order is Metapontium,4 at a distance of 140
stadia from the sea-port of Heraclea. It is said to be a
settlement of the Pylians at the time of their return from
Ilium under Nestor ; their success in agriculture was so great,
that it is said they offered at Delphi a golden harvest : 5 they
adduce, as a proof of this foundation, the offerings of the dead
sacrificed periodically to the Nele'idce;0 but it was destroyed by

1 Kramer reads iirl Ttv9pavTO<;, but thinks with Groskurd that itri
TOV TpdevTog, the Traens or modern Trionto, is the true reading.

2 About B. c. 444. 3 About B. c. 433.

* In the time of Pausanias, this city was a heap of ruins, and nothing
remained standing but the walls and theatre. Considerable vestiges,
situated near the station called Torre di Mare, indicate the site it an-
ciently adorned.

5 0gjooc xpvaovv. Xylander and others have thought this was a statue
representing Summer ; others have reckoned that golden sheaves were
intended. The coins of Metapontium, which are greatly admired as
works of art, have a head of Ceres, and on the reverse an ear of corn.
A large sum of these might be justly called a golden harvest.

6 Neleus had twelve sons, eleven of whom were slain by Hercules,
while Nestor alone escaped ; we must therefore infer from this passage,
that rites were celebrated at Metapontium in honour of his brothers.

a. vi. c. i. § 15. ITALY. THE BRUTTII. GRECIAN CITIES. 399

the Samnitcs.1 Antiochus says that certain Achaeans, who
had been sent for by the Achaeans of Sybaris, settled in this
place when it had been desolated ; he adds that these were
sent for on account of the hatred of the Achasans to the Ta-
rentini, who had originally migrated from Laconia, in order
to prevent their seizing upon the place which lay adjacent to
them. Of the two cities, viz. Metapontium which was situated
the nearer, [and Siris the further,2] from Tarentum, the new
comers preferred to occupy Metapontium. This choice was
suggested by the Sybarites, because, if they should make good
their settlement there, they would also possess Siris, but if
they were to turn to Siris, Metapontium would be annexed
to the territory of the Tarentines which was conterminous.
But after being engaged in war with the Tarentini and the
OEnotrians, who dwelt beyond them, they came to an agree-
ment, securing to them a portion of land, which should con-
stitute the boundary between Italy, as it then existed, and
lapygia. This, too, is the locality which tradition assigns to
the adventures of Metapontus and the captive Melanippe, and
her son Breotus. But Antiochus is of opinion that the city
Metapontium was originally called Metabum, and that its
name was altered at a subsequent period ; and that Melanippe
was not entertained here but at Dius, and thinks that the
heroum of Metabus as well as the testimony of the poet Asius,
who says that

" The beautiful Melanippe, in the halls of Dius, bare
Boeotus,"

afford sufficient proof that Melanippe was led to Dius and not
to Metabum. Ephorus says that Daulius, the tyrant of Crissa3
near Delphi, was the founder of Metapontium. There is,
however, another tradition, that Leucippus was sent by the
Achoeans to help to found the colony, and having asked per-
mission of the Tarentini to have the place for a day and a
night, would not give it up, replying by day to those who

1 The Greek words might either mean that Metapontium was destroyed
or that the sacrifices were abolished. From the succeeding sentence it
would be most natural to suppose that Strabo meant to say the city was
overthrown.

2 These words are not in the Greek text, but seem to have been acci-
dentally omitted by the transcriber.

3 A city of Phocis, now Krisso.

400 STRABO. CASAUB. 265.

asked it of him, that he had asked and obtained it till the fol-
lowing night, and when asked by night, he said that he held
it till the coming day.

Next adjoining is Tarentum and lapygia, which we will
describe when we shall have first gone through the islands
which lie off Italy, according to our original purpose ; for we
have always given the adjacent islands with every nation we
have hitherto described, and since we have gone through
CEnotria, which only, the people of ancient times named .Italy,
we feel justified in keeping to the same arrangement, and shall
pass on to Sicily and the surrounding islands.

CHAPTER II.

1. SICILY is triangular in form, and on this account was at
first called Trinacria, but afterwards the name was softened
and it was changed into Thrinacia.1 Three low headlands
bound the figure : Pelorias is the name of that towards Cuenys
and the Columna Rheginorum which forms the strait ; Pachy-
nus2 is that which stretches towards the east, and is washed
by the Sea of Sicily, looking towards the Peloponnesus and in
the direction of the passage to Crete ; the third is LilybaBum,3
and is next to Africa, looking towards that region and the
setting of the sun in winter.4 Of the sides which these three
headlands bound, two are somewhat concave, while the third
is slightly convex, it runs from Lilybseum to Pelorias, and is
the longest, being, as Posidonius has said, 1700 stadia adding

1 The ordinary reading is Trinacis, but Kramer found it given Thri-
nacia in the Vatican Manuscript, No. 482, which seems to suit the rest of
the sentence better. Dionysius Perieg. vers. 467, says,

T/OlJ/CtKlJ) «5' £7Ti TJ7<ril>, V

And Homer, Strabo's great geographical authority, in book xi. of the
Odyssey, line 106, terms it QpivaKiy vrjcr^. Virgil, JEn. iii. 440, says,

" Trinacria fines Italos mittere relicta."

2 Capo Passaro. 3 Capo di Marsalla, or Capo Boeo.

4 The south-west.

«. vi. c. ii. § 1. SICILY. 401

further twenty. Of the others, that extending to Pachynus
from Lilyboeum is the longer, while the shortest faces the
Strait and Italy, extending from Pelorias to Pachynus, being
about 1120 or 1130 stadia. Posidonius shows that the cir-
cumference is 4400 stadia, but in the Chorography the dis-
tances are declared to exceed the above numbers, being
severally reckoned in miles. Thus from Cape Pelorias to
Mylre,1 25 miles ; from Mylae to Tyndaris,2 25 ; thence to
Agathyrnum,3 30 ; from Agathyrnum to Alassa,4 30 ; from
Akesa to Cephalo?dium,5 30 ; these are but insignificant
places ; from Cephaloedium to the river Himera,6 which runs
through the midst of Sicily, 18 ; from thence to Panormus,7
35 ; [thence] to the Emporium8 of the ^Egestani, 32 ; leav-
ing to Lilybaeum9 a distance of 38; thence having doubled
the Cape and coasting the adjacent side to Heracleum,10 75 ;
and to the Emporium ll of the Agrigentini, 20 ; and to 12 Cama-

I Milazzo. 2 S. Maria di Tindaro.

3 The MSS. of Strabo read Agathyrsum, but the town is more com-
monly called Agathyrnum. Livy, book xxvi. cap. 40, and Silius Italicus,
hook xiv. ver. 260, call it Agathyrna. Cluverius considers it to have
been situated near S. Marco ; others would place it nearer to Capo
d'Orlando ; while D'Anville is in favour of Agati.

4 I Bagni, or S. Maria de' Palazzi. Groskurd gives it as Torre di
Pittineo by Tusa, or Torre di Tusa. Cicero writes the name without a
diphthong, " statim Messana litteras Halesam mittit." Cic. in Verr. ii.
c. 7. Diodorus spells it "A\taa. Silius Italicus, lib. xiv. ver. 219,
makes the penultimate long :

" Venit ab amne trahens nomen Gela, venit Halaesa."
And the inscription in Gruter, p. 212, gives the name of the river near
it, AXaKToy. 5 Cefalii.

6 Modern critics consider this to be the Fiume-Grande, which takes
its rise near Polizzi and the Fiume Salso, the latter flows from a source
within a few miles of the Fiume-Grande, and after a course of about 80
miles, falls into the sea near Alicata. The Fiume Salso was also called
Himera, and both rivers taken to be one.

7 Palermo. 8 Castel-a-Mare. 9 Capo Boeo.

10 Probably ruins at the embouchure of the Platani. Groskurd also
gives for it Bissenza.

II At the mouth of the Fiume di Grrgenti. Virgil calls Agrigentum by
the Greek name, JEn. iii. 703,

" Arduus inde Acragas ostentat maxima longe
Moenia, magnanimum quondam generator equorum."
12 As the distance from Agrigentum to Camarina greatly exceeds an-
other 20 miles, Kramer supposes that the words, " and to Gela, 20,"
have been omitted by the copyist.
VOL. i. 2 D

402 STRABO. CASAUB. 266.

rina,1 another 20; then to Pachynus, 50; thence again along
the third side to Syracuse, 36 ; 2 from Syracuse to Catana, 60 ;
then to Tauromenium,3 33 ; thence to Messana, 30.4 Thus on
foot5 from Pachynus to Pelorias we have 168 [miles], and
from Messana6 to [Cape] Lilybaeum, on the Via Valeria,7 we
have 235 8 [miles]. Some have estimated the circuit in a
more simple way, as Ephorus, who says that the compass of
the island by sea takes five days and nights. Posidonius at-
tempts to determine the situation of the island by climata,9
and places Pelorias to the north, Lilybaeum to the south, and
Pachynus to the east. We however consider that of necessity
all climata are set out in the manner of a parallelogram, but
that districts portrayed as triangles, and especially such tri-
angles as are scalene,10 and whereof no one side lies parallel
to a side of the parallelogram, cannot in any way be assimi-
lated to climata on account of their obliquity. However, we
must allow, that in treating of Sicily, Pelorias, which lies to
the south of Italy, may well be called the most northern of
the three angles, so that we say that the line which joins it11
to Pachynus faces the east but looks towards the north.12 Now
this line [of coast] will make the side next the Strait [of Mes-
sina], and it must have a slight inclination towards the winter
sunrise ; 13 for thus the shore slightly changes its direction as
you travel from Catana towards Syracuse and Pachynus.
Now the transit from Pachynus to the mouth of the Alpheus 14
is 4000 stadia. But when Artemidorus says that from Pachy-

1 Torre di Camarana.

2 The Paris MS. No. 1393, used by the French translators, has 33 ;
the Paris MS. 1396, and the Medici plut. 28, No. 5, give 20 miles.

3 Taonnina.

4 Gossellin observes, that the distance from Messina to Cape Pelorias,
which would complete the circuit of Sicily, is 'about 9 miles.

5 i. e. by land. 6 Messina.

7 An intelligent critic has imagined that this road may have been com-
menced by M. Valerius Maximus Messala, consul in the year 263, and
censor in 253, before the Christian era. D'Orvill. Sic. c. ii. p. 12.

8 We have followed Kramer, who inserts [dictKoo-ia] before

9 i. e. to give its parallels of latitude and longitude.

10 i. e. wherein all three sides are unequal.

11 i. e. Pelorias.

19 Or, lies towards the east, with a northern inclination.

12 South-east. " A river of the Peloponnesus, now called Rufda.

B. vi. c. ii. § 2. SICILY. 403

nus to Tnenarum1 it is 4600, and from the Alpheus to the
Pamisus is 1130 stadia,2 he appears to me to lie open to the
objection of having given distances which do not accord
with the 4000 stadia from Pachynus to the Alpheus. The
line run from Pachynus to Lilybseum (which is much to the
west of Pelorias) is considerably diverged from the south to-
wards the west, having at the same time an aspect looking
towards the east and towards the south.3 On one side it is
washed by the sea of Sicily, and on the other by the Libyan
Sea, extending from Carthage to the Syrtes. The shortest
run is 1500 stadia from Lilybaaum to the coast of Africa
about Carthage ; and, according to report, a certain very
sharp-sighted person,4 placed on a watch-tower, announced
to the Carthaginians besieged in Lilybseum the number of
the ships which were leaving Carthage. And from Lily-
baeum to Pelorias the side must necessarily incline towards
the east, and look in a direction towards the west and north,
having Italy to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea with the
islands of JEolus to the west.5

2. The cities situated on the side which forms the Strait
are, first Messana, then Tauromenium,6 Catana, and Syracuse ;
between Catana and Syracuse were the ruined cities Naxos7
and Megara,8 situated where the rivers descending from ^Etna
fall into the sea, and afford good accommodation for shipping.
Here is also the promontory of Xiphonia. They say that
Ephorus founded these first cities of the Greeks in Sicily in

1 Cape Matapan. * The French translation gives 11 GO stadia.

3 Gossellin observes, that from Pachynus to Lilybaeum the coast runs
from the south to the north-west, and looks towards the south-west.

4 This person, according to Varro, was named Strabo. See Varr. ap.
Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vii. § 21, page 386.

5 This coast of Sicily rises very little as it advances towards the east,
and looks almost continually towards the north, with the exception of a
very short space near Lilybasum. The JEolian islands lie to the north.

6 Taormina.

7 Naxos was not situated between Catana and Syracuse, but was most
probably built on the left bank of the Fiume Freddo, the ancient Asines,
near Taormina. It is possible that Strabo originally wrote, between Mes-
sina and Syracuse. Naxos was founded about 734 B. c., and destroyed
by Dionysius the elder about the year 403. Naxos is thought by some
to be the modern Schisso.

8 Megara was founded on the right of the Cantaro, the ancient Alabus.
It was destroyed about 214 years B. c.

2 D 2

404 STRABO. CASAUB. 267.

the tenth generation from the Trojan war. For those who
preceded him were so terrified by the piratical customs of
the Tyrrheni, and the ferocity of the savages of the neigh-
bourhood, that they did not even venture to resort thither for
the purposes of commerce. Theocles the Athenian, however,
having been driven to Sicily by storms, observed both the
weakness of the inhabitants and the excellence of the soil.
On his return home, he was unable to persuade the Athenians
to make any attempt, but he collected a numerous band of
Chalcidians in Euboea, with some lonians and Dorians, whereof
the most part were Megarenses, and sailed. The Chalcidians
founded Naxos, and the Dorians Megara, which was at first
called Hybla. These cities no longer exist, but the name of
Hybla survives on account of the Hyblaean honey.

3. The first of the cities which at present remain on the
aforesaid side is Messana, built at the head of the gulf of
Pelorias, which is curved very considerably towards the east,
and forms a bay. The passage across to Rhegium1 is 60
stadia, but the distance to the Columna Rheginorum is much
less. It was from a colony of the Messenians of the Pe-
loponnesus that it was named Messana, having been origin-
ally called Zancle, on account of the great inequality of the
coast (for anything irregular was termed ^ayfcXtov).2 It
was originally founded by the people of Naxos near Catana.
Afterwards the Mamertini, a tribe of Campanians, took pos-
session of it.3 The Romans, in the war in Sicily against
the Carthaginians, used it as an arsenal.4 Still more re-
cently,5 Sextus Pompeius assembled his fleet in it, to con-
tend against Augustus Caesar ; and when he relinquished the
island, he took ship from thence.6 Charybdis7 is pointed out
at a short distance from the city in the Strait, an immense
gulf, into which the back currents of the Strait frequently im-
pel ships, carrying them down with a whirl and the violence
of the eddy. When they are swallowed down and shattered,
the wrecks are cast by the stream on the shore of Tauro-
menia,8 which they call, on account of this kind of accumu-
lation, the dunghill.9 So greatly have the Mamertini prevailed
over the Messenians, that they have by degrees wrested the

1 Reggio. 2 Thucydides says ZaynXiov is a Sicilian word.

3 B. c. 289. * B. c. 264 to 243. 5 B. c. 44.

6 B. c. 36. 7 Now called Garafalo. 8 Taormina, 9

B. vi. c. ii. $ 3. SICILY, 405

city from them. The inhabitants generally are rather called
Mamertini than Messenians. The district abounds in wine,
which we do not call Messenian, but Mamertini an : it vies
with the best produced in Italy.1 The city is well peopled,
but Catana is more populous, which has been colonized by the
Romans.2 Tauromenium is less populous than either. Catana'
was founded by people from Naxos, and Tauromenium by the
Zanclaeans of Hybla,3 but Catana was deprived of its original
inhabitants when Hiero, the tyrant of Syracuse, introduced v
others, and called it by the name of ./Etna instead of Catana.
It is of this that Pindar says he was the founder, when he
sings,

" Thou underslandest what I say, 0 father, that bearest the same name
with the splendid holy sacrifices, thou founder of ^Etna." 4

But on the death of Hiero,5 the Catanaaans returned and ex-
pelled the new inhabitants, and demolished the mausoleum of
the tyrant. The ^Etna3ans, compelled to retire,6 established
themselves on a hilly district of -ZEtna, called Innesa,7 and
called the place JEtna. It is distant from Catana about 80
stadia. They still acknowledged Hiero as their founder.

JEtna lies the highest of any part of Catana, and partici-
pates the most in the inconveniences occasioned by the mouths
of the volcano, for the streams of lava flowing down in Cata-
naea8 pass through it first. It was here that Amphinomus

1 These wines, although grown in Sicily, were reckoned among the
Italian wines. See Athen. Deipnos. lib. i. cap. 21, ed. Schweigh: torn.
i. p. 102. And from the time of Julius Caesar they were classed in the
fourth division of the most esteemed wines. See Plin. Hist. Nat. lib.
xiv. § 8, No. 4 and §17.

2 At the same time as Syracuse.

3 A note in the French translation suggests that we should read Sici-
lians of Hybla. TU>V tv "Y/3Xy SiKtAoij/ instead of Zay»cXa/W.

4 Hiero in Greek was 'Ispwv. The line of Pindar in Kramer's edition is,

Zvvtg [o] rot Xgyw, ZaOewv itpu>v 6fiwvvp,t Trartp,
Kricrrop Airvac.

The words played on are 'lepwv and iep&v.

6 This occurred in the year 468. 6 About 461.

7 Cluvier considers that the monastery of Saint Nicolas de Arenis,
about 12 modern miles from Catana, is situated about the place to which
Strabo here alludes.

8 rr\v Karavaiav. The spelling of this name, like very many in the
present work, was by no means uniform in classic authors. Strabo lias
generally called it Catana (Kardvt]) ; Ptolemy, ILaravrj KoXuvia ; Pliny,

406 STRABO. CASAUB. 269.

and Anapias set the example of filial piety so greatly cele-
brated, for they, seizing their parents, carried them on their
shoulders1 to a place of safety from the impending ruin ; for
whenever, as Posidonius relates, there is an eruption of the
mountain the fields of the Catana3ans are buried to a great depth.
However, after the burning ashes have occasioned a temporary
damage, they fertilize the country for future seasons, and ren-
der the soil good for the vine and very strong for other pro-
duce, the neighbouring districts not being equally adapted to
the produce of wine. They say that the roots which the districts
covered with these ashes produce, are so good for fattening
sheep, that they are sometimes suffocated, wherefore they
bleed them in the ear every four or. five days,2 in the same
way as we have related a like practice at Erythia. When
the stream of lava cools3 it covers the surface of the earth
with stone to a considerable depth, so that those who wish to
uncover the original surface are obliged to hew away the
stone as in a quarry. For the stone is liquefied in the craters
and then thrown up. That which is cast forth from the top
is like a black moist clay and flows down the hill-sides, then
congealing it becomes mill-stone, preserving the same colour
it had while fluid. The ashes of the stones which are burnt
are like what would be produced by wood, and as rue thrives
on wood ashes, so there is probably some quality in the ashes
of jEteia which is appropriate to the vine.

4. Archias, sailing from Corinth, founded Syracuse about
the 'same period4 that Naxos and Megara were built. They
say that Myscellus and Archias having repaired to Delphi
at the same time to consult the oracle, the god demanded
whether they would choose wealth or health, when Archias

lib. iii. cap. 8, Colonia Catina ; Pomponius Mela, lib. ii. cap. 7, Catina ;
Cicero, Catina; and on ancient coins we find KATANAIQN.

1 This feat was recorded by divers works of art set up in different
places : it must have taken place in one of the eruptions, 477, 453, or 427,
before the Christian era. The place where they lived was called Campus
Piorum.

9 Si rjntp&v Tfffffapwv TJ Trsvre, in Kramer's text ; in his notes he par-
ticularizes the readings of the different manuscripts and editions, some
reading forty or fifty. He also records his sorrow at having preferred the
reading of fifty days to thirty, in the passage relating to the fat beasts of
Erythia, book iii. cap. 5, § 4, (page 255).

3 Literally, changes into coagulation. * About 758 or 735 B. c.

B. vi. c. IT. § 4. SICILY. SYRACUSE. 40?

preferred wealth and Myscellus health, upon which the oracle
assigned Syracuse to the former to found, and Crotona to the
latter. And certainly, in like manner as it fell out that the
Crotoniatas should inhabit a state so notable for salubrity as
we have described,1 so such great riches have accrued to the
Syracusans that their na:ne has been embodied in the proverb
applied to those who have too great wealth, viz. that they
have not yet attained to a tithe of the riches of the Syracu-
sans. While Archias was on his voyage to Sicily, he left
Chersicrates, a chief of the race of the Heracleidae,2 with a
part of the expedition to settle the island now called Corcyra,3
but anciently called Scheria, and he, having expelled the Li-
burni who possessed it, established' his colony in the island.
Archias, pursuing his route, met with certain Dorians at
Zephyrium,4 come from Sicily, and who had quitted the com-
pany of those who had founded Megara ; these he took with
him, and in conjunction with them founded Syracuse. The city
flourished on account of the fertility 5 of the country and the
convenience of the harbours, the citizens became great rulers ;
while under tyrants themselves, they domineered over the
other states [of Sicily], and when freed from despotism, they
set at liberty such as had been enslaved by the barbarians :
of these barbarians some were the aboriginal inhabitants of
the island, while others had come across from the continent.
The Greeks suffered none of the barbarians to approajch the
shore, although they were not able to expel them entirely
from the interior, for the Siculi, Sicani,6 Morgetes, and some
others,7 still inhabit the island to the present day, amongst
whom also were the Iberians, who, as Ephorus relates, were

1 Bookvi. chap. 1, § .12.

2 According to other authorities he was descended from Bacchus.

3 At present Corfu. 4 Cape Bruzzano.

* Cicero's Oratio Frumentaria supports this character of the country.
Silius Italicus, lib. xiv. vers. 23, thus celebrates the richness of the soil,
" Multa solo virtus : jam reddere foenus aratris,
Jam montes umbrare olea, dare nomina Baccho ;
Nectare Cecropias Hybleeo accendere ceras :"
and Florus terms it Terra frugum ferax.

6 Strabo makes a distinct mention of Siculi and Sicani, as if they were
different people. Philologists have been much divided as to whether
they were not different appellations of the same nation.

1 Such as the Elymi, or Helymi, who occupied the districts bordering
on the Belici in the western part of the island.

408 STRABO. CAS ATJ B. 270.

the first of the barbarians that are considered to have been
settlers in Sicily. It seems probable that Morgantium l was
founded by the Morgetes. Formerly it was a city, but now
it is not. When the Carthaginians2 endeavoured to gain
possession of the island they continually harassed both the
Greeks and the barbarians, but the Syracusans withstood
them ; at a later period the Romans expelled the Carthagi-
nians and took Syracuse after a long siege.3 And [Sextus]
Pompeius, having destroyed Syracuse in the same way as he
had done by the other cities,4 Augustus Ca3sar in our own
times sent thither a colony, and to a great extent restored it
to its former importance, for anciently it consisted of five
towns5 enclosed by a wall of 1806 stadia, but there being no
great need that it should fill this extensive circle, he thought
it expedient to fortify in a better way the thickly inhabited
portion lying next the island of Ortygia, the circumference of
which by itself equals that of an important city. Ortygia is
connected to the mainland by a bridge, and [boasts of] the
fountain Arethusa, which springs in such abundance as to
form a river at once, and flows into the sea. They say that
it is the river Alpheus 7 which rises in the Peloponnesus, and
that it flows through the land beneath the sea8 to the place

1 It is probable that Morgantium was situated on the right bank of the
Giaretta, below its confluence with the Dattaino, but at some little distance
from the sea ; at least such is the opinion of Cluverius, in opposition to
the views of Sicilian topographers. Sic. Ant. book ii. cap. 7, pp. 325
and 335.

2 The first settlement of the Carthaginians in Sicily was about 560 B. c.

3 212 years B. c. * 42 years B. c.

5 They were called Nesos, [the island Ortygia,] Achradina, Tycha,
Neapolis, and Epipolae. Ausonius applies the epithet fourfold,

" Quis Catinam sileat ? quis quadruplices Syracusas ? "
Dionysius however fortified Epipolee with a wall, and joined it to the
city.

6 Twenty-two miles four perches English. Swinburne spent two days
in examining the extent of the ruins, and was satisfied as to the accuracy
of Strabo's statement.

7 A river of Elis.

8 Virgil thus deals with the subject :

" Sicanio praetenta sinu jacet insula contra

Plemmyrium undosum : nomen dixere priores

Ortygiam. Alphetim fama est hue, Elidis amnem,

Occultas egisse vias subter mare ; qui nunc

Ore, Arethusa, tuo Siculis confunditur undis." J£n. iii. 692.

B. vi. c. ii. § 4. SICILY. SYRACUSE. 409

where the Arethusa rises and flows into the sea. Some such
proofs as these are given in support of the fact. A certain
chalice having fallen into the river at Olympia was cast up
by the springs of Arethusa ; the fountain too is troubled by
the sacrifices of oxen at Olympia. And Pindar, following
such reports, thus sings,

" Ortygia, revered place of reappearing' of the Alpheus,
The offset of renowned Syracuse."2

Tima3iis3 the historian advances these accounts in like man-
ner with Pindar. Undoubtedly if before reaching the sea
the Alpheus were to fall into some chasm,4 there would be a
probability that it continued its course from thence to Sicily,
preserving its potable water unmixed with the sea ; but since
the mouth of the river manifestly falls into the sea, and there
does not appear any opening in the bed of the sea there, which
would be capable of imbibing the waters of the river, (although
even if there were they could not remain perfectly fresh, still
it might be possible to retain much of the character of fresh
water, if they were presently to be swallowed down into a
passage running below the earth which forms the bed of the
sea,) it is altogether impossible ; and this the water of Are-
thusa clearly proves, being perfectly fit for beverage ; but

1 The words of Pindar are,

0.fjLTTV£VfJ.a <Tf./HVOV '

a'Xos, '
The .French translators have rendered them,

" Terme saint du tourment d' Alphee
Bel ornement, de Syracuse Ortygia ! "
And Groskurd,

" Ehrwiirdige Ruhstatt Alpheos',
Ruhmzweig Syrakossai's, o Du Ortygia."

Liddell and Scott call dvcnrvtvpa a resting-place, referring to this pas-

sage, but I can see no reason for not allowing to it the signification most

suitable to the passage, avairvku is, " to breathe again," and, according

to the supposition of the ancients, the Alpheus might justly be said to

breathe again on appearing at Arethusa, after its passage beneath the bed

of the sea from Greece, avcnrvorj also, means " a recovering of breath."

a Pindar, Nem. Od. i. vers. 1. See also Bohn's Classic. Lib. Pindar.

3 Conf. Antig. Caryst. Hist. Mir. cap. 155.

* According to Strabo himself, book viii. chap. 3, § 12, the Alpheus
flows through a subterraneous course before it comes to Olympia ; the
objection therefore which he here takes, rests only on the circumstance
of the river pursuing a visible course all the way to the sea, from the
point where the chalice had fallen into it.

410 STRABO. CASAUB. 271.

that the flow of the river should remain compact through so
long a course, not mixing with the sea until it should fall
into the fancied channel, is entirely visionary ; for we can
scarcely credit it of the Rhone, the body of the waters of which
remains compact during its passage through the lake, and
preserves a visible course, but in that instance both the dis-
tance is short and the lake is not agitated by waves like the
sea, but in this case of the Alpheus,1 where there are great
storms and the waters are tossed with violence, the supposi-
tion is by no means worthy of attention. The fable of the
chalice being carried over is likewise a mere fabrication, for
it is not calculated for transfer, nor is it by any means pro-
bable it should be washed away so far, nor yet by such diffi-
cult passages. Many rivers, however, and in many parts of
the world, flow beneath the earth, but none for so great a
distance. — Still, although there may be no impossibility in
this circumstance, yet the above-mentioned accounts are alto-
gether impossible, and almost as absurd as the fable related
of the Inachus: this river, as Sophocles2 feigns,

" Flowing from the heights of Pindus and Lacmus, passes from the
country of the Perrhcebi3 to that of the Amphilochi4 and the Acarnani-
ans, and mingles its waters with the Achelous :"5

and further on [lie says],

" Thence to Argos, cutting through the waves, it comes to the territory
of Lyrceius."

Those who would have the river Inopus to be a branch of
the Nile flowing to Delos, exaggerate this kind of marvel to
the utmost. Zoi'lus the rhetorician, in his Eulogium of the
people of Tenedos, says that the river Alpheus flows from
Tenedos : yet this is the man who blames Homer for fabulous
writing. Ibycus also says that the Asopus, a river of Sicyon,6
flows from Phrygia. Hecata3us is more rational, who says
that the Inachus of the Amphilochi, which flows from Mount
Lacmus, from whence also the ^Eas7 descends, was distinct
from the river of like name in Argolis, and was so named after
Amphilochus, from whom likewise the city of Argos was de-

1 A river of Elis.

2 The play from which this is quoted is not extant.

* A people of Thessaly. 4 A people of Argos. 5 Aspro-potama.

• In the Peloponnesus. 7 The Lao or the Pollina.

B. vi. c. ii. § 5, 6. SICILY. 411

nominated Amphilocliian. He says further, that this river
falls into the Achelous, and that the ^as flows to Apollonia1
towards the west. On each side of the island there is an
extensive harbour ; the extent of the larger one is 80 2 stadia.
[Augustus] Cresar has not only restored this city, but Catana,
and likewise Centoripa,3 which had contributed much towards
the overthrow of [Sextus] Pompey. Centoripa is situated
above Catana and confines with the mountains of ^Etna and
the river Giaretta,4 which flows into Catanaea.

5. One of the remaining sides, that stretching from Pa-
chynus to Lilyboeum, is entirely deserted ; still, -it preserves
a few traces of the ancient inhabitants, one of whose cities was
Camarina.5 Acragas,6 which was a colony of the Geloi,7 to-
gether with its port and Lilybseum,8 still exist. In fact, these
regions, lying opposite to Carthage, have been wasted by the
great and protracted wars which have been waged. The re-
maining and greatest side, although it is by no means densely
peopled, is w^ell occupied, for Alaesa,9 Tyndaris,10 the empo-
rium11 of the JEgestani and Cephalredium,12 are respectable
tOAvns. Panormus has received a Roman colony : they say
that JEgesta13 was founded by the Greeks who passed over,
as we have related when speaking of Italy, with Philoctetes
to the Crotoniatis, and were by him sent to Sicily with jEges-
tus 14 the Trojan.

6. In the interior of the island a few inhabitants possess
Enna,15 in which there is a temple of Ceres ;16 it is situated on

Pollina.

The Porto Maggiore of Syracuse is scarcely half so large.
Centorbe, to the south-west of ^tna. Silius, lib. xiv., mentions it
' Centuripe, largoque virens Entella Lyaeo."
The ancient Symaethus.

Now Camarana : it was founded 600 years B. c. 6 Girgenti.

" Apparet Camarina procul, campique Geloi." Virg. JEn. iii. 701.
Marsalla. 9 I Bagni. 10 S. Maria di Tindaro.

11 Castel-a-Mare. 12 Cefam.

13 Now ruins at Barbara.

14 Also called Acestes. I5 Castro-Ioanni.

16 Ovid, in the fourth book of his Fasti, thus alludes to the temple,
" Grata domus Cereri, multas ea possidet urbes,

In quibus est culto fertilis Enna solo."

From this place we have the adjective Enneus, and the Ennea virgo of
Sil., lib. xiv., for Proserpine,

" Turn rapta praeceps Ennea virgine flexit."

412 STRABO. CASAUB. 272.

a hill, and surrounded by spacious table-lands well adapted
for tillage. The fugitive slaves, who placed themselves under
the leading of Eunus,1 and sustained in this city a long siege,
scarcely being reduced by the Romans, occasioned much
damage to the city. The Catanaei, Tauromenitas, and many
others, suffered, much in like manner, f Eryx,2 a very lofty
mountain, is also inhabited. It possesses a temple of Venus,
which is very much esteemed ; in former times it was well
filled with women sacred to the goddess, whom the inhabitants
of Sicily, and also many others, offered in accomplishment of
their vows ; but now, both is the neighbourhood much thinner
of inhabitants, and the temple not near so well supplied with
priestesses and female attendants.3 There is also an estab-
lishment of this goddess at Rome called the temple of Venus
Erycina, just before the Colline Gate ; in addition to the temple
it has a portico well worthy of notice. j The other settlement
and most of the interior have been left to the shepherds for
pasturage ; for we do not know that Himera is yet inhabited,4
or Gela,5 or Callipolis, or Selinus, or Euboea, or many other
places; of these the Zanclaei of MylaB6 founded Himera,7
the people of Naxos, Callipolis,8 the Megaraeans of Sicily,9
Selinus,10 and the Leontini11 Euboea.12 Many too of the cities

Diodorus Siculus, lib. v. cap. 3, says that there was a fable about the
seizure of the virgin [Proserpine] in the meadows near Enna. The
locality is very near the town, embellished with violets and all kinds of
beautiful flowers. An ancient coin of the place described by Ezech.
Spanheim, page 906, is inscribed with the letters MUN. HENNA E.
Pliny, lib. iii. cap. 8, writes, " Municipes Hennenses."

1 About 146 years B. c.

2 The sentence from " Eryx " to " notice," placed between daggers,
seems to have been transposed from the end of § 5; it should immediately
succeed the words ^Egestus the Trojan.

3 Diodorus Siculus, lib. iv. § 83, torn. i. p. 326, gives a different ac-
count of the state of this place at this time.

4 The Carthaginians had destroyed it about 409 years B. c.

5 Some colonists from Rhodes made a settlement here 45 years after
the foundation of Syracuse. It was overthrown about 279 years B. c.

6 Milazzo. 7 About 649 B. c.

8 It is supposed that Callipolis anciently occupied the site of Mascalis.

9 Those who inhabited Hybla Minor. We know that Selinus was in
existence 640 B. c., and destroyed 268 B. c.

10 Now ruins called di Pollece on the river Madiuni in the Terra de*
Pulci. » The Leontini arrived in Sicily 728 B. c., and
founded Leontini, now Lentini.

