Strabo, Geography, Horace Leonard Jones (Translator), 6.2.6

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Chapter

← Previous Next →

[6] In the interior is Enna , where is the temple of Demeter, with only a few inhabitants; it is situated on a hill, and is wholly surrounded by broad plateaus that are tillable. It suffered most at the hands of Eunus¹ and his runaway slaves, who were besieged there and only with difficulty were dislodged by the Romans. The inhabitants of Catana and Tauromenium and also several other peoples suffered this same fate.

Eryx , a lofty hill,² is also inhabited. It has a temple of Aphrodite that is held in exceptional honor, and in early times was full of female temple-slaves, who had been dedicated in fulfillment of vows not only by the people of Sicily but also by many people from abroad; but at the present time, just as the settlement itself,³ so the temple is in want of men, and the multitude of temple-slaves has disappeared. In Rome , also, there is a reproduction of this goddess, I mean the temple before the Colline Gate⁴ which is called that of Venus Erycina and is remarkable for its shrine and surrounding colonnade.

But the rest of the settlements⁵ as well as most of the interior have come into the possession of shepherds; for I do not know of any settled population still living in either Himera, or Gela , or Callipolis or Selinus or Euboea or several other places. Of these cities Himera was founded by the Zanclaeans of Mylae , Callipolis by the Naxians, Selinus by the Megarians of the Sicilian Megara, and Euboea by the Leontines.⁶ Many of the barbarian cities, also, have been wiped out; for example Camici ,⁷ the royal residence of Cocalus,⁸ at which Minos is said to have been murdered by treachery. The Romans, therefore, taking notice that the country was deserted, took possession of the mountains and most of the plains and then gave them over to horseherds, cowherds, and shepherds; and by these herdsmen the island was many times put in great danger, because, although at first they only turned to brigandage in a sporadic way, later they both assembled in great numbers and plundered the settlements, as, for example, when Eunus and his men took possession of Enna . And recently, in my own time, a certain Selurus, called the “son of Aetna ,” was sent up to Rome because he had put himself at the head of an army and for a long time had overrun the regions round about Aetna with frequent raids; I saw him torn to pieces by wild beasts at an appointed combat of gladiators in the Forum; for he was placed on a lofty scaffold, as though on Aetna , and the scaffold was made suddenly to break up and collapse, and he himself was carried down with it into cages of wildbeasts—fragile cages that had been prepared beneath the scaffold for that purpose.

Geography. Strabo. Horace Leonard Jones (Translator). London. 1924-1929.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Geography (Books 6-14) (English) (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 3-6. Jones, Horace Leonard, translator. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924-1929 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 6.2.6 focus

[6] ἐν δὲ τῇ μεσογαίᾳ τὴν μὲν Ἔνναν, ἐν ᾗ τὸ ἱερὸν τῆς Δήμητρος, ἔχουσιν ὀλίγοι, κειμένην ἐπὶ λόφῳ, περιειλημμένην πλατέσιν ὀροπεδίοις ἀροσίμοις πᾶσιν. ἐκάκωσαν δʼ αὐτὴν μάλιστα ἐμπολιορκηθέντες οἱ περὶ Εὔνουν δραπέται καὶ μόλις ἐξαιρεθέντες ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων· ἔπαθον δὲ τὰ αὐτὰ ταῦτα καὶ Καταναῖοι καὶ Ταυρομενῖται καὶ ἄλλοι πλείους. ἡ δʼ ἄλλη κατοικία καὶ τῆς μεσογαίας ποιμένων ἡ πλείστη γεγένηται· οὔτε γὰρ Ἱμέραν ἔτι συνοικουμένην ἴσμεν οὔτε Γέλαν οὔτε Καλλίπολιν οὔτε Σελινοῦντα οὔτʼ Εὔβοιαν οὔτʼ ἄλλας πλείους, ὧν τὴν μὲν Ἱμέραν οἱ ἐν Μυλαῖς ἔκτισαν Ζαγκλαῖοι, Γέλαν δὲ Ῥόδιοι, Καλλίπολιν δὲ Νάξιοι, Σελινοῦντα δὲ οἱ αὐτόθι Μεγαρεῖς, Εὔβοιαν δὲ οἱ Λεοντῖνοι. κεκάκωται δὲ καὶ ἡ Λεοντίνη πᾶσα, Ναξίων οὖσα καὶ αὐτὴ τῶν αὐτόθι· τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἀτυχημάτων ἐκοινώνησαν ἀεὶ τοῖς Συρακουσσίοις, τῶν δʼ εὐτυχημάτων οὐκ ἀεί. καὶ τῶν βαρβαρικῶν δʼ ἐξελείφθησαν πολλαί, καθάπερ οἱ Καμικοὶ τὸ Κωκάλου βασίλειον, παρʼ ᾧ Μίνως δολοφονηθῆναι λέγεται. τὴν οὖν ἐρημίαν κατανοήσαντες Ῥωμαῖοι κατακτησάμενοι τά τε ὄρη καὶ τῶν πεδίων τὰ πλεῖστα ἱπποφορβοῖς καὶ βουκόλοις καὶ ποιμέσι παρέδοσαν· ὑφʼ ὧν πολλάκις εἰς κινδύνους κατέστη μεγάλους ἡ νῆσος, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐπὶ λῃστείας τρεπομένων σποράδην τῶν νομέων, εἶτα καὶ κατὰ πλήθη συνισταμένων καὶ πορθούντων τὰς κατοικίας, καθάπερ ἡνίκα οἱ περὶ Εὔνουν τὴν Ἔνναν κατέσχον. νεωστὶ δʼ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην ἀνεπέμφθη Σέλουρός τις, Αἴτνης υἱὸς λεγόμενος, στρατιᾶς ἀφηγησάμενος καὶ λεηλασίαις πυκναῖς καταδεδραμηκὼς τὰ κύκλῳ τῆς Αἴτνης πολὺν χρόνον, ὃν ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ μονομάχων ἀγῶνος συνεστῶτος εἴδομεν διασπασθέντα ὑπὸ θηρίων· ἐπὶ πήγματος γάρ τινος ὑψηλοῦ τεθεὶς ὡς ἂν ἐπὶ τῆς Αἴτνης, διαλυθέντος αἰφνιδίως καὶ συμπεσόντος κατηνέχθη καὶ αὐτὸς εἰς γαλεάγρας θηρίων εὐδιαλύτους ἐπίτηδες παρεσκευασμένας ὑπὸ τῷ πήγματι.

