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[1] Bordering on the Bithynians towards the south, as I have said,¹ 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,² 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,³ and, secondly, the country in the neighborhood of the Caïcus River and Pergamene, extending as far as Teuthrania and the outlets of the river.

[2] But the boundaries of these parts have been so confused with one another, as I have often said,⁴ 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

).⁵

[3] 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 people⁶ 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.⁷ And the oxya-tree abounds in the neighborhood of Mt. Olympus, where they say that the decimated persons were put out⁸ 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.

[4] 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,⁹ 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.¹⁰ And perhaps the same was also true in the case of the Cilicians, for these, too, were two-fold;¹¹ 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.

[5] 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 Herodotus¹² 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 and

fought with the glorious Solymi.

¹³And likewise his son Peisander¹⁴

was slain when fighting the Solymi

¹⁵by Ares, as he says. And he also speaks of Sarpedon as a native of Lycia.¹⁶

[6] But the fact that the fertility of the country of which I am speaking¹⁷ 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,¹⁸ 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 hill

which by men is called ‘Batieia,’ but by the immortals ‘the tomb of the much-bounding Myrina,’

¹⁹who, 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.²⁰

[7] 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,

²¹and when he says of their opponents,

but the Achaeans advanced in silence, breathing rage.

²²And 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.

[8] 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,²³ 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.

[9] 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 Labienus²⁴ at the time when the latter held possession of Asia,²⁵ 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.

[10] 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.

[11] 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.”²⁶ 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 earth²⁷ 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] 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.

[13] 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,”²⁸ 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. . . . .,²⁹ Aphrodisias, Colossae, Themisonium, Sanaüs, Metropolis, and Apollonias; but still farther away than these are Peltae, Tabae, Eucarpia, and Lysias.

[14] 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 Eumenes³⁰ the rest of Asia this side the Taurus. Here there was also a priesthood of Men Arcaeus,³¹ 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.³² 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.

[15] Apameia is a great emporium of Asia, I mean Asia in the special sense of that term,³³ 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;³⁴ 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 Soter³⁵ 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.

[16] 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.³⁶ 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,³⁷ 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,³⁸ so that the Laodiceians derive splendid revenue from it, as do also the neighboring Colosseni from the color which bears the same name.³⁹ 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.”⁴⁰ 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.

[17] 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,⁴¹ 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 salts⁴² and easy to burn out.⁴³ 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.⁴⁴

[18] Phrygia “Catacecaumene,”⁴⁵ 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,⁴⁶ and why the city was called Celaenae,⁴⁷ 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 emperor⁴⁸ 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.

[19] 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.⁴⁹ And in fact they make this the setting of the mythical story of the Arimi and of the throes of Typhon, calling it the Catacecaumene⁵⁰ 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 lake⁵¹ between Laodiceia and Apameia, although like a sea,⁵² 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.

[20] 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 Herophileian⁵³ school of medicine has been established by Zeuxis, and afterwards carried on by Alexander Philalethes,⁵⁴ just as in the time of our fathers the Erasistrateian school⁵⁵ was established by Hicesius, although at the present time the case is not at all the same as it used to be.⁵⁶

[21] 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;

⁵⁷and again,

Sipylus in the Idaean land;

⁵⁸and 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.

⁵⁹

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.) — 12.8 focus

[1] τοῖς δὲ Βιθυνοῖς ὁμοροῦσι πρὸς νότον, ὡς ἔφην, οἱ περὶ τὸν Ὄλυμπον τὸν Μύσιον προσαγορευόμενον Μυσοί τε καὶ Φρύγες· ἑκάτερον δὲ τὸ ἔθνος διττόν ἐστι. Φρυγία τε γὰρ ἡ μὲν καλεῖται μεγάλη, ἧς ὁ Μίδας ἐβασίλευσε καὶ ἧς μέρος οἱ Γαλάται κατέσχον, ἡ δὲ μικρὰ ἡ ἐφʼ Ἑλλησπόντῳ καὶ ἡ περὶ τὸν Ὄλυμπον ἡ καὶ Ἐπίκτητος λεγομένη. Μυσία τε ὁμοίως ἥ τε Ὀλυμπηνὴ συνεχὴς οὖσα τῇ Βιθυνίᾳ καὶ τῇ Ἐπικτήτῳ, ἣν ἔφη Ἀρτεμίδωρος ἀπὸ τῶν πέραν Ἴστρου Μυσῶν ἀπῳκίσθαι, καὶ ἡ περὶ τὸν Κάικον καὶ τὴν Περγαμηνὴν μέχρι Τευθρανίας καὶ τῶν ἐκβολῶν τοῦ ποταμοῦ.

[2] οὕτω δʼ ἐνήλλακται ταῦτα ἐν ἀλλήλοις, ὡς πολλάκις λέγομεν, ὥστε καὶ τὴν περὶ¹ Σίπυλον Φρυγίαν οἱ παλαιοὶ καλοῦσιν, ἄδηλον εἴτε τῆς μεγάλης εἴτε τῆς μικρᾶς μέρος οὖσαν, ᾗ καὶ τὸν Τάνταλον Φρύγα καὶ τὸν Πέλοπα καὶ τὴν Νιόβην· ὁποτέρως δʼ ἂν ἔχῃ, ἥ γε ἐπάλλαξις φανερά. ἡ γὰρ Περγαμηνὴ καὶ ἡ Ἐλαῗτις, καθʼ ἣν ὁ Κάικος ἐκπίπτει, καὶ ἡ μεταξὺ τούτων Τευθρανία, ἐν ᾗ Τεύθρας καὶ ἡ τοῦ Τηλέφου ἐκτροφή, ἀνὰ μέσον ἐστὶ τοῦ τε Ἑλλησπόντου καὶ τῆς περὶ Σίπυλον καὶ Μαγνησίαν τὴν ὑπʼ αὐτῷ χώρας· ὥσθʼ ὅπερ ἔφην ἔργον διορίσαι

χωρὶς τὰ Μυσῶν καὶ Φρυγῶν ὁρίσματα

[3] καὶ οἱ Λυδοὶ καὶ οἱ Μαίονες, οὓς Ὅμηρος καλεῖ Μῄονας, ἐν συγχύσει πώς εἰσι καὶ πρὸς τούτους καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὅτι οἱ μὲν τοὺς αὐτοὺς οἱ δʼ ἑτέρους φασί· πρὸς δὲ τούτους, ὅτι τοὺς Μυσοὺς οἱ μὲν Θρᾷκας οἱ δὲ Λυδοὺς εἰρήκασι, κατʼ αἰτίαν παλαιὰν ἱστοροῦντες, ἣν Ξάνθος ὁ Λυδὸς γράφει καὶ Μενεκράτης ὁ Ἐλαΐτης, ἐτυμολογοῦντες καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τὸ τῶν Μυσῶν ὅτι τὴν ὀξύην οὕτως ὀνομάζουσιν οἱ Λυδοί· πολλὴ δʼ ἡ ὀξύη κατὰ τὸν Ὄλυμπον, ὅπου ἐκτεθῆναί φασι τοὺς δεκατευθέντας, ἐκείνων δὲ ἀπογόνους εἶναι τοὺς ὕστερον Μυσούς, ἀπὸ τῆς ὀξύης οὕτω προσαγορευθέντας· μαρτυρεῖν δὲ καὶ τὴν διάλεκτον· μιξολύδιον γάρ πως εἶναι καὶ μιξοφρύγιον· τέως μὲν γὰρ οἰκεῖν αὐτοὺς περὶ τὸν Ὄλυμπον, τῶν δὲ Φρυγῶν ἐκ τῆς Θρᾴκης περαιωθέντων ἀνελόντων τε τῆς Τροίας ἄρχοντα καὶ τῆς πλησίον γῆς, ἐκείνους μὲν ἐνταῦθα οἰκῆσαι τοὺς δὲ Μυσοὺς ὑπὲρ τὰς τοῦ Καΐκου πηγὰς πλησίον Λυδῶν.

