No More Learning

[2680] This the Bastarnæ possessed, and were hence called Peucini.
There are also other islands much smaller, some above this, and others
nearer the sea. The Danube has seven mouths, the largest is called the
Sacred Mouth,[2681] the passage by which to Peuce is 120 stadia. [2682]
At the lower part of this island Darius made his bridge. It might
likewise have been constructed at the upper part. This is the first
mouth on the left-hand side as you sail into the Black Sea; the rest are
passed while sailing along towards the Dniester; the seventh mouth is
distant from this first mouth about 300 stadia. These mouths form
several islands. The first three mouths next after the Sacred Mouth are
but small, the remainder are much less than it, but greater than any of
the three. Ephorus states that the Danube has five mouths. From hence to
the Dniester,[2683] which is a navigable river, there are 900
stadia. [2684] In the district intervening there are two great lakes; one
is open to the sea, and is used as a harbour,[2685] the other has no
outlet.

16. At the mouth of the Dniester there is a tower called the Tower of
Neoptolemus, and a village called Hermōnax. [2686] As you sail up the
river 140 stadia, there are cities on both sides; the one is
Niconia,[2687] and that on the left Ophiussa. [2688] Those who dwell on
the spot say that the city is but 120 stadia [CAS. 306] up the river.
The island of Leuce[2689] is distant from the river’s mouth a course of
500 stadia; it is quite in the sea, and is sacred to Achilles.

17. Next is the Dnieper,[2690] a river navigable to the distance of
600[2691] stadia, and near to it another river, the Bog,[2692] and an
island[2693] lying before the mouth of the Dnieper, which possesses a
haven. After sailing up the Borysthenes[2694] 200 stadia, you come to
the city of like name with the river, which is likewise called
Olbia;[2695] it is a great emporium and a foundation of the Milesians.
Of the region lying inland from the coast we have described between the
Dnieper and the Danube, the first portion is the Desert of the Getæ,
then comes the Tyregetæ, after them the Jazyges Sarmatæ, and the
Basilii, who are also called Urgi. [2696] Most of these people are
nomades. However, a few of them pay attention to agriculture. These are
said to inhabit the banks of the Danube, frequently even on both sides
of the river. In the inland the Bastarnæ dwell, and confine with the
Tyregetæ and the Germans; indeed, they may almost be said to be of the
German stock. They are divided into many tribes, as some are called
Atmoni, some Sidones, those who inhabit the island Peuce[2697] in the
Danube, Peucini, and the most northern, Roxolani. [2698] These latter
depasture the plains lying between the Don[2699] and the Dnieper.
Indeed the whole of the northern regions with which we are acquainted,
from Germany to the Caspian, is an extended plain. Whether any dwell
still farther than the Roxolani is unknown to us. However, the Roxolani
fought against the generals of Mithridates Eupator. Their leader was
Tasius. They came as allies of Palacus, the son of Scilurus, and were
considered good soldiers, but against the serried and well-armed phalanx
every barbarous and light-armed tribe is ineffective. Thus they,
although numbering fifty thousand men, could not withstand the six
thousand arrayed by Diophantus, the general of Mithridates, but were
almost all cut to pieces. They make use of helmets and breastplates made
of untanned ox-hide. They bear wicker shields; and as weapons, lances,
the bow, and the sword, such as most of the other barbarians do. The
woollen tents of the nomades are fixed upon their chariots, in which
they pass their lives. Their herds are scattered round their tents, and
they live on the milk, the cheese, and the meat which they supply. They
shift their quarters ever in search of pasture, changing the places they
have exhausted for others full of grass. In the winter they encamp in
the marshes near the Palus Mæotis,[2700] and in the summer on the
plains.

18. The whole of this country, which reaches to the sea-coast extending
from the Dnieper[2701] to the Palus Mæotis, is subject to severe
winters; so also are the most northern of the districts bordering on the
sea, as the mouth of the Palus Mæotis, and farther that of the Dnieper
and the head of the Gulf of Tamyraca, or Carcinites,[2702] which washes
the isthmus[2703] of the Magna Chersonesus. The intense cold of the
districts inhabited, notwithstanding their being plains, is manifest,
for they rear no asses, as that animal is too susceptible of cold; some
of their oxen are without horns by nature, of the others they file off
the horns, as a part most susceptible of injury from cold. Their horses
are diminutive and their sheep large. Their brazen vessels are split
with the frosts, and their contents frozen into a solid mass. However,
the rigour of the frosts may be best illustrated by the phænomena which
are [CAS. 307] common in the neighbourhood of the embouchure of the Palus
Mæotis;[2704] for the passage from Panticapæum,[2705] across to
Phanagoria,[2706] is at times performed in waggons, thus being both a
sea passage[2707] and an overland route [as the season may determine].
There are also fish which are taken in the ice by means of a round net
called a gangama, and especially a kind of sturgeon called
antacæus,[2708] nearly the size of a dolphin. It is related that
Neoptolemus, the general of Mithridates,[2709] defeated the barbarians
during summer-time in a naval engagement in this very strait, and during
the winter in a cavalry action. They say that about the Bosphorus the
vine is hidden away in the earth in winter, great mounds of mould being
piled over it [to preserve it from the frost]. They also report that the
heats are excessive, [this may be accounted for in several ways,]
perhaps men’s bodies not being accustomed to them, feel them the more;
perhaps the plains are at that time unrefreshed by winds; or perhaps the
thickness of the air is heated to a great degree, similar to the way in
which the misty air is affected in times when a parhelion is observed.

It appears that Ateas,[2710] who carried on war against Philip,[2711]
the son of Amyntas, had the rule over most of the barbarians of these
parts.

19. After the island[2712] situated opposite the mouth of the Dnieper,
in sailing towards the east, we arrive at the cape of the Course of
Achilles. [2713] The district is quite bare, notwithstanding that it is
termed a wood. It is sacred to Achilles. Then we arrive at the Course of
Achilles, a low peninsula; for it is a certain tongue of land about a
thousand stadia in length, running out towards the east, and its width
is but two stadia[2714] in the broadest part, and but four
plethra[2715] in the narrowest. It is distant from the mainland, which
runs out on both sides of the neck, about 60 stadia. It is sandy, but
water is obtainable by digging. About the midst of the Course of
Achilles[2716] is the neck of the isthmus [joining it to the mainland].
It is about 40 stadia in breadth, and terminates in a headland which
they call Tamyraca. [2717] This possesses an anchorage opposite the
mainland. Next comes the Gulf Carcinites, which is of considerable
extent, reaching towards the north[2718] about 1000 stadia. Some affirm
that it is three times that distance to the head of the gulf . . . are
called Taphrii. They likewise call the Gulf Carcinites the Gulf
Tamyraca, the same as the headland.




CHAPTER IV.


1. At the bottom of the bay (Carcinites) commences the isthmus[2719]
which separates the lake called Sapra, [or the Putrid Lake,] from the
sea; it is 40 stadia in width, and forms the [CAS. 308] Tauric or
Scythian Chersonese. [2720] This, according to some, is 360 stadia
across. The Putrid Lake[2721] is said to extend 4000 stadia (in
circumference), and forms part of the [Palus] Mæotis on its western
side, with which it communicates by a large opening. It abounds in
marshy tracts, and is scarcely navigable with “sewn”[2722] boats. The
shallower parts are soon uncovered, and again covered with water, by the
force of the wind; but the marsh will not bear boats of a deeper
draught. In the bay are three small islands; and in sailing along the
coast, some shallows are met with, and rocks which rise above water.

2. On the left in sailing out of the bay [Carcinites] there is a small
town and another harbour[2723] belonging to the people of the
Chersonese; for in coasting along the bay, there projects towards the
south a large promontory, which is a part of the great Chersonese. Upon
it stands a city of the Heracleotæ, who are a colony from Heraclea[2724]
in the Euxine; it bears the same name, Chersonesus, as the territory. It
is distant from the Dniester,[2725] in following the coast, 4400 stadia.
In this city is a temple of the Virgin, some goddess,[2726] after whom
the promontory, which is in front of the city, at the distance of 100
stadia, is called Parthenium. It has a shrine of the goddess and a
statue. Between the city[2727] and the promontory are three harbours;
next is the old city Chersonesus in ruins; then follows a harbour with a
narrow entrance. It was called Symbolon Limen, or Signal Harbour; and
here principally was carried on a system of piracy against those who
took refuge in the ports. This, together with another harbour, called
Ctenus,[2728] forms an isthmus of 40 stadia in extent. This isthmus
locks in the Smaller Chersonesus, which we said was a part of the Great
Chersonesus, having on it a city of the same name.

3. It was formerly governed by its own laws, but after it was ravaged by
barbarous nations, the inhabitants were obliged to elect as their
protector, Mithridates Eupator, who was anxious to direct his forces
against the barbarians who lived above the isthmus, and occupied the
country as far as the Dnieper and the Adriatic, and thus to prepare
himself against war with the Romans. Mithridates, with these views,
readily despatched an expedition into the Chersonesus, and carried on
war at the same time against the Scythians, Scilurus, and the sons of
Scilurus, namely, Palacus and his brothers, whom Posidonius reckons to
have been fifty, and Apollonides eighty, in number. By the subjugation
of these enemies he became at once master of the Bosporus, which
Pairisades, who held the command of it, voluntarily surrendered. From
that time to the present the city of the Chersonitæ has been subject to
the princes of the Bosporus.

Ctenus is equally distant from the city of the Chersonitæ, and from
Symbolon Limen. From Symbolon Limen the Tauric coast extends 1000 stadia
to the city Theodosia. [2729] The coast is rugged and mountainous, and
during the prevalence of the north winds, tempestuous. From this coast a
promontory projects far into the sea, and stretches out southwards
towards Paphlagonia, and the city Amastris. It is called Criu-metopon,
or Ram’s Head. Opposite to it is [CAS. 309] Carambis,[2730] the
promontory of the Paphlagonians. Criu-metopon and Carambis together form
a strait compressed between them, and divide the Euxine into two parts.
Carambis is distant from the city of the Chersonesus 2500 stadia, and
from Criu-metopon much less; for many persons who have sailed through
the strait say, that they saw both promontories at once. [2731]

In the mountainous district of the Tauri there is a hill called
Trapezus,[2732] of the same name as the city,[2733] which is near
Tibarania and Colchis. There is another hill also, the Kimmerium,[2734]
in the same mountainous district, for the Kimmerii were once sovereigns
of the Bosporus, and hence the whole of the strait at the mouth of the
[Palus] Mæotis is called the Kimmerian Bosporus.

4. After leaving the above-mentioned mountainous district, is the city
Theodosia, situated on a plain; the soil is fertile, and there is a
harbour capable of containing a hundred vessels. This formerly was the
boundary of the territory of the Bosporians and of the Tauri. Then
follows a fertile country extending to Panticapæum,[2735] the capital of
the Bosporians, which is situated at the mouth of the Palus
Mæotis. [2736] Between Theodosia[2737] and Panticapæum there is a tract
of about 530 stadia in extent. The whole country is corn-producing;
there are villages in it, and a city called Nymphæum, with a good
harbour.

