Short URL for this page:
bit.ly/Strabo14B


[image ALT: Much of my site will be useless to you if you've got the images turned off!]
mail:
Bill Thayer

[image ALT: Cliccare qui per una pagina di aiuto in Italiano.]
Italiano

[Link to a series of help pages]
Help
[Link to the next level up]
Up
[Link to my homepage]
Home
previous:

[image ALT: link to previous section]
XIV.1

This webpage reproduces a section of
The Geography

of
Strabo

published in Vol. V
of the Loeb Classical Library edition,
1928

The text is in the public domain.

This page has been carefully proofread
and I believe it to be free of errors.
If you find a mistake though,
please let me know!

next:

[image ALT: link to next section]
XIV.3

(Vol. VI) Strabo
Geography

 p263  Book XIV, Chapter 2

1 (650) Coming now to the far side of the Maeander,​1 the parts that remain to be described are all Carian, 651 since here the Lydians are no longer intermingled with the Carians, and the latter occupy all the country by themselves, except that a segment of the seaboard is occupied by Milesians and Myesians. Now the beginning of the seaboard is the Peraea​2 of the Rhodians on the sea, and the end of it is the Poseidium of the Milesians; but in the interior are the extremities of the Taurus, extending as far as the Maeander River. For it is said that the mountains situated above the Chelidonian islands, as they are called, which islands lie off the confines of Pamphylia and Lycia, form the beginning of the Taurus, for thence the Taurus rises to a height;  p265 but the truth is that the whole of Lycia, towards the parts outside and on its southern side, is separated by a mountainous ridge of the Taurus from the country of the Cibyrans as far as the Peraea of the Rhodians. From here the ridge continues, but is much lower and is no longer regarded as a part of the Taurus; neither are the parts outside the Taurus and this side of it so regarded, because of the fact that the eminences and depressions are scattered equally throughout the breadth and the length of the whole country, and present nothing like a wall of partition. The whole of the voyage round the coast, following the sinuosities of the gulfs, is four thousand nine hundred stadia, and merely that round the Peraea of the Rhodians is close to fifteen hundred.

2 The Peraea of the Rhodians begins with Daedala, a place in the Rhodian territory, but ends with Mt. Phoenix, as it is called, which is also in the Rhodian territory. Off the Peraea lies the island Elaeussa, distant one hundred and twenty stadia from Rhodes. Between the two, as one sails towards the west from Daedala in a straight line with the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia and Lycia, one comes to a gulf called Glaucus, which has good harbours; then to the Artemisium, a promontory and temple; then to the sacred precinct of Leto, above which, and above the sea, at a distance of sixty stadia, lies Calynda, a city; then to Caunus and to the Calbis, a river near Caunus, which is deep and affords passage for merchant vessels; and between the two lies Pisilis.

3 The city​3 has dockyards, and a harbour that can be closed. Above the city, on a height, lies  p267 Imbrus, a stronghold. Although the country is fertile, the city is agreed by all to have foul air in the summer, as also in autumn, because of the heat and the abundance of fruits. And indeed little tales of the following kind are repeated over and over, that Stratonicus the citharist, seeing that the Caunians were pitiably​4 pale,​5 said that this was the thought of the poet in the verse, "even as is the generation of leaves, such is that also of men"; and when people complained that he was jeering at the city as though it were sickly, he replied, "Would I be so bold as to call this city sickly, 652 where even the corpses walk about?" The Caunians once revolted from the Rhodians, but by a judicial decision of the Romans they were restored to them. And there is extant a speech of Molon​6 entitled Against the Caunians. It is said that they speak the same language as the Carians, but that they came from Crete and follow usages of their own.7

4 Next one comes to Physcus, a small town, which has a harbour and a sacred precinct of Leto; and then to Loryma, a rugged coast, and to the highest mountain in that part of the country; and on top of the mountain is Phoenix, a stronghold bearing the same name as the mountain; and off the mountain, at a distance of four stadia, lies Elaeussa, an island, which is about eight stadia in circuit.