13 Euboea was destroyed by the tyrant Gelon, who reigned from 491 to

B. vi. c. ii. $ 7. SICILY. 413

of the aboriginal inhabitants * have been destroyed, as Camici,
the kingdom of Cocalus, at whose house Minos is reported to
have been treacherously cut off. The Romans therefore, con-
sidering the deserted condition of the country, and having got
possession both of the hills and the most part of the plains,
have given them over to horse-breeders, herdsmen, and shep-
herds, by whom the island has frequently been brought into
great perils. First of all the shepherds, taking to pillage here
and there in different places, and afterwards assembling in
numbers and forcibly taking settlements ; for instance, as
those under the command of Eunus2 seized upon Enna.3 And
quite recently, during the time that we were at Rome, a cer-
tain Selurus, called the son of jEtna, was sent up to that city.
He had been the captain of a band of robbers, and had for a
long time infested the country round JEtna, committing fre-
quent depredations. We saw him torn to pieces by wild beasts
in the forum after a contest of gladiators : he had been set
upon a platform fashioned to represent Mount ^Etna, which
being suddenly unfastened and falling, he was precipitated
amongst certain cages of wild beasts, which had also been
slightly constructed under the^pjatform for the occasion.

7. The fertility of the country is so generally extolled by
every one, as nothing inferior to Italy, that there is a ques-
tion as to what we should say of it. Indeed, for wheat,
honey, saffron, and some other commodities, it even surpasses
that country. In addition to this, its proximity renders the
island like a part of Italy itself, so that it supplies the Roman
market with produce both commodiously and without trouble.
Indeed they call it the granary of Rome, for all the produce
of the island is carried thither, except a few things required
for home consumption. It consists not only of the fruits of
the earth, but of cattle, skins, wool, and the like. Posidonius
says that Syracuse and Eryx are situated on the sea like two
citadels, and that Enna in the midst, between Syracuse and
Eryx, commands the surrounding plains, f The4 whole terri-

478 B. c. Eubali, Castellazzio, and a place near the little town of Lico-
dia, not far from the source of the Drillo, have been supposed to be the
site of the ancient Euboea. Siebenkees thinks that the words between
daggers at the end of § 7 should follow " Eubrea."

1 Lit. barbarians. 2 About 134 B. c. s Castro-Ioanni.

4 Kramer and Siebenkees consider that the sentence between daggers,

414 STRABO. CASAUB. 273.

tory of the Leontini, which was possessed by the people of
Naxos settled in Sicily, suffered much, for they always shared in
the misfortunes of Syracuse, but not always in its prosperity.^
8. Near to Centoripa is the town we have a little before
mentioned, JEtna, which serves as a place for travellers about
to ascend Mount JEtna, to halt and refresh themselves for the
expedition. For here commences the region in which is situ-
ated the summit of the mountain. The districts above are barren
and covered with ashes, which are surmounted by the snows in
winter : all below it however is filled with woods and planta-
tions of all kinds. It seems that the summits of the mountain
take many changes by the ravages of the fire, which sometimes
is brought together into one crater, and at another is divided ;
at one time again it heaves forth streams of lava, and at an-
other flames and thick smoke : at other times again ejecting
red-hot masses of fire-stone. In such violent commotions as
these the subterraneous passages must necessarily undergo a
corresponding change, and at times the orifices on the surface
around be considerably increased. Some who have very re-
cently ascended the mountain, reported 1 to us, that they found
at the top an even plain of about 20 stadia in circumference,
enclosed by an overhanging ridge of ashes about the height of
a wall, so that those who are desirous of proceeding further
are obliged to leap down into the plain. They noticed in the
midst of it a mound ; it was ash-coloured, as was likewise the
plain in appearance. Above the mound a column of cloud
reared itself in a perpendicular line to the height of 200 stadia,
and remained motionless (there being no air stirring at the
time) ; it resembled smoke. Two of the party resolutely at-
tempted to proceed further across this plain, but, finding the
sand very hot and sinking very deep in it, they turned back,
without however being able to make any more particular ob-
servations, as to what we have described, than those who be-
held from a greater distance. They were, however, of opinion,
from the observations they were able to make, that much ex-
aggeration pervades the accounts we have of the volcano, and
especially the tale about Empedocles, that he leaped into the

from " The " to " prosperity," has been transferred from its proper
place. See note 12, page 412.

1 The French translators infer from this passage that Strabo had never
visited Sicily.

B. vi. c. ii. § 9. SICILY. 415

crater, and left as a vestige of his folly one of the brazen
sandals which he wore, it being found outside at a short dis-
tance from the lip of the crater, with the appearance of having
been cast up by the violence of the flame ; for neither is the
place approachable nor even visible, nor yet was it likely that
any thing could be cast *n thither, on account of the contrary
current of the vapours and other matters cast up from the
lower parts of the mountain, and also on account of the over-
powering excess of heat, which would most likely meet any
one long before approaching the mouth of the crater ; and if
eventually any thing should be cast down, it would be totally
decomposed before it were cast up again, what manner of
form soever it might have had at first. And again, although
it is not unreasonable to suppose that the force of the vapour
and fire is occasionally slackened for want of a continual supply
of fuel, still we are not to conclude that it is ever possible for
a man to approach it in the presence of so great an opposing
power. ^Etna more especially commands the shore along the
Strait and Catana, but it also overlooks the sea that washes
Tyrrhenia and the Lipari Islands. By night a glowing light
appears on its summit, but in the day-time it is enveloped with
smoke and thick darkness.

9. The Nebrodes mountains1 take their rise opposite2 to
jEtna ; they are not so lofty as JEtna, but extend over a much
greater surface. The whole island is hollow under ground,
and full of rivers and fire like the bed of the Tyrrhenian Sea,3
as far as Cuma3a, as we before described.4 For there are hot
springs in many places in the island, some of which are saline,
as those named Selinuntia5 and the springs at Himera, while
those at ^Egesta6 are fresh. Near to Acragas7 there are
certain lakes,8 the waters of which taste like the sea, but their

1 Sicilian topographers vary exceedingly in defining the position of
these mountains. Groskurd makes them Madonia.

2 To the south-west. 3 See Humboldt, Cosmos, i. 242.
4 Book v. chap. iv. § 9. * I Bagni di Sciacca.

6 Now ruins at Barbara, in the valley of Mazzara. 7 Girgenti.

8 A modern traveller is of opinion that these correspond with certain
peculiar marshes near Girgenti, in the midst of the Macaluba mountains,
supplied by a spring of salt water. The soil here is chalky, and the
mountains abound in a grey and ductile clay. See Monsieur le Com-
mandeur de Dolomieu, Voyage aux lies de Lipari, pp. 165 et seqq. ; also
Fazell. Decad. i. lib. i. cap. 5, p. 45.

416 STRABO. CASAUB. 275.

properties are very different, for if those who do not know
how to swim plunge into them, they are not covered over by
them, but float on the surface like pieces of wood,

The Palici1 possess craters which cast up water in a jet,
having the appearance of a dome, and then receive it back
again into the same place it rose from. The cavern near
Mataurum2 has within it a considerable channel, with a river
flowing through it under ground for a long distance, and
afterwards emerging to the surface as does the El-Asi3 in
Syria, which, after descending into the chasm between Apa-
meia and Antioch, which they call Charybdis, rises again to
the surface at the distance of about 40 stadia. Much the
same circumstances are remarked of the Tigris4 in Mesopo-
tamia, and the Nile in Africa,5 a little before6 its most noto-
rious springs. The water in the neighbourhood of the city
of Stymphalus, having passed under ground about 200 stadia,
gives rise to the river Erasmus7 in Argia;8 and again, the
waters which are ingulfed with a low roaring sound near
Asea9 in Arcadia, after a long course, spring forth with such

1 The place dedicated to these avengers of perjury is frequently located
near Mineo and Palagonia ; others, thinking to gain the support of Virgil's
testimony, place it near Paterno, much farther north, between Catana
and Centorbi, and not far from the banks of the Giaretta, the ancient
Symagthus.

3 Cluvier supposes this cavern must have been near Mazarum [Mazara].
The river named Mazarus by the ancients, runs through a rocky district,
abounding in stone quarries. It is possible that this river, much hemmed
in throughout its course, might have anciently flowed beneath some of
these massive rocks.

3 Orontes.

4 According to Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. vi. § 31, torn. i. p. 333, the Tigris
is ingulfed on reaching a branch of Mount Taurus, at a place called
Zoroanda, which M. D'Anville identifies with the modern Hazour.

5 Ai/3vr; in Strabo.

6 Kramer here persists in reading Trpo, and rejects OTTO : we have en-
deavoured to translate it with Kramer, but the French translation of 1809
renders it, a little below its sources.

7 A river of Argolis : see book viii. Casaub. pp. 371 and 389.

8 Argolis.

9 This ancient city was found in ruins by Pausanias, who says (Ar-
cadic. or book viii. cap. 44, p. 691) "that at less than 20 stadia distant
from the Athenaeum are found the ruins of Asea, as well as the hill on
which the citadel of the town was built, which was surrounded by walls,
the vestiges of which still remain. About 5 stadia from Asea, and not
far from the main road, is the source of the Alpheus, and, quite close,

B. vi. c. ii. § 10. SICILY. LIPARI ISLANDS. 417

copiousness as to form the Eurotas and the Alpheus,1 whence
has arisen a fable extensively credited, that if a certain charm
is uttered over each of two crowns on their being cast into the
stream where the two rivers flow in a common channel, each
crown will make its appearance in its respective river accord-
ing to the charm. As for what we might add with reference
to the Timao,2 it has already been particularized.

10. Phenomena, similar to these, and such as take place
throughout Sicily,3 are witnessed in the Lipari Islands, and
especially in Lipari itself. — These islands are seven in number,
the chief of which is Lipari, a colony of the Cnidians.4 It is
nearest to Sicily after Thermessa.5 It was originally named
Meligunis. It was possessed of a fleet, and for a considerable
time repelled the incursions of the Tyrrheni,6 The islands
now called Liparasan were subject to it, some call them
the islands of JEolus. The citizens were so successful
as to make frequent offerings of the spoils taken in war to
the temple of Apollo at Delphi.7 It possesses a fertile soil,8

even at the edge of the road, that of the Eurotas. . . . [At a short distance]
the two rivers unite and run as one for about 20 stadia ; they then both
cast themselves into a chasm, and, continuing their under-ground course,
they afterwards reappear; one (the Eurotas) in Laconia, the other in
the territory of Megalopolis." Such is what Pausanias relates in one
place. But when, in this account, he fixes the source of the Alpheus at
about 5 stadia from Asea, we must understand him to allude to a second
source of the river; for further on (book viii. cap. 54, p. 709) he says
distinctly that the main source of the Alpheus is seen near Phylace in
Arcadia ; then adds that that river, on coming to the district of Tegea,
is absorbed under the ground, to re-issue near Asea.

See § 4 of this chapter, page 408.

The ancient Timavus. See book v. chap. i. § 8, page 319.

The French translation, " en divers endroits de V Italic." Some
manuscripts read 'IraXiav. We have followed Kramer and Groskurd.

Founded about B. c. 580.

Thermessa, at present called Vulcano, is doubtless the same men-
tioned in Pliny's Nat. Hist. lib. iii. § 14, torn. i. p. 164, as Therasia, by
the error of the copyist. Paulus Orosius, lib. iv. cap. 20, says that it rose
from the bed of the sea, B. c. 571. It is however certain that it was in
existence B. c. 427, confer. Thucyd. lib. iii. § 88, and was for a consider-
able time called Hiera.

6 See Pausan. Phoc. or lib. x. cap. 16, p. 835.

7 See Pausan. Phoc. or lib. x. cap. 2, p. 824.

8 M. le Comm. de Dolomieu, in his Voyage aux iles de Lipari, ed.
1783, p. 75 et seq., supports the character here given of the fertility of
this island, and praises the abundance of delicious fruits it produces.

2 £

418 STRAEO. CASAUB. 275.

and mines1 of alum easy to be wrought, hot springs,2 and
craters. [Thermessa] is, as it were, situated between this
and Sicily ; it is now designated as Hiera, or sacred to
Vulcan ; it is entirely rocky, and desert, and volcanic. In
it are three craters, and the flames which issue from the
largest are accompanied with burning masses of lava, which
have already obstructed a considerable portion of the strait
[between Thermessa and the island Lipari] ; repeated observ-
ations have led to the belief that the flames of the volcanos,
both in this island and at Mount JE^tna, are stimulated by the
winds3 as they rise ; and when the winds are lulled, the flames
also subside ; nor is this without reason, for if the winds are
both originally produced and kept up by the vapours arising
from the sea, those who witness these phenomena will not be
surprised, if the fire should be excited in some such way, by
the like aliment and circumstances. Polybius tells us that one
of the three craters of the island has partly fallen down, while
the larger of the two that remain has a lip, the circumference
of which is five stadia, and the diameter nearly 50 feet,4 and
its elevation about a stadium from the level of the sea, which
may be seen at the base in calm weather ; but if we are to
credit this, we may as well attend to what has been reported
concerning Empedocles. [Polybius] also says, that " when
the south wind is to blow, a thick cloud lies stretched round
the island, so that one cannot see even as far as Sicily in the
distance; but when there is to be a north wind, the clear
flames ascend to a great height above the said crater, and great
rumblings are heard ; while for the west wind effects are pro-
duced about half way between these two. The other craters
are similarly affected, but their exhalations are not so violent.
Indeed, it is possible to foretell what wind will blow three
days beforehand, from the degree of intensity of the rumbling,
and also from the part whence the exhalations, flames, and
smoky blazes issue. It is said indeed that some of the in-
habitants of the Lipari Islands, at times when there has been
so great a calm that no ship could sail out of port, have pre-

1 M. le Comm. de Dolomieu considers it probable that the Liparaeans
obtained this alum by the lixiviation of earths exposed to the acido-
sulphurous vapours of their volcanos, pp. 77, 78.

2 These hot springs are not much frequented, although they still exist.

3 See Humboldt, Cosm. i. 242. * This is 30 feet in the epitome.

B. vi. c. ii. § 11. SICILY. L1PARI ISLANDS. 419

dieted what wind would blow, and have not been mistaken."
From hence indeed that which seems to be the most fabulous
invention of the poet, appears not to have been written with-
out some foundation, and he appears to have merely used an
allegorical style, while guided by the truth, when he says that
.2Eolus is the steward of the winds j1 however, we have for-
merly said enough as to this.'2 We will now return to the
point whence we digressed.

11. We have noticed the islands of Lipari and Thermes.sa.
As for Strongyle,3 it takes its name from its form.4 Like
the other two, it is subigneous, but is deficient in the force
of the flames which are emitted, while their brightness is
greater. It is here they say that JEolus resided.5 The
fourth is Didyma ; this island also is named from its
form.6 Of the others, [the fifth and sixth] are Ericus-

1 Odyss. lib. x. 21.

2 Here follow some words which convey no intelligible meaning. —
They are written in the margin of some of the manuscripts. Kramer
inserts them between asterisks as follows : * tunv »/ t7ri<rra<7ic TIJQ iv-

apytt'ac Xsyoir' av, liriffrjg Tt yap a//0w Traptan, icai dtaOtffd

Kai ry ivapyt'iq.- r) yt i^ovr) KOIVOV a/i^orspwv * Groskurd thinks the
passage might be translated, " [Great, undoubtedly,] is the impression
produced by animated energy, [of which] it may be asserted [that it
excites in a marked degree both admiration and pleasure]. For both
arise equally from graphic representation and animated description.
Pleasure at least is common to both." The following are Groskurd's
own words : Gross allerdings ist der Eindruck kraftiger Lebendigkeit,
[von welcher] man behaupten darf, [dass sie vorziiglich sowohl Bewun-
derung als Vergniigen gewahre]. Denn Beide erfolgen gleichermassen,
sowohl durch Darstellung als durch Lebendigkeit ; das Vergniigen wenig-
stens ist Beiden gemein. 3 Stromboli.

4 orpoyyvXof means "round." M. Dolomieu, p. 113, says that the
island of Stromboli, seen from a distance, appears like a cone ; when,
however, it is more particularly examined, it looks like a mountain
terminated by two peaks of different heights, and the sides appear dis-
turbed and torn by craters opened in various parts, and streams of lava
which have flowed down. It might be about 12 miles in circumference.

5 Most of the ancient authors agree in considering Lipari as the resi-
dence of ^Eolus. See Cluver. Sic. Ant. lib. ii. cap. 14.

8 tiidvpos, " double." Cluverius identifies this with the island now-
called Salini. M. Dolomieu says that Didyma is situated to the west of
Lipari ; it is nearly circular, and contains three mountains placed so as
to form a triangle. Two of the mountains are connected at their bases,
the third is separated from them by a valley which runs right across the
island, so that while sailing at some distance in the sea on the south side
it has the appearance of two islands, from which circumstance it took its

2 E 2

420 STRABO. CASAUB. 276.

sa1 and Phcenicussa ;2 they are called from the plants which
they produce, and are given up to pasture. The seventh
[island] is called Euonymus ; 3 it is the farthest in the sea and
barren. It is called Euonymus because it lies the most to the left
when you sail from the island of Lipari to Sicily,4 and many
times flames of fire have been seen to rise to the surface, and
play upon the sea round the islands : these flames rush with
violence from the cavities at the bottom of the sea,5 and force
for themselves a passage to the open air. Posidonius says,
that at a time so recent as to be almost within his recollec-
tion, about the summer solstice and at break of day, between
Hiera and Euonymus, the sea was observed to be suddenly
raised aloft, and to abide some time raised in a compact mass
and then to subside. Some ventured to approach that part in
their ships ; they observed the fish dead and driven by the cur-
rent, but being distressed by the heat and foul smell, were com-
pelled to turn back. One of the boats which had approached
nearest lost some of her crew, and was scarcely able to reach
Lipari with the rest, and they had fits like an epileptic per-
son, at one time fainting and giddy, and at another return-
ing to their senses ; and many days afterwards a mud or clay
was observed rising in the sea, and in many parts the flames

ancient name of Didyma : its present name, Salini, is derived from salt
works there.

1 Ericussa, now called Alicudi or Alicurim, is covered with trees, it is
inhabited, but little cultivated. The pasturage is pretty good.

2 Phoenicussa, now Felicudi or Filicurim, abounds in rich pastures ;
both wheat and the vine are here cultivated.

3 Cluverius, Sic. Ant. lib. ii. p. 414, identifies this island with Lisca-
Bianca, to the east of Lipari, but M. le commandeur Dolomieu, Voyage
pittoresque de Naples et de Sicile, torn. iv. part ii. chap. 14, considers
that it corresponded with the present Panaria, which is about eight
times the circumference of Lisca-Bianca. He says the neighbouring
islets are but the detached portions of a vast crater now submerged ;
the denomination, Formocoli or the Little Ants, is aptly illustrative of
their minuteness and numbers. The most important are Datolo, Lisca-
Nera, Lisca-Bianca, and Basiluzzo. M. Gossellin very justly remarks
that it is quite possible the volcanos, which continually burn in the
islands of JSolus, may have formed some new one, and gives some good
reasons for identifying Didyma with Panaria.

4 Rich. Pocock, Descr. de 1' Or., &c. vers. Fr. part iii. chap. 24, torn,
vi. p. 327, considers that Strabo meant to say that Euonymus lies most
to the left hand as you sail from Sicily to the island of Lipari, and pro-
poses Ustica, the westernmost of the Lipari Islands, as its modern repre-
sentative. 5 See Humboldt, Cosmos ii. 557.

B. vi. c.ii. $ 11. SICILY. LIPARI ISLANDS. 421

issued, and smoke and smoky blazes ; afterwards it congealed
and became a rock like mill-stones. Titus Flaminius,1 who
then commanded in Sicily, despatched to the senate [of Rome]
a full account of the phenomenon ; the senate sent and offered
sacrifices to the infernal and marine divinities both in the
little island [which had thus been formed] and the Lipari
Islands. Now the chorographer reckons that from Encodes
to Phosnicodes are 10 miles, from thence to Didyma 30,
from thence to the northernmost point2 of Lipari 29, and
from thence to Sicily 19, while from Strongyle are 16.3 Me-
lita4 lies before5 Pachynus ; from thence come the little dogs
called Maltese ;6 so does also Gaudus,7 both of them are situ-
ated about 88 miles distant from that promontory. Cossura8
is situated before Cape Lilybaeum, and opposite the Cartha-
ginian city Aspis, which they call [in Latin] Clypea, it is
situated in the midst of the space which lies between those

1 A note in the French translation suggests that, notwithstanding the
accord of all manuscripts, we should, doubtless, understand Titus Quinc-
tius Flaminius, praetor in A. u. c. 628, and B. c. 126.

2 Trpoc dpicrov, in Kramer's text. We have followed the example set
by the French translators, and approved by Groskurd, who proposes to
read Trpog apicT^iicbv aKp]ov. Kramer however justly remarks, that
many other things in this passage are exceedingly confused, and remain
incapable of conjectural elucidation.

3 From Ericodes, now Alicudi, to Phoenicodes, now Felicudi, the
distance given by the chorographer is the same as that set down by
Ptolemy, and by far too much for that which, according to our charts,
separates Felicudi from Salini, but tallies exactly with that to the island
Panaria, so that the evidence, both of the chorographer and Ptolemy,
seems to point to Panaria, not to Salini, as the ancient Didyma. Fur-
ther, the 29 miles given in Strabo's text as the distance from Didyma
to Lipari, are reduced to 19 miles in the chart of Ptolemy, and even this
last distance would be much too great for the interval which separates
Salini from Lipari, but agrees with the distance from Lipari to Panaria,
and seems likewise to confirm the identity of Panaria and Didyma. The
]9 miles, from Lipari to Sicily, agree with Ptolemy and our charts.
Ptolemy gives the equivalent of 44 miles as the distance between Sicily
and Strongyle, while our modern maps confirm his computation. M.
Gossellin observes that the 16 miles of the existing text of Strabo must
be a transcriber's error ; but the construction of the text might very well
allow the distance to be from Didyma to Strongyle, which would be
nearly correct.

4 Malta. 5 Towards Africa and the south. 9 McXcraia.

7 All other classic authors, both Greek and Latin, give the name of
Gaulus to this island ; it is the modern Gozzo.

8 Pantelaria.

422 STRABO. CASAUB. 277.

two places, and is distant from each the number of miles
last given.1 JEgimurus also and other little islands lie off
Sicily and Africa. So much for the islands.

CHAPTER III.

1. HAVING previously passed over the regions of ancient
Italy as far as Metapontium, we must now proceed to describe
the rest. After it lapygia 2 comes next in order ; the Greeks
call it Messapia, but the inhabitants, dividing it into cantons,
call one the Salentini,3 that in the neighbourhood of the
Cape 4 lapygia, and another the Calabri ; 5 above these
towards the north lie the Peucetii,6 and those who are called
Daunii 7 in the Greek language, but the inhabitants call

1 This M. Gossellin very satisfactorily proves to be 88.
* A note in the French translation observes, that the lapygia of Strabo
was confined to the peninsula of Tarentum.

3 The Sallentini, or Salentini, cannot be distinguished with accuracy
from the Calabri, as the name is used by several writers in a very ex-
tensive sense, and applied to the greater part of lapygia.

4 Capo di Leuca.

5 The district occupied by the Calabri seems to have been that mari-
time part of the lapygian peninsula extending from the ancient Brun-
dusium to the city of Hydruntum, answering nearly to what is now
called Terra di Lecce.

6 Dionysius of Halicarnassus derives the name of this people from
Peucetius, son of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, but they are generally spoken
of in history as barbarians, differing in no essential respect from the
Daunii, lapyges, and other neighbouring nations.

7 A note in the French translation remarks, that Strabo would have
done well to add, " and also the Apuli properly so called." If we follow
Strabo's testimony solely, we may almost describe the bounds of the
Peucetii by four lines, viz. 1. From Tarentum to Brindisi. 2. Along the
sea-shore from Brindisi to Bari. 3. From Bari to Garagnone or Gorgog-
lione, the ancient Sylvium, if not even still nearer to Venosa. 4. From
Garagnone to Tarentum, constituting what is called in modern geography
Terra di Bari. — The following are the limits of the Daunii. 1. From Ga-
ragnone to Bari. 2. From Bari to Peschici or to Rodi. 3. Thence to
Lucera ; and, 4. from Lucera to Garagnone. Thus they occupied a
great part of La Puglia, with a portion of the Terra di Bari. With re-
gard to those who, according to Strabo, were properly Apuli, they ex-
tended from the neighbourhood of Lucera to Rodi or Peschici, thence to

B. vi. c. in. $ 1. ITALY. IAPYGIA. 423

the whole region beyond the Calabri, Apulia. Some of
these people are called Poedicli,1 especially the Peucetii.
Messapia forms a peninsula ; the isthmus extending from
Brentesium'2 to Tarentum, which bounds it, being 310 stadia,
and the circumnavigation round the lapygian promontory3
about [one thousand] 4 four hundred. [Tarentum5] is distant
from Metapontium6 about two hundred and [twenty5] stadia.
The course to it by sea runs in an easterly direction. The
Gulf of Tarentum is for the most part destitute of a port,
but here there is a spacious and commodious [harbour7],
closed in by a great bridge. It is 100 stadia8 in circuit.
This port, at the head of its basin which recedes most inland,
forms, with the exterior sea, an isthmus which connects the
peninsula with the land. The city is situated upon this pen-
insula. The neck of land is so low that ships are easily
hauled over it from either side. The site of the city likewise
is extremely low ; the ground, however, rises slightly towards
the citadel. The old wall of the city has an immense circuit,
but now the portion towards the isthmus is deserted, but that
standing near the mouth of the harbour, where the citadel is
situated, still subsists, and contains a considerable city. It
possesses a noble gymnasium and a spacious forum, in which
there is set up a brazen colossus of Jupiter, the largest that
ever was, with the exception of that of Rhodes. The citadel
is situated between the forum and the entrance of the harbour,
it still preserves some slight relics of its ancient magnificence

the mouth of the river Fortore, thence to Civitate, (the ancient Teanum
Apulum,) which was included, and from Civitate to Lucera ; this district
would answer to the northern portion of La Puglia, which the Fortore
separates from La Capitanata.

1 The name of Poediculi was given to the inhabitants of that portion
of Peucetia which was more particularly situated on the coast between
the Aufidus and the confines of the Calabri. Pliny (iii. 1 1 ) states that
this particular tribe derived their origin from Illyria.

Brindisi. 3 Capo di Leuca.

We have followed Groskurd's example in introducing this thousand.
The French translators thought it too hardy to venture, and Kramer was
fearful to insert it in his text, but he approves of it in his notes.

Manuscripts here have blanks. • Ruins near Torre a Mare.

Mare-piccolo.

Or twelve miles and a half. This computation does not agree with
modern measurements, which reckon the circuit at sixteen miles. See
Swinburne's Travels, torn. i. sect. 32. Gagliardi, Topogr. di Taranto.

424 STRABO. CASAUB. 278.

and gifts, but the chief of them were destroyed either by the
Carthaginians l when they took the city, or by the Romans 2
when they took it by force and sacked it. Amongst other
booty taken on this occasion3 was the brazen colossus of Her-
cules, the work of Lysippus, now in the Capitol, which was
dedicated as an offering by Fabius Maximus, who took the
city.

2. Antiochus, speaking of the foundation of this city, says
that after the Messenian war4 such of the Lacedemonians as
did not join the army were sentenced to be slaves, and de-
nominated Helots ; and that such as were born during the
period of the war they termed Partheriiae, and decreed to be
base: but these not bearing the reproach, (for they were
many,) conspired against the free citizens,5 but the chief
magistrates, becoming acquainted with the existence of the
plot, employed certain persons, who, by feigning friendship
to the cause, should be able to give some intelligence of the
nature of it. Of this number was Phalanthus, who was
apparently the chief leader of them, but who was not quite
pleased with those who had been named to conduct their de-
liberations.6 It was agreed that at the Hyacinthine games,
celebrated in the temple of Amy else, just at the conclusion of
the contest, and when Phalanthus should put on his helmet,7
they should make a simultaneous attack. The free citizens5
were distinguishable from others by their hair. They, having
been secretly warned as to the arrangements made for the
signal of Phalanthus, just as the chief contest came off, a
herald came forward and proclaimed, "Let not Phalanthus
put on his helmet." The conspirators perceiving that the
plot was disclosed, some fled, and others supplicated mercy.
When the chief magistrates had bid them not to fear, they

1 In the year 213 or 212 B. c. 2 B. c. 209.

3 It is said the pictures and statues taken on this occasion were nearly
as numerous as those found at Syracuse.

4 That which commenced about 743 B. c.

5 I have here translated TOIQ TOV £r/juou and ot TOV drj^ov by " free
citizens." Several notes have been written on the exact meaning of the
words, but I am not satisfied that we understand it properly. It might
perhaps mean those appointed to the chief rule of the state by the con-
stitution.

6 There is little doubt that this passage is corrupt.

Ki], a leathern cap or hat, a helmet, &c. See also page 426.

B. vi. c. in. § 3. ITALY. IAPYGIA. TARENTUM. 425

committed them to prison, but sent Phalanthus to inquire
after a new settlement. He received from the oracle the
following response,

" To thee Satyrium1 I have given, and the rich country of Tarentum
to inhabit, and thou shalt become a scourge to the lapygians."

The Partheniae accordingly accompanied Phalanthus to their
destination, and the barbarians and Cretans,2 who already
possessed the COUP try, received them kindly. They say that
these Cretans were the party who sailed with Minos to Sicily,
and that after his death, which took place at Camici,3 in the
palace of Cocalus, they took ship and set sail from Sicily, but
in their voyage they were cast by tempest on this coast, some
of whom, afterwards coasting the Adriatic on foot, reached
Macedonia, and were called Bottiaei.4 They further add, that
all the people who reach as far as Daunia were called lapy-
gians, from lapyx, who was born to Daedalus by a Cretan
woman, and became a chief leader of the Cretans. The city
Tarentum was named from a certain hero.5

3. Ephorus gives the following account of the foundation.
The Lacedaemonians waged war against the Messenians, who
had murdered their king, Teleclus,6 when he visited Messene
to offer sacrifice. They took an oath that they would not re-
turn home before they had destroyed Messene, or should be

1 About eight miles to the east or south-east of Taranto, upon the
coast, we find a place named Saturo. In this place the country open
to the south presents the most agreeable aspect. Sheltered from the
north wind, and watered by numerous running streams, it produces the
choicest fruits, oranges, citrons, lemons, pomegranates, figs, and all
manner of garden produce, with which Taranto is abundantly supplied.
Ant. de Ferrar. Galat. de sit. lapyg. edit. nell. Raccolt. d' Opusc. sc. et
philol. torn. vii. p. 80.

2 Mazoch. Prod, ad Heracl. pseph. diatr. ii. cap. 4, sect. 4, page 96,
not. 51, considers that we should not make a distinction between these
barbarians and Cretans, but that they were identical.

3 According to Sicilian topographers, Camici was the same as the cita-
del of Acragas [Girgenti]. — Cluvier, Sic. Ant. lib. ii. cap. 15, p. 207, is
of opinion that Camici occupied the site of Siculiana, on the Fiume
delle Canne. D'Anville, Geogr. Anc. torn. i. p. 219, and torn. iii. p. 146,
seems to locate Camici at Platanella, on the Fiume di Platani.

4 There are various readings of this name.

5 There is a tradition that Taras was born to Neptune by Satyraa,
daughter of Minos.

6 About 745 B. c.

426 STRABO. CASAUB. 279.

all slain. They left only the youngest and oldest of the citi-
zens to keep their own country. After this, in the tenth
[year] of the war, the Lacedaemonian matrons assembled and
deputed certain women to remonstrate with the citizens, and
show them that they were carrying on the war with the Mes-
senians on very disadvantageous terms, for they, abiding in
their own country, procreated children, while the Lacedemo-
nians, leaving their wives in a state like widowhood, remained
away in the war ; and to expose the great peril there was of
the depopulation of their country. The Lacedaemonians,
being both desirous of observing their oath, and taking into
consideration the representations of their wives, sent a deputa-
tion of the most vigorous, and, at the same time, most juvenile
of the army, whom they considered, in a manner, not to have
participated in the oath, because they had been but children
when they accompanied their elders to the war, and charged
them all to company with all the maidens, reckoning that by
that means they would bear the more children ; which having
been accordingly obeyed, the children who were born were
denominated Partheniae. Messene was taken after a war of
nineteen years, as Tyrtaeus says,

" The fathers of our fathers, armed for war,
Possessing ever patient courage, fought at Messene

For nineteen years with unremitting toil.

Till on the twentieth, leaving their rich soil,
The enemy forsook the towering heights of Ithome."1

Thus then did they destroy Messenia, but returning home,
they neglected to honour the Partheniee like other youths, and
treated them as though they had been born out of wedlock.
The Partheniae, leaguing with the Helots, conspired against
the Lacedaemonians, and agreed to raise a Laconic felt hat 2 in
the market-place as a signal for the commencement of hos-
tilities. Some of the Helots betrayed the plot, but the
government found it difficult to resist them by force, for they
were many, and all unanimous, and looked upon each other
as brothers ; those in authority therefore commanded such as
were appointed to raise the signal, to depart out of the
market-place ; when they therefore perceived that their plot

1 Statius, lib. 4, Theb., thus mentions Ithome,

" Planaque Messenai montanaque nutrit Ilhome."
ACIKWVIKOC.

B. vi. c. in. $ 4. ITALY. IAPYGIA. TARENTUM. 427

was disclosed they desisted, and the Lacedaemonians per-
suaded them, through the instrumentality of their fathers, to
leave the country and colonize: and advised them, if they
should get possession of a convenient place, to abide in it, but
if not, they promised that a fifth part of Messenia should be
divided amongst them on their return. So they departed and
found the Greeks carrj ing on hostilities against the barba-
rians, and taking part in the perils of the war, they obtained
possession of Tarentum, which they colonized.

