Short URL for this page:
bit.ly/StraboFragments


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

[image ALT: Click here for the text in ancient Greek.]
Ἑλληνική

[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]
VII.7

This webpage reproduces a section of
The Geography

of
Strabo

published in Vol. III
of the Loeb Classical Library edition,
1924

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]
VIII.1

(Vol. III) Strabo
Geography

 p321  Book VII, Fragments​472

The rest of Book VII, containing the description of Macedonia and Thrace, has been lost, but the following fragments, gathered chiefly from the Vatican and Palatine Epitomes and from Eustathius, seem to preserve most of the original matter.​473

1 1 Cineas says that there was a city in Thessaly,​474 and that an oak-tree and the oracle of Zeus were transferred from there to Epeirus.

1a In Earlier times the oracle was in the neighbourhood of Scotussa, a city of Pelasgiotis; but when the tree was set on fire by certain people the oracle was transferred in accordance with an oracle which  p323 Apollo gave out at Dodona. However, he gave out the oracle, not through words, but through certain symbols, as was the case at the oracle of Zeus Ammon in Libya. Perhaps there was something exceptional about the flight of the three pigeons from which the priestesses were wont to make observations and to prophesy. It is further said that in the language of the Molossians and the Thesprotians old women are called "peliai"​475 and old men "pelioi."​475 And perhaps the much talked of Peleiades were not birds, but three old women who busied themselves about the temple.

1b I mentioned Scotussa also in my description of Dodona and of the oracle in Thessaly, because the oracle was originally in the latter region.

1c According to the Geographer, a sacred oak-tree is revered in Dodona, because it was thought to be the earliest plant created and the first to supply men with food. And the same writer also says in reference to the oracular doves there, as they are called, that the doves are observed for the purposes of augury, just as there were some seers who divined from ravens.

2 1 Among the Thesprotians and the Molossians old women are called "peliai" and old men "pelioi," as is also the case among the Macedonians; at any rate, those people call their dignitaries "peligones" (compare the "gerontes"​476 among the Laconians and the Massaliotes).​477 And this, it is said, is the origin of the myth about the pigeons in the Dodonaean oak-tree.

 p325  3 The proverbial phrase, "the copper vessel in Dodona,"​478 originated thus: In the temple was a copper vessel with a statue of a man situated above it and holding a copper scourge, dedicated by the Corcyraeans; the scourge was three-fold and wrought in chain fashion, with bones strung from it; and these bones, striking the copper vessel continuously when they were swung by the winds, would produce tones so long that anyone who measured the time from the beginning of the tone to the end could count to four hundred. Whence, also, the origin of the proverbial term, "the scourge of the Corcyraeans."

4 1 Paeonia is on the east of these tribes and on the west of the Thracian mountains, but it is situated on the north of the Macedonians; and, by the road that runs through the city Gortynium​479 and Stobi,​480 it affords a passage to . . .​481 (through which the Axius​482 flows, and thus makes difficult the passage from Paeonia to Macedonia — just as the Peneius flows through Tempe and thus fortifies Macedonia on the side of Greece). And on the south Paeonia borders on the countries of the Autariatae, the Dardanii, and the Ardiaei; and it extends as far as the Strymon.

5 1 The Haliacmon​483 flows into the Thermaean Gulf.

6 1 Orestis is of considerable extent, and has a  p327 large mountain which reaches as far as Mount Corax​484 in Aetolia and Mount Parnassus. About this mountain dwell the Orestae themselves, the Tymphaei, and the Greeks outside the isthmus that are in the neighbourhood of Parnassus, Oeta, and Pindus. As a whole the mountain is called by a general name, Boëum, but taken part by part it has many names. People say that from the highest peaks one can see both the Aegaean Sea and the Ambracian and Ionian Gulfs, but they exaggerate, I think. Mount Pteleum, also, is fairly high; it is situated around the Ambracian Gulf, extending on one side as far as the Corcyraean country and on the other to the sea at Leucas.

7 1 Corcyra is proverbially derided as a joke because it was humbled by its many wars.

8 1 Corcyra in early times enjoyed a happy lot and had a very large naval force, but was ruined by certain wars and tyrants. And later on, although it was set free by the Romans, it got no commendation, but instead, as an object of reproach, got a proverb: "Corcyra is free, dung where thou wilt."

9 1 There remain of Europe, first, Macedonia and the parts of Thrace that are contiguous to it and extend as far as Byzantium; secondly, Greece; and thirdly, the islands that are close by. Macedonia, of course, is a part of Greece, yet now, since I am following the nature and shape of the places geographically, I have decided to classify it apart from the rest of Greece and to join it with that part of Thrace which borders on it and extends as far as the mouth of the Euxine and the Propontis. Then,  p329 a little further on, Strabo mentions Cypsela and the Hebrus River, and also describes a sort of parallelogram in which the whole of Macedonia lies.

10 1 Macedonia is bounded, first, on the west, by the coastline of the Adrias; secondly, on the east, by the meridian line which is parallel to this coastline and runs through the outlets of the Hebrus River and through the city Cypsela; thirdly, on the north, by the imaginary straight line which runs through the Bertiscus Mountain,​485 the Scardus,​486 the Orbelus,​487 the Rhodope,​488 and the Haemus;​489 for these mountains, beginning at the Adrias, extend on a straight line as far as the Euxine, thus forming towards the south a great peninsula which comprises Thrace together with Macedonia, Epeirus, and Achaea; and fourthly, on the south, by the Egnatian Road,​490 which runs from the city Dyrrhachium towards the east as far as Thessaloniceia. And thus​491 the shape of Macedonia is very nearly that of a parallelogram.

11 What is now called Macedonia was in earlier times called Emathia. And it took its present name from Macedon, one of its early chieftains. And there was also a city Emathia close to the sea. Now a part of this country was taken and held by certain of the Epeirotes and the Illyrians, but most of it by the Bottiaei and the Thracians. The Bottiaei came from Crete originally, so it is said,​492 along with Botton as chieftain. As for the Thracians,  p331 the Pieres inhabited Pieria and the region about Olympus; the Paeones, the region on both sides of the Axius River, which on that account is called Amphaxitis; the Edoni and Bisaltae, the rest of the country as far as the Strymon. Of these two peoples the latter are called Bisaltae alone, whereas a part of the Edoni are called Mygdones, a part Edones, and a part Sithones. But of all these tribes the Argeadae,​493 as they are called, established themselves as masters, and also the Chalcidians of Euboea; for the Chalcidians of Euboea also came over to the country of the Sithones and jointly peopled about thirty cities in it, although later on the majority of them were ejected and came together into one city, Olynthus; and they were named the Thracian Chalcidians.

11 a The ethnic​494 of Botteia​495 is spelled with the i,​496 according to Strabo in his Seventh Book. And the city is called​497 after Botton the Cretan.498

11 b Amphaxion. Two parts of speech.​499 A city. The ethnic of Amphaxion is Amphaxites.