 p269  5 The city of the Rhodians lies on the eastern promontory of Rhodes; and it is so far superior to all others in harbours and roads and walls and improvements in general that I am unable to speak of any other city as equal to it, or even as almost equal to it, much less superior to it. It is remarkable also for its good order, and for its careful attention to the administration of affairs of state in general; and in particular to that of naval affairs, whereby it held the mastery of the sea for a long time and overthrew the business of piracy, and became a friend to the Romans and to all kings who favoured both the Romans and the Greeks. Consequently it not only has remained autonomous but also has been adorned with many votive offerings, which for the most part are to be found in the Dionysium and the gymnasium, but partly in other places. The best of these are, first, the Colossus of Helius,​8 of which the author​9 of the iambic verse says, "seven times ten cubits in height, the work of Chares the Lindian"; but it now lies on the ground, having been thrown down by an earthquake and broken at the knees. In accordance with a certain oracle, the people did not raise it again. This, then, is the most excellent of the votive offerings (at any rate, it is by common agreement one of the Seven Wonders); and there are also the paintings of Proto­genes, his Ialysus​10 and also his Satyr, the latter standing by a pillar, on top of which stood a male partridge. And at this partridge, as would be natural, the people were so agape when the picture had only recently been set up, that they would behold him with wonder but overlook the Satyr, although the latter was a very great  p271 success. But the partridge-breeders were still more amazed, bringing their tame partridges and placing them opposite the painted partridge; for their partridges would make their call to the painting and attract a mob of people. But when Proto­genes saw that the main part of the work had become subordinate, he begged those who were in charge of the sacred precinct to permit him to go there and efface the partridge, and so he did. The Rhodians are concerned for the people in general, although their rule is not democratic; still, they wish to take care of their multitude of poor people. 653 Accordingly, the people are supplied with provisions and the needy are supported by the well-to‑do, by a certain ancestral custom; and there were certain liturgies​11 that supply provisions, so that at the same time the poor man receives his sustenance and the city does not run short of useful men, and in particular for the manning of the fleets. As for the roadsteads, some of them were kept hidden and forbidden to the people in general; and death was the penalty for any person who spied on them or passed inside them. And here too, as in Massalia and Cyzicus, everything relating to the architects, the manufacture of instruments of war, and the stores of arms and everything else are objects of exceptional care, and even more so than anywhere else.

6 The Rhodians, like the people of Halicarnassus and Cnidus and Cos, are Dorians; for of the Dorians who founded Megara after the death of Codrus, some remained there, others took part with Althaemenes the Argive in the colonisation of Crete, and  p273 others were distributed to Rhodes and to the cities just mentioned. But these events are later than those mentioned by Homer, for Cnidus and Halicarnassus were not yet in existence, although Rhodes and Cos were; but they were inhabited by Heracleidae. Now when Tlepolemus had grown to manhood, "he forthwith slew his own father's dear uncle, Licymnius, who was then growing old; and straightway he built him ships, and when he had gathered together a great host he went in flight."​12 The poet then adds, "he came to Rhodes in his wanderings, where his people settled in three divisions by tribes"; and he names the cities of that time, "Lindus, Ialysus, and Cameirus white with chalk,"​13 the city of the Rhodians having not yet been founded. The poet, then, nowhere mentions Dorians by name here, but perhaps indicates Aeolians and Boeotians, if it be true that Heracles and Licymnius settled there. But if, as others say, Tlepolemus set forth from Argos and Tiryns, even so the colonisation could not have taken place before the return of the Heracleidae. And of the Coans, also, Homer says, "these were led by Pheidippus and Antiphus, the two sons of lord Thessalus, son of Heracles";​14 and these names indicate the Aeolian stock of people rather than the Dorian.

7 In earlier times Rhodes was called Ophiussa and Stadia, and then Telchinis, after the Telchines,  p275 who took up their abode in the island. 654 Some say that the Telchines are "maligners" and "sorcerers," who pour the water of the Styx mixed with sulphur​15 upon animals and plants in order to destroy them. But others, on the contrary, say that since they excelled in workman­ship they were "maligned" by rival workmen and thus received their bad reputation; and that they first came from Crete to Cypros, and then to Rhodes; and that they were the first to work iron and brass, and in fact fabricated the scythe for Cronus. Now I have already described them before,​16 but the number of the myths about them causes me to resume their description, filling up the gaps, if I have omitted anything.

8 After the Telchines, the Heliadae, according to the mythical story, took possession of the island; and to one of these, Cercaphus, and to his wife Cydippê, were born children who founded the cities that are named after them, "Lindus, Ialysus, and Cameirus white with chalk." But some say that Tlepolemus founded them and gave them the same names as those of certain daughters of Danäus.

9 The present city was founded at the time of the Peloponnesian War by the same architect, as they say, who founded the Peiraeus. But the Peiraeus no longer endures, since it was badly damaged, first by the Lacedaemonians, who tore down the two walls, and later by Sulla, the Roman commander.