4. At one time, when the government of the Tarentines
had assumed a democratic form, they rose to great importance ;
for they possessed the greatest fleet of any state in those parts,
and could bring into the field an army of 30,000 foot and
3000 horse, exclusive of a select body of 1000 cavalry called
Hipparchi.1 They likewise encouraged the Pythagorean phi-
losophy, and Archytas, who for a long time presided over the
government of their state, gave it his special support.2 But
at a later period their luxury, which was produced by their
prosperity, increased to that degree that their general holidays
or festivals exceeded in number the days of the year ; and hence
arose an inefficient government, and as one proof of their un-
statesmanlike acts we may adduce their employment of foreign
generals ; for they sent for Alexander,3 king of the Molossi,
to come and assist them against the Messapii and Leucani.
They had before that employed Archidamus, the son of
Agesilaus;4 afterwards they called in Cleonymus5 and Aga-
thocles,6 and later, when they rose against the Romans, Pyr-
rhus.7 They were not able even to retain the respect of those
whom they had invited, but rather merited their disgust.
Alexander [of Epirus] was so displeased with them that he
endeavoured to remove the seat of the general council of the
Greek states in Italy, which was accustomed to assemble at
Heraclea, a city of the Tarentines, to a city of the Thurii ;
and he commanded that some place on the river Acalandrus,8

See Heyne, Opusc. Acad. torn. ii. p. 223, not. h.

He is said to have entertained Plato during his sojourn here. Archy-
tas flourished about the commencement of the fourth century B. c., and
was still living in the year 349 B. c.

About 332 or 339 B. c. See Heyn. Opusc. Acad. torn. ii. p. 141.

About 338 B. c. s About 303 B. c. 6 About 330 B. c.

About 281 B. c.

Cramer, in his Ancient Italy, has very justly remarked that the name

428 STRABO. CASATJB. 281.

commodious for their meetings, should be properly fortified for
their reception. — And indeed they say that the misfortune l
of that prince was chiefly due to a want of good feeling on
their part. They were deprived of their liberty during the
wars2 of Hannibal, but have since received a Roman colony,3
and now live in peace and are in a more prosperous state
than ever. They also engaged in war with the Messapii
concerning Heraclea, when they counted the kings of the
Daunii and of the Peucetii as allies.4

5. The remainder of the country of the lapygii is very fair,
notwithstanding unfavourable appearances ; for although, for
the most part, it appears rugged, yet when it is broken up
the soil is found to be deep ; and although it lacks water, yet
it appears well-suited for pasture, and is furnished with trees.
At one time it was thickly inhabited throughout its whole
extent, and possessed thirteen cities, but now it is so depopu-
lated that, with the exception of Tarentum and Brentesium,5
they only deserve the name of hamlets. They say that the
Salentini are a colony of Cretans. Here is the temple of
Minerva,6 which formerly was rich, and the rock called
Acra lapygia,7 which juts out far into the sea towards the
rising of the sun in winter,8 and turning, as it were, towards

of the small river Calandro, which discharges itself into the sea a little
below Capo di Roseto, bears some affinity to the river Acalandrus men-
tioned by Strabo. However, some have thought it identical with the
Salandrella and the Fiume di Roseto, while Cluverius was of opinion
that we should here read KvXivrapvog instead of 'AicdXavdpog, and iden-
tify it with the modern Racanello.

1 326 B. c. 2 209 B. c. 3 124 B. c.

* Some suspect this last sentence to be an interpolation ; certain it is
that there is great difficulty in finding a time to correspond with all the
circumstances contained in it. According to M. Heyne, this war must
have taken place 474 B. c., but then Heraclea was not founded till 436
B. c. It seems too that the people of lapygia had kings as late as 480 B. c.

5 Brundusium, now Brindisi.

' Castro. This temple is now changed into the church of Sancta
Maria in finibus terrae. See Capmart. de Chaupy, torn. iii. page 529.

7 Capo di Leuca. Pliny, lib. iii. cap. 11, says, Inde promontorium
quod Acran lapygian vocant, quo longissime in maria procurrit Italia.
The Promontorium lapygium, or Sallentinum, presented a conspicuous
landmark to mariners sailing from Greece to Sicily. The fleets of Athens,
after passing the Peloponnesus, are represented on this passage as usually
making for Corcyra, from whence they steered straight across to the
promontory, and then coasted along the south of Italy for the remainder
of the voyage. 8 The south-east.

s. vi. c. in. § 5. ITALY. IAPYGIA. TARENTUM. 429

Cape Lacinium, which lies opposite to it on the west, it closes
the entrance of the Gulf of Tarentum, as on the other side,
the Ceraunian Mountains, together with the said Cape, close
the entrance of the Ionian Gulf, the run across is about 700
stadia from that,1 both to the Ceraunian Mountains and to
Cape Lacinium.2 In coasting along the shore from Tarentum
to Brentesium there are 600 stadia as far as the little city of
Baris, which is at the present time called Veretum,3 and is
situated on the extremities of the Salentine territory ; the ap-
proach to it from Tarentum is much easier on foot4 than by
sea. Thence to Leuca are 80 stadia ; this too is but a small
village, in which there is shown a well of fetid water, and the
legend runs, that when Hercules drove out the last of the
giants from Phlegra in Campania, who were called Leuter-
nians, some fled and were buried here, and that from their
blood a spring issues to supply the well ; on this account
likewise the coast is called the Leuternian coast.5 From
Leuca to Hydrus,6 a small town, 150 stadia. From thence to
Brentesium 400, and the like distance also [from Hydrus] to
the island Saso,7 which is situated almost in the midst of the
course from Epirus to Brentesium ; and therefore when ves-
sels are unable to obtain a direct passage they run to the left
from Saso to Hydrus, and thence watching for a favourable
wind they steer towards the haven of Brentesium, or the
passengers disembarking proceed on foot by a shorter way
through Rudia3, a Grecian city, where the poet Ennius was
born.8 The district which we have followed by sea from

1 The Acra lapygia. 2 See notes to page 393 of this translation.

3 Cramer remarks that Veretum is still represented by the old church
of S. Maria di Vereto.

4 That is, on land.

5 Scylax, Peripl. p. 5, speaks of the Leuterni as a really existing people.

6 Now Otranto. Lucan, book v. verse 374, speaking of the little
river Idro which runs close to Otranto, says,

Et cunctas revocare rates, quas avius Hydrus,

Antiquusque Taras, secretaque litora Leucae.

Quas recipit Salapina palus, et subdita Sipus

Montibus.

And Cicero, writing of the town to Tyro, book xvi. epistle 9, says of his
voyage from Cassiope, Inde Austro lenissimo, coelo sereno, nocte ilia et
die postero in Italiam ad Hydruntem ludibundi pervenimus. This place
was called Hydruntum by Pliny and other authors.

7 Now Saseno, distant 35 minutes from Otranto. 8 B. c. 239.

430 STRABO. CASATJB. 282.

Tarentum to Brentesium is like a peninsula. The road by
land from Brentesium to Tarentum is but a day's journey for
a light person on foot, it constitutes the isthmus of the said
peninsula, which people in general call Messapia, lapygia,
Calabria, or Salentinum, without being at all particular ; but
some, as we have said before, do make a distinction. Thus
have we described the towns on the sea-coast.

6. In the inland are Rudia3 and Lupiae, and at a short dis-
tance from the sea Aletia ; l about the middle of the isthmus
is Uria,2 in which is still shown the palace of a certain famous
nobleman.3 As Hyria4 is described by Herodotus as situated
in lapygia, and as founded by the Cretans who strayed from
the fleet of Minos while sailing to Sicily;5 we must suppose
that he meant either this place [Uria] or Veretum. It is
said that a colony of Cretans settled in Brentesium,6 but the
tradition varies ; some say they were those who came with
Theseus from Cnossus ; 7 others, that they were some out
of Sicily who had come with lapyx ; they agree however in
saying that they did not abide there, but went thence to Bot-
tiasa. At a later period, when the state was under the govern'
ment of a monarch, it lost a large portion of its territories,
which was taken by the Lacedaemonians who came over under
Phalanthus ; notwithstanding this the Brundusians received
him when he was expelled from Tarentum, and honoured him
with a splendid tomb at his death. They possess a district
of superior fertility to that of the Tarentines ; for its soil is
light, still it is fruitful, and its honey and wools are amongst
the most esteemed ; further, the harbour of Brentesium is su-
perior to that of Tarentum, for many havens are protected by
the single entrance,8 and rendered perfectly smooth, many

1 We have followed Kramer's text in calling this place Aletia, several
MSS. read Salepia. Cramer, in his description of Ancient Italy, vol ii.
p. 316, says, Aletium is naturally supposed to have occupied the site of
the church of S. Maria della Lizza. — It was called 'AXrjnov by Ptolemy.

2 We have followed Kramer's reading; some MSS. have 0vpeai, some
OvpaTai, &c.

3 lit. of a certain one of the nobles.

4 Qvpia, MSS., but a note in the French translation explains that Strabo
was quoting Herodotus from memory. We follow Kramer.

5 B. c. 1353. 6 Brindisi. 7 About B. c. 1323.

8 Great changes have taken place in this locality since Strabo's de-
scription was drawn.

u. vi. c. in. $ 7. ITALY. IAPYGIA. TARENTUM. 431

bays [or reaches] being formed within it, so that it resembles
in fashion the antlers of a stag, whence its name, for the
place, together with the city, is exceedingly like the head of
a stag, and in the Messapian language the stag's head is called
Brentesium ; while the port of Tarentum is not entirely safe,
both on account of its lying very open, and of certain shal-
lows near its head.

7. Further, the course for passengers from Greece and
Asia is most direct to Brentesium, and in fact all who are
journeying to Rome disembark here. Hence there are two
ways to Rome ; one, which is only walked by mules, through
the Peucetii, who are called Poedicli, the Daunii, and the
Samnites, as far as Beneventum, on which road is the city
Egnatia,1 then Celia,2 Netium,3 Canusium,4 and Herdonia.5
That through Tarentum is a little to the left, it runs about a
day's journey round for one traversing the whole distance ; it
is called the Appian Way, and is more of a carriage road than
the other. On it stands the city Uria,6 andVenusia;7 the
one [Uria] between Tarentum and Brentesium, the other on
the confines of the Samnites and Lucani. Both the roads
from Brentesium run into one near Beneventum and Cam-
pania, and thence to Rome it receives the name of Appian,
and runs through Caudium,8 Calatia,9 Capua,10 and Casilinum,11
to Sinuessa.12 The way from thence to Rome has been al-
ready described. — The whole length of the Appian Way from
Rome to Brentesium is 360 miles.

There is a third way from Rhegium, through the Bruttii,
Lucani, and Samnites, along the chain of the Apennines, into

1 Torre d' Agnazzo. 3 Ceglie, south of Bari.

3 Now Noja; but the identity of this place has been much canvassed.

4 Canosa.

5 Now Ordona, about twelve miles to the east of ^Eca, now Troja.
Livy records the defeat of the Roman forces at this place in two suc-
cessive years. Hannibal removed the inhabitants and fired the town,
(Livy xxvii. 1,) but it was subsequently repaired, and is noticed by
Frontinus as Ardona. Ptolemy and Silius Italicus, viii. 568, mention it
as Herdonia —

quosque

Obscura inculsis Herdonia misit ab agris.

6 Oria. 7 Venosa. 8 Paolisi. B Le Galazze
10 S. Maria di Capoa. " Capoa Nova.-

12 Monte Dragone, or Mondragone.

432 STRABO. CASAUB. 283.

Campania, where it joins the Appian Way ;! it is longer than
those from Brentesium by about three or four days' journey.

8. From Brentesium the sea is traversed by two passages
to the opposite coast, one crossing to the Ceraunian2 Moun-
tains and the adjacent coasts of the Epirus and Greece, the
other to Epidamnus,3 which is the longer4 of the two, being
18005 stadia. Still this is habitually traversed, on account
of the situation of the city [Epidamnus] being convenient
for the nations of Illyria and Macedonia. As we coast along
the shore of the Adriatic from Brentesium we come to the
city Egnatia,6 it is the general place to stop at for those tra-
velling to Barium,7 as well by land as by sea. The run is
made when the wind blows from the south. The territory
of the Peucetii extends as far as this along the coast, in the
interior of the land it reaches as far as Silvium.8 It is through-
out rugged and mountainous, and chiefly occupied by the
Apennine mountains. It is thought to have been colonized
by a party of Arcadians. The distance from Brentesium to
Barium is about 700 stadia. [Tarentum] is about equally
distant from both.9 The Daunii inhabit the adjoining dis-
trict, then the Apuli as far as the Phrentani. As the in-
habitants of the district, except in ancient times, have never
been particular in speaking of the Peucetii or Daunii precisely,
and as the whole of this country is now called Apulia, the
boundaries of these nations are necessarily but ill denned :
wherefore we ourselves shall not be very exact in treating of
them.

1 At Capua,, now S. Maria di Capua.

2 Eustathius explains that those mountains were called Ceraxmian
from the frequent falling of thunderbolts upon them. Td Ktpavvia oorj, .
ovTO) KaXov^tva Sid TO GVXVOVQ iictl Tr'nrrtiv KtoavvovQ.

3 Durazzo.

4 It seems as if some words had been skipped in this place, for we
should expect to have the distance of the other passage to the Ceraunian
Mountains, but Strabo no where mentions it.

5 M. Gossellin seems to think we should here read 800 and not 1800
stadia ; but Kramer reckons it improbable. Groskurd concurs essentially
with the opinion of M. Gossellin, and translates it something as follows :
" for it is 1000, while the former is 800 stadia across."

6 Now Torre d' Agnazzo. 7 Bari.

8 Silvium was situated on the Appian Way. Holstenius and Pratilli
agree in fixing its position at Garagnone, about 15 miles to the south-west
of Venosa. Holsten. Adnot. p. 281. Pratilli, Via Appia, 1. iv. c. 7.

9 About 310 stadia.

B. vi. c. in. § 9. ITALY. APULIA. 433

9. From Barium to the river Ofanto,1 on which the Canu-
sitre have established an emporium, there are 400 2 stadia.
The course up the river to the emporium is 90 [stadia]. Near
it is Salapia,3 the port of the Argyrippeni. For the two cities,
Canusium and Argyrippa, are situated at no great distance from
the sea, and in the midst of a plain ; at one time they were
the most important cities of the Greeks of Italy, as is manifest
from the circumference of their walls, but now they have
fallen off. One of them was originally called Argos Hippium,
then Argyrippa, and then again Arpi. They are said to have
been both founded by Diomed, and both the plain of Diomed
and many other things are shown in these districts as evidence
of his having possessed them. Such were the ancient offerings
in the temple of Minerva, at Luceria.4 That was an ancient
city of the Daunii, but now it is of no account. Again, in
the neighbouring sea there are two islands called the Diome-
dean islands, one of which is inhabited, but the other, they
say, is desert : in the latter it is fabled that Diomed dis-
appeared from the earth, and that his companions were trans-
formed into birds,5 and indeed the fable goes so far as to pro-
long their race to the present time, saying that they are tame,
and lead a sort of human life, both in respect of food, and
their readiness to approach men of gentle manners, and to
shun the evil and wanton. We have already noticed6 what
is currently reported amongst the Heneti concerning this hero
[Diomed] and the honours decreed to him by custom. It is
thought also that Sipus7 was a settlement founded by Diorned,

1 The Aufidus, celebrated by Horace, Od. iv. 9,

" Ne forte credas interitura, quae
Longe sonantem natus ad Aufidum,
Non ante vulgatas per artes

Verba loquor socianda chordis."

2 M. Gossellin considers this rather too much, and supposes 315 stadia
would be nearer the truth.

3 Ruins now called Salpi. * Now Lucera,

5 See book v. c. 1, § 9, p. 320. Ptolemy makes these five, which is
the number of the isles of Tremiti at present, if we include in the group
three barren rocks, which scarce deserve the name of islands. One was
called Diomedea by Pliny, and Tremitus by Tacitus, who states that
Augustus appointed it as the prison of his grand-daughter Julia; the
second was called Teutria. The largest is at present called Isola San
Domino, the other Isola San Nicolo. 6 Book v. c. i. § 9, p. 320.

7 Siponto, a place in ruins near Manfredonia.

VOL. 1. 2 F

434 STRABO. CASAUB. 284.

it is distant from Salapia about 140 stadia, and was called by
the Greeks Sepius, from the numbers of cuttle fish ' thrown
up by the sea along its shore. Between Salapia and Sipus is
a navigable river, and a considerable estuary ; by both of
these channels the merchandise, and wheat especially, of
Sipus is conveyed to the sea. Two heroa or shrines are shown
on a hill of Daunia, called Drium, one on the very brow of
the hill sacred to Calchas, those who are about to inquire of
the oracle offer a black ram to him, and sleep upon the fleece,
the other below near the foot of the hill is dedicated to Poda-
lirius, it is about a hundred stadia distant from the sea ; from
this hill also flows a stream,2 which is a potent cure for all
manner of diseases among cattle.3 The promontory of Gar-
ganum4 running into the sea, juts out from this bay about 300
stadia.5 As you turn the point you perceive the town of
Urium,6 while off the headland are seen the Diomedean islands.
All this coast produces everything in great abundance, it is
exceedingly well adapted for horses and sheep, and the wool
is finer than that of Tarentum, but less glossy. The district
is mild on account of the cup-like situation of the plains.
There are some who report that Diomed attempted to cut a
canal to the sea, but being sent for to return home, where he
died, left it incomplete, as well as other undertakings. This
is one account of him : another makes him abide here till the
end of his days ; a third is the fable I have already noticed,
that he vanished in the island [of Teutria], and one might
reckon as a fourth that of the Heneti,7 for they somehow
make out that* he finished his career among them, as they

1 Sestini describes a gold coin belonging to this city, on which the
emblem of a cuttle fish in Greek, <rr]Tria, is apparent. The legend is
2i7ro. Sestini descrizione d' una Med. p. 16.

2 Lycophron calls this stream by the name of Altheenus.

3 Groskurd is of opinion that some words to the following effect have
been accidentally lost from this place, viz. " The coast of Daunia forms
an extensive bay about these parts."

4 Now Punta di Viesti. Strabo seems to have considered the whole
of the extensive neck of land lying between the bay of Rodi and that of
Manfredonia, as the Garganum Promontorium. Lucan, v. 380, thus
describes its prominence,

Apulus Hadriacas exit Garganus in undas.

5 About 37 miles towards the east. c Rodi.
7 See book v. c. i. § 9, p. 320.

B. vi. c. m. §10. ITALY. APULIA. 435

assert his apotheosis. The distances I have thus given are
laid down in accordance with those of Artemidorus.

10. The chorographer indeed gives only 165 miles from
Brentesium1 to Garganum, but Artemidorus makes them
more.2 Thence to Ancona, the first says there are 254 miles,
whilst Artemidorus has given but 1250 stadia to the Fium-
esino,3 near to Ancona, which is much shorter. Polybius
says that from lapygia the distance has been laid down in
miles, and that there are 562 miles thence to the town of
Sila,4 thence to Aquileia 178. These geographers do not agree
as to the length to be assigned to the line of the sea-coast of
Illyria, run from the Ceraunian Mountains5 to the head6 of
the Adriatic, some of them stating it to be above 6000 [stadia],
and making it longer than the opposite coast [of Italy],
while it is much shorter.7 Indeed they all generally differ
among themselves in stating distances, as we often have occa-
sion to remark. Wherever it is possible to discriminate we
set forth what appears to us to be correct, but where it is im-
possible to come to any safe conclusion we think it our duty
to publish their several assertions. However, when we have
no data furnished by them, it must not be wondered at, if we
should leave some points untouched in treating of such and
so vast a subject as we have undertaken. We would not
indeed omit any of the important particulars, but trifling cir-
cumstances, even when they are noted, are of little advantage,
and when taken no heed of, are not missed, nor does their
omission at all impair the whole work, or, if it does, at most
not much.

1 Brindisi.

2 M. Gossellin gives a long note to show that the chorographer and
Artemidorus were both correct in the distances they gave, but asserts
that Strabo was mistaken as to the length of the stadium used by Artemi-
dorus, and consequently thought he saw a discrepancy between their
accounts.

The ancient JEsis.

We think, with Kramer, that Sena Gallica, now Sinigaglia, was the
city Strabo intends.

From the Capo della Linguetta, on the coast of Albania.

The town of Aquileia.

M. Gossellin suggests that Strabo omitted the coast of Istria in his
calculations, when he made this observation on the length of the Illyrian
shore, and refers to what Strabo will himself state in book vii. chap. v.
sections 3, 4, and 9, and to his estimate of 6150 stadia from the Cerau-
nian Mountains to lapygia in book ii. chap. iv. § 3, p. 159.

2 F 2

436 STRABO. CASAUB. 285.

11. Immediately beyond the Garganum comes a deep bay.1
Those who dwell round it call themselves Apuli,2 they speak
the same language as the Daunii and Peucetii, and at the
present time resemble them in every other particular ; however
it is likely that they were formerly distinct, since their names
completely differ from those of the others. In ancient times the
whole of this country was flourishing, but Hannibal and the
wars which subsequently occurred have wasted it. Here too
was fought the battle of Cannas, where there was so great a
slaughter of the Roman forces and their allies.3 Near this
gulf there is a lake,4 and above the lake in the interior is the
Apulian Teanum,5 having a like name with that of the Sidi-
cini.6 It is between this and the neighbourhood of Dicte-
archia 7 that the breadth of Italy is so contracted as to form
an isthmus of less than 1000 stadia from sea to sea.8 Leaving
the lake we sail next to Buca,9 and the country of the Fren-
tani. There are 200 stadia from the lake both to Buca and
to the Garganum. The remainder of the towns in the vicinity
of Buca have been before described.10

1 Doubtless the bight between the, shore, adjacent to Peschici, to the
north of Viesti, and the Punta d' Asinella.

2 A note in the PVench translation observes that the Apuli, properly so
called, could but have occupied the shore of half this bay, for the For-
tore falls into it just about the centre, which river was a common bound-
ary between the Apuli and Frentani. 3 B. c. 216.

4 Cramer says, the lake which Strabo speaks of as being near Teanum,
but without mentioning its name, is called by Pliny Lacus Pontanus,
(iii. 11,) now Lago di Lesina.

3 The city of Teanum stood on the right bank of the Fortore, the
ancient Frento ; its ruins are stated to exist on the site of Civitate, about
a mile from the right bank of the Fortore, and ten miles from the sea.
Cramer, vol. ii. p. 273.

6 Now Teano, six miles from Sessa, and fifteen from Capua.

7 Pozzuolo.

8 M. Gossellin observes that from the head of the bay of Naples to the
shores bordering the ancient Teanum, there are 80 minutes, or 933
stadia of 700.

9 Romanelli is of opinion that the ruins of Buca exist at the present
Penna. 10 Book v. chap. iv. § 2, p. 359.

B. vi. c. iv. $ 1. THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 437

CHAPTER IV.

1. So great indeed is Italy, and much as we have described
it ; we will now advert to the chief of the many things that
have been described, which have conduced to raise the Romans
to so great a height of prosperity. One point is its insular
position, by which it is securely guarded, the seas forming a
natural protection around it with the exception of a very in-
considerable frontier, which too is fortified by almost im-
passable mountains. A second is, that there are but few
harbours, and those few capacious and admirably situated.
These are of great service both for enterprises against foreign
places, and also in case of invasions undertaken against the
country, and the reception of abundant merchandise. And a
third, that it is situated so as to possess many advantages of
atmosphere and temperature of climate, in which both animals
and plants, and in fact all things available for sustaining life,
may be accommodated with every variety both of mild and
severe temperature ; its length stretches in a direction north
and south. Sicily, which is extensive, may be looked upon as
an addition to its length, for we cannot consider it in any other
light than as a part of it. The salubrity or severity of the
atmosphere of different countries, is estimated by the amount
of cold or heat, or the degrees of temperature between those
extremes ; in this way we shall find that Italy, which is situ-
ated in the medium of both the extremes, and having so great
a length, largely participates in a salubrious atmosphere, and
that in many respects. This advantage is still secured to it
in another way, for the chain of the Apennines extending
through its whole length, and leaving on each side plains and
fruitful hills, there is no district which does not participate in
the advantages of the best productions both of hill and plain.
We must also enumerate the magnitude and number of its
rivers and lakes, and the springs of hot and cold waters sup-
plied by nature in various localities for the restoration of
health ; and in addition to these, its great wealth in mines of
all the metals, abundance of timber, and excellent food both
for man and for beasts of all kinds. Italy, likewise, being
situated in the very midst of the greatest nations, I allude to
Greece and the best provinces of Asia, is naturally in a posi-

438 STRABO. CASATJB. 286.

tion to gain the ascendency, since she excels the circumjacent
countries both in the valour of her population and in extent
of territory, and by being in proximity to them seems to have
been ordained to bring them into subjection without difficulty.
2. If, in addition to our description of Italy, a few words
should be summarily added about the Romans who have pos-
sessed themselves of it, and prepared it as a centre from
whence to enforce their universal dominion, we would offer
the following. — The Romans, after the foundation of their
state, discreetly existed as a kingdom for many years, till
Tarquin, the last [Roman king], abused his power, when they
expelled him, and established a mixed form of government,
being a modification both of the monarchical and aristo-
cratical systems ; they admitted both the Sabines l and Latins 2
into their alliance, but as neither they nor the other neigh-
bouring states continued to act with good faith towards them
at all times, they were under the necessity of aggrandizing
themselves by the dismemberment of their neighbours.3 Hav-
ing thus, by degrees, arrived at a state of considerable
importance, it chanced that they lost their city suddenly,
contrary to the expectation of all men, and again recovered
the same contrary to all expectation.4 This took place, ac-
cording to Polybius, in the nineteenth year after the naval
engagement of ^Egos-potami,5 about the time of the con-
clusion of the peace of Antalcidas.6 Having escaped these
misfortunes, the Romans first reduced all the Latins 7 to com-
plete obedience, they then subdued the Tyrrheni,8 and stayed
the Kelts, who border the Po, from their too frequent and
licentious forays ; then the Samnites, and after them they
conquered the Tarentines and Pyrrhus,9 and presently after
the remainder of what is now considered as Italy, with the
exception of the districts on the Po. While these still re-
mained a subject of dispute they passed over into Sicily,10 and
having wrested that island from the Carthaginians n they re-
in the year 747 B. c. 2 In the year 594 B. c.
The Latins were first subjected in 499 B. c., but not totally subju-
ga ed ; the Sabines were almost annihilated in the war which happened
about 450 B. c.

See Polyb. Hist, book i. chap. vi. § 1, edit. Schweigh, torn. i. p. 12.
This battle was fought in the year 405 B. c.

Concluded 387 B. c. 7 About 338 B. c. 8 About 310 B. c.
About 275 B. c. lo In the year 264 B. c. " In the year 241 B. c.

B. vi. c. iv. $ 2. THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 439

turned to complete the conquest of the people dwelling along
the Po. While this war was still in hand Hannibal entered
Italy,1 thus the second war against the Carthaginians ensued,
and after a very short interval the third, in which Carthage
was demolished.2 At the same time the Romans became
masters of Africa,3 and of such portions of Spain as they won
from the Carthaginians. Both the Greeks and the Macedo-
nians, and the nations of Asia who dwelt on the hither side
of the river Kisil-Irmak4 and the Taurus, took part in these
struggles with the Carthaginians: over these Antiochus5 was
king, and Philip and Perseus,6 these therefore the Romans
found themselves obliged to subdue. The people likewise of
Illyria and Thrace, who were next neighbours to the Greeks
and Macedonians, at this time commenced the war with the
Romans that never ceased, until the subjugation of all the
people who inhabit the countries on the hither side of the
Danube7 and the Kisil-Irmak4 had been effected. The
Iberians, and Kelts, and all the rest who are subject to the
Romans, shared a similar fate, for the Romans never rested in
the subjugation of the land to their sway until they had en-
tirely overthrown it : in the first instance they took Numantia,8
and subdued Viriathus,9 and afterwards vanquished Sertorius,10
and last of all the Cantabrians,11 who were brought to subjec-
tion by Augustus Cassar.12 Likewise the whole of Gaul both
within and beyond the Alps with Liguria were annexed at first
by a partial occupation, but subsequently divus Caesar and
then Augustus subdued them completely in open war, so that
now 13 the Romans direct their expeditions against the £er-
mans from these countries as the most convenient rendezvous,
and have already adorned their own country with several
triumphs over them. Also in Africa all that did not belong
to the Carthaginians has been left to the charge of kings
owning dependence on the Roman state, while such as have
attempted to assert their independence have been overpowered.
At the present moment both Maurusia and much of the rest

1 218 B. c. 2 146 B. c. 3 Aifivij. * The ancient Halys.

5 Antiochus ceded Asia Minor in the year B. c. 189,

6 Perseus was taken in the year B. c. 167. 7 Ister.
8 In the year B. c. 133. 9 In the year B. c. 140.

10 B. c. 72. » The inhabitants of Biscay. l2 B. c. 19.

13 About A. D. 17 or 18.

440 STRABO. CASAUB. 288.

of Africa have fallen to the portion of Juba ] on account of
his good will and friendship towards the Romans. The like
things have taken place in Asia. At first it was governed by
kings who were dependent on the Romans, and afterwards
when their several lines of succession failed, as of that of the
kings Attalus,2 the kings of the Syrians,3 the Paphlagonians,4
Cappadocians,5 and Egyptians,6 [or] when they revolted and
were subsequently deposed, as it happened in the case of
Mithridates Eupator, and Cleopatra of Egypt, the whole of
their territories within the Phasis 7 and the Euphrates,8 with
the exception of some tribes of Arabs, were brought com-
pletely under the dominion of the Romans and the dynasties
set up by them. The Armenians and the people who lie be-
yond Colchis, both the Albani and Iberians, require nothing
more than that Roman governors should be sent among them,
and they would be easily ruled ; their attempted insurrections
are merely the consequence of the want of attention from the
Romans, who are so much occupied elsewhere: the like may be
asserted of those who dwell beyond the Danube,9 and inhabit
the banks of the Euxine, excepting only those who dwell on the

1 From this expression we may gather that Strabo wrote this 6th Book
of his Geography during the life-time of Juba, and, as we shall presently
see, about A. D. 18; while he did not compile the 17th Book till after
Juba's death, which must have taken place before A. D. 21. See M.
i' Abb6 Sevin, Rech. sur ia Vie, &c., de Juba, Ac. des Inscr. et Belles-
Lettres, vol. iv. Mem. p. 462.

2 Attalus III., king of Pergamus, died 133 B. c., and constituted the
Roman people his heir.

3 We may here observe that the Seleucidae ceased to reign in Syria as
early as 83 B. c., when that country, wearied of their sad dissensions,
willingly submitted to Tigranes the king of Armenia, but their race was
not extinct, and even in the year 64 B. c. when Pompey made the king-
dom a Roman province, there were two princes of the Seleucidse, An-
tiochus Asiaticus and his brother Seleucus-Cybiosactes, who had an
hereditary right to the throne ; the latter however died about 54 B. c., and
in him terminated the race of the Seleucidae.

4 The race of the kings of Paphlagonia became extinct about 7 B. c.
See M. P Abbe" Belley, Diss. sur P ere de Germanicopolis, &c. Ac. des
Inscr. et Belles- Lettres, vol. xxx. Mem. p. 331 .

5 The royal race of Cappadocia failed about 91 B. c.

6 The race of the Lagidae terminated with Ptolemy Auletes, who died
44 B. c., leaving two daughters, Cleopatra and Arsinoe. Ptolemy Apion
died 96 B. c. ; he left Cyrene, whereof he was king, to the Roman people.

7 Now the Fasz or Rion. 3 The Forat, Ferat, or Frat.
9 The ancient Ister.

B. vi. c. iv. § 2. THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 441

Bosphorus l and the Nomades ; 2 of these the former are in sub-
jection to the Romans, and the latter are unprofitable for com-
merce on account of their wandering life, and only require to be
watched. The rest of the countries [of Asia] are chiefly in-
habited by Scenites3 and Nomades who dwell at a great dis-
tance. The Parthians indeed border on them and are very
powerful, but they have yielded so far to the superiority of
the Romans and our emperors, that they have not only sent
back4 to Rome the trophies which they had at a still more
distant period taken from the Romans, but Phraates has even
sent his sons and his sons' sons to Augustus Csesar, as
hostages, assiduously courting his friendship : 5 indeed the
[Parthians] of the present time frequently send for a king
from hence,6 and are almost on the point of relinquishing all
power to the Romans. We now see Italy, which has frequently
been torn by civil war even since it came under the dominion of
the Romans, nay, even Rome herself, restrained from rushing
headlong into confusion and destruction by the excellence of
her form of government and the ability of her emperors.
Indeed it were hard to administer the aftairs of so great an
empire otherwise than by committing them to one man as a
father.7 For it would never have been in the power of the
Romans and their allies to attain to a state of such perfect
peace, and the enjoyment of such abundant prosperity, as
Augustus Czesar afforded them from the time that he took
upon himself the absolute authority; and which his son Tibe-
rius, who has succeeded him, still maintains, who takes his
father for a pattern in his government and ordinances. And
in their turn his sons, Germanicus and Drusus,8 who are ex-
ercising the functions of government under their father, take
him for their model.

1 Strabo -will relate in book vii. chap. iv. § 4, that after the defeat of
Mithridates Eupator they became subject to the Romans.

2 See more as to these people in book vii. chap. iii. § 17.

3 Inhabitants of tents. 4 In the year 20 B. c. See book xvi.
chap. i. § 28. 5 Compare Tacitus, Annales, lib. ii. § 1.

6 As Vonones, mentioned by Tacitus in his second book.

7 Compare the words of Tacitus, Annal. lib. i. § 9, Non aliud dis-
cordantis patriae remedium fuisse, quam ut ab uno regeretur.

8 Germanicus was appointed to take charge of the East in A. D. 17, in
18 he took possession of his government, and died in 19. Drusus was in
command of the armies of Germany in A. D. 17. Thus we may safely
conclude this 6th book of Strabo's Geography to have been written in
A. D. 18.

BOOK VII.

GERMAKY. — THE CIMBRI, GETJE, DACI. — MOUTHS OF THE DANUBE. — THE
TAURICA CHERSONESUS, ILLYRICUM, HUNGARY, EPIRUS, DODONA, MACE-
DONIA, THRACE.— THE HELLESPONT.

SUMMARY.