[4] συνεργεῖ δὲ πρὸς τὰς τοιαύτας μυθοποιίας ἥ τε σύγχυσις τῶν ἐνταῦθα ἐθνῶν καὶ ἡ εὐδαιμονία τῆς χώρας τῆς ἐντὸς Ἅλυος, μάλιστα δὲ τῆς παραλίας, διʼ ἣν ἐπιθέσεις ἐγένοντο αὐτῇ πολλαχόθεν καὶ διὰ παντὸς ἐκ τῆς περαίας, ἢ καὶ ἐπʼ ἀλλήλους ἰόντων τῶν ἐγγύς. μάλιστα μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὰ Τρωικὰ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα τὰς ἐφόδους γενέσθαι καὶ τὰς μεταναστάσεις συνέβη, τῶν τε βαρβάρων ἅμα καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὁρμῇ τινι χρησαμένων πρὸς τὴν τῆς ἀλλοτρίας κατάκτησιν· ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸ τῶν Τρωικῶν ἦν ταῦτα. τό τε γὰρ τῶν Πελασγῶν ἦν φῦλον καὶ τὸ τῶν Καυκώνων καὶ Λελέγων· εἴρηται δʼ ὅτι πολλαχοῦ τῆς Εὐρώπης τὸ παλαιὸν ἐτύγχανε πλανώμενα, ἅπερ ποιεῖ τοῖς Τρωσὶ συμμαχοῦντα ὁ ποιητής, οὐκ ἐκ τῆς περαίας. τά τε περὶ τῶν Φρυγῶν καὶ τῶν Μυσῶν λεγόμενα πρεσβύτερα τῶν Τρωικῶν ἐστιν· οἱ δὲ διττοὶ Λύκιοι τοῦ αὐτοῦ γένους ὑπόνοιαν παρέχουσιν, ἢ τῶν Τρωικῶν ἢ τῶν πρὸς Καρίᾳ τοὺς ἑτέρους ἀποικισάντων. τάχα δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν Κιλίκων τὸ αὐτὸ συνέβη· διττοὶ γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι· οὐ μὴν ἔχομέν γε τοιαύτην λαβεῖν μαρτυρίαν ὅτι καὶ πρὸ τῶν Τρωικῶν ἦσαν ἤδη οἱ νῦν Κίλικες· ὅ τε Τήλεφος ἐκ τῆς Ἀρκαδίας ἀφῖχθαι νομίζοιτʼ ἂν μετὰ τῆς μητρός, γάμῳ δὲ τῷ ταύτης ἐξοικειωσάμενος τὸν ὑποδεξάμενον αὐτὸν Τεύθραντα ἐνομίσθη τε ἐκείνου καὶ παρέλαβε τὴν Μυσῶν ἀρχήν.

[5] καὶ οἱ Κᾶρες δὲ νησιῶται πρότερον ὄντες καὶ Λέλεγες, ὥς φασιν, ἠπειρῶται γεγόνασι, προσλαβόντων Κρητῶν, οἳ καὶ τὴν Μίλητον ἔκτισαν ἐκ τῆς Κρητικῆς Μιλήτου Σαρπηδόνα λαβόντες κτίστην· καὶ τοὺς Τερμίλας κατῴκισαν ἐν τῇ νῦν Λυκίᾳ· τούτους δʼ ἀγαγεῖν ἐκ Κρήτης ἀποίκους Σαρπηδόνα, Μίνω καὶ Ῥαδαμάνθυος ἀδελφὸν ὄντα, καὶ ὀνομάσαι Τερμίλας τοὺς πρότερον Μιλύας, ὥς φησιν Ἡρόδοτος, ἔτι δὲ πρότερον Σολύμους, ἐπελθόντα δὲ τὸν Πανδίονος Λύκον ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ προσαγορεῦσαι τοὺς αὐτοὺς Λυκίους. οὗτος μὲν οὖν ὁ λόγος ἀποφαίνει τοὺς αὐτοὺς Σολύμους τε καὶ Λυκίους, ὁ δὲ ποιητὴς χωρίζει· Βελλεροφόντης γοῦν ὡρμημένος ἐκ τῆς Λυκίας

Σολύμοισι μαχέσσατο κυδαλίμοισι.

² Πείσανδρόν τε ὡσαύτως υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Ἄρης ὥς φησι

μαρνάμενον Σολύμοισι κατέκτανε.

³ καὶ τὸν Σαρπηδόνα δὲ ἐπιχώριόν τινα λέγει.

[6] ἀλλὰ τό γε ἆθλον προκεῖσθαι κοινὸν τὴν ἀρετὴν τῆς χώρας ἧς λέγω τοῖς ἰσχύουσιν ἐκ πολλῶν βεβαιοῦται καὶ πρὸ τῶν Τρωικῶν καὶ μετὰ τὰ Τρωικά· ὅπου καὶ Ἀμαζόνες κατεθάρρησαν αὐτῆς, ἐφʼ ἃς ὅ τε Πρίαμος στρατεῦσαι λέγεται καὶ ὁ Βελλεροφόντης· πόλεις τε παλαιαὶ ὁμολογοῦνται ἐπώνυμοι αὐτῶν· ἐν δὲ τῷ Ἰλιακῷ πεδίῳ κολώνη τις ἔστιν

ἣν ἤτοι ἄνδρες Βατίειαν κικλήσκουσιν,

ἀθάνατοι δέ τε σῆμα πολυσκάρθμοιο Μυρίνης,

⁴ ἣν ἱστοροῦσι μίαν εἶναι τῶν Ἀμαζόνων ἐκ τοῦ ἐπιθέτου τεκμαιρόμενοι· εὐσκάρθμους γὰρ ἵππους λέγεσθαι διὰ τὸ τάχος· κἀκείνην οὖν πολύσκαρθμον διὰ τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς ἡνιοχείας τάχος· καὶ ἡ Μύρινα οὖν ἐπώνυμος ταύτης λέγεται. καὶ αἱ ἐγγὺς δὲ νῆσοι ταῦτʼ ἔπαθον διὰ τὴν ἀρετήν, ὧν Ῥόδος καὶ Κῶς ὅτι πρὸ τῶν Τρωικῶν ἤδη ὑφʼ Ἑλλήνων ᾠκοῦντο καὶ ὑφʼ Ὁμήρου σαφῶς ἐκμαρτυρεῖται.

[7] μετὰ δὲ τὰ Τρωικὰ αἵ τε τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀποικίαι καὶ αἱ Τρηρῶν καὶ αἱ Κιμμερίων ἔφοδοι καὶ Λυδῶν καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Περσῶν καὶ Μακεδόνων τό τε τελευταῖον Γαλατῶν ἐτάραξαν πάντα καὶ συνέχεαν. γέγονε δὲ ἡ ἀσάφεια οὐ διὰ τὰς μεταβολὰς μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὰς τῶν συγγραφέων ἀνομολογίας περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ λεγόντων, τοὺς μὲν Τρῶας καλούντων Φρύγας καθάπερ οἱ τραγικοί, τοὺς δὲ Λυκίους Κᾶρας καὶ ἄλλους οὕτως. οἱ δὲ Τρῶες οὕτως ἐκ μικρῶν αὐξηθέντες ὥστε καὶ βασιλεῖς βασιλέων εἶναι, παρέσχον καὶ τῷ ποιητῇ λόγον τίνα χρὴ καλεῖν Τροίαν, καὶ τοῖς ἐξηγουμένοις ἐκεῖνον. λέγει μὲν γὰρ καὶ κοινῶς ἅπαντας Τρῶας τοὺς συμπολεμήσαντας αὐτοῖς, ὥσπερ καὶ Δαναοὺς καὶ Ἀχαιοὺς τοὺς ἐναντίους· ἀλλʼ οὐ δήπου Τροίαν καὶ τὴν Παφλαγονίαν ἐροῦμεν· νὴ Δία, οὐδὲ τὴν Καρίαν ἢ τὴν ὅμορον αὐτῇ Λυκίαν. λέγω δʼ ὅταν οὕτω φῇ

Τρῶες μὲν κλαγγῇ τʼ ἐνοπῇ τʼ ἴσαν,

⁵ ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἐναντίων

οἱ δʼ ἄρʼ ἴσαν σιγῇ μένεα πνείοντες Ἀχαιοί.

⁶ καὶ ἄλλως δὲ λέγει πολλαχῶς. ὅμως δὲ καίπερ τοιούτων ὄντων πειρατέον διαιτᾶν ἕκαστα εἰς δύναμιν· ὅ τι δʼ ἂν διαφύγῃ τῆς παλαιᾶς ἱστορίας, τοῦτο μὲν ἐατέον (οὐ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὸ τῆς γεωγραφίας ἔργον), τὰ δὲ νῦν ὄντα λεκτέον.

[8] ἔστι τοίνυν ὄρη δύο ὑπερκείμενα τῆς Προποντίδος ὅ τε Ὄλυμπος ὁ Μύσιος καὶ ἡ Ἴδη. τῷ μὲν οὖν Ὀλύμπῳ τὰ τῶν Βιθυνῶν ὑποπέπτωκε, τῆς δὲ Ἴδης μεταξὺ καὶ τῆς θαλάττης ἡ Τροία κεῖται συνάπτουσα τῷ ὄρει· περὶ μὲν οὖν ταύτης ἐροῦμεν ὕστερον καὶ τῶν συνεχῶν αὐτῇ πρὸς νότον, νῦν δὲ περὶ τῶν Ὀλυμπηνῶν καὶ τῶν ἐφεξῆς μέχρι τοῦ Ταύρου παραλλήλων τοῖς προεφωδευμένοις λέγωμεν. ἔστι τοίνυν ὁ Ὄλυμπος κύκλῳ μὲν εὖ συνοικούμενος, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ὕψεσι δρυμοὺς ἐξαισίους ἔχων καὶ λῃστήρια δυναμένους ἐκτρέφειν τόπους εὐερκεῖς, ἐν οἷς καὶ τύραννοι συνίστανται πολλάκις δυνάμενοι συμμεῖναι πολὺν χρόνον, καθάπερ Κλέων ὁ καθʼ ἡμᾶς τῶν λῃστηρίων ἡγεμών.

[9] οὗτος δʼ ἦν μὲν ἐκ Γορδίου κώμης, ἣν ὕστερον αὐξήσας ἐποίησε πόλιν καὶ προσηγόρευσεν Ἰουλιόπολιν· λῃστηρίῳ δʼ ἐχρῆτο καὶ ὁρμητηρίῳ κατʼ ἀρχὰς τῷ καρτερωτάτῳ τῶν χωρίων ὄνομα Καλλυδίῳ. ὑπῆρξε δʼ Ἀντωνίῳ μὲν χρήσιμος ἐπελθὼν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀργυρολογοῦντας Λαβιηνῷ καθʼ ὃν χρόνον ἐκεῖνος τὴν Ἀσίαν κατέσχε, καὶ κωλύσας τὰς παρασκευάς· ἐν δὲ τοῖς Ἀκτιακοῖς ἀποστὰς Ἀντωνίου τοῖς Καίσαρος προσέθετο στρατηγοῖς, καὶ ἐτιμήθη πλέον ἢ κατʼ ἀξίαν προσλαβὼν τοῖς παρʼ Ἀντωνίου δοθεῖσι καὶ τὰ παρὰ τοῦ Καίσαρος, ὥστʼ ἀντὶ λῃστοῦ δυνάστου περιέκειτο σχῆμα, ἱερεὺς μὲν ὢν τοῦ Ἀβρεττηνοῦ Διός, Μυσίου θεοῦ, μέρος δʼ ἔχων ὑπήκοον τῆς Μωρηνῆς (Μυσία δέ ἐστι καὶ αὕτη, καθάπερ ἡ Ἀβρεττηνή), λαβὼν δὲ ὕστατα καὶ τὴν ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ τῶν Κομάνων ἱερωσύνην, εἰς ἣν κατελθὼν ἐντὸς μηνιαίου χρόνου κατέστρεψε τὸν βίον· νόσος δʼ ἐξήγαγεν αὐτὸν ὀξεῖα, εἴτʼ ἄλλως ἐπιπεσοῦσα ἐκ τῆς ἅδην πλησμονῆς εἴθʼ, ὡς ἔφασαν οἱ περὶ τὸ ἱερόν, κατὰ μῆνιν τῆς θεοῦ· ἐν γὰρ τῷ περιβόλῳ τοῦ τεμένους ἡ οἴκησίς ἐστιν ἥ τε τοῦ ἱερέως καὶ τῆς ἱερείας, τὸ δὲ τέμενος χωρὶς τῆς ἄλλης ἁγιστείας διαφανέστατα τῆς τῶν ὑείων κρεῶν βρώσεως καθαρεύει, ὅπου γε καὶ ἡ ὅλη πόλις, οὐδʼ εἰσάγεται εἰς αὐτὴν ὗς· ὁ δʼ ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις τὸ λῃστρικὸν ἦθος ἐπεδείξατο εὐθὺς κατὰ τὴν πρώτην εἴσοδον τῇ παραβάσει τούτου τοῦ ἔθους ὥσπερ οὐχ ἱερεὺς εἰσεληλυθὼς ἀλλὰ διαφθορεὺς τῶν ἱερῶν.

[10] ὁ μὲν δὴ Ὄλυμπος τοιόσδε, περιοικεῖται δὲ πρὸς ἄρκτον μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν Βιθυνῶν καὶ Μυγδόνων καὶ Δολιόνων, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν ἔχουσι Μυσοὶ καὶ Ἐπίκτητοι. Δολίονας μὲν οὖν μάλιστα καλοῦσι τοὺς περὶ Κύζικον ἀπὸ Αἰσήπου ἕως Ῥυνδάκου καὶ τῆς Δασκυλίτιδος λίμνης, Μυγδόνας δὲ τοὺς ἐφεξῆς τούτοις μέχρι τῆς Μυρλειανῶν χώρας· ὑπέρκεινται δὲ τῆς Δασκυλίτιδος ἄλλαι δύο λίμναι μεγάλαι ἥ τε Ἀπολλωνιᾶτις ἥ τε Μιλητοπολῖτις· πρὸς μὲν οὖν τῇ Δασκυλίτιδι Δασκύλιον πόλις, πρὸς δὲ τῇ Μιλητοπολίτιδι Μιλητούπολις, πρὸς δὲ τῇ τρίτῃ Ἀπολλωνία ἡ ἐπὶ Ῥυνδάκῳ λεγομένη· τὰ πλεῖστα δὲ τούτων ἐστὶ Κυζικηνῶν νυνί.

[11] ἔστι δὲ νῆσος ἐν τῇ Προποντίδι ἡ Κύζικος συναπτομένη γεφύραις δυσὶ πρὸς τὴν ἤπειρον, ἀρετῇ μὲν κρατίστη μεγέθει δὲ ὅσον πεντακοσίων σταδίων τὴν περίμετρον· ἔχει δὲ ὁμώνυμον πόλιν πρὸς αὐταῖς ταῖς γεφύραις καὶ λιμένας δύο κλειστοὺς καὶ νεωσοίκους πλείους τῶν διακοσίων· τῆς δὲ πόλεως τὸ μὲν ἔστιν ἐν ἐπιπέδῳ τὸ δὲ πρὸς ὄρει· καλεῖται δʼ Ἄρκτων ὄρος· ὑπέρκειται δʼ ἄλλο Δίνδυμον μονοφυές, ἱερὸν ἔχον τῆς Δινδυμήνης μητρὸς θεῶν, ἵδρυμα τῶν Ἀργοναυτῶν. ἔστι δʼ ἐνάμιλλος ταῖς πρώταις τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν ἡ πόλις μεγέθει τε καὶ κάλλει καὶ εὐνομίᾳ πρός τε εἰρήνην καὶ πόλεμον· ἔοικέ τε τῷ παραπλησίῳ τύπῳ κοσμεῖσθαι ὥσπερ ἡ τῶν Ῥοδίων καὶ Μασσαλιωτῶν καὶ Καρχηδονίων τῶν πάλαι. τὰ μὲν οὖν πολλὰ ἐῶ, τρεῖς δʼ ἀρχιτέκτονας τοὺς ἐπιμελουμένους οἰκοδομημάτων τε δημοσίων καὶ ὀργάνων, τρεῖς δὲ καὶ θησαυροὺς κέκτηται, τὸν μὲν ὅπλων τὸν δʼ ὀργάνων τὸν δὲ σίτου· ποιεῖ δὲ τὸν σῖτον ἄσηπτον ἡ Χαλκιδικὴ γῆ μιγνυμένη. ἐπεδείξαντο δὲ τὴν ἐκ τῆς παρασκευῆς ταύτης ὠφέλειαν ἐν τῷ Μιθριδατικῷ πολέμῳ. ἐπελθόντος γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἀδοκήτως τοῦ βασιλέως πεντεκαίδεκα μυριάσι καὶ ἵππῳ πολλῇ καὶ κατασχόντος τὸ ἀντικείμενον ὄρος ὃ καλοῦσιν Ἀδραστείας καὶ τὸ προάστειον, ἔπειτα καὶ διάραντος εἰς τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως αὐχένα καὶ προσμαχομένου πεζῇ τε καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν τετρακοσίαις ναυσίν, ἀντέσχον πρὸς ἅπαντα οἱ Κυζικηνοί, ὥστε καὶ ἐγγὺς ἦλθον τοῦ ζωγρίᾳ λαβεῖν τὸν βασιλέα ἐν τῇ διώρυγι ἀντιδιορύττοντες, ἀλλʼ ἔφθη φυλαξάμενος καὶ ἀναλαβὼν ἑαυτὸν ἔξω τοῦ ὀρύγματος· ὀψὲ δὲ ἴσχυσεν εἰσπέμψαι τινὰς νύκτωρ ἐπικούρους ὁ τῶν Ῥωμαίων στρατηγὸς Λεύκολλος· ὤνησε δὲ καὶ λιμὸς τῷ τοσούτῳ πλήθει τῆς στρατιᾶς ἐπιπεσών, ὃν οὐ προείδετο ὁ βασιλεύς, ὡς ἀπῆλθε πολλοὺς ἀποβαλών. Ῥωμαῖοι δʼ ἐτίμησαν τὴν πόλιν, καὶ ἔστιν ἐλευθέρα μέχρι νῦν καὶ χώραν ἔχει πολλὴν τὴν μὲν ἐκ παλαιοῦ τὴν δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαίων προσθέντων. καὶ γὰρ τῆς Τρῳάδος ἔχουσι τὰ πέραν τοῦ Αἰσήπου τὰ περὶ τὴν Ζέλειαν καὶ τὸ τῆς Ἀδραστείας πεδίον· καὶ τῆς Δασκυλίτιδος λίμνης τὰ μὲν ἔχουσιν ἐκεῖνοι τὰ δὲ Βυζάντιοι· πρὸς δὲ τῇ Δολιονίδι καὶ τῇ Μυγδονίδι νέμονται πολλὴν μέχρι τῆς Μιλητοπολίτιδος λίμνης καὶ τῆς Ἀπολλωνιάτιδος αὐτῆς, διʼ ὧν χωρίων καὶ ὁ Ῥύνδακος ῥεῖ ποταμὸς τὰς ἀρχὰς ἔχων ἐκ τῆς Ἀζανίτιδος, προσλαβὼν δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῆς Ἀβρεττηνῆς Μυσίας ἄλλους τε καὶ Μέκεστον ἀπʼ Ἀγκύρας τῆς Ἀβαείτιδος ἐκδίδωσιν εἰς τὴν Προποντίδα κατὰ Βέσβικον νῆσον. ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ τῇ νήσῳ τῶν Κυζικηνῶν ὄρος ἐστὶν εὔδενδρον Ἀρτάκη· καὶ νησίον ὁμώνυμον πρόκειται τούτου, καὶ πλησίον ἀκρωτήριον Μέλανος καλούμενον ἐν παράπλῳ τοῖς εἰς Πρίαπον κομιζομένοις ἐκ τῆς Κυζίκου.

[12] τῆς δʼ ἐπικτήτου Φρυγίας Ἀζανοί τέ εἰσι καὶ Νακολία καὶ Κοτιάειον καὶ Μιδάειον καὶ Δορυλάειον πόλεις καὶ Κάδοι· τοὺς δὲ Κάδους ἔνιοι τῆς Μυσίας φασίν. ἡ δὲ Μυσία κατὰ τὴν μεσόγαιαν ἀπὸ τῆς Ὀλυμπηνῆς ἐπὶ τὴν Περγαμηνὴν καθήκει καὶ τὸ Καΐκου λεγόμενον πεδίον, ὥστε μεταξὺ κεῖσθαι τῆς τε Ἴδης καὶ τῆς Κατακεκαυμένης, ἣν οἱ μὲν Μυσίαν οἱ δὲ Μαιονίαν φασίν.

[13] ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς Ἐπικτήτου πρὸς νότον ἐστὶν ἡ μεγάλη Φρυγία, λείπουσα ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τὴν Πεσσινοῦντα καὶ τὰ περὶ Ὀρκαόρκους καὶ Λυκαονίαν, ἐν δεξιᾷ δὲ Μαίονας καὶ Λυδοὺς καὶ Κᾶρας· ἐν ᾗ ἔστιν ἥ τε Παρώρειος λεγομένη Φρυγία καὶ ἡ πρὸς Πισιδίᾳ καὶ τὰ περὶ Ἀμόριον καὶ Εὐμένειαν καὶ Σύνναδα, εἶτα Ἀπάμεια ἡ Κιβωτὸς λεγομένη καὶ Λαοδίκεια, αἵπερ εἰσὶ μέγισται τῶν κατὰ τὴν Φρυγίαν πόλεων· περίκειται δὲ ταύταις πολίσματα καὶ Ἀφροδισιὰς Κολοσσαὶ Θεμισώνιον Σαναὸς Μητρόπολις Ἀπολλωνιάς, ἔτι δὲ ἀπωτέρω τούτων Πέλται Τάβαι Εὐκαρπία Λυσιάς.

[14] ἡ μὲν οὖν παρώρεια ὀρεινήν τινα ἔχει ῥάχιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνατολῆς ἐκτεινομένην ἐπὶ δύσιν· ταύτῃ δʼ ἑκατέρωθεν ὑποπέπτωκέ τι πεδίον μέγα, καὶ πόλεις πλησίον αὐτῆς πρὸς ἄρκτον μὲν Φιλομήλιον, ἐκ θατέρου δὲ μέρους Ἀντιόχεια ἡ πρὸς Πισιδίᾳ καλουμένη, ἡ μὲν ἐν πεδίῳ κειμένη πᾶσα ἡ δʼ ἐπὶ λόφου ἔχουσα ἀποικίαν Ῥωμαίων· ταύτην δʼ ᾤκισαν Μάγνητες οἱ πρὸς Μαιάνδρῳ. Ῥωμαῖοι δʼ ἠλευθέρωσαν τῶν βασιλέων, ἡνίκα τὴν ἄλλην Ἀσίαν Εὐμένει παρέδοσαν τὴν ἐντὸς τοῦ Ταύρου· ἦν δὲ ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἱερωσύνη τις Μηνὸς Ἀρκαίου, πλῆθος ἔχουσα ἱεροδούλων καὶ χωρίων ἱερῶν· κατελύθη δὲ μετὰ τὴν Ἀμύντου τελευτὴν ὑπὸ τῶν πεμφθέντων ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκείνου κληρονομίαν. Σύνναδα δʼ ἐστὶν οὐ μεγάλη πόλις· πρόκειται δʼ αὐτῆς ἐλαιόφυτον πεδίον ὅσον ἑξήκοντα σταδίων· ἐπέκεινα δʼ ἐστὶ Δοκιμία κώμη, καὶ τὸ λατόμιον Συνναδικοῦ λίθου (οὕτω μὲν Ῥωμαῖοι καλοῦσιν, οἱ δʼ ἐπιχώριοι Δοκιμίτην καὶ Δοκιμαῖον), κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν μικροὺς βώλους ἐκδιδόντος τοῦ μετάλλου, διὰ δὲ τὴν νυνὶ πολυτέλειαν τῶν Ῥωμαίων κίονες ἐξαιροῦνται μονόλιθοι μεγάλοι, πλησιάζοντες τῷ ἀλαβαστρίτῃ λίθῳ κατὰ τὴν ποικιλίαν, ὥστε καίπερ πολλῆς οὔσης τῆς ἐπὶ θάλατταν ἀγωγῆς τῶν τηλικούτων φορτίων ὅμως καὶ κίονες καὶ πλάκες εἰς Ῥώμην κομίζονται θαυμασταὶ κατὰ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ κάλλος.

[15] Ἀπάμεια δʼ ἐστὶν ἐμπόριον μέγα τῆς ἰδίως λεγομένης Ἀσίας, δευτερεῦον μετὰ τὴν Ἔφεσον· αὕτη γὰρ καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰταλίας καὶ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ὑποδοχεῖον κοινόν ἐστιν. ἵδρυται δὲ ἡ Ἀπάμεια ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐκβολαῖς τοῦ Μαρσύου ποταμοῦ, καὶ ῥεῖ διὰ μέσης τῆς πόλεως ὁ ποταμὸς τὰς ἀρχὰς ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως ἔχων· κατενεχθεὶς δʼ ἐπὶ τὸ προάστειον σφοδρῷ καὶ καταφερεῖ τῷ ῥεύματι συμβάλλει πρὸς τὸν Μαίανδρον, προσειληφότα καὶ ἄλλον ποταμὸν Ὀργᾶν διʼ ὁμαλοῦ φερόμενον πρᾶον καὶ μαλακόν· ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἤδη γενόμενος Μαίανδρος τέως μὲν διὰ τῆς Φρυγίας φέρεται, ἔπειτα διορίζει τὴν Καρίαν καὶ τὴν Λυδίαν κατὰ τὸ Μαιάνδρου καλούμενον πεδίον, σκολιὸς ὢν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν ὥστε ἐξ ἐκείνου τὰς σκολιότητας ἁπάσας μαιάνδρους καλεῖσθαι· τελευτῶν δὲ καὶ τὴν Καρίαν αὐτὴν διαρρεῖ τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰώνων νῦν κατεχομένην, καὶ μεταξὺ Μιλήτου καὶ Πριήνης ποιεῖται τὰς ἐκβολάς. ἄρχεται δὲ ἀπὸ Κελαινῶν, λόφου τινός, ἐν ᾧ πόλις ἦν ὁμώνυμος τῷ λόφῳ· ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἀναστήσας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ὁ Σωτὴρ Ἀντίοχος εἰς τὴν νῦν Ἀπάμειαν τῆς μητρὸς ἐπώνυμον τὴν πόλιν ἐπέδειξεν Ἀπάμας, ἣ θυγάτηρ μὲν ἦν Ἀρταβάζου δεδομένη δʼ ἐτύγχανε πρὸς γάμον Σελεύκῳ τῷ Νικάτορι. ἐνταῦθα δὲ μυθεύεται τὰ περὶ τὸν Ὄλυμπον καὶ τὸν Μαρσύαν καὶ τὴν ἔριν ἣν ἤρισεν ὁ Μαρσύας πρὸς Ἀπόλλωνα. ὑπέρκειται δὲ καὶ λίμνη φύουσα κάλαμον τὸν εἰς τὰς γλώττας τῶν αὐλῶν ἐπιτήδειον, ἐξ ἧς ἀπολείβεσθαί φασι τὰς πηγὰς ἀμφοτέρας τήν τε τοῦ Μαρσύου καὶ τὴν τοῦ Μαιάνδρου.