10 It is also related of the Rhodians that they have been prosperous by sea, not merely since the  p277 time when they founded the present city, but that even many years before the establishment of the Olympian Games they used to sail far away from their homeland to insure the safety of their people. Since that time, also, they have sailed as far as Iberia; and there they founded Rhodes,​17 of which the Massaliotes later took possession; among the Opici they founded Parthenopê; and among the Daunians they, along with the Coans, founded Elpiae. Some say that the islands called the Gymnesiae were founded by them after their departure from Troy; and the larger of these, according to Timaeus, is the largest of all islands after the seven — Sardinia, Sicily, Cypros, Crete, Euboea, Cyrnos, and Lesbos, but this is untrue, for there are others much larger. It is said that "gymnetes"​18 are called "balearides"​19 by the Phoenicians, and that on this account the Gymnesiae were called Balearides. Some of the Rhodians took up their abode round Sybaris in Chonia. The poet, too, seems to bear witness to the prosperity enjoyed by the Rhodians from ancient times, forthwith from the first founding of the three cities: "and there his​20 people settled in three divisions by tribes, and were loved of Zeus, who is lord over gods and men; and upon them a wondrous wealth was shed by the son of Cronus."​21 655 Other writers refer these verses to a myth, and say that gold rained on the island at the time when Athena was born from the head of Zeus, as Pindar​22 states. The island has a circuit of nine hundred and twenty stadia.

 p279  11 As one sails from the city, with the island on the right, one comes first to Lindus, a city situated on a mountain and extending far towards the south and approximately towards Alexandria.​23 In Lindus there is a famous temple of Athena Lindia, founded by the daughters of Danäus. Now in earlier times the Lindians were under a separate government of their own, as were also the Cameirians and the Ialysians, but after this they all came together at Rhodes. Cleobulus, one of the Seven Wise Men, was a native of Lindus.

12 After Lindus one comes to Ixia, a stronghold, and to Mnasyrium; then to Atabyris, the highest of the mountains there, which is sacred to Zeus Atabyrius; then to Cameirus; then to Ialysus, a village, above which there is an acropolis called Ochyroma; then to the city of the Rhodians, at a distance of about eighty stadia. Between these lies Thoantium, a kind of promontory; and it is off Thoantium, generally speaking, that Chalcia and the Sporades in the neighbourhood of Chalcia lie, which I have mentioned before.24

13 Many men worthy of mention were native Rhodians, both commanders and athletes, among whom were the ancestors of Panaetius the philosopher; and, among statesmen and rhetoricians and philosophers, Panaetius himself and Stratocles and Andronicus, one of the Peripatetics, and Leonides the Stoic; and also, before their time, Praxiphanes and Hieronymus and Eudemus. Poseidonius engaged in affairs of state in Rhodes and taught there, although he was a native of Apameia in Syria, as  p281 was also the case with Apollonius Malacus​25 and Molon,​26 for they were Alabandians,​27 pupils of Menecles the orator. Apollonius Malacus began his sojourn there earlier than Molon, and when, much later, Molon came, the former said to him, "you are a late 'molon,' "​28 instead of saying, "late 'elthon.' "​29 and Peisander the poet, who wrote the Heracleia, was also a Rhodian; and so was Simmias the grammarian, as also Aristocles of my own time. And Dionysius the Thracian and the Apollonius who wrote the Argonauts, though Alexandrians, were called Rhodians. As for Rhodes, I have said enough about it.

14 As for the Carian coast that comes after Rhodes, beginning at Eleus and Loryma, it bends sharply back towards the north, and the voyage thereafter runs in a straight line as far as the Propontis, forming, as it were, a meridian line about five thousand stadia long, or slightly short of that distance. Along this line is situated the remainder of Caria, as are also the Ionians and the Aeolians and Troy and the parts round Cyzicus and Byzantium. After Loryma, then, 656 one comes to Cynos-Sema​30 and to Symê, an island.

15 Then to Cnidus, with two harbours, one of which can be closed, can receive triremes, and is a naval station for twenty ships. Off it lies an island which is approximately seven stadia in circuit, rises high, is theatre-like, is connected by moles with the  p283 mainland, and in a way makes Cnidus a double city, for a large part of its people live on the island, which shelters both harbours. Opposite it, in the high sea, is Nisyrus. Notable Cnidians were: first, Eudoxus the mathematician, one of the comrades of Plato; then Agatharchides, one of the Peripatetics, a historian; and, in my own time, Theopompus, the friend of the deified Caesar, being a man of great influence with him, and his son Artemidorus. Thence, also, came Ctesias, who served Artaxerxes as physician and wrote the works entitled Assyrica and Persica. Then, after Cnidus, one comes to Ceramus and Bargasa, small towns situated above the sea.

