Geography (Books 6-14)

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12.5.3.1
Pessinus is the greatest of the emporiums in that part of the world, containing a temple of the Mother of the gods, which is an object of great veneration. They call her Agdistis. The priests were in ancient times potentates, I might call them, who reaped the fruits of a great priesthood, but at present the prerogatives of these have been much reduced, although the emporium still endures. The sacred precinct has been built up by the Attalic kings in a manner befitting a holy place, with a sanctuary and also with porticos of white marble. The Romans made the temple famous when, in accordance with oracles of the Sibyl, they sent for the statue of the goddess there, just as they did in the case of that of Asclepius at Epidaurus. There is also a mountain situated above the city, Dindymum, after which the country Dindymene was named, just as Cybele was named after Cybela. Near by, also, flows the Sangarius River; and on this river are the ancient habitations of the Phrygians, of Midas, and of Gordius, who lived even before his time, and of certain others,—habitations which preserve not even traces of cities, but are only villages slightly larger than the others, for instance, Gordium and Gorbeus, the royal residence of Castor the son of Saocondarius, where Deïotarus, Castor’s father-in-law, slew him and his own daughter. And he pulled down the fortress and ruined most of the settlement.
12.5.4.1
After Galatia towards the south are situated Lake Tatta, which lies alongside Greater Cappadocia near Morimene but is a part of Greater Phrygia, and the country continuous with this lake and extending as far as the Taurus, most of which was held by Amyntas. Now lake Tatta is a natural salt-pan; and the water so easily congeals round everything that is immersed in it, that when people let down into it rings made of rope they draw up wreaths of salt, and that, on account of the congealing of the salt, the birds which touch the water with their wings fall on the spot and are thus caught.
12.6.1.1
Such, then, is Tatta. And the regions round Orcaorci and Pitnissus, as also the plateaus of the Lycaonians, are cold, bare of trees, and grazed by wild asses, though there is a great scarcity of water; and even where it is possible to find water, then wells are the deepest in the world, just as in Soatra, where the water is actually sold (this is a village-city near Garsaüra). But still, although the country is unwatered, it is remarkably productive of sheep; but the wool is coarse, and yet some persons have acquired very great wealth from this alone. Amyntas had over three hundred flocks in this region. There are also two lakes in this region, the larger being Lake Coralis and the smaller Lake Trogitis. In this neighborhood is also Iconium, a town that is well settled and has a more prosperous territory than the above-mentioned ass-grazing country. This place was held by Polemon. Here the region in question is near the Taurus, which separates Cappadocia and Lycaonia from Cilicia Tracheia, which last lies above that region. The boundary between the Lycaonians and the Cappadocians lies between Coropassus, a village of the Lycaonians,and Garsaüra, a town of the Cappidocians. The distance between these strongholds is about one hundred and twenty stadia.
12.6.2.1
To Lycaonia belongs also Isaurice, near the Taurus itself, which has the two lsauras, villages bearing the same name, one of which is called Old lsaura, and the other New Isaura, which is well-fortified. Numerous other villages were subject to these, and they all were settlements of robbers. They were a source of much trouble to the Romans and in particular to Publius Servilius, surnamed Isauricus, with whom I was acquainted; he subjected these places to the Romans and also destroyed most of the strongholds of the pirates that were situated on the sea.
12.6.3.1
On the side of Isaurice lies Derbe, which lies closer to Cappadocia than to any other country and was the royal seat of the tyrant Antipater Derbetes. He also possessed Laranda. But in my time Derbe and also the two lsauras have been held by Amyntas, who attacked and killed Derbetes, although he received Isaura from the Romans. And, indeed, after destroying the Old Isaura, he built for himself a royal residence there. And though he was building a new wall in the same place, he did not live to complete it, but was killed by the Cilicians, when he was invading the country of the Homonadeis and was captured by ambuscade.
12.6.4.1
For, being in possession of the Antiocheia near Pisidia and of the country as far as the Apollonias near Apameia Cibotus and of certain parts of the country alongside the mountain, and of Lycaonia, he was trying to exterminate the Cilicians and the Pisidians, who from the Taurus were overrunning this country, which belonged to the Phrygians and the Cilicians; and he captured many places which previously had been impregnable, among which was Cremna. However, he did not even try to win Sandalium by force, which is situated between Cremna and Sagalassus.
12.6.5.1
Now Cremna is occupied by Roman colonists and Sagalassus is subject to the same Roman governor to whom the whole kingdom of Amyntas was subject. It is a day’s journey distant from Apameia, having a descent of about thirty stadia from the fortress. It is also called Selgessus; this city was also captured by Alexander. Now Amyntas captured Cremna, and, passing into the country of the Homonadeis, who were considered too strong to capture, and having now established himself as master of most of the places, having even slain their tyrant, was caught by treachery through the artifice of the tyrant’s wife. And he was put to death by those people, but Cyrinius overthrew the inhabitants by starving them, and captured alive four thousand men and settled them in the neighboring cities, leaving the country destitute of all its men who were in the prime of life. In the midst of the heights of the Taurus, which are very steep and for the most part impassable, there is a hollow and fertile plain which is divided into several valleys. But though the people tilled this plain, they lived on the overhanging brows of the mountains or in caves. They were armed for the most part and were wont to overrun the country of others, having mountains that served as walls about their country.
12.7.1.1
Contiguous to these are the Pisidians, and in particular the Selgeis, who are the most notable of the Pisidians. Now the greater part of them occupy the summits of the Taurus, but some, situated above Side and Aspendus, Pamphylian cities, occupy hilly places, everywhere planted with olive-trees; and the region above this (we are now in the mountains) is occupied by the Catenneis, whose country borders on that of the Selgeis and the Homonadeis; but the Sagalasseis occupy the region this side the Taurus that faces Milyas.
12.7.2.1
Artemidorus says that the cities of the Pisidians are Selge, Sagalassus, Petnelissus, Adada, Tymbriada, Cremna, Pityassus, Amblada, Anabura, Sinda, Aarassus, Tarbassus, and Termessus. Of these, some are entirely in the mountains, while others extend even as far as the foot-hills on either side, to both Pamphylia and Milyas, and border on the Phrygians and the Lydians and the Carians, which are all peaceable tribes, although they are situated towards the north. But the Pamphylians, who share much in the traits of the Cilician stock of people, do not wholly abstain from the business of piracy, nor yet do they allow the peoples on their borders to live in peace, although they occupy the southern parts of the foot-hills of the Taurus. And on the borders of the Phrygians and Caria are situated Tabae and Sinda, and also Amblada, whence is exported the Ambladian wine, which is suitable for use in medicinal diets.
12.7.3.1
Now all the rest of the above-mentioned Pisidians who live in the mountains are divided into separate tribes governed by tyrants, like the Cilicians, and are trained in piracy. It is said that in ancient times certain Leleges, a wandering people, intermingled with them and on account of similarity of character stayed there. Selge was founded at first by the Lacedaemonians as a city, and still earlier by Calchas; but later it remained an independent city, having waxed so powerful on account of the law-abiding manner in which its government was conducted that it once contained twenty thousand men. And the nature of the region is wonderful, for among the summits of the Taurus there is a country which can support tens of thousands of inhabitants and is so very fertile that it is planted with the olive in many places, and with fine vineyards, and produces abundant pasture for cattle of all kinds; and above this country, all round it, lie forests of various kinds of timber. But it is the styrax-tree that is produced in greatest abundance there, a tree which is not large but grows straight up, the tree from which the styracine javelins are made, similar to those made of cornel-wood. And a species of wood-eating worm is bred in the trunk which eats through the wood of the tree to the surface, and at first pours out raspings like bran or saw-dust, which are piled up at the root of the tree; and then a liquid substance exudes which readily hardens into a substance like gum. But a part of this liquid flows down upon the raspings at the root of the tree and mixes with both them and the soil, except so much of it as condenses on the surface of the raspings and remains pure, and except the part which hardens on the surface of the trunk down which it flows, this too being pure. And the people make a kind of substance mixed with wood and earth from that which is not pure, this being more fragrant than the pure substance but otherwise inferior in strength to it (a fact unnoticed by most people), which is used in large quantities as frankincense by the worshippers of the gods. And people praise also the Selgic iris and the ointment made from it. The region round the city and the territory of the Selgians has only a few approaches, since their territory is mountainous and full of precipices and ravines, which are formed, among other rivers, by the Eurymedon and the Cestrus, which flow from the Selgic mountains and empty into the Pamphylian Sea. But they have bridges on their roads. Because of their natural fortifications, however, the Selgians have never even once, either in earlier or later times, become subject to others, but unmolested have reaped the fruit of the whole country except the part situated below them in Pamphylia and inside the Taurus, for which they were always at war with the kings; but in their relations with the Romans, they occupied the part in question on certain stipulated conditions. They sent an embassy to Alexander and offered to receive his commands as a friendly country, but at the present time they have become wholly subject to the Romans and are included in the territory that was formerly subject to Amyntas.
12.8.1.1
Bordering on the Bithynians towards the south, as I have said, are the Mysians and Phrygians who live round the Mysian Olympus, as it is called. And each of these tribes is divided into two parts. For one part of Phrygia is called Greater Phrygia, the part over which Midas reigned, a part of which was occupied by the Galatians, whereas the other is called Lesser Phrygia, that on the Hellespont and round Olympus, I mean Phrygia Epictetus, as it is called. Mysia is likewise divided into two parts, I mean Olympene, which is continuous with Bithynia and Phrygia Epictetus, which, according to Artemidorus, was colonized by the Mysians who lived on the far side of the Ister, and, secondly, the country in the neighborhood of the Caïcus River and Pergamene, extending as far as Teuthrania and the outlets of the river.
12.8.2.1
But the boundaries of these parts have been so confused with one another, as I have often said, that it is uncertain even as to the country round Mt. Sipylus, which the ancients called Phrygia, whether it was a part of Greater Phrygia or of Lesser Phrygia, where lived, they say, the “Phrygian” Tantalus and Pelops and Niobe. But no matter which of the two opinions is correct, the confusion of the boundaries is obvious; for Pergamene and Elaïtis, where the Caïcus empties into the sea, and Teuthrania, situated between these two countries, where Teuthras lived and where Telephus was reared, lie between the Hellespont on the one side and the country round Sipylus and Magnesia, which lies at the foot of Sipylus, on the other; and therefore, as I have said before, it is a task to determine the boundaries (Apart are the boundaries of the Mysians and Phrygians).
12.8.3.1
And the Lydians and the Maeonians, whom Homer calls the Mëiones, are in some way confused both with these peoples and with one another, because some say that they are the same and others that they are different; and they are confused with these people because some say that the Mysians were Thracians but others that they were Lydians, thus concurring with an ancient explanation given by Xanthus the Lydian and Menecrates of Elaea, who explain the origin of the name of the Mysians by saying that the oxya-tree is so named by the Lydians. And the oxya-tree abounds in the neighborhood of Mt. Olympus, where they say that the decimated persons were put out and that their descendants were the Mysians of later times, so named after the oxya-tree, and that their language bears witness to this; for, they add, their language is, in a way, a mixture of the Lydian and the Phrygian languages, for the reason that, although they lived round Mt. Olympus for a time, yet when the Phrygians crossed over from Thrace and slew a ruler of Troy and of the country near it, those people took up their abode there, whereas the Mysians took up their abode above the sources of the Caïcus near Lydia.
12.8.4.1
Contributing to the creation of myths of this kind are the confusion of the tribes there and the fertility of the country this side the Halys River, particularly that of the seaboard, on account of which attacks were made against it from numerous places and continually by peoples from the opposite mainland, or else the people near by would attack one another. Now it was particularly in the time of the Trojan War and after that time that invasions and migrations took place, since at the same time both the barbarians and the Greeks felt an impulse to acquire possession of the countries of others; but this was also the case before the Trojan War, for the tribe of the Pelasgians was then in existence, as also that of the Cauconians and Leleges. And, as I have said before, they wandered in ancient times over many regions of Europe. These tribes the poet makes the allies of the Trojans, but not as coming from the opposite mainland. The accounts both of the Phrygians and of the Mysians go back to earlier times than the Trojan War. The existence of two groups of Lycians arouses suspicion that they were of the same tribe, whether it was the Trojan Lycians or those near Caria that colonized the country of the other of the two. And perhaps the same was also true in the case of the Cilicians, for these, too, were two-fold; however, we are unable to get the same kind of evidence that the present tribe of Cilicians was already in existence before the Trojan War. Telephus might be thought to have come from Arcadia with his mother; and having become related to Teuthras, to whom he was a welcome guest, by the marriage of his mother to that ruler, was regarded as his son and also succeeded to the rulership of the Mysians.
12.8.5.1
Not only the Carians, who in earlier times were islanders, but also the Leleges, as they say, became mainlanders with the aid of the Cretans, who founded, among other places, Miletus, having taken Sarpedon from the Cretan Miletus as founder; and they settled the Termilae in the country which is now called Lycia; and they say that these settlers were brought from Crete by Sarpedon, a brother of Minos and Rhadamanthus, and that he gave the name Termilae to the people who were formerly called Milyae, as Herodotus says, and were in still earlier times called Solymi, but that when Lycus the son of Pandion went over there he named the people Lycians after himself. Now this account represents the Solymi and the Lycians as the same people, but the poet makes a distinction between them. At any rate, Bellerophontes set out from Lycia andfought with the glorious Solymi.And likewise his son Peisanderwas slain when fighting the Solymiby Ares, as he says. And he also speaks of Sarpedon as a native of Lycia.