[16] ἡ δὲ Λαοδίκεια μικρὰ πρότερον οὖσα αὔξησιν ἔλαβεν ἐφʼ ἡμῶν καὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων πατέρων, καίτοι κακωθεῖσα ἐκ πολιορκίας ἐπὶ Μιθριδάτου τοῦ Εὐπάτορος· ἀλλʼ ἡ τῆς χώρας ἀρετὴ καὶ τῶν πολιτῶν τινες εὐτυχήσαντες μεγάλην ἐποίησαν αὐτήν, Ἱέρων μὲν πρότερον, ὃς πλειόνων ἢ δισχιλίων ταλάντων κληρονομίαν κατέλιπε τῷ δήμῳ πολλοῖς τʼ ἀναθήμασιν ἐκόσμησε τὴν πόλιν, Ζήνων δὲ ὁ ῥήτωρ ὕστερον καὶ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ Πολέμων, ὃς καὶ βασιλείας ἠξιώθη διὰ τὰς ἀνδραγαθίας ὑπʼ Ἀντωνίου μὲν πρότερον ὑπὸ Καίσαρος δὲ τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ μετὰ ταῦτα. φέρει δʼ ὁ περὶ τὴν Λαοδίκειαν τόπος προβάτων ἀρετὰς οὐκ εἰς μαλακότητα μόνον τῶν ἐρίων, ᾗ καὶ τῶν Μιλησίων διαφέρει, ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς τὴν κοραξὴν χρόαν, ὥστε καὶ προσοδεύονται λαμπρῶς ἀπʼ αὐτῶν, ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ Κολοσσηνοὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὁμωνύμου χρώματος πλησίον οἰκοῦντες. ἐνταῦθα δὲ καὶ ὁ Κάπρος καὶ ὁ Λύκος συμβάλλει τῷ Μαιάνδρῳ ποταμῷ, ποταμὸς εὐμεγέθης, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ ἡ πρὸς τῷ Λύκῳ Λαοδίκεια λέγεται. ὑπέρκειται δὲ τῆς πόλεως ὄρος Κάδμος, ἐξ οὗ καὶ ὁ Λύκος ῥεῖ καὶ ἄλλος ὁμώνυμος τῷ ὄρει. τὸ πλέον δʼ οὗτος ὑπὸ γῆς ῥυεὶς εἶτʼ ἀνακύψας συνέπεσεν εἰς ταὐτὸ τοῖς ἄλλοις ποταμοῖς, ἐμφαίνων ἅμα καὶ τὸ πολύτρητον τῆς χώρας καὶ τὸ εὔσειστον· εἰ γάρ τις ἄλλη, καὶ ἡ Λαοδίκεια εὔσειστος, καὶ τῆς πλησιοχώρου δὲ Κάρουρα.

[17] ὅριον δέ ἐστι τῆς Φρυγίας καὶ τῆς Καρίας τὰ Κάρουρα· κώμη δʼ ἐστὶν αὕτη πανδοχεῖα ἔχουσα καὶ ζεστῶν ὑδάτων ἐκβολάς, τὰς μὲν ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ Μαιάνδρῳ τὰς δʼ ὑπὲρ τοῦ χείλους. καὶ δή ποτέ φασι πορνοβοσκὸν αὐλισθέντα ἐν τοῖς πανδοχείοις σὺν πολλῷ πλήθει γυναικῶν νύκτωρ γενομένου σεισμοῦ συναφανισθῆναι πάσαις. σχεδὸν δέ τι καὶ πᾶσα εὔσειστός ἐστιν ἡ περὶ τὸν Μαίανδρον χώρα καὶ ὑπόνομος πυρί τε καὶ ὕδατι μέχρι τῆς μεσογαίας. διατέτακε γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν πεδίων ἀρξαμένη πᾶσα ἡ τοιαύτη κατασκευὴ τῆς χώρας εἰς τὰ Χαρώνια, τό τε ἐν Ἱεραπόλει καὶ τὸ ἐν Ἀχαράκοις τῆς Νυσαΐδος καὶ τὸ περὶ Μαγνησίαν καὶ Μυοῦντα· εὔθρυπτός τε γάρ ἐστιν ἡ γῆ καὶ ψαθυρὰ πλήρης τε ἁλμυρίδων καὶ εὐεκπύρωτός ἐστι· τάχα δὲ καὶ ὁ Μαίανδρος διὰ τοῦτο σκολιὸς ὅτι πολλὰς μεταπτώσεις λαμβάνει τὸ ῥεῖθρον, καὶ πολλὴν χοῦν κατάγων ἄλλοτʼ ἄλλῳ μέρει τῶν αἰγιαλῶν προστίθησι· τὸ δὲ πρὸς τὸ πέλαγος βιασάμενος ἐξωθεῖ. καὶ δὴ καὶ τὴν Πριήνην ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ πρότερον οὖσαν μεσόγεων πεποίηκε τετταράκοντα σταδίων προσχώματι.

[18] καὶ ἡ Κατακεκαυμένη δέ, ἥπερ ὑπὸ Λυδῶν καὶ Μυσῶν κατέχεται, διὰ τοιαῦτά τινα τῆς προσηγορίας τετύχηκε ταύτης· ἥ τε Φιλαδέλφεια, ἡ πρὸς αὐτῇ πόλις, οὐδὲ τοὺς τοίχους ἔχει πιστούς, ἀλλὰ καθʼ ἡμέραν τρόπον τινὰ σαλεύονται καὶ διίστανται διατελοῦσι δὲ προσέχοντες τοῖς πάθεσι τῆς γῆς καὶ ἀρχιτεκτονοῦντες πρὸς αὐτά. καὶ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ πόλεων Ἀπάμεια μὲν καὶ πρὸ τῆς Μιθριδάτου στρατείας ἐσείσθη πολλάκις, καὶ ἔδωκεν ἐπελθὼν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἑκατὸν τάλαντα εἰς ἐπανόρθωσιν, ὁρῶν ἀνατετραμμένην τὴν πόλιν. λέγεται δὲ καὶ ἐπʼ Ἀλεξάνδρου παραπλήσια συμβῆναι· διόπερ εἰκός ἐστι καὶ τὸν Ποσειδῶ τιμᾶσθαι παρʼ αὐτοῖς καίπερ μεσογαίοις οὖσι, καὶ ἀπὸ Κελαινοῦ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος ἐκ Κελαινοῦς, μιᾶς τῶν Δαναΐδων, γενομένου κεκλῆσθαι τὴν πόλιν ἐπώνυμον, ἢ διὰ τῶν λίθων τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἐκπυρώσεων μελανίαν. καὶ τὰ περὶ Σίπυλον δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀνατροπὴν αὐτοῦ μῦθον οὐ δεῖ τίθεσθαι· καὶ γὰρ νῦν τὴν Μαγνησίαν τὴν ὑπʼ αὐτῷ κατέβαλον σεισμοί, ἡνίκα καὶ Σάρδεις καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τὰς ἐπιφανεστάτας κατὰ πολλὰ μέρη διελυμήναντο· ἐπηνώρθωσε δʼ ὁ ἡγεμὼν χρήματα ἐπιδούς, καθάπερ καὶ πρότερον ἐπὶ τῆς γενομένης συμφορᾶς Τραλλιανοῖς (ἡνίκα τὸ γυμνάσιον καὶ ἄλλα μέρη συνέπεσεν) ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ καὶ τούτοις καὶ Λαοδικεῦσιν.

[19] ἀκούειν δʼ ἔστι καὶ τῶν παλαιῶν συγγραφέων οἷά φησιν ὁ τὰ Λύδια συγγράψας Ξάνθος, διηγούμενος οἷαι μεταβολαὶ κατέσχον πολλάκις τὴν χώραν ταύτην, ὧν ἐμνήσθημέν που καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν. καὶ δὴ καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν Τυφῶνα πάθη ἐνταῦθα μυθεύουσι καὶ τοὺς Ἀρίμους, καὶ τὴν Κατακεκαυμένην ταύτην εἶναί φασιν· οὐκ ὀκνοῦσι δὲ καὶ τὰ μεταξὺ Μαιάνδρου καὶ Λυδῶν ἅπανθʼ ὑπονοεῖν τοιαῦτα καὶ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν λιμνῶν καὶ ποταμῶν καὶ τοὺς πολλαχοῦ κευθμῶνας τῆς γῆς. ἡ δὲ μεταξὺ Λαοδικείας καὶ Ἀπαμείας λίμνη καὶ βορβορώδη καὶ ὑπονόμου τὴν ἀποφορὰν ἔχει πελαγία οὖσα· φασὶ δὲ καὶ δίκας εἶναι τῷ Μαιάνδρῳ μεταφέροντι τὰς χώρας ὅταν περικρουσθῶσιν οἱ ἀγκῶνες, ἁλόντος δὲ τὰς ζημίας ἐκ τῶν πορθμικῶν διαλύεσθαι τελῶν.

[20] μεταξὺ δὲ τῆς Λαοδικείας καὶ τῶν Καρούρων ἱερὸν ἔστι Μηνὸς Κάρου καλούμενον τιμώμενον ἀξιολόγως. συνέστη δὲ καθʼ ἡμᾶς διδασκαλεῖον Ἡροφιλείων ἰατρῶν μέγα ὑπὸ Ζεύξιδος, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Φιλαλήθους, καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῶν πατέρων τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐν Σμύρνῃ τὸ τῶν Ἐρασιστρατείων ὑπὸ Ἱκεσίου· νῦν δὲ οὐχ ὁμοίως ἔτι συμμένει.