In the Seventh Book Strabo describes the remaining portions of Europe.
That on the east is the country beyond the Rhine, as far as the Don1 and
the mouth of the Sea of Azof ; 2 and on the south, that which the
Danube3 bounds, lying between the Adriatic and the left shores of the
Euxine, as far as Greece and the Sea of Marmora,4 including the whole
of Macedonia.

CHAPTER I.

1. WE have described Spain and the Keltic nations, to-
gether with Italy and the islands adjacent, and must now
speak of the remaining portions of Europe, dividing it in the
best way we can. That which remains is, on the east, all
the country beyond the Rhine, as far as the Don and the
mouth of the Sea of Azof; and, on the south, that which
the Danube bounds, lying between the Adriatic and the left
shores of the Euxine, as far as Greece and the Sea of Mar-
mora, for the Danube, which is the largest of the rivers of
Europe, divides the whole territory of which we have spoken,
into two portions. This river from its commencement flows
southwards, then, making a sudden turn, continues its course
from west to east, which [terminates] in the Euxine Sea,
It takes its rise in the western confines of Germany, not far
from the head of the Adriatic, being distant from it about
1000 stadia,5 and falls into the Euxine near the mouths of
the Dniester6 and the Dnieper,7 inclining a little towards the
north. Thus the countries beyond the Rhine and Keltica are
situated to the north of the Danube, and are occupied by the

1 The ancient Tanais. 2 Palus Mseotis. 3 The ancient Ister.

4 The ancient Propontis.

5 Strabo, in a subsequent passage, states that the distance from the
Danube to the city Trieste, at the head of the Adriatic, is about 1200
stadia. 6 The ancient Tyras. 7 The Borysthenes.

B. vii. c. i. § 2, 3.] GERMANY. 443

Galatic and German tribes, as far as the territory of the
Bastarnoe,1 the Tyregetae,2 and the river Dnieper ; so also is
the country situated between the Dnieper, the Don, and the
mouth of the Sea of Azof, which on one side stretches back
as far as the [Northern] Ocean,3 and on another is washed
by the Euxine. To the south of the Danube are situated the
people of Illyria and Thrace, and mixed with them certain
tribes of Kelts and other races, extending as far as Greece.

We will first speak of those nations to the north of the
Danube, for their history is less involved than that of the
tribes situated on the other side of the river.

2. Next after the Keltic nations come the Germans who
inhabit the country to the east beyond the Rhine ; and these
differ but little from the Keltic race, except in their being
more fierce, of a larger stature, and more ruddy in counte-
nance ; but in every other respect, their figure, their customs
and manners of life, are such as we have related of the
Kelts.4 The Romans therefore, I think, have very appositely
applied to them the name " Germani," as signifying genuine ;
for in the Latin language Germani signifies genuine.5

3. The first division of this country is the land extending
along the Rhine from its source to its embouchure. Indeed,
the valley of that river extends nearly as far as the whole
breadth of Germany on the west. Of the people who occu-
pied this country, some have been transplanted by the Romans
into Keltica, the others have retired to the interior, as the
Marsi ;G there are but few remaining, and some portion of them

1 The Bastarnaa were a people occupying portions of the modern Mol-
davia, Podolia, and the Ukraine.

2 The Tyregetae, or the Getse of the river Tyras, were a people dwell-
ing on the Dniester, to the south of the Bastarnae.

3 The ancient geographers supposed that the Northern Ocean extended
to the 56° of north latitude. Their notions of the existence of the Baltic
were vague. They therefore confounded it with the Northern Ocean,
thus making the continent of Europe to extend only to the 56° of north
latitude.

4 See book iv. chap. iv. § 2, pp. 291, 292.

5 Strabo's words are, yvrjmot yap 01 rfp/zaroi KUTCL rr\v 'Pw/zaiW
Sid\iKTov. It is possible he may be endeavouring to explain that the yep
in Germani is equivalent to the Latin verus, " true," the wahr of modern
German, and that Germani signifies the true men of the country, the un-
doubted autochthones of Galatia or Gaul.

6 The Marsi were a people dwelling on the banks of the Ems, near
Munster.

444 STRABO. CASATJB. 290.

are Sicambri ; l next to the inhabitants of this valley succeeds
the tribe dwelling between the Rhine and the river Elbe,2
which river flows towards the ocean in a direction nearly
parallel with the Rhine, and traversing a country of no less
extent. There are also between these other navigable rivers,
such as the Ems,3 on which Drusus defeated the Bructeri4 in
a naval engagement ; all likewise flowing from south to north,
and falling into the ocean ; for the whole country rises to-
wards the south, and forms a ridge of mountains near the
Alps, which extends eastward as though it were a continua-
tion of the Alps;5 and some have even so described it, as
well on account of its position as because it produces the
same system of vegetation ; nevertheless, the altitude of this
ridge in no part equals that of the Alps. Here is situated
the Hercynian Wood,6 and the tribes of the Suevi,7 some of
whom inhabit the forest, as do likewise some of the Quadi.8
Among these latter people is situated Bujaemum, the royal
city of Marobodus, whither he has assembled many strangers
and many of the Marcomanni, a kindred nation with his own.
This Marobodus, from a private station, raised himself to the
administration of affairs after his return from Rome. For
he went to that city while a youth, and was patronized by
Augustus. After he came home, he acquired the sovereignty
of his country, and added to the people I have enumerated,
the Luji,9 a powerful nation, and the Zumi,10 and the Gutones ll

1 The Sicambri were located near the Menapii. See above, p. 289.

2 The Albis. 3 Amasias.

4 The name of this tribe is written variously by different authors.
They are supposed to have occupied the lands between the Rhine, the
Ems, and the Lippe, but their boundaries were very uncertain, on ac-
count of their continual wars.

5 This refers to the chain of mountains which, running from the north
of Switzerland, traverses Wurtemberg, Franconia, Bohemia, Moravia,
and joins Mount Krapak.

6 The Hercynian Wood, or Black Forest, was either one or a succes-
sion of continuous forests, extending from the banks of the Rhine to the
confines of Persia and Bactriana.

7 The Suevi occupied a considerable portion of Germany, to the north
and east of Bohemia.

8 Coldui manuscripts. Kramer agrees with Cluverius in this instance,
and we have followed Kramer's text. 9 The Lugii of Tacitus.

10 Zeus thinks these were the Burri of Dio Cassius, Ixviii. 8. See
Zeus, Die Deutschen, &c., p. 126.

11 Kramer has Tovrutvas, although the MSS. have Bourwi/af. He is

B. vii. c. i. § 4. GERMANY. 445

and Mugilones and Sibini, besides the Seranones, another con-
siderable tribe of the Suevi. As I have previously stated, a
portion of the Suevi dwells within the Forest, while another
portion occupies the territory beyond, on the frontiers of the
Getae ; wherefore the nation of the Suevi is the most con-
siderable, as it extends from the Rhine as far as the Elbe,
arid even a part of them, as the Hermonduri and the Lango-
bardi, inhabit the country beyond the Elbe ; but at the pre-
sent time these tribes, having been defeated, have retired en-
tirely beyond the Elbe. All these nations easily change their
abode, on account of the scantiness of provisions, and because
they neither cultivate the lands nor accumulate wealth, but
dwell in miserable huts, and satisfy their wants from day to
day, the most part of their food being supplied by the herd,
as amongst the nomade races, and in imitation of them they
transfer their households in waggons, wandering with their
cattle to any place which may appear most advantageous.
There are many other smaller German tribes, as the Cherusci,
Chatti, Gamabrivi,1 Chattuarii, and next the ocean the Si-
cambri, Chaubi,2 Bructeri,3 Cimbri, Cauci, Caulci, Carnpsi-
ani,4 and many others.

In the same direction with the Ems,5 the Weser6 and the
river Lippe7 take their course, the latter, distant about 600
stadia from the Rhine, flows through the territory of the
Lesser Bructeri. And there is also the river Sala,8 between
which and the Rhine Drusus Germanicus died, whilst in the
midst of his victories. He not only subdued the greater part
of the German tribes, but also the islands on the coast he
passed along, one amongst which is Byrchanis,9 which he
took by siege.

4. All these nations became known through their wars with

led to this emendation by Cluverius and others. Cluv. Germ. Antiq.
lib. iii. c. 34, page 625.

1 The Gambrivii of Tacitus, Germ. cap. 2.

2 Cluverius considers these were the Chamavi.

3 We have followed Kramer's text. MSS. read Bucteri.

4 For Caulci, Campsiani, Cluverius would read Cathulci, Campsani.
A little further on Strabo calls the Campsiani Ampsani.

5 Amasias. 6 Visurgis. 7 Lupias. 8 Salas.

9 Borcum. Pliny calls this island Burchana, and adds, that the Ro-
mans gave it the name of Fabaria, on account of the beans (in Latin
Faba) which grow there.

446 STRABO. CASATJB. 291.

the Romans, at one time submitting, at another revolting and
quitting their habitations ; and we should have become ac-
quainted with a greater number of their tribes, if Augustus
had permitted his generals to pass the Elbe, in pursuit of those
who had fled thither ; but he considered the war on hand
would be more easily brought to a conclusion, if he left the
people on the other side of the Elbe unmolested, and not by
attacking provoke them to make common cause with his
enemies.

The Sicambri inhabiting the country next the Rhine were
the first to commence the war, under the conduct of their
leader, Melon ; other nations afterwards followed their ex-
ample, at one time being victorious, at another defeated, and
again recommencing hostilities, without regard to hostages or
the faith of treaties. Against these people mistrust was the
surest defence ; for those who were trusted effected the most
mischief. For example, the Cherusci, and those who were
subject to them, amongst whom three Roman legions with
their general, Quintilius Varus, perished by ambush, in vio-
lation of the truce ; nevertheless all have received punishment
for this perfidy, which furnished to Germanicus the Younger
the opportunity of a most brilliant triumph, he leading pub-
licly as his captives the most illustrious persons, both men
and women, amongst whom were Segimuntus,1 the son of
Segestes, the chief of the Cherusci, and his sister, named
Thusnelda, the wife of Armenius, who led on the Cherusci
when they treacherously attacked Quintilius Varus, and even
to this day continues the war ; likewise his son Thumelicus,
a boy three years old, as also Sesithacus, the son of Segime-
rus,2 chief of the Cherusci, and his wife Rhamis, the daughter
of Ucromirus,3 chief of the Chatti,4 and Deudorix, the son
of Baetorix, the brother of Melon, of the nation of the Sicam-
bri; but Segestes, the father-in-law of Armenius, from the
commencement opposed the designs of his son-in-law, and
taking advantage of a favourable opportunity, went over to
the Roman camp and witnessed the triumphal procession over

1 Segimundus in Tacitus, Annal. lib. i. cap. 57.

2 ^Egimerus in Tacitus, Annal. lib. i. cap. 71.

3 Acrumerus, according to the correction of Cluverius. He is Actu-
merus in Tacitus, Annal. lib. xi. 16, 17.

4 MSS. Batti, which Vossius reckons were the Batavi.

B. vii. c. i. § 5. GERMANY. 447

those who were dearest to him, he being held in honour by
the Romans. There was also led in triumph Libes the priest
of the Chatti, and many other prisoners of the various van-
quished nations, the Cathylci and the Ampsani, the Bructeri,
the Usipi, the Cherusci, the Chatti, the Chattuarii, the Landi,1
the Tubattii.2

The Rhine is distant from the Elbe about 3000 stadia, if
one could travel in a direct line ; but we are compelled to go
a circuitous route, on account of the windings of the marshes
and the woods.

5. The Hercynian Forest3 is extremely dense, and over-
grown with very large trees, covering an immense circuit of
country, fortified by nature. In the midst of it is situated
the region well suited for habitation, of which we have spoken.
Near this forest are the sources of the Danube and the Rhine,
and the lake4 situated between these, together with the
marshes formed by the Rhine. The circuit of the lake is
more than 300 5 stadia, and the distance across about 200.
In this lake is an island which served Tiberius as an arsenal,
in the naval war with the Vindelici. This lake is south of
the sources of the Danube and the Hercynian Forest, so that
in passing from Keltica6 to the forest, one has first to cross
the lake, then the Danube, and afterwards by a more passable
country, and over elevated plains, you approach the forest.
When Tiberius had proceeded but one day's journey from the
lake, he came in sight of the sources of the Danube.7

The territory of the Rhreti8 borders some portion of this
lake, but the greater part of the shores belong to the Helvetii9

1 Cluverius considers these were the Marsi of Tacitus, Annal. lib. ii.
cap. 25.

2 Called Tubantes by the Roman writers.

3 Schwartz Wald, or Black Forest. 4 The Lake Constance.

5 Strabo could hardly have intended 300, since the diameter of the
lake is given at 200. Velser conjectures that 500 or 600 would be the
proper reading. Its exact circumference is about 550 stadia.

6 Gossellin considers that by Keltica we are to understand Cisalpine
Gaul, and the neighbourhood of Milan and Mantua.

7 Gossellin says that the sources of the Danube are about 14 leagues
distant from the western extremity of the Lake Constance.

8 The Rhaeti possessed the countries of the Grisons and the Tyrol, ex-
tending to the eastern shores of the Lake Constance.

9 The Helvetii, or Swiss, possessed the southern borders of the Lake
Constance.

448 STRABO. CASAUB. 292.

and Vindelici,1 [the Norici come next after the Vindelici
in an easterly direction,]2 and the desert of the Boii.3 The
nations as far as the Pannonians,4 but more especially the
Helvetii and Vindelici, inhabit high table lands. The Rhaeti
and the Norici,5 verging towards Italy, extend over the very
summits of the Alps ; the former confining with the Insubri,6
the latter the Garni,7 and the districts about Aquileia. There
is likewise another great forest, named Gabreta, on this side
the territory of the Suevi, while beyond them lies the Her-
cynian Wood, which also is in their possession.

CHAPTER II.

1. SOME of the accounts which we receive respecting the
Cimbri are not worthy of credit, while others seem likely
enough : for instance, no one could accept the reason given
for their wandering life and piracy, that, dwelling on a penin-
sula, they were driven out of their settlements by a very high
tide;8 for they still to this day possess the country which
they had in former times, and have sent as a present to Au-

1 The Vindelici occupied the country on the northern borders of the
lake, with the regions of Swabia and Bavaria south of the Danube, and
reaching to the Inn. Gossellin.

2 It is evident that some words have been omitted in this place. The
words we have inserted are the conjecture of Cluverius and Groskurd.

3 As far as we can make out from Strabo and Pliny, book iii. cap. 27,
the desert of the Boii stretched along the shores of the Danube from the
river Inn to the mountains a little west of Vienna, which were the bound-
ary between the Norici and the Pannonians. This strip of land is now
called the Wiener-Wald, or Forest of Vienna. Doubtless it took its
name of Desert of the Boii on account of its contiguity to the south of
the country occupied by those people, and which still bears the name of
Bohemia.

4 The Pannonians occupied the districts of Hungary west of the Danube.

5 The Norici inhabited that part of Austria which lies between the
Danube and the Alps.

6 The Insubri occupied the Milanese.

7 The Garni have left their name to Carniola.

8 See also book ii. chap. 3, § 6. Festus relates that the A.mbrones
abandoned their country on account of this tide. The Ambrones were
a tribe of the Helvetii, and more than once joined with the Cimbri.

B. vn c. ii. § 1. CIMBRI. 449

gustus the caldron held most sacred by tkem, supplicating his
friendship, and an amnesty for past offences ; and having ob-
tained their request, they returned home. Indeed, it would
have been ridiculous for them to have departed from their
country in a pet, on account of a natural and constant phe-
nomenon, which recurs twice every day. It is likewise evi-
dently a fiction, that there ever occurred an overwhelming
flood-tide, for the ocean, in the influences of this kind which
it experiences, receives a certain settled and periodical in-
crease and decrease.1 Neither is it true, as has been related,2
that the Cinibri take arms against the flood-tides, or that the
Kelts, as an exercise of their intrepidity, suffer their houses
to be washed away by them, and afterwards rebuild them ;
and that a greater number of them perish by water than by
war, as Ephorus relates. For the regular order the flood-tides
observe, and the notoriety of the extent of the country sub-
ject to inundation by them, could never have given occasion
for such absurd actions. For the tide flowing twice every
day, how could any one think for an instant that it was not
a natural and harmless phenomenon, and that it occurs not
only on their coasts, but on all others bordering on the ocean ?
Is not this quite incredible? Neither is Clitarchus to be
trusted,3 when he says that their cavalry, on seeing the sea
flowing in, rode off at full speed, and yet scarcely escaped by
flight from being overtaken by the flood ; for we know, by
experience, that the tide does not come in with such impetu-
osity, but that the sea advances stealthily by slow degrees.
And we should think, besides, that a phenomenon of daily
occurrence, which would naturally strike the ear of such as

1 The French translation has happily paraphrased, not translated, this
passage as follows : " For although it is true that the ocean has tides of
more or less height, still they occur periodically, and in an order con-
stantly the same."

'* Aristotle, Ethics, Eudem. lib. iii. cap. 1, Nicolas of Damascus, and
^Elian, Var. Histor. lib. xii. cap. 23, have attributed the like extravagant
proceedings to the Kelts or Gauls. Nicolas of Damascus, Reliq. pp.
272, 273, says that the Kelts resist the tides of the ocean with their
swords in their hands, till they perish in the waters, in order that they
may not seem to fear death by taking the precaution to fly.

3 It i3 probable that Clitarchus obtained his information from the
Gauls. As for the sudden influx of the tide, there are several other ex-
amples of the kind, in which the troops surprised were not so successful
in getting off.

VOL. i. 2 G

450

STUABO. CASAUB. 293.

approached it, before even they could see it with their eyes,
could not by any means terrify them so as to put them to
night, as if they had been surprised by some unexpected
catastrophe.

2. For such fables as these, Posidonius justly blames these
writers, and not inaptly conjectures that the Cimbri, on ac-
count of their wandering life and habits of piracy, might
have made an expedition as far as the countries around the
Palus Mceotis, and that from them has been derived the name
of the Cimmerian Bosphorus, or what we should more cor-
rectly denominate the Cimbrian Bosphorus, for the Greeks
call the Cimbri Cimmerii.

He likewise tells us that the Boii formerly inhabited the
Hercynian Forest, and that the Cimbri, having made an in-
cursion into those parts, were repulsed by them, and driven
towards the Danube, and the country occupied by the Scor-
disci, a Galatic tribe, and from thence to the Tauristse, or
Taurisci, a people likewise of Galatic origin, and farther to the
Helvetii, who were at that time a rich and peaceful people ;
but, perceiving that the wealth of these freebooters far ex-
ceeded their own, the Helvetii, and more especially the Tigu-
reni and the Toygeni, associated themselves with their expe-
ditions. But both the Cimbri and their auxiliaries were
vanquished by the Romans, the one part when they crossed
the Alps and came down upon Italy, the others on the other
side of the Alps.

3. It is reported that the Cimbri had a peculiar custom.
They were accompanied in their expeditions by their wives ;
these were followed by hoary-headed priestesses,1 clad in
white, with cloaks of carbasus2 fastened on with clasps, girt
with brazen girdles, and bare-footed. These individuals,
bearing drawn swords, went to meet the captives throughout
the camp, and, having crowned them, led them to a brazen
vessel containing about 20 amphorse, and placed on a raised

1 Tacitus, De Morib. Germanor. cap. viii., says that these priestesses
were held in great reputation, and mentions one Veleda as " diu apud
plerosque numinis loco habitam."

2 Pliny, lib. xix. cap. 1, describes this carbasus as very fine flax,
grown in the neighbourhood of Tarragona in Spain. The Pfere Hardouin
considers that the carbasus or fabric manufactured of this flax was simi-
lar to the French batiste. — The flax and the fabric were alike called
carbasus.

n. vii. c. n. $ 4. CIMBRI. 451

platform, which one of the priestesses having ascended, and
holding the prisoner above the vessel, cut his throat ; then,
from the manner in which the blood flowed into the vessel,
some drew certain divinations ; while others, having opened
the corpse, and inspected the entrails, prophesied victory to
their army. In battle too they beat skins stretched on the
wicker sides of chariots, which produces a stunning noise.

4. As we have before stated, the northernmost of the Ger-
mans inhabit a' country bordering on the ocean ; but we are
only acquainted with those situated between the mouths of
the Rhine and the Elbe, of which the Sicambri1 and Cimbri2
are the most generally known : those dwelling along the coast3
beyond the Elbe are entirely unknown to us ; for none of the
ancients with whom I am acquainted have prosecuted this
voyage towards the east as far as the mouths of the Caspian
Sea, neither have the Eomans as yet sailed coastwise beyond
the Elbe, nor has any one travelling on foot penetrated farther
into this country. But it is evident, by the climates and the
parallels of distances, that in following a longitudinal course
towards the east we must come to the countries near the
Dnieper, and the regions on the north side of the Euxine.
But as for any particulars as to Germany beyond the Elbe,
or of the countries which lie beyond it in order, whether we
should call them the Bastarnse, as most geographers suppose,
or whether other nations intervene, such as the Jazyges,4 or
the Roxolani,5 or any others of the tribes dwelling in waggons,
it is not easy to give any account. Neither can we say whe-
ther these nations extend as far as the [Northern] Ocean,
along the whole distance, or whether [between them and the
Ocean] there are countries rendered unfit for habitation by
the cold or by any other cause ; or whether men of a different
race are situated between the sea and the most eastern of the
Germans.

The same uncertainty prevails with regard to the other

1 The Sicambri, or Sugambri, dwelt to the south of the Lippe.

2 The Cimbri occupied Jutland, the ancient Cimbrica Chersonesus.

3 The shores of the Baltic.

* Gossellin places the Jazyges in the southern districts of the Ukraine,
between the Dniester and the Sea of Azoff.

5 Gossellin considers that the name of Russia is derived from these
Roxolani.

2 G 2

452 STRABO. CASAUB. 294.

nations l of the north, for we know neither the Bastarnge nor
the Sauromatae ; 2 nor, in a word, any of those tribes situate
above the Euxine : we are ignorant as to what distance they
lie from the Atlantic,3 or even whether they extend as far as
that sea.

CHAPTER III.

1. As to the southern part of Germany beyond the Elbe,
the country which adjoins the bank of that river is now occu-
pied by the Suevi. Next lies the country of the Getae, at first
narrow, its southern side extends along the Danube, and the
opposite side along the mountains of the Hercynian Forest,
even including part of those mountains, it then becomes broader
towards the north, and extends as far as the Tyregetse ; how-
ever, we are unable to declare its boundaries with accuracy ;
and it is on account of our ignorance of these places that
those who relate fables of the RiphaBan mountains and the
Hyperboreans have received credit ; as also that which Py-
theas of Marseilles has forged concerning the countries bor-
dering on the Northern Ocean, making use of his acquaint-
ance with astronomy and mathematics to fabricate his false
narration : let us therefore pass over them ; as also what So-
phocles, speaking of Orithya in one of his tragedies, says,
that she, being snatched by the north wind, was carried

" Over the whole ocean, to the extremities of the earth,
Even to the place where night received its birth,
Where the opposite side of the heavens is beheld,
And where is situated the ancient garden of Phoebus."

This is of no value to our present inquiry, but must be omit-
ted, as Socrates has done in the Phredrus of Plato. We
will relate only what we have learnt from ancient accounts,
and the reports made in our times.

1 The Bastarnse and Tyregetee, mentioned in chap. i. § 1, of this book,
to whom, in book ii. chap. v. § 30, Strabo adds also the Sauromatae.

2 The Sauromatse, or Sarmatians, living to the east of the Sea of Azoff
and along the banks of the Don.

3 The term Atlantic was applied with much more latitude by Strabo
and Eratosthenes than by us.

n. vn. c. in. § 2.

GET^E. 453

2. The Greeks indeed considered the Geta? to be Thraci-
ans. They occupied either bank of the Danube, as also did
the Mysians, likewise a Thracian people, now called the Moesi,
from whom are descended the Mysians, settled between the
Lydians, the Phrygians, and the inhabitants of the Troad.
Even the Phrygians themselves are the same as the Briges, a
people of Thrace, as also are the Mygdones, the Bebryces,
the Maedobithyni, the Bithyni, the Thyni, and, as I consider,
also are the Mariandyni. All these people quitted Europe
entirely, the Mysians alone remaining. Posidonius appears
to me to have rightly conjectured that it is the Mysians of
Europe (or as I should say of Thrace) that Homer designates
when he says,

" and his glorious eyes
Averting, on the land look'd down remote
Of the horse-breeding Thracians, of the bold
Close-fighting Mysian race ...."'

For if any one should understand them as the Mysians of
Asia, the expression of the poet would not be fitting. For
this would be, that having turned his eyes from the Trojans
towards the land of the Thracians, he beheld at the same time
the land of the Mysians, situated not far off from where he
was, but conterminous with the Troad, rather behind it and
on either side, but separated from Thrace by the breadth of
the Hellespont.2 This would be to confound the continents,
and at the same time to disregard the form of the poet's ex-
pression. For " to turn his eyes again," is more especially to
turn them behind him ; but he who extends his vision from
the Trojans to the people either behind them, or on either side
of them, stretches his sight to a greater distance, but not in
the least behind him. And this also is introduced as a proof
of this very thing, that Homer classes with these the Hippe-
molgi,3 the Galactophagi,4 and tfoe Abii,5 who are the Scythian
Hamaxoeci6 and Sarmatians ; for at this day, all these nations,
as well as the Bastarnae, are mixed with the Thracians, more
especially with those beyond the Danube, and some even with

1 But he himself turned back his shining eyes apart, looking towards
the land of the equestrian Thracians and the close-fighting Mysians.
Iliad xiii. 3.

2 The Strait of the Dardanelles.

3 Milkers of mares. 4 People who live on milk.
5 Devoid of riches. 6 Dwelling in waggons.

454 STRABO. CASAUB. 296.

the Thracians on this side the Danube ; also amongst these
are the Keltic tribes of the Boii, Scordisci, and Taurisci.
Some, indeed, call the Scordisci the Scordistae, and give to the
Taurisci the names of Ligurisci l and Tauristae.

3. Posidonius relates that the Mysians religiously abstain
from eating any thing that had life, and consequently, from
cattle ; but that they lived in a quiet way on honey, milk, and
cheese ; wherefore they are considered a religious people, and
called Capnobatse.2 He adds, that there are amongst the
Thracians some who live without wives, and who are known
by the name of Ctistse. These are considered sacred and worthy
of honour, and live in great freedom. [He pretends] that the
poet comprehends the whole of these people when he says,

" and where abide,

On milk sustain'd, and blest with length of days,
The Hippemolgi, justest of mankind."3

These he designates as " without life," more particularly on
account of their living without wives, considering their soli-
tary state as but -a half life ; in the same way as he likewise
designates the house of Protesilaus " imperfect," on account
of the bereavement of his widow ; in the same manner he ap-
plies to the Mysians the epithet of " close-fighting," on account
of their being invincible, like good warriors. [Finally, Posi-
donius pretends] that in the thirteenth4 book of the Iliad we
ought to substitute for " the close-fighting Mysians," [" the
close-fighting Moesi."]

4. Nevertheless it would perhaps be superfluous to change
the text [of Homer], which has stood the test of so many
years. For it appears more probable to suppose that the
people were anciently called Mysians, but that their name
is now altered. Further, any one would suppose that the
Abii5 were no more so named from being unmarried than
from their being houseless,6 *or their dwelling in waggons.

1 Perhaps Teurisci.

2 A note in the French translation suggests that Capnobatse has some
connexion with the practice of intoxication by inhaling smoke, and of
using the vapour of linseed, burned upon red-hot stones, as a bath. See
Herodot. book i. chap. 202 ; book iv. chap. 75.

3 And the illustrious Hippemolgi, milk-nourished, simple in living and
most just men. Iliad xiii. 5.

4 Seicartt), text : but there is no doubt it should be the thirteenth.

5 People without life.

G The Greek is dvtariovs, literally " without hearths."

B. vii. c. in. § 4. GET^E. 455

In fact, as injustice is ordinarily committed in matters
relative to bonds for money and the acquisition of wealth,
it would be natural that the people living so frugally on
such small property should be called [by Homer] thejust-
est of mankind : and the more so as the philosophers who
place justice next to moderation, aim at independence of
others and frugality as amongst the most desirable objects of
attainment ; from which however some, having passed the
bounds of moderation, have wandered into a cynical mode of
life.1 But [the words of the poet] sanction no such assertion
of the Thracians, and the Getas in particular, that they live
without wives. But see what Menander says of these people,
not out of his own imagination, as it, should seem, but de-
riving it from history.

" All the Thracians truly, and especially above all others we Getae, (for
I myself glory in being descended from this race,) are not very chaste."

And a little after he gives examples of their rage for women.

" For there is no one among us who marries fewer than ten or eleven
wives, and some have twelve, or even more.2 If any one loses his life
who has only married four or five wives, he is lamented by us as unfor-
tunate, and one deprived of the pleasures of Hymen."

Such a one would be accounted as unmarried amongst them.
These things are likewise confirmed by the evidence of other
historians. And it is not likely that the same people should
regard as an unhappy life that which is passed without the
enjoyment of many women, and at the same time regard as a
dignified and holy life that which is passed in celibacy with-
out any women. But that those living without wives should
be considered holy, and termed Capnobata?, is entirely op-
posed to our received opinions ; for all agree in regarding
women as the authors of devotion to the gods, and it is they

1 Strabo does not intend by the word Kwiafibq, which he here uses, the
profession of a Cynic philosopher, which some of the Stoics affected in
consequence of their not thoroughly understanding the dogmas of Zeno,
the founder of their sect. It was to these ultra-Stoics that the name of
Stoaces [2r6a»cfcJ was given by way of ridicule. Athenasus, book xiii.
chap. 2, remarks that a like propensity to overdo the precept of the
teacher led the disciples of Aristippus, who recommended rational plea-
sures, to become mere libertines.

2 Heraclides of Pontus, page 215, gives them even as many as thirty
wives.

456 STRABO. CASAUB. 297.

who induce the men by their example to a more attentive
worship of the gods, and to the observance of feast-days and
supplications ; for scarcely is there found a man living by
himself who pays any regard to such matters. And again at-
tend to the words of the same poet when he speaks in one of
his characters, bringing in a man disgusted with the expenses l
of the sacrifices of the women.

" The gods weary us indeed, but especially our married men, who are
always obliged to celebrate some feast."

And his Misogynes, complaining of the same things, exclaims,

" We sacrificed five times a day, while seven female slaves ranged in a
circle played on the cymbals, and others raised their suppliant cries."

It would therefore seem absurd to suppose that only those
among the Geta3 who remained without wives were considered
pious, but that the care of worshipping the Supreme Being
is great among this nation is not to be doubted, after what
Posidonius has related, " and they even abstain from animal
food from religious motives," as likewise on account of the
testimony of other historians.

5. For it is said that one of the nation of the Geta3, named
Zamolxis," had served Pythagoras, and had acquired with
this philosopher some astronomical knowledge, in addition to
what he had learned from the Egyptians, amongst whom he
had travelled. He returned to his own country, and was
highly esteemed both by the chief rulers and the people, on
account of his predictions of astronomical phenomena, and
eventually persuaded the king to unite him in the govern-
ment, as an organ of the will of the gods. At first he was
chosen a priest of the divinity most revered by the Getae, but
afterwards was esteemed as a god, and having retired into a
district of caverns, inaccessible and unfrequented by other

1 Kramer reads SatravaiQ, which we have rendered by " expenses,"
but all manuscripts have aTrdraig. The French translation gives a note
with Koray's conjecture of dcnrdvaig, which is supported by a very simi-
lar passage respecting Alcibiades, where Isocrates (P. I. page 354, ed.
Coray) says, " He was so lavish in the sacrifices and other expenses for
the feast." Both the French and German translations adopt the emend-
ation.

2 ZaX/*o£tc is the reading of the Paris manuscript, No. 1393, and we
should have preferred it for the text, as more likely to be a Geteean name,
but for the circumstance of his being generally written Zamolxis.

«. vn. c. in. § 6. GET^E. 457

men, he there passed his life, rarely communicating with any-
body except the king and his ministers. The king himself
assisted him to play his part, seeing that his subjects obeyed
him more readily than formerly, as promulgating his ordi-
nances with the counsel of the gods. This custom even
continues to our time ; for there is always found some one of
this character who assists the king in his counsels, and is
styled a god by the Getae. The mountain likewise [where
Zamolxis retired] is held sacred, and is thus distinguished,
being named Cogaeonus,1 as well as the river which flows by
it ; and at the time when Byrebistus, against whom divus
Caesar prepared an expedition, reigned over the Getae, Deca3-
neus held that honour : likewise the Pythagorean precept to
abstain from animal food, which was originally introduced by
Zamolxis, is still observed to a great extent.

6. Any one may well entertain such questions as these
touching the localities mentioned by the poet [Homer], and
with regard to the Mysians and the illustrious Hippemolgi :
but what Apollodorus has advanced in his preface to the Ca-
talogue of Ships in the Second Book [of the Iliad] is by no
means to be adopted. For he praises the opinions of Eratos-
thenes, who says that Homer and the rest of the ancients
were well versed in every thing that related to Greece, but
were in a state of considerable ignorance as to places at a
distance, in consequence of the impossibility of their making
long journeys by land or voyages by sea. In support of this
he asserts,2 that Homer designated Aulis as ' rocky,' as in-
deed it is ; Eteonus as ' mountainous and woody,' Thisbe as
' abounding in doves,' Haliartus as ' grassy;' but that neither
Homer nor the others were familiar with localities far off; for
although there are forty rivers which discharge themselves
into the Black Sea,3 he makes no mention whatever even of
the most considerable, as the Danube,4 the Don,5 the Dnieper,6
the Bog,7 the Phasz,8 the Termeh,9 the Kisil-Irmak,10 nor does

1 D'Anville imagines that this is the modern mountain Kaszon, and
the little river of the same name on the confines of Transylvania and
Moldavia.

2 See Strabo's former remarks on this identical subject, book i. chap,
ii. § 3, page 25.

3 tie TOV HOVTOV. 4 Ister. 5 Tanais. 6 Borysthenes.
7 Hypanis. 8 Phasis. » Thermodon. 10 Halys.

