Chapter VII (7)

[2183] There is much obscurity in this oracular response. The various manuscripts offer many readings.

[2184] A note in the French translation observes that the establishment of Myscellus at Crotona took place about 709 or 703 years B. C., and that Syracuse was founded as early as 735 years B. C.

[2185] According to some traditions, Crotona was very ancient, and derived its name from the hero Croto. Thus Ovid:

“Vixque pererratis quæ spectant littora terris,
Invenit Æsarei fatalia fluminis ora:
Nec procul hinc tumulum, sub quo sacrata Crotonis
Ossa tegebat humus. Jussaque ibi mœnia terra
Condidit; et nomen tumulati traxit in urbem.”

Ovid. Metam. xv. 53.

[2186] Milo is said to have carried off the prize for wrestling from the 62nd Olympiad, B. C. 532, and also to have commanded the 100,000 Crotoniatæ who engaged the hostile armies of Sybaris and destroyed their city, about B. C. 509. Diod. Sic. xii. 9, &c.

[2187] Sybaris was said to have been founded by the people of Trœzene not long after the siege of Troy. Aristot. Politic. lib. v. cap. 3. Solin. viii. But these were subsequently joined by a more numerous colony of Achæans, about B. C. 720. Euseb. Chron. ii.

[2188] ὁ Κρᾶθις. There was a stream of the same name in Achaia, from whence the Italian Crathis, now Crati, derived its name. The Crathis and Sybaris now join about 14 miles from the sea.

[2189] Now Cochile.

[2190] Koray objected to the old reading, ὁ Ἰσελικεὺς, and proposed instead Οἰς.... Ἑλικεὺς; Groskurd thought it better to translate it Ihr Erbauer war Is ... aus Helike; and Kramer has adopted this latter view, which we have followed.

[2191] Helice was mentioned, book i. chap. iii. § 18. Ovid, Metam. xv. 293, also speaks of this city,

“Si quæras Helicen et Buram Achaïdas urbes,
Invenies sub aquis....”

[2192] The Epitome gives nine days.

[2193] The events which led to this catastrophe are thus related by Diodorus Siculus: “A democratical party, at the head of which was Telys, having gained the ascendency, expelled 500 of the principal citizens, who sought refuge at Crotona. This city, upon receiving a summons to give up the fugitives, or prepare for war, by the advice of Pythagoras chose the latter. The armies met near the river Triunti, in the territory of Crotona, where the brave citizens gained a complete victory.”

[2194] At the instigation of Pericles, the Athenians sent out a colony under the command of Lampon and Xenocritus, which arrived about 55 years after the overthrow of Sybaris. Two celebrated characters are named among those who joined this expedition, which was collected from different parts of Greece. These were Herodotus, and Lysias the orator.

[2195] Compare Ælian. Hist. Anim. ii. 36.

[2196] From B. C. 390 to 290.

[2197] About B. C. 194.

[2198] Cæsar however calls it Thurii, and designates it a municipal town. Civ. Bell. iii. 22.

[2199] Now La Nucara.

[2200] It is not ascertained whether this leader were the architect of the Horse of Troy.

[2201] Antiquaries seem agreed in fixing the site of this town at Policoro, about three miles from the mouth of the Agri, where considerable remains are still visible. The city is famous as the seat of the general council of the Greek states, and the celebrated bronze tables on which the learned Mazzocchi bestowed so much labour were discovered near its site. Its coins represent Hercules contending with the lion, and bear the epigraph ΗΡΑ or HÊRAKLÊIÔN.

[2202] Ἄκιρις.

[2203] Σῖρις.

[2204] This accords very well with the distance given in the Itinerary of Antoninus.

[2205] About B. C. 580.

[2206] Kramer reads χώνων in the text. We have followed the opinion of the French translators, who have rendered it “possédée par des Troyens.” MSS. give various readings.

[2207] Kramer reads ἐπὶ Τεύθραντος, but thinks with Groskurd that ἐπὶ τοῦ Τράεντος, the Traens or modern Trionto, is the true reading.

[2208] About B. C. 444.

[2209] About B. C. 433.

[2210] In the time of Pausanias, this city was a heap of ruins, and nothing remained standing but the walls and theatre. Considerable vestiges, situated near the station called Torre di Mare, indicate the site it anciently adorned.

[2211] θέρος χρυσοῦν. Xylander and others have thought this was a statue representing Summer; others have reckoned that golden sheaves were intended. The coins of Metapontium, which are greatly admired as works of art, have a head of Ceres, and on the reverse an ear of corn. A large sum of these might be justly called a golden harvest.

[2212] Neleus had twelve sons, eleven of whom were slain by Hercules, while Nestor alone escaped; we must therefore infer from this passage, that rites were celebrated at Metapontium in honour of his brothers.

[2213] The Greek words might either mean that Metapontium was destroyed or that the sacrifices were abolished. From the succeeding sentence it would be most natural to suppose that Strabo meant to say the city was overthrown.

[2214] These words are not in the Greek text, but seem to have been accidentally omitted by the transcriber.

[2215] A city of Phocis, now Krisso.

[2216] The ordinary reading is Trinacis, but Kramer found it given Thrinacia in the Vatican Manuscript, No. 482, which seems to suit the rest of the sentence better. Dionysius Perieg. vers. 467, says,

Τρινακίη δ’ ἐπὶ τῇσιν, ὑπὲρ πέδον Αὐσονιήων
Ἐκτέταται.

And Homer, Strabo’s great geographical authority, in book xi. of the Odyssey, line 106, terms it Θρινακίῃ νήσῳ. Virgil, Æn. iii. 440, says,

“Trinacria fines Italos mittere relicta.”

[2217] Capo Passaro.

[2218] Capo di Marsalla, or Capo Boeo.

[2219] The south-west.

[2220] Milazzo.

[2221] S. Maria di Tindaro.

[2222] The MSS. of Strabo read Agathyrsum, but the town is more commonly called Agathyrnum. Livy, book xxvi. cap. 40, and Silius Italicus, book xiv. ver. 260, call it Agathyrna. Cluverius considers it to have been situated near S. Marco; others would place it nearer to Capo d’ Orlando; while D’Anville is in favour of Agati.

[2223] I Bagni, or S. Maria de’ Palazzi. Groskurd gives it as Torre di Pittineo by Tusa, or Torre di Tusa. Cicero writes the name without a diphthong, “statim Messana litteras Halesam mittit.” Cic. in Verr. ii. c. 7. Diodorus spells it Ἄλεσα. Silius Italicus, lib. xiv. ver. 219, makes the penultimate long:

“Venit ab amne trahens nomen Gela, venit Halæsa.”

And the inscription in Gruter, p. 212, gives the name of the river near it, Αλαισος.

[2224] Cefalù.

[2225] Modern critics consider this to be the Fiume-Grande, which takes its rise near Polizzi and the Fiume Salso, the latter flows from a source within a few miles of the Fiume-Grande, and after a course of about 80 miles, falls into the sea near Alicata. The Fiume Salso was also called Himera, and both rivers taken to be one.

[2226] Palermo.

[2227] Castel-à-Mare.

[2228] Capo Boeo.

[2229] Probably ruins at the embouchure of the Platani. Groskurd also gives for it Bissenza.

[2230] At the mouth of the Fiume di Girgenti. Virgil calls Agrigentum by the Greek name, Æn. iii. 703,

“Arduus inde Acragas ostentat maxima longe
Mœnia, magnanimûm quondam generator equorum.”

[2231] As the distance from Agrigentum to Camarina greatly exceeds another 20 miles, Kramer supposes that the words, “and to Gela, 20,” have been omitted by the copyist.

[2232] Torre di Camarana.

[2233] The Paris MS. No. 1393, used by the French translators, has 33; the Paris MS. 1396, and the Medici plut. 28, No. 5, give 20 miles.

[2234] Taormina.

[2235] Gosselin observes, that the distance from Messina to Cape Pelorias, which would complete the circuit of Sicily, is about 9 miles.

[2236] i. e. by land.

[2237] Messina.

[2238] An intelligent critic has imagined that this road may have been commenced by M. Valerius Maximus Messala, consul in the year 263, and censor in 253, before the Christian era. D’Orvill. Sic. c. ii. p. 12.

[2239] We have followed Kramer, who inserts [διακόσια] before τριάκοντα πέντε.

[2240] i. e. to give its parallels of latitude and longitude.

[2241] i. e. wherein all three sides are unequal.

[2242] i. e. Pelorias.

[2243] Or, lies towards the east, with a northern inclination.

[2244] South-east.

[2245] A river of the Peloponnesus, now called Ruféa.

[2246] Cape Matapan.

[2247] The French translation gives 1160 stadia.

[2248] Gossellin observes, that from Pachynus to Lilybæum the coast runs from the south to the north-west, and looks towards the south-west.

[2249] This person, according to Varro, was named Strabo. See Varr. ap. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vii. § 21, page 386.

[2250] This coast of Sicily rises very little as it advances towards the east, and looks almost continually towards the north, with the exception of a very short space near Lilybæum. The Æolian islands lie to the north.

[2251] Taormina.

[2252] Naxos was not situated between Catana and Syracuse, but was most probably built on the left bank of the Fiume Freddo, the ancient Asines, near Taormina. It is possible that Strabo originally wrote, between Messina and Syracuse. Naxos was founded about 734 B. C., and destroyed by Dionysius the elder about the year 403. Naxos is thought by some to be the modern Schisso.

[2253] Megara was founded on the right of the Cantaro, the ancient Alabus. It was destroyed about 214 years B. C.

[2254] Reggio.

[2255] Thucydides says ζάγκλιον is a Sicilian word.

[2256] B. C. 289.

[2257] B. C. 264 to 243.

[2258] B. C. 44.

[2259] B. C. 36.

[2260] Now called Garafalo.

[2261] Taormina.

[2262] κοπρία.

[2263] These wines, although grown in Sicily, were reckoned among the Italian wines. See Athen. Deipnos. lib. i. cap. 21, ed. Schweigh: tom. i. p. 102. And from the time of Julius Cæsar they were classed in the fourth division of the most esteemed wines. See Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xiv. § 8, No. 4 and § 17.

[2264] At the same time as Syracuse.

[2265] A note in the French translation suggests that we should read Sicilians of Hybla. τῶν ἐν Ὕβλῃ Σικελῶν instead of Ζαγκλαίων.

[2266] Hiero in Greek was Ἱέρων. The line of Pindar in Kramer’s edition is,

ξύνες [ὅ] τοι λέγω, ζαθέων ἱερῶν ὁμώνυμε πάτερ,
κτίστορ Αἴτνας.

The words played on are Ἱέρων and ἱερῶν.

[2267] This occurred in the year 468.

[2268] About 461.

[2269] Cluvier considers that the monastery of Saint Nicolas de Arenis, about 12 modern miles from Catana, is situated about the place to which Strabo here alludes.

[2270] τὴν Καταναίαν. The spelling of this name, like very many in the present work, was by no means uniform in classic authors. Strabo has generally called it Catana (Κατάνη); Ptolemy, Κατάνη κολώνια; Pliny, lib. iii. cap. 8, Colonia Catina; Pomponius Mela, lib. ii. cap. 7, Catina; Cicero, Catina; and on ancient coins we find ΚΑΤΑΝΑΙΩΝ.

[2271] This feat was recorded by divers works of art set up in different places: it must have taken place in one of the eruptions, 477, 453, or 427, before the Christian era. The place where they lived was called Campus Piorum.

[2272] δι’ ἡμερῶν τεσσάρων ἢ πέντε in Kramer’s text; in his notes he particularizes the readings of the different manuscripts and editions, some reading forty or fifty. He also records his sorrow at having preferred the reading of fifty days to thirty, in the passage relating to the fat beasts of Erythia, book iii. cap. 5, § 4, (page 255).

[2273] Literally, changes into coagulation.

[2274] About 758 or 735 B. C.

[2275] Book vi. chap. 1, § 12.

[2276] According to other authorities he was descended from Bacchus.

[2277] At present Corfu.

[2278] Cape Bruzzano.

[2279] Cicero’s Oratio Frumentaria supports this character of the country. Silius Italicus, lib. xiv. vers. 23, thus celebrates the richness of the soil,

“Multa solo virtus: jam reddere fœnus aratris,
Jam montes umbrare olea, dare nomina Baccho;
Nectare Cecropias Hyblæo accendere ceras;”

and Florus terms it Terra frugum ferax.

[2280] Strabo makes a distinct mention of Siculi and Sicani, as if they were different people. Philologists have been much divided as to whether they were not different appellations of the same nation.

[2281] Such as the Elymi, or Helymi, who occupied the districts bordering on the Belici in the western part of the island.

[2282] It is probable that Morgantium was situated on the right bank of the Giaretta, below its confluence with the Dattaino, but at some little distance from the sea; at least such is the opinion of Cluverius, in opposition to the views of Sicilian topographers. Sic. Ant. book ii. cap. 7, pp. 325 and 335.

[2283] The first settlement of the Carthaginians in Sicily was about 560 B. C.

[2284] 212 years B. C.

[2285] 42 years B. C.

[2286] They were called Nesos, [the island Ortygia,] Achradina, Tycha, Neapolis, and Epipolæ. Ausonius applies the epithet fourfold,

“Quis Catinam sileat? quis quadruplices Syracusas?”

Dionysius however fortified Epipolæ with a wall, and joined it to the city.

[2287] Twenty-two miles four perches English. Swinburne spent two days in examining the extent of the ruins, and was satisfied as to the accuracy of Strabo’s statement.

[2288] A river of Elis.