[21] λέγεται δέ τινα φῦλα Φρύγια οὐδαμοῦ δεικνύμενα, ὥσπερ οἱ Βερέκυντες. καὶ Ἀλκμὰν λέγει

Φρύγιον ηὔλησε μέλος τὸ Κερβήσιον.

καὶ βόθυνός τις λέγεται Κερβήσιος ἔχων ὀλεθρίους ἀποφοράς· ἀλλʼ οὗτός γε δείκνυται, οἱ δʼ ἄνθρωποι οὐκέθʼ οὕτω λέγονται. Αἰσχύλος δὲ συγχεῖ ἐν τῇ Νιόβῃ· φησὶ γὰρ ἐκείνη μνησθήσεσθαι τῶν περὶ Τάνταλον

οἷς ἐν Ἰδαίῳ πάγῳ

Διὸς πατρῴου βωμός ἐστι

⁷ καὶ πάλιν

Σίπυλον Ἰδαίαν ἀνὰ χθόνα.

⁸ καὶ ὁ Τάνταλος λέγει

σπείρω δʼ ἄρουραν δώδεχʼ ἡμερῶν ὁδόν,

Βερέκυντα χῶρον, ἔνθʼ Ἀδραστείας ἕδος

Ἴδη τε μυκηθμοῖσι καὶ βρυχήμασι

βρέμουσι μήλων, πᾶν τʼ ἐρέχθειον πέδον.

⁹

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.) — 12.8 focus

CHAPTER VIII.

[1] THE people called Mysians, and Phrygians, who live around the so-called Mysian Olympus, border upon the Bithynians to the south. Each of these nations is divided into two parts. One is called the Greater Phrygia, of which Midas was king. A part of it was occupied by the Galatians. The other is the Lesser, or Phrygia on the Hellespont, or Phrygia around Olympus, and is also called Epictetus.

Mysia is also divided into two parts; Olympic Mysia, which is continuous with Bithynia, and with the Epictetus, (which, Artemidorus says, was inhabited by the Mysians beyond the Danube,) and the part around the Caïcus,¹ and the Pergamene² as far as Teuthrania, and the mouths of the river.

[2] This country, however, as we have frequently observed, has undergone so many changes, that it is uncertain whether the district around Sipylus,³ which the ancients called Phrygia, were a part of the Greater or the Lesser Phrygia, from whence Tantalus, Pelops, and Niobe were called Phrygians. Whatever the explanation may be, the change is certain. For Pergamene and Elaitis,⁴ through which country the Caïcus passes, and empties itself into the sea, and Teuthrania, situated between these two districts, where Teuthras lived, and Telephus was brought up, lies between the Hellespont, and the country about Sipylus, and Magnesia, which is at the foot of the mountain, so that, as I have said, it is difficult

To assign the confines of the Mysians and Phryges.—

[3] The Lydians also, and the Maeones, whom Homer calls Meones, are in some way confounded with these people and with one another; some authors say that they are the same, others that they are different, nations. Add to this that some writers regard the Mysians as Thracians, others as Lydians, according to an ancient tradition, which has been preserved by 8anthus the Lydian, and by Menecrates of Elaea, who assign as the origin of the name Mysians, that the Lydians call the beech-tree (Oxya) Mysos, which grows in great abundance near Olympus, where it is said decimated persons⁵ were exposed, whose descendants are the later Mysians, and received their appellation from the Mysos, or beech-tree growing in that country. The language also is an evidence of this. It is a mixture of Lydian and Phrygian words, for they lived some time in the neighbourhood of Olympus. But when the Phrygians passed over from Thrace, and put to death the chief of Troy and of the country near it, they settled here, but the Mysians established themselves above the sources of the Caïcus near Lydia.

[4] The confusion which has existed among the nations in this district, and even the fertility of the country within the Halys, particularly near the sea, have contributed to the invention of fables of this sort. The richness of the country provoked attacks, from various quarters, and at all times, of tribes who came from the opposite coast, or neighbouring people contended with one another for the possession of it. Inroads and migrations took place chiefly about the period of the Trojan war, and subsequently to that time, Barbarians as well as Greeks showing an eagerness to get possession of the territory of other nations. This disposition, however, showed itself before the time of the Trojan war; for there existed then tribes of Pelasgi, Caucones, and Leleges, who are said to have wandered, anciently, over various parts of Europe. The poet represents them as assisting the Trojans, but not as coming from the opposite coast. The accounts respecting the Phrygians and the Mysians are more ancient than the Trojan times.

Two tribes bearing the name of Lycians, lead us to suppose that they are the same race; either the Trojan Lycians sent colonies to the Carians, or the Carian Lycians to the Trojans. Perhaps the same may be the case with the Cilicians, for they also are divided into two tribes; but we have not the same evidence that the present Cilicians existed before the Trojan times. Telephus may be supposed to have come with his mother from Arcadia; by her marriage with Teuthras, (who had received them as his guests,) Telephus was admitted into the family of Teuthras, was reputed to be his son, and succeeded to the kingdom of the Mysians.

[5] The Carians, who were formerly islanders, and Leleges, it is said, settled on the continent with the assistance of the Cretans. They built Miletus, of which the founder was Sarpedon from Miletus in Crete. They settled the colony of Termilmae in the present Lycia, but, according to Herodotus,⁶ these people were a colony from Crete under the conduct of Sarpedon, brother of Minos and Rhadamanthus, who gave the name of Termilae to the people formerly called Milyae, and still more anciently Solymi; when, however, Lycus the son of Pandion arrived, he called them Lycii after his own name. This account shows that the Solymi and Lycians were the same people, but the poet distinguishes them. He represents Bellerophon setting out from Lycia, and

fighting with the renowned Solymi.⁷

Il. vi. 184. He says Peisander (Isander?), his son, Mars

slew when fighting with the Solymi,⁸

Il. vi. 204. and speaks of Sarpedon as a native of Lycia.⁹

[6] That the common prize, proposed to be obtained by the conquerors, was the fertile country which I am describing, is confirmed by many circumstances which happened both before and after the Trojan times. When even the Amazons ventured to invade it, Priam and Bellerophon are said to have undertaken an expedition against these women. Anciently there were cities which bore the names of the Amazons. In the Ilian plain there is a hill

which men call Batieia, but the immortals, the tomb of the bounding ( πολυσκάεθμοιο) Myrina,

who, according to historians, was one of the Amazons, and they found this conjecture on the epithet, for horses are said to be εὺσκάρθμοι on account of their speed; and she was called πολὺσκαρμος from the rapidity with which she drove the chariot. Myrina therefore, the place, was named after the Amazon. In the same manner the neighbouring islands were invaded on account of their fertility; among which were Rhodes and Cos. That they were inhabited before the Trojan times clearly appears from the testimony of Homer.¹⁰

[7] After the Trojan times, the migrations of Greeks and of Treres, the inroads of Cimmerians and Lydians, afterwards of Persians and Macedonians, and lastly of Galatians, threw everything into confusion. An obscurity arose not from these changes only, but from the disagreement between authors in their narration of the same events, and in their description of the same persons; for they called Trojans Phrygians, like the Tragic poets; and Lycians Carians, and similarly in other instances. The Trojans who, from a small beginning, increased so much in power that they became kings of kings, furnished a motive to the poet and his interpreters, for determining what country ought to be called Troy. For the poet calls by the common name of Trojans all their auxiliaries, as he calls their enemies Danai and Achaei. But certainly we should not give the name of Troy to Paphlagonia, or to Caria, or to Lycia, which borders upon it. I mean when the poet says,

the Trojans advanced with the clashing of armour and shouts,¹¹

Il. iii. and where he speaks of their enemies,

but the Achaei advanced silently, breathing forth warlike ardour,¹²

Il. iii. 8. and thus frequently in other passages.

We must endeavour, however, to distinguish as far as we are able one nation from another, notwithstanding this uncertainty. If anything relative to ancient history escapes my notice, it must be pardoned, for this is not the province of the geographer; my concern is with the present state of people and places.

[8] There are two mountains situated above the Propontis, the Mysian Olympus¹³ and Ida.¹⁴ At the foot of Olympus is Bithynia, and, contiguous to the mountain, between Ida and the sea, is Troy.

We shall afterwards speak of Troy, and of the places continuous with it on the south. At present we shall give an account of the places about Olympus, and of the adjoining country as far as the Taurus, and parallel to the parts which we have previously described.

The country lying around Olympus is not well inhabited. On its heights are immense forests and strongholds, well adapted for the protection of robbers, who, being able to maintain themselves there for any length of time, often set themselves up as tyrants, as Cleon a captain of a band of robbers did in my recollection.