458 STRABO. CASAUB. 298.

he even allude to the Scythians, but makes up fables about
certain illustrious Hippemolgi, Galactophagi, and Abii. He
had become acquainted with the Paphlagonians of the interior
from the relations of such as had penetrated into those regions
on foot, but he was perfectly unacquainted with the sea-coasts
of the country ; which indeed was likely enough, for that sea
was in his time closed to navigation, and known by the name
of Pontus Axenus [or the Inhospitable] on account of the se-
verity of the storms to which it was subject, as well as of the
savage disposition of the nations who inhabited its shores, but
more especially of the Scythian hordes,1 who made a practice
of sacrificing strangers, devouring their flesh, and using their
skulls for drinking-cups ; although at a subsequent period,
when the Ionian s had established cities along its shores, it
was called by the name of Pontus Euxinus [or the Hospita-
ble]. He was likewise in ignorance as to the natural peculi-
arities of Egypt and Libya,2 as the risings of the Nile, and
the alluvial deposits, which he no where notices, nor yet the
isthmus [of Suez] which separates the Red Sea from the
Egyptian Sea;3 nor yet does he relate any particulars of
Arabia, Ethiopia, or the Ocean, unless we should agree with
the philosopher Zeno in altering the Homeric line as fol-
lows,

" I came to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the Arabians." *

Indeed we ought not to be surprised at meeting with this in
Homer, for those who have lived at a more recent period than
he did, have been ignorant of many things, and have told
strange tales. Hesiod has talked of Hemicynesf Megaloce-
phali, and Pygmies ; Alcman of Steganopodes ; ^Eschylus of
Cynocephali, Sternophthalmi, and Monommati, (they say it is
in his Prometheus,) and ten thousand other absurdities.
From these he proceeds to censure the writers who talk of

1 Gossellin observes, that these must have been the Scythians inhabit-
ing the Taurica Chersonesus, now the Crimea. The people on the oppo-
site or southern shore were less savage. The lonians had made settle-
ments amongst these as early as the sixth century B. c.

2 Africa. 3 The Mediterranean.

* Od. book iv. line 83. See Strabo's remarks on this reading of Zeno,
book i. chap. ii. § 34, page 66.

* See the notes on these various monsters, book i. chap. ii. § 35, p. 68.

B. VII. C. III.

GET.E. 459

the Riphoean Mountains l and Mount Ogyium,2 and the dwell-
ing of the Gorgons3 and the Hesperides,4 the land of Mero-
pis5 mentioned by Theopompus, Cimmeris,6 a city mentioned
in Hecataeus, the land of Panchasa7 mentioned by Euhemerus,
and the river-stones formed of sand mentioned by Aristotle,8
which were dissolved by rain-showers. Further, that there
exists in Africa a city of Bacchus which no one can find
twice. He likewise reproves those who assert that the wan-
derings of Ulysses mentioned in Homer were in the neigh-
bourhood of Sicily, for again, if we should say that the wan-
derings did take place in those parts, we should have to
confess that the poet transferred them to the ocean for the
sake of making his account the more romantic. Some allow-
ance might be made for others, but no manner of excuse can
be put forward for Callimachus, who pretends to the character
of a critic, and yet supposes that Gaudus was the island of
Calypso, and identifies Scheria with Corcyra.9 Other writers
he blames for misstatements as to Gerena,10 Acacesium,11 and

1 The Riphaean Mountains were probably the chain of the Ural Moun-
tains, which separate Russia from Siberia.

2 This mountain is unknown.

3 The Gorgons were Stheino, Euryal£, and Medusa, the daughters of
Phorcys and Ceto. See also book i. chap. ii. § 8, page 29.

4 The Hesperides were the daughters of Night. They dwelt on an
island on the western edge of the world. See also Apollodorus, book ii.
chap. v. § 11.

5 Julian, Var. Histor. book iii. chap. 18, says that Theopompus related
an interview between Midas, king of Phrygia, and Silenus, in which
Silenus reported the existence of an immense continent, larger than
Asia, Europe, and Africa taken together, and that amongst others a race
of men called Meropes occupied several extensive cities there.

6 Ephorus speaks of the Cimmerii who dwelt round the Lake Avernus.
See Strabo, book v. chap. iv. § 5, page 263.

7 See Strabo, book ii. chap. iv. § 2, page 158.

8 A note in the French translation says that this place has not been
identified in the works of Aristotle now remaining, and suggests that
there may be some error in the text.

9 See what Strabo has said on this subject in book i. chap. ii. § 37, pp.

10 Strabo will speak further on the subject of Gerena in book viii. chap,
iii. § 7, and $ 29.

11 Reference is here made to the epithet aicaicijra, which Homer applies
to Mercury, Iliad xvi. 185. The grammarians explain it correctly as
" free from evil," or " who neither does nor suffers wrong." However,
there were some who interpreted it differently. They maintain that
Mercury was so called from a cavern in Arcadia, called Acacesium, (see

460 STRABO. CASAUB. 299.

the Demus1 in Ithaca, Pelethronium2 in Pelium, and the
Glaucopium at Athens.3 With these and a few similar trifling
observations, most of which he has drawn from Eratosthenes,
whose inaccuracy we have before shown, he breaks off. How-
ever, we frankly acknowledge, both with respect to him
[Apollodorus] and Eratosthenes, that the moderns are better
informed on geography than the ancients : but to strain the
subject beyond measure, as they do, especially when they in-
culpate Homer, seems to me as if it gave a fair occasion to
any one to find fault, and to say by way of recrimination, that
they reproach the poet for the very things of which they
themselves are ignorant. As for the rest of their observa-
tions, particular mention is made of some of them in the
places where they occur, and of others in the General Intro-
duction.

7. It has been our wish, while discoursing of the Thracians,
and

" the bold

Close-fighting Mysian race, and where abide,
On milk sustain'd, and blest with length of days,
The Hippemolgi, justest of mankind,"4

Schol. in Homer, edit. Villois. pag. 382,) which was situated near Cyl-
lene, a mountain of Arcadia, where he was born. See Apollodor. Bibli-
oth. lib. iii. cap. x. § 2. Hesiod, however, applies the same epithet to
Prometheus, (Theogon. verse 613,) who, according to the scholiast, was
thus designated from Acacesium, a mountain, not a cavern, of Arcadia,
where he was greatly revered.

1 Homer, Iliad iii. verse 201, in speaking of Ulysses, says, "Of T$d$i\
iv d/7/*<£» 'l9a.KT)G. Some writers affirmed that the Ar}/ioc was the name of a
place in Ithaca, while others think it a word, and understand the passage
" who was bred in the country of Ithaca." On comparing this passage with
others, Iliad xvi. vss. 437, 514, and with a parallel expression of Hesiod,
Theogon. verse 971, one is greatly astonished at the ignorance and eccen-
tricity of those who sought to make a place Demus out of this passage
of Homer.

2 According to some, Pelethronium was a city of Thessaly ; according
to others, it was a mountain there, or even a part of Mount Pelion.

* There is no mention of any Glaucopium throughout the writings of
Homer. Eustathius, on the Odyssey, book ii. page 1451, remarks- that
it was from the epithet y\aw/ew7ric, blue-eyed or fierce-eyed, which he so
often gives to Minerva, that the citadel at Athens was called the Glauco-
pium, while Stephen of Byzantium, on 'AXaXicofisviov, asserts that both
the epithet yXavicanrig and the name of the citadel Glaucopium comes
from Glaucopus, the son of Alulcomeneus.

4 And the close-fighting Mysians, and the illustrious Hippemolgi, milk-

B. vii. c. in. § 7. GET^l. 461

to compare what we have advanced with the remarks of
Posidonius and the other critics. Now, in the first place,
they have universally proved the very contrary of the allega-
tions which they had undertaken to maintain ; for where they
undertook to show that amongst the ancients there was a
greater amount of ignorance as to places far from Greece
than there was among the moderns, they have proved the
very contrary, and that not only with regard to the countries
more remote, but even with respect to Greece itself ; but, as
I have said before, let the other matters remain in abeyance
while we consider carefully the subject now before us. Thus
they say that it was through ignorance Homer and the anci-
ents omitted to speak of the Scythians, and their cruelty to
strangers, whom they sacrificed, devoured their flesh, and af-
terwards made use of their skulls as drinking-cups, for which
barbarities the sea was termed the Axine,1 or inhospitable ;
but in place of these they imagined fables as to illustrious
Hippemolgi, Galactophagi, and Abii, the most just of man-
kind, who never existed any where in this world. But how
came it that they named the sea the Axenus, if they were so
ignorant of the barbarism of that region, or of those savages
who were the most barbarous on earth ? But these undoubt-
edly are the Scythians ! Or in the early times were not those
who dwelt beyond the Mysians, and Thracians, and Getae,
Hippemolgi, (or milkers of mares,) Galactophagi, and Abii :
Nay rather, they exist at this very day, being called Hamax-
oeci and Nomades, living on the herd, milk and cheese, and
especially on cheese made of mare's milk, and being ignorant
how to lay up treasure or deal in merchandise, except the sim-
ple barter of one commodity for another. How then can it
be said that the poet [Homer] knew nothing of the Scythians,
since he doubtless designates some of them by the names of
Hippemolgi and Galactophagi ? And that the men of that

nourished, simple in living, and most just of men. Iliad xiii. 5. The
word which Cowper renders " blest with length of days," and Buckley
" "

propose to derive it from a, privative, and fiioQ , a bow, or bowless ; while
others regard it as a proper name, Abii. In Lucian's Dialogues of the
Dead, xv. 3, it means, without a living, poor, as derived from a, privative,
and /3«og, a means of living, livelihood. Cowper's meaning is made up
from a, intensive, and j3to£, life.
1 Pontus Axenus.

462 STRABO. CASAUB. 300.

time called these people Hipperaolgi even Hesiod is a witness
in the words which Eratosthenes has quoted :

" He went and saw the Ethiopians, the Ligurians,1 and the Scythians,
milkers of mares."

And when we consider the amount of fraud connected with
trading speculations even amongst ourselves, what ground
have we to wonder that Homer should have designated as the
justest and most noble those who had but few commercial and
monetary transactions, and with the exception of their swords
and drinking-cups, possessed all things in common, and espe-
cially their wives and children, who were cared for by the
whole community according to the system of Plato. ^Eschylus
too seems to plead the poet's cause, when he says,

"But the Scythians, governed by good laws, and feeding on cheese of
mares' milk."

And this is still the opinion entertained of them by the
Greeks ; for we esteem them the most sincere, the least de-
ceitful of any people, and much more frugal and self-relying
than ourselves. And yet the manner of life customary among
us has spread almost every where, and brought about a change
for the worse, effeminacy, luxury, and over-great refinement,
inducing extortion in ten thousand different ways; and doubt-
less much of this corruption has penetrated even into the
countries of the nomades, as well as those of the other bar-
barians ; for having once learnt how to navigate the sea, they
have become depraved, committing piracy and murdering
strangers ; and holding intercourse with many different na-
tions, they have imitated both their extravagance and their
dishonest traffic, which may indeed appear to promote civility
of manners, but do doubtless corrupt the morals and lead to
dissimulation, in place of the genuine sincerity we have be-
fore noticed.

8. Those however who lived before our time, and more
especially those who lived near to the times of Homer, were
such as he describes them, and so they were esteemed to be
by the Greeks. Take for instance what Herodotus relates
concerning the king2 of the Scythians, against whom Darius
waged war, and especially the answer he sent [to the messen-

1 This word is corrupt in the MSS.

2 He M'as called Idanthyrsus. See Herodotus, book iv. chap. 127.

B. VII. C. III.

GETJE. 463

ger of Darius]. Take again what Chrysippus relates of the
kings of the Bosphorus, [Satyrus1 and] Leuco. The letters
of the Persians are full of the sincerity I have described ; so
likewise are the memorials of the Egyptians, Babylonians,
and Indians. It was on this account that both Anacharsis
and Abaris, and certain others of the same class, gained so
great a reputation among the Greeks ; for we may well be-
lieve they displayed their national characteristics of affability
of manner, simplicity, and love of justice. But what occasion
is there for me to speak of such as belonged to the times of
old? for Alexander [the Great], the son of Philip, in his
campaign against the Thracians beyond Mount Haemus,2 is
said to have penetrated as far as this in an incursion into the
country of the Triballi, and observed that they occupied the
territory as far as the Danube and the island Peuce,3 which
is in it, and that the Getag possessed the country beyond that
river; however, he was unable to pass into the island for want
of a sufficient number of ships, and because Syrmus, the king
of the Triballi, who had taken refuge in that place, resisted
the undertaking : but Alexander crossed over into the country
of the Getas and took their city, after which he returned home
in haste, carrying with him presents from those nations, and
also from Syrmus. Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, relates that
in this campaign the Kelts who dwell on the Adriatic4 came
to Alexander for the purpose of making a treaty of friendship
and mutual hospitality, and that the king received them in a
friendly way, and asked them, while drinking, what might be
the chief object of their dread, supposing that they would say
it was he ; but that they replied, it was no man, only they felt
some alarm lest the heavens should on some occasion or other

1 Satyrus is supplied by Koray. See also chapter iv. of this book, § 4,
and book xi. chap. ii. § 7. Groskurd refers also to Diodorus, book xiv.
93, and says that Leuco was the son of Satyrus.

2 The mountains in the north of Thrace still bear the name of Emineh-
Dag, or Mount Emineh, at their eastern point ; but the western portion
is called the Balkan.

3 Piczina, at the embouchure of the Danube, between Babadag and
Ismail.

* A note in the French translation says, these were the Garni and the
lapodes, who having followed Sigovesus, in the reign of the elder Tar-
quin, had taken up their abode in the neighbourhood of the Adriatic;
and refers to the Examen Critique des Anciens Historiens d* Alexandre'
by M. de Sainte Groix, page 855.

464 STRABO. CASAUE. 302.

fall on them, but that they valued the friendship of such a
man as him above every thing. These examples sufficiently
manifest the open sincerity of the barbarians, both of the one
who would not suffer Alexander to land on the island, but
nevertheless sent presents and concluded a treaty of friend-
ship with him. and also of those who asserted that they feared
no man, but that they valued the friendship of great men
above every price.

In like manner Dromichsetes, who was king of the Getas in
the times of the successors of Alexander, having taken cap-
tive Lysimachus, who had come to wage war against him,
showed him his poverty and that of his people, and likewise
their great frugality, bade him not to make war on such, but
rather seek them as friends ; after which he received him as a
guest, made a treaty of friendship, and suffered him to depart.1
[*And Plato, in his Republic,2 considers that the neighbour-
hood of the sea ought to be shunned as being productive of
vice, and that those who would enjoy a well-governed city,
should plant it very far from the sea, and not near it.*]

9. Ephorus, in the fourth book of his History, which is
entitled " Of Europe," having gone over Europe as far as
the Scythians, concludes by saying that there is great differ-
ence in the manner of life both of the Sauromatse and the
other Scythians, for while some of them are exceedingly mo-
rose, and are indeed cannibals, others abstain even from the
flesh of animals. Other historians, he observes, descant upon
their ferocity, knowing that the terrible and the wonderful
always excite attention ; but they ought also to relate the
better features of these people, and point to them as a pat-
tern ; for his part, he declares he will speak of those who ex-
cel in the justness of their actions, as there are some of the
nomade Scythians who subsist on mares' milk, and excel all

1 Diodorus Siculus, in Excerpt. Peiresc. pag. 257 ; Memnon apud
Photium, cod. 214, cap. 6 ; and Plutarch, in Demetrio, § 39 and 52,
confirm what Strabo says here of the manner in which Dromichsetes
treated Lysimachus.

2 This is not in Plato's Republic, but in his fourth book of Laws.

** This passage, if it is the writing of Strabo, and not the marginal
note of some learned reader, should doubtless be transferred back to the
end of § 7 of this chapter.

B. vii. c. in. § 9. GETJ3. 465

men in their justice, these are mentioned by the poets : as Ho-
mer, where he says that Jupiter beheld the land

" Of the Galactophagi and Abii, justest of mankind ;" l

and Hesiod, in his poem entitled " Travels round the World,"

who says that Phineus was taken by the Harpies

" To the land of the Galactophagi, who have their dwellings in waggons."

Ephorus then proceeds to state the causes of their justice,
because they are frugal in their mode of life, not hoarders of
wealth, and just towards each other; they possess everything
in common, both their women, their children, and the whole
of their kin ; thus when they come into collision with other
nations, they are irresistible and unconquered, having no cause
for which they need endure slavery, ije then cites Choerilus,
who in his " Passage of the Bridge of Boats," which Darius2
had made, says,

" And the sheep-feeding Sacae, a people of Scythian race, but they inhabited
Wheat-producing Asia : truly they were a colony of the nomades,
A righteous race."

And again Ephorus declares of Anacharsis, whom he desig-
nates as " The Wise," that he was sprung from that race ;
and that he was reckoned as one of the Seven Sages, on ac-
count of his pre-eminent moderation and knowledge. He
asserts too that he was the inventor of the bellows, the double-
fluked anchor, and the potter's wheel.3 I merely state this,
although I know very well that Ephorus is not at all times
to be relied on, especially when speaking of Anacharsis ; (for
how can the wheel be his invention, with which Homer, who
is anterior to him, was acquainted ; [who says],

" as when, before his wheel
Seated, the potter twirls it with both hands," &c. ;4)

1 Iliad xiii. 5. See note * to page 460.

2 Kramer quotes Nsekius in proof that we should here read Xerxes
instead of Darius ; and Groskurd refers to another passage in Strabo,
book xiii. chap. i. § 22.

3 Casaubon observes that Diodorus Siculus attributes the invention of
the potter's wheel to Talus, a nephew of Daedalus, and that Theophrastus
awards it to one Hyberbius of Corinth.

4 Iliad xviii. GOO. Posidonius chose to regard this passage as an inter-
polation, and would not give the praise of the invention to any other than
Anacharsis.

VOL. i. 2 H

466 STRABO. CASAUB. 303.

for I wish to show by these references, that there wa£ a ge-
neral impression among both the ancients and moderns with
regard to the nomades, that some were very far removed from
the rest of mankind, that they subsisted on milk, and were
very frugal,1 and the most just of men, and that all this was
not the mere invention of Homer.

10. It is but just too that Apollodorus should give some
explanation respecting the Mysians mentioned in the Epic
poems of Homer, whether he takes them to be but people of
his feigning, when the poet says,

" Of the close-fighting Mysians and the illustrious Hippemolgi," 2

or would he regard them as the Mysians of Asia ? Now if
he should declare that he considers them to be those of Asia,
he will misinterpret tlie poet, as has been before observed ;
but if he should say they were but an invention, as there
were no Mysians in Thrace, he will be guilty of a palpable
misstatement, for even in our own times -ZElius Catus has re-
moved from the opposite side of the Danube into Thrace fifty
thousand Getre, who speak a language cognate with the Thra-
cian. They still inhabit the very spot, and pass by the name
of Moesi. Whether those of former times were so designated,
and had their name slightly varied in Asia, or, as is more
suitable to history and the poet's expression, those in Thrace
were at the first called Mysians,3 is not certain. But enough
of this ; we must now return to our geography.

11. Let us pass over the early history of the GetaB, and
occupy ourselves with their actual condition. Boerebistas,
one of the GetaB, having taken the command of his tribe, re-
animated the men who were disheartened by frequent wars,
and raised them to such a degree of training, sobriety, and a
habit of obedience to orders, that he established a powerful
dominion within a few years, and brought most of the neigh-
bouring states into subjection to the Getse. He at length be-
came formidable even to the Romans, fearlessly crossing the
Danube, and laying waste Thrace as far as Macedonia and
Illyria ; he also subdued the Kelts who live among the Thra-
cians and Illyrians, and thoroughly annihilated the Boii who
were subject to Critasirus and the Taurisci. In order to

1 a (Stove. 2 Iliad xiii. 5. 3 See chap. iii. § 3, 4, of this book.

n. vii. c. in. § 12. GET.E AND DACI. 467

maintain the obedience of his subjects, he availed himself of
the assistance of Decasneus a sorcerer,1 who had travelled
in Egypt, and who, by predictions he had learnt to draw from
certain natural signs, was enabled to assume the character of
an oracle, and was almost held in the veneration of a god, as
we have related when noticing Zamolxis.2 As an instance of
their implicit obedience, we may relate that they were per-
suaded to root up their vines and live without wine. How-
ever, Boerebistas was murdered in a sedition before the Ro-
mans sent an army against him. Those who succeeded to
his government divided it into several states. Lately, when
Augustus Ccesar sent an army against them, they were divided
into five states, at another time they were four, for such
divisions are but temporary in duration, and variable in their
extent.

12. There was, from ancient times, another division of
these people which still exists ; thus, some they call Dacians
and others Getae : the Getee extend towards the Euxine and
the east, but the Dacians are situated on the opposite side
towards Germany and the sources of the Danube,3 whom I
consider to have been called Daci from a very early period.
Whence also amongst the Attics the names of Getce and Davi
were customary for slaves. This at least is more probable
than to consider them as taken from the Scythians who are
named Daae,4 for they live far beyond Hyrcania,5 and it is
not likely that slaves would be brought all that way into At-
tica. It was usual with them to call their slaves after the
name of the nation from whence they were brought, as Lydus
and Syrus,6 or else by a name much in use in their own
country, as, for a Phrygian, Manes or Midas ; for a Paphla-
gonian, Tibius. The nation which was raised to so much
power by Boerebistas has since been completely reduced by

yo/jrcr, one who used a kind of howling incantation while re-
peating spells.

2 See hook vii. chap. iii. § 5, page 456.

J Gossellin observes that the Dacians did not extend to the sources of
the Danube, but to Bohemia, near the middle of the course of the Danube.

4 Gossellin seems to think that these Daae are identical with the in-
habitants of Daghistan. Davus is not found as the name of a slave
amongst the Greeks till after the conquests of Alexander the Great.

5 Hyrcania comprehended the Corcan and Daghistan.

6 From Lvdia and Syria.

2 H 2

468 STRABO. CASAUB. 304.

civil dissensions and contests with the Romans ; however,
they are still able to set out 40,000 men armed for the
wars.

13. The river Maros1 flows through their country into the
Danube,2 on which the Romans transported their military
stores ; for thus they termed the upper part of that river from
its sources to the cataracts, which flows chiefly through the
country of the Dacians, but the part below that point which
flows through the country of the Getse as far as the Black
Sea, they call the Ister.3 The Dacians speak the same lan-
guage as the Getae. The Geta3 are best known among the
Greeks on account of the frequent wandering expeditions
they make on both sides of the Danube, and their being
mixed among the Thracians and Mysians. The like is the
case with regard to the nation of the Triballi, a Thracian
people ; for they have received many refugees on occasions
when their more powerful neighbours have driven out the
weaker, for from time to time the Scythians of the opposite
side of the river, and the Bastarnas, and the Sarmatians,4 be-
come victorious, and those who are driven out cross over and
some of them take up their residence either in the islands of
the river or in Thrace, while on the other side the inhabitants
are distressed by the Illyrians. At one time when the Getas
and the Dacians had increased to the greatest numbers, they
were able to set on foot an army of two hundred thousand
men, but now they are reduced to about forty thousand men,
and are even likely to become subject to the Romans ; still
they are not yet quite under their sway on account of their
trust in the Germans, who are enemies to the Romans.

14. Between [the Getse and] the Black Sea, from the
Danube to the Dniester,5 lies the desert of the Getse.6 It is
entirely a plain and destitute of water. It was there that
Darius the son of Hystaspes, at the time he crossed the
Danube, was in danger of being cut off with his whole army

1 Mdpicroc TTOTCTJUO^. 2 6 Aavovtoc.

3 6 "Iffrpof. Stephen of Byzantium says that the Ister was called
A.avovf3tQ, and that in very ancient times it was called Matoas. Accord-
ing to Ptolemy the lower part of the Danube was called Ister from Axi-
opolis, now Rassovat ; according to Agathemerus, from Vicuna.

4 Saupojudrai. 5 The ancient Tyras.

6 Bessarabia and the southern part of Moldavia.

n. vii. c. in. $ 15, 16. MOUTHS OF DANUBE. DNIESTER. 469

for want of water ; this lie found out before it was too late,
and returned. At a subsequent period, when Lysimachus
was waging war against the Geta3 and their king Dromi-
ehnetes, he not only incurred the risk,1 but he fell into the
hands of the enemy ; but his life was spared by the courtesy
of the barbarian, as I have before related.

15. Near the mouths of the Danube is the large island
called Peuce.2 This the Bastarnre possessed, and were hence
called Peucini. There are also other islands much smaller,
some above this, and others nearer the sea. The Danube has
seven mouths, the largest is called the Sacred Mouth,3 the
passage by which to Peuce is 120 stadia.4 At the lower part
of this island Darius made his bridge. It might likewise
have been constructed at th,e upper part. This is tlie first
mouth on the left-hand side as you sail into the Black Sea ;
the rest are passed while sailing along towards the Dniester ;
the seventh mouth is distant from this first mouth about 300
stadia. These mouths form several islands. The first three
mouths next after the Sacred Mouth are but small, the re-
mainder are much less than it, but greater than any of the
three. Ephorus states that the Danube has five mouths.
From hence to the Dniester,5 which is a navigable river, there
are 900 stadia.6 In the district intervening there are two
great lakes ; one is open to the sea, and is used as a harbour,7
the other has no outlet.

16. At the mouth of the Dniester there is a tower called
the Tower of Neoptolemus, and a village called Hermonax.8
As you sail up the river 140 stadia, there are cities on both
sides ; the one is Niconia,9 and that on the left Ophiussa.10
Those who dwell on the spot say that the city is but 120

1 Peter the Great, at the beginning of the last century, incurred the
risk of falling into the hands of the Turks almost on the same spot where
Darius and Lysimachus had been in distress.

2 Now Piczina.

3 Ammianus Marcellinus, book xxii. chap. 8, gives the names of these
mouths. He calls the Sacred Mouth by the name of the island Peuce.

4 There has been much geographical change in this locality since
Strabo wrote.

5 The Tyras. 6 Gossellin supports this distance.
' The Lake Ovidovo. 8 Now Akkerman.

9 Gossellin could not identify Niconia with any modern town. Gros-
kurd marks it as destroyed.

10 Groskurd identifies this with Palanka.

470 STRABO. CASAUB. 306.

stadia up the river. The island of Leuce l is distant from the
river's mouth a course of 500 stadia ; it is quite in the sea,
and is sacred to Achilles.

17. Next is the Dnieper,2 a river navigable to the distance
of 600 3 stadia, and near to it another river, the Bog,4 and an
island5 lying before the mouth of the Dnieper, which pos-
sesses a haven. After sailing up the Borysthenes 6 200 stadia,
you come to the city of like name Avith the river, which is
likewise called Olbia ; 7 it is a great emporium and a founda-
tion of the Milesians. Of the region lying inland from the
coast we have described between the Dnieper and the Danube,
the first portion is the Desert of the Getce, then comes the
Tyregetse, after them the Jazyges Sarmatas, and the Basilii,
who are also called Urgi.8 Most of these people are nomades.
However, a few of them pay attention to agriculture. These
are said to inhabit the banks of the Danube, frequently even
on both sides of the river. In the inland the Bastarnae dwell,
and confine with the Tyregetse and the Germans ; indeed,
they may almost be said to be of the German stock. They
are divided into many tribes, as some are called Atmoni, some
Sidones, those who inhabit the island Peuce9 in the Danube,
Peucini, and the most northern, Roxolani.10 These latter de-
pasture the plains lying between the Don11 and the Dnieper.

1 Groskurd calls this Ilan-Adassi, or Schlangeninsel. Gossellin like-
wise translates Ilan-Adassi as " Isle of Serpents."

2 The ancient Borysthenes.

3 Gossellin considers that Strabo wrote 1600 stadia, for at that distance
from the sea there are cataracts which stop the ships that come from
the sea.

4 Strabo's word is "YTravig. Gossellin observes that we should look
for ih.e"Y7ravig to the east of the Dnieper, while the Bog lies to the west
of that river.

5 Gossellin identifies this island with the modern Berezan.

6 Now the Dnieper.

7 Olbia, or Olbiopolis, would, according to this measure, be about the
junction of the Bog and Dnieper.

8 Mannert has attempted to read Fewpyoi, because Herodotus, book iv.
chap. 18, has so termed those Scythians who cultivated their fields. Is it
not possible that the Latin Regii was the word Strabo had in his mind ?

9 Piczina.

10 Some MSS. read this name 'Pw£avoi', others 'Pogavoi, and others
'Pb>%oavoi, but whether there is any distinction to be di*awn between these
and the 'Pw£aAavoi of book ii. chap. v. § 7, is not to be ascertained.

11 The Tanais.

B. vii. c. in. § 18. DANUBE TO PALUS MJEOTIS. 471

Indeed the whole of the northern regions with which we are
acquainted, from Germany to the Caspian, is an extended
plain. Whether any dwell still farther than the Roxolani is
unknown to us. However, the Roxolani fought against the
generals of Mithridates Eupator. Their leader was Tasius.
They came as allies of Palacus, the son of Scilurus, and were
considered good soldiers, but against the serried and well-
armed phalanx every barbarous and light-armed tribe is
ineffective. Thus they, although numbering fifty thousand
men, could not withstand the six thousand arrayed by Dio-
phantns, the general of Mithridates, but were almost all cut
to pieces. They make use of helmets and breastplates made
of untanned ox-hide. They bear wicker shields ; and as
weapons, lances, the bow, and the sword, such as most of the
other barbarians do. The woollen tents of the nomades are
fixed upon their chariots, in which they pass their lives.
Their herds are scattered round their tents, and they live on
the milk, the cheese, and the meat which they supply. They
shift their quarters ever in search of pasture, changing the
places they have exhausted for others full of grass. In the
winter they encamp in the marshes near the Palus Masotis,1
and in the summer on the plains.

18. The whole of this country, which reaches to the sea-
coast extending from the Dnieper2 to the Palus Masotis, is
subject to severe winters ; so also are the most northern of
the districts bordering on the sea, as the mouth of the Palus
MaBotis, and farther that of the Dnieper and the head of the
Gulf of Tamyraca, or Carcinites,3 which washes the isthmus4
of the Magna Chersonesus. The intense cold of the districts
inhabited, notwithstanding their being plains, is manifest, for
they rear no asses, as that animal is too susceptible of cold ;
some of their oxen are without horns by nature, of the others
they file off the horns, as a part most susceptible of injury
from cold. Their horses are diminutive and their sheep large.
Their brazen vessels are split with the frosts, and their con-
tents frozen into a solid mass. However, the rigour of the
frosts may be best illustrated by the phaenomena which are

1 The Sea of Zabache. 2 The Borysthenes.

3 The Gulf of Perecop, called also Olou-Degniz. Gossellin.
* The Isthmus of Perecop, which connects the Peninsula of Crimea,
the ancient Taurica Chersonesus.

472 STRABO. CASAUB. 307.

common in the neighbourhood of the embouchure of the Palus
Mseotis ; 1 for the passage from Panticapasum,2 across to Pha-
nagoria,3 is at times performed in waggons, thus being both
a sea passage4 and an overland route [as the season may de-
termine]. There are also fish which are taken in the ice by
means of a round net called a gangama, and especially a
kind of sturgeon called antacaaus,5 nearly the size of a dolphin.
It is related that Neoptolemus, the general of Mithridates,6
defeated the barbarians during summer-time in a naval en-
gagement in this very strait, and during the winter in a
cavalry action. They say that about the Bosphorus the vine
is hidden away in the earth in winter, great mounds of mould
being piled over it [to preserve it from the frost]. They also
report that the heats are excessive, [this may be accounted
for in several ways,] perhaps men's bodies not being accus-
tomed to them, feel them the more ; perhaps the plains are at
that time unrefreshed by winds ; or perhaps the thickness of
the air is heated to a great degree, similar to the way in
which the misty air is affected in times when a parhelion is
observed.

It appears that Ateas,7 who carried on war against Philip,8
the son of Amyntas, had the rule over most of the barbarians
of these parts.

19. After the island9 situated opposite the mouth of the
Dnieper, in sailing towards the east, we arrive at the cape of
the Course of Achilles.10 The district is quite bare, notwith-
standing that it is termed a wood. It is sacred to Achilles.
Then we arrive at the Course of Achilles, a low peninsula ;
for it is a certain tongue of land about a thousand stadia in
length, running out towards the east, and its width is but two

1 The Strait of Zabache, or leni-Kale.

2 Panticapeeum, now Kertsch or Wospor in Europe.

3 Phanagoria was on the Asiatic coast of the Bosphorus.

4 We entirely agree with Kramer in favouring Coray's emendation of
ir\ovv for 7ri]\6v, the reading of MSS.

5 Herodotus, book iv. chap. 53, says this fishing was carried on in the
Dnieper. ^Elian, de Natur. Animal, book xiv. chap. 26, refers it to the
Danube.

6 Strabo has before alluded to this fact, book ii. chap. i. § 16, p. 114.

7 Lucian, in Macrob. § 10, spells his name Anteas, and relates that he
was killed in this war when upwards of 90 years of age.

8 Father of Alexander the Great. 9 The Island of Berezan.
10 M, Gossellin identifies this as Cape Czile.

B. vii. c. iv. $ 1. MOUTH OF THE DNIEPER. 475

stadia1 in the broadest part, and but four plethra2 in the nar-
rowest. It is distant from the main-land, which runs out on
both sides of the neck, about 60 stadia. It is sandy, but
water is obtainable by digging. About the midst of the
Course of Achilles3 is the neck of the isthmus [joining it to
the main-land]. It is about 40 stadia in breadth, and termin-
ates in a headland which they call Tamyraca.4 This possesses
an anchorage opposite the main-land. Next comes the Gulf
Carcinites, which is of considerable extent, reaching towards
the north5 about 1000 stadia. Some affirm that it is three

times that distance to the head of the gulf are

called Taphrii. They likewise call the Gulf Carcinites the
Gulf Tamyraca, the same as the headland.

CHAPTER IV.

I. AT the bottom of the bay (Carcinites) commences the
isthmus6 which separates the lake called Sapra, [or the Putrid
Lake,] from the sea ; it is 40 stadia in width, and forms the

1 190 toises. 2"63| toises.

3 The Dromos Achillis is pretty well laid down in D'Anville's Orbis
Romani Pars Orientalis, 1764, but at present it presents a very different
appearance.

* There is a note by Gossellin in the French translation to the following
effect. The western part of this strip of land is known as the Island of
Tendra, because it is separated by a cut. The eastern part of the strip
is called Djarilgatch. The entire length of the tongue of land is 800
Olympic stadia, the two extremities are a little farther from the main-
land than Strabo says, and the isthmus is about 50 Olympic stadia broad.
D'Anville has run this isthmus through the tongue of land, and jutting
out into the sea, so as to form a cape, which he also calls Tendra, and
which would answer to the Tamyraca of Strabo. In the most recent
maps there is no trace of this cape, but we see the port of which Strabo
speaks. As these tongues of land are composed of a shifting sand, they
may experience alterations of form and variations of extent.

5 Gossellin observes that the direction of the Gulf Carcinites, or Gulf of
Perecop, is from west to east, with a slight inclination towards the north,
on arriving from the south. Its northern shore commences at the isthmus
of the Course of Achilles, and would measure about 1000 Olympic stadia
if we were to follow all the sinuosities.

6 Perekop. The isthmus is about 5| miles across, according to M.
Huot's map, which accompanies Prince Demidoffs Travels in Russia.

STRABO. CASAUB. 308.

CP \

Chersonese.1 This, according to some, is
The Putrid Lake2 is said to extend 4000
fference). and forms part of the [Palus]
.+a western side, with which it communicates by a
Oc opening. It abounds in marshy tracts, and is scarcely
navigable with "sewn"3 boats. The shallower parts are
soon uncovered, and again covered with water, by the force
of the wind ; but the marsh will not bear boats of a deeper
draught. In the bay are three small islands ; and in sailing
along the coast, some shallows are met with, and rocks which
rise above water.

2. On the left in sailing out of the bay [Carcinites] there
is a small town and another harbour4 belonging to the people
of the Chersonese ; for in coasting along the bay, there pro-
jects towards the south a large promontory, which is a part
of the great Chersonese. Upon it stands a city of the Hera-
cleota3, who are a colony from Heraclea5 in the Euxine ; it
bears the same name, Chersonesus, as the territory. It is dis-
tant from the Dniester,6 in following the coast, 4400 stadia. In
_this ditv is a temple of the Vir^i'n^snjTTp gnrlHpss^ after whom
the promontory, which is in front of theciTy, at the distance
of 100 stadia, is called Parthenium. It has a shrine of the
goddess and a statue. BeTweenT;he city8 and the promontory
are three harbours ; next is the Old city Chersonesus in ruins ;
then follows a harbour with a narrow entrance. It was called
Syrnbolon Limen, or Signal Harbour ; and here principally
was carried on a system of piracy against those who took

1 The Crimea.

2 The Sivash, or Putrid Lake. It communicates at the present day,
not by a large opening, but by the narrow strait of Yenitche, or Tonka,
with the Sea of Azof, (the Palus Mseotis,) from which it is separated by
the Tonka, or Tongue of Arabat.

3 paTTTois irXoioig. Boats probably composed of frame-work covered
with hides.

4 Casaubon suggests, and Gossellin adopts, the reading KaXoc Xifirjv,
Fair Haven, for aXXog Xi^v, another harbour. \Vhatever harbour was
meant, its situation is uncertain.

5 Tereklias. 6 The ancient Tyras.

7 In speaking of the Virgin as " some goddess," it may be doubted
•whether^ Dia,na is here meant. or_ some Scythian or pastern divinity.

' Parthenium, a village, is mentioned, c. 4, ^ THe scene of the Iphigenia
in Tauris of Euripides is laid some where on these shores.

8 The New Chersonesus, Cape Cherson, and the three small harbours
near Khut.

ii. vii. c. iv. § 3. THE CRIMEA 475

refuge in the ports. This, together with another harbour,
called Ctenus,1 forms an isthmus of 40 stadia in extent. This
isthmus locks in the Smaller Chersonesus, which we said was
a part of the Great Chersonesus, having on it a city of the
same name.

3. It was formerly governed by its own laws, but after it
was ravaged by barbarous nations, the inhabitants were
obliged to elect as their protector, Mithridates Eupator, who
was anxious to direct his forces against the barbarians who
lived above the isthmus, and occupied the country as far as
the Dnieper and the Adriatic, and thus to prepare himself
against war with the Romans. Mithridates, with these views,
readily despatched an expedition into the Chersonesus, and
carried on war at the same time against the Scythians, Scilu-
rus, and the sons of Scilurus, namely, Palacus and his brothers,
whom Posidonius reckons to have been fifty, and Apollonides
eighty, in number. By the subjugation of these enemies he
became at once master of the Bosporus, which Pairisades, who
held the command of it, voluntarily surrendered. From that
time to the present the city of the Chersonitse has been sub-
ject to the princes of the Bosporus.

Ctenus is equally distant from the city of the Chersonitae,
and from Symbolon Limen. From Symbolon Limen the
Tauric coast extends 1000 stadia to the city Theodpsia.2 The
coast is rugged and mountainous, and during the prevalence
of the north winds, tempestuous. From this coast a pro-
montory projects far into the sea, and stretches out south-
wards towards Paphlagonia, and the city Amastris. It is
called Criu-metopon, or Ram's Head. Opposite to it is Ca-

1 The Heracleotic Chersonese was comprehended in the triangle formed
by Ctenus, (Inkerman,) Parthenium, (Cape Cherson,) and Symbolon
Limen (Baluklava). The Gulf of Ctenus is now the Gulf of Sebastopol,
a name substituted for that of Akhtiar in the time of Catherine II. of
Russia. On the first small bay to the west of the town of Sebastopol,
was situated the New city Chersonesus, flourishing in the time of Strabo ;
the Old Chersonesus, described as in ruins, was situated on the small
peninsula, the extreme western point of which is Cape Cherson. Both
here and in various parts of the Crimea were very interesting remains of
antiquity, but Dr. Clarke complains of their wanton destruction. Ctenus
is probably derived from Krevwcrjc, " like a comb," descriptive of the in-
dented nature of the gulf. Both Gossellin and D'Anville have mistaken
the true position of the Heracleotic Chersonese.

2 So named after the wife or sister of Leucon. C. Now Kaffa.

476 STRABO. CASAUB. 309.

rambis,1 the promontory of the Paphlagonians. Criu-metopon
and Carambis together form a strait compressed between
them, and divide the Euxine into two parts. Carambis is
distant from the city of the Chersonesus 2500 stadia, and
from Criu-metopon much less ; for many persons who have
sailed through the strait say, that they saw both promontories
at once.2

In the mountainous district of the Tauri there is a hill
called Trapezus,3 of the same name as the city,4 which is near
Tibarania and Colchis. There is another hill also, the Kim-
merium,5 in the same mountainous district, for the Kimm^rii
were once sovereigns of the Bosporus, and hence the whole
of the strait at the mouth of the [Palus] Maeotis is called the
J£immerian Bosporus.

4. After leaving the above-mentioned mountainous district,
is the city Theodosia, situated on a plain ; the soil is fertile,
and there is a harbour capable of containing a hundred ves-
sels. This formerly was the boundary of the territory of the
Bosporians and of the Tauri. Then follows a fertile country
extending to Panticapaeum,6 the capital of the Bosporians,
which is situated at the mouth of the Palus Moeotis.7 Between
Theodosia8 and Panticapoeum there is a tract of about 530
stadia in extent. The whole country is corn-producing ; there
are villages in it, and a city called NymphosumT'with a good
harbour.

Panticapoeum is a hill inhabited all round for a circuit of
20 stadia. To the east it has a harbour, and docks capable
of containing about thirty vessels ; there is also an acropolis.
It was founded by the Milesians. Both this place and the
neighbouring settlements on each side of the mouth of the
Palus Masotis were for a long period under the monarchical
dynasty of Leucon, and Satyrus, and Pairisades, till the latter
surrendered the sovereignty to Mithridates. They had the

1 Cape Aia and Cape Keremp.

2 The opposite coasts are not visible from the middle passage.

* The engraving in Pallas shows it to be, as the name implies, a table
mountain, now Tchadir-Dagh, or Tent Mountain.

4 Trebizond.

5 The name seems to be preserved in that of one of the districts near
the mountains, Eski-Krim. G. In Prince DemidofTs map it is called
Starb'i-Krime.

6 Kertch. " The Sea of Azof. 8 Caffa.

B. vii. c. iv. § 5.] THE CRIMEA. 477

name of tyrants, although most of them were moderate and
just in their government, from the time of Pairisades and
Leucon. Pairisades was accounted even a god. The last
sovereign, whose name was also Pairisades, being unable to
resist the barbarians, by whom great and unusual tributes
were exacted, surrendered the kingdom into the hands of
Mithridates. After him it became subject to the Romans.
The greater portion of it is situated in Europe, but a part of
it is also situated in Asia.

5. The mouth of the [Palus] Masotis is called the Kim-
merian Bosporus. The entrance, which at the broadest part
is about 70 stadia across, where there is a passage from the
neighbourhood1 of Panticapaeum to Phanagoria, the nearest
city in Asia. The [Palus] Masotis closes in an arm of the
sea which is much narrower. This arm of the sea and the
Don2 separate Europe from Asia. Then the Don flows from
the north opposite into the lake, and into the Kimmerian
Bosporus. It discharges itself into the lake by two mouths,3
which are distant from each other about 60 stadia. There
is also a city of the same name as the river ; and next to
Panticapaeum it is the largest mart belonging to the bar-
barians.

On sailing into the Kimmerian Bosporus,4 on the left hand
is Myrmecium,5 a small city, 20 stadia from Panticapaeum,
and 40 stadia from Parthenium ;6 it is a village where is the
narrowest entrance into the lake, about 20 stadia in breadth ;
opposite to it is a village situated in Asia, called Achilleum.
Thence to the Don, and to the island at its mouths, is a voyage
in a direct line of 2200 stadia. The distance is somewhat
greater if the voyage is performed along the coast of Asia, but
taking the left-hand side, (in which direction the isthmus of the
Chersonese is fallen in with,) the distance is more than tripled.
This latter course is along the desert shore of Europe, but the

1 i. e. from Kertch to Taman, or from Yenikaleh near Kertch to Ta-
mau. Prince Gleb, son of Vladimir, A. r>. 1065, measured this latter
distance on the ice, and found it to be 30.057 Russian fathoms, or nearly
12 miles. Here the battle was fought on the ice. See chap. iii. § 18.

2 The Tanais.

3 According to modern maps, the Don separates into two branches,
and there again into several others, which form the mouths of the river.
The extreme branches are at a considerable distance from each other.

4 Azof. 5 Yeuikaleh. c Kazandib

478 STRABO. CASAUB. 311.

Asiatic side is not without inhabitants. The whole circum-
ference of the lake is 9000 stadia.

The Great Chersonesus resembles Peloponnesus both in
figure and size. The kings of the Bosporus possess it, but
the whole country has been devastated by continual wars.
They formerly possessed a small tract only at the mouth of
the [Palus] Ma3Otis near Panticapasum, extending as far as
Theodosia. The largest part of the territory, as far as the
isthmus and the Gulf Carcinites, was in possession of the
Tauri, a Scythian nation. The whole of this country, com-
prehending also a portion on the other side of the isthmus as
far as the Dnieper, was called Little Scythia. In conse-
quence of the number of people who passed from thence
across the Dniester and the Danube, and settled there, no
small part of that country also bore the name of Little
Scythia. The Thracians surrendered a part of it to superior
force, and a part was abandoned on account of the bad quality
of the ground, a large portion of which is marshy.

6. Except the mountainous tract of the Chersonesus on the
sea-coast, extending as far as Theodosia, all the rest consist of
plains, the soil of which is rich, and remarkablvjjertile in corn.
It yields thirty-fold, when" turned upHS^tneniost cmJmary
implements of husbandry. The tribute paid to Mithridates
by the inhabitants, including that from the neighbourhood of
Sindace in Asia, amounted to 180,000 medimni of corn, and
200 talents of silver. The Greeks in former times imported
from this cojjntrv^corn, and the cured fish of Palus Mseotis.
Leucoji Is saicT to have sent to the Athenians 2,100,000 me-
dimni of corn from Theodosia.1

1 The amount is enormous, if it refers to the quantity of corn shipped
in a single year. Neither manuscripts nor translations afford any various
reading. The abbreviator, however, instead of 2,100,000, (pvpiddas
fjiedifAVtoV ciciKoaiaQ Kai $sica,) gives 150,000 (fitdipvovQ MTPIAAAS IE).
But instead of correcting Strabo by his abbreviator, it is more probable
that the text of the latter should be changed to 2,100,000, or even to
2,150,000 (MTPIAAAS 2IE). Brequigny, by an oversight, or because
he thought proper to change the MTPIAAAS of the text to XIAIAAA2,
translates 210,000 medimni. However it may be, we know from De-
mosthenes, that this same prince of the Bosporus mentioned by Strabo,
sent annually to Athens 400,000 medimni of corn, a quantity far below
that mentioned in the text. To reconcile these authors, Mr. Wolf sup-
poses that we ought to understand by 2,100,000 jnedimni of corn, the
shipment made in the year of the grear lamme, whiclroecm'red in the

B. vii. c. iv. $ 7. THE CRIMEA. 479

Tlie.jiame of|Georgi, or husbandmen^ was appropriately
given TO these people, to distinguish 'them from the nations
situated above them, who are nomade1^ and live upon the
flesh of horses and other animals, on cheese of mares' milk,
rnilkj and sour milk. The latter, preparecTin a peculiar man-
ner, is a delicacy? Hence the poet designates all the nations
in that quarter as Galactophagi, milk-eaters.

The nomades are more disposed to war than to robbery.
The occasion of their contests was to enforce the payment of
tribute. They permit those to have land who are willing to
cultivate it. In return for the use of the land, they are satis-
fied with receiving a settled and moderate tribute, not such
as will furnish superfluities, but the daily necessaries of life.
If this tribute is not paid, the nomades declare war. Hence
the poet calls these people both just, and miserable, (Abii,)a
for if the tribute is regularly paid, they do not have recourse
to war. Payment is not made by those, who have confidence
in their ability to repel attacks with ease, and to prevent the
incursion of their enemies. This course was pursued, as
Hypsicrates relates, by Ansander, who fortified on the isth-
mus of the Chersonesus, at the Palus Maeotis, a space of 360
stadia, and erected towers at the distance of every 10 stadia.3

The Georgi (husbandmen) are considered to be more civil-
ized and~mHarin~their manners than the other tribes in tnis
quarterpbirrthey are addicted to gain. They navigate the
sea, and do not abstain from piracy, nor from similar acts of
injustice and rapacity.

7. Besides the places in the Chersonesus already enumer-
ated, there are the fortresses Palacium, and Chabum, and
Neapolis,4 which Scilurus and his sons constructed, from
which they sallied out against the generals of Mithridates.

There was also a fortress called Eupatoriurn, built by
Diophantus, one of the generals of Mithridates.5

105th Olympiad, (about 36£LB._c.,) and of which Demosthenes speaks
in a manner to give us to understand, that the quantity sent that year
by Leucon greatly exceeded that of former years. A very probable con-
jecture. F. T. The medimnus was about 1| bushel.

1 fyrma. '•* a ft love.

3 I have adopted the reading suggested by the F. T., Ilwpyovc KaQ'
fK(t(TTct iiTaSia StKa. The wall of Ansander may still be traced. Pallas.

* Places to me unknown. G. Pallas erroneously supposes Palacium
to be the modern Balaklava.

5 Named after Mithridates Eupator. Koslof, now again Eupatoria.

480 STRABO. CASAUB. 312.

There is a promontory, distant about 15 stadia from the
wall of Chersonesus, which forms a large bay, which bends
towards the city. Above this bay is a sea-lake, where there
are salt pits. Here was the harbour Ctenus. The generals
of the king, in order to strengthen their means of resistance
in case of siege, stationed a garrison on the above-mentioned
promontory, which was further protected by a fortification.
The mouth of the Gulf was closed by an embankment which
extended to the city, and was easily traversed on foot. The
garrison and the city were thus united. The Scythians were
afterwards easily repulsed. They attacked that part of the
wall built across the isthmus which touches upon Ctenus, and
filled the ditch with straw. The kind of bridge thus formed
by day, was burnt at night by the king's generals, who con-
tinued their resistance and defeated the enemy. At present
the whole country is subject to whomsoever the Romans may
appoint as king of the Bosporus.

8. It is a custom peculiar to all the Scythian and Sarmatian
tribes, to castrate theirhorses, in order to make them more
tractable/, for althougFTtneylire small, yet they are spirited,
and difficult to manage. Stags and wild boars are jumted in
the marshes, and wild asses and roes l in the plains. It is a
peculiarity of this country, that no eagles are to be found in
it. Among the quadrupeds there is an animal called Colus,
in size between a deer and a ram ; it is white, and swifter in
speed than either of those animals. It draws up water into
the head through the nostrils ; from this store it can supply
itself for several days, and live without inconvenience in
places destitute of water.

Such is the nature of the whole of the country beyond the
Danube, lying between the Rhine and the Don, and extend-
ing as far as the Pontic Sea and the Palus Mceotis.

CHAPTER V.

1. THERE remains to be described that part of Europe
included between the Danube and the sea which surrounds it,

B. vn. c.v. §1. ILLYRIA. 481

beginning from the inner recess of the Adriatic, and extend-
ing to the Sacred mouth of the Danube.

This part contains Greece, Macedonia, Epirus, and the
people who live above them, extending to the Danube and to
the two seas (the Adriatic and the Euxine Sea) on each
side. On the Adriatic are the Illyrians ; on the Euxine
Sea, as far as the Propontis1 and Hellespont, are the Thra-
cians, and the Scythian or Keltic tribes intermixed with
them. We mustbegin from the Danube, and treat of the
countries which follow next in order to those already de-
scribed, that is to say, the parts contiguous to Italy, the
Alps, the Germans, the Dacians, and the Getce.

These may be divided into two parts. For the mountains
of Illyria, Pasonia, and Thrace, may be considered as form-
ing, as it were, a single line, parallel to the Danube, and
extending from the Adriatic to the Euxine. To the north of
this line is the country included between the Danube and the
mountains. To the south is Greece and the barbarous tract
contiguous to these mountains.

Near the Euxine Sea is Mount Haamus,2 the largest and
the highest of the mountains in that quarter, and divides
Thrace nearly in the middle. According to Polybius, both
seas may be seen from this mountain ; but he is mistaken, for
the distance to the Adriatic is considerable, and many things
obstruct the view.

Almost the whole of Ardia3 lies near the Adriatic, Paaonia
is in the middle, and all this country consists of elevated
ground. On the side towards Thrace, it is bounded by
Rhodope,4 a mountain next in height to Haemus ; on the other
side to the north is Illyria, and the country of the Autariatae,5
and Dardania.6

I shall first describe Illyria, which approaches close to the
Danube, and to the Alps which lie between Italy and Germany,

1 Sea of Marmora. 2 The Veliki Balkan.

3 The southern part of Dalmatia bounded by the Narenta, which takes
its source in the Herzogovina.

4 Called Monte Argentaro by the Italians, Basilissa by the Greeks,
Rulla by the Turks. Baudrand. Despoto Dagh.

5 Occupied the neighbourhood of the river Titius, Kerca, which dis-
charges itself near Siberico.

6 The mountainous country south of Servia.
VOL. i. 2 i

482 STRABO. CASATJB. 314-

taking their commencement from the lake in the territory of
the Vindelici, Rhasti, and Helvetii.1

2. The Daci depopulated a part of this country in their
wars with the Boii and Taurisci, Keltic tribes whose chief
was Critasirus. The Daci claimed the country, although it
was separated from them by the river Parisus,2 which flows
from the mountains to the Danube, near the Galatre Scordisci,
a people who lived intermixed with the Illyrian and the Thra-
cian tribes. The Illyrians were destroyed by the Daci, while
the Scordisci were frequently their allies.

The rest of the country as far as Segestica,3 and the Danube,
towards the north and east, is occupied by Pannonii, but they
extend farther in an opposite direction. The city Segestica,
belonging to the Pannonii, is situated at the confluence of
several rivers, all of which are navigable. It is in a conve-
nient situation for carrying on war against the Daci, for it
lies at the foot of the Alps, which extend to the lapodes,4 a
mixed Keltic and Illyrian tribe. Thence also flow the rivers
by which is conveyed to Segestica a great quantity of mer-
chandise, and among the rest, commodities from Italy. The
distance from Aquileia to Nauportus,5 a settlement of the Tau-
risci, across the mountain Ocra,6 is 350, or, according to some
writers, 500 stadia. Merchandise is transported to Nauportus
in waggons. The Ocra is the lowest part of the Alps, which
extend from Rhoetica to the lapodes, where the mountains
rise again, and are called Albii. From Tergeste,7 a village of
the Garni,8 there is a pass across and through the Ocra to a
marsh called Lugeum.9 A river, the Corcoras, flows near
Nauportus, and conveys the merchandise from that place. It
discharges itself into the Save, and this latter river into the

1 The text presents some difficulty ; another reading is Taenii. Gos-
sellin supposes the lake to be the Czirknitz-See near Mount Albius, now
Alben or Planina.

2 The Margus ? See chap. v. § 12.

3 At the confluence of the Kulpa and the Save, afterwards Siscia, now
Sizsek.

* Occupied the coast of Morlacca from the Gulf of Quarnero to Zara.

5 According to Pliny, the name of this place is derived from the fable
of the ship Argo, which was brought up the Danube and the Save, and
thence carried on men's shoulders to the Adriatic. Now Porto Quieto.

6 To the north of Trieste. 7 Trieste. 8 Carniola.
9 The Czirknitz-See.

B. vii. c. v. § 3, 4. ILLYRIA. 483

Drave ; the Drave again into the Noarus at Segestica. Here
the Noarus, having received the Colapis 1 as it descends in its
full stream from the mountain Albius through the lapodes,
enters the Danube among the Scordisci. The navigation on
the rivers is in general towards the north. The journey from
Tergeste to the Danube is about 1200 stadia. Near Segestica
is Siscia, a strong-hold, and Sirmium, both situated on the
road to Italy.

3. The Breuci, Andizetii, Ditiones, Peirustse, Mazaei, Dai-
sitiatae, whose chief was Baton, and other small obscure com-
munities, which extend to Dalmatia, and almost to the Ardiaei
to the south, are Pannonians. The whole mountainous tract
from the recess of the Adriatic bay to the Rhizonic gulf,2 and
to the territory of the Ardiaei, intervening between the sea and
Pannonia, forms the coast of Illyria.

Here perhaps we ought to begin an uninterrupted account
of these places, after a short repetition.

In describing Italy we said, that the Istri were the first
nation on the Illyrian coast, contiguous to Italy and to the
Garni, and that the present government had advanced the
limits of Italy to Pola,3 a city of Istria. These limits are dis-
tant about 800 stadia from the recess of the bay. It is the
same distance from the promontory in front of Pola to An-
con,4 keeping Henetica5 on the right hand. The whole voyage
along the coast of Istria is 1300 stadia.

4. Next is the voyage along the coast of the lapodes, 1000
stadia in extent. The lapodes are situated on Mount Albius,
which is the termination of the Alps, and is of very great
height. They reach in one direction to the Pannonii and the
Danube, and in another to the Adriatic. They are a warlike
people, but were completely subdued by Augustus. Their
cities are Metulum, Arupinum, Monetium, Vendum.6 The
country is poor, and the inhabitants live chiefly upon spelt
and millet.7 Their armour is after the Keltic^ fashion. Their
bodiea. are punctured, like those of the other Illyrian and
Thracian people.

The Kulpa. a Gulf of Cataro.

Now celebrated for the remains of a Roman amphitheatre.

Ancona. 5 The Venetian territory.

I am not acquainted with the sites of these places. G.

2 i 2

484

STRAEO. CASAUB. 315.

After the coast of the lapodes follows that of Liburnia,
exceeding the former by 500 stadia. On this coast is Scar-
don,1 a Liburnian city, and a river,^ which is navigable for
vessels of burden as far as the Dalmatce.

5. Islands are scattered along the whole of the above-men-
tioned coast ; among them are the Ap_sjrtides, where Medea
is said to have killed her brother Apsyrtus, who was pursu-
ing her.

'TTear the lapodes is Cyrictica,3 then the Liburnian islands,
about forty in number; other islands follow, of which the
best known are Issa, Tragurium, founded by Isseans ; Pharos,
formerly Paros, founded by Parians, the birth-place of De-
metrius, the Pharian ; then the coast of the Dalmatae and
their naval arsenal, Salon.4 This nation was for a long time
at war with the Romans. They had fifty considerable settle-
ments, some of which were in the rank of cities, as Salon,
Priomon, Ninias, and the old and new Sinotium. Augustus
burnt them down. There is also Andetrium, a strong fortress,
and Dalmatium, a large city, of the same name as the nation.
Scipio Nasica greatly reduced its size, and converted the plain
into a pasture for sheep, on account of the disposition of the
people to rob and pillage.

It is a custom peculiar to the Dalmatse to make a partition
of their lands every eighth year, they do not use money,
which is a peculiarity also when compared Avith theTiablts of
the other inhabitants of this coast ; but this is common among
many other tribes of barbarians.

The mountain Adrion divides Dalmatia into two parts, one
of which is on the sea, the other forms the opposite side of
the mountain. Then follow the river Naron, and the people
in the neighbourhood, the Daorizi, Ardisei, and Plersei.5 Near
the former lies the island Black Gorcyra,6 on which is a city
founded by the Cnidians. Near the Ardiasi is Pharos, for-
merly called Paros, for it was founded by Parians.

6. Later writers call the Ardisei, Vardasi.7 The Romans
drove them into the interior from the sea-coast, which

1 Scardona. 2 The Kerka.

3 The modern names of these numerous islands must be matter of
conjecture. Issa is Lissa. * Salona.

5 Inhabitants, probably, of the peninsula Sabioncello. 6 Curzola.
7 Varalii, MSS. ; but manifestly wrong.

B. vii. c. v. § 7, 8. THE ADRIATIC. 485

was infested by their piracies, and compelled them to
cultivate the ground ; but as the country was rugged and
barren, and not adapted to husbandry, the nation was entirely
ruined and nearly extinguished. The same happened to other
neighbouring nations. People formerly very powerful are
extinct, or were reduced to the lowest condition, as the Boii
and Scordisci among the Galatas ; the Autariatse, Ardiasi, and
Dardanii, among the Illyrians ; and the Triballi among the
Thracians. They first declined in consequence of disputes
amongst themselves, but were finally prostrated by wars with
the Macedonians and Romans.

7. After the termination of the coast of the Ardiasi and
Plerasi is the bay of the Rhizasi, a city Rhizon,1 other small
towns, and the river Drilon,2 which may be navigated up its
stream towards the east as far as Dardanica. This country
is situated close to the Macedonian and Pasonian nations, to-
wards the south, as also the Autariatas and the Dasaretii are
in parts contiguous to one another [and to the Autariatae].3
To the Dardaniata3 belong the Galabrii,4 in whose territory is
an ancient city ; and the Thunatae, who approach on the east
close to the Maedi,5 a Thracian tribe.

The Dardanii are entirely a savage people, so much so that
they dig caves beneath dungheaps, in which they dwell ; yet
they are fo^^of''iirusic, aTJJT are much occupied in playing
upon pipes and on stringed instruments. They inhabit the
inland parts of the country, and we shall mention them again
in another place.

8. After the bay of Rhizon6 is Lissus,7 a city, Acrolissus,8
and Epidamnus, the present Dyrrhachium,9 founded by Cor-
cyraeans, and bearing the name of the peninsula on which it

1 Risano in the Gulf of Cataro. 2 The river Drin.

3 Kramer suggests the omission of these words, which render the pas-
sage obscure.

4 Galabrii. The name of this people is unknown. Probably it should
be changed to Taulantii, an Illyrian tribe, or considered as a second name
of the Taulantii, or that of a tribe belonging to them. The name Gala-
brus, or Galaurus, king of the Taulantii, has come down to us, which
gives some probability to the second conjecture. C.

5 The Maedi occupied the mountains which separate Macedonia from
Thrace, between the river Strymon and Mount Rhodope. G.

8 The Gulf of Cataro. 7 Alesso. 8 A fortified rock near.

9 Durazzo.

486 STRABO. CASAUB. 316.

is situated. Then follow the rivers Apsus1 and the Aous,2 on
the banks of which is situated Apollonia,3 a city governed by
excelleriLjaws. It was founded by Corinthians and Corcy-
rreans, and is distant from the river 10, and from the sea 60,
stadia. Hecatceus calls the Aous, Aias, and says that from
the same place, or rather from the same sources about Lac-
mus,4 the Inachus flows southward, to Argos,5 and the Aias
westward, into the Adriatic.

In the territory of the ApolloniataB there is what is called a
NymphaBurn. It is a rockwhich_emits ffre. Below it are
sprmgs~~flbwing with hot water 1m d asphaltus. The earth
containing the asphaltus is probably in a state of combustion.
The asphaltus is dug out of a neighbouring hill ; the parts
excavated are replaced by fresh earth, which after a time are
converted into asphaltus. This account is given by Posido-
nius, who says also, that the ampelitis, an asphaltic earth lound
i!T"the Pierian Seleucia,6 is a remedy for the lice which infest
the vine. If the vine is smeared with this earth mixed with
oil, the insects are killed before they ascend from the root to
the branches. This earth, but it required for use a larger
quantity of oil, he says was found at Rhodes also, while he
held there the office of Prytanes.

Next to Apollonia is Bylliace (Bullis) and Oricum,7 with
its naval arsenal, Panormus, and the Ceraunian mountains,
which form the commencement of the entrance of the Ionian
and Adriatic Gulfs.

9. The mouth is common to both ; but this difference is to
be observed, that the name Ionian8 is applied to the first part
of the gulf only, and Adriatic to the interior sea up to the far-
thest end, but the name Adriatic is now applied to the whole

1 Ergent, or Beratino. a Lao, or Vousoutza.

s Polina. Thucydides calls Apollonia a colony of the Corinthians, and
not of the Corinthians and Corcyrseans. He states it, however, (b. i. c.
24,) to have been the practice for colonies which in their turn founded
other colonies, to unite with them, on these occasions, citizens of the
mother city.

4 One of the peaks of Pindus. 5 Amphilochian Argos, now Filochia. G.

6 On the boundary of Cilicia and Syria.

7 Appear to have been situated on the Gulf of Valona. G.

8 The name, Ionian Gulf, appears to have extended from the Acro-
ceraunian mountains to the southern part of Dalmatia, near Lissus, now
Alessio, to the bottom of the Gulf of Drin. G.

B. vii. c. v. § 10. ILLYRIA. 487

sea. According to Theopompus, the name Ionian was de-
rived from a chief (lonius) of that country, a native of Issa ;
and the name Adriatic from a river, Adrias.1

From the Liburni to the Ceraunian mountains is a distance
of a little more than 2000 stadia. But Theopompus says,
that it is six days' sail from the farthest recess of the bay,
but a journey of thirty days by land along the length of Illy-
ria. This appears to me an exaggeration, but he makes many
incredible statements. Among other instances, he pretends
that there is a subterraneous passage between the Adriatic
and the JEgean Seas, grounding his opinion on the discovery
of Chian and Thasian pottery in the river Naron.2 The two
seas, he says, may be seen from some pretended mountain.
He describes the Liburnian islands as occupying a position so
extensive as to form a circle of 500 stadia. According to
him, the Danube discharges itself by one of its mouths into the
Adriatic.3 Similar mistakes are to be found in Eratosthenes,
which Polybius, when speaking of him and other writers, de-
scribes as having their origin in vulgar error.4

10. On the coast of Illyria, along its whole extent, and in
the neighbouring islands, there are numerous excellent har-
bours, contrary to what occurs on the opposite Italian coast,
where there are none. As in Italy, however, the climate is
warm, and the soil productive of fruits ; olives also and vines
grow readily, except in some few excessively rugged places.
Although Illyria possesses these advantages, it was formerly
neglected, "Tfirbugh ignorance, perhaps, of its fertility ; but it
was principally avoided on account of the savage manners of
the infiaWrants4, and their pirafical habus.

The region situated above the sea-coast is mountainous,
cold, and at times covered with snow. The northern part is
still colder, so that vines are rarely to be met with either in
the hills or in the plains lower down. • These mountain-plains
are in the possession of the Pannonians, and extend towards
the south as far as the Dalmatians and Ardiaei. They ter-
.minate towards the north at the Ister, and approach towards

1 The word Afyi'ac is translated Adriatic. In the version of the New
Testament it is translated Adria. Acts xxvii. 27. — The Tartaro.
* Narenta.

3 A common opinion among ancient geographers. See b. i. c. ii. $ 39.

4 irapaKovafiara \ao3oy named.

488 STRABO. CASAUB. 317.

the east close to the Scordisci, who live near the Macedonian
and Thracian mountains.

11. The Autariatae were the most populous and the bravest
tribe of the Illyrians. Formerly, there were continual dis-
putes between them and the Ardiaei respecting the salt which
was spontaneously formed on the confines of their respective
territories, in the spring season, from water which flows
through a valley. The salt concreted five days after the
water was drawn and deposited in reservoirs. The right of
collecting salt was, by agreement, to be exercised alternately
by each party, but the compact was broken and war was the
consequence. After the Autariatse had subdued the Triballi,
a people whose territory extended a journey of fifteen days,
from the Agrianae to the Danube, they became masters of the
Thracians and Illyrians. The Autariatae were first conquered
by the Scordisci, and afterwards by the Romans, who over-
powered the Scordisci, for a long time a powerful nation.