12 1 The Peneius forms the boundary between Lower Macedonia, or that part of Macedonia which is close to the sea, and Thessaly and Magnesia; the Haliacmon forms the boundary of Upper Macedonia; and the Haliacmon also, together with the Erigon  p333 and the Axius and another set of rivers, form the boundary of the Epeirotes and the Paeonians.

12a For if, according to the Geographer, Macedonia stretches from the Thessalian Pelion and Peneius towards the interior as far as Paeonia and the Epeirote tribes, and if the Greeks had at Troy an allied force from Paeonia, it is difficult to conceive that an allied force came to the Trojans from the aforesaid more distant part of Paeonia.

13 1 Of the Macedonian coastline, beginning at the recess of the Thermaean Gulf and at Thessaloniceia, there are two parts — one extending towards the south as far as Sunium and the other towards the east as far as the Thracian Chersonese, thus forming at the recess a sort of angle. Since Macedonia extends in both directions, I must begin with the part first mentioned. The first portion, then, of this part — I mean the region of Sunium — has above it Attica together with the Megarian country as far as the Crisaean Gulf; after this is that Boeotian coastline which faces Euboea, and above this coastline lies the rest of Boeotia, extending in the direction of the west, parallel to Attica. And he​500 says that the Egnatian Road, also, beginning at the Ionian Gulf, ends at Thessaloniceia.

14 1 As for the ribbon-like​501 stretches of land, he​502 says, I shall first mark off the boundary of the peoples who live in the one which is beside the sea near the Peneius and the Haliacmon. Now the Peneius flows from the Pindus Mountain through the middle of Thessaly towards the east; and after it passes through the cities of the Lapithae and some cities of the Perrhaebians, it reaches Tempe,  p335 after having received the waters of several rivers, again which is the Europus, which the poet called Titaresius,​503 since it has its sources in the Titarius Mountain; the Titarius Mountain joins Olympus, and thence Olympus begins to mark the boundary between Macedonia and Thessaly; for Tempe is a narrow glen between Olympus and Ossa, and from these narrows the Peneius flows for a distance of forty stadia with Olympus, the loftiest mountain in Macedonia, on the left, and with Ossa, near the outlets of the river, on the right. So then, Gyrton, the Perrhaebian and Magnetan city in which Periothoüs and Ixion reigned, is situated near the outlets of the Peneius on the right; and the city of Crannon lies at a distance of as much as one hundred stadia from Gyrton; and writers say that when the poet says, "Verily these twain from Thrace"​504 and what follows, he means by "Ephyri" the Crannonians and by "Phlegyae" the Gyrtonians. But Pieria is on the other side of the Peneius.

15 1 The Peneius River rises in the Pindus Mountain and flows through Tempe and through the middle of Thessaly and of the countries of the Lapithae and the Perrhaebians, and also receives the waters of the Europus River, which Homer called Titaresius it marks the boundary between Macedonia​505 on the north and Thessaly on the south. But the source-waters of the Europus rise in the Titarius Mountain, which is continuous with Olympus. And Olympus belongs to Macedonia, whereas Ossa and Pelion belong to Thessaly.

 p337  15a The Peneius rises, according to the Geographer, in that part of the Pindus Mountain about which the Perrhaebians live. . . . And Strabo also makes the following statements concerning the Peneius: The Peneius rises in the Pindus; and leaving Tricca on the left it flows around Atrax and Larissa, and after receiving the rivers in Thessaly passes on through Tempe. And he says that the Peneius flows through the centre of Thessaly, receiving many rivers, and that in its course it keeps Olympus on the left and Ossa on the right. And at its outlets, on the right, is a Magnetan city, Gyrton, in which Perithoüs and Ixion reigned; and not far from Gyrton is a city Crannon, whose citizens were called by a different name, "Ephyri," just as the citizens of Gyrton were called "Phlegyae."

16 1 Below the foot-hills of Olympus, along the Peneius River, lies Gyrton, the Perrhaebian and Magnetan city, in which Perithoüs and Ixion ruled; and Crannon is at a distance of one hundred stadia from Gyrton, and writers say that when the poet says, "Verily these twain from Thrace," he means by "Ephyri" the Crannonians and by "Phlegyae" the Gyrtonians.506

16a The city of Crannon is at a distance of one hundred stadia from Cyrton, according to Strabo.

16b Homolium, a city of Macedonia and Magnesia. Strabo in his Seventh Book.

16c I have said in my description of Macedonia that Homolium is close to Ossa and is where the  p339 Peneius, flowing through Tempe, begins to discharge its waters.507

16d There were several different Ephyrae, if indeed the Geographer counts as many as nine.508

16e He (the Geographer) speaks of a city Gyrton, a Magnetan city near the outlets of the Peneius.

17 1 The city Dium, in the foot-hills of Olympus, is not on the shore of the Thermaean Gulf, but is at a distance of as much as seven stadia from it. And the city Dium has a village near by, Pimpleia, where Orpheus lived.

18 1 At the base of Olympus is a city Dium. And it has a village near by, Pimpleia. Here lived Orpheus, the Ciconian, it is said — a wizard who at first collected money from his music, together with his soothsaying and his celebration of the orgies connected with the mystic initiatory rites, but soon afterwards thought himself worthy of still greater things and procured for himself a throng of followers and power. Some, of course, received him willingly, but others, since they suspected a plot and violence, combined against him and killed him. And near here, also, is Leibethra.

19 1 In the early times the soothsayers also practised music.

20 1 After Dium come the outlets of the Haliacmon; then Pydna, Methone, Alorus, and the Erigon and Ludias Rivers. The Erigon flows from the country  p341 of the Triclari​509 through that of the Orestae and through Pellaea, leaves the city on the left,​510 and meets the Axius; the Ludias is navigable inland to Pella, a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia. Methone, which lies between the two cities, is about forty stadia from Pydna and seventy from Alorus. Alorus is in the inmost recess of the Thermaean Gulf, and it is called Thessaloniceia because of its fame.​511 Now Alorus is regarded as a Bottiaean city, whereas Pydna is regarded as a Pierian.​512 Pella belongs to Lower Macedonia, which the Bottiaei used to occupy; in early times the treasury of Macedonia was here. Philip enlarged it from a small city, because he was reared in it. It has a headland in what is called Lake Ludias; and it is from this lake that the Ludias River issues, and the lake itself is supplied by an offshoot of the Axius. The Axius empties between Chalastra and Therma; and on this river lies a fortified place which now is called Abydon, though Homer​513 calls it Amydon, and says that the Paeonians went to the aid of Troy from there, "from afar, out of Amydon, from wide-flowing Axius." The place was destroyed by the Argeadae.

 p343  20a Abydon, Abydonis; a place in Macedonia, according to Strabo.

