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V.1

This webpage reproduces a section of
The Geography

of
Strabo

published in Vol. II
of the Loeb Classical Library edition,
1923

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,
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V.3

(Vol. II) Strabo
Geography

 p333  Book V Chapter 2

1 (218) Let us call the Second Portion that Liguria​66 which is in the Apennines themselves, situated between that Celtica which I have just described and Tyrrhenia. It contains nothing worthy of detailed  p335 description except that the people live only in villages, plowing and digging rough land, or rather, as Poseidonius says, quarrying stones. The Third Portion is contiguous to the Second — I mean the country of the Tyrrheni, who hold the plains that extend as far as the River Tiber and whose country is washed, on its eastern side (generally speaking), by the river as far as its mouth, and on the other side by the Tyrrhenian and Sardinian Sea. But the Tiber flows from the Apennine Mountains, and is fed by many rivers; for a part of its course it runs through Tyrrhenia itself, and in its course thereafter separates from Tyrrhenia, first, Ombrica,​67 then, the country of the Sabini and also that part of Latium which is near Rome and extends as far as the coastline. These three latter lie approximately parallel to the river and Tyrrhenia in their breadth and also to one another in their length; 219and they reach up to those parts of the Apennine Mountains which closely approach the Adriatic, in this order: first, Ombrica, then, after Ombrica, the country of the Sabini, and, last, Latium, — all of them beginning at the river. Now the country of the Latini lies between the coastline that stretches from Ostia as far as the city of Sinuessa and the country of the Sabini (Ostia is the port-town of the Roman navy — the port into which the Tiber, after flowing past Rome, empties), although it extends lengthwise as far as Campania and the mountains of the Samnitae. But the country of the Sabini lies between that of the Latini and that of the Ombrici, although it too extends to the mountains of the Samnitae, or rather it joins that part of the Apennines which is in the country of the Vestini, the Peligni, and the  p337 Marsi.​68 And the country of the Ombrici lies between the country of the Sabini and Tyrrhenia, although it extends over the mountains as far as Ariminum and Ravenna. And Tyrrhenia, beginning at its proper sea​69 and the Tiber, ceases at the very foot of those mountains which enclose it from Liguria to the Adriatic. I shall treat the several parts, however, in detail, beginning with the Tyrrheni themselves.

2 The Tyrrheni, then, are called among the Romans "Etrusci" and "Tusci". The Greeks, however, so the story goes, named them thus after Tyrrhenus, the son of Atys, who sent forth colonists hither from Lydia: At a time of famine and dearth of crops, Atys, one of the descendants of Heracles and Omphale, having only two children, by a casting of lots detained one of them, Lydus, and, assembling the greater part of the people with the other, Tyrrhenus, sent them forth. And when Tyrrhenus came, he not only called the country Tyrrhenia after himself, but also put Tarco in charge as "coloniser," and founded twelve cities; Tarco, I say, after whom the city of Tarquinia​70 is named, who, on account of his sagacity from boyhood, is said by the myth-tellers to have been born with grey hair. Now at first the Tyrrheni, since they were subject to the orders of only one ruler, were very strong, but in later times, it is reasonable to suppose, their united government was dissolved, and the Tyrrheni, yielding to the violence of their neighbours, were broken up into separate cities; for otherwise they would not have given up a happy land and taken to the sea as pirates, different bands turning to different parts of the high seas; indeed, in all cases where they acted in concert, they were able,  p339 not only to defend themselves against those who attacked them, but also to attack in turn and to make long expeditions. But it was after the founding of Rome that Demaratus arrived, bringing with him a host of people from Corinth; and, since he was received by the Tarquinians,​71 he married a native woman, by whom he begot Lucumo. And since Lucumo had proved a friend to Ancus Marcius, the king of the Romans, he was made king,​72 and his name was changed to Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. 220Be that as it may, he too adorned Tyrrhenia, as his father had done before him — the father by means of the goodly supply of artisans who had accompanied him from home and the son by means of the resources supplied by Rome. It is further said that the triumphal, and consular, adornment, and, in a word, that of all the rulers, was transferred to Rome from Tarquinii,​73 as also fasces, axes, trumpets, sacrificial rites, divination, and all music publicly used by the Romans. This Tarquinius was the father of the second Tarquinius, the "Superbus," who was the last of the kings and was banished.​74 Porsinas, the king of Clusium,​75 a Tyrrhenian city, undertook to restore him to the throne by force of arms, but was unable to do so, although he broke up the personal enmity against himself and departed as friend, along with honour and large gifts.