16 Then to Halicarnassus, the royal residence of the dynasts of Caria, which was formerly called Zephyra. Here is the tomb of Mausolus,​31 one of the Seven Wonders, a monument erected by Artemisia in honour of her husband; and here is the fountain called Salmacia, which has the slanderous repute, for what reason I do not know, of making effeminate all who drink from it. It seems that the effeminacy of man is laid to the charge of the air or of the water; yet it is not these, but rather riches and wanton living, that are the cause of effeminacy. Halicarnassus has an acropolis; and off the city lies Arconnesus. Its colonisers were, among others, Anthes and a number of Troezenians. Natives of Halicarnassus have been: Herodotus the historian, whom they later called a Thurian, because  p285 he took part in the colonisation of the Thurii; and Heracleitus the poet, the comrade of Callimachus; and, in my time, Dionysius the historian.

17 This city, too, met a reverse when it was forcibly seized by Alexander. For Hecatomnus, the king of the Carians, had three sons, Mausolus and Hidrieus and Pixodarus, and two daughters. Mausolus, the eldest of the brothers, married Artemisia, the elder of the daughters, and Hidrieus, the second son, married Ada, the other sister. Mausolus became king and at last, childless, he left the empire to his wife, by whom the above-mentioned tomb was erected. But she pined away and died through grief for her husband, and Hidrieus then became ruler. He died from a disease and was succeeded by his wife Ada; but she was banished by Pixodarus, the remaining son of Hecatomnos. 657 Having espoused the side of the Persians, he sent for a satrap to share the empire with him; and when he too departed from life, the satrap took possession of Halicarnassus. And when Alexander came over, the satrap sustained a siege. His wife was Ada, who was the daughter of Pixodarus by Aphenis, a Cappadocian woman. But Ada, the daughter of Hecatomnos, whom Pixodarus had banished, entreated Alexander and persuaded him to restore her to the kingdom of which she had been deprived, having promised to co‑operate with him against the parts of the country which were in revolt, for those who held these parts, she said, were her own relations; and she also gave over to him Alinda, where she herself was residing. He assented and appointed her queen; and when the city, except the acropolis (it was a double city), had been captured, he assigned to her the siege of the acropolis.  p287 This thorough was captured a little later, the siege having now become a matter of anger and personal enmity.

18 Next one comes to a promontory, Termerium, belonging to the Myndians, opposite which lies Scandaria, a promontory of Cos, forty stadia distant from the mainland. And there is a place called Termerum above the promontory of Cos.

19 The city of the Coans was in ancient times called Astypalaea; and its people lived on another site, which was likewise on the sea. And then, on account of a sedition, they changed their abode to the present city, near Scandarium, and changed the name to Cos, the same as that of the island. Now the city is not large, but it is the most beautifully settled of all, and is most pleasing to behold as one sails from the high sea to its shore. The size​32 of the island is about five hundred and fifty stadia. It is everywhere well supplied with fruits, but like Chios and Lesbos it is best in respect to its wine. Towards the south it has a promontory, Laceter, whence the distance to Nisyros is sixty stadia (but near Laceter there is a place called Halisarna), and on the west it has Drecanum and a village called Stomalimnê. Now Drecanum is about two hundred stadia distant from there, but Laceter adds thirty-five stadia to the length of the voyage. In the suburb is the Asclepïeium, a temple exceedingly famous and full of numerous votive offerings, among which is the Antigonus of Apelles. And Aphrodite  p289 Anadyomenê​33 used to be there,​34 but it is now dedicated to the deified Caesar in Rome, Augustus having thus dedicated to his father the female founder of his family. It is said that the Coans got a remission of one hundred talents of the appointed tribute in return for the painting. And it is said that the dietetics practised by Hippocrates were derived mostly from the cures recorded on the votive tablets there. He, then, is one of the famous men from Cos; and so is Simus the physician; as also Philetas, at the same time poet and critic; and, in my time, Nicias, who also reigned as tyrant over the Coans; 658 and Ariston, the pupil and heir of the Peripatetic;​35 and Theomnestus, a renowned harper, who was a political opponent of Nicias, was a native of the island.

20 On the coast of the mainland near the Myndian territory lies Astypalaea, a promontory; and also Zephyrium. Then forthwith one comes to Myndus, which has a harbour; and after Myndus to Bargylia, which is also a city; between the two is Caryanda, a harbour, and also an island bearing the same name, where the Caryandians lived. Here was born Scylax, the ancient historian. Near Bargylia is the temple of Artemis Cindyas, round which the rain is believed to fall without striking it. And there was once a place called Cindyê. From Bargylia there was a man of note, the Epicurean Protarchus, who was the teacher of Demetrius called Lacon.36

 p291  21 Then one comes to Iasus, which lies on an island close to the mainland. It has a harbour; and the people gain most of their livelihood from the sea, for the sea here is well supplied with fish, but the soil of the country is rather poor. Indeed, people fabricate stories of this kind in regard to Iasus: When a citharoede​37 was giving a recital, the people all listened for a time, but when the bell that announced the sale of fish rang, they all left him and went away to the fish market, except one man who was hard of hearing. The citharoede, therefore, went up to him and said: "Sir, I am grateful to you for the honour you have done me and for your love of music, for all the others except you went away the moment they heard the sound of the bell." And the man said, "What's that you say? Has the bell already rung?" And when the citharoede said "Yes," the man said, "Fare thee well," and himself arose and went away. Here was born the dialectician Diodorus, nicknamed Cronus, falsely so at the outset, for it was Apollonius his master who was called Cronus, but the nickname was transferred to him because of the true Cronus' lack of repute.38

22 After Iasus one comes to the Poseidium of the Milesians. In the interior are three noteworthy cities: Mylasa, Stratoniceia, and Alabanda. The others are dependencies of these or else of the cities on the coast, among which are Amyzon, Heracleia, Euromus, and Chalcetor. As for these, there is less to be said.

 p293  But as for Mylasa: it is situated in an exceedingly fertile plain; and above the plain, towering into a peak, rises a mountain, which has a most excellent quarry of white marble. Now this quarry is of no small advantage, since it has stone in abundance and close at hand, for building purposes and in particular for the building of temples and other public works;​39 659 accordingly this city, as much as any other, is in every way beautifully adorned with porticoes and temples. But one may well be amazed at those who so absurdly founded the city at the foot of a steep and commanding crag. Accordingly, one of the commanders, amazed at the fact, is said to have said, "If the man who founded this city was not afraid, was he not even ashamed?" The Mylasians have two temples of Zeus, Zeus Osogo, as he is called, and Zeus Labrandenus. The former is in the city, whereas Labranda is a village far from the city, being situated on the mountain near the pass that leads over from Alabanda to Mylasa. At Labranda there is an ancient shrine and statue of Zeus Stratius. It is honoured by the people all about and by the Mylasians; and there is a paved road of almost sixty stadia from the shrine to Mylasa, called the Sacred Way, on which their sacred processions are conducted. The priestly offices are held by the most distinguished of the citizens, always for life. Now these temples belong peculiarly to the city; but there is a third temple, that of the Carian Zeus, which is a common possession of all Carians, and in which, as brothers, both Lydians and Mysians have a share. It is  p295 related that Mylasa was a mere village in ancient times, but that it was the native land and royal residence of the Carians of the house of Hecatomnos. The city is nearest to the sea at Physcus; and this is their seaport.

24 Mylasa has had two notable men in my time, who were at once orators and leaders of the city, Euthydemus and Hybreas. Now Euthydemus, having inherited from his ancestors great wealth and high repute, and having added to these his own cleverness, was not only a great man in his native land, but was also thought worthy of the foremost honour in Asia. As for Hybreas, as he himself used to tell the story in his school and as confirmed by his fellow-citizens, his father left him a mule-driver and a wood-carrying mule. And, being supported by these, he became a pupil of Diotrephes of Antiocheia for a short time, and then came back and "surrendered himself to the office of market-clerk." But when he had been "tossed about" in this office and had made but little money, he began to apply himself to the affairs of state and to follow closely the speakers of the forum. He quickly grew in power, and was already an object of amazement in the lifetime of Euthydemus, but in particular after his death, having become master of the city. So long as Euthydemus lived he strongly prevailed, being at once powerful and useful to the city, so that even if there was something tyrannical about him, it was atoned for by the fact that it was attended by what was good for the city. At any rate, people applaud the following statement of Hybreas, made by him towards the end of a public speech: "Euthydemus: you are an evil necessary to the city, for we  p297 can live neither with you nor without you." 660 However, although he had grown very strong and had the repute of being both a good citizen and orator, he stumbled in his political opposition to Labienus; for while the others, since they were without arms and inclined to peace, yielded to Labienus when he was coming against them with an army and an allied Parthian force, the Parthians by that time being in possession of Asia, yet Zeno of Laodiceia and Hybreas, both orators, refused to yield and caused to cities to revolt. Hybreas also provoked Labienus, a lad​a who was irritable and full of folly, by a certain pronouncement; for when Labienus proclaimed himself Parthian Emperor, Hybreas said: "Then I too call myself Carian Emperor." Consequently Labienus set out against the city with cohorts​40 of Roman soldiers in Asia that were already organised. Labienus did not seize Rhodes, but he shamefully maltreated his home, with its costly furnishings, and plundered it. And he likewise damaged the whole of the city. But though Hybreas abandoned Asia, he came back and rehabilitated both himself and the city. So much, then, for Mylasa.

