Chapter VII (4)

[666] Evemerus, or Euhemerus, a Sicilian author of the time of Alexander the Great and his immediate successors, and a native of Messina. He is said to have sailed down the Red Sea and round the southern coasts of Asia to a very great distance, until he came to an island called Panchæa. After his return from this voyage, he wrote a work entitled Ἱερὰ Ἀναγραφή, which consisted of at least nine books. The title of this “Sacred History,” as we may call it, was taken from the ἀναγραφαί, or the inscriptions on columns and walls, which existed in great numbers in the temples of Greece; and Euhemerus chose it, because he pretended to have derived his information from public documents of that kind, which he had discovered in his travels, especially in the island of Panchæa. The work contained accounts of the several gods, whom Euhemerus represented as having originally been men who had distinguished themselves either as warriors, kings, inventors, or benefactors of mankind, and who, after their death, were worshipped as gods by the grateful people. This book, which seems to have been written in a popular style, must have been very attractive; for all the fables of mythology were dressed up in it as so many true narratives; and many of the subsequent historians adopted his mode of dealing with myths, or at least followed in his track, as we find to be the case with Polybius and Dionysius. Vide Smith.

[667] Every one will observe, that this criticism of Strabo is entirely gratuitous and captious. Polybius cites Dicæarchus as a most credulous writer, but states that even he would not believe Pytheas: how then could so distinguished a writer as Eratosthenes put faith in his nonsense?

[668] On the contrary, the distance in a right line from Cape Tenarum, off the Peloponnesus, to the recess of the Adriatic Gulf, is only about half the distance from the Peloponnesus to the Pillars of Hercules. This mistake of Dicæarchus is a proof of the very slight acquaintance the Greeks could have had with the western portions of the Mediterranean in his time, about 320 years before the Christian era.

[669] Literally, “He assigns 3000 to the interval which stretches towards the Pillars as far as the Strait, and 7000 from the Strait to the Pillars.” The distance from Cape Tenarum to the Strait of Messina is in proportion to the distance from the Strait of Messina to Gibraltar, about 3 to 10, not 3 to 7, as given by Dicæarchus.

[670] That part of the Mediterranean which lies on the coast of Italy, from the mouth of the Arno to Naples.

[671] The sea which washes the western coast of Sardinia.

[672] Viz. from the Peloponnesus to the Pillars of Hercules.

[673] Santa Maura, an island in the Ionian Sea.

[674] Corfu.

[675] The mountains of Chimera, forming the Cape della Linguetta on the coast of Albania.

[676] The maritime portion of Liburnia, comprised between the coasts of Dalmatia and Istria. It is now comprehended in the district of Murlaka.

[677] In all 8250 stadia.

[678] Issus, now Aïas, a town of Cilicia on the confines of Syria, famous for the battle between Alexander the Great and Darius, in consequence of which it was called Nicopolis.

[679] Salamoni.

[680] Cape Krio.

[681] Cape Passaro.

[682] Cape St. Vincent.

[683] Total 28,500 stadia.

[684] Spoken of by Polybius.

[685] The Gulf of Genoa.

[686] These measures are taken along the coast, in stadia of 700 to a degree. Of these, from Marseilles to Gibraltar there are 9300, and from the ancient promontory of Pyrenæum to Gibraltar 7380. Consequently the corrections of Polybius were neither inaccurate nor uncalled for.

[687] These 6000 stadia, taken in a direct line, are just the distance from Cape St. Vincent to the chain of the Pyrenees.

[688] Kelts.

[689] The rising of the sun in summer.

[690] The east.

[691] This is an error into which Strabo fell with most of the ancient geographers. The course of the Don certainly begins from the north, but afterwards it turns eastward, and then suddenly shifts to the west. So that its entire course as known in the time of Strabo, differed from the Palus Mæotis and Sea of Azof by about 9 degrees of longitude. Polybius is here more exact than Strabo.

[692] Palus Mæotis.

[693] This was the opinion of Theophanes of Mytilene, who followed Pompey in his expeditions to the East. The Caucasus here mentioned is that which bounds Georgia in the north, and from whence the modern river Kuban (the Vardanus of Pompey) takes its rise. This river does incline slightly to the north, and afterwards turns westward in its course to the Palus Mæotis. It is possible that some confusion between this river and the Don gave occasion to the belief that the latter rose in the Caucasus.

[694] Cape Malio, in the Morea. See also Humboldt’s Cosmos ii. 482.

[695] Cape Malio. Gosselin is of opinion that some omission has occurred in this passage, and proposes to substitute the following: “The two former of these Polybius describes in the same manner as Eratosthenes, but he subdivides the third. He comprehends within Cape Malea all the Peloponnesus; within Cape Sunium the whole of Greece, Illyria, and a part of Thrace.”

[696] Cape Colonna.

[697] The Strait of the Dardanelles.

[698] The Rock of Gibraltar.

[699] Cape St. Vincent.

[700] Cadiz.

[701] The Italian Promontory.

[702] The Gulf of Venice.

[703] Capo di Leuca.

[704] ἡ δὲ φυσικὴ ἀρετή τις. We learn from the work entitled De Placitis Philosophorum, commonly attributed to Plutarch, that the Stoics dignified with the name of ἀρεταὶ, the three sciences of Physics, Ethics, and Logic, Φυσικὴ, Ἠθικὴ, Λογικὴ. The exact meaning of ἀρετὴ in these instances it is impossible to give, and Strabo’s own explanation is perhaps the best that can be had; we have here rendered it, “perfect science,” for want of a better phrase.

[705] Φυσικοὶ.

[706] We have followed the suggestion of Gosselin in reading τῷ ὅλῳ, _the whole_, instead of τῷ πόλῳ, _the pole_, as in the text. Strabo having just previously stated that the _axis_ of the earth was _stationary_, it does not seem probable that he would immediately after speak of the _motion_ of the _pole_.

[707] Odyssey xi. 156, 157.

[708] From this point Strabo, strictly speaking, commences his exposition of the principles of Geography.

[709] Strabo supposed this circle at a distance of 38,100 stadia from the equator, or 54° 25’ 42” of latitude.

[710] The whole of what follows to the end of the section is extremely embarrassing in the original; we must therefore claim the indulgence of the reader for any obscurity he may find in the translation.

[711] The Greeks, besides the division of the equator into 360 degrees, had also another method of dividing it into sixty portions or degrees.

[712] These 21,800 stadia would give to Alexandria a latitude of 31° 8’ 34”; according to modern calculation it is 31° 11’ 20” of latitude. The following presents Strabo’s calculations of the latitude of the preceding places in a tabular form.