3 Thus much for the lustre of the Tyrrheni. And still to be recorded are the achievements of the Caeretani:​76 they defeated in war those Galatae who  p341 had captured Rome,​77 having attacked them when they were in the country of the Sabini on their way back, and also took away as booty from the Galatae, against their will, what the Romans had willingly given them; in addition to this, they saved all who fled to them for refuge from Rome, and the immortal fire, and the priestesses of Vesta. The Romans, it is true, on account of the bad managers which the city had at the time, do not seem to have remembered the favour of the Caeretani with sufficient gratitude, for, although they gave them the right of citizen­ship, they did not enroll them among the citizens, and even used to relegate all others who had no share in the equal right​78 to "the Tablets of the Caeretani."​79 Among the Greeks, however, this city was in good repute both for bravery and for righteousness; for it not only abstained from all piracy, but also set up at Pytho​80 what is called "the treasury​81 of the Agyllaei"; for what is now Caerea​82 was formerly called Agylla, and is said to have been founded by Pelasgi who had come from Thessaly. But when those Lydians whose name was changed to Tyrrheni marched against the Agyllaei, one of them approached the wall and inquired what the name of the city was, and when one of the Thessalians on the wall, instead of replying to the inquiry, saluted him with a "Chaere,"​83 the Tyrrheni accepted the omen, and, on capturing the city, changed its name accordingly. But the city, once so splendid and illustrious, now preserves mere traces of its former self; and the hot springs near by, which are called Caeretanian  p343 Springs,​84 have a greater population than it has — because of those who visit the Springs for the cure.85

4 As for the Pelasgi, almost all agree, in the first place, that some ancient tribe of that name spread throughout the whole of Greece, and particularly among the Aeolians of Thessaly. 221Again, Ephorus says that he is of the opinion that, since they were originally Arcadians, they chose a military life, and that, in converting many peoples to the same mode of life, they imparted their name to all, and thus acquired great glory, not only among the Greeks, but also among all other people whithersoever they had chanced​86 to come. For example, they prove to have been colonisers of Crete, as Homer says; at any rate, Odysseus says to Penelope: "But one tongue with others is mixed; there​87 dwell Achaeans, there Cretans of the old stock, proud of heart, there Cydonians, and Dorians too, of waving plumes, and goodly Pelasgians." And Thessaly is called "the Pelasgian Argos" (I mean that part of it which lies between the outlets of the Peneius River and Thermopylae as far as the mountainous country of Pindus), on account of the fact that the Pelasgi extended their rule over these regions. Further, the Dodonaean Zeus is by the poet himself named "Pelasgian": "O Lord Zeus, Dodonaean, Pelasgian." And many have called also the tribes of Epirus  p345 "Pelasgian," because in their opinion the Pelasgi extended their rule even as far as that. And, further, because many of the heroes were called "Pelasgi" by name, the people of later times have, from those heroes, applied the name to many of the tribes; for example, they have called the island of Lesbos "Pelasgia," and Homer has called "Pelasgi" the people that were neighbours to those Cilicians who lived in the Troad: "And Hippothous led the tribes of spear-fighting Pelasgi, those Pelasgi who inhabited deep-soiled Larissa."​88 But Ephorus' authority for the statement that this race originated in Arcadia was Hesiod; for Hesiod says: "And sons were born of god-like Lycaon, who, on a time, was begotten by Pelasgus." Again, Aeschylus, in his Suppliants,​89 or else his Danaan Women,​90 says that the race of the Pelasgi originated in that Argos which is round about Mycenae.​91 And the Peloponnesus too, according to Ephorus, was called "Pelasgia."​92 And Euripides too, in his Archelaus,​93 says: "Danaus, the father of fifty daughters, on coming into Argos,​94 took up his abode in the city of Inachus,​95 and  p347 throughout Greece he laid down a law that all people hitherto named Pelasgians were to be called Danaans." And again, Anticleides says that they were the first to settle the regions round about Lemnos and Imbros, and indeed that some of these sailed away to Italy with Tyrrhenus the son of Atys. And the compilers​96 of the histories of The Land of Atthis97 give accounts of the Pelasgi, believing that the Pelasgi were in fact at Athens too,​98 although the Pelasgi were by the Attic people called "Pelargi,"​99 the compilers add, because they were wanderers and, like birds, resorted to those places whither chance led them.100