25 Stratoniceia is a settlement of Macedonians. And this too was adorned with costly improvements by the kings. There are two temples in the country of the Stratoniceians, of which the most famous, that of Hecatê, is at Lagina; and it draws great festal assemblies every year. And near the city is the temple of Zeus Chrysaoreus,​41 the common possession of all Carians, whither they gather both to offer sacrifice and to deliberate on their common interests.  p299 Their League, which consists of villages, is called "Chrysaorian." And those who present the most villages have a preference in the vote,​42 like, for example, the people of Ceramus. The Stratoniceians also have a share in the League, although they are not of the Carian stock, but because they have villages belonging to the Chrysaorian League. Here, too, in the time of our fathers, was born a noteworthy man, Menippus, surnamed Catocas, whom Cicero, as he says in one of his writings,​43 applauded above all the Asiatic orators he had heard, comparing him with Xenocles and with the other orators who flourished in the latter's time. But there is also another Stratoniceia, "Stratoniceia under the Taurus," as it is called; it is a small town situated near the mountain.

26 Alabanda is also situated at the foot of hills, two hills that are joined together in such a way that they present the appearance of an ass laden with panniers. And indeed Apollonius Malacus, in ridiculing the city both in regard to this and in regard to the large number of scorpions there, said that it was an "ass laden with panniers of scorpions." Both this city and Mylasa are full of these creatures, and so is the whole of the mountainous country between them. 661 Alabanda is a city of people who live in luxury and debauchery, containing many girls who play the harp. Alabandians worthy of mention are two orators, brothers, I mean Menecles, whom I mentioned a little above,​44 and Hierocles, and also Apollonius and Molon,​45 who changed their abode to Rhodes.

 p301  27 Of the numerous accounts of the Carians, the one that is generally agreed upon is this, that the Carians were subject to the rule of Minos, being called Leleges at that time, and lived in the islands; then, having migrated to the mainland, they took possession of much of the coast and of the interior, taking it away from its previous possessors, who for the most part were Leleges and Pelasgians. In turn these were deprived of a part of their country by the Greeks, I mean Ionians and Dorians. As evidences of their zeal for military affairs, writers adduce shield-holders, shield-emblems, and crests, for all these are called "Carian." At least Anacreon says, "Come, put thine arm through the shield-holder, work of the Carians." And Alcaeus​46 says, "shaking the Carian crest."