21 1 The Axius is a muddy stream; but Homer​514 calls it "water most fair," perhaps on account of the spring called Aea, which, since it empties purest water into the Axius, proves that the present current reading​515 of the passage in the poet is faulty. After the Axius, at a distance of twenty stadia, is the Echedorus;​516 then, forty stadia farther on, Thessaloniceia, founded by Cassander, and also the Egnatian Road. Cassander named the city after his wife Thessalonice, daughter of Philip son of Amyntas, after he had rased to the ground the towns in Crusis and those on the Thermaean Gulf, about twenty-six in number, and had settled all the inhabitants together in one city; and this city is the metropolis of what is now Macedonia. Among those included in the settlement were Apollonia, Chalastra, Therma, Garescus, Aenea, and Cissus; and of these one might suspect that Cissus belonged to Cisses,​517 whom the poet mentions in speaking of Iphidamas, "whom Cisses reared."518

21 1 Crusis; a portion out of Mygdonia. Strabo in his Seventh Book.

21b Chalastra: a city of Thrace near the Thermaean Gulf — though Strabo, in his Seventh Book, calls it a city of Macedonia.

22 1 After the city Dium comes the Haliacmon  p345 River, which empties into the Thermaean Gulf. The part after this, the seaboard of the gulf towards the north as far as the Axius River, is called Pieria, in which is the city Pydna, now called Citrum. Then come the cities Methone and Alorus. Then the Rivers Erigon and Ludias; and from​519 Ludias to the city of Pella the river is navigable, a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia. Methone is forty stadia distant from Pydna and seventy stadia from Alorus. Now Pydna is a Pierian city, whereas Alorus is Bottiaean.​520 Now it was in the plain before Pydna that the Romans defeated Perseus in war and destroyed the kingdom of the Macedonians, and it was in the plain before Methone that Philip the son of Amyntas, during the siege of the city, had the misfortune to have his right eye knocked out by a bolt from a catapult.

23 1 As for Pella, though it was formerly small, Philip greatly enlarged it, because he was reared in it. It has a lake before it; and it is from this lake that the Ludias River flows, and the lake is supplied by an offshoot of the Axius. Then the Axius, dividing both Bottiaea and the land called Amphaxitis, and receiving the erigon River, discharges its waters between Chalastra and Therma. And on the Axius River lies the place which Homer​521 calls Amydon, saying that the Paeonians went to the aid of Troy from there, "from afar, out of Amydon, from wide-flowing Axius."​522 But since the Axius is muddy and since a certain spring rises in Amydon and mingles "water most fair" with it,  p347 therefore the next line, "Axius, whose water most fair is spread o'er Aea,"​523 is changed to read thus, "Axius, o'er which is spread Aea's water most fair"; for it is not the "water most fair" of the Axius that is spread over the face of the earth, but that of the spring o'er the Axius.

23a In the phrase 'spread o'er Aiai,' or 'Aian,'​524 (for it is written in two ways), some are of the opinion that 'Aea' means, not the earth, but a certain spring, as is clear from what the Geographer says, namely: the Amydon in Homer was later called Abydon, but it was destroyed; and there is a spring near Amydon called Aea, which empties purest water into the Axius; and this river, since it is filled from many rivers, flows muddy. Therefore, he says, the current reading, 'Axius's water most fair spreads o'er Aea,' is faulty, because it is clearly not the water of the Axius that spread o'er the spring, but the reverse. Then the Geographer goes on somewhat gruffly to find fault with the opinion that Aea refers to the earth, and appears disposed to eject such diction from the Homeric poem altogether.

24 1 After the Axius River comes Thessalonica, a city which in earlier times was called Therma. It was founded by Cassander, who named it after his wife, the daughter of Philip the son of Amyntas.  p349 And he transferred to it the towns in the surrounding country, as, for instance, Chalastra, Aenea, Cissus, and also some others. And one might suspect that it was from this Cissus that Homer's Iphidamas came, whose grandfather Cisseus "reared him," Homer says, in Thrace, which now is called Macedonia.

25 1 Mt. Bermium,​525 also, is somewhere in this region; in earlier times it was occupied by Briges, a tribe of Thracians; some of these crossed over into Asia and their name was changed to Phryges. After Thessaloniceia come the remaining parts of the Thermaean Gulf as far as Canastraeum;​526 this is a headland which forms a peninsula and rises opposite to Magnetis. The name of the peninsula is Pallene; and it has an isthmus five stadia in width, through which a canal is cut. On the isthmus is situated a city founded by the Corinthians, which in earlier times was called Potidaea, although later on it was called Cassandreia, after the same King Cassander,​527 who restored it after it had been destroyed. The distance by sea around this peninsula is five hundred and seventy stadia. And further, writers say that in earlier times the giants lived here and that the country was named Phlegra;​528 the stories of some are mythical, but the account of others is more plausible, for they tell of a certain barbarous and impious tribe which occupied the  p351 place but was broken up by Heracles when, after capturing Troy, he sailed back to his home-land. And here, too, the Trojan women were guilty of their crime, it is said, when they set the ships on fire in order that they might not be slaves to the wives of their captors.529

25a The Geographer points out that the Phrygians too were called Brigians.

26 1 The city Beroea lies in the foot-hills of Mt. Bermium.

27 1 The peninsula Pallene, on whose isthmus is situated the city formerly called Potidaea and now Cassandreia, was called Phlegra in still earlier times. It used to be inhabited by the giants of whom the myths are told, an impious and lawless tribe, whom Heracles destroyed. It has four cities, Aphytis, Mende, Scione, Sane.

27a The Scepsian​530 apparently accepts the opinion neither of this man​531 nor of those who suppose them​532 to be the Halizoni near Pallene, whom I have mentioned in my description of Macedonia.

28 1 Olynthus was seventy stadia distant from Potidaea.

29 1 The naval station of Olynthus is Macyperna, on the Toronaean Gulf.

30 1 Near Olynthus is a hollow place which is called Cantharolethron​533 from what happens there; for when the insect called the Cantharos, which is found all over the country, touches that place, it dies.

31 1 After Cassandreia, in order, comes the remainder  p353 of the seaboard of the Toronic Gulf, extending as far as Derrhis. Derrhis is a headland that rises opposite to Canastraeum and forms the gulf; and directly opposite Derrhis, towards the east, are the capes​534 of Athos; and between​535 is the Singitic Gulf, which is named after Singus, the ancient city that was on it, now in ruins. After this city comes Acanthus, a city situated on the isthmus of Athos; it was founded by the Andrii, and from it many call the gulf the Acanthian Gulf.