5 222They say that the maximum length of Tyrrhenia — the coastline from Luna as far as Ostia — is about two thousand five hundred stadia, and its breadth (I mean its breadth near the mountains)​101 less than half its length. Now from Luna to Pisa the distance is more than four hundred stadia; and thence to Volaterrae, two hundred and eighty; again, from here to Poplonium, two hundred and seventy; and from Poplonium to Cosa,​102 nearly eight hundred, though some say six hundred. Polybius, however, says the total number of stadia​103 is not so  p349 much as one thousand three hundred and thirty.​104 Of these, take first Luna; it is a city and also a harbour, and the Greeks call the city as well as the harbour "Harbour of Selene."​105 The city, indeed, is not large, but the harbour is both very large and very beautiful, since it includes within itself several harbours, all of them deep up to the very shore, — just such a place as would naturally become the naval base of a people who were masters of the sea for so long a time. And the harbour is shut in all round by high mountains, from which the high seas are to be seen, as also Sardo,​106 and a considerable stretch of the shore on either side. And the quarries of marble,​107 both white and mottled bluish-grey marble, are so numerous, and of such quality (for they yield monolithic slabs and columns), that the material for most of the superior works of art​108 in Rome and the rest of the cities are supplied therefrom;​109 and, indeed, the marble is easy to export, since the quarries lie above the sea and  p351 near it, and since the Tiber in its turn takes up the cargo from the sea and conveys it to Rome. And the wooden material for the buildings, in beams that are very straight and very long, is for the most part supplied by Tyrrhenia, since by means of the river it can be brought down directly from the mountains. Now between Luna​110 and Pisa is the Macras,​111 which many of the historians have used as the boundary between Tyrrhenia and Liguria.​112 As for Pisa, it was founded by those Pisatae who lived in the Peloponnesus, who made the expedition to Ilium with Nestor and on the return voyage went astray, some to Metapontum, and others to the territory of Pisa, although all of them were called Pylians. Pisa is situated between, and at the very confluence of, two rivers, the Arnus and the Ausar, of which the former runs from Arretium, with great quantities of water (not all in one stream, but divided into three streams), and the latter from the Apennine Mountains; and when they unite and form one stream they heave one another up so high by their mutual resistance that two persons standing on the opposite banks cannot even see each other;​a and hence, necessarily, voyages inland from the sea are difficult to make; the length of the voyage is about twenty stadia. And the following fable is told: when these rivers first began to flow down from the mountains, and their course was being hindered by the natives for fear that they would unite in one  p353 stream and deluge the country, the rivers promised not to deluge it and kept their pledge. 223Again, Pisa is reputed to have been prosperous on a time, and at the present time it is not without repute, on account of its fertility, its stone-quarries, and its timber for ship-building; in ancient times, indeed, they utilised this latter material to meet the perils that faced them on the sea (for they were, to begin with, more warlike than the Tyrrheni, and their warlike spirit was sharpened by the Ligures, bad neighbours living at their flank), but at the present time most of it is being used up on the buildings at Rome, and also at the villas, now that people are devising palaces of Persian magnificence.

6 As for the Volaterrani, their country is washed by the sea and their settlement is in a deep ravine; in the ravine there is a high hill, which is precipitous on all sides and flat on the crest, and it is on this hill that the walls of the city are situated. The ascent from the base to the crest is fifteen stadia, an ascent that is sharp all the way up, and difficult to make. This is where some of the Tyrrheni and of those who had been proscribed by Sulla assembled; and, on filling out four battalions,​113 they withstood a siege for two years, and even then retired from the place only under a truce. As for Poplonium, it is situated on a high promontory that makes an abrupt descent into the sea and forms a peninsula; it too sustained a siege at about the same time as Volaterrae. Now although the town is wholly desert except for the temples and a few dwellings, the port-town, which has a little harbour and two docks  p355 at the base of the mountain, is better peopled; and in my opinion this is the only one of the ancient Tyrrhenian cities that was situated on the sea itself; and my reason is the country's lack of harbours — precisely the reason why the founders would avoid the sea altogether, or else would throw forward defences towards the sea, so as not to be exposed, a ready prey, to any who might sail against them. Again, beneath the promontory there is a place for watching the tunny-fish. And in looking down from the city you can see, albeit from afar and with difficulty, the island of Sardo, and, nearer, the island of Cyrnus​114 (about sixty stadia distant from Sardo), and much better than these, the island of Aethalia;​115 Aethalia is closer to the mainland, since it is distant only about three hundred stadia, the same as its distance from Cyrnus. This place is the best point of departure from the mainland to the three aforesaid islands. I myself saw these islands when I went up to Poplonium, and also some mines out in the country that had failed. And I also saw the people who work the iron that is brought over from Aethalia; for it cannot be brought into complete coalescence​116 by heating in the furnaces on the island; and it is brought over  p357 immediately from the mines to the mainland.​117 However, this is not the only remarkable thing about the island; there is also the fact that the diggings which have been mined are in time filled up again,​118 224as is said to be the case with the ledges of rocks in Rhodes, the marble-rock in Paros, and, according to Cleitarchus, the salt-rock in India.​119 Neither, then, is Eratosthenes correct, when he says that neither Cyrnus nor Sardo can be seen from the mainland, nor Artemidorus, when he says that both islands lie in the high sea within twelve hundred stadia; for even supposing they were visible to some people at that distance, they could not have been so to me, at least, or else not to the extent of their being seen clearly, and particularly Cyrnus. Again, there is at Aethalia a Portus Argous,​120 from the ship "Argo," as they say; for when Jason, the story goes, was in quest of the abode of Circe, because Medea wished to see the goddess,​121 he sailed to this port; and, what is more, because the scrapings, which the Argonauts formed when they used their strigils, became congealed, the pebbles on the shore remain variegated still to this day. Now mythical stories of this sort are proofs of what I have been saying: that Homer was not wont to fabricate everything on his own account, but, because he heard many such stories told over and over again, he was wont on his own account to add to them by lengthening the distances and making the settings more remote; and that, just as he threw the setting of  p359 his Odysseus out into the ocean, so similarly he threw the setting of his Jason there, because a wandering had actually taken place in the life of Jason as well as in that of Odysseus — just as also in that of Menelaus.​122 So much, then, for the island of Aethalia.