28 When the poet says, "Masthles​47 in turn led the Carians, of barbarian speech,"​48 we have no reason to inquire how it is that, although he knew so many barbarian tribes, he speaks of the Carians alone as "of barbarian speech," but nowhere speaks of "barbarians." Thucydides,​49 therefore, is not correct, for he says that Homer "did not use the term 'barbarians' either, because the Hellenes on their part had not yet been distinguished under one name as opposed to them"; for the poet himself refutes the statement that the Hellenes had not yet been so distinguished when he says, "My husband, whose fame is wide through Hellas and  p303 mid‑Argos."​50 And again, "And if thou dost wish to journey through Hellas and mid‑Argos." Further, if they were not called "barbarians," how could they properly be called a people "of barbarian speech"? So neither Thucydides is correct, nor Apollodorus the grammarian, who says that the general term was used by the Hellenes in a peculiar and abusive sense against the Carians, and in particular by the Ionians, who hated them because of their enmity and the continuous military campaigns; for it was right to name them barbarians in this sense. But I raise the question, Why does he call them people "of barbarian speech," but not even once calls them barbarians?" "Because," Apollodorus replies, "the plural does not fall in with the metre; this is why he does not call them barbarians." But though this case​51 does not fall in with metre, the nominative case​52 does not differ metrically from that 662 of "Dardanians":​53 "Trojans and Lycians and Dardanians."​54 So, also, the word "Trojan," in "of what kind the Trojan horses are."​55 Neither is he correct when he says that the language of the Carians is very harsh, for it is not, but even has very many Greek words mixed up with it, according to the Philip who wrote The Carica.​56 I suppose that the word "barbarian" was at first uttered onomatopoetically in reference to people who enunciated words only with difficulty and talked harshly and raucously, like our words "battarizein," "traulizein," and "psellizein";​57 for we are by nature  p305 very much inclined to denote sounds by words that sound like them, on account of their homogeneity. Wherefore onomatopoetic words abound in our language, as, for example, "celaryzein," and also "clangê," "psophos," "boê," and "crotos,"​58 most of which are by now used in their proper sense. Accordingly, when all who pronounced words thickly were being called barbarians onomatopoetically, it appeared that the pronunciations of all alien races were likewise thick, I mean of those that were not Greek. Those, therefore, they called barbarians in the special sense of the term, at first derisively, meaning that they pronounced words thickly or harshly; and then we misused the word as a general ethnic term, thus making a logical distinction between the Greeks and all other races. The fact is, however, that through our long acquaintance and intercourse with the barbarians this effect was at last seen to be the result, not of a thick pronunciation or any natural defect in the vocal organs, but of the peculiarities of their several languages. And there appeared another faulty and barbarian-like pronunciation in our language, whenever any person speaking Greek did not pronounce it correctly, but pronounced the words like barbarians who are only beginning to learn Greek and are unable to speak it accurately, as is also the case with us in speaking their languages. This was particularly the case with the Carians, for, although the other peoples were not yet having very much intercourse with the Greeks nor even trying to live in Greek fashion or to learn our language — with the exception, perhaps, of rare  p307 persons who by chance, and singly, mingled with a few of the Greeks — yet the Carians roamed throughout the whole of Greece, serving on expeditions for pay. Already, therefore, the barbarous element in their Greek was strong, as a result of their expeditions in Greece; and after this it spread much more, from the time they took up their abode with the Greeks in the islands; and when they were driven thence into Asia, even here they were unable to live apart from the Greeks, 663 I mean when the Ionians and Dorians later crossed over to Asia. The term "barbarise," also, has the same origin; for we are wont to use this too in reference to those who speak Greek badly, not to those who talk Carian. So, therefore, we must interpret the terms "speak barbarously" and "barbarously-speaking" as applying to those who speak Greek badly. And it was from the term "Carise" that the term "barbarise" was used in a different sense in works on the art of speaking Greek; and so was the term "soloecise," whether derived from Soli,​59 or made up in some other way.60

29 Artemidorus says that, as one goes from Physcus, in the Peraea of the Rhodians, to Ephesus, the distance to Lagina is eight hundred and fifty stadia; and thence to Alabanda, two hundred and fifty more; and to Tralleis, one hundred and sixty. But one comes to the road that leads into Tralleis after crossing the Maeander River, at about the middle of the journey,​61 where are the boundaries of Caria. The distance all told from Physcus to  p309 the Maeander along the road to Ephesus amounts to one thousand one hundred and eighty stadia. Again, from the Maeander, traversing next in order the length of Ionia along the same road, the distance from the river to Tralleis is eighty stadia; then to Magnesia, one hundred and forty; to Ephesus, one hundred and twenty; to Smyrna, three hundred and twenty; and to Phocaea and the boundaries of Ionia, less than two hundred; so that the length of Ionia in a straight line would be, according to Artemidorus, slightly more than eight hundred stadia. Since there is a kind of common road constantly used by all who travel from Ephesus towards the east, Artemidorus traverses this too: from Ephesus to Carura, a boundary of Caria towards Phrygia, through Magnesia, Tralleis, Nysa, and Antiocheia, is a journey of seven hundred and forty stadia; and, from Carura, the journey in Phrygia, through Laodiceia, Apameia, Metropolis and Chelidonia.​62 Now near the beginning of Paroreius,​63 one comes to Holmi, about nine hundred and twenty stadia from Carura, and, near the end of Paroreius near Lycaonia, through Philomelium, to Tyriaeum, slightly more than five hundred. Then Lycaonia, through Laodiceia Catacecaumenê,​64 as far as Coropassus, eight hundred and forty stadia; from Coropassus in Lycaonia to Garsaura, a small town in Cappadocia, situated on its borders, one hundred and twenty; thence to Mazaca, the metropolis of the Cappadocians, through Soandum  p311 and Sadacora, six hundred and eighty; and thence to the Euphrates River, as far as Tomisa, a place in Sophenê, through Herphae, a small town, one thousand four hundred and forty. The places on a straight line with these as far as India are the same in Artemidorus as they are in Eratosthenes. But Polybius​b says that we should rely most on Artemidorus in regard to the places here. 664 He begins with Samosata in Commagenê, which lies at the river-crossing and at Zeugma, and states that the distance to Samosata, across the Taurus, from the boundaries of Cappadocia round Tomisa is four hundred and fifty stadia.