12.8.6.1
But the fact that the fertility of the country of which I am speaking was set before the powerful as a common prize of war is confirmed by many things which have taken place even subsequent to the Trojan War, since even the Amazons took courage to attack it, against whom not only Priam, but also Bellerophontes, are said to have made expeditions; and the naming of ancient cities after the Amazons attests this fact. And in the Trojan Plain there is a hillwhich by men is called ‘Batieia,’ but by the immortals ‘the tomb of the much-bounding Myrina,’who, historians say, was one of the Amazons, inferring this from the epithet “much-bounding”; for they say that horses are called “well-bounding” because of their speed, and that Myrina, therefore, was called “much-bounding” because of the speed with which she drove her chariot. Myrina, therefore, is named after this Amazon. And the neighboring islands had the same experience because of their fertility; and Homer clearly testifies that, among these, Rhodes and Cos were already inhabited by Greeks before the Trojan War.
12.8.7.1
After the Trojan War the migrations of the Greeks and the Trerans, and the onsets of the Cimmerians and of the Lydians, and, after this, of the Persians and the Macedonians, and, at last, of the Galatians, disturbed and confused everything. But the obscurity has arisen, not on account of the changes only, but also on account of the disagreements of the historians, who do not say the same things about the same subjects, calling the Trojans Phrygians, as do the tragic poets, and the Lycians Carians; and so in the case of other peoples. But the Trojans, having waxed so strong from a small beginning that they became kings of kings, afforded both the poet and his expounders grounds for enquiring what should be called Troy; for in a general way he calls “Trojans” the peoples, one and all, who fought on the Trojan side, just as he called their opponents both “Danaans” and “Achaeans”; and yet, of course, we shall surely not speak of Paphlagonia as a part of Troy, nor yet Caria, nor the country that borders on Caria, I mean Lycia. I mean when the poet says,the Trojans advanced with clamor and with a cry like birds,and when he says of their opponents,but the Achaeans advanced in silence, breathing rage.And in many ways he uses terms differently. But still, although such is the case, I must try to arbitrate the several details to the best of my ability. However, if anything in ancient history escapes me, I must leave it unmentioned, for the task of the geographer does not lie in that field, and I must speak of things as they now are.
12.8.8.1
Above the Propontis, then, there are two mountains, the Mysian Olympus and Mt. Ida. Now the region of the Bithynians lies at the foot of Olympus, whereas Troy is situated between Mt. Ida and the sea and borders on the mountain. As for Troy, I shall describe it and the parts adjacent to it towards the south later on, but at present let me describe the country of Mt. Olympus and the parts which come next in order thereafter, extending as far as the Taurus and lying parallel to the parts which I have previously traversed. Mt. Olympus, then, is not only well settled all round but also has on its heights immense forests and places so well-fortified by nature that they can support bands of robbers; and among these bands there often arise tyrants who are able to maintain their power for a long time; for example, Cleon, who in my time was chieftain of the bands of robbers.
12.8.9.1
Cleon was from the village Gordium, which he later enlarged, making it a city and calling it Juliopolis; but from the beginning he used the strongest of the strongholds, Callydium by name, as retreat and base of operations for the robbers. And he indeed proved useful to Antony, since he made an attack upon those who were levying money for Labienus at the time when the latter held possession of Asia, and he hindered his preparations, but in the course of the Actian War, having revolted from Antony, he joined the generals of Caesar and was honored more than he deserved, since he also received, in addition to what Antony had given him, what Caesar gave him, so that he was invested with the guise of dynast, from being a robber, that is, he was priest of Zeus Abrettenus, a Mysian god, and held subject a part of Morene, which, like Abrettene, is also Mysian, and received at last the priesthood of Comana in Pontus, although he died within a month’s time after he went down to Comana. He was carried off by an acute disease, which either attacked him in consequence of excessive repletion or else, as the people round the temple said, was inflicted upon him because of the anger of the goddess; for the dwelling of both the priest and the priestess is within the circuit of the sacred precinct, and the sacred precinct, apart from its sanctity in other respects, is most conspicuously free from the impurity of the eating of swine’s flesh; in fact, the city as a whole is free from it; and swine cannot even be brought into the city. Cleon, however, among the first things he did when he arrived, displayed the character of the robber by transgressing this custom, as though he had come, not as priest, but as corrupter of all that was sacred.
12.8.10.1
Such, then, is Mt. Olympus; and towards the north it is inhabited all round by the Bithynians and Mygdonians and Doliones, whereas the rest of it is occupied by Mysians and Epicteti. Now the peoples round Cyzicus, from the Aesepus River to the Rhyndacus River and lake Dascylitis, are for the most part called Doliones, whereas the peoples who live next after these as far as the country of the Myrleians are called Mygdonians. Above lake Dascylitis lie two other lakes, large ones, I mean Lake Apolloniatis and Lake Miletopolitis. Near Lake Dascylitis is the city Dascylium, and near Lake Miletopolitis Miletopolis, and near the third lake “Apollonia on Rhyndacus,” as it is called. But at the present time most of these places belong to the Cyziceni.
12.8.11.1
Cyzicus is an island in the Propontis, being connected with the mainland by two bridges; and it is not only most excellent in the fertility of its soil, but in size has a perimeter of about five hundred stadia. It has a city of the same name near the bridges themselves, and two harbors that can be closed, and more than two hundred ship-sheds. One part of the city is on level ground and the other is near a mountain called “Arcton-oros.” Above this mountain lies another mountain, Dindymus; it rises into a single peak, and it has a temple of Dindymene, mother of the gods, which was founded by the Argonauts. This city rivals the foremost of the cities of Asia in size, in beauty, and in its excellent administration of affairs both in peace and in war. And its adornment appears to be of a type similar to that of Rhodes and Massalia and ancient Carthage. Now I am omitting most details, but I may say that there are three directors who take care of the public buildings and the engines of war, and three who have charge of the treasure-houses, one of which contains arms and another engines of war and another grain. They prevent the grain from spoiling by mixing Chalcidic earth with it. They showed in the Mithridatic war the advantage resulting from this preparation of theirs; for when the king unexpectedly came over against them with one hundred and fifty thousand men and with a large cavalry, and took possession of the mountain opposite the city, the mountain called Adrasteia, and of the suburb, and then, when he transferred his army to the neck of land above the city and was fighting them, not only on land, but also by sea with four hundred ships, the Cyziceni held out against all attacks, and, by digging a counter-tunnel, all but captured the king alive in his own tunnel; but he forestalled this by taking precautions and by withdrawing outside his tunnel: Leucullus, the Roman general, was able, though late, to send an auxiliary force to the city by night; and, too, as an aid to the Cyziceni, famine fell upon that multitudinous army, a thing which the king did not foresee, because he suffered a great loss of men before he left the island. But the Romans honored the city; and it is free to this day, and holds a large territory, not only that which it has held from ancient times, but also other territory presented to it by the Romans; for, of the Troad, they possess the parts round Zeleia on the far side of the Aesepus, as also the plain of Adrasteia, and, of Lake Dascylitis, they possess some parts, while the Byzantians possess the others. And in addition to Dolionis and Mygdonis they occupy a considerable territory extending as far as lake Miletopolitis and Lake Apolloniatis itself. It is through this region that the Rhyndacus River flows; this river has its sources in Azanitis, and then, receiving from Mysia Abrettene, among other rivers, the Macestus, which flows from Ancyra in Abäeitis, empties into the Propontis opposite the island Besbicos. In this island of the Cyziceni is a well-wooded mountain called Artace; and in front of this mountain lies an isle bearing the same name; and near by is a promontory called Melanus, which one passes on a coasting-voyage from Cyzicus to Priapus.
12.8.12.1
To Phrygia Epictetus belong the cities Azani, Nacolia, Cotiäeium, Midäeium, and Dorylaeum, and also Cadi, which, according to some writers, belongs to Mysia. Mysia extends in the interior from Olympene to Pergamene, and to the plain of Caïcus, as it is called; and therefore it lies between Mt. Ida and Catacecaumene, which latter is by some called Mysian and by others Maeonian.
12.8.13.1
Above Phrygia Epictetus towards the south is Greater Phrygia, which leaves on the left Pessinus and the region of Orcaorci and Lycaonia, and on the right the Maeonians and Lydians and Carians. In Epictetus are Phrygia “Paroreia,” as it is called, and the part of Phrygia that lies towards Pisidia, and the parts round Amorium and Eumeneia and Synnada, and then Apameia Cibotus, as it is called, and Laodiceia, which two are the largest of the Phrygian cities. And in the neighborhood of these are situated towns, and. . . . ., Aphrodisias, Colossae, Themisonium, Sanaüs, Metropolis, and Apollonias; but still farther away than these are Peltae, Tabae, Eucarpia, and Lysias.
12.8.14.1
Now Phrygia Paroreia has a kind of mountainous ridge extending from the east towards the west; and below it on either side lies a large plain. And there are cities near it: towards the north, Philomelium, and, on the other side, the Antiocheia near Pisidia, as it is called, the former lying wholly in a plain, whereas the latter is on a hill and has a colony of Romans. The latter was settled by Magnetans who lived near the Maeander River. The Romans set them free from their kings at the time when they gave over to Eumenes the rest of Asia this side the Taurus. Here there was also a priesthood of Men Arcaeus, which had a number of temple-slaves and sacred places, but the priesthood was destroyed after the death of Amyntas by those who were sent thither as his inheritors. Synnada is not a large city; but there lies in front of it a plain planted with olives, about sixty stadia in circuit. And beyond it is Docimaea, a village, and also the quarry of “Synnadic” marble (so the Romans call it, though the natives call it “Docimite” or “Docimaean ). At first this quarry yielded only stones of small size, but on account of the present extravagance of the Romans great monolithic pillars are taken from it, which in their variety of colors are nearly like the alabastrite marble; so that, although the transportation of such heavy burdens to the sea is difficult, still, both pillars and slabs, remarkable for their size and beauty, are conveyed to Rome.
12.8.15.1
Apameia is a great emporium of Asia, I mean Asia in the special sense of that term, and ranks second only to Ephesus; for it is a common entrepôt for the merchandise from both Italy and Greece. Apameia is situated near the outlets of the Marsyas River, which flows through the middle of the city and has its sources in the city; it flows down to the suburbs, and then with violent and precipitate current joins the Maeander. The latter receives also another river, the Orgas, and traverses a level country with an easygoing and sluggish stream; and then, having by now become a large river, the Maeander flows for a time through Phrygia and then forms the boundary between Caria and Lydia at the Plain of Maeander, as it is called, where its course is so exceedingly winding that everything winding is called “meandering.” And at last it flows through Caria itself, which is now occupied by the Ionians, and then empties between Miletus and Priene. It rises in a hill called Celaenae, on which there is a city which hears the same name as the hill; and it was from Celaenae that Antiochus Soter made the inhabitants move to the present Apameia, the city which he named after his mother Apama, who was the daughter of Artabazus and was given in marriage to Seleucus Nicator. And here is laid the scene of the myth of Olympus and of Marsyas and of the contest between Marsyas and Apollo. Above is situated a lake which produces the reed that is suitable for the mouth-pieces of pipes; and it is from this lake that pour the sources of both the Marsyas and the Maeander.
12.8.16.1
Laodiceia, though formerly small, grew large in our time and in that of our fathers, even though it had been damaged by siege in the time of Mithridates Eupator. However, it was the fertility of its territory and the prosperity of certain of its citizens that made it great: at first Hieron, who left to the people an inheritance of more than two thousand talents and adorned the city with many dedicated offerings, and later Zeno the rhetorician and his son Polemon, the latter of whom, because of his bravery and honesty, was thought worthy even of a kingdom, at first by Antony and later by Augustus. The country round Laodiceia produces sheep that are excellent, not only for the softness of their wool, in which they surpass even the Milesian wool, but also for its raven-black color, so that the Laodiceians derive splendid revenue from it, as do also the neighboring Colosseni from the color which bears the same name. And here the Caprus River joins the Maeander, as does also the Lycus, a river of good size, after which the city is called the “Laodiceia near Lycus.” Above the city lies Mt. Cadmus, whence the Lycus flows, as does also another river of the same name as the mountain. But the Lycus flows under ground for the most part, and then, after emerging to the surface, unites with the other rivers, thus indicating that the country is full of holes and subject to earthquakes; for if any other country is subject to earthquakes, Laodiceia is, and so is Carura in the neighboring country.
12.8.17.1
Carura forms a boundary between Phrygia and Caria. It is a village; and it has inns, and also fountains of boiling-hot waters, some in the Maeander River and some above its banks. Moreover, it is said that once, when a brothel-keeper had taken lodging in the inns along with a large number of women, an earthquake took place by night, and that he, together with all the women, disappeared from sight. And I might almost say that the whole of the territory in the neighborhood of the Maeander is subject to earthquakes and is undermined with both fire and water as far as the interior; for, beginning at the plains, all these conditions extend through that country to the Charonia, I mean the Charonium at Hierapolis and that at Acharaca in Nysaïs and that near Magnesia and Myus. In fact, the soil is not only friable and crumbly but is also full of salts and easy to burn out. And perhaps the Maeander is winding for this reason, because the stream often changes its course and, carrying down much silt, adds the silt at different times to different parts of the shore; however, it forcibly thrusts a part of the silt out to the high sea. And, in fact, by its deposits of silt, extending forty stadia, it has made Priene, which in earlier times was on the sea, an inland city.