Panticapæum is a hill inhabited all round for a circuit of 20 stadia. To
the east it has a harbour, and docks capable of containing about thirty
vessels; there is also an acropolis. It was founded by the Milesians.
Both this place and the neighbouring settlements on each side of the
mouth of the Palus Mæotis were for a long period under the monarchical
dynasty of Leucon, and Satyrus, and Pairisades, till the latter
surrendered the sovereignty to Mithridates. They had the name of
tyrants, although most of them were moderate and just in their
government, from the time of Pairisades and Leucon. Pairisades was
accounted even a god. The last sovereign, whose name was also
Pairisades, being unable to resist the barbarians, by whom great and
unusual tributes were exacted, surrendered the kingdom into the hands of
Mithridates. After him it became subject to the Romans. The greater
portion of it is situated in Europe, but a part of it is also situated
in Asia.

5. The mouth of the [Palus] Mæotis is called the Kimmerian Bosporus. The
entrance, which at the broadest part is about 70 stadia across, where
there is a passage from the neighbourhood[2738] of Panticapæum to
Phanagoria, the nearest city in Asia. The [Palus] Mæotis closes in an
arm of the sea which is much narrower. This arm of the sea and the
Don[2739] separate Europe from Asia. Then the Don flows from the north
opposite into the lake, and into the Kimmerian Bosporus. It discharges
itself into the lake by two mouths,[2740] which are distant from each
other about 60 stadia. There is also a city of the same name as the
river; and next to Panticapæum it is the largest mart belonging to the
barbarians.

On sailing into the Kimmerian Bosporus,[2741] on the left hand is
Myrmecium,[2742] a small city, 20 stadia from Panticapæum, and 40 stadia
from Parthenium;[2743] it is a village where is the narrowest entrance
into the lake, about 20 stadia in breadth; opposite to it is a village
situated in Asia, called Achilleum. Thence to the Don, and to the island
at its mouths, is a voyage in a direct line of 2200 stadia. The distance
is somewhat greater if the voyage is performed along the coast of Asia,
but taking the left-hand side, (in which direction the isthmus of the
Chersonese is fallen in with,) the distance is more than tripled. This
latter course is along the desert shore of Europe, but the [CAS. 311]
Asiatic side is not without inhabitants. The whole circumference of the
lake is 9000 stadia.

The Great Chersonesus resembles Peloponnesus both in figure and size.
The kings of the Bosporus possess it, but the whole country has been
devastated by continual wars. They formerly possessed a small tract only
at the mouth of the [Palus] Mæotis near Panticapæum, extending as far as
Theodosia. The largest part of the territory, as far as the isthmus and
the Gulf Carcinites, was in possession of the Tauri, a Scythian nation.
The whole of this country, comprehending also a portion on the other
side of the isthmus as far as the Dnieper, was called Little Scythia. In
consequence of the number of people who passed from thence across the
Dniester and the Danube, and settled there, no small part of that
country also bore the name of Little Scythia. The Thracians surrendered
a part of it to superior force, and a part was abandoned on account of
the bad quality of the ground, a large portion of which is marshy.

6. Except the mountainous tract of the Chersonesus on the sea-coast,
extending as far as Theodosia, all the rest consist of plains, the soil
of which is rich, and remarkably fertile in corn. It yields thirty-fold,
when turned up by the most ordinary implements of husbandry. The tribute
paid to Mithridates by the inhabitants, including that from the
neighbourhood of Sindace in Asia, amounted to 180,000 medimni of corn,
and 200 talents of silver. The Greeks in former times imported from this
country corn, and the cured fish of Palus Mæotis. Leucon is said to have
sent to the Athenians 2,100,000 medimni of corn from Theodosia. [2744]

The name of Georgi, or husbandmen, was appropriately given to these
people, to distinguish them from the nations situated above them, who
are nomades, and live upon the flesh of horses and other animals, on
cheese of mares’ milk, milk, and sour milk. The latter, prepared in a
peculiar manner, is a delicacy. [2745] Hence the poet designates all the
nations in that quarter as Galactophagi, milk-eaters.

The nomades are more disposed to war than to robbery. The occasion of
their contests was to enforce the payment of tribute. They permit those
to have land who are willing to cultivate it. In return for the use of
the land, they are satisfied with receiving a settled and moderate
tribute, not such as will furnish superfluities, but the daily
necessaries of life. If this tribute is not paid, the nomades declare
war. Hence the poet calls these people both just, and miserable,
(Abii,)[2746] for if the tribute is regularly paid, they do not have
recourse to war. Payment is not made by those, who have confidence in
their ability to repel attacks with ease, and to prevent the incursion
of their enemies. This course was pursued, as Hypsicrates relates, by
Asander, who fortified on the isthmus of the Chersonesus, at the Palus
Mæotis, a space of 360 stadia, and erected towers at the distance of
every 10 stadia. [2747]

The Georgi (husbandmen) are considered to be more civilized and mild in
their manners than the other tribes in this quarter, but they are
addicted to gain. They navigate the sea, and do not abstain from piracy,
nor from similar acts of injustice and rapacity.

7. Besides the places in the Chersonesus already enumerated, there are
the fortresses Palacium, and Chabum, and Neapolis,[2748] which Scilurus
and his sons constructed, from which they sallied out against the
generals of Mithridates.

There was also a fortress called Eupatorium, built by Diophantus, one of
the generals of Mithridates. [2749]

[CAS. 312] There is a promontory, distant about 15 stadia from the wall
of Chersonesus, which forms a large bay, which bends towards the city.
Above this bay is a sea-lake, where there are salt pits. Here was the
harbour Ctenus. The generals of the king, in order to strengthen their
means of resistance in case of siege, stationed a garrison on the
above-mentioned promontory, which was further protected by a
fortification. The mouth of the Gulf was closed by an embankment which
extended to the city, and was easily traversed on foot. The garrison and
the city were thus united. The Scythians were afterwards easily
repulsed. They attacked that part of the wall built across the isthmus
which touches upon Ctenus, and filled the ditch with straw. The kind of
bridge thus formed by day, was burnt at night by the king’s generals,
who continued their resistance and defeated the enemy. At present the
whole country is subject to whomsoever the Romans may appoint as king of
the Bosporus.

8. It is a custom peculiar to all the Scythian and Sarmatian tribes, to
castrate their horses, in order to make them more tractable, for
although they are small, yet they are spirited, and difficult to manage.
Stags and wild boars are hunted in the marshes, and wild asses and
roes[2750] in the plains. It is a peculiarity of this country, that no
eagles are to be found in it. Among the quadrupeds there is an animal
called Colus, in size between a deer and a ram; it is white, and swifter
in speed than either of those animals. It draws up water into the head
through the nostrils; from this store it can supply itself for several
days, and live without inconvenience in places destitute of water.

Such is the nature of the whole of the country beyond the Danube, lying
between the Rhine and the Don, and extending as far as the Pontic Sea
and the Palus Mæotis.




CHAPTER V.


1. There remains to be described that part of Europe included between
the Danube and the sea which surrounds it, beginning from the inner
recess of the Adriatic, and extending to the Sacred mouth of the Danube.

This part contains Greece, Macedonia, Epirus, and the people who live
above them, extending to the Danube and to the two seas (the Adriatic
and the Euxine Sea) on each side. On the Adriatic are the Illyrians; on
the Euxine Sea, as far as the Propontis[2751] and Hellespont, are the
Thracians, and the Scythian or Keltic tribes intermixed with them. We
must begin from the Danube, and treat of the countries which follow next
in order to those already described, that is to say, the parts
contiguous to Italy, the Alps, the Germans, the Dacians, and the Getæ.

These may be divided into two parts. For the mountains of Illyria,
Pæonia, and Thrace, may be considered as forming, as it were, a single
line, parallel to the Danube, and extending from the Adriatic to the
Euxine. To the north of this line is the country included between the
Danube and the mountains. To the south is Greece and the barbarous tract
contiguous to these mountains.

Near the Euxine Sea is Mount Hæmus,[2752] the largest and the highest of
the mountains in that quarter, and divides Thrace nearly in the middle.
According to Polybius, both seas may be seen from this mountain; but he
is mistaken, for the distance to the Adriatic is considerable, and many
things obstruct the view.

Almost the whole of Ardia[2753] lies near the Adriatic, Pæonia is in the
middle, and all this country consists of elevated ground. On the side
towards Thrace, it is bounded by Rhodope,[2754] a mountain next in
height to Hæmus; on the other side to the north is Illyria, and the
country of the Autariatæ,[2755] and Dardania. [2756]

I shall first describe Illyria, which approaches close to the Danube,
and to the Alps which lie between Italy and Germany, [CAS. 314] taking
their commencement from the lake in the territory of the Vindelici,
Rhæti, and Helvetii. [2757]

2. The Daci depopulated a part of this country in their wars with the
Boii and Taurisci, Keltic tribes whose chief was Critasirus. The Daci
claimed the country, although it was separated from them by the river
Parisus,[2758] which flows from the mountains to the Danube, near the
Galatæ Scordisci, a people who lived intermixed with the Illyrian and
the Thracian tribes. The Illyrians were destroyed by the Daci, while the
Scordisci were frequently their allies.

The rest of the country as far as Segestica,[2759] and the Danube,
towards the north and east, is occupied by Pannonii, but they extend
farther in an opposite direction. The city Segestica, belonging to the
Pannonii, is situated at the confluence of several rivers, all of which
are navigable.
It is in a convenient situation for carrying on war
against the Daci, for it lies at the foot of the Alps, which extend to
the Iapodes,[2760] a mixed Keltic and Illyrian tribe. Thence also flow
the rivers by which is conveyed to Segestica a great quantity of
merchandise, and among the rest, commodities from Italy. The distance
from Aquileia to Nauportus,[2761] a settlement of the Taurisci, across
the mountain Ocra,[2762] is 350, or, according to some writers, 500
stadia. Merchandise is transported to Nauportus in waggons. The Ocra is
the lowest part of the Alps, which extend from Rhætica to the Iapodes,
where the mountains rise again, and are called Albii. From
Tergeste,[2763] a village of the Carni,[2764] there is a pass across and
through the Ocra to a marsh called Lugeum. [2765] A river, the Corcoras,
flows near Nauportus, and conveys the merchandise from that place. It
discharges itself into the Save, and this latter river into the
Drave; the Drave again into the Noarus at Segestica. Here the Noarus,
having received the Colapis[2766] as it descends in its full stream from
the mountain Albius through the Iapodes, enters the Danube among the
Scordisci. The navigation on the rivers is in general towards the north.
The journey from Tergeste to the Danube is about 1200 stadia. Near
Segestica is Siscia, a strong-hold, and Sirmium, both situated on the
road to Italy.

3. The Breuci, Andizetii, Ditiones, Peirustæ, Mazæi, Daisitiatæ, whose
chief was Baton, and other small obscure communities, which extend to
Dalmatia, and almost to the Ardiæi to the south, are Pannonians. The
whole mountainous tract from the recess of the Adriatic bay to the
Rhizonic gulf,[2767] and to the territory of the Ardiæi, intervening
between the sea and Pannonia, forms the coast of Illyria.

Here perhaps we ought to begin an uninterrupted account of these places,
after a short repetition.

In describing Italy we said, that the Istri were the first nation on the
Illyrian coast, contiguous to Italy and to the Carni, and that the
present government had advanced the limits of Italy to Pola,[2768] a
city of Istria. These limits are distant about 800 stadia from the
recess of the bay. It is the same distance from the promontory in front
of Pola to Ancon,[2769] keeping Henetica[2770] on the right hand. The
whole voyage along the coast of Istria is 1300 stadia.

4. Next is the voyage along the coast of the Iapodes, 1000 stadia in
extent. The Iapodes are situated on Mount Albius, which is the
termination of the Alps, and is of very great height. They reach in one
direction to the Pannonii and the Danube, and in another to the
Adriatic. They are a warlike people, but were completely subdued by
Augustus. Their cities are Metulum, Arupinum, Monetium, Vendum. [2771]
The country is poor, and the inhabitants live chiefly upon spelt and
millet. [2772] Their armour is after the Keltic fashion. Their bodies are
punctured, like those of the other Illyrian and Thracian people.

[CAS. 315] After the coast of the Iapodes follows that of Liburnia,
exceeding the former by 500 stadia. On this coast is Scardon,[2773] a
Liburnian city, and a river,[2774] which is navigable for vessels of
burden as far as the Dalmatæ.

5. Islands are scattered along the whole of the above-mentioned coast;
among them are the Apsyrtides, where Medea is said to have killed her
brother Apsyrtus, who was pursuing her.

Near the Iapodes is Cyrictica,[2775] then the Liburnian islands, about
forty in number; other islands follow, of which the best known are Issa,
Tragurium, founded by Isseans; Pharos, formerly Paros, founded by
Parians, the birth-place of Demetrius, the Pharian; then the coast of
the Dalmatæ and their naval arsenal, Salon. [2776] This nation was for a
long time at war with the Romans. They had fifty considerable
settlements, some of which were in the rank of cities, as Salon,
Priomon, Ninias, and the old and new Sinotium. Augustus burnt them down.
There is also Andetrium, a strong fortress, and Dalmatium, a large city,
of the same name as the nation. Scipio Nasica greatly reduced its size,
and converted the plain into a pasture for sheep, on account of the
disposition of the people to rob and pillage.

It is a custom peculiar to the Dalmatæ to make a partition of their
lands every eighth year. They do not use money, which is a peculiarity
also when compared with the habits of the other inhabitants of this
coast; but this is common among many other tribes of barbarians.

The mountain Adrion divides Dalmatia into two parts, one of which is on
the sea, the other forms the opposite side of the mountain. Then follow
the river Naron, and the people in the neighbourhood, the Daorizi,
Ardiæi, and Pleræi. [2777] Near the former lies the island Black
Corcyra,[2778] on which is a city founded by the Cnidians. Near the
Ardiæi is Pharos, formerly called Paros, for it was founded by Parians.

6. Later writers call the Ardiæi, Vardæi. [2779] The Romans drove them
into the interior from the sea-coast, which was infested by their
piracies, and compelled them to cultivate the ground; but as the country
was rugged and barren, and not adapted to husbandry, the nation was
entirely ruined and nearly extinguished. The same happened to other
neighbouring nations. People formerly very powerful are extinct, or were
reduced to the lowest condition, as the Boii and Scordisci among the
Galatæ; the Autariatæ, Ardiæi, and Dardanii, among the Illyrians; and
the Triballi among the Thracians. They first declined in consequence of
disputes amongst themselves, but were finally prostrated by wars with
the Macedonians and Romans.

7. After the termination of the coast of the Ardiæi and Pleræi is the
bay of the Rhizæi, a city Rhizon,[2780] other small towns, and the river
Drilon,[2781] which may be navigated up its stream towards the east as
far as Dardanica. This country is situated close to the Macedonian and
Pæonian nations, towards the south, as also the Autariatæ and the
Dasaretii are in parts contiguous to one another [and to the
Autariatæ]. [2782] To the Dardaniatæ belong the Galabrii,[2783] in whose
territory is an ancient city; and the Thunatæ, who approach on the east
close to the Mædi,[2784] a Thracian tribe.

The Dardanii are entirely a savage people, so much so that they dig
caves beneath dung heaps, in which they dwell; yet they are fond of
music, and are much occupied in playing upon pipes and on stringed
instruments. They inhabit the inland parts of the country, and we shall
mention them again in another place.

8. After the bay of Rhizon[2785] is Lissus,[2786] a city,
Acrolissus,[2787] and Epidamnus, the present Dyrrhachium,[2788] founded
by Corcyræans, and bearing the name of the peninsula on which it [CAS.
316] is situated. Then follow the rivers Apsus[2789] and the Aous,[2790]
on the banks of which is situated Apollonia,[2791] a city governed by
excellent laws. It was founded by Corinthians and Corcyræans, and is
distant from the river 10, and from the sea 60, stadia. Hecatæus calls
the Aous, Aïas, and says that from the same place, or rather from the
same sources about Lacmus,[2792] the Inachus flows southward, to
Argos,[2793] and the Aïas westward, into the Adriatic.

In the territory of the Apolloniatæ there is what is called a Nymphæum.
It is a rock which emits fire. Below it are springs flowing with hot
water and asphaltus. The earth containing the asphaltus is probably in a
state of combustion. The asphaltus is dug out of a neighbouring hill;
the parts excavated are replaced by fresh earth, which after a time are
converted into asphaltus. This account is given by Posidonius, who says
also, that the ampelitis, an asphaltic earth found in the Pierian
Seleucia,[2794] is a remedy for the lice which infest the vine. If the
vine is smeared with this earth mixed with oil, the insects are killed
before they ascend from the root to the branches. This earth, but it
required for use a larger quantity of oil, he says was found at Rhodes
also, while he held there the office of Prytanes.