+-------------------------------+-----------+----------+-------------+
| | Particular| Total | Latitudes. |
| Names of places. | Distance. | Distance.| |
| | | | |
+-------------------------------+-----------+----------+-------------+
| | Stadia. | Stadia. | |
| Equator | 0 | 0 | 0° 0’ 0” |
| Limits of the habitable earth | 8800 | 8800 | 12° 34’ 17” |
| Meroe | 3000 | 11800 | 16° 51’ 25” |
| Syene and the Tropic | 5000 | 16800 | 24° 0’ 0” |
| Alexandria | 5000 | 21800 | 31° 8’ 34” |
+-------------------------------+-----------+----------+-------------+

[713] Eratosthenes, Hipparchus, and Strabo, all believed that the longitude of Rhodes was the same as that of Alexandria, although actually it is 2° 22’ 45” west of that place. The coasts of Caria, Ionia, and the Troad incline considerably to the west, while Byzantium is about 3° east of the Troad, and the mouth of the Dnieper is above 3° 46’ east of Byzantium.

[714] The Roxolani inhabited the Ukraine. It has been thought that from these people the Russians derived their name.

[715] Strabo here alludes to Ireland, which he placed north of England, and believed to be the most northerly region fitted for the habitation of man. He gave it a latitude of 36,700 stadia, equivalent to 52° 25’ 42”, which answers to the southern portions of that island.

[716] The Sauromatæ, or Sarmatians, occupied the lands north of the sea of Azof on either side of the Don.

[717] The Scythians here spoken of dwelt between the Don and the Wolga; east of this last river were the Eastern Scythians, who were thought to occupy the whole north of Asia.

[718] The tropic being placed at 24° from the equator by Strabo, and most probably by Pytheas also, the latitude of Thule, according to the observation of this traveller, would be fixed at 66°, which corresponds with the north of Iceland.

[719] Hipparchus.

[720] Hipparchus placed Marseilles and Byzantium at 30,142 stadia, or 43° 3’ 38” of latitude, and estimated the parallel for the centre of Britain at 33,942 stadia, or 48° 29’ 19”. Whereas Strabo only allowed for this latter 32,700 stadia, or 46° 42’ 51”.

[721] Viz. the 36° of latitude. The actual latitudes are as follow:

The Pillars of Hercules, or Strait of Gibraltar, 36°.
The Strait of Messina, 38° 12’.
Athens, 38° 5’.
The middle of the Isle of Rhodes, 36° 18’; and the city, 36° 28’ 30”.

[722] This mistake of Strabo caused the derangement in his chart of the whole contour of this portion of the Mediterranean, and falsifies the position of the surrounding districts.

[723] Strabo having allowed 25,400 stadia, or 36° 17’ 8”, for the latitude of Rhodes and the Strait of Messina, determined the latitude of Marseilles at 27,700 stadia, or 39° 34’ 17”; its real latitude being 43° 17’ 45”, as exactly stated by Pytheas.

[724] Or about 7°. The actual difference in latitude between Rhodes and Byzantium is 4° 32’ 54”.

[725] On the contrary, Marseilles is 2° 16’ 21” north of Byzantium.

[726] 3800 stadia, or 5° 25’ 43”.

[727] The following is a tabular form of the latitudes as stated by Strabo:

Stadia. Latitude.
From the equator to Alexandria 21,800 31° 8’ 34”

From Alexandria to Rhodes, he computes in this
instance 3600 stadia 25,400 36° 17’ 8”

From the parallel of Rhodes to Marseilles, about
2300 stadia 27,700 39° 34’ 17”

From the parallel of Rhodes to the bottom of the
Galatic Gulf, 2500 stadia 27,900 39° 51’ 25”

From Marseilles to the northern extremity of Gaul,
or the southern extremity of Britain,
3800 stadia 31,500 45° 0’ 0”

From Marseilles to the middle of Britain,
5000 stadia 32,700 46° 42’ 51”

From the northern extremity of Gaul to the
parallel of the northern extremity of Britain,
2500 stadia 34,000 48° 34’ 17”

From the northern extremity of Gaul to Ierne,
5000 stadia 36,500 52° 8’ 34”

From the northern extremity of Britain to the
limits of the habitable earth, 4000 stadia 38,000 54° 17’ 9”

[728] Namely, 29,300.

Stadia.
From Rhodes to Byzantium Strabo estimated 4900
From Byzantium to the Dnieper 3800
————
8700
From the Dnieper to the northern limits of the habitable
earth 4000
————
12,700
From Rhodes to the southern limits of the habitable earth 16,600
——————
Total 29,300

[729] The artificial globe of 10 ft. diameter.

[730] Tuscany.

[731] Strabo was of Amasea, a city of Pontus, close to the Euxine. He travelled through Egypt and reached Philæ, which is about 100 stadia above Syene, the commencement of Ethiopia.

[732] The Getæ occupied a portion of present Moldavia; the Tyrigetæ were those of the Getæ who dwelt along the banks of the Tyras or Dniester.

[733] The Bastarnæ occupied the south and eastern portions of Poland.

[734] The Georgians of the present day.

[735] Corcan.

[736] The precise time when this writer lived is unknown. The work here referred to is also mentioned by Athenæus, xv. p. 682.

[737] Prefect of Egypt in the reign of Augustus. This expedition into Arabia completely failed, through the treachery of the guide, a Roman named Syllæus. A long account of it is given by Strabo in the 16th book. “It would be extremely interesting,” says Professor Schmitz, “to trace this expedition of Ælius Gallus into Arabia, but our knowledge of that country is as yet too scanty to enable us to identify the route as described by Strabo, who derived most of his information about Arabia from his friend Ælius Gallus.”

[738] Red Sea.

[739] Myos-hormos, _Mouse’s Harbour_, a sea-port of Egypt on the coast of the Red Sea. Arrian says that it was one of the most celebrated ports on this sea. It was chosen by Ptolemy Philadelphus for the convenience of commerce, in preference to Arsinoë or _Suez_, on account of the difficulty of navigating the western extremity of the gulf. It was called also Aphroditis Portus, or the Port of Venus. Its modern name is Suffange-el-Bahri, or “Sponge of the Sea.” _Lemprière._

[740] Humboldt commends Strabo’s zeal in prosecuting his gigantic work, Cosmos ii. 557.

[741] The Gulf of Aïas.

[742] The Bay of Bengal.

[743] Strabo seems here to confound the parallel of Ierna with that of the northern limits of the habitable earth, although a little above, as we have seen, he determines these limits at 15,000 stadia north of Ierna.

[744] These narrowed extremities of the continent are, Spain on the west, terminated by Cape St. Vincent, and on the east the peninsula of India, terminated by Cape Comorin. This cape Strabo supposed was continued in an easterly direction, and thus formed the most eastern portion of Asia.

[745] The island of Ceylon.

[746] Strabo supposed the Hyrcanian or Caspian Sea communicated with the northern ocean.

[747] Cape St. Vincent.

[748] Cape St. Vincent is north of Cadiz by 30’ 30”, north of the Strait of Gibraltar, or Pillars of Hercules, by 1° 2’, south of the Strait of Messina by 1° 10’, and north of Rhodes by 33’ 30”.