12.8.18.1
Phrygia “Catacecaumene,” which is occupied by Lydians and Mysians, received its appellation for some such reason as follows: In Philadelphia, the city near it, not even the walls are safe, but in a sense are shaken and caused to crack every day. And the inhabitants are continually attentive to the disturbances in the earth and plan all structures with a view to their occurrence. And, among the other cities, Apameia was often shaken by earthquakes before the expedition of King Mithridates, who, when he went over to that country and saw that the city was in ruins, gave a hundred talents for its restoration; and it is said that the same thing took place in the time of Alexander. And this, in all probability, is why Poseidon is worshipped in their country, even though it is in the interior, and why the city was called Celaenae, that is, after Celaenus, the son of Poseidon by Celaeno, one of the daughters of Danaüs, or else because of the “blackness” of the stone, which resulted from the burn-outs. And the story of Mt. Sipylus and its ruin should not be put down as mythical, for in our own times Magnesia, which lies at the foot of it, was laid low by earthquakes, at the time when not only Sardeis, but also the most famous of the other cities, were in many places seriously damaged. But the emperor restored them by contributing money; just as his father in earlier times, when the inhabitants of Tralleis suffered their misfortune (when the gymnasium and other parts of the city collapsed), restored their city, as he also restored the city of the Laodiceians.
12.8.19.1
One should also hear the words of the ancient historians, as, for example, those of Xanthus, who wrote the history of Lydia, when he relates the strange changes that this country often underwent, to which I have already referred somewhere in a former part of my work. And in fact they make this the setting of the mythical story of the Arimi and of the throes of Typhon, calling it the Catacecaumene country. Also, they do not hesitate to suspect that the parts of the country between the Maeander River and the Lydians are all of this nature, as well on account of the number of the lakes and rivers as on account of the numerous hollows in the earth. And the lake between Laodiceia and Apameia, although like a sea, emits an eflluvium that is filthy and of subterranean origin. And they say that lawsuits are brought against the god Maeander for altering the boundaries of the countries on his banks, that is, when the projecting elbows of land are swept away by him; and that when he is convicted the fines are paid from the tolls collected at the ferries.
12.8.20.1
Between Laodiceia and Carura is a temple of Men Carus, as it is called, which is held in remarkable veneration. In my own time a great Herophileian school of medicine has been established by Zeuxis, and afterwards carried on by Alexander Philalethes, just as in the time of our fathers the Erasistrateian school was established by Hicesius, although at the present time the case is not at all the same as it used to be.
12.8.21.1
Writers mention certain Phrygian tribes that are no longer to be seen; for example, the Berecyntes. And Alcman says,On the pipe he played the Cerbesian, a Phrygian melody.And a certain pit that emits deadly eflluvia is spoken of as Cerbesian. This, indeed, is to be seen, but the people are no longer called Cerbesians. Aeschylus, in his Niobe, confounds things that are different; for example, Niobe says that she will be mindful of the house of Tantalus,those who have an altar of their paternal Zeus on the Idaean hill;and again,Sipylus in the Idaean land;and Tantalus says,I sow furrows that extend a ten days’ journey, Berecyntian land, where is the site of Adrasteia, and where both Mt. Ida and the whole of the Erechtheian plain resound with the bleatings and bellowings of flocks.
13.1.1.1
Let this, then, mark the boundary of Phrygia. I shall now return again to the Propontis and the coast that comes next after the Aesepus River, and follow the same order of description as before. The first country on this seaboard is the Troad, the fame of which, although it is left in ruins and in desolation, nevertheless prompts in writers no ordinary prolixity. With this fact in view, I should ask the pardon of my readers and appeal to them not to fasten the blame for the length of my discussion upon me rather than upon those who strongly yearn for knowledge of the things that are famous and ancient. And my discussion is further prolonged by the number of the peoples who have colonized the country, both Greeks and barbarians, and by the historians, who do not write the same things on the same subjects, nor always clearly either; among the first of these is Homer, who leaves us to guess about most things. And it is necessary for me to arbitrate between his statements and those of the others, after I shall first have described in a summary way the nature of the region in question.
13.1.2.1
The seaboard of the Propontis, then, extends from Cyzicene and the region of the Aesepus and Granicus Rivers as far as Abydus and Sestus, whereas the parts round Ilium and Tenedos and the Trojan Alexandreia extend from Abydus to Lectum. Accordingly, Mt. Ida, which extends down to Lectum, lies above all these places. From Lectum to the Caïcus River, and to Canae, as it is called, are the parts round Assus and Adramyttium and Atarneus and Pitane and the Elaïtic Gulf; and the island of the Lesbians extends alongside, and opposite, all these places. Then come next the parts round Cyme, extending to the Hermus and Phocaea, which latter constitutes the beginning of Ionia and the end of Aeolis. Such being the position of the places, the poet indicates in a general way that the Trojans held sway from the region of the Aesepus River and that of the present Cyzicene to the Caïcus River, their country being divided by dynasties into eight, or nine, portions, whereas the mass of their auxiliary forces are enumerated among the allies.
13.1.3.1
But the later authors do not give the same boundaries, and they use their terms differently, thus allowing us several choices. The main cause of this difference has been the colonizations of the Greeks; less so, indeed, the Ionian colonization, for it was farther distant from the Troad; but most of all that of the Aeolians, for their colonies were scattered throughout the whole of the country from Cyzicene to the Caïcus River, and they went on still farther to occupy the country between the Caïcus and Hermus Rivers. In fact, the Aeolian colonization, they say, preceded the Ionian colonization by four generations, but suffered delays and took a longer time; for Orestes, they say, was the first leader of the expedition, but he died in Arcadia, and his son Penthilus succeeded him and advanced as far as Thrace sixty years after the Trojan War, about the time of the return of the Heracleidae to the Peloponnesus; and then Archelaüs the son of Penthilus led the Aeolian expedition across to the present Cyzicene near Dascylium; and Gras, the youngest son of Archelaüs, advanced to the Granicus River, and, being better equipped, led the greater part of his army across to Lesbos and occupied it. And they add that Cleues, son of Dorus, and Malaüs, also descendants of Agamemnon, had collected their army at about the same time as Penthilus, but that, whereas the fleet of Penthilus had already crossed over from Thrace to Asia, Cleues and Malaüs tarried a long time round Locris and Mt. Phricius, and only later crossed over and founded the Phryconian Cyme, so named after the Locrian mountain.
13.1.4.1
The Aeolians, then, were scattered throughout the whole of that country which, as I have said, the poet called Trojan. As for later authorities, some apply the name to all Aeolis, but others to only a part of it; and some to the whole of Troy, but others to only a part of it, not wholly agreeing with one another about anything. For instance, in reference to the places on the Propontis, Homer makes the Troad begin at the Aesepus River, whereas Eudoxus makes it begin at Priapus and Artace, the place on the island of the Cyziceni that lies opposite Priapus, and thus contracts the limits; but Damastes contracts the country still more, making it begin at Parium; and, in fact, Damastes prolongs the Troad to Lectum, whereas other writers prolong it differently. Charon of Lampsacus diminishes its extent by three hundred stadia more, making it begin at Practius, for that is the distance from Parium to Practius; however, he prolongs it to Adramyttium. Scylax of Caryanda makes it begin at Abydus; and similarly Ephorus says that Aeolis extends from Abydus to Cyme, while others define its extent differently.
13.1.5.1
But the topography of Troy, in the proper sense of the term, is best marked by the position of Mt. Ida, a lofty mountain which faces the west and the western sea but makes a slight bend also towards the north and the northern seaboard. This latter is the seaboard of the Propontis, extending from the strait in the neighborhood of Abydus to the Aesepus River and Cyzicene, whereas the western sea consists of the outer Hellespont and the Aegaean Sea. Mt. Ida has many foothills, is like the scolopendra in shape, and is defined by its two extreme limits: by the promontory in the neighborhood of Zeleia and by the promontory called Lectum the former terminating in the interior slightly above Cyzicene (in fact, Zeleia now belongs to the Cyziceni), whereas Lectum extends to the Aegaean Sea, being situated on the coasting voyage between Tenedos and Lesbos. When the poet says that Hypnos and Heracame to many-fountained Ida, mother of wild beasts, to Lectum, where first the two left the sea,he describes Lectum in accordance with the facts; for he rightly states that Lectum is a part of Mt. Ida, and that Lectum is the first place of disembarkation from the sea for those who would go up to Mt. Ida, and also that the mountain is “many-fountained,” for there in particular the mountain is abundantly watered, as is shown by the large number of rivers there,all the rivers that flow forth from the Idaean mountains to the sea, Rhesus and Heptaporusand the following, all of which are named by the poet and are now to be seen by us. Now while Homer thus describes Lectum and Zeleia as the outermost foothills of Mt. Ida in either direction, he also appropriately distinguishes Gargarus from them as a summit, calling it “topmost.” And indeed at the present time people point out in the upper parts of Ida a place called Gargarum, after which the present Gargara, an Aeolian city, is named. Now between Zeleia and Lectum, beginning from the Propontis, are situated first the parts extending to the straits at Abydus, and then, outside the Propontis, the parts extending to Lectum.
13.1.6.1
On doubling Lectum one encounters a large wide-open gulf, which is formed by Mt. Ida as it recedes from Lectum to the mainland, and by Canae, the promontory opposite Lectum on the other side. Some call it the Idaean Gulf, others the Adramyttene. On this gulf are the cities of the Aeolians, extending to the outlets of the Hermus River, as I have already said. I have stated in the earlier parts of my work that, as one sails from Byzantium towards the south, the route lies in a straight line, first to Sestus and Abydus through the middle of the Propontis, and then along the coast of Asia as far as Caria. It behooves one, then, to keep this supposition in mind as one listens to the following; and, if I speak of certain gulfs on the coast, one must think of the promontories which form them as lying in the same line, a meridian line, as it were.
13.1.7.1
Now as for Homer’s statements, those who have studied the subject more carefully conjecture from them that the whole of this coast became subject to the Trojans, and, though divided into nine dynasties, was under the sway of Priam at the time of the Trojan War and was called Troy. And this is clear from his detailed statements. For instance, Achilles and his army, seeing at the outset that the inhabitants of Ilium were enclosed by walls, tried to carry on the war outside and, by making raids all round, to take away from them all the surrounding places: Twelve cities of men I have laid waste with my ships, and eleven, I declare, by land throughout the fertile land of Troy.For by “Troy” he means the part of the mainland that was sacked by him; and, along with other places, Achilles also sacked the country opposite Lesbos in the neighborhood of Thebe and Lyrnessus and Pedasus, which last belonged to the Leleges, and also the country of Eurypylus the son of Telephus.But what a man was that son of Telephus who was slain by him with the bronze,that is, the hero Eurypylus, slain by Neoptolemus. Now the poet says that these places were sacked, including Lesbos itself: when he himself took well-built Lesbos;andhe sacked Lyrnessus and Pedasus;andwhen he laid waste Lyrnessus and the walls of Thebe.It was at Lyrnessus that Briseïs was taken captive,whom he carried away from Lyrnessus;and it was at her capture, according to the poet, that Mynes and Epistrophus fell, as is shown by the lament of Briseïs over Patroclus: thou wouldst not even, not even, let me weep when swift Achilles slew my husband and sacked the city of divine Mynes;for in calling Lyrnessus “the city of divine Mynes” the poet indicates that Mynes was dynast over it and that he fell in battle there. But it was at Thebe that Chryseïs was taken captive: We went into Thebe, the sacred city of Eëtion;and the poet says that Chryseïs was part of the spoil brought from that place. Thence, too, came Andromache: Andromache, daughter of great hearted Eëtion; Eëtion who dwelt ’neath wooded Placus in Thebe Hypoplacia, and was lord over the men of Cilicia.This is the second Trojan dynasty after that of Mynes. And consistently with these facts writers think that the following statement of Andromache,Hector, woe is me! surely to one doom we were born, both of us—thou in Troy in the house of Priam, but I at Thebae,should not be interpreted strictly, I mean the words “thou in Troy, but I at Thebae” (or Thebe), but as a case of hyperbaton, meaning “both of us in Troy—thou in the house of Priam, but I at Thebae.” The third dynasty was that of the Leleges, which was also Trojan: Of Altes, who is lord over the war-loving Leleges,by whose daughter Priam begot Lycaon and Polydorus. And indeed those who are placed under Hector in the Catalogue are called Trojans: The Trojans were led by great Hector of the flashing helmet.And then come those under Aeneias: The Dardanians in turn were commanded by the valiant son of Anchisesand these, too, were Trojans; at any rate, the poet says,Aeneias, counsellor of the Trojans.And then come the Lycians under Pandarus, and these also he calls Trojans: And those who dwelt in Zeleia beneath the nethermost foot of Ida, Aphneiï, who drink the dark water of the Aesepus, Trojans; these in turn were commanded by Pandarus, the glorious son of Lycaon.And this was the sixth dynasty. And indeed those who lived between the Aesepus River and Abydus were Trojans; for not only were the parts round Abydus subject to Asius,and they who dwelt about Percote and Practius and held Sestus and Abydus and goodly Arisbe—these in turn were commanded by Asius the son of Hyrtacus,but a son of Priam lived at Abydus, pasturing mares, clearly his father’s: But he smote Democoön, the bastard son of Priam, who had come at Priam’s bidding from his swift mares;while in Percote a son of Hicetaon was pasturing kine, he likewise pasturing kine that belonged to no other:And first he rebuked mighty Melanippus the son of Hicetaon, who until this time had been wont to feed the kine of shambling gait in Percote;so that this country would be a part of the Troad, as also the next country after it as far as Adrasteia, for the leaders of the latter werethe two sons of Merops of Percote.Accordingly, the people from Abydus to Adrasteia were all Trojans, although they were divided into two groups, one under Asius and the other under the sons of Merops, just as Cilicia also was divided into two parts, the Theban Cilicia and the Lyrnessian; but one might include in the Lyrnessian Cilicia the territory subject to Eurypylus, which lay next to the Lyrnessian Cilicia. But that Priam was ruler of these countries, one and all, is clearly indicated by Achilles’ words to Priam: And of thee, old sire, we hear that formerly thou wast blest; how of all that is enclosed by Lesbos, out at sea, city of Macar, and by Phrygia in the upland, and by the boundless Hellespont.