7 But Cyrnus is by the Romans called Corsica. It affords such a poor livelihood — being not only rough but in most of its parts absolutely impracticable for travel — that those who occupy the mountains and live from brigandage are more savage than wild animals. At any rate, whenever the Roman generals have made a sally, and, falling suddenly upon the strongholds, have taken a large number of the people as slaves, you can at Rome see, and marvel at, the extent to which the nature of wild beasts, as also that of battening cattle, is manifested in them; for either they cannot endure to live in captivity, or, if they live, they so irritate their purchasers by their apathy and insensibility, that, even to the purchasers may have paid for them no more than an insignificant sum, nevertheless they repent the purchase. But still there are some habitable parts in the island, and what might be called towns, namely, Blesinon, Charax, Eniconiae and Vapanes.​123 The length of the island, says the Chorographer,​124 is one hundred and sixty miles, and the breadth seventy; but the length of Sardinia is two hundred and twenty, and the breadth ninety-eight. According  p361 to others, however, the perimeter of Cyrnus is called about three thousand​125 two hundred stadia, and of Sardo as much as four thousand. The greater part of Sardo is rugged and not at peace, though much of it has also soil that is blessed with all products — especially with grain. As for cities, there are indeed several, but only Caralis and Sulchi are noteworthy. 225But the excellence of the places is offset by a serious defect, for in summer the island is unhealthful, particularly in the fruitful districts; and it is precisely these districts that are continually ravaged by those mountaineers who are now called Diagesbes;​126 in earlier times, however, their name was Iolaës; for Iolaüs, it is said, came hither, bringing with him some of the children of Heracles, and took up his abode with the barbarians who held the island (the latter were Tyrrheni). Later on, the Phoenicians of Carthage got the mastery over them, and along with them carried on war against the Romans; but upon the defeat of the Phoenicians, everything became subject to the Romans. There are four tribes of the mountaineers, the Parati, the Sossinati, the Balari, and the Aconites, and they live in caverns; but if they do hold a bit of land that is fit for sowing, they do not sow even this diligently; instead, they pillage the lands of the farmers — not only of the farmers on the island, but they actually sail against the people on the opposite coast, the Pisatae in particular. Now the military governors who are sent to the island resist the mountaineers part of the time, but sometimes they grow weary of it — when it is not profitable continuously to maintain a camp in unhealthful places, and then the only thing left for them is to employ  p363 stratagems; and so, having observed a certain custom of the barbarians (who come together after their forays for a general celebration extending over several days), attack them at that time and overpower many of them. Again, Sardo produces the rams that grow goat-hair instead of wool; they are called, however, "musmones,"​127 and it is with the hides of these that the people there make their cuirasses. They also use a small leather shield and a small dagger.

8 The islands can be seen clearly enough from any part of the country between Poplonium and Pisa; they are oblong and approximately parallel, all three of them, and they point towards the south and Libya; Aethalia, however, falls considerably short of the others in size. Further, the shortest passage to Sardo from Libya, according to the Chorographer, is three hundred miles.​128 After Poplonium comes Cossa, a city slightly above the sea; that is, there is a high hill at the head of a gulf, and the settlement is on this hill; and beneath lies the Harbour of Heracles and near it is a lagoon and, along the promontory that lies above the gulf, a station for observing the tunny-fish; for along the shore the tunny-fish follow not only the acorns but also the purple fish,​129 beginning their course at the outer sea and going even as far as Sicily.​130 As one sails along the coast from Cossa to Ostia one comes to some small towns: Gravisci, Pyrgi, Alsium and Fregena. To Gravisci, then, the distance is three hundred stadia;  p365 and in the interval is a place called Regis Villa. History tells us 226that this was once the palace of Maleos, the Pelasgian, who, it is said, although he held dominion in the places mentioned, along with the Pelasgi who helped him to colonise them, departed thence to Athens. And this is also the stock to which people belong who have taken and now hold Agylla.​131 Again, from Gravisci to Pyrgi the distance is a little less than one hundred and eighty stadia; it is the port-town of the Caeretani, thirty stadia away.​b And Pyrgi has a temple of Eilethyia,​132 an establishment of the Pelasgi; it was once rich, but it was robbed by Dionysius, the tyrant of the Sicilians, on his expedition to Cyrnus. And again, from Pyrgi to Ostia the distance is two hundred and sixty stadia; and in the interval are Alsium and Fregena. Thus much for the coastline of Tyrrhenia.