[749] Casaubon conjectures that the words τὸν Κάνωβον originally occupied the space of the lacuna. The passage would then stand thus—From the coast of Cadiz and Iberia the star Canopus is said to have been formerly observed. Groskurd rejects this, and proposes to read τοὺς πλησιαιτάτους τοῦ Κανώβου ἀστέρας, “the stars nearest to Canopus.” But this too is not certain, and the passage is otherwise evidently corrupt.

[750] The most southern.

[751] Cape St. Vincent.

[752] The Artabri inhabited the country around Cape Finisterre.

[753] Principally contained in the modern kingdom of Portugal.

[754] The Scilly Islands off the Cornwall coast.

[755] We have long had the custom of tracing on every map the parallels of latitude and longitude at every degree, or every five or ten degrees, as the case may be. By means of these lines drawn at equal distances, the eye at once recognises the relative position of any place in the map. This method was not in use when Strabo wrote: at that time it was customary to draw a meridian or longitude, and a parallel of latitude, for every important place of which the position was considered as determined. This was certainly an obscure way of dividing the globe; nevertheless it is requisite to keep it in mind, in order that we may the more readily understand the general language of our geographer, who instead of simply stating the latitude and longitude of places, says such a place is situated under the same latitude, or about the same latitude, as such another place, &c. Ptolemy seems to have been the first who freed the study of geography from the confusion inseparable from the ancient method. He substituted tables easy of construction and amendment; where the position of each place was marked by isolated numbers, which denoted the exact latitude and longitude.

[756] Demosthenes, Philipp. III. edit. Reisk. t. i. p. 117, l. 22.—Demosthenes is here alluding to the cities which different Grecian colonies had founded in the maritime districts of Thrace. The principal of these was the opulent and populous city of Olynthus, which, together with others, was taken, and razed to its foundations, by Philip of Macedon. Olynthus has become famous through the three orations of Demosthenes, urging the Athenians to its succour.

[757] The Mediterranean.

[758] The entrance to the Arabian Gulf is about six or seven marine leagues, that of the Mediterranean two and three-fourths. The entrance to the Persian Gulf is seven or eight leagues in extent; while the Caspian, being a lake, has of course no outlet whatever.

[759] Mediterranean.

[760] Strabo here means the countries bordering the Mediterranean.

[761] Viz. the Mediterranean.

[762] The state of Genoa.

[763] The Gulf of Genoa.

[764] Vide Humboldt’s Cosmos, ii. 480.

[765] Corsica.

[766] Vento Tiene.

[767] Ponza.

[768] Elba.

[769] Saint Honorat.

[770] Ischia.

[771] Procida.

[772] Capri.

[773] A small island off the Capo della Licosa.

[774] The western side.

[775] Majorca and Minorca.

[776] Iviça.

[777] The island of Pantalaria.

[778] Al Djamur, at the entrance of the Gulf of Tunis.

[779] The Strait of Messina, and the strait separating Sicily and Cape Bona on the African coast.

[780] Of which Cyrene, now Curen, was the capital.

[781] The Gulf of Cabes.

[782] The Island of Gerbi.

[783] The Island of Kerkeni.

[784] Sidra, or Zalscho.

[785] Hesperides is the same city which the sovereigns of Alexandria afterwards called Berenice. It is the modern Bernic or Bengazi.

[786] Automala appears to have been situated on the most northern point of the Greater Syrtes, on the confines of a small gulf, near to a place called Tine, or the Marsh.

[787] Now Reggio, on the Strait of Messina, which was also sometimes called the Strait of Rhegium.

[788] These were the Epizephyrian Locrians, or dwellers near the promontory of Zephyrium. They were situated towards the extremity of Italy, near Rhegium. Traces of their city are seen at Motta di Bourzano on the eastern coast of Ulterior Calabria.

[789] Messina.

[790] Syragusa.

[791] Cape Passaro.

[792] The Gulf of Lepanto.

[793] Cape Leuca or Finisterre.

[794] The lower part of the Adriatic was designated the Ionian Gulf.

[795] The portion of Greece opposite Corfu.

[796] The Gulf of Arta.

[797] The Gulf of Venice.

[798] The Islands of Cherso and Ossero.

[799] Apparently the Curicta of Pliny and Ptolemy, corresponding to the island of Veglia.

[800] The Libyrnides are the islands of Arbo, Pago, Isola Longa, Coronata, &c., which border the coasts of ancient Liburnia, now Murlaka.

[801] Lissa.

[802] The Island of Traw.

[803] Curzola.

[804] Lesina.

[805] The Islands of Tremiti.

[806] From Cape Pachynus or Passaro to Cape Krio, the ancient Criu-metopon, on the western extremity of the Island of Crete, measures 4516 stadia of 700 to a degree.

[807] Corfu.

[808] Sibota, Sajades; certain small islands between Epirus and Corcyra.

[809] Cefalonia.

[810] Zante.

[811] The Curzolari Islands at the mouth of the Aspro-Potamo.

[812] The Gulf of Engia.

[813] A district of the Peloponnesus.

[814] A part of the modern Livadia.

[815] Cerigo.

[816] Poro, or Poros, near the little Island of Damala, and connected to it by a sand-bank.

[817] Egina or Engia.

[818] Koluri.

[819] Islands surrounding Delos.

[820] Egio-Pelago.

[821] The Gulf of Saros.

[822] The Dardanelles.

[823] The sea surrounding the Islands of Icaria and Carpathos, now Nikaria and Scarpanto.

[824] Stanko.

[825] Samo.

[826] Skio.

[827] Mytileni.

[828] Tenedo.

[829] Egripo, or Negropont.

[830] Skyro.

[831] Probably Piperi; others suppose it to be Skopelo or Pelagonesi.

[832] Stalimene.

[833] Thaso.

[834] Imbro.

[835] Samothraki.

[836] The distance from the southern coast of Crete to the northern shores of the Ægæan is just 4200 stadia, or 120 marine leagues.

[837] This is just the distance from Cape Colonna to Rhodes.

[838] Cape Colonna.

[839] The Gulf of Salonica.

[840] Those of Kassandra, Monte-Santo, and Contessa.

[841] The peninsula of Gallipoli.

[842] Semenik, or according to others, Jalowa.

[843] Maïto, or according to others, Avido.

[844] Sea of Marmora.

[845] Karadje-Burun, the southern point of the Crimea.

[846] Kerempi-Burun.

[847] We should here read 1500 stadia. See French Translation, vol. i. p. 344, n. 3.

[848] The Euxine.

[849] Also called the Island of Achilles, and the Island of the Blessed, now Ilan-Adassi.

[850] The Strait of Zabache.

[851] The Sea of Marmora.

[852] The Island of Cyzicus was joined to the mainland by Alexander, and thus formed a peninsula, notwithstanding Strabo describes it as an island. Its present name is Artaki.