[2289] Virgil thus deals with the subject:

“Sicanio prætenta sinu jacet insula contra
Plemmyrium undosum: nomen dixere priores
Ortygiam. Alpheum fama est huc, Elidis amnem,
Occultas egisse vias subter mare; qui nunc
Ore, Arethusa, tuo Siculis confunditur undis.”

Æn. iii. 692.

[2290] The words of Pindar are,

ἄμπνευμα σεμνὸν Ἀλφεοῦ,
κλεινᾶν Συρακοσσᾶν θάλος, Ὀρτυγία.

The French translators have rendered them,

“Terme saint du tourment d’Alphée
Bel ornement, de Syracuse _Ortygia_!”

And Groskurd,

“Ehrwürdige Ruhstatt Alpheos’.
Ruhmzweig Syrakossai’s, o Du Ortygia.”

Liddell and Scott call ἀνάπνευμα a resting-place, referring to this passage, but I can see no reason for not allowing to it the signification most suitable to the passage. ἀναπνέω is, “to breathe again,” and, according to the supposition of the ancients, the Alpheus might justly be said to breathe again on appearing at Arethusa, after its passage beneath the bed of the sea from Greece. ἀναπνοὴ also, means “a recovering of breath.”

[2291] Pindar, Nem. Od. i. vers. 1. See also Bohn's Classic. Lib. Pindar.

[2292] Conf. Antig. Caryst. Hist. Mir. cap. 155.

[2293] According to Strabo himself, book viii. chap. 3, § 12, the Alpheus flows through a subterraneous course before it comes to Olympia; the objection therefore which he here takes, rests only on the circumstance of the river pursuing a visible course all the way to the sea, from the point where the chalice had fallen into it.

[2294] A river of Elis.

[2295] The play from which this is quoted is not extant.

[2296] A people of Thessaly.

[2297] A people of Argos.

[2298] Aspro-potamo.

[2299] In the Peloponnesus.

[2300] The Lao or the Pollina.

[2301] Pollina.

[2302] The Porto Maggiore of Syracuse is scarcely half so large.

[2303] Centorbe, to the south-west of Ætna. Silius, lib. xiv., mentions it as “Centuripe, largoque virens Entella Lyæo.”

[2304] The ancient Symæthus.

[2305] Now Camarana: it was founded 600 years B. C.

[2306] Girgenti.

[2307] “Apparet Camarina procul, campique Geloi.” Virg. Æn. iii. 701.

[2308] Marsalla.

[2309] I Bagni.

[2310] S. Maria di Tindaro.

[2311] Castel-à-Mare.

[2312] Cefalù.

[2313] Now ruins at Barbara.

[2314] Also called Acestes.

[2315] Castro-Ioanni.

[2316] Ovid, in the fourth book of his Fasti, thus alludes to the temple,

“Grata domus Cereri, multas ea possidet urbes,
In quibus est culto fertilis Enna solo.”

From this place we have the adjective Enneus, and the Ennea virgo of Sil., lib. xiv., for Proserpine,

“Tum rapta præceps Ennea virgine flexit.”

Diodorus Siculus, lib. v. cap. 3, says that there was a fable about the seizure of the virgin [Proserpine] in the meadows near Enna. The locality is very near the town, embellished with violets and all kinds of beautiful flowers. An ancient coin of the place described by Ezech. Spanheim, page 906, is inscribed with the letters MUN. HENNAE. Pliny, lib. iii. cap. 8, writes, “Municipes Hennenses.”

[2317] About 146 years B. C.

[2318] The sentence from “Eryx” to “notice,” placed between daggers, seems to have been transposed from the end of § 5; it should immediately succeed the words Ægestus the Trojan.

[2319] Diodorus Siculus, lib. iv. § 83, tom. i. p. 326, gives a different account of the state of this place at this time.

[2320] The Carthaginians had destroyed it about 409 years B. C.

[2321] Some colonists from Rhodes made a settlement here 45 years after the foundation of Syracuse. It was overthrown about 279 years B. C.

[2322] Milazzo.

[2323] About 649 B. C.

[2324] It is supposed that Callipolis anciently occupied the site of Mascalis.

[2325] Those who inhabited Hybla Minor. We know that Selinus was in existence 640 B. C., and destroyed 268 B. C.

[2326] Now ruins called di Pollece on the river Madiuni in the Terra de’ Pulci.

[2327] The Leontini arrived in Sicily 728 B. C., and founded Leontini, now Lentini.

[2328] Eubœa was destroyed by the tyrant Gelon, who reigned from 491 to 478 B. C. Eubali, Castellazzio, and a place near the little town of Licodia, not far from the source of the Drillo, have been supposed to be the site of the ancient Eubœa. Siebenkees thinks that the words between daggers at the end of § 7 should follow “Eubœa.”

[2329] Lit. barbarians.

[2330] About 134 B. C.

[2331] Castro-Ioanni.

[2332] Kramer and Siebenkees consider that the sentence between daggers, from “The” to “prosperity,” has been transferred from its proper place. See note [2328], page 412.

[2333] The French translators infer from this passage that Strabo had never visited Sicily.

[2334] Sicilian topographers vary exceedingly in defining the position of these mountains. Groskurd makes them Madonia.

[2335] To the south-west.

[2336] See Humboldt, Cosmos, i. 242.

[2337] Book v. chap. iv. § 9.

[2338] I Bagni di Sciacca.

[2339] Now ruins at Barbara, in the valley of Mazzara.

[2340] Girgenti.

[2341] A modern traveller is of opinion that these correspond with certain peculiar marshes near Girgenti, in the midst of the Macaluba mountains, supplied by a spring of salt water. The soil here is chalky, and the mountains abound in a grey and ductile clay. See Monsieur le Commandeur de Dolomieu, Voyage aux îles de Lipari, pp. 165 _et seqq._; also Fazell. Decad. i. lib. i. cap. 5, p. 45.

[2342] The place dedicated to these avengers of perjury is frequently located near Mineo and Palagonia; others, thinking to gain the support of Virgil’s testimony, place it near Paterno, much farther north, between Catana and Centorbi, and not far from the banks of the Giaretta, the ancient Symæthus.

[2343] Cluvier supposes this cavern must have been near Mazarum [Mazara]. The river named Mazarus by the ancients, runs through a rocky district, abounding in stone quarries. It is possible that this river, much hemmed in throughout its course, might have anciently flowed beneath some of these massive rocks.

[2344] Orontes.

[2345] According to Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. vi. § 31, tom. i. p. 333, the Tigris is ingulfed on reaching a branch of Mount Taurus, at a place called Zoroanda, which M. D’Anville identifies with the modern Hazour.

[2346] Λιβύη in Strabo.

[2347] Kramer here persists in reading πρὸ, and rejects ἀπὸ: we have endeavoured to translate it with Kramer, but the French translation of 1809 renders it, a little below its sources.

[2348] A river of Argolis: see book viii. Casaub. pp. 371 and 389.