9 In the interior there are still other cities besides those already mentioned — Arretium, Perusia, Volsinii, and Sutrium; and, besides these, numerous small towns — Blera, Ferentinum,​c Falerii, Faliscum, Nepeta, Statonia, and several others; some of them are constituted as of old, while others the Romans have colonised, or else have brought low, as they did Veii,​133 which had oftentimes gone to war with them, and as they did Fidenae.​134 Some, however, call the Falerii, not "Tyrrheni,"​135 but "Falisci," a special and distinct tribe; again, others call Faliscum a city with  p367 a special language all its own; and others mean by Faliscum "Aequum Faliscum,"​136 which is situated on the Flaminian Way between Ocricli​d and Rome.​137 The city of Feronia is at the foot of Mount Soracte, with the same name as a certain native goddess, a goddess greatly honoured by the surrounding peoples; her sacred precinct is in the place; and it has remarkable ceremonies, for those who are possessed by this goddess walk with bare feet through a great heap of embers and ashes without suffering;​138 and a multitude of people come together at the same time, for the sake not only of attending the festal assembly, which is held here every year, but also of seeing the aforesaid sight. But Arretium, which is near the mountains, is farthest of all in the interior; at any rate, it is twelve hundred stadia distant from Rome, while Clusium is only eight hundred; and Perusia is near these two. The lakes, too, contribute to the prosperity of Tyrrhenia, being both large and numerous; for they are navigable, and also give food to quantities of fish and to the various marsh-birds; quantities of cat-tail, too, and papyrus, and downy plumes of the reed, are transported by rivers into Rome — rivers which are sent forth by the lakes as far as the Tiber; and among these are the Ciminian Lake,​139 the lake near Volsinii,​140 the lake near  p369 Clusium,​141 and the lake that is nearest Rome and the sea — Lake Sabata.​142 But the lake that is farthest away and that is near Arretium is Trasumenna,​143 near which is the pass by which an army may debouch into Tyrrhenia from Celtica,​144 the very pass which Hannibal used;​145 there are two, however, this one and the one towards Ariminum through Ombrica. Now the one towards Ariminum is better, since the mountains become considerably lower there; 227and yet, since the defiles on this pass were carefully guarded, Hannibal was forced to choose the more difficult pass, but, for all that, he got control of it, after having conquered Flaminius in great battles. Furthermore, there are abundant hot springs in Tyrrhenia, and, because of the fact that they are near Rome, they have a population not less than the springs at Baiae, which are by far the most widely renowned of all.146

10 Alongside Tyrrhenia, on the part toward the east, lies Ombrica;​147 it takes its beginning at the Apennines and extends still farther beyond as far as the Adriatic; for it is at Ravenna​148 that the Ombrici begin, and they occupy the nearby territory and also, in order thereafter, Sarsina, Ariminum, Sena, Camarinum.​149 Here, too, is the Aesis River,  p371 and Mount Cingulum, and Sentinum, and the Metaurus River, and the Temple of Fortune.​150 Indeed, it is near these places that the boundary between the Italy of former days and Celtica passed (I mean the boundary at the part next to the Adriatic Sea), albeit the boundary has often been changed by the rulers; at least they formerly made the Aesis the boundary and then in turn the Rubicon.​151 The Aesis is between Ancona and Sena, the Rubicon between Ariminum and Ravenna, and both empty into the Adriatic. But as it is, now that the whole of the country as far as the Alps has been designated Italy, we should disregard these boundaries, but none the less agree, as is agreed by all, that Ombrica, properly so‑called, extends all the way to Ravenna; for Ravenna is inhabited by these people. From Ravenna, then, to Ariminum the distance is, they say, about three hundred stadia; and if you travel from Ariminum toward Rome along the Flaminian Way through Ombrica your whole journey, as far as Ocricli and the Tiber, is thirteen hundred and fifty stadia. This, then, is the length of Ombrica, but the breadth is uneven. The cities this side the Apennine Mountains that are worthy of mention are: first, on the Flaminian Way itself: Ocricli, near the Tiber and theº Larolon,​152 and Narna,​153 through which the Nar River flows (it meets the Tiber a little above Ocricli, and is navigable, though only for small boats); then,  p373 Carsuli,​154 and Mevania, past which flows the Teneas (this too brings the products of the plain down to the Tiber on rather small boats); and, besides, still other settlements, which have become filled up with people rather on account of the Way itself than of political organisation; these are Forum Flaminium, and Nuceria (the place where the wooden utensils are made), and Forum Sempronium. Secondly, to the right of the Way, as you travel from Ocricli to Ariminum, is Interamna, and Spoletium, and Aesium, and Camertes​155 (in the very mountains that mark the boundary of the Picentine country);​156 and, on the other side of the Way, Ameria, and Tuder (a well-fortified city), and Hispellum, and Iguvium, the last-named lying near the passes that lead over the mountain. Now as a whole Ombrica is blessed with fertility, 228though it is a little too mountainous and nourishes its people with spelt rather than with wheat. The Sabine country also, which comes next in order after Ombrica, is mountainous, and it lies alongside Ombrica in the same way that Ombrica lies alongside Tyrrhenia; and further, all parts of the Latin country that are near to these parts and to the Apennine Mountains are rather rugged. These two tribes​157 begin, then, at the Tiber and Tyrrhenia, and extend to that stretch of the Apennine Mountains near the Adriatic which slants slightly inland,​158 although Ombrica passes on beyond the mountains, as I have said,​159 as far as the Adriatic. So much, then, for the Ombrici.


The Editor's Notes:

66 Literally, "Ligustica" (see 4.6.3, and 5.1.1).

67 Umbria.

68 Cp. 5.4.2.

69 The Tyrrhenian Sea.

70 The Greek spelling is "Tarkunia."

71 Demaratus became the ruler of the city (8.6.20).

72 In the legendary history of Rome, Lucumo was made king by the Senate and people in 615 B.C.

73 The same as "Tarquinia," 5.2.2.

74 509 B.C.

75 Now Chiusi.

76 Their city was Caere, one of the twelve founded by Tyrrhenus.

77 390 B.C.

78 That is, the right of suffrage, ius suffragii.

79 Roman citizens themselves, when disfranchised by the censor, were enrolled in the Tabulae Caeritum, and hence the odium.

80 Delphi.

81 See 9.3.8.

82 The proper Latin spelling was "Caere."

83 The regular Greek word of salutation.

84 Now, apparently, Bagni del Sasso.

85 Cp. 5.2.9.

86 Cp. "Pelargi," p347.

87 Crete.

Thayer's Note: The same passage (Od. 19.175) is quoted again in 10.4.6.

88 Hippothous was the son of "Lethus Pelasgus" (Iliad 2.843, and 17.288). In 13.3.2 Strabo takes Homer, in the passage above quoted, to mean Larisa Phryconis, the "Larisa near Cyme," which latter is now Lamurtkeui. On "Larisa Phryconis," see 9.5.19.

89 Hiketides 16 ff. and 250 ff.

90 The Danaan Women (Danaides) is no longer extant.

91 That is, the district of Argos, in which Mycenae as well as the city of Argos were situated (see 8.6.5‑10).

92 The Peloponnesus was called "Argos" as well as "Pelasgia" (8.6.5).

93 The Archelaus is no longer extant.

94 Again the district of Argos, elsewhere (8.6.8) called "Argeia."

95 The "city of Inachus" — so called from Inachus, the first king of Argos — was the city of Argos. By a slight change in the Greek most of the editors (see note 4 on opposite page) emend "took up his abode in" to "founded," presumably on the ground that Strabo later says "Danaus founded the acropolis" (Argos) "of the Argives" (8.6.9).

96 Androtion, Philochorus, and others; only fragments of their works remain.

97 "Atthis" was the old name of Attica, from Atthis, the daughter of the mythical king Cranaus (Cp. 9.1.18).

98 Cp.  9.1.18 and 9.2.3.

99 Literally, "Storks."

100 Cp. 9.1.18, where Strabo refers to the Pelasgi as having "sojourned" at Athens.

101 "Near the mountains" is very indefinite, but in § 9 following Strabo applies the same phrase to the city of Arretium, adding that this city "is farthest of all in the interior." In the present passage, therefore, he clearly means that the line of greatest breadth runs to the Apennines near Arretium — which is correct.

