Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

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  CHAP. 29. (26.)

  MŒSIA.

  Joining up to Pannonia is the province called Mœsia, which runs, with the course of the Danube, as far as the Euxine. It commences at the confluence previously mentioned. In it are the Dardani, the Celegeri, the Triballi, the Timachi, the Mœsi, the Thracians, and the Scythians who border on the Euxine. The more famous among its rivers are the Margis, which rises in the territory of the Dardani, the Pingus, the Timachus, the Œscus which rises in Mount Rhodope, and, rising in Mount Hæmus, the Utus, the Asamus, and the Ieterus.

  The breadth of Illyricum at its widest part is 325 miles, and its length from the river Arsia to the river Drinius 530; from the Drinius to the Promontory of Acroceraunia Agrippa states to be 175 miles, and he says that the entire circuit of the Italian and Illyrian Gulf is 1700 miles. In this Gulf, according to the limits which we have drawn, are two seas, the Ionian in the first part, and the Adriatic, which runs more inland and is called the Upper Sea.

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  CHAP. 30.

  ISLANDS OF THE IONIAN SEA AND THE ADRIATIC.

  In the Ausonian Sea there are no islands worthy of notice beyond those which we have already mentioned, and only a few in the Ionian; those, for instance, upon the Calabrian coast, opposite Brundusium, by the projection of which a harbour is formed; and, over against the Apulian coast, Diomedia, remarkable for the monument of Diomedes, and another island called by the same name, but by some Teutria.

  The coast of Illyricum is clustered with more than 1000 islands, the sea being of a shoaly nature, and numerous creeks and æstuaries running with their narrow channels between portions of the land. The more famous are those before the mouths of the Timavus, with warm springs that rise with the tides of the sea, the island of Cissa near the territory of the Istri, and the Pullaria and Absyrtides, so called by the Greeks from the circumstance of Absyrtus, the brother of Medea, having been slain there. Some islands near them have been called the Electrides, upon which amber, which they call “electrum,” was said to be found; a most assured instance however of that untruthfulness which is generally ascribed to the Greeks, seeing that it has never vet been ascertained which of the islands were meant by them under that name. Opposite to the Iader is Lissa, and other islands whose names have been already mentioned. Opposite to the Liburni are some islands called the Crateæ, and no smaller number styled Liburniecæ and Celadussæ. Opposite to Surium is Bavo, and Brattia, famous for its goats, Issa with the rights of Roman citizens, and Pharia with a town. At a distance of twenty-five miles from Issa is Corcyra, surnamed Melæna, with a town founded by the Cnidians; between which and Illyricum is Melite, from which, as we learn from Callimachus, a certain kind of little dogs were called Melitæi; fifteen miles from it we find the seven Elaphites. In the Ionian Sea, at a distance of twelve miles from Oricum, is Sasonis, notorious from having been a harbour of pirates.

  Summary. — The towns and nations mentioned are in number* * * *. The rivers of note are in number* * * *. The mountains of note are in number* * * *. The islands are in number* * * *. The towns or nations which have disappeared are in number* * * *. The facts, statements, and observations are in number 326.

  Roman Authors quoted. — Turannius Gracilis, Cornelius Nepos, T. Livius, Cato the Censor, M. Agrip- pa, M. Varro, the Emperor Augustus now deified, Varro Atacinus, Antias, Hyginus, L. Vetus, Pomponius Mela, Curio the Elder, Cælius, Arruntius, Sebosus, Licinius Mucianus, Fabricius Tuscus, L. Ateius, Capito, Verrius Flaccus, L. Piso, Gellianus, and Valerianus.

  Foreign Authors quoted. — Artemidorus, Alexander Polyhistor, Thucydides, Theophrastus, Isidorus, Theopompus, Metrodorus of Scepsis, Callicrates, Xenophon of Lampsacus, Diodorus of Syracuse, Nymphodorus, Calliphanes, and Timagenes.

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  BOOK IV. AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, HAVENS, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEOPLES WHO NOW EXIST OR FORMERLY EXISTED.

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  CHAP. 1. (1.)

  EPIRUS.