[2349] Argolis.

[2350] This ancient city was found in ruins by Pausanias, who says (Arcadic. or book viii. cap. 44, p. 691) “that at less than 20 stadia distant from the Athenæum are found the ruins of Asea, as well as the hill on which the citadel of the town was built, which was surrounded by walls, the vestiges of which still remain. About 5 stadia from Asea, and not far from the main road, is the source of the Alpheus, and, quite close, even at the edge of the road, that of the Eurotas.... [At a short distance] the two rivers unite and run as one for about 20 stadia; they then both cast themselves into a chasm, and, continuing their under-ground course, they afterwards reappear; one (the Eurotas) in Laconia, the other in the territory of Megalopolis.” Such is what Pausanias relates in one place. But when, in this account, he fixes the source of the Alpheus at about 5 stadia from Asea, we must understand him to allude to a second source of the river; for further on (book viii. cap. 54, p. 709) he says distinctly that the main source of the Alpheus is seen near Phylace in Arcadia; then adds that that river, on coming to the district of Tegea, is absorbed under the ground, to re-issue near Asea.

[2351] See § 4 of this chapter, page 408.

[2352] The ancient Timavus. See book v. chap. i. § 8, page 319.

[2353] The French translation, “en divers endroits de l’Italie.” Some manuscripts read Ἰταλίαν. We have followed Kramer and Groskurd.

[2354] Founded about B. C. 580.

[2355] Thermessa, at present called Vulcano, is doubtless the same mentioned in Pliny’s Nat. Hist. lib. iii. § 14, tom. i. p. 164, as Therasia, by the error of the copyist. Paulus Orosius, lib. iv. cap. 20, says that it rose from the bed of the sea, B. C. 571. It is however certain that it was in existence B. C. 427, confer. Thucyd. lib. iii. § 88, and was for a considerable time called Hiera.

[2356] See Pausan. Phoc. or lib. x. cap. 16, p. 835.

[2357] See Pausan. Phoc. or lib. x. cap. 2, p. 824.

[2358] M. le Comm. de Dolomieu, in his Voyage aux îles de Lipari, ed. 1783, p. 75 _et seqq._, supports the character here given of the fertility of this island, and praises the abundance of delicious fruits it produces.

[2359] M. le Comm. de Dolomieu considers it probable that the Liparæans obtained this alum by the lixiviation of earths exposed to the acido-sulphurous vapours of their volcanos, pp. 77, 78.

[2360] These hot springs are not much frequented, although they still exist.

[2361] See Humboldt, Cosm. i. 242.

[2362] This is 30 feet in the epitome.

[2363] Odyss. lib. x. 21.

[2364] Here follow some words which convey no intelligible meaning.—They are written in the margin of some of the manuscripts. Kramer inserts them between asterisks as follows: *ἔστιν ἡ ἐπίστασις τῆς ἐναργείας λέγοιτ’ ἄν,... ἐπίσης τε γὰρ ἄμφω πάρεστι, καὶ διαθέσει καὶ τῇ ἐναργείᾳ· ἥ γε ἡδονὴ κοινὸν ἀμφοτέρων* Groskurd thinks the passage might be translated, “[Great, undoubtedly,] is the impression produced by animated energy, [of which] it may be asserted [that it excites in a marked degree both admiration and pleasure]. For both arise equally from graphic representation and animated description. Pleasure at least is common to both.” The following are Groskurd’s own words: Gross allerdings ist der Eindruck kräftiger Lebendigkeit, [von welcher] man behaupten darf, [dass sie vorzüglich, sowohl Bewunderung als Vergnügen gewähre]. Denn Beide erfolgen gleichermassen, sowohl durch Darstellung als durch Lebendigkeit; das Vergnügen wenigstens ist Beiden gemein.

[2365] Stromboli.

[2366] στρογγύλος means “round.” M. Dolomieu, p. 113, says that the island of Stromboli, seen from a distance, appears like a cone; when, however, it is more particularly examined, it looks like a mountain terminated by two peaks of different heights, and the sides appear disturbed and torn by craters opened in various parts, and streams of lava which have flowed down. It might be about 12 miles in circumference.

[2367] Most of the ancient authors agree in considering Lipari as the residence of Æolus. See Cluver. Sic. Ant. lib. ii. cap. 14.

[2368] δίδυμος, “double.” Cluverius identifies this with the island now called Salini. M. Dolomieu says that Didyma is situated to the west of Lipari; it is nearly circular, and contains three mountains placed so as to form a triangle. Two of the mountains are connected at their bases, the third is separated from them by a valley which runs right across the island, so that while sailing at some distance in the sea on the south side it has the appearance of two islands, from which circumstance it took its ancient name of Didyma: its present name, Salini, is derived from salt works there.

[2369] Ericussa, now called Alicudi or Alicurim, is covered with trees, it is inhabited, but little cultivated. The pasturage is pretty good.

[2370] Phœnicussa, now Felicudi or Filicurim, abounds in rich pastures; both wheat and the vine are here cultivated.

[2371] Cluverius, Sic. Ant. lib. ii. p. 414, identifies this island with Lisca-Bianca, to the east of Lipari, but M. le commandeur Dolomieu, Voyage pittoresque de Naples et de Sicile, tom. iv. part ii. chap. 14, considers that it corresponded with the present Panaria, which is about eight times the circumference of Lisca-Bianca. He says the neighbouring islets are but the detached portions of a vast crater now submerged; the denomination, Formocoli or the Little Ants, is aptly illustrative of their minuteness and numbers. The most important are Datolo, Lisca-Nera, Lisca-Bianca, and Basiluzzo. M. Gossellin very justly remarks that it is quite possible the volcanos, which continually burn in the islands of Æolus, may have formed some new one, and gives some good reasons for identifying Didyma with Panaria.

[2372] Rich. Pocock, Descr. de l’ Or., &c. vers. Fr. part iii. chap. 24, tom. vi. p. 327, considers that Strabo meant to say that Euonymus lies most to the left hand as you sail from Sicily to the island of Lipari, and proposes Ustica, the westernmost of the Lipari Islands, as its modern representative.

[2373] See Humboldt, Cosmos ii. 557.

[2374] A note in the French translation suggests that, notwithstanding the accord of all manuscripts, we should, doubtless, understand Titus Quinctius Flaminius, prætor in A. U. C. 628, and B. C. 126.

[2375] πρὸς ἄρκτον, in Kramer’s text. We have followed the example set by the French translators, and approved by Groskurd, who proposes to read πρὸς ἀρκτ[ικὸν ἄκρ]ον. Kramer however justly remarks, that many other things in this passage are exceedingly confused, and remain incapable of conjectural elucidation.