32 1 Opposite Canastrum,​536 a cape of Pallene, is Derrhis, a headland near Cophus Harbour; and these two mark off the limits of the Toronaean Gulf. And towards the east, again, lies the cape of Athos, which marks off the limit of the Singitic Gulf. And so the gulfs of the Aegaean Sea lie in order, though at some distance from one another, towards the north, as follows: the Maliac, the Pagasitic, the Thermaean, the Toronaean, the Singitic, the Strymonic. The capes are, first, Poseidium, the one between the Maliac and the Pegasitics; secondly, the next one towards the north, Sepias; then the one on Pallene, Canastrum; then Derrhis; then come Nymphaeum, on Athos on the Singitic Gulf, and Acrathos, the cape that is on the Strymonic Gulf (Mt. Athos is between these two capes, and Lemnos is to the east of Mt. Athos); on the north, however, the limit of the Strymonic Gulf is marked by Neapolis.537

33 1 Acanthus, a city on the Singitic Gulf, is on  p355 the coast near the canal of Xerxes. Athos has five cities, Dium, Cleonae, Thyssus, Olophyxis, Acrothoï; and Acrothoï is near the crest of Athos. Mt. Athos is breast-shaped, has a very sharp crest, and is very high, since those who live on the crest see the sun rise three hours before it rises on the seaboard. And the distance by sea around the peninsula from the city Acanthus as far as Stageirus,​538 the city of Aristotle, is four hundred stadia. On this coast is a harbour, Caprus by name, and also an isle with the same name as the harbour. Then come the outlets of the Strymon; then Phagres, Galepsus, Apollonia, all cities; then the mouth of the Nestus,​539 which is the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace as fixed by Philip and his son Alexander in their times. There is also another set of cities about the Strymonic Gulf, as, for instance, Myrcinus, Argilus, Drabescus, and Datum.​540 The last named has not only excellent and fruitful soil but also dock-yards and gold mines; and hence the proverb, "a Datum of good things," like that other proverb, "spools of good things."

34 1 There are very many gold mines in Crenides, where the city Philippi​541 now is situated, near Mt. Pangaeum.​542 And Mt. Pangaeum as well has gold and silver mines, as also the country across, and the country this side, the Strymon River as far as Paeonia. And it is further said that the people who plough the Paeonian land find nuggets of gold.

 p357  35 Mt. Athos is high and breast-shaped; so high that on its crests the sun is up and that the people are weary of ploughing by the time cock-crow​543 begins among the people who live on the shore. It was on this shore that Thamyris the Thracian reigned, who was a man of the same pursuits as Orpheus.​544 Here, too, is to be seen a canal, in the neighbourhood of Acanthus, where Xerxes dug a canal across Athos, it is said, and, by admitting the sea into the canal, brought his fleet across from the Strymonic Gulf through the isthmus. Demetrius of Scepsis, however, does not believe that this canal was navigable, for, he says, although as far as ten stadia the ground is deep-soiled and can be dug, and in fact a canal one plethrum in width has been dug, yet after that it is a flat rock, almost a stadium in length, which is too high and broad to admit of being quarried out through the whole of the distance as far as the sea; but even if it were dug thus far, certainly it should not be dug deep enough to make a navigable passage; this, he adds, is where Alexarchus, the son of Antipater,​545 laid the foundation of Uranopolis, with its circuit of thirty stadia. Some of the Pelasgi from Lemnos took up their abode on this peninsula, and they were divided into five cities, Cleonae, Olophyxis, Acrothoï, Dium, Thyssus. After Athos comes the Strymonic Gulf extending as far as the Nestus, the river which marks off the boundary of Macedonia as fixed by Philip and Alexander; to be accurate, however, there is a cape which with Athos forms the Strymonic Gulf, I mean the cape which  p359 has had on it a city called Apollonia.​546 The first city on this gulf after the harbour of the Acanthians is Stageira, the native city of Aristotle, now deserted; this too belongs to the Chalcidians and so do its harbour, Caprus, and an isle​547 bearing the same name as the harbour. Then come the Strymon and the inland voyage of twenty stadia to Amphipolis. Amphipolis was founded by the Athenians and is situated in that place which is called Ennea Hodoi.​548 Then come Galepsus and Apollonia, which were rased to the ground by Philip.

36 1 From the Peneius, he says, to Pydna is one hundred and twenty stadia. Along the seaboard of the Strymon and the Dateni are, not only the city Neapolis, but also Datum​549 itself, with its fruitful plains, lake, rivers, dock-yards, and profitable gold mines; and hence the proverb, "a Datum of good things," like that other proverb, "spools of good things." Now the country that is on the far side of the Strymon, I mean that which is near the sea and those places that are in the neighbourhood of Datum, is the country of the Odomantes and the Edoni and the Bisaltae, both those who are indigenous and those who crossed over from Macedonia, amongst whom  p361 Rhesus reigned. Above Amphipolis, however, and as far as the city Heracleia,​550 is the country of the Bisaltae, with its fruitful valley; this valley is divided into two parts by the Strymon, which has its source in the country of the Agrianes who live round about Rhodope; and alongside this country lies Parorbelia, a district of Macedonia, which has in its interior, along the valley that begins at Eidomene, the cities Callipolis, Orthopolis, Philippopolis, Garescus.

If one goes up the Strymon, one comes to Berge;​551 it, too, is situated in the country of the Bisaltae, and is a village about two hundred stadia distant from Amphipolis. And if one goes from Heracleia towards the north and the narrows through which the Strymon flows, keeping the river on the right, one has Paeonia and the region around Doberus,​552 Rhodope, and the Haemus Mountain on the left, whereas on the right one has the region round about Haemus,​553 This side the Strymon are Scotussa, near the river itself, and Arethusa, near Lake Bolbe.​554 Furthermore, the name Mygdones is applied especially to the people round about the lake. Not only the Axius flows out of the country of the Paeonians, but also the Strymon, for its flows out of the country of the Agrianes through that of the Medi and Sinti  p363 and empties into the parts that are between the Bisaltae and the Odomantes.

37 1 The Strymon River rises in the country of the Agrianes who live round about Rhodope.

38 1 Some represent the Paeonians as colonists from the Phrygians, while others represent them as independent founders. And it is said that Paeonia has extended as far as Pelagonia and Pieria; that Pelagonia was called Orestia in earlier times, that Asteropaeus, one of the leaders who made the expedition from Paeonia to Troy, was not without good reason called "son of Pelegon," and that the Paeonians themselves were called Pelagonians.

39 1 The Homeric "Atersopaeus son of Pelegon"​555 was, as history tells us, from Paeonia in Macedonia; wherefore "son of Pelegon," for the Paeonians were called Pelagonians.

40 1 Since the "apeanismos"​556 of the Thracians is called "titanismos" by the Greeks, in imitation of the cry​557 uttered in paeans, the Titans too were called Pelagonians.

41 1 It is clear that in early times, as now, the Paeonians occupied much of what is now Macedonia, so that they could not only lay siege to Perinthus but also bring under their power all Crestonia and Mygdonis and the country of the Agrianes as far as Pangaeum.​558 Philippi and the region about Philippi lie above that part of the seaboard of the Strymonic Gulf which extends from Galepsus as far as Nestus. In earlier times Philippi was called Crenides, and was only a small settlement, but it was enlarged after the defeat of Brutus and Cassius.559

 p365  42 (43) What is now the city Philippi was called Crenides in early times.

43 (44) Off this seaboard lie two islands, Lemnos and Thasos. And after the strait of Thasos one comes to Abdera​560 and the scene of the myths connected with Abderus. It was inhabited by the Bistonian Thracians over whom Diomedes ruled. The Nestus River does not always remain in the same bed, but oftentimes floods the country. Then come Dicaea,​561 a city situated on a gulf, and a harbour. Above these lies the Bistonis,​562 a lake which has a circuit of about two hundred stadia. It is said that, because this plain was altogether a hollow and lower than the sea, Heracles, since he was inferior in horse when he came to get the mares of Diomedes, dug a canal through the shore and let in the water of the sea upon the plain and thus mastered his adversaries. One is shown also the royal residence​563 of Diomedes, which, because of its naturally strong position and from what is actually the case, is called Cartera Come.​564 After the lake, which is midway between, come Xantheia,​565 Maroneia,​566 and Ismarus,​567 the cities of the Cicones. Ismarus, however, is now called Ismara; it is near Maroneia. And near here, also, Lake Ismaris sends forth its stream; this stream  p367 is called Odysseium. And here, too, are what are called the Thasiôn Cephalae.​568 But the people situated in the interior are Sapaei.

44 (45) Topeira is near Abdera and Maroneia.

44a The aforesaid Ismarus, in later times called Ismara, is, they say, a city of the Cicones; it is near Maroneia, where is also a lake, the stream of which is called Odysseium; here too is a hero-temple of Maron, as the Geographer records.

45 (46) The Sinti, a Thracian tribe, inhabit the island Lemnos; and from this fact Homer calls them Sinties, when he says, "where me the Sinties . . ."569

45a Lemnos: first settled by the Thracians who were called Sinties, according to Strabo.

46 (47) After the Nestus River, towards the east, is the city Abdera, named after Abderus, whom the horses of Diomedes devoured; then, near by, the city Dicaea, above which lies a great lake, Bistonis; then the city Maroneia.

47 (48) Thrace as a whole consists of twenty-two tribes. But although it has been devastated to an exceptional degree, it can send into the field fifteen thousand cavalry and also two hundred thousand infantry. After Maroneia one comes to the city Orthagoria and to the region about Serrhium​570 (a  p369 rough coasting-voyage) and to Tempyra, the little town of the Samothracians, and to Caracoma,​571 another little town, off which lies the island Samothrace, and to Imbros, which is not very far from Samothrace; Thasos, however, is more than twice as far from Samothrace as Imbros is. From Caracoma one comes to Doriscus,​572 where Xerxes enumerated his army; then to the Hebrus, which is navigable inland to Cypsela,​573 a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia. This, he​574 says, was the boundary of Macedonia which the Romans first took away from Perseus and afterwards from the Pseudo-Philip.​575 Now Paulus,​576 who captured Perseus, annexed the Epeirotic tribes to Macedonia, divided the country into four parts for purposes of administration, and apportioned one part to Amphipolis, another to Thessaloniceia, another to Pella, and another to the Pelagonians. Along the Hebrus live the Corpili, and, still farther up the river, the Brenae, and then, farthermost of all, the Bessi, for the river is navigable thus far. All these tribes are given to brigandage, but most of all the Bessi, who, he​577 says, are neighbours to the Odrysae and the Sapaei. Bizye​578 was the royal residence of the Astae. The term "Odrysae" is applied by some to all the peoples living above the seaboard from the Hebrus and Cypsela as far as Odessus​579 — the peoples over whom  p371 Amadocus, Cersobleptes, Berisades, Seuthes and Cotys reigned as kings.

47a Odrysae: a tribe of Thrace; Strabo in his Seventh Book.

47b The Geographer, in pointing out the great extent of Thrace, says also that Thrace as a whole consists of twenty-two tribes.

48 (49) The river in Thrace that is now called Rheginia used to be called Erigon.

49 (50) Iasion and Dardanus, two brothers, used to live in Samothrace. But when Iasion was struck by a thunderbolt because of his sin against Demeter, Dardanus sailed away from Samothrace, went and took up his abode at the foot of Mount Ida, calling the city Dardania, and taught the Trojans the Samothracian Mysteries. In earlier times, however, Samothrace was called Samos.

50 (51) Many writers have identified the gods that are worshipped in Samothrace with the Cabeiri, though they cannot say who the Cabeiri themselves are, just as the Cyrbantes and Corybantes, and likewise the Curetes and the Idaean Dactyli, are identified with them.

50a this Thracian island, according to the Geographer, is called Samos because of its height; for "samoi," he said, means "heights." . . . And from Mycale settled in the island, which had been deserted because of a dearth of crops, and that in this way it was called Samos. . . . And the Geographer records also that in earlier times Samothrace was called Melite, as also that it was rich; for  p373 Cilician pirates, he says, secretly broke into the temple in Samothrace, robbed it, and carried off more than a thousand talents.

51 (52) Near the outlet of the Hebrus, which has two mouths, lies the city Aenus,​580 on the Melas Gulf;​581 it was founded by Mitylenaeans and Cumaeans, though in still earlier times by Alopeconnesians. Then comes Cape Sarpedon; then what is called the Thracian Chersonesus, which forms the Propontis and the Melas Gulf and the Hellespont; for it is a cape which projects towards the south-east, thus connecting Europe with Asia by the strait, seven stadia wide, which is between Abydus and Sestus, and thus having on the left the Propontis and on the right the Melas Gulf — so called, just as Herodotus​582 and Eudoxus say, from the Melas River​583 which empties into it. But Herodotus,​584 he​585 says, states that this stream was not sufficient to supply the army of Xerxes. The aforesaid cape is closed in by an isthmus forty stadia wide. Now in the middle of the isthmus is situated the city Lysimacheia, named after the king who founded it; and on either side of it lies a city — on the Melas Gulf, Cardia, the largest of the cities on the Chersonesus, founded by Milesians and Clazomenians but later refounded by Athenians, and on the Propontis, Pactye. And after Cardia come Drabus and Limnae; then Alopeconnesus, in which the Melas Gulf comes approximately to an end; then the large headland, Mazusia;  p375 then, on a gulf, Eleus,​586 where is the temple of Protesilaus, opposite which, forty stadia distant, is Sigeium,​587 a headland of the Troad; and this is about the most southerly extremity of the Chersonesus, being slightly more than four hundred stadia from Cardia; and if one sails around the rest of the circuit, towards the other side of the isthmus, the distance is slightly more than this.

51a Aenus; a city of Thrace, called Apsinthus. Strabo in his Seventh Book. The city Aenus is in the outlet of the hebrus, which has two mouths, and was founded by Cumaeans; and it was so called because there was an Aenius River and also a village of the same name near Ossa.

52 (53) The Thracian Chersonese forms three seas: the Propontis in the north, the Hellespont in the east, and the Melas Gulf in the south, into which empties the Melas River, which bears the same name as the gulf.

53 (54) On the isthmus of the Chersonesus are situated three cities: near the Melas Gulf, Cardia, and near the Propontis, Pactye, and near the middle, Lysimacheia. The length​588 of the isthmus is forty stadia.

54 (55) The name of the city Eleus is masculine; and perhaps also that of the city Trapezus.

55 (56) On this voyage along the coast of the  p377 Chersonesus after leaving Eleus, one comes first to the entrance which leads through the narrows into the Propontis; and this entrance is called the beginning of the Hellespont. And here is the cape called the Cynos-Sema;​589 though some call it Hecabe's Sema, and in fact her tomb is pointed out after one has doubled the cape. Then one comes to Madytus, and to Cape Sestias, where the pontoon-bridge of Xerxes was built; and, after these, to Sestus. The distance from Eleus to the place of the pontoon-bridge is one hundred and seventy stadia. After Sestus one comes to Aegospotami, eighty​590 stadia, a town which has been rased to the ground, where it is said, the stone​591 fell at the time of the Persian war. Then comes Callipolis,​592 from which the distance across to Lampsacus in Asia is forty stadia; then Crithote, a little town which has been rased to the ground; then Pactye; then Macron Teichos,º593 Leuce Acte,​594 Hieron Oros,​595 and Perinthus, founded by the Samians: then Selybria.​596 Above these places lies Silta;​597 and the Hieron Oros is revered by all the natives and is a sort of acropolis of the country. The hieron Oros discharges asphalt into the sea, near the place where the Proconnesus,​598 only one hundred and twenty stadia distant, is nearest to the land; and the quarry of white marble in the Proconnesus is both large and excellent. After Selybria come the  p379 Rivers Athyras and Bathynias; and then, Byzantium and the places which come in order thereafter as far as the Cyanean Rocks.

55a As for Sestus and the whole of the Chersonesus, I have already discussed them in my description of the regions of Thrace.

55b Sestus, a colony of the Lesbians, as is also Madytus, as the Geographer says, is a Chersonesian city thirty stadia distant from Abydus, from harbour to harbour.

56 (57) The distance from Perinthus to Byzantium is six hundred and thirty stadia; but from the Hebruion Cypseal to Byzantium, as far as the Cyanean Rocks, three thousand one hundred, as Artemidorus says; and the entire distance from the Ionian Gulf at Apollonia as far as Byzantium is seven thousand three hundred and twenty stadia, though Polybius adds one hundred and eighty more, since he adds a third of a stadium to the eight stadia in the mile. Demetrius of Scepsis, however, in his work On the Martiallingº of the Trojan Forces599 calls the distance from Perinthus to Byzantium six hundred stadia and the distance to Parium equal thereto; and he represents the Propontis as one thousand four hundred stadia in length and five hundred in breadth; while as for the Hellespont, he calls its narrowest breadth seven stadia and its length four hundred.

57 (58) There is no general agreement in the  p381 definition of the term "Hellespont": in fact, there are several opinions concerning it. For some writers call "Hellespont" the whole of the Propontis; others, that part of the Propontis which is this side Perinthus; others go on to add that part of the outer sea which faces the Melas Gulf and the open waters of the Aegaean Sea, and these writers in turn each comprise different sections in their definitions, some the part from Sigeium to Lampsacus and Cyzicus, or Parium, or Priapus, another going on to add the part which extends from Sigrium in the Lesbian Isle. And some do not shrink even from applying the name Hellespont to the whole of the high sea as far as the Myrtoan Sea, since, as Pindar​600 says in his hymns, those who were sailing with Heracles from Troy through Helle's maidenly strait, on touching the Myrtoan Sea, ran back again to Cos, because Zephyrus blew contrary to their course. And in this way, also, they require that the whole of the Aegaean Sea as far as the Thermaean Gulf and the sea which is about Thessaly and Macedonia should be called Hellespont, invoking Homer also as witness; for Homer​601 says, "thou shalt see, if thou dost wish and hast a care therefor, my ships sailing o'er the fishy Hellespont at very early morn"; but such an argument is refuted by those other lines, "the hero,​602 son of Imbrasus, who, as we know, had come from Aenus,"​603 but he was the leader of the Thracians,​604 "all who are shut in by strong-flowing Hellespont";​605 that is, Homer would  p383 represent those​606 who are situated next after these​607 as situated outside the Hellespont; that is, Aenus lies in what was formerly called Apsinthis, though now called Corpilice, whereas the country of the Cicones lies next thereafter towards the west.608

58 1 Corpili: certain of the Thracians. Strabo, Seventh Book; their country is called Corpilice; for Aenus lies in what was formerly called Apsinthis, though now called Corpilice.

59 (58a) Tetrachoritae: the Bessi, according to Strabo in his Seventh Book. These are also called Tetracomi.

60 (58b) For he​609 says in the Seventh Book of the same work​610 that he knew Poseidonius, the Stoic philosopher.º611

 p385  61 There is also a river Arisbus in Thrace, as I have said before, and near this the Cebrenian Thracians.

62 1 Perhaps Rhipe is also called Rhipae, in the plural, if Strabo means Rhipe when he says that Rhipae is not inhabited. And they call the country Rhipis. [But elsewhere​612 Strabo says very clearly: "Rhipe and Stratie and Enispe not only are hard to find, but when found are of no use because of their desolation."]

63 1 [The geographer says also that the tribe of the Cauconians has been completely destroyed.] And the Geographer further says that the Cauconians in the Peloponnesus, the Arcadian portion, could not endure to be ruled by the house of Lepreus — Lepreus was a bad man — and so they sailed away from there to Lycia.

64 1 [Porphyrius records that the people from the Methone that was subject to Menelaus were called Phthians.] But the Geographer says that the people about Methone were not the only people who were called Phthians, but, as has been said before, the peoples subject to Achilles, Protesilaüs, and Philoctetes were so called in common with them.

65 1 The same Geographer says also that the Ister was once called the "Matoas" — that is, in Greek, "Asius";​613 and that, although the Scythians had often crossed over it without suffering any mishap,  p387 yet, when once a misfortune befell them, its name was changed to Danubis or Daüsis, as though it were to blame for their mistake.

66 1 The Geographer also says that Hades was much revered there.614


The Editor's Notes:

472 Corais and Groskurd offer only 27 Fragments; Kramer has 57, his numbers running from 1 to 58 inclusive, except that number 42 is missing; Müller-Dübner have the same 57, though they correct the numbering from 42 to 57; Meineke, like Kramer, has no number 42, but changes Kramer's 1 to 1a and inserts seven new fragments, 1, 11a, 16a, 16b, 23a, 58a, and 58b (the last two being 59 and 60 in the present edition). The present editor adds 28 more. Of these, five (1b, 16c, 27a, 55a, 61) are quotations from Strabo himself; nine (11b, 20a, 21a, 21b, 45a, 47a, 51a, 55b, 58) are from Stephanus Byzantinus; twelve (1c, 12a, 15a, 16d, 16e, 25a, 44a, 47b, 50a, 62, 53, 64) are from the notes of Eustathius on the Iliad and Odyssey; and two (65, 66) from his notes on the geographical poem of Dionysius Periegetes. All these fragments from eustathius, except no. 62, are citations from "the Geographer," not from "Strabo," and so is 23a, which Meineke inserted; but with the help of the editor, John Paul Pritchard, Fellow in Greek and Latin at Cornell University, starting with the able articles of Kunze on this subject (Rheinisches Museum, 1902, LVII, pp43 ff. and 1903, LVIII, pp126 ff.) has established beyond all doubt that "the Geographer" is "Strabo," and in due time the complete proof will be published. To him the editor is also indebted for fragment no. 66 (hitherto unnoticed, we believe), and for the elimination of certain doubtful passages suggested by Kunze. Meineke's numbers, where different from those of the present edition, are given in parentheses.

473 Manuscript A has already lost a whole quaternion (about 13 Casaubon pages — about 26 Greek pages in the present edition) in each of two places, namely, from ἡ Λιβύη (2.5.26) to περὶ αὐτῆς (3.1.6) and from καθ’ αὑτούς (5.3.2) to ρεντῖνος ἐνάμιλλος (5.4.3). In the present case A leaves off at μετὰ δέ (7.7.5) and resumes at the beginning of Book VIII. Assuming the loss of a third quaternion from A, and taking into account that portion of it which is preserved in other manuscripts, Ὄγχησμον (7.7.5) to μυθωδέστερον (7.7.12), only about one-sixth of Book VII is missing; and if this be true, the fragments herein given, although they contain some repetitions, account for most of the original matter of the missing one-sixth.

474 i.e. a city called Dodona.

475 "Pigeons."

476 The senators at Sparta were called "gerontes," literally "old men," "senators."

477 Cp. 4.1.5.

478 The phrase was used in reference to incessant talkers (Stephanus Byzantinus, s.v. Δωδώνη).

479 Gortynium (or Gortynia) was situated in Macedonia, to the south of the narrow pass now called "Demir Kapu," or (in Bulgarian) "Prusak."

480 Now Sinkovo, to the north of the Demir Kapu Pass.

481 The words to be supplied here are almost certainly "the narrow pass on the south."

482 The Vardar.

483 The Vistritiza.

484 Vardusia.

485 It is uncertain what mountain Strabo refers to (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v. "Bertiskos").

486 Now the Char-Dagh.

487 Now the Perim-Dagh.

488 Now the Despoto-Dagh.

489 Now the Balkan Mountains.

490 See 7.7.4.

491 Cp. 7.7.8.

492 Cp. 6.3.2.

493 The name appears to have been derived from the Macedonian Argos, i.e. Argos Oresticum (7.7.8).

494 i.e. the name of the tribe which corresponds to the name of the city.

495 "A city in Macedonia" (Etymologicum Magnum, s.v.).

496 i.e. not with the e, as is Βοττεάτης the ethnic of Βόττεα (see Etym. Magn.l.c.), but with the i, as is Βοττιαῖοι.

497 sc. Botteia.

498 The country was called "Bottiaea" (6.3.6), "Bottia," and "Bottiaeis," and the inhabitants "Bottiaei" (6.3.2). See Pauly-Wissowa, s. vv. Βόττια and Βοττική; and Meritt, Am. Jour. Arch., 1923, pp336 ff.

499 i.e. the preposition "amphi" ("on both sides of") and the noun "Axius" (the "Axius" River).

500 sc. Strabo.

501 Cp. 7.3.19.

502 sc. Strabo.

503 Iliad 2.751.

504 Iliad 13.301.

505 Including Lower Macedonia (cp. Frag. 12).

506 Cp. Frag. 14.

507 See 9.5.22, from which this Fragment is taken.

508 Our text of Strabo mentions only seven. Benseler's Lexicon names nine and Pauly-Wissowa eight.

509 Otherwise unknown.

510 Tafel, Kramer, Meineke, and Forbiger think that Strabo wrote "Pelagonia" instead of "Pellaea" (or "the Pellaean country") and that "the city" which the Erigon leaves "on the left" is Heracleia Lyncestis (now Bitoia), for "Pellaea" seems to be used by no other writer and the erigon leaves "the city" Pella "on the right," not "on the left." But both this fragment and Frag. 22 contain other errors which seem to defy emendation (cp. C. Müller, Index Variae Lectionis); for example, both make the Haliacmon empty between Dium and Pydna (and so does Ptolemaeus, 3.12). But lack of space requires that this whole matter be reserved for special discussion.

511 The text as it stands seems impossible, for Thessaloniceia, not Alorus, was in the innermost part of the gulf — unless, indeed, we assume that Strabo wrongly identified Alorus with Thessaloniceia. In any case, we should probably interpret "it" as referring to "the Thermaean Gulf" and "its" as meaning "Thessaloniceia's."

512 Cp. Frag. 22.

513 Iliad 2.849.

514 Iliad 21.158.

515 See Frag. 23.

516 Now the Gallico.

517 Also spelled "Cisseus" (wrongly, it seems), as in Frag. 24 q.v.

518 Iliad 11.223.

519 sc. "the mouth of the" (cp. Frag. 20).

520 Cp. Frag. 20.

521 Iliad 2.849.

522 Cp. Frag. 20.

523 The usual meaning of "aea" in Homer is "earth."

524 The Greek dative and accusative forms, respectively, of Aia (Aea).

525 Now Doxa.

526 Cape Paliuri.

527 Cp. Frag. 21.

528 Cp. 5.4.4, 6.

529 Cp. 6.1.2.

530 Demetrius.

531 Ephorus.

532 The Amazons.

533 "Beetle-death."

534 Cape Nymphaeum (now Hagios Georgios) is meant.

535 Derrhis and Nymphaeum (cp. Frag. 32).

536 The same as "Canastraeum" (Frags. 25 and 31).

537 Now Kavala.

538 Now in ruins near Nizvoro.

539 Now Mesta.

540 See footnote on "Datum," Frag. 36.

541 Now Filibedjik (see footnote on "Datum," Frag. 36).

542 Now Pirnari.

543 The third watch of the night.

544 See Frag. 18.

545 One of the foremost Macedonian generals (b. 497 - d. 319 B.C.); also the father of Cassander.

546 The same Apollonia mentioned in Frag. 33. It was rased to the ground by Philip. It must have been somewhere between Neapolis and the mouth of the Nestus. Cp. Frag. 32, where Neapolis is spoken of as marking the northern limit of the gulf.

547 Now Kapronisi.

548 "Nine Roads."

549 Appian (Bellum Civile 4.105) and also Harpocration say that Datum was the earlier name of Philippi and that Crenides was the name of the same place in still earlier times. Leake (Northern Greece, Vol. III, pp223‑4), Kiepert (Alte Geographie 315), Forbiger (Strabo Vol. II, p140, footnote, 175), Besnier (Lexique Géog. Ancienne s.v. "Neapolis"), Lolling (Hellenische Landeskunde, 220, 230) identify Datum with Neapolis. But Heuzey (quoted by Philippson, Pauly-Wissowa s.v. "Datum") tries to reconcile these disagreements and the above statement of Strabo by assuming that originally Datum was that territory east of Mt. Pangaeum which comprised the Plain of Philippi, the basin of the Angites River (including Drabescus now Drama), and the adjacent coast; and that later Neapolis (now Kaval) was founded on the coast and Datum was founded on the site of Crenides, and still later the city of Datum was named Philippi.

550 Heracleia Sintica (now Zervokhori).

551 Now Tachyno (Leake, Northern Greece, Vol. III, p229).

552 The site of the city Doberus is uncertain (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v.), though it appears to have been somewhere near Tauriana (now Doiran).

553 The text, which even Meineke retains, is translated as it stands, but Strabo probably wrote as follows: "one has Paeonia and the region round about Doberus on the left, whereas on the right one has the parts round about Rhodope and the Haemus Mountain."

554 Now Beschikgoel.

555 Iliad 21.141.

556 i.e. "the chanting of the paean."

557 The cry to Titan.

558 See Frag. 34.

559 In 42 B.C., after which it was made a Roman colony.

560 Now Balastra.

561 Now, perhaps, Kurnu.

562 Now Bourougoel.

563 That is, the town of the royal palace, as "Camici" (6.2.6) was the "royal residence" of Cocalus.

564 "Strong Village."

565 Xantheia was situated on the mountain now called Xanthi.

566 Now Maronia.

567 Now Ismahan.

568 Literally, "Heads of the Thasii"; referring, apparently, to certain headlands occupied by Thasians.

569 Iliad 1.594; cp. Thucydides 2.98.

570 Cape Makri.

571 Caracoma (or Characoma, meaning a fortress?) is otherwise unknown.

572 Now Tusla.

573 Now Ipsala.

574 sc. Strabo.

575 The younger brother of Perseus, whom Perseus regarded as his heir.

576 Aemilius Paulus Macedonicus, in his second consul­ship, 168 B.C., defeated Perseus near Pydna.

Thayer's Note: The date given by the Loeb editor is the one usually asserted in English-speaking countries, but it is by no means a given. There are very good reasons to believe that the date of the battle of Pydna was 172 B.C., as is commonly seen in non-English-speaking scholar­ly works. For details see my note on Plutarch, Aem. 17.7 and the further references there.

The date of the consulate is no proof, by the way, of the date of the battle, since the dates of the magistracies are arrived at by reference to a few fixed astronomical points, foremost among which is . . . the date of the battle of Pydna.

577 sc. Strabo.

578 Bizye (now Viza) was the home of King Tereus (in the story of Philomela and Procne) and was the residence of the last Thracian dynasty, which was of the stock of the Odrysae.

579 Now Varna.

580 Now Enos.

581 Gulf of Saros.

582 7.58.

583 Now called by the Turks "Kavatch Su."

584 7.58.

585 sc. Strabo.

586 The better spelling of the name is "Elaeus."

587 Now Yeni-scheher.

588 "Length" here means "breadth" (see Frag. 51).

589 i.e. "Bitch's Monument"; according to one story Hecabe (Hecuba) was metamorphosed into a bitch.

590 The text reads "two hundred and eighty," but this is clearly an error of the copyist.

591 On this meteor, see Aristotle, Meteorologica, 1.7, and Pliny, Nat. Hist. 2.58 (59).

592 Now Gallipoli.

593 "Long Wall."

594 "White Strand."

595 "Sacred Mountain."

596 Also spelled "Selymbria."

597 What is now Schandu, apparently.

598 Now the Isle of Marmara.

599 This work consisted of thirty books, and was written as an interpretation of Homer's catalogue (62 lines) of the Trojan forces (Iliad 2.816‑877), as Strabo says elsewhere (13.1.45).

600 Frag. 51 (Bergk).

601 Iliad 9.359.

602 Peiroüs.

603 Iliad 4.520.

604 Iliad 2.844 and 4.519.

605 Iliad 2.845.

606 The Cicones, themselves inhabitants of Thrace.

607 The particular Thracians whose territory ended at Aenus, or the Hebrus River.

608 The argument of this misunderstood passage is as follows: Certain writers (1) make the Homeric Thrace extend as far as Crannon and Gyrton in Thessaly (Frags. 14, 16); then (2) interpret Homer as meaning that Peiroüs was the leader of all Thracians; therefore (3) the Homeric Hellespont extends to the southern boundary of Thessaly. But their opponents regard the clause "all who are shut in by strong-flowing Hellespont" as restrictive, that is, as meaning only those Thracians who (as "Aenus" shows) were east of the Cicones, or of the Hebrus. Strabo himself seems to lean to the latter view.

609 sc. Strabo.

610 That is, his Geography, previously mentioned.

611 This fragment and its context, as found in Athenaeus 14.75, requires special investigation. If the text of Athenaeus is right, he misquotes Strabo at least once, for the latter "in his Third Book" (3.4.11) speaks of "Cantabrian," not "Cibyric," hams. Again, the readings of the Greek text for "he" (in "he knew") present a grammatical problem; Kaibel makes "he" refer to Pompey, but it must, in the context, refer to Strabo. And did Strabo really say that he knew Poseidonius? Or could he have known him? (See 16.2.10, where Strabo speaks of Poseidonius as "most widely-learned of all philosophers of our times.") Moreover, how could Poseidonius have been an associate of that Scipio (Africanus Minor) who captured Carthage? Is not Athenaeus confusing Poseidonius with Polybius, who was with Scipio at the destruction of Carthage? Or is he not confusing Poseidonius with Panaetius (see Casaubon-Schweighaüser, Animadv. in Athenaeum, Vol. VII, p645)?

612 8.8.2.

613 "Muddy."

614 In Triphylia, in the region of the Alpheius.

Page updated: 7 May 20

Accessibility