13.1.8.1
Now such were the conditions at the time of the Trojan War, but all kinds of changes followed later; for the parts round Cyzicus as far as the Practius were colonized by Phrygians, and those round Abydus by Thracians; and still before these two by Bebryces and Dryopes. And the country that lies next was colonized by the Treres, themselves also Thracians; and the Plain of Thebe by Lydians, then called Maeonians, and by the survivors of the Mysians who had formerly been subject to Telephus and Teuthras. So then, since the poet combines Aeolis and Troy, and since the Aeolians held possession of all the country from the Hermus River to the seaboard at Cyzicus, and founded their cities there, I too might not be guilty of describing them wrongly if I combined Aeolis, now properly so called, extending from the Hermus River to Lectum, and the country next after it, extending to the Aesepus River; for in my detailed treatment of the two, I shall distinguish them again, setting forth, along with the facts as they now are, the statements of Homer and others.
13.1.9.1
According to Homer, then, the Troad begins after the city of the Cyziceni and the Aesepus River. And he so speaks of it: And those who dwelt in Zeleia beneath the nethermost foot of Ida, Aphneii, who drink the dark water of the Aesepus, Trojans; these in turn were commanded by Pandarus the glorious son of Lycaon.These he also calls Lycians. And they are thought to have been called “Aphneii” after Lake “Aphnitis,” for Lake Dascylitis is also called by that name.
13.1.10.1
Now Zeleia is situated on the farthermost foothill of Mt. Ida, being one hundred and ninety stadia distant from Cyzicus and about eighty stadia from the nearest part of the sea, where the Aesepus empties. And the poet mentions severally, in continuous order, the places that lie along the coast after the Aesepus River: And they who held Adrasteia and the land of Apaesus, and held Pityeia and the steep mountain of Tereia—these were led by Adrastus and Amphius of the linen corslet, the two sons of Merops of Percote.These places lie below Zeleia, but they are occupied by Cyziceni and Priapeni even as far as the coast. Now near Zeleia is the Tarsius River, which is crossed twenty times by the same road, like the Heptaporus River,.which is mentioned by the poet. And the river that flows from Nicomedeia into Nicaea is crossed twenty-four times, and the river that flows from Pholoe into the Eleian country is crossed many times . . . Scarthon twenty-five times, and the river that flows from the country of the Coscinii into Alabanda is crossed many times, and the river that flows from Tyana into Soli through the Taurus is crossed seventy-five times.
13.1.11.1
About . . . stadia above the outlet of the Aesepus River is a hill, where is shown the tomb of Memnon, son of Tithonus; and near by is the village of Memnon. The Granicus River flows between the Aesepus River and Priapus, mostly through the plain of Adrasteia, where Alexander utterly defeated the satraps of Dareius in battle, and gained the whole of the country inside the Taurus and the Euphrates River. And on the Granicus was situated the city Sidene, with a large territory of the same name; but it is now in ruins. On the boundary between the territory of Cyzicus and that of Priapus is a place called Harpagia, from which, according to some writers of myths, Ganymede was snatched, though others say that he was snatched in the neighborhood of the Dardanian Promontory, near Dardanus.
13.1.12.1
Priapus is a city on the sea, and also a harbor. Some say that it was founded by Milesians, who at the same time also colonized Abydus and Proconnesus, whereas others say that it was founded by Cyziceni. It was named after Priapus, who was worshipped there; then his worship was transferred thither from Orneae near Corinth, or else the inhabitants felt an impulse to worship the god because he was called the son of Dionysus and a nymph; for their country is abundantly supplied with the vine, both theirs and the countries which border next upon it, I mean those of the Pariani and the Lampsaceni. At any rate, Xerxes gave Lampsacus to Themistocles to supply him with wine. But it was by people of later times that Priapus was declared a god, for even Hesiod does not know of him; and he resembles the Attic deities Orthane, Conisalus, Tychon, and others like them.
13.1.13.1
This country was called “Adrasteia” and “Plain of Adrasteia,” in accordance with a custom whereby people gave two names to the same place, as “Thebe” and “Plain of Thebe,” and “Mygdonia” and “Plain of Mygdonia.” According to Callisthenes, among others, Adrasteia was named after King Adrastus, who was the first to found a temple of Nemesis. Now the city is situated between Priapus and Parium; and it has below it a plain that is named after it, in which there was an oracle of Apollo Actaeus and Artemis. . . . But when the temple was torn down, the whole of its furnishings and stonework were transported to Parium, where was built an altar, the work of Hermocreon, very remarkable for its size and beauty; but the oracle was abolished like that at Zeleia. Here, however, there is no temple of Adrasteia, nor yet of Nemesis, to be seen, although there is a temple of Adrasteia near Cyzicus. Antimachus says as follows: There is a great goddess Nemesis, who has obtained as her portion all these things from the Blessed. Adrestus was the first to build an altar to her beside the stream of the Aesepus River, where she is worshipped under the name of Adresteia.
13.1.14.1
The city Parium is situated on the sea; it has a larger harbor than Priapus, and its territory has been increased at the expense of Priapus; for the Parians curried favor with the Attalic kings, to whom the territory of Priapus was subject, and by their permission cut off for themselves a large part of that territory. Here is told the mythical story that the Ophiogeneis are akin to the serpent tribe: and they say that the males of the Ophiogeneis cure snake-bitten people by continuous stroking, after the manner of enchanters, first transferring the livid color to their own bodies and then stopping both the inflammation and the pain. According to the myth, the original founder of the tribe, a certain hero, changed from a serpent into a man. Perhaps he was one of the Libyan Psylli, whose power persisted in his tribe for a certain time. Parium was founded by Milesians and Erythraeans and Parians.
13.1.15.1
Pitya is in Pityus in the territory of Parium, lying below a pine covered mountain; and it lies between Parium and Priapus in the direction of Linum, a place on the seashore, where are caught the Linusian snails, the best in the world.
13.1.16.1
On the coasting voyage from Parium to Priapus lie both the old Proconnesus and the present Proconnesus, the latter having a city and also a great quarry of white marble that is very highly commended; at any rate, the most beautiful works of art in the cities of that part of the world, and especially those in Cyzicus, are made of this marble. Aristeas was a Proconnesian—the author of the Arimaspian Epic, as it is called—a charlatan if ever there was one.
13.1.17.1
As for “the mountain of Tereia,” some say that it is the range of mountains in Peirossus which are occupied by the Cyziceni and are adjacent to Zeleia, where a royal hunting ground was arranged by the Lydians, and later by the Persians; but others point out a hill forty stadia from Lampsacus, on which there is a temple sacred to the mother of the gods, entitled “Tereia’s” temple.
13.1.18.1
Lampsacus, a!so, is a city on the sea, a notable city with a good harbor, and still flourishing, like Abydus. It is about one hundred and seventy stadia distant from Abydus; and it was formerly called Pityussa, as also, it is said, was Chios. On the opposite shore of the Chersonesus is Callipolis, a small town. It is on the headland and runs far out towards Asia in the direction of the city of the Lampsaceni, so that the passage across to Asia from it is no more than forty stadia.
13.1.19.1
In the interval between Lampsacus and Parium lay a city and river called Paesus; but the city is in ruins. The Paeseni changed their abode to Lampsacus, they too being colonists from the Milesians, like the Lampsaceni. But the poet refers to the place in two ways, at one time adding the first syllable,and the land of Apaesus,and at another omitting it,a man of many possessions, who dwelt in Paesus.And the river is now spelled in the latter way. Colonae, which lies above Lampsacus in the interior of Lampsacene, is also a colony of the Milesians; and there is another Colonae on the outer Hellespontine sea, which is one hundred and forty stadia distant from Ilium and is said to be the birthplace of Cycnus. Anaximenes says that there are also places in the Erythraean territory and in Phocis and in Thessaly that are called Colonae. And there is an Iliocolone in the territory of Parium. In the territory of Lampsacus is a place called Gergithium which is rich in vines; and there was also a city called Gergitha from Gergithes in the territory of Cyme, for here too there was a city called Gergithes, in the feminine plural, the birthplace of Cephalon the Gergithian. And still today a place called Gergithium is pointed out in the territory of Cyme near Larissa. Now Neoptolemus, called the Glossographer, a notable man, was from Parium; and Charon the historian and Adeimantus and Anaximenes the rhetorician and Metrodorus the comrade of Epicurus were from Lampsacus; and Epicurus himself was in a sense a Lampsacenian, having lived in Lampsacus and having been on intimate terms with the ablest men of that city, Idomeneus and Leonteus and their followers. It was from here that Agrippa transported the Fallen Lion, a work of Lysippus; and he dedicated it in the sacred precinct between the Lake and the Euripus.
13.1.20.1
After Lampsacus come Abydus and the intervening places of which the poet, who comprises with them the territory of Lampsacus and part of the territory of Parium (for these two cities were not yet in existence in the Trojan times), speaks as follows: And those who dwelt about Percote and Practius, and held Sestus and Abydus and goodly Arisbe—these in turn were led by Asius, the son of Hyrtacus, . . . who was brought by his sorrel horses from Arisbe, from the River Sellëeis.In speaking thus, the poet seems to set forth Arisbe, whence he says Asius came, as the royal residence of Asius: who was brought by his horses from Arisbe, from the River Sellëeis.But these places are so obscure that even investigators do not agree about them, except that they are in the neighborhood of Abydus and Lampsacus and Parium, and that the old Percote, the site, underwent a change of name.
13.1.21.1
Of the rivers, the Sellëeis flows near Arisbe, as the poet says, if it be true that Asius came both from Arisbe and from the Sellëeis River. The River Practius is indeed in existence, but no city of that name is to be found, as some have wrongly thought. This river also flows between Abydus and Lampsacus. Accordingly, the words,and dwelt about Practius,should be interpreted as applying to a river, as should also those other words,and those who dwelt beside the goodly Cephisus River,andthose who had their famed estates about the Parthenius River.There was also a city Arisba in Lesbos, whose territory is occupied by the Methymnaeans. And there is an Arisbus River in Thrace, as I have said before, near which are situated the Thracian Cebrenians. There are many names common to the Thracians and the Trojans; for example, there are Thracians called Scaeans, and a river Scaeus, and a Scaean Wall, and at Troy the Scaean Gates. And there are Thracian Xanthians, and in Troy-land a river Xanthus. And in Troy-land there is a river Arisbus which empties into the Hebrus, as also a city Arisbe. And there was a river Rhesus in Troy-land; and there was a Rhesus who was the king of the Thracians. And there is also, of the same name as this Asius, another Asius in Homer,who was maternal uncle to horse-taming Hector, and own brother to Hecabe, but son of Dymas, who dwelt in Phrygia by the streams of the Sangarius.
13.1.22.1
Abydus was founded by Milesians, being founded by permission of Gyges, king of the Lydians; for this district and the whole of the Troad were under his sway; and there is a promontory named Gygas near Dardanus. Abydus lies at the mouth of the Propontis and the Hellespont; and it is equidistant from Lampsacus and Ilium, about one hundred and seventy stadia. Here, separating Europe and Asia, is the Heptastadium, which was bridged by Xerxes. The European promontory that forms the narrows at the place of the bridge is called the Chersonesus because of its shape. And the place of the bridge lies opposite Abydus. Sestus is the best of the cities in the Chersonesus; and, on account of its proximity to Abydus, it was assigned to the same governor as Abydus in the times when governorships had not yet been delimited by continents. Now although Abydus and Sestus are about thirty stadia distant from one another from harbor to harbor, yet the line of the bridge across the strait is short, being drawn at an angle to that between the two cities, that is, from a point nearer than Abydus to the Propontis on the Abydus side to a point farther away from the Propontis on the Sestus side. Near Sestus is a place named Apobathra, where the pontoon-bridge was attached to the shore. Sestus lies farther in towards the Propontis, farther up the stream that flows out of the Propontis. It is therefore easier to cross over from Sestus, first coasting a short distance to the Tower of Hero and then letting the ships make the passage across by the help of the current. But those who cross over from Abydus must first follow the coast in the opposite direction about eight stadia to a tower opposite Sestus, and then sail across obliquely and thus not have to meet the full force of the current. After the Trojan War Abydus was the home of Thracians, and then of Milesians. But when the cities were burned by Dareius, father of Xerxes, I mean the cities on the Propontis, Abydus shared in the same misfortune. He burned them because he had learned after his return from his attack upon the Scythians that the nomads were making preparations to cross the strait and attack him to avenge their sufferings, and was afraid that the cities would provide means for the passage of their army. And this too, in addition to the other changes and to the lapse of time, is a cause of the confusion into which the topography of the country has fallen. As for Sestus and the Chersonesus in general, I have already spoken of them in my description of the region of Thrace. Theopompus says that Sestus is small but well fortified, and that it is connected with its harbor by a double wall of two plethra, and that for this reason, as also on account of the current, it is mistress of the passage.