Next to Apollonia is Bylliace (Bullis) and Oricum,[2795] with its naval
arsenal, Panormus, and the Ceraunian mountains, which form the
commencement of the entrance of the Ionian and Adriatic Gulfs.

9. The mouth is common to both; but this difference is to be observed,
that the name Ionian[2796] is applied to the first part of the gulf
only, and Adriatic to the interior sea up to the farthest end, but the
name Adriatic is now applied to the whole sea. According to Theopompus,
the name Ionian was derived from a chief (Ionius) of that country, a
native of Issa; and the name Adriatic from a river, Adrias. [2797]

From the Liburni to the Ceraunian mountains is a distance of a little
more than 2000 stadia. But Theopompus says, that it is six days’ sail
from the farthest recess of the bay, but a journey of thirty days by
land along the length of Illyria. This appears to me an exaggeration,
but he makes many incredible statements. Among other instances, he
pretends that there is a subterraneous passage between the Adriatic and
the Ægean Seas, grounding his opinion on the discovery of Chian and
Thasian pottery in the river Naron. [2798] The two seas, he says, may be
seen from some pretended mountain. He describes the Liburnian islands as
occupying a position so extensive as to form a circle of 500 stadia.
According to him, the Danube discharges itself by one of its mouths into
the Adriatic. [2799] Similar mistakes are to be found in Eratosthenes,
which Polybius, when speaking of him and other writers, describes as
having their origin in vulgar error. [2800]

10. On the coast of Illyria, along its whole extent, and in the
neighbouring islands, there are numerous excellent harbours, contrary to
what occurs on the opposite Italian coast, where there are none. As in
Italy, however, the climate is warm, and the soil productive of fruits;
olives also and vines grow readily, except in some few excessively
rugged places. Although Illyria possesses these advantages, it was
formerly neglected, through ignorance, perhaps, of its fertility; but it
was principally avoided on account of the savage manners of the
inhabitants, and their piratical habits.

The region situated above the sea-coast is mountainous, cold, and at
times covered with snow. The northern part is still colder, so that
vines are rarely to be met with either in the hills or in the plains
lower down. These mountain-plains are in the possession of the
Pannonians, and extend towards the south as far as the Dalmatians and
Ardiæi. They terminate towards the north at the Ister, and approach
towards [CAS. 317] the east close to the Scordisci, who live near the
Macedonian and Thracian mountains.

11. The Autariatæ were the most populous and the bravest tribe of the
Illyrians. Formerly, there were continual disputes between them and the
Ardiæi respecting the salt which was spontaneously formed on the
confines of their respective territories, in the spring season, from
water which flows through a valley. The salt concreted five days after
the water was drawn and deposited in reservoirs. The right of collecting
salt was, by agreement, to be exercised alternately by each party, but
the compact was broken and war was the consequence. After the Autariatæ
had subdued the Triballi, a people whose territory extended a journey of
fifteen days, from the Agrianæ to the Danube, they became masters of the
Thracians and Illyrians. The Autariatæ were first conquered by the
Scordisci, and afterwards by the Romans, who overpowered the Scordisci,
for a long time a powerful nation.

12. This people inhabited the country on the banks of the Danube, and
were divided into two tribes, the Great and the Little Scordisci. [2801]
The former occupied the space between two rivers, which empty themselves
into the Danube, the Noarus,[2802] which runs beside Segestica, and the
Margus, or, as some call it, Bargus. The Little Scordisci lived beyond
this river close to the Triballi and Mysi. [2803] The Scordisci possessed
some of the islands also. They increased so much in strength and numbers
as to advance even to the Illyrian, Pæonian, and Thracian confines. Most
of the islands on the Danube fell into their hands, and they possessed
the cities Heorta and Capedunum. [2804]

Next to the territory of the Scordisci, lying along the banks of the
Danube, is the country of the Triballi and Mysi, whom we have before
mentioned; we have also spoken of the marshes[2805] of the Lesser
Scythia on this side the Danube. This nation, and the Crobyzi, and the
nation called Troglodytæ, live above the districts in which are situated
Callatis, Tomis, and Ister. [2806] Next are the people about the Mount
Hæmus, and those who live at its foot, extending as far as the Pontus,
Coralli, and Bessi, and some tribes of Mædi and of Dantheletæ. All these
nations are very much addicted to robbery. The Bessi possess far the
greatest part of Mount Hæmus, and are called Robbers from their mode of
life as freebooters. Some of them live in huts and lead a life of
hardship. They extend close to Rhodope, the Pæones, and to the Illyrian
nations; to the Autariatæ also, and the Dardanians. Between these and
the Ardiæi are the Dasaretii, Hybrianes, and other obscure nations,
whose numbers the Scordisci were continually reducing, until they had
made the country a desert, full of impassable forests, which extended
several days’ journey.




CHAPTER VI.


1. Of the country situated between the Danube and the mountains on each
side of Pæonia, there remains to be described the Pontic coast, which
reaches from the Sacred mouth of the Danube to the mountainous district
about Hæmus, and to the mouth of the Pontus at Byzantium. As in
describing the Illyrian coast we had proceeded as far as the Ceraunian
mountains, which, although they stretch beyond the mountainous district
of Illyria, yet constitute a sort of proper boundary, we determined by
means of these mountains the limits of the nations in the inland parts,
considering, that such separating lines would be better marks both for
our present and future use; so here also the coast, although it may fall
beyond the mountainous line, will still end at a proper kind of limit,
the mouth of the Pontus, which will be useful both for our present and
our future descriptions.