12. This people inhabited the country on the banks of the
Danube, and were divided into two tribes, the Great and the
Little Scordisci.1 The former occupied the space between two
rivers, which empty themselves into the Danube, the Noarus,?
which runs beside Segestica, and the Margus, or, as some
call it, Bargus. The Little Scordisci lived beyond this river
close to the Triballi and Mysi.3 The Scordisci possessed some
of the islands also. They increased so much in strength and
numbers as to advance even to the Illyrian, Paeonian, and
Thracian confines. Most of the islands on the Danube fell
into their hands, and they possessed the cities Heorta and
Capedunum.4

Next to the territory of the Scordisci, lying along the banks
of the Danube, is the country of the Triballi and Mysi, whom
we have before mentioned ; we have also spoken of the

1 The Agrianse occupied the neighbourhood of Mount Pangaeus on the
confines of Thrace and Macedonia. The Triballi, at the time alluded to
by Strabo, possessed nearly the whole of the country included between
the Adriatic and the Euxine. The Scordisci, who were at first confined
to the territory situated between the Drave and the Save, in their turn
took possession of all this country. It is not possible, in consequence of
the continual wars which existed amongst these people, to determine with
exactness the places which they successively occupied. 6.

2 Probably the Save. G. 3 Maedi.
* Cities not identified.

B. vii. c. vi. $ 1. COAST OF THE BLACK SEA.

marshes l of the Lesser Scythia on this side the Dam
nation, and the Crobyzi, and the nation called Tr
live above the districts in which are situated Callatisi ^ ^,
and Ister.2 Next are the people about the Mount Haamus,
and those who live at its foot, extending as far as the Pontus,
Coralli, and Bessi, and some tribes of Maedi and of Danthe-
letre. All these nations are very much addicted to robbery.
The Bessi possess far the greatest part T)f*Mount rfaemus,
and are called Robbers from their mode of life as free-booters.
Some of them live"m huts and lead a life of hardship. They
extend close to Rhodope, the Paeones, and to fn*e Illyrian na-
tions ; to the Autariatae also, and the Dardanians. Between
these and the Ardiaei are the Dasaretii, Hybrianes, and other
obscure nations, whose numbers the Scordisci were continually
reducing, until they had made the country a desert, full of
impassable forests, which extended several days' journey.

CHAPTER VI.

1. OF the country situated between the Danube and the
mountains on each side of Paeonia, there remains to be de-
scribed the Pontic coast, which reaches from the Sacred
mouth of the Danube to the mountainous district about Has-
mus, and to the mouth of the Pontus at Byzantium. As in
describing the Illyrian coast we had proceeded as far as the
Ceraunian mountains, which, although they stretch beyond
the mountainous district of Illyria, yet constitute a sort of
proper boundary, we determined by means of these mountains
the limits of the nations in the inland parts, considering, that
such separating lines would be better marks both for our pre-
sent and future use ; so here also the coast, although it may
fall beyond the mountainous line, will still end at a proper
kind of limit, the mouth of the Pontus, which will be useful
both for our present and our future descriptions.

If we set out from the Sacred mouth of the Danube, having
on the right hand the continuous line of coast, we find at the

1 The Dobrudscha.

8 Mangalia, Tomesvar, the place of Ovid's exile, Kara-Herman.

490 - STRABO. CASATJB. 319.

distance of 500 stadia, Ister,1 a small town founded by Mile-
sians ; then Tomis,2 another small town, at the distance of
250 stadia ; then Callatis,3 a city, a colony of the Heracleotae,
at 280 stadia; then, at 1300 stadia, Apollonia,4 a colony of
Milesians, having the greater part of the buildings upon a
small island, where is a temple of Apollo, whence Marcus
Lucullus took the Colossus of Apollo, the work of Calamides,
and dedicated it as a sacred offering in the Capitol. In the
intermediate distance between Callatis and Apollonia, is Bi-
zone, a great part of which was swallowed up by an earth-
quake ; Cruni ;5 Odessus,6 a colony of Milesians ; and Naulo-
chus, a small town of the Mesembriani. Next follows the
mountain Hremus,7 extending to the sea in this quarter ; then
Mesembria,8 a colony of the Megarenses, formerly called Me-
nabria, or city of Mena, Menas being the name of the founder,
and bria,9 signifying in the Thracian tongue, city.. Thus the
city of Selys is called Selybria, and ^Enus once had the name
of Poltyobria. Then follows Anchiale,10 a small town of the
Apolloniata?, and Apollonia itself.

On this coast is the promontory Tirizis, a place naturally
strong, which Lysimachus formerly used as a treasury. Again,
from Apollonia to the Cyaneos are about 1500 stadia. In this
interval are Thynias, a tract belonging to the Apolloniata,
Phinopolis, and Andriace,11 which are contiguous to Salmy-
dessus. This coast is without inhabitants and rocky, without
harbours, stretching far towards the north, and extending as
far as the Cyanere, about 700 stadia. Those who are wrecked
on this coast are plundered by the Asti, a Thracian tribe
who live above it.

The Cyaneae12 are two small islands at the mouth of the
Pontus, one lying near Europe, the other near Asia, and are
separated by a channel of about 20 stadia. This is the mea-

1 Istropolis or Kara-Herman. 2 Tomesvar. 3 Mangalia.

4 Sizepoli. 5 Baltchik, near Kavarna. 6 Varna.

T Cape Emineh — in the English charts Emona, but there is no fixed
system of spelling for names of places in this part of the world. Emineh
is probably a corruption of Haemus. 8 Missemvria.

9 Or Meneburgh, we should say. The Thracian was a language cog-
nate with that of the Getae ; see Strabo, book vii. chap. iii. § 10 ; and
the Getse were Gothic. We have the Liber Aureus in the Moeso Gothic
language still. 10 Ahiolou. n Places no longer known. G.

13 In the English charts Kyanees. They do not correspond to the de-
scription here given. The well-known poetical name is Symplegades.

B. vii. c. vi. § 2. COAST OF THE BLACK SEA. 491

sure of the distance between the temple of the Byzantines
and the temple of the Chalcedonians, where is the narrowest
part of the mouth of the Euxine Sea. For proceeding on-
wards 10 stadia there is a promontory, which reduces the
strait to 5 stadia; the strait afterwards opens to a greater
width, and begins to form the Propontis.

2. From the promontory, then, that reduces the strait to
5 stadia, to the Port under the Fig-tree, as it is called, are 35
stadia ; thence to the Horn of the Byzantines, 5 stadia. This
Horn, close to the walls of Byzantium, is a bay, extending
westwards 60 stadia, and resembling a stag's horn, for it is
divided into a great many bays, like so many branches. The
Pelamides1 resort to these bays, and are easily taken, on account
of their great number, and the force of the current, which
drives them together in a body ; and also on account of the
narrowness of the bays, which is such that they are caught
even by the hand. These fish are bred in the marshes of the
Ma30tis. When they have attained a little size and strength,
they rush through the mouth in shoals, and are carried along
the Asiatic coast as far as Trapezus and Pharnacia. It is
here that the fishery begins, but it is not carried on to any
considerable extent, because the fish are not of a proper size at
this place. When they get as far as Sinope, they are in better
season for the fishery, and for the purpose of salting. But
when they have reached and passed the Cyanea3, a white rock
projects from the Chalcedonian shore, which alarms the fish,
so that they immediately turn away to the opposite coast.
There they are caught by the stream, and the nature of the
places being such as to divert the current of the sea in that
part towards Byzantium, and the Horn near it, the fish are
impelled thither in a body, and afford to the Byzantines, and
to the Roman people, a large revenue. The Chalcedonians,
however, although situated near, and on the opposite side,
have no share of this supply, because the Pelamides do not
approach their harbours.

After the foundation of Chalcedon, Apollo is said to have

1 In Italian, Pelamide, or Palamide, well known in the Mediterranean.
It is not to be compared in size to the Thunny, but is much larger than
the Mackerel, of a dark blue and streaked. Like the Thunny, it is
migratory. Aristotle erroneously conjectures the Pelamide to be the
young of the Thunny.

492 STRABO. CASAUB. 320.

enjoined the founders of Byzantium, in answer to their in-
quiries, to build their city opposite to the Blind, applying this
name to the Chalcedonians, who, although they were the first
persons to arrive in these parts, had omitted to take possession
of the opposite side, which afforded such great resources of
wealth, and chose the barren coast.

We have continued our description to Byzantium, because
this celebrated city,1 by its proximity to the mouth of the
Euxine Sea, forms a better-known and more remarkable
termination of an account of the coast from the Danube than
any other.

Above Byzantium is the nation of the Asti, in whose terri-
tory is the city Calybe, which Philip the son of Amyntas
made a settlement for criminals.

CHAPTER VII.

1. THESE are the nations, bounded by the Danube and by the
Illyrian and Thracian mountains, which are worthy of record.
They occupy the whole coast of the Adriatic Sea, beginning
from the recess of the gulf, and the left side, as it is called,
of the Euxine Sea, from the river Danube to Byzantium.

The southern parts of the above-mentioned mountainous
tract, and the countries which follow, lying below it, remain
to be described. Among these are Greece, and the contiguous
barbarous country extending to the mountains.

Hecataeus of Miletus says of the Peloponnesus, that, before
the time of the Greeks, it was inhabited by barbarians. Per-
haps even the whole of Greece was, anciently, a settlement of
barbarians, if we judge from former accounts. For Pelops
brought colonists from Phrygia into the Peloponnesus, which

1 The ancient Byzantium, there are grounds for believing, was marked
by the present walls of the Seraglio. The enlarged city was founded by
the emperor Constantine, A. D. 328, who gave it his name, and made it the
rival of Rome itself. It was taken from the Greeks in 1204, by the Ve-
netians under Dandolo ; retaken by the Greeks in 1261 under the em-
peror Michael Palseologus, and conquered by the Turks in 1453. The
crescent found on some of the ancient Byzantine coins was adopted as a
symbol by the Turks.

B. vii. c. vii. $ 2. EPIRUS. 493

took his name ; Danaus l brought colonists from Egypt ; Dry-
opes, Caucones, Pelasgi, Leleges, and other barbarous nations,
partitioned among themselves the country on this side of the
isthmus.2 The case was the same on the other side of the
isthmus ; for Thracians, under their leader Eumolpus,3 took
possession of Attica ; Tereus of Daulis in Phocaea ; the Phre-
nicians, with their leader Cadmus,4 occupied the Cadmeian
district ; Aones, and Temmices, and Hyantes, Bceotia. Pin-
dar says, " there was a time when the Bosotian people were
called Syes."5 Some names show their barbarous origin, as
Cecrops, Codrus, (Eclus, Cothus, Drymas, and Crinacus.6
Thracians, Illyrians, and Epirotae are settled even at present
on the sides of Greece. Formerly the territory they possessed
was more extensive, although even now the barbarians possess
a large part of the country, which, without dispute, is Greece.
Macedonia is occupied by Thraciansz as well as some parts of
Thessaly ; the country above Acarnania and JEtoli&9 by Thes-
proti, Cassopsei, Amphilochi, Molotti, and Athamanes, Epi-
rotic tribes.

2. We have already spoken of the Pelasgi.7 Some writers
conjecture that the Leleges and Carians are the same people ;
others, that they were only joint settlers, and comrades in
war, because there are said to be some settlements called Set-
tlements of the Leleges in the Milesian territory, and in many
parts of Caria there are burial-places of the Leleges, and de-
serted fortresses, called Lelegia.

The whole country called Ionia was formerly inhabited by
Carians and Leleges ; these were expelled by the lonians,
who themselves took possession of the country. In still ear-

1 B. c. 1570. He was king of Argos.

2 The Peloponnesus, which before the arrival of Pelops was called Apia.
* Eumolpus took possession of Eleusis B. c. 1400. He is said to have

there instituted the mysteries of Ceres.

4 Cadmus, son of Agenor, king of Tyre, arrived in Bosotia B. c. 1550.
The citadel of Thebes was named after him.

5 Sues, 'S.vag, swine, in allusion to their ignorance.

c There were two kings of Athens named Cecrops. The first of this
name, first king of Attica and Boeotia, came from Egypt. Cecrops II.
was the 7th, and Codrus the 17th and last king of Attica. Strabo in-
forms us, b. x. c. i. § 3, that CEclus and Cothus were brothers of Ellops,
who founded Ellopia in Eubffia, and gave the name to the whole island.

7 B. v. c. ii. § 4.

494 STRABO. CASAUB. 322.

lier times, the captors of Troy l had driven out the Leleges from
the places about Ida near the rivers Pedasus and Satnioeis.

The fact of the association of these people with the Carians
may be regarded as a proof of their being barbarians, and
Aristotle, in his Politics, shows that they were a wandering
nation, sometimes in company with the Carians, sometimes
alone, and that from ancient times ; for, in speaking of the
polity of the Acarnanians, he says that the Curetes occupied
a part of the country, and the Leleges (and after them the
Telebose) the western side. On the subject of the ^Etolian
polity, he calls the present Locri, Leleges, and observes that
they occupy Boeotia. He repeats the same remark on the
subject of the polity of the Opuntians and Megareans. In
speaking of the polity of the Leucadians, he mentions an ab-
original by name, Leleges, and a grandson by his daughter
of the name of Teleboas, and besides two and twenty of his
sons of the name of Teleboas, some of whom inhabited Lucas.
But we should chiefly rely upon Hesiod, who thus speaks
of them:

" For Locrus was the leader of the nation of the Leleges, whom Jupiter,
the son of Saturn, in his infinite wisdom, once gave as subjects to Deu-
calion, a people gathered from among the nations of the earth."

For it seems to me to be obscurely intimated by the etymology
of the name, Leleges, that they were a mixed people anciently
collected together, which had become extinct. And this
may be said of the Caucones, who exist no wjiere at present,
yet were formerly settled in several places.

3. Although Greece was formerly composed of small na-
tions, many in number, and obscure ; nevertheless their val-
our, and their separate government by kings, prevented any
difficulty in denning their boundaries. As the greatest part
of the country, however, is at present uninhabited, and the
settlements, especially the cities, have been destroyed, it would
be of no service, even if it were possible, to ascertain the
names of cities and regions occupied by obscure and extinct
people. This destruction, which began a long time since, still
continues in many parts in consequence of rebellion. It has
been checked by the Romans, who accepted the supreme au-
thority from the inhabitants and lodged soldiers in their houses.

1 The capture of Troy by Hercules. See Grote i. 388.

B. vii. c. vn. $ 4. EPIRUS. 495

Polybius says that Paulus [Emilius], after the defeat of the
Macedonians l and their king Perseus, destroyed 70 cities of
the Epirotae (most of which belonged to the Molotti) and re-
duced to slavery 150,000 of the inhabitants. Still, however,
I shall endeavour, as far as it is compatible with the design
of this work, to describe, as far as I am able, these places in
detail, beginning from the sea-coast near the Ionian Gulf,
where the navigation out of the Adriatic terminates.

4. The first parts of this coast are those about Epidamnus
and Apollonia. From Apollonia to Macedonia is the Egna-
tian Way ; its direction is towards the east, and the distance
is measured by pillars at every mile, as far as Cypselus2 and
the river Hebrus.3 The whole distance is 535 miles. But
reckoning, as the generality of persons reckon, a mile at eight
stadia, there may be 4280 stadia. And according to Polybius,
who adds two plethra, that is, the third of a stadium, to
every eight stadia, we must add 178 stadia more, a third part
of the number of miles.4 A traveller from Apollonia,5 and a
traveller from Epidamnus,6 on the same road, meet midway
between the two cities. The whole is called the Egnatian
Way. The first part of it is called the road to Candavia,
which is an Illyrian mountain. It passes through Lychnidus,7
a city, and Pylon, a place which separates Illyria from Mace-
donia. Thence its direction is beside Barnus through Hera-
cleia, the Lyncestae, and the Eordi, to Edessa8 and Pella,9 as
far as Thessalonica.10 Polybius says, that this is a distance of
267 miles. In travelling this road from the neighbourhood
of Epidamnus and Apollonia, on the right hand are the Epi-
rotic nations situated on the coast of the Sicilian Sea, and
extending as far as the Gulf of Ambracia ; ' 1 on the left are
the Illyrian mountains, which we have before described, and
the nations that live near them, extending as far as Mace-
donia and the Pasones.

1 B. c. 168. 2 Ipsala. 3 Maritza.

4 D'Anville (Mesures Itineraires) conjectures the difference between
Polybius and Strabo to arise from the Greek foot being less than the
Roman foot in the ratio of 24 to 25 ; or 24 Roman stadia = 25 Greek
stadia containing the same number of feet.

* Polina. • Durazzo. 7 Lago d' Ochrida. 8 Vodina.

9 The ruins of Pella are at a little distance on the east of the lake
Tenidscheh.

10 Saloniki. » Gulf of Arta.

STRABO. CASATTB. 323.

From the Gulf of Ambracia the places next in order, in-
clining to the east, and extending opposite to Peloponnesus,
belong to Greece ; they terminate at the ^Egean Sea, leaving
the whole of Peloponnesus on the right hand.

The country, from the commencement of the Macedonian
and Pasonian mountains, as far as the river Strymon,1 is in-
habited by Macedonians, and Pseones, and some of the Thra-
cian mountain tribes. But all the country on the other side
the Strymon, as far as the mouth of the Euxine Sea, and
Mount Haamus,2 belong to the Thracians, except the coast,
which is occupied by Greeks, some of whom are settled on
the Propontis,3 others on the Hellespont and on the Gulf
Melas,4 and others on the JEgean Sea.

The .ZEgean Sea waters two sides of Greece ; first, the
eastern side, extending from the promontory Sunium5 to the
north as far as the Thermasan Gulf, and Thessalonica, a Mace-
donian city, which has, at present, the largest population in
these parts. Then the southern side, which is a part of
Macedonia, extending from Thessalonica to the Strymon.
Some writers assign the coast from the Strymon as far as
Nestus6 to Macedonia. For Philip showed the greatest solici-
tude to obtain, and at length appropriated it to himself. He
raised a very large revenue from the mines, and from other
sources which the richness of the country afforded.

From Sunium to the Peloponnesus are the Myrtoan, the
Cretan, and the Libyan Seas, together with the Gulfs, as far
as the Sicilian Sea, which consist of the Gulfs of Arnbracia,
of Corinth, and of Crissa.

5. Theopompus says, that there are fourteen Epirotic na-
tions. Of these, the most celebrated are the Chaones and
Molotti, because the whole of Epirus was at one time sub-
ject, first to Chaones, afterwards to Molotti. Their power
was greatly strengthened by the family of their kings being
descended from the JEacidas, and because the ancient and
famous oracle of Dodona7 was in their country. Chaones,
Thesproti, and next after these Cassopsei, (who are Thes-

1 lemboli.

2 Balkan applies to the whole mountainous range of Haemus; Emineh
to the part bordering on the Black Sea.

3 Sea of Marmora. * Gulf of Saros. 5 Cape Colonna.
6 Karasu, or Mesta. 7 The site of Dodona is unknown.

B. vii. c. vii. § 6. EFIRUS. 497

proti,) occupy the coast, a fertile tract reaching from the
Ceraunian mountains to the Ambracian Gulf.

The voyage commencing from the Chaones eastward towards
the Gulfs of Ambracia and Corinth, and having the Ausonian
Sea on the right, and Epirus on the left, comprises 1300 stadia
to the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. In this interval is Pa-
normus,1 a large port in the middle of the Ceraunian moun-
tains. Next to this is Onchesmus,2 another harbour, opposite
to which are the western extremities of Corcyra,3 and then
again another port, Cassiope,4 (Cassope ?) whence to Brundu-
siuin5 are 1700 stadia. It is the same distance to Tarentum
from another promontory more to the south than Cassiope,
which is called Phalacrum. Next after Onchesmus are Po-
sidium, and Buthrotum,6 (which is situated upon the mouth
of the lake Pelodes, in a spot of a peninsula form, and has a
Roman colony,) and the Sybota. The Sybota7 are small
islands at a little distance from Epirus, lying near Leucimme,8
the eastern promontory of Corcyra. There are also other
small islands, not worthy of notice, which are met with along
the coast.

Next is the promontory Chimerium, and a harbour called
Glycys-Limen, [or Sweet Harbour,] where the river Acheron,
which receives several other rivers, empties itself and renders
fresh the water of the gulf. The Thyamus9 flows near it.
Above this gulf is situated Cichyrus, formerly Ephyra, a city
of the Thesproti, and above the gulf at Buthrotum, Phoenice.10
Near Cichyrus is Buchetium, a small city of the Cassopaei,
situated at a little distance from the sea ; Elatria, Pandosia,
and Batiaj are in the inland parts. Their territory extends
as far as the gulf. Next after the harbour Glycys-Limen are
two others, Comarus,11 the nearest and smallest, forming an
isthmus of 60 stadia, near the Ambracian Gulf and Nicopolis, 12
founded by Augustus Caesar ; the other, the more distant and
larger, and better harbour, is near the mouth of the gulf, and
distant from Nicopolis about 12 stadia.

6. Then follows the entrance of the Ambracian Gulf,

1 Panormo. 2 Santi Quaranta. 3 Corfu. 4 Cassiopo.

b Brindisi. • Butrinto. " Syvota. 8 C. Bianco.

9 The Thyamus, or Thyamis, is now called Glycys, arid the Acheron,
Calaraas. 10 Sopoto. ll Porto Fanari.

12 The ruins of Nicopolis are to the north of Prevesa.
VOL. i. 2 K

498 STRABO. CASATJB. 326.

which is a little more than four stadia in width. The circuit
of the gulf is 400 stadia, and the whole has good harbours.
On sailing into it, on the right hand are the Acarnanes, who
are Greeks ; and here near the entrance of the gulf is a tem-
ple of Apollo Actius, situated on an eminence ; in the plain
below is a sacred grove, and a naval station. Here Augustus
Csesar1 dedicated as offerings one-tenth of the vessels taken in
war, from vessels of one bank to vessels of ten banks of oars.
The vessels, and the buildings destined for their reception,
were destroyed, it is said, by fire.

On the left hand are Nicopolis,2 and the Cassopaei, a tribe
of the Epirotoe, extending as far as the recess of the gulf at
Ambracia. Ambracia3 is situated a little above the recess of
the bay, and was founded by Gorgus, (Torgus, Tolgus,) the
son of Cypselus. The river Arathus flows beside it, which
may be navigated up the stream to the city, a distance of a
few stadia. It rises in Mount Tymphe, and the Parorrea.
This city was formerly in a very flourishing condition, and
hence the gulf received its name from the city. Pyrrhus,
however, embellished it more than any other person, and made
it a royal residence. In kter times,4 the Macedonians and
Romans harassed this and other cities by continual wars,
caused by the refractory disposition of the inhabitants, so
that Augustus, at length perceiving that these cities were
entirely deserted, collected their remaining inhabitants into
one city, which he called Nicopolis, situated upon the gulf.
He called it after the victory which he obtained in front, of

1 Caesar Augustus (then Caesar Octavianus) obtained the celebrated
victory of Actium over Marcus Antonius, B. c. 31. The latter, after his
defeat, fled into Egypt with Cleopatra. The battle would appear to have
taken place at the entrance into the Gulf of Arta, and therefore probably
off La Punta, opposite Prevesa, and not off the modern town of Azio.

2 In the Austrian map a ground-plan of the ruins of Nicopolis are
given, at about one mile to the north of Prevesa.

3 The Gulf of Ambracia, and the rivers which flow into it, are much
distorted in D'Anville. According to more modern maps, the Arathus is
the most western of the streams which flow into the gulf, and the ancient
city was situated at about 15 miles from the mouth. The Loru (the Ara-
thus) ; the Mauro Potamo or Glykys (the Acheron) ; the Zagura (the
Selleis ?) which falls into it; and the Tercino, which falls into the Ka-
lamas, (the Thyamis or Thyamus,) all rise in the mountain ridge Olyt-
kiza, tibout 10 miles to the west of lanina.

4 Livy xxxviii. c. 3.

M. vii. c. vii. § 7, 8. EPIRUS. 499

the gulf, over Antony, and Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt,
who was present in the engagement.

Nicopolis is well peopled, and is improving every day. It
has a large territory, and is adorned with the spoils of war.
In the suburbs is a sacred enclosure ; part of it is a grove,
containing a gymnasium and a stadium, intended for the cele-
bration of quinquennial games ; the other part, on a rising
ground overhanging the grove, is sacred to Apollo. The
Olympian game, called the Actia,1 is instituted there in honour
of Apollo Actius. It is under the superintendence of the
Lacedaemonians. The other surrounding settlements are de-
pendent on Nicopolis. The Actian games 1 were formerly
celebrated in honour of the god by the neighbouring people ;
it was a contest in which the victor was crowned ; but Caesar
has conferred on it greater honours.

7. After Ambracia follows the Amphilochian Argos, founded
by Alcmaeon and his sons. According to Ephorus, Alcmaeon,
after the expedition of the Epigoni 2 against Thebes, upon the
solicitation of Diomed, accompanied him in his invasion of
^Etolia, and obtained joint possession of this country and of
Acarnania. When Agamemnon invited them to come to the
siege of Troy, Diomed went, but Alcmaeon remained in
Acarnania, founded Argos, and gave it the name Amphilo-
chian, after his brother Amphilochus. On the same authority
the river Inachus, which flows through the country and emp-
ties itself into the bay, received its name from the river in
the Argive territory. Thucydides, however, says that Am-
philochus himself, upon his return from Troy, dissatisfied with
the state of things at Argos, passed over into Acarnania, and
having succeeded to the dynasty of his brother, founded the
city which is called after his name.

8. The Amphilochians are Epirotae, as also are those nations
who inhabit a rugged country situated above and close to the
Illyrian mountains, the Molotti, Athamanes, ^Ethices, Tym-
phaei, Orestae Paroraei, and Atintanes, some of whom approach
nearer to Macedonia, others to the Ionian Gulf. It is said
that Orestes possessed the territory Orestias at the time of
his flight, after the murder of his mother, and left the country

1 Virg. Mn. iii. 280.

2 Descendants of the seven chiefs \vho fought and perished before
Thebes.

2 K 2

500 STRABO. CASAUB. 327.

bearing his name, where also he had built a city called Orestic
Argos. With these people are intermixed Illyrian nations,
some of whom are situated on the southern part of the moun-
tainous district, and others above the Ionian Gulf. For above
Epidamnus and Apollonia, as far as the Ceraunian mountains,
live the Bulliones, Taulantii, Parthini, and Brygi.1

Somewhere near are the silver mines of Damastium. Here
the Perisadyes had established their sway, and Enchelii, who
are also called Sesarethii. Then come the Lyncestae, the ter-
ritory Deuriopus, Pelagonia-Tripolitis, the Eordi, Elimia,
and Eratyra. Formerly each of these nations was under its
own prince. The chiefs of the Enchelii were descendants of
Ca'dmus arid Harmonia, and scenes of the fables respecting
these persons are shown in the territory. This nation, there-
fore, was not governed by native princes. The Lyncestas
were under Arrhabasus, who was of the race of the Bacchi-
adas. Irra was his daughter, and his grand-daughter was
Eurydice, the mother of Philip Amyntas.

The Molotti also were Epirotae, and were subjects of Pyr-
rhus Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles, and of his descendants,
who were Thessalians. The rest were governed by native
princes. Some tribes were continually endeavouring to ob-
tain the mastery over the others, but all were finally subdued
by the Macedonians, except a few situated above the Ionian
Gulf. They gave the name of Upper Macedonia to the
country about Lyncestis, Pelagonia, Orestias, and Elimia.
Later writers called it Macedonia the Free, and some extend
the name of Macedonia to all the country as far as Corcyra,
at the same time assigning as their reasons, the mode of cut-
ting their hair, their language, the use of the chlamys, and
similar things in which they resemble the Macedonians ; some
of them, however, speak two languages. On the dissolution
of the Macedonian empire, they fell under the power of the
Romans.

The Egnatian Way, from Epidamnus and Apollonia, passes
through the territory of these people. Near the road to Can-
davia are the lakes about Lychnidus, which furnish large
supplies of fish for salting, and rivers, some of which empty

1 These nations are mentioned by other authors; they were probably
separated by the numerous mountain ridges to the west of Pindus. See
below, § 9. But compare D'Anville and the Austrian military map.

B. vii. c. vii. § 9, 10. EPIRUS. DODONA. 501

themselves into the Ionian Gulf. Some flow towards the
south, as the Inachus, the Arathus, (Ratoiis,) the Achelous,
and the Evenus, formerly called Lycormas. The Ratous dis-
charges its waters into the Ambracian Gulf, the Inachus into
the Achelous, the Achelous itself into the sea, as also the
Evenus ; the former traverses Acarnania, the latter ^Etolia.
The Erigon, after having received many streams which flow
from the Illyrian mountains, and through the territories of
Lyncestne, Brygi, Deuriopes, and Pelagonians, empties itself
into the Axius.

9. There were formerly cities among these nations. The
district Pelagonia-Tripolitis contained (as the name signifies)
three cities, of which Azorus was one. All the cities of the
Deuriopes were situated on the banks of the Erigon ; among
which were Bryanium, Alalcomense,1 and Stymbara.2 Cydrise
belonged to the Brygi, and ^Eginium on the confines of JEthi-
cia, and Tricca, to the Tymphaei. Near Macedonia and Thes-
salia, about the mountains Poeus and Pindus, are the jEthices,
and the sources of the Peneus, which are a subject of dispute
between the Tymphaei and the Thessalians, who are situated
below Pindus.

On the banks of the river Ion is Oxynia, a city distant from
Azorus in the Tripolitis 120 stadia. Near Oxynia are Alal-
comenas, JEginium, Europus, and the confluence of the Ion
with the Peneus.

At that time then, as I said before, the whole of Epirus
and Illyria were well peopled, although the country is rugged
and full of mountains, such as Tomarus, and Polyanus, and
many others. At present the greater part is uninhabited, and
the inhabited parts are left in the state of villages, or in ruins.
Even the oracle at Dodona has almost been deserted, like the
rest.

10. This oracle, according to Ephorus, was established by
Pelasgi, who are said to be the most ancient people that were
sovereigns in Greece. Thus the poet speaks,

" O great Pelasgic Dodonsean Jove ;" *
and Ilesiod,
" He went to Dodona, the dwelling of the Pelasgi, and to the beech tree."

1 Alcomenae. a Styberra, Polyb. ; Stubera, Liv. ; Stobera, Suid.
3 Iliad, book xvi. 233.

502 STRABO. CASAUB. 328.

I have spoken of the Pelasgi in the account of Tyr-
rhenia.

"With respect to Dodona, Homer clearly intimates that the
people who lived about the temple were barbarians, from their
mode of life, describing them as persons who do not wash
their feet, and who sleep on the ground. Whether we should
read Helli, with Pindar, or Selli, as it is conjectured the word
existed in Homer, the ambiguity of the writing does not
permit us to affirm confidently. Philochorus says, that the
country about Dodona was called, like Eubcea, Hellopia ; for
these are the words of Hesiod,

" There is a country Hellopia, rich in corn-fields and pastures ; at its
extremity is built Dodona."

It is supposed, says Apollodorus, that it had this name from
the " hele," or marshes about the temple. He is of opinion
that the poet did not call the people about the temple Helli,
but Selli, adding, that Homer mentions a certain river (near)
of the name of Selleis. He specifies the name in this line,

" At a distance far from Ephyra, from the river Selleis."

[Demetrius of Skepsis contends that] Ephyra of Thesprotia
is not here meant, but Ephyra of Elis. For the river Selleis
is in Elis, and there is no river of this name either in Thes-
protia or among the Molotti. The fable of the oak and the
doves, and other similar things, like the stories connected with
Delphi, although they are subjects more adapted to engage
the attention of a poet, yet are appropriate to the description
of the country with which we are now occupied.

Dodona was formerly subject to the Thesproti, as was the
mountain Tomarus, or Tmarus, (both names are in use,) be-
low which the temple is situated. The tragic writers and
Pindar give the epithet of Thesprotis to Dodona. It was said
to be subject, in later times, to the Molotti. Those called by
the poet Jove's interpreters,1 and described by him as men
with unwashen feet, who slept on the ground, were, it is said,
called Tomuri 2 from Mount Tomarus, and the passage in the
Odyssey containing the advice of Amphihomus to the suitors

* Topovpoi.

n. vii. c. vn. § 12. DODOXA. 503

not to attack Telemachus before they had inquired of Jupiter
is as follows,

" If the Tomuri of great Jove approve, I myself will kill him, and I
will order all to join in the deed ; but if the god forbid it, I command to
withhold." '

For it is better, it is asserted, to write Tomuri2 than The-
mi.stre,3 because in no passage whatever are oracles called by
the poet Themistre, this term being applied to decrees,4 or
statutes and rules of civil government ; and the persons are
called Tomuri,5 which is the contracted form of Tomaruri,6 or
guardians of Tomarus.

In Homer, however, we must understand Qifjua-tQ in a
more simple sense, and, like (3ov\ai, by the figure Catachresis,
as meaning commands and oracular injunctions as well as
laws ; for such is the import of this line :

'• To listen to7 the will of Jove, which comes forth from the lofty and
verdant oak."

12. The first prophets were men, and this the poet perhaps
indicates, for he calls the persons interpreters,8 among whom
the prophets9 might be classed. In after-times three old
women were appointed to this office, after even Dione had a
common temple with Jupiter.

Suidas, in order to court the favour of the Thessalians by
fabulous stories, says, that the temple was transported from
Scotussa of the Thessalian Pelasgiotis, accompanied by a great
multitude, chiefly of women, whose descendants are the present
prophetesses, and that hence Jupiter had the epithet Pelasgic.
Cineas relates what is still more fabulous *****

[With the exception of the following Fragments, the rest of this book
is lost.]

1 Odys. xvi. 403.

4

8

;04 STRABO. FRAGM. 1-4.

FRAGMENTS.1

1. THE oracle was formerly at Scotussa, a city of Pelasgiotis,
but was transferred to Dodona by the command of Apollo,
after some persons had burnt down the tree. The oracular
answers were not conveyed by words, but by certain signs, as
at the oracle of Ammon in Libya. Probably the three doves
made some peculiar flight, which, observed by the priestesses,
suggested the oracular answer. Some say that, in the lan-
guage of the Molotti and Thesprotre, old women are called
" peliae," and old men " pelii," so that the celebrated doves
were probably not birds, but three old women who passed an
idle time about the temple. EPIT.

2. Among the Thesprotae and Molotti old women are called
"peliae," and old men "pelii," as among the Macedonians.
Persons at least who hold office are called " peligones," as
among the Laconians and Massilienses they are called " ge-
rontes." Hence it is asserted that the story of the doves in
the oak at Dodona is a fable. E.

3. The proverb, " The brazen vessel of Dodona," thus arose.
In the temple was a brazen vessel, having over it a statue of
a man (an offering of the Corcyrasans) grasping in the hand
a brazen scourge of three thongs, woven in chains, from which
were suspended small bones. The bones striking continually
upon the brazen vessel, whenever they were agitated by the
wind, produced a long protracted sound, so that a person from
the beginning to the end of the vibrations might proceed to
count as far as four hundred. Whence also came the proverb,
" The Corcyra3an scourge."2 EPIT.

4. Paeonia is to the east of these nations, and to the west
of the Thracian mountains ; on the north it lies above Mace-
donia. Through the city Gortynium and Stobi it admits of
a passage to * * * (through which the Axius flows, and
renders the access difficult , from Pasonia into Macedonia, as

1 The Fragments are collected from the Palatine (EPIT.) and Vatican
(E.) Epitomes ; and, in the opinion of Kramer, much is not lost. By
the diligence and research of Kramer, the former length of these Frag-
ments is more than doubled ; but for a more particular account of his
labours, the reader is referred to his preface .and notes.

' This proverb is quoted in Plutarch's Life of Lycurgus.

FRAGM. 5—10. MACEDONIA. «>0o

the Peneus flowing through Tempe protects it on the side of
Greece.) On the south, Paeonia borders on the Autariatae,
the Dardanii, and the Ardisei ; it extends also as far as the
Strymon. E.

5. The Haliacmon 1 flows into the Thermsean Gulf. E.

6. Orestis is of considerable extent ; there is in it a large
mountain which reaches to Corax2 of ^Etolia and to Parnassus.
It is inhabited by the Orestae themselves, by the Tymphaeans,
and by Greeks without the isthmus, namely, those who also
occupy Parnassus. CEta, and Pindus. As a whole, the moun-
tain is called by one name, Boion, (Poeum ?) but the separate
divisions bear various names. The ^Egean, Ambracian, and
Ionian Seas are said to be distinguishable from the highest
elevations, but this appears to me to be an extravagant asser-
tion ; for Pteleum rises to a considerable height, and is situ-
ated near the Ambracian Gulf, stretching on one side to the
Corcyraean and on the other to the Leucadian Seas. E.

7. Corey ra, humbled by many wars, became a subject of
ridicule, and passed into a proverb. E.

8. Corcyra was formerly a flourishing place, and possessed
a considerable naval force, but went into decay through war
and the oppression of its rulers. In later times, although re-
stored to liberty by the Romans, it acquired no renown, but
the taunting proverb was applied to it, " Corcyra the Free,
ease yourself where you please." EPIT.

9. Of Europe, there remains Macedonia, and the parts of
Thrace contiguous to it, extending to Byzantium, Greece
also, and the adjacent islands : indeed, Macedonia is a part of
Greece. Following, however, the natural character of the
country and its form, we have determined to separate it
from Greece, and to unite it with Thrace, which borders upon

it. Strabo, after a few remarks, mentions Cypsela3 and the

river Hebrus.4 He also describes a parallelogram in which is
placed the whole of Macedonia. E.

10. Macedonia is bounded on the west by the sea-coast of
the Adriatic ; on the east by a meridian line parallel to this
coast, passing through the mouth of the river Hebrus, and the
city Cypsela; on the north by an imaginary straight line pass-
ing through the mountains Bertiscus, Scardus,5 Orbelus,6

1 Indesche Karasu. 3 Oxas. 3 Ipsala. * The Maritza.

5 Schardagh. • Egrisoudagh.

STRABO. FKAGM. 11—13.

Rhodope,1 and Haemus.2 For these mountains extend in a
straight line, beginning from the Adriatic, to the Euxine,
forming towards the south a great peninsula, which compre-
hends Thrace, Macedonia, Epirus, and Achaia. On the south,
Macedonia is bounded by the Egnatian Way, which goes from
Dyrrachium eastwards to Thessalonica, and thus has very
nearly the form of a parallelogram. EPIT.

1 1. The country now called Macedonia was formerly called
Emathia. It acquired this name from Macedon, one of its
ancient princes. There was also a city Emathia near the sea.
The country was occupied by some of the Epirotce and Illy-
rians, but the greatest part by Bottiaei and Thracians. The
Bottiaei were of Cretan origin, and came under the command
of Botton ; the Pieres, who were Thracians, inhabited Pieria
and the parts about Olympus ; the Paeonians, the borders of
the river Axius, from whence the region was called Amphax-
itis ; the Edoni and Bisalti, the rest of the country as far as
the Strymon. The Bisalti retained their name, but the Edoni
went under the various names of Mygdones, Edoni, (Odones?)
and Sithones. Of all these people, the Argeadse and the
Chalcidenses of Eubosa became the chief. The Chalcidenses
came from Eubcea into the territory of the Sithones, and there
founded about thirty cities. They were subsequently driven
out by the Sithones, but the greater part of them collected
together into a single city, namely, Olynthus.3 They had the
name of Chalcidenses-in-Thrace. E.

12. The Peneus separates Lower Macedonia and the sea-
board from Thessaly and Magnesia. The Haliacmon is the
boundary of Upper Macedonia ; and the Haliacmon, the Eri-
gon, the Axius, and other rivers, form the boundary between
Macedonia and the Epirotae and the Paeonians. E.

13. If a line is drawn from the recess of the Therrnaic
Gulf, on the sea-coast of Macedonia, and from Thessalonica,
southwards, to Sunium, and another eastwards, towards the
Thradian Chersonese, an angle will be made in the recess.
Macedonia extends in both directions, and we must begin with
the line first mentioned. The first part of it has beyond it
Attica with Megaris to the Crisssean Bay. Next succeeds
the sea-coast of Boeotia near Euboea. Above Eubcea on the

1 Despotodagh. 2 Velikidagh.

3 Above Agios-Mamas, in the Bay of Cassandra.

FKAGM. U— 17. MACEDONIA. 507

west lies the rest of Bceotia, parallel with Attica. Strabo
says that the Egnatian Way begins from the Ionian Gulf and
ends at Thessalonica. E.

14. From these reefs, says Strabo, we shall first mark the
boundaries of those who live about the river Peneus and
Haliacmon near the sea. The Peneus flows from Mount
Pindus through the middle of Thrace eastwards; passing
through the cities of the Lapithae and some of the cities of the
Perrhaebi, it arrives at the vale of Tempe, having in its course
received the waters of several rivers : of these, the Europus
(Eurotas) is one, called by the poet Titaresius. It rises from
Titarius, (Titarus,) a mountain continuous with Olympus,
which at this point first begins to mark the boundary between
Macedonia and Thessaly. Tempe is a narrow valley between
Olympus and Ossa. The Peneus continues its course from
this narrow pass 40 stadia, having Olympus, the highest of
the Macedonian mountains, on the left, [and Ossa on the right,
near] the mouth of the river. At the mouth of the Peneus
on the right is situated Gyrton, a city of the Perrhaebi, and
Magnetis. where Pirithous and Ixion were kings. The city
Crannon is 100 stadia distant from Gyrton. Some assert,
that in the lines of Homer, " These two from Thrace," and
what follows, for Ephyri we are to understand Crannonii, and
for Phlegyes, the people of Gyrton. -Pieria is on the other
side. E.

15. The Peneus, rising in Mount Pindus, flows through
Tempe, the middle of Thessaly, the Lapithae, and the Per-
rhsebi. It receives the Europus, (Eurotas,) which Homer
calls Titaresius, in its course, and forms on the north the
boundary of Macedonia, and on the south that of Thessaly.
The sources of the river Europus are in Mount Titarius,
which is contiguous to Olympus. Olympus itself is in Mace-
donia ; Ossa and Pelion in Thessaly. EPIT.

16. At the roots of Olympus, and on the banks of the Pe-
neus, is Gyrton, a Perrhaebic city, and Magnetis, where Piri-
thous and Ixion ruled. [The city] Crannon is [100 stadia]
distant [from Gyrton] ; and it is said that when the poet writes
" Both from Thrace," we are to understand by Ephyri, the
Crannonians, and by Phlegyes, the Gyrtonii. EPIT.

17. The city Dium is not on the sea-shore of the Ther-
mjpan Gulf, at the roots of Olympus, but is about 7 stadia

508 STRABO. FRAGM. 18—21.

distant. Near Dium is a village Pimplea, where Orpheus
lived. EPIT.

18. Beneath Olympus is Dium ; near it is a village, Pim-
plea, where it is said Orpheus lived. He was a Cicon (of the
tribe of the Cicones) and was a diviner. At first he drew
people about him by the practice of music and witchcraft, and
by the introduction of mysterious ceremonies in religious
worship. After a time, obtaining a greater degree of self-
importance, he collected a multitude of followers, and acquired
influence. He had many willing followers, but becoming
suspected by a few of entertaining secret designs, and of an
intention of taking forcible possession of power, he was at-
tacked by them and put to death. Near this place is Libe-
thra. E.

1 9. Anciently diviners practised the art of music. EPIT.

20. After Dium follow the mouths of the Haliacmon;
then Pydna, Methone, Alorus, and the rivers Erigon and Lu-
dias. The Ludias flows from Triclari, through the.Oresti and
the Pellaean country (Pelagonia) : leaving the city on the left
it falls into the Axius. The Ludias is navigable up the stream
to Pella 120 stadia. Methone is situated in the middle, about
40 stadia distant from Pydna, and 70 stadia from Alorus.
Alorus is situated in the farthest recess of the Thermcean
Gulf. It was called Thessalonica on account of the splendid
[victory obtained over the Thessalians]. Alorus is considered
as belonging to Bottiaea and Pydna to Pieria. Pella is in
Lower Macedonia, which was in possession of the Bottiasi.
Here was formerly the Macedonian Treasury. Philip, who
was brought up in this place, raised it from an inconsiderable
city to some importance. . It has a citadel situated on a lake
called Ludias. From this lake issues the river Ludias, which
is filled by a branch of the Axius. The Axius discharges
itself between Chalastra and Therma. Near this river is a
fortified place, now called Abydos ; Homer calls it Amydon,
and says that the Paeonians came from hence to assist the
Trojans during the siege of Troy.

" From afar, from Amydon, from Axius' wide stream."

It was razed by the Argeadae. E.

21. The water of the Axius is turbid. Homer, however,
says that the water is " most beautiful," probably on account

FHAGM. 22, 23. MACEDONIA. 509

of a spring called J£a which runs into it, the water of which
is of surpassing clearness. This is sufficient to prove that
the present reading in the poem is erroneous. After the
Axius is the Echedorus,1 20 stadia distant. Then Thessa-
lonica, founded by Cassander, 40 stadia farther on, and the
Egnatian Way. He named the city after his wife Thessa-
lonice, the daughter of Philip Amyntas, and pulled down
nearly 26 cities in the district of Crucis, and on the Ther-
mcean Gulf, collecting the inhabitants into one city. It is the
metropolis of the present Macedonia. The cities transferred
to Thessalonica were Apollonia, Chalastra, Therma, Gares-
cus, ^Enea, and Cissus. Cissus, it is probable, belonged to
Cisseus, who is mentioned by the poet. " Cisseus educated
him," meaning Iphidamas. E.

22. After the city Drium is the river Haliacmon, which
discharges itself into the Thermaean Gulf. From hence to
the river Axius the sea-coast on the north of the gulf bears
the name of Pieria, on which is situated the city Pydna, now
called Citrum. Then follow Methone and the river Alorus ;
then the rivers Erigon and Ludias. From Ludias to the city
Pella the river is navigated upwards to the distance of 20
stadia. Methone is distant from Pydna 40 stadia, and 70
stadia from Alorus. Pydna is a Pierian, Alorus a Bottiaean
city. In the plain of Pydna the Romans defeated Perseus,
and put an end to the Macedonian empire. In the plain of
Methone, during the siege of the city, Philip Amyntas acci-
dentally lost his right eye by an arrow discharged from a
catapult. EPIT.

23. Philip, who was brought up at Pella, formerly a small
city, much improved it. In front of the city is a lake, out of
which flows the river Ludias. The lake is supplied by a
branch of the river Axius. Next follows the Axius, which
separates the territory of Bottiasa and Amphaxitis, and after
receiving the river Erigon, issues out between Chalestra and
Therme. On the river Axius is a place which Homer calls
Amy don, and says that the Peeones set out thence as auxili-
aries to Troy :

" From afar, from Amydon, from Axius' wide stream."

The Gallico.

510 STRABO. FRAGM. 24,25.

The Axius is a turbid river, but as a spring of clearest water
rises in Araydon, and mingles with the Axius, some have
altered the line

'A^iov, oil KaXXiaTOv vdwp tTruddvarai Alav,
" Axius, whose fairest water o'erspreads y£a,"
to

'A£iov. $ Ka\\iarov vdwp tTriicidvaTai Afyc.

" Axius, o'er whom spreads ^Ea's fairest water."

For it is not the " fairest water " which is diffused over the
spring, but the " fairest water " of the spring which is dif-
fused over the Axius.1 EPIT.

24. After the river Axius is the city Thessalonica, formerly
called Therma. It was founded by Cassander, who called it
after the name of his wife, a daughter of Philip Amyntas.
He transferred to it the small surrounding cities, Chalastra,
^Enea, Cissus, and some others. Probably from this Cissus
came Iphidamas, mentioned in Homer, "whose grandfather
Cisseus educated him," he says, " in Thrace," which is now
called Macedonia. EPIT.

25. Somewhere in this neighbourhood is the mountain Ber-
mius,2 which was formerly in the possession of the Briges, a
Thracian nation, some of whom passed over to Asia and were
called by another name, Phrygians (Phryges). After Thes-
salonica follows the remaining part of the Therma?an Gulf,3
extending to Canastrj-eum.4 This is a promontory of a penin-
sula form, and is opposite to Magnesia. Pallene is the name
of the peninsula. It has an isthmus 5 stadia in width, with a
ditch cut across it. There is a city on the peninsula, formerly

1 Kramer quotes the following passage from Eustathius : " In the pas-
sage tTriKicWrai aiy, or alav, (for there are two readings,) some have
understood alav not to mean the earth, but a spring, as is evident from
the words of the geographer, where he says that the Amydon of Homer
was afterwards called Abydos, but was razed. For there is a spring of
clearest water near Amydon, called ^Ea, running into the Axius, which
is itself turbid, in consequence of the numerous rivers which flow into
it. There is, therefore, he says, an error in the quotation, 'AZiov KO.\\KT-
rov vdwp iTTiKidvarai aty, as it is clearly not the Axius which diffuses
its water over the spring, but the contrary. The geographer rather in-
temperately finds fault with the supposition of alav meaning the earth, and
seems anxious to reject altogether this reading in the Homeric poem."

2 Buneus. 3 Gulf of Salonica. * Cape Pailuri.

FRAGM. 2G— 32. MACEDONIA. 511

called Potidrea,1 founded by the Corinthians, but afterwards it
was called Cassandria, from king Cassander, who restored it
after it was demolished. It is a circuit of 570 stadia round
the peninsula by sea. Here giants were said to have lived,
and the region to have been called Phlegra. Some consider
this to be a mere fable, but others, with greater probability
on their side, see implied in it 4he existence of a barbarous
and lawless race of people who once occupied the country,
but who were destroyed by Hercules on his return home,
after the capture of Troy. Here also the Trojan women
are said to have committed the destructive act of burn-
ing the ships, to avoid becoming the slaves of their captors'
wives. E.

26. The city Beroea2 lies at the roots of Mount Bermius.
EPIT.

27. Pallene is a peninsula. On the isthmus of Pallene
lies what was once Potidcea, but now Cassandra. It was
formerly called Phlegra, and was inhabited by the fabulous
giants, an impious and lawless race, who were destroyed by
Hercules. It has upon it four cities, Aphytis, Mende, Scione,
and Sana. EPIT. .

28. Olynthus is distant from Potidaea 70 stadia. E.

29. The arsenal of Olynthus is Mecyberna, on the Toro-
ncean Gulf. EPIT.,

30. Near Olynthus is a hollow tract called Cantharoleth-
ron, from an accidental circumstance. The Cantharus, (the
beetle,) which is bred in the surrounding country, dies as
soon as it touches this tract. EPIT.

31. Next after Cassandria is the remaining part of the sea-
coast of the Toronosan Gulf, as far as Derris. It is a pro-
montory opposite the district of Canastrum, and forms a gulf.
Opposite to Derris, to the east, are the promontories of Athos ;
between them is the Singitic Gulf, which receives its name
from an ancient city in it, Singus, now destroyed. Next is
the city Acanthus, situated on the isthmus of Athos,3 founded
by the Andrii ; whence, by many, it is called the Acanthian
Gulf. E.

32. Opposite to Canastrum, a promontory of Pallene, is the
promontory Derris, near Cophus-Limen [or Deaf Harbour] :

1 The ruins of Potidaea, or Cassandria, are near Pinako.

2 Karafaja. 3 Monte Santo.

512 STRABO. FRAGM. 33, 34.

these form the boundaries of the Toronsean Gulf. Again,
towards the east lies the promontory of Athos, [Nympha3um,]
which bounds the Singitic Gulf. Then follow one another
the gulfs of the .^Egean Sea, towards the north, in this order :
the Maliac,1 the Pagasitic,2 the Therrnasan,3 the Toronasan,4
the Singitic,5 and the Strymonic.6 The promontories are
these : Posidium,7 situated between the Maliac and Pegasitic
Gulfs ; next in order, towards the north, Sepias ;8 then Cana-
strum9 in Pallene ; then Derris;10 next NymphaBum11 in
Athos, on the Singitic Gulf; Acrathos,12 the promontory on
the Strymonic Gulf; between them is Athos, to the east of
which is Lemnos. Neapolis13 bounds the Strymonic Gulf
towards the north. EPIT.

33. The city Acanthus, on the Singitic Gulf, is a maritime
city near the Canal of Xerxes. There are five cities in Athos;
Dium, Cleona3, Thyssos, Olophyxis, Acrothoi, which is situ-
ated near the summit of Athos. Mount Athos is pap-shaped,
very pointed, and of very great height. Those who live upon
the summit see the sun rise three hours before it is visible on
the sea-shore. The voyage round the peninsula, from the
city Acanthus to the city Stagirus, the birth-place of Aris-
totle, is 400 stadia. It has a harbour called Caprus, and a
small island of the same name. Then follow the mouths of
the Strymon ; then Phagres, Galepsus, and Apollonia, all of
them cities ; then the mouth of the Nestus, which is the
boundary of Macedonia and Thrace, as settled, in their own
times, by Philip and Alexander his son. There are about the
Strymonic Gulf other cities also, as Myrcinus, Argilus, Dra-
bescus, and Datum, which has an excellent and most pro-
ductive soil, dock-yards for ship-building, and gold mines ;
whence the proverb, " A Datum of good things," like to the
proverb, " Piles of plenty." 14 EPIT.

34. There are numerous gold mines among the Crenides,
where the city of Philip now stands, near Mount Pangasus.
Pangaeus itself, and the country on the east of the Strymon,
and on the west as far as Pseonia, contains gold and silver

I Gulf of Zeitun. ' G. of Volo. 3 G. of Salonica.

4 G. of Cassandra. 5 G. of Monte Santo. 6 G. of Orfano.

7 Cape Stauros. 8 C. Demitri. 9 C. Pailuri. lo C. Drepano.

II C. St. George. »2 C. Monte Santo. 13 Kavala.
14 Adrov ayaQtiv. 'Aya9wv

FUAQM. 35, 36. MOUNT ATHOS- 513

mines. Particles of gold, it is said, are found in Poeonia in
ploughing the land. EPIT.

35. Mount Athos is pap-shaped, and so lofty that the hus-
bandmen on the summit are already weary of their labour,
the sun having long since risen to them, when to the inhabit-
ants of the shore it is the beginning of cockcrowing. Tha-
myris, the Thracian. was king of this coast, and followed the
same practices as Orpheus. Here also, at Acanthus, is seen
the canal, which Xerxes is said to have made, and through
which he is said to have brought the sea from the Strymonic
Gulf, across the isthmus. Demetrius of Skepsis is of opinion
that this canal was not navigable ; for, says he, the ground is
composed of deep earth, and admits of being dug for a distance
of 10 stadia only : the canal is a plethrum in width ; then fol-
lows a high, broad, and flat rock, nearly a stadium in length,
which prevents excavation throughout the whole distance to
the sea. And even if the work could be carried on so far
across, yet it could not be continued to a sufficient depth, so
as to present a navigable passage. Here Alexarchus, the son
of Antipater, built the city Uranopolis, 30 stadia in circum-
ference.

This peninsula was inhabited by Pelasgi from Lemnos ; they
were distributed into five small cities, Cleona?, Olophyxis,
Acrothoi, Dium, Thyssos. After Athos comes the Strymonic
Gulf, extending to the river Nestus, which forms the bound-
ary of Macedonia, as settled by Philip and Alexander. Ac-
curately speaking, there is a promontory forming a gulf with
Athos, on which is the city Apollonia. First in the gulf, af-
ter the harbour of Acanthus, is Stagira, now deserted : it was
one of the Chalcidic cities, and the birth-place of Aristotle.
Caprus was the harbour, and there is a small island of the
same name. Then comes the Strymon, and Amphipolis, at
the distance of 20 stadia up the river. In this part is situated
an Athenian colony, called Ennea-Odoi (the Nine -Ways).
Then Galepsus and Apollonia, which were destroyed by
Philip. E.

36. He says, it is 120 stadia (300?) from the Peneus to
Pydna. On the sea-coast of the Strymon and of the Dateni
is Neapolis, and Datum also, which has fruitful plains, a lake,
rivers, dockyards, and valuable gold mines. Hence the pro-
verb, " A Datum of good things," like " Piles of plenty."

VOL. I. 2 L

514 STRABO. FRAGM. 37-40.

The country beyond the Strymon, which borders upon the
sea and includes the parts about Datum, is occupied by Odo-
mantes, Edoni, and Bisaltse, some of whom are an indigenous
people, the others came from Macedonia and were under the
government of Rhesus. Above Amphipolis live the Bisaltae,
extending to the city Heraclea (Sintica) ; they occupy a fer-
tile valley, through which passes the Strymon, which rises
among the Agrianes near Rhodope. Near the Agrianes is
situated Parorbelia of Macedonia. In the interior, in a valley,
which commences at Idomene, are situated Callipolis, Ortho-
polis, Philipopolis, and Garescus. Among the Bisaltaa, pro-
ceeding up the river Strymon, is situated Berga, a village,
distant from Amphipolis about 200 stadia. Proceeding north-
wards from Heraclea, and to the narrows, through which the
Strymon flows, keeping the river on the right, first on the
left are Paeonia and the parts about Dobera ; then on the right
are the mountains Rasmus and Rhodope, with the adjacent
parts. On this side of the Strymon, close upon the river,
is Scotussa ; near the lake Bolbe is Arethusa ; the inhabitants
above the lake are chiefly Mygdones. Not only is the course
of the Axius through Paeonia, but that of the Strymon also ;
for it rises among the Agrianes, passes through the territory
of the Maadi and Sinti, and discharges itself between the
Bisaltas and Odomantes. E.

37. The source of the river Strymon is among the Agrianes
near Rhodope. EPIT.

38. The Pceonians, according to some, were a dependent
colony of the Phrygians ; according to others, they were an
independent settlement. Poeonia, it is said, extended to Pela-
gonia and Pieria ; Pelagonia is said to have been formerly
called Orestia ; and Asteropceus, one of the chiefs from Paa-
onia who went to Troy, to have been called, with great pro-
bability, the son of Pelagon, and the Pceonians themselves to
have been called Pelagones. E.

39. The Asteropceus in Homer, son of Pelegon, we are told,
was of PcEonia in Macedonia: whence "Son of Pelegon;"
for the Paeonians were called Pelagones. EPIT.

40. As the pceanismus, or singing of the Thracian Pasan,
was called titanusmus by the Greeks, in imitation of a well-
known note in the paean, so the Pelagones were called Ti-
tanes. E.

FRAGM. 41-48. THRACE. 515

41. Anciently, as at present, the Paeonians appear to have
been masters of so much of what is now called Macedonia as
to be able to besiege Perinthus, and subject to their power
Crestonia, the whole of Mygdonia, and the territory of the
Agrianes as far as Mount Pangaeus. Above the sea-coast of
the Strymonic Gulf, extending from Galepsus to Nestus, are
situated Philippi and the surrounding country. Philippi was
formerly called Crenides ; it was a small settlement, but in-
creased after the defeat of Brutus and Cassius. E.

43. l The present city Philippi was anciently called Cre-
nides. EPIT.

44. In front of this coast lie two islands, Lemnos and Tha-
sos. Beyond the strait at Thasos is Abdera, with its fables.
It was inhabited by Bistones, over whom ruled Diomed. The
Nestus does not always keep within its banks, but frequently
inundates the country. Then Dicaea, a city on the gulf, with
a harbour. Above it is the lake Bistonis, 200 stadia in cir-
cumference. They say that Hercules, when he came to seize
upon the horses of Diomed, cut a canal through the sea-shore
and turned the water of the sea upon the plain, which is situ-
ated in a hollow, and is lower than the level of the sea, and
thus vanquished his opponents. The royal residence of Dio-
med is shown, called, from a local peculiarity, its natural
strength, Cartera-Come [Strong -Village]. Beyond the in-
land lake are Xanthia, Maronia, and Ismarus, cities of the
Cicones. Ismarus is now called Ismara-near-Maronia. Near
it is the outlet of the lake Ismaris. The stream is called
sweet ****** At this place are what are called the
heads of the Thasii. The Sapaei are situated above. E.

45. Topeira is situated near Abdera and Maronia. E.

46. The Sinti, a Thracian tribe, inhabit the island of Lem-
nos ; whence Homer calls them Sinties, thus, " There are the
Sinties." EPIT.

47. After the river Nestus to the west is the city Abdera,
named after Abderus, who was eaten by the horses of Dio-
med ; then, near, Dicaea, a city, above which is situated a large
lake, the Bistonis ; then the city Maronia. EPIT.

48. The whole of Thrace is composed of twenty-two na-
tions. Although greatly exhausted, it is capable of equipping

1 This extract should be numbered 42, and not 43. As the error in
Kramer continues to the end of the book, it has not been corrected.

2 L 2

516 STRABO. FRAGM. 49— 52

15,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry. After Maronia are
Orthagoria, a city, and the district of Serrium (the navigation
along the coast is difficult) ; the small city Tempyra belonging
to the Samothracians, and another Caracoma, (the Stockade,)
in front of which lies the island Samothrace. Imbros is at no
great distance from Samothrace; Thasos is double the dis-
tance from it. After Caracoma is Doriscus, where Xerxes
counted the number of his army. Then the Hebrus, with a
navigation up the stream for 100 stadia to Cypsela. Strabo
says that this was the boundary of Macedonia when wrested
by the Romans, first from Perseus, and afterwards from Pseu-
dophilip. Paulus, who overthrew Perseus, united the Epi-
rotic nations to Macedonia, and divided the country into four
parts ; one lie assigned to Amphipolis, a second to Thessalo-
nica, a third to Pella, and a fourth to Pelagonia. Along the
Hebrus dwell the Corpili, the Brense still higher up, above
them, and lastly the Bessi, for the Hebrus is navigable up to
this point. All these nations are addicted to plunder, par-
ticularly the Bessi, whom, he says, border upon the Odrysa?
and Sapa3i. Bizya is the capital of the Astae (?). Some give
the name of Odrysse to all those people who live on the moun-
tains overhanging the coast, from the Hebrus and Cypsela to
Odessus. They were under the kingly government of Ama-
docus, Khersobleptes, Berisades, Seuthes, (Theseus?) and
Cotys. E.

49. The river in Thrace now called Rhiginia (Rhegina ?)
was formerly called Erigon (Erginus ?). EPIT.

50. Samothrace was inhabited by the brothers Jasion and
Dardanus. Jasion was killed by lightning, for his crime against
Ceres ; Dardanus moved away from Samothrace, and built a
city, to which he gave the name of Dardania, at the foot of
Mount Ida. He taught the Trojans the Samothracian mys-
teries. Samothrace was formerly called Samos. EPIT.

51. The gods worshipped in Samothrace, the Curbantes
and Corybantes, the Curetes and the Idnsan Dactyli, are said
by many persons to be the same as the Cabiri, although they
are unable to explain who the Cabiri were. E.

52. At the mouth of the Hebrus, which discharges itself
by two channels, in the Gulf of Melas, is a city ^Enos, founded
by the Mitylenseans and Cumaeans ; its first founders, how-
ever, were Alopeconnesi ; then the promontory Sarpedon ;

FRAGM. 53—56.

HELLESPONT. 517

then the Chersonesus, called the Thracian Chersonesus, form-
ing the Propontis, the Gulf of Melas, and the Hellespont. It
stretches forwards to the south-east, like a promontory, bring-
ing Europe and Asia together, with only a strait between
them of 7 stadia in width, the Strait of Sestos and Abydos.
On the left is the Propontis, on the right the Gulf Melas,1 so
called from the river Melas,'2 which discharges itself into it,
according to Herodotus and Eudoxus. It is stated (says
Strabo) by Herodotus, that the stream of this river was not
sufficient to supply the army of Xerxes. The above pro-
montory is closed in by an isthmus 40 stadia across. In the
middle of the isthmus is situated the city Lysimachia, named
after king Lysimachus, its founder. On one side of the isth-
mus, on the Gulf Melas, lies Cardia ; its first founders were
Milesians and Clazomenaeans, its second founders Athenians.
It is the largest of the cities in the Chersonesus. Pactya is
on the Propontis. After Cardia are Drabus and Limnas;
then Alopeconnesus, where the Gulf Melas principally ends ;
then the great promontory Mazusia ; then, in the gulf, Eleus,
where is Protesilaum, from whence Sigeum, a promontory of
Troas, is 40 stadia distant ; this is about the most southern
extremity of the Chersonesus, distant from Cardia rather more
than 400 . stadia ; if the circuit is made by sea to the other
side of the isthmus, the distance is a little greater. E.

53. The Thracian Chersonesus forms three seas, the Pro-
pontis to the north, the Hellespont to the east, and the Gulf
Melas to the south, where the river Melas, of the same name
as the gulf, discharges itself. EPIT.

54. In the isthmus of the Chersonesus are three cities,
Cardia on the Gulf of Melas, Pactya on the Propontis, Lysi-
machia in the interior; the breadth of the isthmus is 40
stadia. EPIT.

55. The name of the city Eleus is of the masculine gen-
der, perhaps that of Trapezus is also masculine. EPIT.

56. In the voyage round of which we have been speaking ;
beyond Eleus, first, is the entrance into the Propontis through
the straits, where they say the Hellespont begins. There
is a promontory here by some called Dog's Monument, by
others the Monument of Hecuba, for on doubling the pro-

1 Gulf of Saros. 2 Kavaktshai.

518 STRABO. FRAGM. 57, 58,

montory, the place of her burial is to be seen. Then Mady-
tus and the promontory of Sestos, where was the Bridge of
Xerxes ; after these places comes Sestos. From Eleus to the
Bridge it is 170 stadia; after Sestos it is 280 stadia to ^Egos-
potamos : it is a small city in ruins. At this place a stone is
said to have fallen from heaven during the Persian war.
Then Callipolis, from whence to Lampsacus in Asia is a
passage across of 40 stadia ; then a small city Crithote in
ruins ; then Pactya ; next Macron -Tichos, and Leuce-Acte,
and Hieron-Oros, and Perinthus, a colony of the Samians ;
then Selybria. Above these places is situated Silta. Sacred
rites are performed in honour of Hieron-Oros by the natives,
which is as it were the citadel of the country. It discharges
asphaltus into the sea. Proconnesus here approaches nearest
the continent, being 120 stadia distant ; there is a quarry of
white marble in it, which is plentiful and of good quality ;
after Selybria the rivers Athyras and [Bathynias] ; then By-
zantium and the parts reaching to the Cyanean rocks. E.

57. From Perintlms to Byzantium it is 630 stadia; from
the Hebrus and Cypseli to Byzantium and the Cyanean rocks
it is, according to Artemidorus, 3100 stadia. The whole dis-
tance from Apollonia on the Ionian Gulf to Byzantium is
7320 stadia; Polybius makes this distance 180 stadia more,
by the addition of a third of a stadium to the sum of 8 stadia,
which compose a mile. Demetrius of Skepsis, in his account
of the disposition of the Trojan forces, says that it is 700
stadia from Perinthus to Byzantium, and the same distance
to Parium. He makes the length of the Propontis to be 1400
and the breadth 500 stadia ; the narrowest part also of the
Hellespont to be 7 stadia, and the length 400. E.

58. All writers do not agree in their description of the
Hellespont, and many opinions are advanced on the subject.
Some describe the Propontis to be the Hellespont ; others, that
part of the Propontis which is to the south of Perinthus; others
include a part of the exterior sea which opens to the JEgaean
and the Gulf Melas, each assigning different limits. Some
make their measurement from Sigeum to Lampsacus, and
Cyzicus, and Parium, and Priapus ; and one is to be found
who measures from Singrium, a promontory of Lesbos. Some
do not hesitate to give the name of Hellespont to the whole
distance as far as the Myrtoan Sea, because (as in the Odes

FIIAGM. 58. HELLESPONT. 519

of Pindar) when Hercules sailed from Troy through the vir-
gin strait of Hella, and arrived at the Myrtoan Sea, he re-
turned back to Cos, in consequence of thr wind Zephyrus
blowing contrary to his course. Thus some consider it cor-
rect to apply the name Hellespont to the whole of the JEgasan
Sea, and the sea along the coast of Thessaly and Macedonia,
invoking the testimony of Homer, who says,

" Thou shall see, if such thy will, in spring,
My ships shall sail to Hellespont."

But the argument is contradicted in the following lines,

" Piros, Imbracius' son, who came from ^Enos."
Piros commanded the Thracians,

" Whose limits are the quick-flowing Hellespont."

So that he would consider all people settled next to the
Thracians as excluded from the Hellespont. For JEnos is
situated in the district formerly called Apsynthis, but now
Corpilice. The territory of the Cicones is next towards the
west. E.

END OF VOL. I.

JOHN CH1LDS AND SON, BUNGAY.

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