13.1.23.1
Above the territory of the Abydeni, in the Troad, lies Astyra. This city, which is in ruins, now belongs to the Abydeni, but in earlier times it was independent and had gold mines. These mines are now scant, being used up, like those on Mt. Tmolus in the neighborhood of the Pactolus River. From Abydus to the Aesepus the distance is said to be about seven hundred stadia, but less by straight sailing.
13.1.24.1
Outside Abydus lies the territory of Ilium—the parts on the shore extending to Lectum, and the places in the Trojan Plain, and the parts on the side of Mt. Ida that were subject to Aeneias. The poet names these last parts in two ways, at one time saying as follows: The Dardanii in turn were led by the valiant son of Anchises,calling the inhabitants “Dardanii”; and at another time, “Dardani”: The Trojans and Lycians and Dardani that fight in close combat.And it is reasonable to suppose that this was in ancient times.the site of the Dardania mentioned by the poet when he says,At first Dardanus was begotten by Zeus the cloud-gatherer, and he founded Dardania;for at the present time there is not so much as a trace of a city preserved in that territory.
13.1.25.1
Plato conjectures, however, that after the time of the floods three kinds of civilization were formed: the first, that on the mountain tops, which was simple and wild, when men were in fear of the waters which still deeply covered the plains; the second, that on the foothills, when men were now gradually taking courage because the plains were beginning to be relieved of the waters; and the third, that in the plains. One might speak equally of a fourth and fifth, or even more, but last of all that on the seacoast and in the islands, when men had been finally released from all such fear; for the greater or less courage they took in approaching the sea would indicate several different stages of civilization and manners, first as in the case of the qualities of goodness and wildness, which in some way further served as a foundation for the milder qualities in the second stage. But in the second stage also there is a difference to be noted, I mean between the rustic and semi-rustic and civilized qualities; and, beginning with these last qualities, the gradual assumption of new names ended in the polite and highest culture, in accordance with the change of manners for the better along with the changes in places of abode and in modes of life. Now these differences, according to Plato, are suggested by the poet, who sets forth as an example of the first stage of civilization the life of the Cyclopes, who lived on uncultivated fruits and occupied the mountain tops, living in caves: “but all these things,” he says, “grow unsown and unploughed” for them. . . . And they have no assemblies for council, nor appointed laws, but they dwell on the tops of high mountains in hollow caves, and each is lawgiver to his children and his wives. And as an example of the second stage, the life in the time of Dardanus, whofounded Dardania; for not yet had sacred Ilios been builded to be a city of mortal men, but they were living on the foothills of many-fountained Ida. And of the third stage, the life in the plains in the time of Ilus; for he is the traditional founder of Ilium, and it was from him that the city took its name. And it is reasonable to suppose, also, that he was buried in the middle of the plain for this reason—that he was the first to take up his abode in the plains: And they sped past the tomb of ancient Ilus, son of Dardanus, through the middle of the plain past the wild fig tree.Yet even Ilus did not have full courage, for he did not found the city at the place where it now is, but about thirty stadia higher up towards the east, and towards Mt. Ida and Dardania, at the place now called “Village of the Ilians.” But the people of the present Ilium, being fond of glory and wishing to show that their Ilium was the ancient city, have offered a troublesome argument to those who base their evidence on the poetry of Homer, for their Ilium does not appear to have been the Homeric city. Other inquirers also find that the city changed its site several times, but at last settled permanently where it now is at about the time of Croesus. I take for granted, then, that such removals into the parts lower down, which took place in those times, indicate different stages in modes of life and civilization; but this must be further investigated at another time.
13.1.26.1
It is said that the city of the present Ilians was for a time a mere village, having its temple of Athena, a small and cheap temple, but that when Alexander went up there after his victory at the Granicus River he adorned the temple with votive offerings, gave the village the title of city, and ordered those in charge to improve it with buildings, and that he adjudged it free and exempt from tribute; and that later, after the overthrow of the Persians, he sent down a kindly letter to the place, promising to make a great city of it, and to build a magnificent sanctuary, and to proclaim sacred games. But after his death Lysimachus devoted special attention to the city, and built a temple there and surrounded the city with a wall about forty stadia in circuit, and also incorporated into it the surrounding cities, which were now old and in bad plight. At that time he had already devoted attention to Alexandreia, which had indeed already been founded by Antigonus and called Antigonia, but had changed its name, for it was thought to be a pious thing for the successors of Alexander to found cities bearing his name before they founded cities bearing their own. And indeed the city endured and grew, and at present it not only has received a colony of Romans but is one of the notable cities of the world.
13.1.27.1
Also the Ilium of today was a kind of village-city when the Romans first set foot on Asia and expelled Antiochus the Great from the country this side of Taurus. At any rate, Demetrius of Scepsis says that, when as a lad he visited the city about that time, he found the settlement so neglected that the buildings did not so much as have tiled roofs. And Hegesianax says that when the Galatae crossed over from Europe they needed a stronghold and went up into the city for that reason, but left it at once because of its lack of walls. But later it was greatly improved. And then it was ruined again by the Romans under Fimbria, who took it by siege in the course of the Mithridatic war. Fimbria had been sent as quaestor with Valerius Flaccus the consul when the latter was appointed to the command against Mithridates; but Fimbria raised a mutiny and slew the consul in the neighborhood of Bithynia, and was himself set up as lord of the army; and when he advanced to Ilium, the llians would not admit him, as being a brigand, and therefore he applied force and captured the place on the eleventh day. And when he boasted that he himself had overpowered on the eleventh day the city which Agamemnon had only with difficulty captured in the tenth year, although the latter had with him on his expedition the fleet of a thousand vessels and the whole of Greece, one of the Ilians said: “Yes, for the city’s champion was no Hector.” Now Sulla came over and overthrew Fimbria, and on terms of agreement sent Mithridates away to his homeland, but he also consoled the Ilians by numerous improvements. In my time, however, the deified Caesar was far more thoughtful of them, at the same time also emulating the example of Alexander; for Alexander set out to provide for them on the basis of a renewal of ancient kinship, and also because at the same time he was fond of Homer; at any rate, we are told of a recension of the poetry of Homer, the Recension of the Casket, as it is called, which Alexander, along with Callisthenes and Anaxarchus, perused and to a certain extent annotated, and then deposited in a richly wrought casket which he had found amongst the Persian treasures. Accordingly, it was due both to his zeal for the poet and to his descent from the Aeacidae who reigned as kings of the Molossians—where, as we are also told, Andromache, who had been the wife of Hector, reigned as queen—that Alexander was kindly disposed towards the Ilians. But Caesar, not only being fond of Alexander, but also having better known evidences of kinship with the llians, felt encouraged to bestow kindness upon them with all the zest of youth: better known evidences, first, because he was a Roman, and because the Romans believe Aeneias to have been their original founder; and secondly, because the name Iulius was derived from that of a certain Iulus who was one of his ancestors, and this Iulus got his appellation from the Iulus who was one of the descendants of Aeneas. Caesar therefore allotted territory to them end also helped them to preserve their freedom and their immunity from taxation; and to this day they remain in possession of these favors. But that this is not the site of the ancient Ilium, if one considers the matter in accordance with Homer’s account, is inferred from the following considerations. But first I must give a general description of the region in question, beginning at that point on the coast where I left off.
13.1.28.1
After Abydus, then, comes the Dardanian Promontory, which I mentioned a little while ago, and also the city Dardanus, which is seventy stadia distant from Abydus. Between the two places empties the Rhodius River, opposite which, in the Chersonesus, is Cynos-Sema, which is said to be the tomb of Hecabe. But some say that the Rhodius empties into the Aesepus. This too is one of the rivers mentioned by the poet: Rhesus, Heptaporus, Caresus, and Rhodius.Dardanus was an ancient settlement, but it was held in such contempt that it was oftentimes transplanted by some of the kings to Abydus and then resettled again by others on the ancient site. It was here that Cornelius Sulla, the Roman commander, and Mithridates surnamed Eupator met and arranged the terms for the conclusion of the war.
13.1.29.1
Near by is Ophrynium, near which, in a conspicuous place, is the sacred precinct of Hector. And next comes the Lake of Pteleos.
13.1.30.1
Then come Rhoeteium, a city situated on a hill, and, adjacent to Rhoeteium, a low-lying shore, on which are a tomb and temple of Aias, and also a statue of him, which was taken up by Antony and carried of to Aegypt; but Augustus Caesar gave it back again to the Rhoeteians, just as he gave back other statues to their owners. For Antony took away the finest dedications from the most famous temples, to gratify the Egyptian woman, but Augustus gave them back to the gods.
13.1.31.1
After Rhoeteium come Sigeium, a destroyed city, and the Naval Station and the Harbor of the Achaeans and the Achaean Camp and Stomalimne, as it is called, and the outlets of the Scamander; for after the Simoeis and the Scamander meet in the plain, they carry down great quantities of alluvium, silt up the coat, and form a blind mouth, lagoons, and marshes. Opposite the Sigeian Promontory on the Chersonesus are Eleussa and the temple of Protesilaüs, both of which I have mentioned in my description of Thrace.
13.1.32.1
The length of this coast, I mean on a straight voyage from Rhoeteium to Sigeium, and the monument of Achilles, is sixty stadia; and the whole of it lies below Ilium, not only the present Ilium, from which, at the Harbor of the Achaeans, it is about twelve stadia distant, but also the earlier Ilium, which lies thirty stadia farther inland in the direction of Mt. Ida. Now there are a temple and a monument of Achilles near Sigeium, as also monuments of Patroclus and Antilochus; and the Ilians offer sacrifices to all four heroes, both to these and to Aias. But they do not honor Heracles, giving as their reason his sacking of the city. But one might say that, although Heracles did sack it, yet he sacked it in such a way as still to leave it a city, even though damaged, for those who were later to sack it utterly; and for this reason the poet states it thus: He sacked the city of Ilios and widowed her streets;for “widowed” means a loss of the male population, not a complete annihilation. But the others, whom they think fit to worship with sacrifices and to honor as gods, completely annihilated the city. Perhaps they might give as their reason for this that these waged a just war, whereas Heracles waged an unjust one “on account of the horses of Laomedon.” But writers set over against this reason the myth that it was not on account of the horses but of the reward offered for Hesione and the sea-monster. But let us disregard these reasons, for they end merely in controversies about myths. And perhaps we fail to notice certain more credible reasons why it occurred to the Ilians to honor some and not others. And it appears that the poet, in what he says about Heracles, represents the city as small, if it be true thatwith only six ships and fewer men he sacked the city of Ilium.And it is clearly shown by this statement that Priam became great and king of kings from a small beginning, as I have said before. Advancing a little farther along this shore, one comes to the Achaeïum, where begins the part of the mainland that belongs to Tenedos.
13.1.33.1
Such, are the places on the sea. Above these lies the Trojan Plain, which extends inland for many stadia in the direction of the east as far as Mt. Ida. The part of this plain alongside the mountain is narrow, extending on one side towards the south as far as the region of Scepsis, and on the other towards the north as far as the Lycians of Zeleia. This is the country which the poet makes subject to Aeneias and the sons of Antenor, calling it Dardania; and below this is Cebrenia, which is level for the most part and lies approximately parallel to Dardania; and in it there was once a city called Cebrene. Demetrius suspects that the territory of Ilium subject to Hector extended inland from the naval station as far a Cebrenia, for he says that the tomb of Alexander is pointed out there, as also that of Oenone, who, according to historians, had been the wife of Alexander before he carried off Helen. And, he continues, the poet mentionsCebriones, bastard son of glorious Priam,after whom, as one may suppose, the country was named—or the city too, which is more plausible; and Cebrenia extends as far as the territory of Scepsis; and the Scamander, which flows between, is the boundary; and the Cebreni and Scepsians were always hostile to one another and at war until Antigonus settled both peoples together in Antigonia, as it was then called, or Alexandreia, as it is now called; now the Cebreni, he adds, remained with the rest in Alexandreia, but the Scepsians, by permission of Lysimachus, went back to their homeland.
13.1.34.1
From the mountain range of Ida in this region, according to Demetrius, two spurs extend to the sea, one straight to Rhoeteium and the other straight to Sigeium, forming together a semicircular line, and they end in the plain at the same distance from the sea as the present Ilium; this Ilium, accordingly, lies between the ends of the two spurs mentioned, whereas the old settlement lies between their beginnings; and, he adds, the spurs include both the Simoeisian Plain, through which the Simoeis runs, and the Scamandrian Plain, through which the Scamander flows. This is called the Trojan Plain in the special sense of the term; and here it is that the poet represents most of the fights as taking place, for it is wider; and here it is that we see pointed out the places named by the poet Erineus, the tomb of Aesyetes, Batieia, and the monument of Ilus. The Scamander and Simoeis Rivers, after running near to Sigeium and Rhoeteium respectively, meet a little in front of the present Ilium, and then issue towards Sigeium and form Stomalimne, as it is called. The two plains above mentioned are separated from each other by a great neck of land which runs in a straight line between the aforesaid spurs, starting from the present Ilium, with which it is connected, and stretches as far as Cebrenia and, along with the spur’s on either side, forms a complete letter .