If we set out from the Sacred mouth of the Danube, having on the right
hand the continuous line of coast, we find at the [CAS. 319] distance of
500 stadia, Ister,[2807] a small town founded by Milesians; then
Tomis,[2808] another small town, at the distance of 250 stadia; then
Callatis,[2809] a city, a colony of the Heracleotæ, at 280 stadia; then,
at 1300 stadia, Apollonia,[2810] a colony of Milesians, having the
greater part of the buildings upon a small island, where is a temple of
Apollo, whence Marcus Lucullus took the Colossus of Apollo, the work of
Calamides, and dedicated it as a sacred offering in the Capitol. In the
intermediate distance between Callatis and Apollonia, is Bizone, a great
part of which was swallowed up by an earthquake; Cruni;[2811]
Odessus,[2812] a colony of Milesians; and Naulochus, a small town of the
Mesembriani. Next follows the mountain Hæmus,[2813] extending to the sea
in this quarter; then Mesembria,[2814] a colony of the Megarenses,
formerly called Menabria, or city of Mena, Menas being the name of the
founder, and bria,[2815] signifying in the Thracian tongue, city. Thus
the city of Selys is called Selybria, and Ænus once had the name of
Poltyobria. Then follows Anchiale,[2816] a small town of the
Apolloniatæ, and Apollonia itself.

On this coast is the promontory Tirizis, a place naturally strong, which
Lysimachus formerly used as a treasury. Again, from Apollonia to the
Cyaneæ are about 1500 stadia. In this interval are Thynias, a tract
belonging to the Apolloniatæ, Phinopolis, and Andriace,[2817] which are
contiguous to Salmydessus. This coast is without inhabitants and rocky,
without harbours, stretching far towards the north, and extending as far
as the Cyaneæ, about 700 stadia. Those who are wrecked on this coast are
plundered by the Asti, a Thracian tribe who live above it.

The Cyaneæ[2818] are two small islands at the mouth of the Pontus, one
lying near Europe, the other near Asia, and are separated by a channel
of about 20 stadia. This is the measure of the distance between the
temple of the Byzantines and the temple of the Chalcedonians, where is
the narrowest part of the mouth of the Euxine Sea. For proceeding
onwards 10 stadia there is a promontory, which reduces the strait to 5
stadia; the strait afterwards opens to a greater width, and begins to
form the Propontis.

2. From the promontory, then, that reduces the strait to 5 stadia, to
the Port under the Fig-tree, as it is called, are 35 stadia; thence to
the Horn of the Byzantines, 5 stadia. This Horn, close to the walls of
Byzantium, is a bay, extending westwards 60 stadia, and resembling a
stag’s horn, for it is divided into a great many bays, like so many
branches. The Pelamides[2819] resort to these bays, and are easily
taken, on account of their great number, and the force of the current,
which drives them together in a body; and also on account of the
narrowness of the bays, which is such that they are caught even by the
hand. These fish are bred in the marshes of the Mæotis. When they have
attained a little size and strength, they rush through the mouth in
shoals, and are carried along the Asiatic coast as far as Trapezus and
Pharnacia. It is here that the fishery begins, but it is not carried on
to any considerable extent, because the fish are not of a proper size at
this place. When they get as far as Sinope, they are in better season
for the fishery, and for the purpose of salting. But when they have
reached and passed the Cyaneæ, a white rock projects from the
Chalcedonian shore, which alarms the fish, so that they immediately turn
away to the opposite coast. There they are caught by the stream, and the
nature of the places being such as to divert the current of the sea in
that part towards Byzantium, and the Horn near it, the fish are impelled
thither in a body, and afford to the Byzantines, and to the Roman
people, a large revenue. The Chalcedonians, however, although situated
near, and on the opposite side, have no share of this supply, because
the Pelamides do not approach their harbours.

After the foundation of Chalcedon, Apollo is said to have [CAS. 320]
enjoined the founders of Byzantium, in answer to their inquiries, to
build their city opposite to the Blind, applying this name to the
Chalcedonians, who, although they were the first persons to arrive in
these parts, had omitted to take possession of the opposite side, which
afforded such great resources of wealth, and chose the barren coast.

We have continued our description to Byzantium, because this celebrated
city,[2820] by its proximity to the mouth of the Euxine Sea, forms a
better-known and more remarkable termination of an account of the coast
from the Danube than any other.

Above Byzantium is the nation of the Asti, in whose territory is the
city Calybe, which Philip the son of Amyntas made a settlement for
criminals.




CHAPTER VII.


1. These are the nations, bounded by the Danube and by the Illyrian and
Thracian mountains, which are worthy of record. They occupy the whole
coast of the Adriatic Sea, beginning from the recess of the gulf, and
the left side, as it is called, of the Euxine Sea, from the river Danube
to Byzantium.

The southern parts of the above-mentioned mountainous tract, and the
countries which follow, lying below it, remain to be described. Among
these are Greece, and the contiguous barbarous country extending to the
mountains.

Hecatæus of Miletus says of the Peloponnesus, that, before the time of
the Greeks, it was inhabited by barbarians. Perhaps even the whole of
Greece was, anciently, a settlement of barbarians, if we judge from
former accounts. For Pelops brought colonists from Phrygia into the
Peloponnesus, which took his name; Danaus[2821] brought colonists from
Egypt; Dryopes, Caucones, Pelasgi, Leleges, and other barbarous nations,
partitioned among themselves the country on this side of the
isthmus. [2822] The case was the same on the other side of the isthmus;
for Thracians, under their leader Eumolpus,[2823] took possession of
Attica; Tereus of Daulis in Phocæa; the Phœnicians, with their leader
Cadmus,[2824] occupied the Cadmeian district; Aones, and Temmices, and
Hyantes, Bœotia. Pindar says, “there was a time when the Bœotian people
were called Syes. ”[2825] Some names show their barbarous origin, as
Cecrops, Codrus, Œclus, Cothus, Drymas, and Crinacus. [2826] Thracians,
Illyrians, and Epirotæ are settled even at present on the sides of
Greece. Formerly the territory they possessed was more extensive,
although even now the barbarians possess a large part of the country,
which, without dispute, is Greece. Macedonia is occupied by Thracians,
as well as some parts of Thessaly; the country above Acarnania and
Ætolia, by Thesproti, Cassopæi, Amphilochi, Molotti, and Athamanes,
Epirotic tribes.