[9] Cleon was a native of the village Gordium, which he afterwards enlarged, and erected into a city, giving it the name of Juliopolis. His first retreat and head-quarters was a place called Callydium, one of the strongest holds. He was of service to Antony in attacking the soldiers who collected money for Labienus, at the time that the latter occupied Asia, and thus hindered the preparations which he was making for his defence. In the Actian war he separated himself from Antony and attached himself to the generals of Caesar; he was rewarded above his deserts, for in addition to what he received from Antony he obtained power from Caesar, and exchanged the character of a freebooter for that of a petty prince. He was priest of Jupiter Abrettenus, the Mysian god, and a portion of the Morena was subject to him, which, like Abrettena, is Mysian. He finally obtained the priesthood of Comana in Pontus, and went to take possession of it, but died within a month after his arrival. He was carried off by an acute disease, occasioned either by excessive repletion, or, according to the account of those employed about the temple, inflicted by the anger of the goddess. The story is this. Within the circuit of the sacred enclosure is the dwelling of the priest and priestess. Besides other sacred observances relative to the temple, the purity of this enclosure is an especial object of vigilance, by abstinence from eating swine’s flesh. The whole city, indeed, is bound to abstain from this food, and swine are not permitted to enter it. Cleon, however, immediately upon his arrival displayed his lawless disposition and character by violating this custom, as if he had come there not as a priest, but a polluter of sacred things.

[10] The description of Olympus is as follows. Around it, to the north, live Bithynians, Mygdonians, and Doliones; the rest is occupied by Mysians and Epicteti. The tribes about Cyzicus¹⁵ from Aesepus¹⁶ as far as Rhyndacus¹⁷ and the lake Dascylitis,¹⁸ are called for the most part Doliones; those next to the Doliones, and extending as far as the territory of the Myrleani,¹⁹ are called Mygdones. Above the Dascylitis are two large lakes, the Apolloniatis,²⁰ and the Miletopolitis.²¹ Near the Dascylitis is the city Dascylium, and on the Miletopolitis, Miletopolis. Near a third lake is Apollonia on the Rhyndacus, as it is called. Most of these places belong at present to the Cyziceni.

[11] Cyzicus is an island²² in the Propontis, joined to the continent by two bridges. It is exceedingly fertile. It is about 500 stadia in circumference. There is a city of the same name near the bridges, with two close harbours, and more than two hundred docks for vessels. One part of the city is in a plain, the other near the mountain which is called Arcton-oros (or Bear-mountain). Above this is another mountain, the Dindymus, with one peak, having on it a temple founded by the Argonauts in honour of Dindymene, mother of the gods. This city rivals in size, beauty, and in the excellent administration of affairs, both in peace and war, the cities which hold the first rank in Asia. It appears to be embellished in a manner similar to Rhodes, Massalia,²³ and ancient Carthage. I omit many details. There are three architects, to whom is intrusted the care of the public edifices and engines. The city has also three store-houses, one for arms, one for engines, and one for corn. The Chalcidic earth mixed with the corn prevents it from spoiling. The utility of preserving it in this manner was proved in the Mithridatic war. The king attacked the city unexpectedly with an army of 150,000 men and a large body of cavalry, and made himself master of the opposite hill, which is called the hill of Adrasteia, and of the suburb. He afterwards transferred his camp to the neck of land above the city, blockaded it by land, and attacked it by sea with four hundred ships. The Cyziceni resisted all these attempts, and were even nearly capturing the king in a subterraneous passage, by working a countermine. He was, however, apprized of it, and escaped by retreating in time out of the excavation. Lucullus, the Roman general, was able, though late, to send succours into the city by night. Famine also came to the aid of the Cyziceni by spreading among this large army. The king did not foresee this, and after losing great numbers of his men went away. The Romans respected the city, and to this present time it enjoys freedom. A large territory belongs to it, some part of which it has held from the earliest times; the rest was a gift of the Romans. Of the Troad they possess the parts beyond the Aesepus, namely, those about Zeleia and the plain of Adrasteia; a part of the lake Dascylitis belongs to them, the other part belongs to the Byzantines. They also possess a large district near the Dolionis, and the Mygdonis, extending as far as the lake Miletopolitis, and the Apolloniatis. Through these countries runs the river Rhyndacus, which has its source in the Azanitis. Having received from Mysia Abrettene, among other rivers, the Macestus,²⁴ which comes from Ancyra²⁵ in the Abaeitis, it empties itself into the Propontis at the island Besbicus.²⁶

In this island of the Cyziceni is the mountain Artace, well wooded, and in front of it lies a small island of the same name; near it is the promontory Melas (or Black), as it is called, which is met with in coasting from Cyzicus to Priapus.²⁷

[12] To Phrygian Epictetus belong the Azani, and the cities Nacoleia, Cotiaeium,²⁸ Midiaeium, Dorylaeum,²⁹ and Cadi.³⁰ Some persons assign Cadi to Mysia.

Mysia extends in the inland parts from Olympene to Pergamene, and to the plain of Caïcus, as it is called; so that it lies between Ida and the Catacecaumene, which some place in Mysia, others in Maeonia.

[13] Beyond the Epictetus to the south is the Greater Phrygia, leaving on the left Pessinus, and the parts about Orcaorci, and Lycaonia, and on the right Maeones, Lydians, and Carians. In the Epictetus are Phrygia Paroreia, and the country towards Pisidia, and the parts about Amorium,³¹ Eumeneia,³² and Synnada.³³ Next are Apameia Cibotus,³⁴ and Laodiceia,³⁵ the largest cities in Phrygia. Around them lie the towns [and places], Aphrodisias,³⁶ Colossae,³⁷ Themisonium,³⁸ Sanaus, Metropolis,³⁹ Apollonias, and farther off than these, Pelte, Tabeae, Eucarpia, and Lysias.

[14] The Paroreia⁴⁰ has a mountainous ridge extending from east to west. Below it on either side stretches a large plain, cities are situated near the ridge, on the north side, Philome lium,⁴¹ on the south Antiocheia, surnamed Near Pisidia.⁴² The former lies entirely in the plain, the other is on a hill, and occupied by a Roman colony. This was founded by the Magnetes, who live near the Maeander. The Romans liberated them from the dominion of the kings, when they delivered up the rest of Asia within the Taurus to Eumenes. In this place was established a priesthood of Men Arcaeus, having attached to it a multitude of sacred attendants, and tracts of sacred territory. It was abolished after the death of Amyntas by those who were sent to settle the succession to his kingdom.

Synnada is not a large city. In front of it is a plain planted with olives, about 60 stadia in extent. Beyond is Docimia, a village, and the quarry of the Synnadic marble. This is the name given to it by the Romans, but the people of the country call it Docimite and Docimaean. At first the quarry produced small masses, but at present, through the extravagance of the Romans, pillars are obtained, consisting of a single stone and of great size, approaching the alabastrite marble in variety of colours; although the distant carriage of such heavy loads to the sea is difficult, yet both pillars and slabs of surprising magnitude and beauty are conveyed to Rome.

[15] Apameia is a large mart of Asia, properly so called, and second in rank to Ephesus, for it is the common staple for merchandise brought from Italy and from Greece. It is built upon the mouth of the river Marsyas, which runs through the middle of it, and has its commencement above the city; being carried down to the suburb with a strong and precipitous current, it enters the Maeander,⁴³ which receives also another river, the Orgas, and traverses a level tract with a gentle and unruffled stream. Here the Meander becomes a large river, and flows for some time through Phrygia; it then separates Caria and Lydia at the plain, as it is called, of the Meander, running in a direction excessively tortuous, so that from the course of this river all windings are called Maeanders. Towards its termination it runs through the part of Caria occupied by the Ionians; the mouths by which it empties itself are between Miletus and Priene.⁴⁴ It rises in a hill called Celaemae, on which was a city of the same name. Antiochus Soter transferred the inhabitants to the present Apameia, and called the city after his mother Apama, who was the daughter of Artabazus. She was given in marriage to Seleucus Nicator. Here is laid the scene of the fable of Olympus and Marsyas, and of the contest between Marsyas and Apollo. Above is situated a lake⁴⁵ on which grows a reed, which is suited to the mouth-pieces of pipes. From this lake, it is said, spring the Marsyas and the Maeander.

[16] Laodiceia,⁴⁶ formerly a small town, has increased in our time, and in that of our ancestors, although it received great injury when it was besieged by Mithridates Eupator; the fertility however of the soil and the prosperity of some of its citizens have aggrandized it. First, Hiero embellished the city with many offerings, and bequeathed to the people more than 2000 talents; then Zeno the rhetorician, and his son Polemo, were an ornament and support to it; the latter was thought by Antony, and afterwards by Augustus Caesar, worthy even of the rank of king in consequence of his valiant and upright conduct.

The country around Laodiceia breeds excellent sheep, remarkable not only for the softness of their wool, in which they surpass the Milesian flocks, but for their dark or raven colour. The Laodiceans derive a large revenue from them, as the Colosseni do from their flocks, of a colour of the same name.