The Editor's Notes:

1 For map of Asia Minor, see Vol. V (at end).

2 Mainland territory.

3 Caunus.

4 An attempt to translate ἐπιμελῶς, which seems to be corrupt. Others translate the word either "somewhat" or "very."

5 Or more strictly, "pale green."

6 Apollonius Molon of Alabanda, the rhetorician and orator; ambassador of the Rhodians at Rome (81 B.C.), and teacher of Cicero and Julius Caesar.

7 On their origin, language, and usages, cf. Herodotus 1.172.

8 The god of the Sun.

9 Unknown.

10 Tutelary hero of Rhodes and reputed grandson of Helius.

11 Public offices to which the richer citizens were appointed. These citizens were usually appointed by rotation, according to their wealth, and they personally paid all the expenses connected with their offices.

12 Iliad 2.662.

13 Iliad 2.656.

14 Iliad 2.678.

15 See critical note.

The critical note to the Greek text, at καὶ γόητας, θείῳ καταρραίνοντας τὸ τῆς Στυγὸς ὕδωρ, reads:

θείῳ (sulphur) is strongly suspected. Meineke conj. φθόνῳ, and Forbiger so translates.

16 10.3.719.

17 Cf. 3.4.8.

18 "Light-armed foot-soldiers."

19 Also spelled "baliarides" (see 3.5.1).

20 Referring to Heracles.

21 Iliad 2.668.

22 Olympian Odes 7.61.

23 According to Strabo (1.4.1 ff.), Rhodes and Alexandria lie on the same meridian.

24 10.5.14.

25 He taught rhetoric at Rhodes about 120 B.C.

26 Apollonius Molon (see 14.2.3).

27 Natives of Alabanda in Caria.

28 "Molon" means "comer" (note the word-play).

29 "Elthon" is the common word for "comer," whereas the other is poetic and comparatively rare.

30 Cape Volpo. Cf. the reference to the Cynos-Sema at the entrance to Hellespont, Vol. III, p377, Frag. 55.

31 Hence "mausoleum."

32 i.e. the circuit.

33 Emerging from the sea.

34 This, too, was a painting by Apelles.

35 Ariston the Peripatetic (fl. third century B.C.), of Iulis in Ceos (see 10.5.6). See Pauly-Wissowa.

36 i.e. the Laconian.

37 One who played the cithara and sang to its accompaniment.

38 "Cronus" was a nickname for "Old Timer," "Old Dotard." Diodorus is said to have been given the nickname by Ptolemy Soter because he was unable immediately to solve some dialectic problem put forth by Stilpo. He became the head of the Megarian school of philosophy.

Thayer's Note: The story is told by Diogenes Laërtius, II.111. Strabo, however, will repeat his own version in 17.3.22.

39 i.e. "works" of art (see Vol. II, p349 and footnote 108, and p407 and footnote 216).

40 The Greek word might mean "legions" rather than "cohorts."

41 Of the golden sword.

42 Cf. the votes of the Lycian cities, 14.3.3.

43 Brutus 91 (315).

44 § 13.

45 See § 13.

46 Frag. 22 (Bergk).

47 An error, apparently, for "Nastes."

48 Iliad 2.867 (note "Mesthles" in line 865).

49 1.3.

50 i.e. throughout the whole of Greece.

51 The genitive (βαρβάρων).

52 βάρβαροι.

53 Δάρδανοι.

54 Iliad 11.286.

55 Iliad 5.222.

56 The History of Caria.

57 Meaning respectively, "stutter," "lisp," and "speak falteringly."

58 Meaning respectively, "gurgle," "clang," "empty sound," "outcry," and "rattling noise."

59 The city in Cilicia, if not that in Cypros.

60 Strabo means that grammarians used the word in its original, or unrestricted sense, i.e. as applying to speech only. In the meantime it had been used in a broad sense, "to behave like, or imitate, barbarians."

61 Between Alabanda and Tralleis.

62 "Chelidonia" is thought to be corrupt (see C. Müller, Ind. Var. Lect., p1030).

63 i.e. Phrygia "alongside the mountain."

64 "Burnt."


Thayer's Notes:

a So the Greek: μειράκιον — an unusual choice of words for the Roman general Quintus Labienus, who must have been at least forty. See this page at Livius, with a coin portrait.

b In a passage now otherwise lost: it is thanks to Strabo that we have this information, now folded by modern editors into the text of Polybius (XXXVI.13).


[image ALT: Valid HTML 4.01.]

Page updated: 29 Mar 18