[2376] From Ericodes, now Alicudi, to Phœnicodes, now Felicudi, the distance given by the chorographer is the same as that set down by Ptolemy, and by far too much for that which, according to our charts, separates Felicudi from Salini, but tallies exactly with that to the island Panaria, so that the evidence, both of the chorographer and Ptolemy, seems to point to Panaria, not to Salini, as the ancient Didyma. Further, the 29 miles given in Strabo’s text as the distance from Didyma to Lipari, are reduced to 19 miles in the chart of Ptolemy, and even this last distance would be much too great for the interval which separates Salini from Lipari, but agrees with the distance from Lipari to Panaria, and seems likewise to confirm the identity of Panaria and Didyma. The 19 miles, from Lipari to Sicily, agree with Ptolemy and our charts. Ptolemy gives the equivalent of 44 miles as the distance between Sicily and Strongyle, while our modern maps confirm his computation. M. Gossellin observes that the 16 miles of the existing text of Strabo must be a transcriber’s error; but the construction of the text might very well allow the distance to be from Didyma to Strongyle, which would be nearly correct.

[2377] Malta.

[2378] Towards Africa and the south.

[2379] Μελιταῖα.

[2380] All other classic authors, both Greek and Latin, give the name of Gaulus to this island; it is the modern Gozzo.

[2381] Pantelaria.

[2382] This M. Gossellin very satisfactorily proves to be 88.

[2383] A note in the French translation observes, that the Iapygia of Strabo was confined to the peninsula of Tarentum.

[2384] The Sallentini, or Salentini, cannot be distinguished with accuracy from the Calabri, as the name is used by several writers in a very extensive sense, and applied to the greater part of Iapygia.

[2385] Capo di Leuca.

[2386] The district occupied by the Calabri seems to have been that maritime part of the Iapygian peninsula extending from the ancient Brundusium to the city of Hydruntum, answering nearly to what is now called Terra di Lecce.

[2387] Dionysius of Halicarnassius derives the name of this people from Peucetius, son of Lycaon king of Arcadia, but they are generally spoken of in history as barbarians, differing in no essential respect from the Daunii, Iapyges, and other neighbouring nations.

[2388] A note in the French translation remarks, that Strabo would have done well to add, “_and also the Apuli properly so called_.” If we follow Strabo’s testimony solely, we may almost describe the bounds of the Peucetii by four lines, viz. 1. From Tarentum to Brindisi. 2. Along the sea-shore from Brindisi to Bari. 3. From Bari to Garagnone or Gorgoglione, the ancient Sylvium, if not even still nearer to Venosa. 4. From Garagnone to Tarentum, constituting what is called in modern geography Terra di Bari—The following are the limits of the Daunii. 1. From Garagnone to Bari. 2. From Bari to Peschici or to Rodi. 3. Thence to Lucera; and, 4. from Lucera to Garagnone. Thus they occupied a great part of La Puglia, with a portion of the Terra di Bari. With regard to those who, according to Strabo, were properly Apuli, they extended from the neighbourhood of Lucera to Rodi or Peschici, thence to the mouth of the river Fortore, thence to Civitate, (the ancient Teanum Apulum,) which was included, and from Civitate to Lucera; this district would answer to the northern portion of La Puglia, which the Fortore separates from La Capitanata.

[2389] The name of Pœdiculi was given to the inhabitants of that portion of Peucetia which was more particularly situated on the coast between the Aufidus and the confines of the Calabri. Pliny (iii. 11) states that this particular tribe derived their origin from Illyria.

[2390] Brindisi.

[2391] Capo di Leuca.

[2392] We have followed Groskurd’s example in introducing this thousand. The French translators thought it too hardy to venture, and Kramer was fearful to insert it in his text, but he approves of it in his notes.

[2393] Manuscripts here have blanks.

[2394] Ruins near Torre a Mare.

[2395] Mare-piccolo.

[2396] Or twelve miles and a half. This computation does not agree with modern measurements, which reckon the circuit at sixteen miles. See Swinburne’s Travels, tom. i. sect. 32. Gagliardi, Topogr. di Taranto.

[2397] In the year 213 or 212 B. C.

[2398] B. C. 209.

[2399] It is said the pictures and statues taken on this occasion were nearly as numerous as those found at Syracuse.

[2400] That which commenced about 743 B. C.

[2401] I have here translated τοῖς τοῦ δήμου and οἱ τοῦ δήμου by “free citizens”. Several notes have been written on the exact meaning of the words, but I am not satisfied that we understand it properly. It might perhaps mean those appointed to the chief rule of the state by the constitution.

[2402] There is little doubt that this passage is corrupt.

[2403] κυνέη, a leathern cap or hat, a helmet, &c. See also page 426.

[2404] About eight miles to the east or south-east of Taranto, upon the coast, we find a place named Saturo. In this place the country open to the south presents the most agreeable aspect. Sheltered from the north wind, and watered by numerous running streams, it produces the choicest fruits, oranges, citrons, lemons, pomegranates, figs, and all manner of garden produce, with which Taranto is abundantly supplied. Ant. de Ferrar. Galat. de sit. Iapyg. _edit. nell._ Raccolt. d’ Opusc. sc. et philol. tom. vii. p. 80.

[2405] Mazoch. Prod. ad Heracl. pseph. diatr. ii. cap. 4, sect. 4, page 96, not. 51, considers that we should not make a distinction between these barbarians and Cretans, but that they were identical.

[2406] According to Sicilian topographers, Camici was the same as the citadel of Acragas [Girgenti].—Cluvier, Sic. Ant. lib. ii. cap. 15, p. 207, is of opinion that Camici occupied the site of Siculiana, on the Fiume delle Canne. D’Anville, Géogr. Anc. tom. i. p. 219, and tom. iii. p. 146, seems to locate Camici at Platanella, on the Fiume di Platani.

[2407] There are various readings of this name.

[2408] There is a tradition that Taras was born to Neptune by Satyræa, daughter of Minos.

[2409] About 745 B. C.

[2410] Statius, lib. 4, Theb., thus mentions Ithome,

“Planaque Messena, montanaque nutrit Ithome.”

[2411] πῖλος Λακωνικός.

[2412] See Heyne, Opusc. Acad. tom. ii. p. 223, not. h.

[2413] He is said to have entertained Plato during his sojourn here. Archytas flourished about the commencement of the fourth century B. C., and was still living in the year 349 B. C.

[2414] About 332 or 339 B. C. See Heyn. Opusc. Acad. tom. ii. p. 141.

[2415] About 338 B. C.

[2416] About 303 B. C.

[2417] About 330 B. C.

[2418] About 281 B. C.

[2419] Cramer, in his Ancient Italy, has very justly remarked that the name of the small river Calandro, which discharges itself into the sea a little below Capo di Roseto, bears some affinity to the river Acalandrus mentioned by Strabo. However, some have thought it identical with the Salandrella and the Fiume di Roseto, while Cluverius was of opinion that we should here read Κυλίσταρνος instead of Ἀκάλανδρος, and identify it with the modern Racanello.

[2420] 326 B. C.

[2421] 209 B. C.