102 Often called "Cossa"; so in § 8 following.

103 From Luna to Cosa.

104 Strabo postpones his estimates of the remaining distances (Cosa-Gravisci-Purgi-Ostia), totalling (about) 740 stadia, to § 8 following. Following Groskurd, Meineke unwarrantedly indicates a lacuna in the text immediately after "some say six hundred," thinking Strabo must have added at that point the distance from Cosa to Ostia. Thus he makes the figures of Polybius (whose original statement, unfortunately, is now lost) apply to the entire distance from Luna to Ostia. But by measurement on Kiepert's wall-map of Ancient Italy, 1330 stadia proves to be a very close estimate for the distance, along the coastal-roads from Luna to Cosa.

105 That is, "Harbour of the Moon" ("Moon-Harbour"). Cp. "Harbour of Menestheus" (3.1.9) and "Harbour of Monoecus" (4.6.3), each phrase meaning the city as well as the harbour. The Gulf of Spezia (its dimensions are seven miles by three) is one of the finest harbours in the world. It is the chief station of the Italian navy, and has at its head a dockyard and arsenal.

Thayer's Note: As for the etymology of "Luna", not illogically translated by the Greeks into "Selene", it seems to me that George Dennis hits the nail on the head when he suggests that it has nothing to do with the moon whatsoever (Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, Chap. 35 "Luni", note 18).

106 Sardinia. Tozer (Selections, p144) thinks Strabo must have meant Corsica, since Sardinia is 180 miles distant.

107 Now the quarries of Carrara.

108 For specific references to Roman "works of art" in stone, see 5.3.8.

109 For a full discussion of stones of all kinds, and their uses at Rome and elsewhere, see the Natural History of Pliny, Book XXXVI. See also W. G. Renwick's Marble and Marble Working (1909), pp20 ff. and 69 ff. Dr. J. S. Flett (Encyc. Brit., s.v. "Marble") says: "Stone from this district was employed in Rome for architectural purposes in the time of Augustus, but the finer varieties, adapted to the needs of the sculptor, were not discovered until some time later." The best works of Michelangelo and Canova were executed in Carrara marble; and the best sculptors of to‑day prefer to use this particular marble.

110 Since the old city of Luna (now in ruins) was some five miles south of the Macra, and still farther south of the harbour, Strabo must either have meant the harbour, not the city, of Luna, or else have thought the city was situated on the harbour.

111 The River Macra.

112 So Pliny, 3.7 and 3.8; Livy, 39.32, 40.41; Florus, 2.3.4.

113 The number of men in these battalions is uncertain, since the Greek word might mean any regular body of soldiers (as often), or a maniple (cp. Polybius 6.24), or even a legion (cp. Cassius Dio 71.9).

114 Corsica.

115 Elba.

116 Literally, "oiled together"; hence not "melted together" merely (the meaning given by the dictionaries and the editors in general), or "reduced to iron bars" (Casaubon and du Theil). Strabo speaks of "iron," not "iron-ore"; and he does not mean to say that iron-ore was not smelted at all on the island. Indeed, Diodorus Siculus (5.13) tells us in detail how the people there broke up the masses of "iron-rock," and "burnt" and "melted" the pieces in "ingenious furnaces"; how they divided the resulting mass into lumps of convenient size, in form similar to large sponges; and how they sold the lumps to merchants, who took them over to the various markets on the mainland. Hence Strabo is thinking primarily of the high temperature necessary to bring the iron from a brittle and spongy to a soft and tough texture; but for the lack of wood on the island (see Beckmann on Aristot. Mirab. c95) any further working of the iron there was wholly impracticable. On the kinds of iron and how to temper it, see Pliny 34.41.

117 "Immediately from the mines" might imply, of course, that the particular supply that went to Poplonium was, according to Strabo, merely ore as dug from the mines.

118 Aristotle (Mirab. 93), speaking of this same method, says, on the authority of others, that what was once a copper mine gave out, and that long thereafter iron appeared in the same mine — "the iron which is now used by the inhabitants of Poplonium."

119 Cp. 15.1.30.

120 Porto Ferrajo.

121 Meineke conjectures that Strabo wrote "aunt" instead of "goddess"; cp. 1.2.10.

122 Strabo again comes back to his favourite theme; cp. 1.2.9, 1.2.38, and 3.2.12.

123 Cp. Pliny, 3.12 (6).

124 It is impossible to say what "Chorographer" Strabo refers to here; and in 5.2.8, 6.1.11, 6.2.1 ("The Chorography"), 6.2.11, 6.3.10. The fact that the dimensions are given in Roman miles indicates that he does not allude to Eratosthenes, or Polybius, or Artemidorus. Casaubon thinks he means the "Map of Agrippa." Detlefsen (Ursprung . . . der Erdkarte Agrippas in Quellen und Forschungen zur alten Geschichte und Geographie, Heft 13, pp21, 61 ff.), and Braun (Ursprung, Einrichtung und Bedeutung der Erdkarte Agrippas, ibid., Heft 17, pp22‑35) practically establish that the "Map of Agrippa" is meant; but see E. Pais, Ancient Italy, trans. by Curtis, p385, and Sterrett's Introduction to the present work, p. xxvi, and Nissen's Ital. Landeskunde, I p17.