[853] The extent of the Ægæan amongst the ancients was the same as the Egio-Pelago, or Archipelago, with us. It was comprehended between the southern coasts of Crete, the western coasts of Peloponnesus, the southern coasts of Macedonia and Thrace, and the western borders of Asia Minor. Strabo however, in his description, seems to comprise under the name of the Ægæan not only those parts of the Mediterranean south of the meridian of Cape Matapan, but also the Propontis and the Euxine, as far as the mouth of the river Halys, now Kizil-Irmak. In this however he seems to be unique.

[854] This is just the distance, says Gosselin, from the northern part of Rhodes to Alexandria, but the route, instead of being from north to south, as supposed by the ancients, is S. S. W.

[855] Tarsus.

[856] Samsoun.

[857] Themiscyra, a town of Cappadocia at the mouth of the Thermodon, (now the Termeh,) belonging to the kingdom of the Amazons. The territories around it bore the same name. The plain is now comprehended in the modern Djanik.

[858] Kizil-Irmak.

[859] _Lit._ the before-mentioned parts of the sea on either side.

[860] Asia Minor, or Anadoli.

[861] The Sidra of the moderns.

[862] Iskouriah.

[863] The Gulf of Aïas.

[864] Samsoun.

[865] The ruins of this city are said to be called by the modern Greeks Φερνάκη or Πλατένα indiscriminately.

[866] _Dwellers in waggons_, or huts fixed on wheels for the purpose of transportation from one pasturage to another, as necessity might require.

[867] From Cape Gata in Granada to the borders of Asturias the distance is about 5000 stadia. But the greatest breadth of Spain is from Cape Gata to Cape Belem in Gallicia, which equals 5890 stadia of 700 to a degree.

[868] The Gulf of Lyon.

[869] The Gulf of Aquitaine or Gascony.

[870] The Cevennes.

[871] This ridge commences at the eastern part of the Pyrenees. Its ramifications extend to about Dijon.

[872] Genoa.

[873] The Romans gave to the whole of this country, which was peopled by a race of Keltic extraction, the name of Cisalpine Gaul, because situated on this side the Alps, with respect to them. France was designated Transalpine Gaul.

[874] The Tyrrhenian or Tuscan Sea commenced about the mouth of the Arno, and extended as far as Naples. The Ligurian Sea is the Gulf of Genoa. The Ausonian Sea, afterwards called the Sea of Sicily, washes the southern parts of Italy. The Adriatic Gulf, is the Gulf of Venice.

[875] The Getæ inhabited Moldavia. The Tyrigetæ, or Getæ of Tyras or the Dniester, dwelt on the banks of that river. The Bastarnæ inhabited the Ukraine. The Sarmatians, or Sauromatians, extended along either bank of the Don and the environs of the Sea of Azof, the ancient Palus Mæotis.

[876] Thrace and Macedonia form part of the modern Roumelia: Illyria comprehended Dalmatia, Bosnia, Croatia, &c.

[877] Cadiz.

[878] The Scilly Isles.

[879] Majorca and Minorca.

[880] Iviça, Formentera, Spalmador, &c. They were called Phœnician Islands, because the Carthaginians had sent out a colony thither 160 years after the founding of their city.

[881] Namely all the islands of the Ionian and Ægæan Seas, from Corfu to the Dardanelles.

[882] The Sea of Azof.

[883] The Bay of Bengal.

[884] The North.

[885] The Northern Ocean.

[886] The south.

[887] The Bay of Bengal.

[888] Sarmatian Mæotæ in the Greek text, but apparently incorrect.

[889] Inhabitants of Georgia.

[890] Inhabitants of Shirvan.

[891] The Scythians here alluded to are the Tartars of Kuban; the Achæans and Zygi are the modern Ziketi; the Heniochi are the Abkazeti.

[892] East of the Caspian.

[893] These Scythians are the Tartars of the Kharasm. The Hyrcanians are the inhabitants of Daghistan and the Corcan. The Parthians occupied the north of Khorasan; the Bactrians the country of Balk. The Sogdians inhabited Bukaria, where are Samarcand and the valley of Al-Sogd.

[894] Mingrelia.

[895] Cappadocia comprehended a portion of the modern Roum and Karamania between the Euphrates and the river Halys.

[896] Under this name Strabo included a portion of the kingdom of Pontus and other small tribes as far as Colchis.

[897] Now the Kizil-Irmak.

[898] The northern and western portions of Phrygia.

[899] Probably an interpolation.

[900] The mountaineers of Paropamisus were those who inhabited the mountains which separate Bactriana from India. The Parthians occupied the mountains north of the modern Khorasan. Under the name of Medians Strabo comprehends the various nations who inhabited the mountainous country between Parthia and Armenia. The Cilicians inhabited Aladeuli; the Lycaonian mountaineers the mountains which separate Karaman from Itch-iili; and the Pisidians the country of Hamid.

[901] The Bay of Bengal.

[902] Ceylon.

[903] The Arians inhabited Sigistan and a part of modern Persia. Strabo gave the name of Arians to all the people who occupied the portions of Asia comprised between the Indus and Persia, and between the chain of the Taurus and Gedrosia and Carmania. In after-times the designation of Arians was restricted to the inhabitants of the modern Khorasan. Gedrosia is Mekran; Carmania yet preserves the name of Kerman.

[904] Ancient Persia is the modern province of Fars, Pars, or Paras; our Persia being much more extensive than the ancient country designated by the same name.

[905] The Susians inhabited the modern Khosistan.

[906] The Babylonians occupied the present Irak-Arabi.

[907] Now al-Djezira.

[908] Viz. the Ethiopians occupying the territory from Syene to Abyssinia.

[909] The Troglodyte Arabians.

[910] The Cilicians occupied the modern Itch-iili and Aladeuli; the Trachiotæ or mountaineers, the former of these countries.

[911] Pamphylia is the modern Tekieh.

[912] Or Oases, according to the common spelling.

[913] That is to say, from Tunis to Gibraltar. The Maurusians, called by the Latins Mauritanians, occupied the present Algiers and Fez.

[914] Probably asa-fœtida.

[915] The Troglodytic extended along the western coast of the Arabian Gulf.

[916] The Ichthyophagi of Gedrosia inhabited the barren coasts of Mekran.

[917] The term of Ethiopians was a generic name given by the Greeks and Romans to the most southern inhabitants of Africa they at any time happened to be acquainted with; consequently the position of this country frequently shifted.

[918] The Garamantæ inhabited the Kawan; Garama, their capital, is now named Gherma. The Pharusians and Nigritæ dwelt south of the present kingdom of Morocco.

[919] The Marmaridæ extended west from Egypt, as far as Catabathmus, near the present Cape Luco.

[920] Viz. to the south and west.

[921] The Gulfs of Sydra and Cabes.