13.1.35.1
A little above this is the Village of the Ilians, where the ancient Ilium is thought to have been situated in earlier times, at a distance of thirty stadia from the present city. And ten stadia above the Village of the Ilians is Callicolone, a hill, past which, at a distance of five stadia, flows the Simoeis. It therefore becomes easy to understand, first, the reference to Ares: And over against her leaped Ares, like unto a dreadful whirlwind, in shrill tones cheering the Trojans from the topmost part of the city, and now again as he sped alongside Simoeis o’er Callicolone;for if the battle was fought on the Scamandrian Plain, it is plausible that Ares should at one time shout his cheers from the acropolis and at another from the region near the Simoeis and Callicolone, up to which, in all probability, the battle would have extended. But since Callicolone is forty stadia distant from the present llium, for what useful purpose would the poet have taken in places so far away that the line of battle could not have reached them? Again, the words,And towards Thymbra fell the lot of the Lycians,are more suitable to the ancient settlement, for the plain of Thymbra is near it, as also the Thymbrius River, which flows through the plain and empties into the Scamander at the temple of the Thymbraean Apollo, but Thymbra is actually fifty stadia distant from the present Ilium, And again, Erineus, a place that is rugged and full of wild fig trees, lies at the foot of the ancient site, so that Andromache might appropriately say, Stay thy host beside Erineus, where best the city can be approached and the wall scaled,but Erineus stands at a considerable distance from the present Ilium. Further, a little below Erineus is Phegus, in reference to which Achilles says,But so long as I was carrying on war amid the Achaeans, Hector was unwilling to rouse battle away from the wall, but would come only as far as the Scaean Gates and Phegus.
13.1.36.1
However, the Naval Station, still now so called, is so near the present Ilium that one might reasonably wonder at the witlessness of the Greeks and the faintheartedness of the Trojans; witlessness, if the Greeks kept the Naval Station unwalled for so long a time, when they were near to the city and to so great a multitude, both that in the city and that of the allies; for Homer says that the wall had only recently been built (or else it was not built at all, but fabricated and then abolished by the poet, as Aristotle says); and faintheartedness, if the Trojans, when the wall was built, could besiege it and break into the Naval Station itself and attack the ships, yet did not have the courage to march up and besiege the station when it was still unwalled and only a slight distance away; for it is near Sigeium, and the Scamander empties near it, at a distance of only twenty stadia from Ilium. But if one shall say that the Harbor of Achaeans, as it is now called, is the Naval Station, he will be speaking of a place that is still closer, only about twelve stadia distant from the city, even if one includes the plain by the sea, because the whole of this plain is a deposit of the rivers—I mean the plain by the sea in front of the city; so that, if the distance between the sea and the city is now twelve stadia, it must have been no more than half as great at that time. Further, the feigned story told by Odysseus to Eumaeus clearly indicates that the distance from the Naval Station to the city is great, for after saying,as when we led our ambush beneath the walls of Troy, he adds a little below,for we went very far from the ships.And spies are sent forth to find whether the Trojans will stay by the ships “far away,” far separated from their own walls,or will withdraw again to the city.And Polydamas says,on both sides, friends, bethink ye well, for I, on my own part, bid you now to go to the city; afar from the walls are we.Demetrius cites also Hestiaea of Alexandreia as a witness, a woman who wrote a work on Homer’s Iliad and inquired whether the war took place round the present Ilium and the Trojan Plain, which latter the poet places between the city and the sea; for, she says, the plain now to be seen in front of the present Ilium is a later deposit of the rivers.
13.1.37.1
Again, Polites,who was wont to sit as a sentinel of the Trojans, trusting in his fleetness of foot, on the topmost part of the barrow of aged Aesyetes,was doing a foolish thing, for even though he sat on the topmost part of it, still he might have kept watch from the much greater height of the acropolis, at approximately the same distance, with no need of fleetness of foot for safety; for the barrow of Aesyetes now pointed out is five stadia distant on the road to Alexandreia. Neither is the “clear running space” of Hector round the city easy to understand, for the present Ilium has no “clear running space,” on account of the ridge that joins it. The ancient city, however, has a “clear running space” round it.
13.1.38.1
But no trace of the ancient city survives; and naturally so, for while the cities all round it were sacked, but not completely destroyed, yet that city was so utterly demolished that all the stones were taken from it to rebuild the others. At any rate, Archaeanax of Mitylene is said to have built a wall round Sigeium with stones taken from there. Sigeium was seized by Athenians under Phrynon the Olympian victor, although the Lesbians laid claim to almost the whole of the Troad. Most of the settlements in the Troad belong, in fact, to the Lesbians, and some endure to this day, while others have disappeared. Pittacus of Mitylene, one of the Seven Wise Men, as they are called, sailed against Phrynon the general and for a time carried on the war, but with poor management and ill consequences. It was at this time that the poet Alcaeus says that he himself, being sorely pressed in a certain battle, threw away his arms. He addresses his account of it to a certain herald, whom he had bidden to report to the people at home that “Alcaeus is safe, but his arms have been hung up as an offering to Ares by the Attic army in the temple of Athena Glaucopis.” But later, on being challenged to single combat by Phrynon, he took up his fishing-tackle, ran to meet him, entangled him in his fishing net, and stabbed and slew him with trident and dagger. But since the war still went on, Periander was chosen by both sides as arbiter and ended it.
13.1.39.1
Demetrius says that Timaeus falsifies when he informs us that Periander fortified Achilleium against the Athenians with stones from Ilium, to help the army of Pittacus; for this place, he says, was indeed fortified by the Mitylenaeans against Sigeium, though not with such stones as those, nor yet by Periander. For how could the opponent of the Athenians have been chosen as arbiter? Achilleium is the place where stands the monument of Achilles and is only a small settlement. Sigeium, also, has been razed to the ground by the Ilians, because of its disobedience; for the whole of the coast as far as Dardanus was later subject to the Ilians and is now subject to them. In ancient times the most of it was subject to the Aeolians, so that Ephorus does not hesitate to apply the name Aeolis to the whole of the coast from Abydus to Cyme. Thucydides says that Troy was taken away from the Mitylenaeans by the Athenians in the Pachetian part of the Peloponnesian War.
13.1.40.1
The present Ilians further tell us that the city was, in fact, not completely wiped out at its capture by the Achaeans and that it was never even deserted. At any rate the Locrian maidens, beginning a little later, were sent every year. But this too is non-Homeric, for Homer knows not of the violation of Cassandra, but he says that she was a maiden at about that time,for he slew Othryoneus, a sojourner in Troy from Cabesus, who had but recently come, following after the rumor of war, and he was asking Cassandra in marriage, the comeliest of the daughters of Priam, without gifts of wooing, and yet he does not so much as mention any violation of her or say that the destruction of Aias in the shipwreck took place because of the wrath of Athena or any such cause; instead, he speaks of Aias as “hated by Athena,” in accordance with her general hatred (for since they one and all committed sacrilege against her temple, she was angry at them all), but says that he was destroyed by Poseidon because of his boastful speech. But the fact is that the Locrian maidens were first sent when the Persians were already in power.
13.1.41.1
So the Ilians tell us, but Homer expressly states that the city was wiped out: The day shall come when sacred Ilios shall perish;andsurely we have utterly destroyed the steep city of Priam,by means of counsels and persuasiveness;and in the tenth year the city of Priam was destroyed.And other such evidences of the same thing are set forth; for example, that the wooden image of Athena now to be seen stands upright, whereas Homer clearly indicates that it was sitting, for orders are given to “put” the robeupon Athena’s knees(comparethat never should there sit upon his knees a dear child).For it is better to interpret it in this way than, as some do, to interpret it as meaning “to put the robe ‘beside’ her knees,” comparing the wordsand she sits upon the hearth in the light of the fire,which they take to mean “beside” the hearth. For how could one conceive of the dedication of a robe “beside” the knees? Moreover, others, changing the accent on γούνασιν accenting it γουνάσιν, like θυιάσιν (in whichever of two ways they interpret it), talk on endlessly. . . There are to be seen many of the ancient wooden images of Athena in a sitting posture, as, for example, in Phocaea, Massalia, Rome, Chios, and several other places. Also the more recent writers agree that the city was wiped out, among whom is the orator Lycurgus, who, in mentioning the city of the Ilians, says: Who has not heard that once for all it was razed to the ground by the Greeks, and is uninhabited?
13.1.42.1
It is surmised that those who later thought of refounding the city regarded that site as ill-omened, either on account of its misfortune or also because, in accordance with an ancient custom, a curse had been laid upon it by Agamemnon, just as Croesus, after he destroyed Sidene, whither the tyrant Glaucias had fled for refuge, put a curse on any persons who should re-fortify the site; and that they therefore avoided that place and fortified another. Now the Astypalaeans who held possession of Rhoeteium were the first to settle Polium, now called Polisma, on the Simoeis River, but not on a well protected site; and therefore it was soon demolished. It was in the time of the Lydians that the present settlement was founded, as also the temple. It was not a city, however, and it was only after many ages, and gradually, as I have said, that it increased. But Hellanicus, to gratify the Ilians, “such is the spirit of that man,” agrees with them that the present Ilium is the same as the ancient. When the city was wiped out, its territory was divided up between the inhabitants of Sigeium and Rhoeteium and several other neighboring peoples, but the territory was given back when the place was refounded.
13.1.43.1
The epithet “many fountained” is thought to be especially applied to Mt. Ida because of the great number of rivers that flow from it, particularly in those parts below it where lie the territory of Dardanus—even as far as Scepsis—and the region of Ilium. Demetrius, who as a native was acquainted with the topography of the country, says in one place as follows: There is a hill of Ida called Cotylus; and this hill lies about one hundred and twenty stadia above Scepsis; and from it flow the Scamander, the Granicus, and the Aesepus, the two latter flowing towards the north and the Propontis and constituting a collection of streams from several sources, while the Scamander flows towards the west from only one source; and all the sources lie close together, being comprised within a distance of twenty stadia; but the end of the Aesepus stands farthest away from its beginning, approximately five hundred stadia. But it is a matter of argument what the poet means when he says: And they came to the two fair-flowing streams, where well up the two springs of eddying Scamander; for the one flows with soft water(that is, with “hot water”), and the poet adds,and round about a smoke arises from it as if from a blazing fire, whereas the other even in summer flows forth cold as hail or chill snow.But, in the first place, no hot waters are now to be found at the site, and, secondly, the source of the Scamander is not to be found there, but in the mountain; and it has only one source, not two. It is reasonable to suppose, therefore, that the hot spring has given out, and that the cold one is evacuated from the Scamander through an underground passage and rises to the surface here, or else that because of the nearness of the Scamander this water is called a source of the Scamander; for people are wont to ascribe several sources to one and the same river in this way.
13.1.44.1
The Scamander is joined by the Andirus, which flows from Caresene, a mountainous country settled with many villages and beautifully cultivated; it extends alongside Dardania as far as the regions of Zeleia and Pityeia. It is said that the country was named after the Caresus River, which is named by the poet,Rhesus, Heptaporus, Caresus, and Rhodius,and that the city of the same name as the river was torn down. Again, Demetrius says as follows: “The Rhesus River is now called Rhoeites, unless it be that the river which empties into the Granicus is the Rhesus. The Heptaporus, also called Polyporus, is crossed seven times by one travelling from the region of the Beautiful Pine to the village called Melaenae and the Asclepieium that was founded by Lysimachus. Concerning the Beautiful Pine, King Attalus the First writes as follows: “Its circumference is twenty-four feet; and its trunk rises to a height of sixty-seven feet from the root and then splits into three forks equidistant from one another, and then contracts again into one head, thus completing a total height of two plethra and fifteen cubits.” It is one hundred and eighty stadia distant from Adramyttium, to the north of it. The Caresus flows from Malus, a place situated between Palaescepsis and the Achaeïum, the part of the mainland that belongs to the Tenedians; and it empties into the Aesepus. The Rhodius flows from Cleandria and Gordus, which are sixty stadia distant from the Beautiful Pine; and it empties into the Aenius.
13.1.45.1
In the dale of the Aesepus, on the left of the stream, one comes first to Polichna, a place enclosed by walls; and then to Palaescepsis; and then to Alizonium (this last name having been fabricated to support the hypothesis about the Halizones, whom I have already discussed); and then to Caresus, which is deserted, and Caresene, and the river of the same name, which also forms a notable dale, though smaller than that of the Aesepus; and next follow the plains and plateaux of Zeleia, which are beautifully cultivated. On the right of the Aesepus, between Polichna and Palaescepsis, one comes to Nea Come and Argyria, and this again is a name fabricated to support the same hypothesis, in order to save the words,where is the birthplace of silver.Now where is Alybe, or Alope, or however they wish to alter the spelling of the name? For having once made their bold venture, they should have rubbed their faces and fabricated this name too, instead of leaving it lame and readily subject to detection. Now these things are open to objections of this kind, but, in the case of the others, or at least most of them, I take it for granted that we must give heed to him as a man who was acquainted with the region and a native of it, who gave enough thought to this subject to write thirty books of commentary on a little more than sixty lines of Homer, that is, on the Catalogue of the Trojans. He says, at any rate, that Palaescepsis is fifty stadia distant from Aenea and thirty from the Aesepus River, and that from this Palaescepsis the same name was extended to several other sites. But I shall return to the coast at the point where I left off.
13.1.46.1
After the Sigeian Promontory and the Achilleium one comes to the Achaeïum, the part of the mainland that belongs to the Tenedians; and to Tenedos itself, which is not more than forty stadia distant from the mainland. It is about eighty stadia in circumference, and has an Aeolian city and two harbors and a temple of Sminthian Apollo, as the poet testifies: And dost rule mightily over Tenedos, O Sminthian.Round it lie several small islands, in particular two, which are called the Calydnae and are situated on the voyage to Lectum. And some give the name Calydna to Tenedos itself, while others call it Leucophrys. In it is laid the scene of the myth of Tennes, after whom the island was named, as also that of Cycnus, a Thracian by birth and, according to some, father of Tennes and king of Colonae.
13.1.47.1
Both Larisa and Colonae used to be adjacent to the Achaeïum, formerly being on the part of the mainland that belonged to the Tenedians; and then one comes to the present Chrysa, which was founded on a rocky height above the sea, and to Hamaxitus, which lies below Lectum and adjacent to it. At the present time Alexandreia is adjacent to the Achaeïum; and those other towns, like several others of the strongholds, have been incorporated with Alexandreia, among them Cebrene and Neandria; and Alexandreia holds their territory. But the site on which Alexandreia now lies used to be called Sigia.
13.1.48.1
In this Chrysa is also the temple of Sminthian Apollo; and the symbol which preserves the etymology of the name, I mean the mouse, lies beneath the foot of his image. These are the works of Scopas of Paros; and also the history, or myth, about the mice is associated with this place: When the Teucrians arrived from Crete (Callinus the elegiac poet was the first to hand down an account of these people, and many have followed him), they had an oracle which bade them to “stay on the spot where the earth-born should attack them”; and, he says the attack took place round Hamaxitus, for by night a great multitude of field-mice swarmed out of the ground and ate up all the leather in their arms and equipment; and the Teucrians remained there; and it was they who gave its name to Mt. Ida, naming it after the mountain in Crete. Heracleides of Pontus says that the mice which swarmed round the temple were regarded as sacred, and that for this reason the image was designed with its foot upon the mouse. Others say that a certain Teucer came from the deme of Troes, now called Xypeteones, in Attica, but that no Teucrians came from Crete. As a further sign of the close relationship of the Trojans with the people of Attica they record the fact the Erichthonius was one of the original founders on both tribes. Now this is the account of the more recent writer; but more in agreement with Homer are the traces to be seen in the plane of Thebe and in the Chrysa which was once founded there, which I shall soon discuss. The name of Smintheus is used in many places, for in the neighborhood of Hamaxitus itself, apart from the Sminthium at the temple, there are two places called Sminthia; and there are others in the neighboring territory of Larisa. And also in the territory of Parium there is a place called Sminthia, as also in Rhodes and in Lindus and in many other places. And they now call the temple Sminthium. Apart, at any rate, lie both the Halesian Plain, of no great size, and inland from Lectum, and the Tragasaean salt-pan near Hamaxitus, where salt is naturally caused to congeal by the Etesian winds. On Lectum is to be seen an altar of the twelve gods, said to have been founded by Agamemnon. These places are all in sight of Ilium, at a distance of about two hundred stadia or a little more; and the same is the case with the places round Abydus on the other side, although Abydus is a little closer.
13.1.49.1
On doubling Lectum one comes next to the most notable cities of the Aeolians, and to the Gulf of Adramyttium, on which the poet obviously places the majority of the Leleges, as also the Cilicians, who were twofold. Here too is the shore-land of the Mitylenaeans, with certain villages belonging to the Mitylenaeans who live on the mainland. The same gulf is also called the Idaean Gulf, for the ridge which extends from Lectum to Mt. Ida lies above the first part of the gulf, where the poet represents the Leleges as first settled.
13.1.50.1
But I have already discussed these matters. I must now add that Homer speaks of a Pedasus, a city of the Leleges, as subject to lord Altes: Of Altes, who is lord over the war-loving Leleges, who hold steep Pedasus on the Satnioeis.And the site of the place, now deserted, is still to be seen. Some write, though wrongly, “at the foot of Satnioeis,” as though the city lay at the foot of a mountain called Satnioeis; but there is no mountain here called Satinoeis, but only a river of that name, on which the city is situated; but the city is now deserted. The poet names the river, for, according to him, he wounded Satnius with a thrust of his spear, even the son of Oenops, whom a peerless Naiad nymph bore unto Oenops, as he tended his herds by the banks of the Satnioeis;and again: And he dwelt by the banks of the fair-flowing Satnioeis in steep Pedasus.And in later times it was called Satnioeis, though some called it Saphnioeis. It is only a large winter torrent, but the naming of it by the poet has made it worthy of mention. These places are continuous with Dardania and Scepsia, and are, as it were, a second Dardania, but it is lower-lying.
13.1.51.1
To the Assians and the Gargarians now belong all the parts as far as the sea off Lesbos that are surrounded by the territory of Antandrus and that of the Cebrenians and Neandrians and Hamaxitans; for the Antandrians are situated above Hamaxitus, like it being situated inside Lectum, though farther inland and nearer to Ilium, for they are one hundred and thirty stadia distant from Ilium. Higher up than these are the Cebrenians, and still higher up than the latter are the Dardanians, who extend as far as Palaescepsis and Scepsis itself. Antandrus is called by Alcaeus “city of the Leleges”: First, Antandrus, city of the Leleges but it is placed by the Scepsian among the cities adjacent to their territory, so that it would fall within the territory of the Cilicians; for the territory of the Cilicians is continuous with that of the Leleges, the former, rather than the latter, marking off the southern flank of Mt. Ida. But still the territory of the Cilicians also lies low and, rather than that of the Leleges, joins the part of the coast that is near Adramyttium. For after Lectum one comes to a place called Polymedium, at a distance of forty stadia; then, at a distance of eighty, to Assus, slightly above the sea; and then, at a distance of one hundred and twenty, to Gargara, which lies on a promontory that forms the Adramyttene Gulf, in the special sense of that term; for the whole of the coast from Lectum to Canae is also called by this same name, in which is also included the Elaïtic Gulf. In the special sense of the term, however, only that part of it is called Adramyttene which is enclosed by that promontory on which Gargara lies and the promontory called Pyrrha, on which the Aphrodisium is situated. The breadth of the mouth across from promontory to promontory is a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia. Inside is Antandrus, above which lies a mountain called Alexandreia, where the Judgment of Paris is said to have taken place, as also Aspaneus, the market for the timber from Mt. Ida; for here people bring it down and sell it to those who want it. And then comes Astyra, a village with a precinct sacred to the Astyrene Artemis. And quite near Astyra is Adramyttium, a city colonized by the Athenians, which has both a harbor and a naval station. Outside the gulf and the promontory called Pyrrha lies Cisthene, a deserted city with a harbor. Above it, in the interior, lie the copper mine and Perperene and Trarium and other settlements like these two. On the next stretch of coast one comes to the villages of the Mitylenaeans, I mean Coryphantis and Heracleia; and after these places to Attea, and then to Atarneus and Pitane and the outlets of the Caïcus River; and here we have already reached the Elaïtic Gulf. On the far side of the river lie Elaea and the rest of the gulf as far as Canae. But let me go back and discuss in detail the several places, if anything worthy of mention has been passed over; and first of all, Scepsis.
13.1.52.1
Palaescepsis lies above Cebren near the highest part of Mt. Ida, near Polichna; and it was then called Scepsis (whether for another reason or from the fact that the place is visible all round, if it is right to derive from Greek words names then used by barbarians), but later the inhabitants were removed sixty stadia lower down to the present Scepsis by Scamandrius the son of Hector and Ascanius the son of Aeneias; and their two families are said to have held the kingship over Scepsis for a long time. After this they changed to an oligarchy, and then Milesians settled with them as fellow-citizens; and they began to live under a democracy. But the heirs of the royal family none the less continued to be called kings and retained certain prerogatives. Then the Scepsians were incorporated into Alexandreia by Antigonus; and then they were released by Lysimachus and went back to their home-land.
13.1.53.1
Demetrius thinks that Scepsis was also the royal residence of Aeneias, since it lies midway between the territory subject to Aeneias and Lyrnessus, to which latter he fled, according to Homer’s statement, when he was being pursued by Achilles. At any rate, Achilles says: Dost thou not remember how from the kine, when thou wast all alone, I made thee run down the Idaean mountains with swift feet? And thence thou didst escape to Lyrnessus, but I rushed in pursuit of thee and sacked it.However, the oft-repeated stories of Aeneias are not in agreement with the account which I have just given of the founders of Scepsis. For according to these stories he survived the war because of his enmity to Priam: For always he was wroth against goodly Priam, because, although he was brave amid warriors, Priam would not honor him at all;and his fellow-rulers, the sons of Antenor and Antenor himself, survived because of the hospitality shown Menelaüs at Antenor’s house. At any rate, Sophocles says that at the capture of Troy a leopard’s skin was put before the doors of Antenor as a sign that his house was to be left unpillaged; and Antenor and his children safely escaped to Thrace with the survivors of the Heneti, and from there got across to the Adriatic Henetice, as it is called, whereas Aeneias collected a host of followers and set sail with his father Anchises and his son Ascanius; and some say that he took up his abode near the Macedonian Olympus, others that he founded Capyae near Mantineia in Arcadia, deriving the name he gave the settlement from Capys, and others say that he landed at Aegesta in Sicily with Elymus the Trojan and took possession of Eryx and Lilybaeum, and gave the names Scamander and Simoeis to rivers near Aegesta, and that thence he went into the Latin country and made it his abode, in accordance with an oracle which bade him abide where he should eat up his table, and that this took place in the Latin country in the neighborhood of Lavinium, where a large loaf of bread was put down for a table, for want of a better table, and eaten up along with the meats upon it. Homer, however, appears not to be in agreement with either of the two stories, nor yet with the above account of the founders of Scepsis; for he clearly indicates that Aeneias remained in Troy and succeeded to the empire and bequeathed the succession thereto to his sons’ sons, the family of the Priamidae having been wiped out: For already the race of Priam was hated, by the son of Cronus; and now verily the mighty Aeneias will rule over the Trojans, and his sons’ sons that are hereafter to be born.And in this case one cannot even save from rejection the succession of Scamandrius. And Homer is in far greater disagreement with those who speak of Aeneias as having wandered even as far as Italy and make him die there. Some write,the family of Aeneias will rule over all, and his sons’ sons,meaning the Romans.
13.1.54.1
From Scepsis came the Socratic philosophers Erastus and Coriscus and Neleus the son of Coriscus, this last a man who not only was a pupil of Aristotle and Theophrastus, but also inherited the library of Theophrastus, which included that of Aristotle. At any rate, Aristotle bequeathed his own library to Theophrastus, to whom he also left his school; and he is the first man, so far as I know, to have collected books and to have taught the kings in Egypt how to arrange a library. Theophrastus bequeathed it to Neleus; and Neleus took it to Scepsis and bequeathed it to his heirs, ordinary people, who kept the books locked up and not even carefully stored. But when they heard bow zealously the Attalic kings to whom the city was subject were searching for books to build up the library in Pergamum, they hid their books underground in a kind of trench. But much later, when the books had been damaged by moisture and moths, their descendants sold them to Apellicon of Teos for a large sum of money, both the books of Aristotle and those of Theophrastus. But Apellicon was a bibliophile rather than a philosopher; and therefore, seeking a restoration of the parts that had been eaten through, he made new copies of the text, filling up the gaps incorrectly, and published the books full of errors. The result was that the earlier school of Peripatetics who came after Theophrastus had no books at all, with the exception of only a few, mostly exoteric works, and were therefore able to philosophize about nothing in a practical way, but only to talk bombast about commonplace propositions, whereas the later school, from the time the books in question appeared, though better able to philosophise and Aristotelise, were forced to call most of their statements probabilities, because of the large number of errors. Rome also contributed much to this; for, immediately after the death of Apellicon, Sulla, who had captured Athens, carried off Apellicon’s library to Rome, where Tyrannion the grammarian, who was fond of Aristotle, got it in his hands by paying court to the librarian, as did also certain booksellers who used bad copyists and would not collate the texts—a thing that also takes place in the case of the other books that are copied for selling, both here and at Alexandria. However, this is enough about these men.
13.1.55.1
From Scepsis came also Demetrius, whom I often mention, the grammarian who wrote a commentary on The Marshalling of the Trojan Forces, and was born at about the same time as Crates and Aristarchus; and later, Metrodorus, a man who changed from his pursuit of philosophy to political life, and taught rhetoric, for the most part, in his written works; and he used a brand-new style and dazzled many. On account of his reputation he succeeded, though a poor man, in marrying brilliantly in Chalcedon; and he passed for a Chalcedonian. And having paid court to Mithridates Eupator, he with his wife sailed away with him to Pontus; and he was treated with exceptional honor, being appointed to the judgeship from which there was no appeal to the king. However, his good fortune did not continue, but he incurred the enmity of men less just than himself and revolted from the king when he was on the embassy to Tigranes the Armenian. And Tigranes sent him back against his will to Eupator, who was already in flight from his ancestral realm; but Metrodorus died on the way, whether by order of the king or from disease; for both accounts are given of his death. So much for the Scepsians.