2. We have already spoken of the Pelasgi. [2827] Some writers conjecture
that the Leleges and Carians are the same people; others, that they were
only joint settlers, and comrades in war, because there are said to be
some settlements called Settlements of the Leleges in the Milesian
territory, and in many parts of Caria there are burial-places of the
Leleges, and deserted fortresses, called Lelegia.

The whole country called Ionia was formerly inhabited by Carians and
Leleges; these were expelled by the Ionians, who themselves took
possession of the country. In still [CAS. 322] earlier times, the
captors of Troy[2828] had driven out the Leleges from the places about
Ida near the rivers Pedasus and Satnioeis.

The fact of the association of these people with the Carians may be
regarded as a proof of their being barbarians, and Aristotle, in his
Politics, shows that they were a wandering nation, sometimes in company
with the Carians, sometimes alone, and that from ancient times; for, in
speaking of the polity of the Acarnanians, he says that the Curetes
occupied a part of the country, and the Leleges (and after them the
Teleboæ) the western side. On the subject of the Ætolian polity, he
calls the present Locri, Leleges, and observes that they occupy Bœotia.
He repeats the same remark on the subject of the polity of the Opuntians
and Megareans. In speaking of the polity of the Leucadians, he mentions
an aboriginal by name, Leleges, and a grandson by his daughter of the
name of Teleboas, and besides two and twenty of his sons of the name of
Teleboas, some of whom inhabited Lucas. But we should chiefly rely upon
Hesiod, who thus speaks of them:

“For Locrus was the leader of the nation of the Leleges, whom
Jupiter, the son of Saturn, in his infinite wisdom, once gave as
subjects to Deucalion, a people gathered from among the nations
of the earth. ”

For it seems to me to be obscurely intimated by the etymology of the
name, Leleges, that they were a mixed people anciently collected
together, which had become extinct. And this may be said of the
Caucones, who exist no where at present, yet were formerly settled in
several places.

3. Although Greece was formerly composed of small nations, many in
number, and obscure; nevertheless their valour, and their separate
government by kings, prevented any difficulty in defining their
boundaries. As the greatest part of the country, however, is at present
uninhabited, and the settlements, especially the cities, have been
destroyed, it would be of no service, even if it were possible, to
ascertain the names of cities and regions occupied by obscure and
extinct people. This destruction, which began a long time since, still
continues in many parts in consequence of rebellion. It has been checked
by the Romans, who accepted the supreme authority from the inhabitants
and lodged soldiers in their houses.

Polybius says that Paulus [Emilius], after the defeat of the
Macedonians[2829] and their king Perseus, destroyed 70 cities of the
Epirotæ (most of which belonged to the Molotti) and reduced to slavery
150,000 of the inhabitants. Still, however, I shall endeavour, as far as
it is compatible with the design of this work, to describe, as far as I
am able, these places in detail, beginning from the sea-coast near the
Ionian Gulf, where the navigation out of the Adriatic terminates.

4. The first parts of this coast are those about Epidamnus and
Apollonia. From Apollonia to Macedonia is the Egnatian Way; its
direction is towards the east, and the distance is measured by pillars
at every mile, as far as Cypselus[2830] and the river Hebrus. [2831] The
whole distance is 535 miles. But reckoning, as the generality of persons
reckon, a mile at eight stadia, there may be 4280 stadia. And according
to Polybius, who adds two plethra, that is, the third of a stadium, to
every eight stadia, we must add 178 stadia more, a third part of the
number of miles. [2832] A traveller from Apollonia,[2833] and a traveller
from Epidamnus,[2834] on the same road, meet midway between the two
cities. The whole is called the Egnatian Way. The first part of it is
called the road to Candavia, which is an Illyrian mountain. It passes
through Lychnidus,[2835] a city, and Pylon, a place which separates
Illyria from Macedonia. Thence its direction is beside Barnus through
Heracleia, the Lyncestæ, and the Eordi, to Edessa[2836] and Pella,[2837]
as far as Thessalonica. [2838] Polybius says, that this is a distance of
267 miles. In travelling this road from the neighbourhood of Epidamnus
and Apollonia, on the right hand are the Epirotic nations situated on
the coast of the Sicilian Sea, and extending as far as the Gulf of
Ambracia;[2839] on the left are the Illyrian mountains, which we have
before described, and the nations that live near them, extending as far
as Macedonia and the Pæones.

[CAS. 323] From the Gulf of Ambracia the places next in order, inclining
to the east, and extending opposite to Peloponnesus, belong to Greece;
they terminate at the Ægean Sea, leaving the whole of Peloponnesus on
the right hand.

The country, from the commencement of the Macedonian and Pæonian
mountains, as far as the river Strymon,[2840] is inhabited by
Macedonians, and Pæones, and some of the Thracian mountain tribes. But
all the country on the other side the Strymon, as far as the mouth of
the Euxine Sea, and Mount Hæmus,[2841] belong to the Thracians, except
the coast, which is occupied by Greeks, some of whom are settled on the
Propontis,[2842] others on the Hellespont and on the Gulf Melas,[2843]
and others on the Ægean Sea.

The Ægean Sea waters two sides of Greece; first, the eastern side,
extending from the promontory Sunium[2844] to the north as far as the
Thermæan Gulf, and Thessalonica, a Macedonian city, which has, at
present, the largest population in these parts.