[2422] 124 B. C.

[2423] Some suspect this last sentence to be an interpolation; certain it is that there is great difficulty in finding a time to correspond with all the circumstances contained in it. According to M. Heyne, this war must have taken place 474 B. C., but then Heraclea was not founded till 436 B. C. It seems too that the people of Iapygia had kings as late as 480 B. C.

[2424] Brundusium, now Brindisi.

[2425] Castro. This temple is now changed into the church of Sancta Maria in finibus terræ. See Capmart. de Chaupy, tom. iii. page 529.

[2426] Capo di Leuca. Pliny, lib. iii. cap. 11, says, Inde promontorium quod Acran Iapygian vocant, quo longissime in maria procurrit Italia. The Promontorium Iapygium, or Sallentinum, presented a conspicuous landmark to mariners sailing from Greece to Sicily. The fleets of Athens, after passing the Peloponnesus, are represented on this passage as usually making for Corcyra, from whence they steered straight across to the promontory, and then coasted along the south of Italy for the remainder of the voyage.

[2427] The south-east.

[2428] The Acra Iapygia.

[2429] See notes to page 393 of this translation.

[2430] Cramer remarks that Veretum is still represented by the old church of S. Maria di Vereto.

[2431] That is, on land.

[2432] Scylax, Peripl. p. 5, speaks of the Leuterni as a really existing people.

[2433] Now Otranto. Lucan, book v. verse 374, speaking of the little river Idro which runs close to Otranto, says,

Et cunctas revocare rates, quas avius Hydrus,
Antiquusque Taras, secretaque litora Leucæ.
Quas recipit Salapina palus, et subdita Sipus
Montibus.

And Cicero, writing of the town to Tyro, book xvi. epistle 9, says of his voyage from Cassiope, Inde Austro lenissimo, cœlo sereno, nocte illa et die postero in Italiam ad Hydruntem ludibundi pervenimus. This place was called Hydruntum by Pliny and other authors.

[2434] Now Saseno, distant 35 minutes from Otranto.

[2435] B. C. 239.

[2436] We have followed Kramer’s text in calling this place Aletia, several MSS. read Salepia. Cramer, in his description of Ancient Italy, vol. ii. p. 316, says, Aletium is naturally supposed to have occupied the site of the church of S. Maria della Lizza.—It was called Ἀλήτιον by Ptolemy.

[2437] We have followed Kramer’s reading; some MSS. have Θυρέαι, some Θυραῖαι, &c.

[2438] lit. of a certain one of the nobles.

[2439] Οὐρία, MSS., but a note in the French translation explains that Strabo was quoting Herodotus from memory. We follow Kramer.

[2440] B. C. 1353.

[2441] Brindisi.

[2442] About B. C. 1323.

[2443] Great changes have taken place in this locality since Strabo’s description was drawn.

[2444] Torre d’ Agnazzo.

[2445] Ceglie, south of Bari.

[2446] Now Noja; but the identity of this place has been much canvassed.

[2447] Canosa.

[2448] Now Ordona, about twelve miles to the east of Æca, now Troja. Livy records the defeat of the Roman forces at this place in two successive years. Hannibal removed the inhabitants and fired the town, (Livy xxvii. 1,) but it was subsequently repaired, and is noticed by Frontinus as Ardona. Ptolemy and Silius Italicus, viii. 568, mention it as Herdonia—

. . . . . . . . . quosque
Obscura inculsis Herdonia misit ab agris.

[2449] Oria.

[2450] Venosa.

[2451] Paolisi.

[2452] Le Galazze.

[2453] S. Maria di Capoa.

[2454] Capoa Nova.

[2455] Monte Dragone, or Mondragone.

[2456] At Capua, now S. Maria di Capua.

[2457] Eustathius explains that those mountains were called Ceraunian from the frequent falling of thunderbolts upon them. Τὰ Κεραύνια ὄρη, οὕτω καλούμενα διὰ τὸ συχνοὺς ἐκεῖ πίπτειν κεραυνούς.

[2458] Durazzo.

[2459] It seems as if some words had been skipped in this place, for we should expect to have the distance of the other passage to the Ceraunian Mountains, but Strabo no where mentions it.

[2460] M. Gossellin seems to think we should here read 800 and not 1800 stadia; but Kramer reckons it improbable. Groskurd concurs essentially with the opinion of M. Gossellin, and translates it something as follows: “for it is 1000, while the former is 800 stadia across.”

[2461] Now Torre d’ Agnazzo.

[2462] Bari.

[2463] Silvium was situated on the Appian Way. Holstenius and Pratilli agree in fixing its position at Garagnone, about 15 miles to the south-west of Venosa. Holsten. Adnot. p. 281. Pratilli, Via Appia, l. iv. c. 7.

[2464] About 310 stadia.

[2465] The Aufidus, celebrated by Horace, Od. iv. 9,

“Ne forte credas interitura, quæ
Longe sonantem natus ad Aufidum,
Non ante vulgatas per artes
Verba loquor socianda chordis.”

[2466] M. Gossellin considers this rather too much, and supposes 315 stadia would be nearer the truth.

[2467] Ruins now called Salpi.

[2468] Now Lucera.

[2469] See book v. c. 1, § 9, p. 320. Ptolemy makes these five, which is the number of the isles of Tremiti at present, if we include in the group three barren rocks, which scarce deserve the name of islands. One was called Diomedea by Pliny, and Tremitus by Tacitus, who states that Augustus appointed it as the prison of his grand-daughter Julia; the second was called Teutria. The largest is at present called Isola San Domino, the other Isola San Nicolo.

[2470] Book v. c. i. § 9, p. 320.

[2471] Siponto, a place in ruins near Manfredonia.

[2472] Sestini describes a gold coin belonging to this city, on which the emblem of a cuttle fish in Greek, σηπία, is apparent. The legend is Σιπο. Sestini descrizione d’ una Med. p. 16.

[2473] Lycophron calls this stream by the name of Althænus.

[2474] Groskurd is of opinion that some words to the following effect have been accidentally lost from this place, viz. “The coast of Daunia forms an extensive bay about these parts.”

[2475] Now Punta di Viesti. Strabo seems to have considered the whole of the extensive neck of land lying between the bay of Rodi and that of Manfredonia, as the Garganum Promontorium. Lucan, v. 380, thus describes its prominence,

Apulus Hadriacas exit Garganus in undas.

[2476] About 37 miles towards the east.

[2477] Rodi.

[2478] See book v. c. i. § 9, p. 320.

[2479] Brindisi.

[2480] M. Gossellin gives a long note to show that the chorographer and Artemidorus were both correct in the distances they gave, but asserts that Strabo was mistaken as to the length of the stadium used by Artemidorus, and consequently thought he saw a discrepancy between their accounts.

[2481] The ancient Æsis.

[2482] We think, with Kramer, that Sena Gallica, now Sinigaglia, was the city Strabo intends.

[2483] From the Capo della Linguetta, on the coast of Albania.

[2484] The town of Aquileia.

[2485] M. Gossellin suggests that Strabo omitted the coast of Istria in his calculations, when he made this observation on the length of the Illyrian shore, and refers to what Strabo will himself state in book vii. chap. v. sections 3, 4, and 9, and to his estimate of 6150 stadia from the Ceraunian Mountains to Iapygia in book ii. chap. iv. § 3, p. 159.

[2486] Doubtless the bight between the shore, adjacent to Peschici, to the north of Viesti, and the Punta d’ Asinella.

[2487] A note in the French translation observes that the Apuli, properly so called, could but have occupied the shore of half this bay, for the Fortore falls into it just about the centre, which river was a common boundary between the Apuli and Frentani.

[2488] B. C. 216.

[2489] Cramer says, the lake which Strabo speaks of as being near Teanum, but without mentioning its name, is called by Pliny Lacus Pontanus, (iii. 11,) now Lago di Lesina.

[2490] The city of Teanum stood on the right bank of the Fortore, the ancient Frento; its ruins are stated to exist on the site of Civitate, about a mile from the right bank of the Fortore, and ten miles from the sea. Cramer, vol. ii. p. 273.

[2491] Now Teano, six miles from Sessa, and fifteen from Capua.

[2492] Pozzuolo.

[2493] M. Gossellin observes that from the head of the bay of Naples to the shores bordering the ancient Teanum, there are 80 minutes, or 933 stadia of 700.

[2494] Romanelli is of opinion that the ruins of Buca exist at the present Penna.

[2495] Book v. chap. iv. § 2, p. 359.

[2496] In the year 747 B. C.

[2497] In the year 594 B. C.

[2498] The Latins were first subjected in 499 B. C., but not totally subjugated; the Sabines were almost annihilated in the war which happened about 450 B. C.

[2499] See Polyb. Hist. book i. chap. vi. § 1, edit. Schweigh, tom. i. p. 12.

[2500] This battle was fought in the year 405 B. C.

[2501] Concluded 387 B. C.

[2502] About 338 B. C.

[2503] About 310 B. C.

[2504] About 275 B. C.

[2505] In the year 264 B. C.

[2506] In the year 241 B. C.

[2507] 218 B. C.

[2508] 146 B. C.

[2509] Λιβύη.

[2510] The ancient Halys.

[2511] Antiochus ceded Asia Minor in the year B. C. 189.

[2512] Perseus was taken in the year B. C. 167.

[2513] Ister.

[2514] In the year B. C. 133.

[2515] In the year B. C. 140.

[2516] B. C. 72.

[2517] The inhabitants of Biscay.

[2518] B. C. 19.

[2519] About A. D. 17 or 18.

[2520] From this expression we may gather that Strabo wrote this 6th Book of his Geography during the lifetime of Juba, and, as we shall presently see, about A. D. 18; while he did not compile the 17th Book till after Juba’s death, which must have taken place before A. D. 21. See M. l’Abbé Sevin, Rech. sur la Vie, &c., de Juba, _Ac. des Inscr. et Belles-Lettres_, vol. iv. _Mém._ p. 462.

[2521] Attalus III., king of Pergamus, died 133 B. C., and constituted the Roman people his heir.

[2522] We may here observe that the Seleucidæ ceased to reign in Syria as early as 83 B. C., when that country, wearied of their sad dissensions, willingly submitted to Tigranes the king of Armenia, but their race was not extinct, and even in the year 64 B. C. when Pompey made the kingdom a Roman province, there were two princes of the Seleucidæ, Antiochus Asiaticus and his brother Seleucus-Cybiosactes, who had an hereditary right to the throne; the latter however died about 54 B. C., and in him terminated the race of the Seleucidæ.

[2523] The race of the kings of Paphlagonia became extinct about 7 B. C. See M. l’Abbé Belley, Diss. sur l’ère de Germanicopolis, &c. _Ac. des Inscr. et Belles-Lettres_, vol. xxx. _Mém._ p. 331.

[2524] The royal race of Cappadocia failed about 91 B. C.

[2525] The race of the Lagidæ terminated with Ptolemy Auletes, who died 44 B. C., leaving two daughters, Cleopatra and Arsinoë. Ptolemy Apion died 96 B. C.; he left Cyrene, whereof he was king, to the Roman people.

[2526] Now the Fasz or Rion.

[2527] The Forat, Ferat, or Frat.

[2528] The ancient Ister.

[2529] Strabo will relate in book vii. chap. iv. § 4, that after the defeat of Mithridates Eupator they became subject to the Romans.

[2530] See more as to these people in book vii. chap. iii. § 17.

[2531] Inhabitants of tents.

[2532] In the year 20 B. C. See book xvi. chap. i. § 28.

[2533] Compare Tacitus, Annales, lib. ii. § 1.

[2534] As Vonones, mentioned by Tacitus in his second book.

[2535] Compare the words of Tacitus, Annal. lib. i. § 9, Non aliud discordantis patriæ remedium fuisse, quàm ut ab uno regeretur.

[2536] Germanicus was appointed to take charge of the East in A. D. 17, in 18 he took possession of his government, and died in 19. Drusus was in command of the armies of Germany in A. D. 17. Thus we may safely conclude this 6th book of Strabo’s Geography to have been written in A. D. 18.

[2537] The ancient Tanais.

[2538] Palus Mæotis.

[2539] The ancient Ister.

[2540] The ancient Propontis.

[2541] Strabo, in a subsequent passage, states that the distance from the Danube to the city Trieste, at the head of the Adriatic, is about 1200 stadia.

[2542] The ancient Tyras.

[2543] The Borysthenes.

[2544] The Bastarnæ were a people occupying portions of the modern Moldavia, Podolia, and the Ukraine.

[2545] The Tyregetæ, or the Getæ of the river Tyras, were a people dwelling on the Dniester, to the south of the Bastarnæ.

[2546] The ancient geographers supposed that the Northern Ocean extended to the 56° of north latitude. Their notions of the existence of the Baltic were vague. They therefore confounded it with the Northern Ocean, thus making the continent of Europe to extend only to the 56° of north latitude.

[2547] See book iv. chap. iv. § 2, pp. 291, 292.

[2548] Strabo’s words are, γνήσιοι γὰρ oἱ Γερμανοὶ κατὰ τὴν Ῥωμαίων διάλεκτον. It is possible he may be endeavouring to explain that the γερ in Germani is equivalent to the Latin verus, “true,” the wahr of modern German, and that Germani signifies the true men of the country, the undoubted autochthones of Galatia or Gaul.

[2549] The Marsi were a people dwelling on the banks of the Ems, near Munster.

[2550] The Sicambri were located near the Menapii. See above, p. 289.

[2551] The Albis.

[2552] Amasias.

[2553] The name of this tribe is written variously by different authors. They are supposed to have occupied the lands between the Rhine, the Ems, and the Lippe, but their boundaries were very uncertain, on account of their continual wars.

[2554] This refers to the chain of mountains which, running from the north of Switzerland, traverses Wurtemberg, Franconia, Bohemia, Moravia, and joins Mount Krapak.

[2555] The Hercynian Wood, or Black Forest, was either one or a succession of continuous forests, extending from the banks of the Rhine to the confines of Persia and Bactriana.

[2556] The Suevi occupied a considerable portion of Germany, to the north and east of Bohemia.

[2557] Coldui manuscripts. Kramer agrees with Cluverius in this instance, and we have followed Kramer’s text.

[2558] The Lugii of Tacitus.

[2559] Zeus thinks these were the Burri of Dio Cassius, lxviii. 8. See Zeus, Die Deutschen, &c., p. 126.

[2560] Kramer has Γούτωνας, although the MSS. have Βούτωνας. He is led to this emendation by Cluverius and others. Cluv. Germ. Antiq. lib. iii. c. 34, page 625.

[2561] The Gambrivii of Tacitus, Germ. cap. 2.

[2562] Cluverius considers these were the Chamavi.

[2563] We have followed Kramer’s text. MSS. read Bucteri.

[2564] For Caulci, Campsiani, Cluverius would read Cathulci, Campsani. A little further on Strabo calls the Campsiani Ampsani.

[2565] Amasias.

[2566] Visurgis.

[2567] Lupias.

[2568] Salas.

[2569] Borcum. Pliny calls this island Burchana, and adds, that the Romans gave it the name of Fabaria, on account of the beans (in Latin Faba) which grow there.

[2570] Segimundus in Tacitus, Annal. lib. i. cap. 57.

[2571] Ægimerus in Tacitus, Annal. lib. i. cap. 71.

[2572] Acrumerus, according to the correction of Cluverius. He is Actumerus in Tacitus, Annal. lib. xi. 16, 17.

[2573] MSS. Batti, which Vossius reckons were the Batavi.

[2574] Cluverius considers these were the Marsi of Tacitus, Annal. lib. ii. cap. 25.

[2575] Called Tubantes by the Roman writers.

[2576] Schwartz Wald, or Black Forest.

[2577] The Lake Constance.

[2578] Strabo could hardly have intended 300, since the diameter of the lake is given at 200. Velser conjectures that 500 or 600 would be the proper reading. Its exact circumference is about 550 stadia.

[2579] Gossellin considers that by Keltica we are to understand Cisalpine Gaul, and the neighbourhood of Milan and Mantua.

[2580] Gossellin says that the sources of the Danube are about 14 leagues distant from the western extremity of the Lake Constance.

[2581] The Rhæti possessed the countries of the Grisons and the Tyrol, extending to the eastern shores of the Lake Constance.

[2582] The Helvetii, or Swiss, possessed the southern borders of the Lake Constance.

[2583] The Vindelici occupied the country on the northern borders of the lake, with the regions of Swabia and Bavaria south of the Danube, and reaching to the Inn. _Gossellin._

[2584] It is evident that some words have been omitted in this place. The words we have inserted are the conjecture of Cluverius and Groskurd.

[2585] As far as we can make out from Strabo and Pliny, book iii. cap. 27, the desert of the Boii stretched along the shores of the Danube from the river Inn to the mountains a little west of Vienna, which were the boundary between the Norici and the Pannonians. This strip of land is now called the Wiener-Wald, or Forest of Vienna. Doubtless it took its name of Desert of the Boii on account of its contiguity to the south of the country occupied by those people, and which still bears the name of Bohemia.

[2586] The Pannonians occupied the districts of Hungary west of the Danube.

[2587] The Norici inhabited that part of Austria which lies between the Danube and the Alps.

[2588] The Insubri occupied the Milanese.

[2589] The Carni have left their name to Carniola.

[2590] See also book ii. chap. 3, § 6. Festus relates that the Ambrones abandoned their country on account of this tide. The Ambrones were a tribe of the Helvetii, and more than once joined with the Cimbri.

[2591] The French translation has happily paraphrased, not translated, this passage as follows: “For although it is true that the ocean has tides of more or less height, still they occur periodically, and in an order constantly the same.”

[2592] Aristotle, Ethics, Eudem. lib. iii. cap. 1, Nicolas of Damascus, and Ælian, Var. Histor. lib. xii. cap. 23, have attributed the like extravagant proceedings to the Kelts or Gauls. Nicolas of Damascus, Reliq. pp. 272, 273, says that the Kelts resist the tides of the ocean with their swords in their hands, till they perish in the waters, in order that they may not seem to fear death by taking the precaution to fly.

[2593] It is probable that Clitarchus obtained his information from the Gauls. As for the sudden influx of the tide, there are several other examples of the kind, in which the troops surprised were not so successful in getting off.

[2594] Tacitus, De Morib. Germanor. cap. viii., says that these priestesses were held in great reputation, and mentions one Veleda as “diu apud plerosque numinis loco habitam.”

[2595] Pliny, lib. xix. cap. 1, describes this carbasus as very fine flax, grown in the neighbourhood of Tarragona in Spain. The Père Hardouin considers that the carbasus or fabric manufactured of this flax was similar to the French _batiste_.—The flax and the fabric were alike called carbasus.

[2596] The Sicambri, or Sugambri, dwelt to the south of the Lippe.

[2597] The Cimbri occupied Jutland, the ancient Cimbrica Chersonesus.

[2598] The shores of the Baltic.

[2599] Gossellin places the Jazyges in the southern districts of the Ukraine, between the Dniester and the Sea of Azoff.

[2600] Gossellin considers that the name of Russia is derived from these Roxolani.

[2601] The Bastarnæ and Tyregetæ, mentioned in chap. i. § 1, of this book, to whom, in book ii. chap. v. § 30, Strabo adds also the Sauromatæ.

[2602] The Sauromatæ, or Sarmatians, living to the east of the Sea of Azoff and along the banks of the Don.

[2603] The term Atlantic was applied with much more latitude by Strabo and Eratosthenes than by us.

[2604] But he himself turned back his shining eyes apart, looking towards the land of the equestrian Thracians and the close-fighting Mysians. Iliad xiii. 3.

[2605] The Strait of the Dardanelles.

[2606] Milkers of mares.

[2607] People who live on milk.

[2608] Devoid of riches.

[2609] Dwelling in waggons.

[2610] Perhaps Teurisci.

[2611] A note in the French translation suggests that Capnobatæ has some connexion with the practice of intoxication by inhaling smoke, and of using the vapour of linseed, burned upon red-hot stones, as a bath. See Herodot. book i. chap. 202; book iv. chap. 75.

[2612] And the illustrious Hippemolgi, milk-nourished, simple in living and most just men. Iliad xiii. 5.

[2613] δεκάτῳ, text: but there is no doubt it should be the thirteenth.

[2614] People without life.