13.1.56.1
After Scepsis come Andeira and Pioniae and the territory of Gargara. There is a stone in the neighborhood of Andeira which, when burned, becomes iron, and then, when heated in a furnace with a certain earth, distils mock-silver; and this, with the addition of copper, makes the “mixture,” as it is called, which by some is called “mountaincopper.” These are the places which the Leleges occupied; and the same is true of the places in the neighborhood of Assus.
13.1.57.1
Assus is by nature strong and well-fortified; and the ascent to it from the sea and the harbor is very steep and long, so that the statement of Stratonicus the citharist in regard to it seems appropriate: Go to Assus, in order that thou mayest more quickly come to the doom of death. The harbor is formed by a great mole. From Assus came Cleanthes, the Stoic philosopher who succeeded Zeno of Citium as head of the school and left it to Chrysippus of Soli. Here too Aristotle tarried, because of his relationship by marriage with the tyrant Hermeias. Hermeias was a eunuch, the slave of a certain banker; and on his arrival at Athens he became a pupil of both Plato and Aristotle. On his return he shared the tyranny with his master, who had already laid hold of the districts of Atarneus and Assus; and then Hermeias succeeded him and sent for both Aristotle and Xenocrates and took care of them; and he also married his brother’s daughter to Aristotle. Memnon of Rhodes, who was at that time serving the Persians as general, made a pretence of friendship for Hermeias, and then invited him to come for a visit, both in the name of hospitality and at the same time for pretended business reasons; but he arrested him and sent him up to the king, where he was put to death by hanging. But the philosophers safely escaped by flight from the districts above-mentioned, which were seized by the Persians.
13.1.58.1
Myrsilus says that Assus was founded by the Methymnaeans; and Hellanicus too calls it an Aeolian city, just as also Gargara and Lamponia belonged to the Aeolians. For Gargara was founded by the Assians; but it was not well peopled, for the kings brought into it colonists from Miletopolis when they devastated that city, so that instead of Aeolians, according to Demetrius of Scepsis, the inhabitants of Gargara became semi-barbarians. According to Homer, however, all these places belonged to the Leleges, who by some are represented to be Carians, although by Homer they are mentioned apart: Towards the sea are the Carians and the Paeonians of the curved bow and the Leleges and the Cauconians.They were therefore a different people from the Carians; and they lived between the people subject to Aeneias and the people whom the poet called Cilicians, but when they were pillaged by Achilles they migrated to Caria and took possession of the district round the present Halicarnassus.
13.1.59.1
However, the city Pedasus, now abandoned by them, is no longer in existence; but in the inland territory of the Halicarnassians there used to be a city Pedasa, so named by them; and the present territory is called Pedasis. It is said that as many as eight cities were settled in this territory by the Leleges, who in earlier times were so numerous that they not only took possession of that part of Caria which extends to Myndus and Bargylia, but also cut off for themselves a large portion of Pisidia. But later, when they went out on expeditions with the Carians, they became distributed throughout the whole of Greece, and the tribe disappeared. Of the eight cities, Mausolus united six into one city, Halicarnassus, as Callisthenes tells us, but kept Syangela and Myndus as they were. These are the Pedasians of whom Herodotus says that when any misfortune was about to come upon them and their neighbors, the priestess of Athena would grow a beard; and that this happened to them three times. And there is also a small town called Pedasum in the present territory of Stratoniceia. And throughout the whole of Caria and in Miletus are to be seen tombs, fortifications, and traces of settlements of the Leleges.
13.1.60.1
After the Leleges, on the next stretch of coast, lived the Cilicians, according to Homer; I mean the stretch of coast now held by the Adramytteni and Atarneitae and Pitanaei, as far as the outlet of the Caïcus. The Cilicians, as I have said, were divided into two dynasties, one subject to Eëtion and one to Mynes.
13.1.61.1
Now Homer calls Thebe the city of Eëtion: We went into Thebe, the sacred city of Eëtion;and he clearly indicates that also Chrysa, which had the temple of Sminthian Apollo, belonged to Eëtion, if it be true that Chryseïs was taken captive at Thebe, for he says,We went into Thebe, and laid it waste and brought hither all the spoil. And this they divided aright among themselves, but they chose out Chryseïs for the son of Atreus;and that Lyrnessus belonged to Mynes, since Achilleslaid waste Lyrnessus and the walls of Thebeand slew both Mynes and Epistrophus; so that when Briseïs says,thou wouldst not even let me, when swift Achilles slew my husband and sacked the city of divine Mynes,Homer cannot mean Thebe (for this belonged to Eëtion), but Lyrnessus. Both were situated in what was afterwards called the Plain of Thebe, which, on account of its fertility, is said to have been an object of contention between the Mysians and Lydians in earlier times, and later between the Greeks who colonized it from Aeolis and Lesbos. But the greater part of it is now held by the Adramytteni, for here lie both Thebe and Lyrnessus, the latter a natural stronghold; but both places are deserted. From Adramyttium the former is distant sixty stadia and the latter eighty-eight, in opposite directions.
13.1.62.1
In the territory of Adramyttium lie also Chrysa and Cilla. At any rate there is still today a place near Thebe called Cilla, where is a temple of the Cillaean Apollo; and the Cillaeus River, which runs from Mt. Ida, flows past it. These places lie near the territory of Antandrus. The Cillaeum in Lesbos is named after this Cilla; and there is also a Mt. Cillaeum between Gargara and Antandrus. Daës of Colonae says that the temple of the Cillaean Apollo was first founded in Colonae by the Aeolians who sailed from Greece; it is also said that a temple of Cillaean Apollo was established at Chrysa, though it is not clear whether he is the same as the Sminthian Apollo or distinct from him.
13.1.63.1
Chrysa was a small town on the sea, with a harbor; and near by, above it, lies Thebe. Here too was the temple of the Sminthian Apollo; and here lived Chryseïs. But the place is now utterly deserted; and the temple was transferred to the present Chrysa near Hamaxitus when the Cilicians were driven out, partly to Pamphylia and partly to Hamaxitus. Those who are less acquainted with ancient history say that it was at this Chrysa that Chryses and Chryseïs lived, and that Homer mentions this place; but, in the first place, there is no harbor here, and yet Homer says,And when they had now arrived inside the deep harbor;and, secondly, the temple is not on the sea, though Homer makes it on the sea;and out from the seafaring ship stepped Chryseïs. Here then did Odysseus of many wiles lead to the altar, and place in the arms of her dear father;neither is it near Thebe, though Homer makes it near; at any rate, he speaks of Chryseïs as having been taken captive there. Again, neither is there any place called Cilla to be seen in the territory of the Alexandreians, nor any temple of Cillaean Apollo; but the poet couples the two,who dost stand over Chrysa and sacred Cilla.But it is to be seen near by in the Plain of Thebe. And the voyage from the Cilician Chrysa to the Naval Station is about seven hundred stadia, approximately a day’s voyage, such a distance, obviously, as that sailed by Odysseus; for immediately upon disembarking he offered the sacrifice to the god, and since evening overtook him he remained on the spot and sailed away the next morning. But the distance from Hamaxitus is scarcely a third of that above mentioned, so that Odysseus could have completed the sacrifice and sailed back to the Naval Station on the same day. There is also a tomb of Cillus in the neighborhood of the temple of the Cillaean Apollo, a great barrow. He is said to have been the charioteer of Pelops and to have ruled over this region; and perhaps it was after him that Cilicia was named, or vice versa.
13.1.64.1
Now the story of the Teucrians and the mice—whence the epithet “Sminthian,” since “sminthi” means “mice”—must be transferred to this place. And writers excuse this giving of epithets from small creatures by such examples as the following: It is from locusts, they say, which the Oetaeans call “cornopes,” that Heracles is worshipped among the Oetaeans as “Cornopion,” for ridding them of locusts; and he is worshipped among the Erythraeans who live in Mimas as “Ipoctonus,” because he is the destroyer of the vine-eating ips; and in fact, they add, these are the only Erythraeans in whose country this creature is not to be found. And the Rhodians, who call erysibe “erythibe,” have a temple of Apollo “Erythibius” in their country; and among the Aeolians in Asia a certain month is called Pornopion, since the Boeotians so call the locusts, and a sacrifice is offered to Apollo Pornopion.
13.1.65.1
Now the territory round Adramyttium is Mysian, though it was once subject to the Lydians; and today there is a gate in Adramyttium which is called the Lydian Gate because, as they say, the city was founded by Lydians. And they say that the neighboring village Astyra belongs to Mysia. It was once a small town, where, in a sacred precinct, was the temple of the Astyrene Artemis, which was superintended, along with holy rites, by the Antandrians, who were its nearer neighbors. It is twenty stadia distant from the ancient Chrysa, which also had its temple in a sacred precinct. Here too was the Palisade of Achilles. And in the interior, fifty stadia away, is Thebe, now deserted, which the poet speaks of as “beneath wooded Placus”; but, in the first place, the name “Placus” or “Plax” is not found there at all, and, secondly, no wooded place lies above it, though it is near Mt. Ida. Thebe is as much as seventy stadia distant from Astyra and sixty from Andeira. But all these are names of deserted or scantily peopled places, or of winter torrents; and they are often mentioned only because of their ancient history.
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Both Assus and Adramyttium are notable cities. But misfortune befell Adramyttium in the Mithridatic War, for the members of the city council were slaughtered, to please the king, by Diodorus the general, who pretended at the same time to be a philosopher of the Academy, a dispenser of justice, and a teacher of rhetoric. And indeed he also joined the king on his journey to Pontus; but when the king was overthrown he paid the penalty for his misdeeds; for many charges were brought against him, all at the same time, and, being unable to bear the ignominy, he shamefully starved himself to death, in my own city. Another inhabitant of Adramyttium was the famous orator Xenocles, who belonged to the Asiatic school and was as able a debater a ever lived, having even made a speech on behalf of Asia before the Senate, at the time when Asia was accused of Mithridatism.
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Near Astyra is an abysmal lake called Sapra, which has an outbreak into a reefy seashore. Below Andeira is a temple sacred to the Andeirene Mother of the gods, and also a cave that runs underground as far as Palaea. Palaea is a settlement so named, at a distance of one hundred and thirty stadia from Andeira. The underground passage became known through the fact that a goat fell into the mouth of it and was found on the following day near Andeira by a shepherd who happened to have come to make sacrifice. Atarneus is the abode of the tyrant Hermeias; and then one comes to Pitane, an Aeolic city, which has two harbors, and the Evenus River, which flows past it, whence the aqueduct has been built by the Adramytteni. From Pitane came Arcesilaüs, of the Academy, a fellow-student with Zeno of Citium under Polemon. In Pitane there is also a place on the sea called “Atameus below Pitane,” opposite the island called Eleussa. It is said that in Pitane bricks float on water, as is also the case with a certain earth in Tyrrhenia, for the earth is lighter than an equal bulk of water, so that it floats. And Poseidonius says that in Iberia he saw bricks moulded from a clay-like earth, with which silver is cleaned, and that they floated on water. After Pitane one comes to the Caïcus River, which empties at a distance of thirty stadia into the Elaïtic Gulf, as it is called. On the far side of the Caïcus, twelve stadia distant from the river, is Elaea, an Aeolic city, which also is a seaport of the Pergamenians, being one hundred and twenty stadia distant from Pergamum.
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Then, at a distance of a hundred stadia, one comes to Cane, the promontory which rises opposite Lectum and forms the Adramyttene Gulf, of which the Elaïtic gulf is a part. Canae is a small town of Locrians from Cynus, and lies in the Canaean territory opposite the southernmost ends of Lesbos. This territory extends as far as the Arginussae Islands and the promontory above them, which some call Aega, making it the same as the word for the animal; but the second syllable should be pronounced long, that is, “Aega,” like Acta and Archa, for Aega used to be the name of the whole of the mountain which is now called Cane or Canae. The mountain is surrounded on the south and west by the sea, and on the east by the plain of the Caïcus, which lies below it, and on the north by the territory of Elaea. This mountain forms a fairly compact mass off to itself, though it slopes towards the Aegaean Sea, whence it got its name. Later the promontory itself was called Aega, as in Sappho, but the rest was called Cane or Canae.
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Between Elaea, Pitane, Atarneus, and Pergamum lies Teuthrania, which is at no greater distance than seventy stadia from any of them and is this side the Caïcus River; and the story told is that Teuthras was king of the Cilicians and Mysians. Euripides says that Auge, with her child Telephus, was put by Aleus, her father, into a chest and submerged in the sea when he had detected her ruin by Heracles, but that by the providence of Athena the chest was carried across the sea and cast ashore at the mouth of the Caïcus, and that Teuthras rescued the prisoners, and treated the mother as his wife and the child as his own son. Now this is the myth, but there must have been some other issue of fortune through which the daughter of the Arcadian consorted with the king of the Mysians and her son succeeded to his kingdom. It is believed, at any rate, that both Teuthras and Telephus reigned as kings over the country round Teuthrania and the Caïcus, though Homer goes only so far as to mention the story thus: But what a man was the son of Telephus, the hero Eurypylus, whom he slew with the bronze; and round him were slain many comrades, Ceteians, on account of a woman’s gifts.The poet thus sets before us a puzzle instead of making a clear statement; for we neither know whom we should understand the poet to mean by the “Ceteians” nor what he means by “on account of the gifts of a woman”; but the grammarians too throw in petty myths, more to show their inventiveness than to solve questions.

Perseus Greek. CTS URN tlg0099.tlg001.perseus-eng3. Via the Perseus Digital Library / Open Greek and Latin TEI corpora. Licence: Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Source.