  The third great Gulf of Europe begins at the mountains of Acroceraunia, and ends at the Hellespont, embracing an extent of 2500 miles, exclusive of the sea-line of nineteen smaller gulfs. Upon it are Epirus, Acarnania, Ætolia, Phocis, Locris, Achaia, Messenia, Laconia, Argolis, Megaris, Attica, Bœotia; and again, upon the other sea, the same Phocis and Locris, Doris, Phthiotis, Thessalia, Magnesia, Macedonia and Thracia. All the fabulous lore of Greece, as well as the effulgence of her literature, first shone forth upon the banks of this Gulf. We shall therefore dwell a little the longer upon it.

  Epirus, generally so called, begins at the mountains of Acroceraunia. The first people that we meet are the Chaones, from whom Chaonia receives its name, then the Thesproti, and then the Antigonenses. We then come to the place where Aornos stood, with its exhalations so deadly to the feathered race, the Cestrinis, the Perrhæbi, in whose coun- try Mount Pindus is situate, the Cassiopæi, the Dryopes, the Sellæ, the Hellopes, the Molossi, in whose territory is the temple of the Dodonæan Jupiter, so famous for its oracle; and Mount Tomarus, so highly praised by Theopompus, with its hundred springs gushing from its foot.

  (2.) Epirus, properly so called, advances towards Magnesia and Macedonia, having at its back the Dassaretæ, previously mentioned, a free nation, and after them the Dardani, a savage race. On the left hand, before the Dardani are extended the Triballi and the nations of Mœsia, while in front of them the Medi and the Denselatæ join, and next to them the Thracians, who stretch away as far as the Euxine: in such a manner is a rampart raised around the lofty heights of Rhodope, and then of Hæmus.

  On the coast of Epirus is the fortress of Chimær, situate upon the Acroceraunian range, and below it the spring known as the Royal Waters; then the towns of Mæandria, and Cestria, the Thyamis, a river of Thesprotia, the colony of Buthrotum, and the Ambracian Gulf, so famed in history; which, with an inlet only half a mile in width, receives a vast body of water from the sea, being thirty-seven miles in length, and fifteen in width. The river Acheron, which runs through Acherusia, a lake of Thesprotia, flows into it after a course of thirty-six miles; it is considered wonderful for its bridge, 1000 feet in length, by a people who look upon everything as wonderful that belongs to themselves. Upon this Gulf is also situate the town of Ambracia. There are also the Aphas and the Arachthus, rivers of the Molossi; the city of Anactoria, and the place where Pandosia stood.

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  CHAP. 2.

  ACARNANIA.

  The towns of Acarnania, the ancient name of which was Curetis, are Heraclia, Echinus, and, on the coast, Actium, a colony founded by Augustus, with its famous temple of Apollo and the free city of Nicopolis. Passing out of the Ambracian Gulf into the Ionian Sea, we come to the coast of Leucadia, with the Promontory of Leucate, and then the Gulf and the peninsula of Leucadia, which last was formerly called Neritis. By the exertions of the inhabitants it was once cut off from the mainland, but was again joined to it by the vast bodies of sand accumulated through the action of the winds. This spot is called Dioryctos, and is three stadia in length: on the peninsula is the town of Leucas, formerly called Neritus. We next come to Alyzia, Stratos, and Argos, surnamed Amphilochian, cities of the Acarnanians: the river Acheloüs flows from the heights of Pindus, and, after separating Acarnania from Ætolia, is fast adding the island of Artemita to the mainland by the continual deposits of earth which it brings down its stream.

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  CHAP. 3. (2.)

  ÆTOLIA.

  The peoples of Ætolia are the Athamanes, the Tymphæi, the Ephyri, the Ænienses, the Perrhæbi, the Dolopes, the Maraces, and the Atraces, in whose territory rises the river Atrax, which flows into the Ionian Sea. Calydon is a city of Ætolia, situate at a distance of seven miles from the sea, and near the banks of the river Evenus. We then come to Macynia, and Molycria, behind which lie Mounts Chalcis and Taphiassus. On the coast a
gain, there is the promontory of Antirrhium, off which is the mouth of the Corinthian Gulf, which flows in and separates Ætolia from the Peloponnesus, being less than one mile in width. The promontory which faces it on the opposite side is called Rhion. The towns of Ætolia, however, on the Corinthian Gulf are Naupactus and Pylene; and, more inland, Pleuron and Hali- cyrna. The most famous mountains are Tomarus, in the district of Dodona, Crania in Ambracia, Aracynthus in Acarnania, and Acanthon, Panætolium, and Macynium, in Ætolia.

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  CHAP. 4. (3.)

  LOCRIS AND PHOCIS.

  Next to Ætolia are the Locri, surnamed Ozolæ; a people exempt from tribute. Here is the town of Œanthe, the port of Apollo Phæstius, and the Gulf of Crissa. In the interior are the towns of Argyna, Eupalia, Phæstum, and Calamisus. Beyond are the Cirrhaean plains of Phocis, the town of Cirrha, and the port of Chalæon, seven miles from which, in the interior, is situate the free town of Delphi, at the foot of Mount Parnassus, and having the most celebrated oracle of Apollo throughout the whole world. There is the Fountain too of Castalia, and the river Cephisus which flows past Delphi, rising in the former city of Lilæa. Besides these, there is the town of Crissa and that of Anticyra, with the Bulenses; as also Naulochum, Pyrrha, Amphissa, exempt from all tribute, Tithrone, Tritea, Ambrysus, and Drymæa, which district has also the name of Daulis. The extremity of the gulf washes one corner of Bœotia, with its towns of Siphæ and Thebes, surnamed the Corsian, in the vicinity of Helicon. The third town of Bœotia on this sea is that of Pagæ, from which point the Isthmus of the Peloponnesus projects in the form of a neck.

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  CHAP. 5. (4.)

  THE PELOPONNESUS.

  The Peloponnesus, which was formerly called Apia and Pelasgia, is a peninsula, inferior in fame to no land upon the face of the earth. Situate between the two seas, the Ægæan and the Ionian, it is in shape like the leaf of a plane-tree, in consequence of the angular indentations made in its shores. According to Isidorus, it is 563 miles in circumference; and nearly as much again, allowing for the sea-line on the margin of its gulfs. The narrow pass at which it commences is know by the name of the Isthmus. At this spot the two seas, which we have previously mentioned, running from the north and the east, invade the land from opposite sides, and swallow up its entire breadth, the result being that through these inroads in opposite directions of such vast bodies of water, the sides of the land are eaten away to such an extent, that Hellas only holds on to the Peloponnesus by the narrow neck, five miles in width, which intervenes. The Gulfs thus formed, the one on this side, the other on that, are known as the Corinthian and the Saronic Gulfs. The ports of Lecheæ, on the one side, and of Cenchreæ on the other, form the frontiers of this narrow passage, which thus compels to a tedious and perilous circumnavigation such vessels as from their magnitude cannot be carried across by land on vehicles. For this reason it is that both King Demetrius, Cæsar the Dictator, the prince Caius, and Domitius Nero, have at different times made the attempt to cut through this neck by forming a navigable canal; a profane design, as may be clearly seen by the result in every one of these instances.

  Upon the middle of this intervening neck which we have called the Isthmus, stands the colony of Corinth, formerly known by the name of Ephyre, situate upon the brow of a hill, at a distance of sixty stadia from the shore of either sea. From the heights of its citadel, which is called Acrocorinthos, or the “Heights of Corinth,” and in which is the Fountain of Pirene, it looks down upon the two seas which lie in the opposite directions. From Leucas to Patræ upon the Corinthian gulf is a distance of eighty-eight miles. The colony of Patræ is founded upon the most extensive promontory of the Peloponnesus, facing Ætolia and the river Evenus, the Corinthian Gulf being, as we have previously stated, less than a mile in width at the entrance there, though extending in length as far as the isthmus, a distance of eighty-five miles.

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  CHAP. 6. (5.)

  ACHAIA.

  The province called Achaia begins at the Isthmus; from the circumstance of its cities being ranged in regular succession on its coast, it formerly had the name of Ægialos. The first place there is Lecheæ, already mentioned, a port of the Corinthians; next to which is Olyros, a fortress of the people of Pellene; then the former towns of Helice and Bura, and the places in which their inhabitants took refuge after their towns had been swallowed up by the sea, Sicyon namely, Ægira, Ægium, and Erineos. In the interior are Cleonæ and Hysiæ; then come the port of Panormus, and Rhium already mentioned; from which promontory, Patræ, of which we have previously spoken, is distant five miles; and then the place where Pheræ stood. Of the nine mountains of Achaia, Scioessa is the most famous; there is also the Fountain of Cymothoë. Beyond Patræ we find the town of Olenum, the colony of Dyme, the places where Bupra- sium and Hyrmine once stood, the Promontory of Araxus, the Bay of Cyllene, and the Promontory of Chelonates, at five miles’ distance from Cyllene. There is also the fortress of Phlius; the district around which was called by Homer Aræthyrea, and, after his time, Asopis.

  The territory of the Eleans then begins, who were formerly called Epei, with the city of Elis in the interior, and, at a distance of twelve miles from Phlius, being also in the interior, the temple of Olympian Jupiter, which by the universal celebrity of its games, gives to Greece its mode of reckoning. Here too once stood the town of Pisa, the river Alpheus flowing past it. On the coast there is the Promontory of Ichthys. The river Alpheus is navigable six miles, nearly as far as the towns of Aulon and Leprion. We next come to the Promontory of Platanodes. All these localities lie to the west.

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  CHAP. 7.

  MESSENIA.

  Further south is the Gulf of Cyparissus, with the city of Cyparissa on its shores, the line of which is seventy-two miles in length. Then, the towns of Pylos and Methone, the place where Helos stood, the Promontory of Acritas, the Asinæan Gulf, which takes its name from the town of Asine, and the Coronean, so called from Corone; which gulfs terminate at the Promontory of Tanarum. These are all in the country of Messenia, which has eighteen mountains, and the river Pamisus also. In the interior are Messene, Ithome, Œchalia, Arene, Pteleon, Thryon, Dorion, and Zancle, all of them known to fame at different periods. The margin of this gulf measures eighty miles, the distance across being thirty.

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  CHAP. 8.

  LACONIA.

  At Tænarum begins the territory of Laconia, inhabited by a free nation, and situate on a gulf 106 miles in circuit, and 38 across. The towns are, Tænarum, Amyclæ, Pheræ, and Leuctra; and, in the interior, Sparta, Theramne, and the spots where Cardamyle, Pitane, and Anthea formerly stood; the former site of Thyrea, and Gerania. Here is also Mount Taygetus, the river Eurotas, the Gulf of Egilodes, the town of Psamathus, the Gulf of Gytheum, so called from the town of that name, from which place the passage is the safest across to the island of Crete. All these places are bounded by the Promontory of Malea.

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  CHAP. 9.

  ARGOLIS.

  The next gulf, which extends as far as Scyllæum, is called the Argolic Gulf, being fifty miles across, and 162 in circuit. The towns upon it are, Bœa, Epidaurus, surnamed Limera, Zarax, and the port of Cyphanta. The rivers are the Inachus and the Erasinus, between which lies Argos, surnamed Hippium, situate beyond the place called Lerna, and at a distance of two miles from the sea. Nine miles farther is Mycenæ, and the place where, it is said, Tiryns stood; the site, too, of Mantinea. The mountains are, Artemius, Apesantus, Asterion, Parparus, and some others, eleven in number. The fountains are those of Niobe, Amymone, and Psamathe.

  From Scyllæum to the Isthmus of Corinth is a distance of 177 miles. We find here the towns of Hermione, Trœzen, Coryphasium, and Argos, sometimes called “Ina- chian,” sometimes “Dipsian” Argos. Then comes the port of Schœnites, and the Saronic Gulf, which was formerly en
circled with a grove of oaks, from which it derives its present name, oaks in ancient Greece having been so called. Upon this gulf is the town of Epidaurus, famous for its temple of Æsculapius, the Promontory of Spiræum, the port of Anthedus, Bucephalus, and then Cenchreæ, previously mentioned, on this side of the Isthmus, with its temple of Neptune, famous for the games celebrated there every five years. So many are the gulfs which penetrate the shores of the Peloponnesus, so many the seas which howl around it. Invaded by the Ionian on the north, it is beaten by the Sicilian on the west, buffeted by the Cretan on the south, by the Ægean on the S.E., and by the Myrtoan on the N.E.; which last sea begins at the Gulf of Megara, and washes all the coast of Attica.