[922] The Psylli and Nasamones inhabited the eastern parts of the present kingdom of Tripoli, above the Greater Syrtes and the desert of Barca.

[923] The Asbystæ were a people of Libya above Cyrene, where the temple of Ammon stood; Jupiter is sometimes called on that account Asbysteus.

[924] The Byzacii occupied the southern parts of the kingdom of Tunis.

[925] Greek, Nomades, or wandering shepherds, from which the Latins formed the name Numidæ. These people inhabited Algiers.

[926] Carthage extended as far west as the promontory of Tretum, now Sebta-Ras or the Seven Heads. From thence the Masylies inhabited as far as Cape Carbon; and from thence the Masæsylii possessed the country as far as the river Molochath, now the Maluia, beyond which were the Maurusians extending to the Atlantic.

[927] Numidæ.

[928] The climata are zones parallel to the equator. The ancients generally reckoned seven climata, which in the time of Hipparchus terminated at 48° 30’ 35”, where the longest day consisted of sixteen hours. He however multiplied these divisions and extended them farther towards the poles. It is a great pity that Strabo has not noted all of them.

[929] According to Strabo, 12° 34’ 17”.

[930] According to Strabo, 52° 25’ 42”.

[931] Now Gherri, on the banks of the Nile.

[932] i. e. they are the most southern of those for whom, &c.

[933] Bab-el-Mandeb, The Gate of Tears.

[934] The east.

[935] The west.

[936] This passage proves that in Strabo’s opinion the continent of Africa did not extend so far south as the equator.

[937] This town was sometimes called Ptolemais Epitheras, having been built by Eumedes in the reign of Philadelphus for the chase of elephants and other wild animals.

[938] On the west.

[939] The east.

[940] About Cape Comorin.

[941] The east.

[942] The west.

[943] Kramer follows Gosselin in proposing to substitute τρία in place of ἑπτά.

[944] The west side.

[945] Algiers and Fez.

[946] The eastern side.

[947] Lower Egypt is intended.

[948] Khosistan.

[949] The modern province of Fars.

[950] Kerman.

[951] Upper Mekran.

[952] S. Jean d’Acre.

[953] Seide.

[954] Tsur.

[955] Eksenide.

[956] Siragusa.

[957] Caria occupied the southern and western parts of Anadoli, near the Island of Rhodes. Lycaonia formed a part of the modern Karaman. Cataonia was comprised in Aladeuli. Media is now Irak-Adjami. The Caspian Gates are the defiles of Firouz-Koh.

[958] Eski-Stambul.

[959] Emboli or Jamboli.

[960] Polina.

[961] Isnik.

[962] Eksemil.

[963] Karasi in Anadoli.

[964] Sinop.

[965] Corcan and Daghistan.

[966] Balk.

[967] To the north.

[968] Or 17° 30’. This would indicate a latitude of 48° 38’ 40”.

[969] The astronomical cubit was equal to two degrees.

[970] Read 23,100.

[971] The northern extremity of the Hellespont.

[972] Κόσμος, the universe.

[973] The pole of the ecliptic.

[974] The neck, &c.

[975] The Pyrenees, on the contrary, range from east to west, with a slight inclination towards the north. This error gives occasion to several of the mistakes made by Strabo respecting the course of certain of the rivers in France.

[976] France.

[977] The Gulfs of Lyons and Gascony.

[978] Gosselin remarks that the distance between S. Jean de Luz and Tarragona, is rather less than that between Bayonne and Narbonne.

[979] The Atlantic.

[980] Cape St. Vincent.

[981] Cape Finisterre.

[982] Africa.

[983] The Mauritanians.

[984] Cape St. Vincent.

[985] Cape St. Vincent is about 1600 stadia west of Cape Spartel in Africa. Strabo imagined that beyond this cape the African coast inclined to the south-east. In reality it advances eleven degrees and a half farther west to Cape Verd, which is 8° 29’ west of Cape St. Vincent.

[986] Herodotus is the first who speaks of a people of Iberia, to whom he gives the name of Κυνήσιοι or Κύνητες: he describes them as inhabiting the most western part of Europe, beyond the Pillars of Hercules.

[987] This passage of Strabo relative to the rocking-stones has occasioned much perplexity to the critics. We have attempted to render the Greek words as near as possible. Many curious facts relative to rocking and amber stones have been collected, by Jabez Allies, F. S. A., in his work on the Antiquities of Worcestershire, now in the press.

[988] We extract the following notice on this passage from Humboldt (Cosmos, vol. iii. 54, Bohn’s edition). “This passage has recently been pronounced corrupt, (Kramer i. 211,) and δι’ ὑάλων (through glass spheres) substituted for δι’ αὐλῶν (Schneider, Eclog. Phys. ii. 273). The magnifying power of hollow glass spheres, filled with water, (Seneca i. 6,) was, indeed, as familiar to the ancients as the action of burning glasses or crystals, (Aristoph. Nub. v. 765,) and that of Nero’s emerald (Plin. xxxvii. 5); but these spheres most assuredly could not have been employed as astronomical measuring instruments. (Compare Cosmos i. p. 619.) Solar altitudes taken through thin light clouds, or through volcanic vapours, exhibit no trace of the influence of refraction.”

[989] Cadiz.

[990] Cape St. Vincent.

[991] Ἄνας.

[992] The Tagus, the Guadiana, and the Guadalquiver, pursue a course nearly parallel to each other, and all incline towards the south before discharging themselves into the sea; the inclination of the Tagus is not equal to that of the other rivers.

[993] Lusitania occupied the greater part of the present kingdom of Portugal. It was from the countries north of the Tagus that the Romans caused certain of the inhabitants to emigrate to the south side of that river.

[994] The Carpetani occupied a portion of New Castile, where the cities of Madrid, Toledo, &c. are now situated.

[995] These people inhabited the southern portions of New Castile, now occupied by the cities of Calatrava, Ciudad-real, Alcaraz, &c. They also possessed a part of the Sierra-Morena.

[996] The Vettones inhabited that part of Estremadura, where the cities of Alcantara, Truxillo, &c. are now situated.

[997] Bætis.

[998] Anas.

[999] The course of the Guadiana is longer than that of the Guadalquiver.

[1000] Viz. Turdetania.

[1001] The mountainous country in which the Guadalquiver takes its source.

[1002] The rock of Gibraltar.

[1003] This Timosthenes was the admiral of Ptolemy II. Strabo mentions him repeatedly.

[1004] The place on which this town formerly stood is now designated _Val de Vacca_.

[1005] Rio Barbate.

[1006] Now Azzila.

[1007] Called by Pliny and Ptolemy _Julia Transducta_. It appears to have been situated at the western entrance of the Bay of Gibraltar, at the place now called Al-Gesira.

[1008] Cadiz.

[1009] An Athenian king, who led the Athenians against Troy. The port of Menestheus is now Puerto Sta. Maria.

[1010] _Hodie_ Lebrixa.

[1011] Bætis.

[1012] At or near the port of Menestheus, just mentioned.

[1013] Quintus Servilius Cæpio, a famous Roman general. Vide lib. iv. c. i. § 13.

[1014] This city is not to be confounded with others of the same name in Spain.

[1015] Strabo is the only writer who speaks of this temple of Phosphorus. It was no doubt a temple to Diana, who was named Ἄρτεμις Φωσφόρος. This temple, according to the Spanish authors quoted by Lopez in his translation of Strabo, corresponds to the present San-Lucar de Barrameda.

[1016] Strabo here gives the Latin _Lucem dubiam_ in Greek characters, Λοῦκεμ δουβίαν.

[1017] The Guadiana at the present day has but one mouth.

[1018] Cape St. Vincent.

[1019] Cadiz.

[1020] Anas.

[1021] Bætis.

[1022] Cordova, situated on the Guadalquiver in Andalusia. We do not know whether it were founded by the Marcellus who was prætor in Thither Iberia, and created consul in the year of Rome 601, or Marcellus who joined Pompey’s party against Cæsar. This city served for the winter quarters of the Romans, who during summer made war on the inhabitants of the western and northern parts of Spain. It was the native place of the two Senecas and Lucan, and the chief emporium of Iberia. We may form some idea of the amount of its population from the number of those who perished when taken by Cæsar, as narrated by Hirtius, Spanish War, § 34. But the period in which Cordova’s glory was at its zenith was during the empire of the Moors, in the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries, when it numbered 300,000 inhabitants.

[1023] Cadiz.

[1024] Seville. This city was surnamed Julia Romulensis. It was founded by Cæsar, and regarded as the second city of the province, although, as we see, in the time of Strabo it was only third-rate.

[1025] Strabo is the only writer who mentions this city of Bætis. Casaubon and others are inclined to the opinion that the MSS. are corrupted, and that formerly another name stood here.

[1026] This city, the native place of the emperors Trajan and Adrian, and the poet Silius Italicus, was founded by Publius Scipio in the second Punic war, who placed here the soldiers incapacitated from the performance of military service. It is supposed to correspond to Sevilla la Vieja, about a league distant from Seville.

[1027] The Ilipa Ilia of Pliny and Illipula Magna of Ptolemy. Its exact position is not determined.

[1028] _Hodie_ Ecija on the Xenil.

[1029] Carmona.

[1030] Monda, seven leagues west of Malaga.

[1031] Osuna.

[1032] _Hodie_ Martos, Pliny gave it the surname of Augusta Gemella.

[1033] The Itucci of Pliny, to which he gives the surname Virtus Julia.

[1034] We should probably read 430.

[1035] Kramer, using the criticism of Lachmann, observes that this is a misreading for Midaium, and that a like mistake occurs in Appian.

[1036] Furnius and Titius.

[1037] In Lusitania.

[1038] About the spot where this city is supposed to have stood, between Xerez and Tribugena, there is still a place called Mesa de Asta.

[1039] Strabo uses ὁλκάσιν ἀξιολόγοις, but the English hulk would not bear the same import in this place as the Greek.

[1040] Bætis.

[1041] Cotillas, or perhaps Constantina near Almaden.

[1042] Anas.

[1043] Experience does not seem to warrant this conclusion.

[1044] Cape St. Vincent.

[1045] Of Gibraltar.

[1046] Cape St. Vincent.

[1047] The text here is evidently corrupt, but it is not easy to determine to what extent the overflow reached at the time Strabo wrote.

[1048] Lebrixa.

[1049] Gibraleon.

[1050] Spain.

[1051] οἱ Εὖροι.

[1052] Majorca and Minorca.

[1053] In his third book, Strabo, speaking of Campania, regards the oil of Venafrum as superior to any other. In this he agrees with Pliny, who places in the second class the oils of Bætica and Istria. Pausanias considers these two oils, both for beauty of colour and excellence of flavour, inferior to that produced at Tithorea in Phocis, and which was sent to Rome for the service of the emperor’s table.

[1054] _Coccus tinctorius_, used to dye scarlet.

[1055] Sinop, still a Turkish city of importance.

[1056] A people inhabiting the western parts of the Caucasus.

[1057] This name occurs only in Strabo: of the various conjectures which have been hazarded on the subject, one of the most probable seems to be that we should read Saltigetæ, a people of Bastetania, mentioned by Ptolemy.

[1058] These were evidently rabbits.

[1059] Spain.

[1060] Majorca and Minorca.

[1061] According to Pliny, (lib. viii. c. 55,) this deputation was sent to Augustus to demand of him a military force, apparently for the purpose of assisting the inhabitants in destroying the rabbits. The same writer has brought together a variety of instances in which cities have been abandoned or destroyed through similar causes. Vide lib. viii. c. 29. The inhabitants of Abdera in Thrace were forced to quit their city on account of the rats and frogs, and settled on the frontiers of Macedonia. (Justin. lib. xv. c. 2.)

[1062] Ferrets.

[1063] Pozzuolo.

[1064] We have here followed Gosselin’s suggestion of λιμνασίαν instead of γυμνασίαν, the reading of MSS.

[1065] A kind of whale, mentioned also by Aristotle, but which does not seem to have been identified.

[1066] The Mediterranean.

[1067] A kind of shell-fish with a wreathed shell, which might be used as a sort of trumpet. It is mentioned by Aristotle.

[1068] The cotyla held about three-fourths of a pint.

[1069] This weight equalled 15 oz. 83¾ grs.

[1070] The Euboic or Attic talent, which is here meant, equalled almost 57 lb.

[1071] A kind of cuttle-fish or squid.

[1072] Sardinia.

[1073] Turdetania.

[1074] The mineral riches of Spain are lauded in equal terms by Herodotus, Aristotle, Pliny, and many other writers. We can only remark, that at the present day the mineral wealth of that country scarcely justifies such descriptions.

[1075] The Cevennes.

[1076] Pliny, (lib. xxxiii. c. 4,) writing on the same subject, says, “Inveniuntur ita massæ; necnon in puteis etiam _denas_ excedentes libras. _Palacras_ Hispani, alii _palacranas_, iidem quod minutum est _balucem_ vocant.”

[1077] This passage is evidently corrupt, nor do any of the readings which have been proposed seem to clear up the difficulties which it presents.

[1078] Archimedes’ Screw. It was called the Egyptian screw because invented by Archimedes when in Egypt, and also because it was much employed by the Egyptians in raising water from the Nile for the irrigation of their lands.

[1079] We read τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν, according to Kramer’s suggestion.

[1080] The following is the enigma alluded to. We have extracted it from Mackenzie’s Translation of the Life of Homer, attributed to Herodotus of Halicarnassius. While the sailors and the towns-people of the Isle of Ios (Nio) were speaking with Homer, some fishermen’s children ran their vessel on shore, and descending to the sands, addressed these words to the assembled persons: “Hear us, strangers, explain our riddle if ye can.” Then some of those who were present ordered them to speak. “We leave,” say they, “what we take, and we carry with us that we cannot take.” No one being able to solve the enigma, they thus expounded it. “Having had an unproductive fishery,” say they in explanation, “we sat down on the sand, and being annoyed by the vermin, left the fish we had taken on the shore, taking with us the vermin we could not catch.”

[1081] These people inhabited the province of Gallicia in Spain.

[1082] Carthagena.

[1083] Caslona.

[1084] Bætis.

[1085] The Sierra Cazorla.

[1086] Anas.

[1087] These 900 stadia are equal to from 25 to 26 leagues, which is exactly the distance from the sources of the Guadalquiver near to Cazorla to the lagoons named Ojos de Guadiana, adjacent to Villa-Harta.

[1088] Cadiz.

[1089] A Greek poet born at Himera in Sicily, and who flourished about B. C. 570: he lived in the time of Phalaris, and was contemporary with Sappho, Alcæus, and Pittacus.

[1090] The rock of Gibraltar.

[1091] Cape St. Vincent.

[1092] Cadiz.

[1093] This is exactly the distance from Cadiz to Cape St. Vincent, following the coasts. It is from 48 to 49 leagues.

[1094] Gaul.

[1095] The bright light of the sun fell into the ocean, drawing dark night over the fruitful earth. Iliad viii. 485.

[1096] Wandering rocks.

[1097] Entwining or conflicting rocks. Euripides, Medea, verse 2, gives them the title of Symplegades.

[1098] Gibraltar.

[1099] The Strait of Messina.

[1100] Ulisipo or Lisbon.

[1101] A proverbial expression by which the Greeks described a victory equally prejudicial to the victors and the vanquished.

[1102] But still it would be disgraceful to remain here so long, and to return home without fitting booty. Iliad ii. 298.

[1103] We should probably here read Menestheus.

[1104] But the immortals will send you to the Elysian plain, and the boundaries of the earth, where is auburn-haired Rhadamanthus; there of a truth is the most easy life for men. There is nor snow nor long winter, nor ever a shower, but ever does the ocean send forth the gently blowing breezes of the west wind to refresh men. Odyssey iv. 563.

[1105] There then I beheld Minos, the illustrious son of Jove, having a golden sceptre, giving laws to the dead. Odyssey xi. 567. Bohn’s edition.

[1106] The Canary Islands.

[1107] Hamilcar, the father of Hannibal.

[1108] We have preferred, in common with the French translation, and the manuscript cited by Xylander, to read φιάλαις, instead of φάτναις, thinking it probable that Strabo referred in the first instance to the drinking vessels, and afterwards to the wine barrels, as being made of silver.

[1109] Herodotus, who wrote about a century after the time of Anacreon, expressly tells us that Arganthonius reigned during eighty years, and lived one hundred and twenty (l. i. c. 163). Cicero, Valerius Maximus, and Pliny report the same, apparently on the testimony of Herodotus. Lucian, Phlegon, and Appian however state the life of Arganthonius at one hundred and fifty years; and what is remarkable, the two former, Lucian and Phlegon, cite as their authority Anacreon and Herodotus. Pliny, citing Anacreon, has taken the _reign_ of one hundred and fifty years, mentioned by the poet, as a _life_ of that duration. The passage of Strabo is evidently changed from its original form.

[1110] Of the number are Pomponius Mela and Pliny.

[1111] Bætis.

[1112] That is, been admitted to all the privileges of Roman citizenship. Pliny tells us that in Bætica alone there were thirty cities enjoying this distinction.

[1113] Beja in Alentejo: others, with less show of probability, say Badajoz the capital of Estremadura.

[1114] Merida.

[1115] Saragossa.

[1116] Cape St. Vincent.

[1117] Cape Espichel.

[1118] Coray reads two hundred and ten stadia, Groskurd and the French translators adopt 200; but the whole passage is so manifestly corrupt, that it scarcely seemed safe to hazard the correction.

[1119] The text is here very corrupt, and the explanations of the editors and translators unsatisfactory.

[1120] A city of Lusitania, _hod._ Al-Merim.

[1121] Literally towards the sunset at the equinox.

[1122] Anas.

[1123] Bætis.

[1124] Durius.

[1125] This city is not mentioned elsewhere in Strabo.

[1126] Caslona.

[1127] Oreto.

[1128] μυρίων καὶ τρισχιλίων, in text, but plainly the result of some error.

[1129] We have followed the suggestion of Kramer in the rendering of this passage, the Greek text being evidently corrupt.

[1130] Munda.

[1131] Vacua.

[1132] Durius.

[1133] A city situated near Soria in Old Castile.

[1134] Now the Lima.

[1135] Xylander and many of the commentators propose to read Ὀβλιουιῶνα, or Oblivion, in place of Βελιῶνα. The conjecture seems extremely probable.

[1136] The Minho of the present day.

[1137] The Minho is far surpassed in size, both by the Duero and the Tagus.

[1138] The text here is evidently incorrect. In the first place, the καὶ αὐτὸν, which we have rendered _this too_, evidently sustained some relation, no longer subsisting, to what preceded; and in the second, the sources of the Minho were not in Cantabria, but Gallicia.

[1139] Strabo here appears to confound the mouth of the Minho with a small bay about five leagues distant, near to the city of Bayona in Gallicia, and before which there is still the small island of Bayona.

[1140] Cape Finisterre.

[1141] Anas.

[1142] Limæa.

[1143] Or the river of Oblivion, apparently because they forgot to return to their own country.

[1144] A few of the MSS. read fifty, which number seems to be countenanced by the statement of Pliny, that forty-six nations inhabited Lusitania: but then the limits he set to the country were more extended than those allowed by Strabo.

[1145] The κούφος of the text signifies also a volatile disposition.

[1146] Some part of the sentence seems here to be wanting. It probably contained a description of the kind of sword made use of.

[1147] Durius.

[1148] This reminds one of the _glibs_ the Irish used to wear down to a recent period.

[1149] This passage is not found in any of the odes of Pindar now remaining.

[1150] The French translators observe, that we should probably understand this passage as follows, They exercise themselves as light-armed infantry, heavy-armed infantry, cavalry, &c.

[1151] Xenophon describes this, or one very similar, as the Persian dance: Τέλος δὲ τὸ Περσικὸν ὠρχεῖτο, κροτῶν τὰς πέλτας· καὶ ὤκλαζε, καὶ ἐξανίστατο. “Last of all he danced the Persian dance, clashing his bucklers, and in dancing fell on his knees, then sprang up again.” Xen. Anab. b. vi. c. 1, 10.