125 The best MSS. read "one thousand."

126 A name otherwise unknown.

127 That is, "mouflons" (Ovis musimon); see Pliny 8.75 (49), and 30.52.

128 Strabo probably wrote two hundred miles (the distance given by Pliny, 3.13).

129 Purpura murex.

130 See 3.2.7.

131 Cp. §§ 2‑4 above.

132 The goddess of child-birth.

133 One of the "twelve" Tyrrhenian cities (cp. § 2 above). It was captured and destroyed by Camillus in 395 B.C. after a siege of ten years. It then remained uninhabited until the end of the Republic; but it was colonised by Julius Caesar and also by Augustus.

134 See 5.3.2; it was situated south of the Tiber.

135 That is, not "Etruscans."

136 Literally, "Level Faliscum"; it was situated in the plains, three miles from the old city.

137 A few lines above, Strabo appears to have counted "Falerii" and "Faliscum" as separate cities; perhaps by "Faliscum" he meant "Aequum Faliscum." The old city of "Falerii" (or "Falerium") was occupied both by the Falerii (a Tyrrhenian people) and by the Falisci (a people of Sabine origin, perhaps, with a dialect closely akin to Latin); the latter, however, inhabited a large tract of surrounding country as well as the city itself. The ancient writers usually distinguished between the people "Falisci" and the city, but the city itself was often called "Falisci" (or "Faliscum") as well as "Falerii." The site of the old city is now occupied by Civita Castellana, while that of the new Roman city, in the plains, is marked by the ruins of a church called Santa Maria di Falleri; see Encyc. Brit. under "Falerii" (Thomas Ashby) and "Falisci" (R. S. Conway).

138 Cp. 12.2.7, and 15.3.14‑15; also Pliny 7.2, and Virgil 11.785.

139 Now Lake Vico.

140 Now Lake Bolsena.

141 Now Lake Chiusi.

142 Now Lake Bracciano.

143 Now Lake Trasimeno.

144 Cisalpine Celtica, of course.

145 Cp. 5.1.11.

146 Cp. 5.2.3, on the "Caeretanian Springs."

147 Umbria.

Thayer's Note: For a fairly detailed overview of the remains of Roman Umbria, see my summary.

148 See 5.1.11.

149 The better spelling is "Camerinum." But the MSS. (see note 6 on opposite page) read "and Marinum," which would seem to mean what is now San Marino; but this city appears not to have been founded until after A.D. 300 and its position does not suit the context here. Many of the editors, following Ortel, delete "and Marinum" as being an interpolation.

150 The Roman name of this city was "Fanum Fortunae."

Thayer's Note: For fuller details, see the article Fanum Fortunae in the 1911 Britannica, with further links.

151 Cp. 5.1.11.

152 "Larolon" is otherwise unknown. It may have been the name of some stream that emptied into the Tiber near Ocricli, as Cluvier conjectures. The reading of one manuscript (see note on the opposite page) means a city by the name of "Larolum"; but this reading seems more hopeless than the other.

The "note on the opposite page" — a critical note to the Greek text, at "πρὸς τῷ Τιβέρει καὶ Λαρόλονι" — reads:

Λαρολον (B) and λάρονι (l).

153 That is, Narnia; now Narni.

154 That is, Carsulae (now Cappella San Damiano), not Carsioli.

155 That is, Camerinum; the inhabitants of Camerinum were often called "Camertes," and the name of the people, as often, is applied to the city itself.

156 Picenum.

157 The Ombrici and the Sabini.

158 The slant begins opposite Ariminum (see 5.1.3).

159 5.2.1.


Thayer's Notes:

a A nice, detailed expansion of a long-circulating bit of nonsense already found hundreds of years earlier in ps‑Aristotle, Mirab. 92.

b The distance seems to have been emended from "fifty stadia"; at any rate, such is the reading seen by Dennis in the early 19c: see Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, chapter 32, note 4.

c Despite the Loeb edition's facing Greek Φερεντῖνον — which may of course be the result of emendation: there is no thorough apparatus in that edition, and I strongly suspect tacit emendations thruout — Ferentum would probably be better; Ferentinum is the Hernican town now in the province of Frosinone to the SE of Rome, but here Strabo is talking about places N of the city, and thus about the Etruscan town. For the hornet's nest of places named Ferentum or something similar, see my page on the subject. Strabo unambiguously mentions the Hernican town at V.3.9.

d That is, Ocriculi (or Ocriculum); now Otricoli.


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