Here the Caprus and the Lycus, a large river, enter the Maeander. From the Lycus, a considerable river, Laodiceia has the name of Laodiceia on the Lycus. Above the city is the mountain Cadmus, from which the Lycus issues, and another river of the same name as the mountain. The greater part of its course is under-ground; it then emerges, and unites with other rivers, showing that the country abounds with caverns and is liable to earthquakes. For of all countries Laodiceia is very subject to earthquakes, as also the neighbouring district Carura.

[17] Carura⁴⁷ is the boundary of Phrygia and Caria. It is a village, where there are inns for the reception of travellers, and springs of boiling water, some of which rise in the river Maeander, and others on its banks. There is a story, that a pimp had lodgings in the inns for a great company of women, and that during the night he and all the women were overwhelmed by an earthquake and disappeared. Nearly the whole of the country about the Maeander, as far as the inland parts, is subject to earthquakes, and is undermined by fire and water. For all this cavernous condition of the country, beginning from the plains, extends to the Charonia; it exists likewise in Hierapolis, and in Acharaca in the district Nysaeis, also in the plain of Magnesia, and in Myus. The soil is dry and easily reduced to powder, full of salts, and very inflammable. This perhaps is the reason why the course of the Maeander is winding, for the stream is diverted in many places from its direction, and brings down a great quantity of alluvial soil, some part of which it deposits in various places along the shore, and forcing the rest forwards occasions it to drift into the open sea. It has made, for example, Priene, which was formerly upon the sea, an inland city, by the deposition of banks of alluvial earth along an extent of 40 stadia.

[18] Phrygia Catacecaumene, (or the Burnt,) which is occupied by Lydians and Mysians, obtained this name from something of the following kind. In Philadelphia,⁴⁸ a city adjoining to it, even the walls of the houses are not safe, for nearly every day they are shaken, and crevices appear. The inhabitants are constantly attentive to these accidents to which the ground is subject, and build with a view to their occurrence.

Apameia among other cities experienced, before the invasion of Mithridates, frequent earthquakes, and the king, on his arrival, when he saw the overthrow of the city, gave a hundred talents for its restoration. It is said that the same thing happened in the time of Alexander; for this reason it is probable that Neptune is worshipped there, although they are an inland people, and that it had the name of Celaenae from Celvanus,⁴⁹ the son of Neptune, by Celaeno, one of the Danaides, or from the black colour of the stones, or from the blackness which is the effect of combustion. What is related of Sipylus and its overthrow is not to be regarded as a fable. For earthquakes overthrew the present Magnesia, which is situated below that mountain, at the time that Sardis and other cele brated cities in various parts sustained great injury.⁵⁰ The emperor⁵¹ gave a sum of money for their restoration, as formerly his father had assisted the Tralliani on the occurrence of a similar calamity, when the gymnasium and other parts of the city were destroyed; in the same manner he had assisted also the Laodiceans.

[19] We must listen, however, to the ancient historians, and to the account of 8anthus, who composed a history of Lydian affairs; he relates the changes which had frequently taken place in this country,—I have mentioned them in a former part of my work.⁵² Here is laid the scene of the fable of what befell Typhon; here are placed the Arimi, and this country is said to be the Catacecaumene. Nor do historians hesitate to suppose, that the places between the Maeander and the Lydians are all of this nature, as well on account of the number of lakes and rivers, as the caverns, which are to be found in many parts of the country. The waters of the lake between Laodiceia and Apameia, although like a sea, emit a muddy smell, as if they had come through a subterraneous channel. It is said that actions are brought against the Maeander for transferring land from one place to another by sweeping away the angles of the windings, and a fine is levied out of the toll, which is paid at the ferries.

[20] Between Laodiceia and Carura is a temple of Mén Carus, which is held in great veneration. In our time there was a large Herophilian⁵³ school of medicine under the direction of Zeuxis,⁵⁴ and afterwards of Alexander Philalethes, as in the time of our ancestors there was, at Smyrna, a school of the disciples of Erasistratus under the conduct of Hicesius, At present there is nothing of this kind.

[21] The names of some Phrygian tribes, as the Berecyntes [and Cerbesii], are mentioned, which no longer exist. And Aleman says,

He played the Cerbesian, a Phrygian air.

They speak also of a Cerbesian pit which sends forth destructive exhalations; this however exists, but the people have no longer the name of Cerbesii. Aeschylus in his Niobe⁵⁵ confounds them; Niobe says that she shall remember Tantalus, and his story;

those who have an altar of Jupiter, their paternal god, on the Idaean hill,

and again;

Sipylus in the Idaean land,

—and Tantalus says,

I sow the furrows of the Berecynthian fields, extending twelve days’ journey, where the seat of Adrasteia and Ida resound with the lowing of herds and the bleating of sheep; all the plain re-echoes with their cries.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. 12. 4. 4 f.

2. Cf. 12. 4. 3 and footnote.

3. See 7. 3. 2, 10; 12. 3. 3, and 12. 4. 8.

4. See 12. 4. 4.

5. See 12. 4. 4.

6. Again the Mysians and Phrygians.

7. i.e., the oxya-tree, a kind of beech-tree, which is called “oxya” by the Greeks, is called “mysos” by the Lydians.

8. i.e., one-tenth of the people were, in accordance with some religious vow, sent out of their country to the neighborhood of Mt. Olympus and there dedicated to the service of some god.

9. 5. 2. 4 and 7. 7. 10.

10. Cp. 12. 8. 7.

11. Cp. 13. 1. 60.

12. 1. 173; 7. 92.

13. Hom. Il. 6.184

14. “Isander” is the spelling of the name in the Iliad.

15. Hom. Il. 6.204

16. Hom. Il. 6. 199

17. The country this side the Halys (section 4 above).

18. i.e., as well as by events during, and prior to, that war.

19. Hom. Il. 2.813

20. See 14. 2. 7.

21. Hom. Il. 3.2

22. Hom. Il. 3.8

23. 13. 1. 34, 35.

24. Quintus Labienus, son of Titus Labienus the tribune.

25. 40-39 B.C.

26. i.e., “Mountain of the Bears.”

27. Apparently a soil containing lime carbonate.

28. i.e., the part of Phrygia “along the mountain.”

29. There is a lacuna in the MSS. at this point which apparently should be supplied as follows: “places, among others.”

30. 190 B.C. Strabo refers to Eumenes II, king of Pergamum, who reigned 197-159 B.C.

31. “Arcaeus” appears to be an error for “Ascaeus” (see 12. 3. 31 and footnote on “Men Ascaeus”).

32. Or does Strabo mean sixty stadia in extent?

33. i.e., Asia Minor.

34. i.e., in the city’s territory, unless the text is corrupt and should be emended to read, “having its sources in Celaenae” (Groskurd), or “not far away from the city” (C. Müller), or “in the old city” (Corais) of Celaenae, whence, Strabo later says, “Antiochus made the inhabitants move to the present Apameia”.

35. Antiochus “the Saviour.”

36. King of Pontus 120-63 B.C.

37. Polemon I, king of Pontus and the Bosporus, and husband of Pythodoris.

38. Cf. 3. 2. 6.

39. i.e., the “Colossian” wool, dyed purple or madder-red (see Pliny 25. 9. 67 and 21. 9.27 ).

40. i.e., to distinguish it from the several other Laodiceias.

41. See 5. 4. 5, and the note on “Plutonia.”

42. i.e., sodium chloride (salt), and perhaps other salts found in soil, as, for example, sodium carbonate and calcium sulphate—unless by the plural of the word Strabo means merely “salt-particles,” as Tozer takes it.

43. On “soil which is burnt out,” see Vol. II, p. 454, footnote 1.

44. “At the present day the coastline has been advanced so far, that the island of Lade, off Miletus, has become a hill in the middle of a plain” (Tozer, op. cit., p. 288).

45. “Burnt up.”

46. Poseidon was not only the god of the sea, but also the “earth-shaker” ( ἐνοσίχθωνor ἐνοσίγαιος), and epithet frequently used in Homer.

47. i.e., “Black.”

48. i.e., Tiberius (see Tac. Ann. 2.47 ).

49. 1. 3. 4.

50. Cp. 13. 4. 11.

51. Now called Chardak Ghieul.

52. i.e., in size and depth.

53. Herophilus was one of the greatest physicians of antiquity. He was born at Chalcedon in Bithynia, and lived at Alexandria under Ptolemy I, who reigned 323-285 B.C. His specialty was dissection; and he was the author of several works, of which only fragments remain.

54. Alexander of Laodiceia; author of medical works of which only fragments remain.

55. Erasistratus, the celebrated physician and anatomist, was born in the island of Ceos and flourished 300-260 B.C.

56. The Greek for this last clause is obscure and probably corrupt. Strabo means either that schools like the two mentioned “no longer arise” or that one of the two schools mentioned (more probably the latter) “no longer flourishes the same as before.” To ensure the latter thought Meineke (from conj. of Corais) emends the Greek text.

57. Aesch. Fr. 162.2 (Nauck)

58. Aesch. Fr. 163 (Nauck)

59. Aesch. Fr. 158.2 (Nauck)

Strabo Geography 12.8

Horace Leonard Jones (Translator)

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CHAPTER VIII.

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