[1152] This is said to distinguish them from their neighbours, the inhabitants of Majorca and Minorca, whose peculiar marriage ceremonies are thus described by Diodorus Siculus, lib. v. c. 18: Παράδοξον δέ τι καὶ κατὰ τοὺς γάμους νόμιμον παρ’ αὐτοῖς ἐστιν· ἐν γὰρ ταῖς κατὰ τοὺς γάμους εὐωχίαις, οἰκείων τε καὶ φίλων κατὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν ὁ πρῶτος ἀεὶ καὶ ὁ δεύτερος, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ κατὰ τὸ ἑξῆς, μίσγονται ταῖς νύμφαις ἀνὰ μέρος, ἐσχάτου τοῦ νυμφίου τυγχάνοντος ταύτης τῆς τιμῆς.

[1153] The mention of Egyptians here seems surprising, inasmuch as no writer appears to have recorded this as one of their customs. Of the Assyrians it is stated, both by Herodotus, i. 197, and also by Strabo himself, xvi. cap. i. 746. It seems therefore most probable that Assyrians are intended, Egyptians being merely an error of the transcriber.

[1154] Inhabitants of Biscay.

[1155] People of Navarre.

[1156] Who the Pleutauri were, we do not know. The Bardyetæ appear to be the same people whom Strabo afterwards speaks of as Bardyiti, or Bardyali, who occupied a narrow slip of land between the east of Alava and the west of Navarre. The Allotriges Casaubon supposes to be the same as the Autrigones, who occupied the coast from Laredo to the Gulf of Bilboa.

[1157] Inhabitants of Biscay.

[1158] Iberus.

[1159] πλὴν Τουίσοι: these words are manifestly corrupt, but none of the various conjectural readings seem at all probable.

[1160] From the Pillars to the Sacred Promontory, or Cape St. Vincent.

[1161] The rock of Gibraltar.

[1162] Carthagena.

[1163] Viz. from Carthagena.

[1164] Malaga.

[1165] Cadiz.

[1166] Pomponius Mela gives this city the name of Hexi, or Ex, according to another reading; Pliny names it Sexi, with the surname of Firmum Julium; and Ptolemy, Sex. This is merely a difference relative to the aspiration of the word, which was sometimes omitted, at other times expressed by the letters H or S indifferently.

[1167] Mentioned by Pliny, Athenæus, Galen, and also by Martial, lib. vii. Epigramm. 78,

Cum Saxetani ponatur cauda lacerti;
Et bene si cœnas, conchis inuncta tibi est;
Sumen, aprum, leporem, boletos, ostrea, mullos,
Mittis: habes nec cor, Papile, nec genium.

[1168] Adra.

[1169] Lisbon.

[1170] Asclepiades of Myrlea, a city of Bithynia, was a grammarian, and disciple of the celebrated grammarian, Apollonius. According to Suidas he taught literature at Rome, under Pompey the Great. And it is probable that it was with Pompey he afterwards passed into Spain.

[1171] Teucer, the son of Telamon, king of the island of Salamis, being driven out of the country by his father, founded in Cyprus the city of Salamis. Justin adds, that after the death of his father he returned to the island of Salamis; but being prevented by the son of Ajax, his brother, from debarking, he went into Iberia, and took up his abode on the spot where Carthagena was afterwards built: that subsequently he removed into the country of the Gallicians, and settled amongst them.

[1172] The Hellenes derived their name from Hellen the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha. This name, which at first designated only a small people of Thessaly, became afterwards the general appellation of the inhabitants of the whole of Greece.

[1173] Amphilochus, on his return from Troy, founded with Mopsus the city of Mallos in Cilicia. He afterwards retired to Argos, but not being contented there he rejoined Mopsus, who however would no longer divide with him the government of their common colony. This dispute resulted in a remarkable combat, which cost the life of both. (Compare Strabo. l. xiv. c. 4.) Sophocles and other tragic poets have taken advantage of this tradition. Herodotus likewise speaks of the voyages of Amphilochus into Cilicia, and of the city of Posideium which he founded there, but he tells us nothing of his death. Thucydides merely says that Amphilochus on his return home after the Trojan war, being discontented with his compatriots, founded in the Gulf of Ambracia a city which he named after his fatherland, Argos. None of these traditions mention a voyage to Iberia.

[1174] Siebenkees suspects that this name should be read Ocella. The Ocelenses in Lusitania are commended by Pliny.

[1175] Some MSS. read Opsicella.

[1176] Strabo, or rather Artemidorus, seems to have confused the two kinds of lotus mentioned by the ancients. That whereof they ate the roots and the grain is the lotus of the Nile, and a plant of the species _nymphæa_. The lotus alluded to in this instance is a shrub, (the _rhamnus lotus_ of Linnæus,) named _seedra_ by the inhabitants of Barbary, with whom the fruit is an article of food. Herodotus mentions both kinds, (lib. ii. c. 92, and iv. c. 177,) and Polybius describes the second, as an eye-witness.

[1177] The Island of Zerbi.

[1178] The Gulf of Cabes.

[1179] A celebrated stoic philosopher and grammarian contemporary with Aristarchus. He was of Mallos, a city of Cilicia, and surnamed the Critic and the Homeric, on account of the corrections, explanations, and remarks which he composed in nine books on the poems of Homer.

[1180] Sertorius, on the return of Sylla to Rome, took refuge in Spain, where he put himself at the head of the Romans who had revolted against the republic; he was assassinated by one of his officers.

[1181] Adra.

[1182] Carthagena.

[1183] Sucro.

[1184] That is, the ancient name, Sucro.

[1185] Malaga.

[1186] Denia or Artemus.

[1187] Denia.

[1188] Isola Plana.

[1189] S. Pola.

[1190] Islote.

[1191] A sauce so named from the _garus_, a small fish, from which originally it was prepared. Afterwards it was made with mackerel and other fish. Vide Pliny l. xxxi. c. 7, 8.

[1192] Peniscola.

[1193] Tortosa.

[1194] Tarragona.

[1195] New Carthage, or Carthagena, is intended.

[1196] Sent from Rome.

[1197] Majorca and Minorca.

[1198] Iviça.

[1199] Ampurias.

[1200] The text is here manifestly corrupt. Various other numbers, from 4 to 400, have been conjectured as the true reading. Gosselin and Groskurd are in favour of 200.

[1201] Sic text. Siebenkees and Coray propose to read Ῥόδος, and Casaubon also Ῥόδη, now Rosas.

[1202] Marseilles.

[1203] Probably the river Fluvia, the Alba of the ancients.

[1204] Iberia, or Spain, was anciently divided into two grand divisions, to which the Romans gave the names of _Citerior_ and _Ulterior_ Iberia. Augustus subdivided this latter into the two provinces of Bætica and Lusitania, giving the name of Tarraco to Citerior Iberia. Nevertheless the ancient names of Citerior and Ulterior continued in use long after this division.

[1205] Tarragona.