Translations (1)

Geography Perseus (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 1-3. Hamilton, Hans Claude, translator; Falconer, William, translator. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1854-1857.) — 6.2.6 focus

[6] In the interior of the island a few inhabitants possess Enna,¹ in which there is a temple of Ceres;² it is situated on a hill, and surrounded by spacious table-lands well adapted for tillage. The fugitive slaves, who placed themselves under the leading of Eunus,³ and sustained in this city a long siege, scarcely being reduced by the Romans, occasioned much damage to the city. The Catanaei, Tauromenitae, and many others, suffered, much in like manner. † Eryx,⁴ a very lofty mountain, is also inhabited. It possesses a temple of Venus, which is very much esteemed; in former times it was well filled with women sacred to the goddess, whom the inhabitants of Sicily, and also many others, offered in accomplishment of their vows; but now, both is the neighbourhood much thinner of inhabitants, and the temple not near so well supplied with priestesses and female attendants.⁵ There is also an establishment of this goddess at Rome called the temple of Venus Erycina, just before the Colline Gate; in addition to the temple it has a portico well worthy of notice. † The other settlement and most of the interior have been left to the shepherds for pasturage; for we do not know that Himera is yet inhabited,⁶ or Gela,⁷ or Callipolis, or Selinus, or Euboea, or many other places; of these the Zanclaei of Myloe⁸ founded Himera,⁹ the people of Naxos, Callipolis,¹⁰ the Megaraeans of Sicily,¹¹ Selinus,¹² and the Leontini¹³ Euboea.¹⁴ Many too of the cities of the aboriginal inhabitants¹⁵ have been destroyed, as Camici, the kingdom of Cocalus, at whose house Minos is reported to have been treacherously cut off. The Romans therefore, considering the deserted condition of the country, and having got possession both of the hills and the most part of the plains, have given them over to horse-breeders, herdsmen, and shepherds, by whom the island has frequently been brought into great perils. First of all the shepherds, taking to pillage here and there in different places, and afterwards assembling in numbers and forcibly taking settlements; for instance, as those under the command of Eunus¹⁶ seized upon Enna.¹⁷ And quite recently, during the time that we were at Rome, a certain Selurus, called the son of Aetna, was sent up to that city. He had been the captain of a band of robbers, and had for a long time infested the country round Aetna, committing frequent depredations. We saw him torn to pieces by wild beasts in the forum after a contest of gladiators: he had been set upon a platform fashioned to represent Mount Aetna, which being suddenly unfastened and falling, he was precipitated amongst certain cages of wild beasts, which had also been slightly constructed under the platform for the occasion.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. Eunus was a native of Apameia in Syria , but became a slave of a certain Antigenes at Enna , and about 136 B.C. became the leader of the Sicilian slaves in the First Servile War. For a full account of his amazing activities as juggler, diviner, leader, and self-appointed king, as also of his great following see Diod. Sic. 34.2. 5-18

2. Now Mt. San Giuliano. But Eryx is at the north-western angle of Sicily , near the sea, not in the interior and for this reason some editors consider the passage out of place.

3. Also called Eryx . Hamilcar Barca transferred most of the inhabitants to Drepanum (at the foot of the mountain) in 260 B.C. After that time the city was of no consequence, but the sacred precinct, with its strong walls, remained a strategic position of great importance.

4. The temple of Venus Erycina on the Capitol was dedicated by Q. Fabius Maximus in 215 B.C., whereas the one here referred to, outside the Colline Gate, was dedicated by L. Portius Licinus in 181 B.C.

5. i.e., the rest of the settlements on “the remaining sides” (mentioned at the beginning of section 5), as the subsequent clause shows.

6. A number of the editors transfer to this point the sentence “The whole . . . fortunes,” at the end of section 7 below.

7. Camici (or Camicus) is supposed to have been on the site of what is Camastro.

8. The mythical king who harbored Daedalus when he fled from Minos.

Strabo Geography 6.2.6

Horace Leonard Jones (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers