Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 13.1.35

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[35] A little above this ridge of land is the village of the Ilienses, supposed to be the site of the ancient Ilium, at the distance of 30 stadia from the present city. Ten stadia above the village of the Ilienses is Callicolone, a hill beside which, at the distance of five stadia, runs the Simoeis.

The description of the poet is probable. First what he says of Mars,

but on the other side Mars arose, like a black tempest, one while with a shrill voice calling upon the Trojans from the summit of the citadel, at another time running along Callicolone beside the Simoeis;¹

for since the battle was fought on the Scamandrian plain, Mars might, according to probability, encourage the men, one while from the citadel, at another time from the neighbouring places, the Simoeis and the Callicolone, to which the battle might extend. But since Callicolone is distant from the present Ilium 40 stadia, where was the utility of changing places at so great a distance, where the array of the troops did not extend? and the words

The Lycii obtained by lot the station near Thymbra,²

Il. x. 430. which agree better with the ancient city, for the plain Thymra,³ is near, and the river Thymbrius, which runs through it, discharges itself into the Scamander, near the temple of Apollo Thymbraeus, but is distant 50 stadia from the present Ilium. The Erineos,⁴ a rugged spot abounding with wild fig-trees, lies below the ancient city, so that Andromache might say in conformity with such a situation,

but place your bands near Erineos, where the city is most accessible to the enemy, and where they can mount the wall,⁵

but it is very far distant from the present city. The beech-tree was a little lower than the Erineos; of the former Achilles says,

When I fought with the Achaeans Hector was not disposed to urge the fight away from the wall, but advanced only as far as the Scaean gates, and the beech-tree.⁶

Geography. Strabo. Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator). London. 1854-1857.

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Funding provided by Tufts University.

Current edition Perseus

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

Editions (1)

Γεωγραφικά Perseus (Strabo. Strabonis Geographica, Vols. 1-3. Meineke, August, editor. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877.) — 13.1.35 focus

[35] ὑπὲρ δὲ τούτου μικρὸν ἡ τῶν Ἰλιέων κώμη ἐστίν, ἐν ᾗ νομίζεται τὸ παλαιὸν Ἴλιον ἱδρῦσθαι πρότερον, τριάκοντα σταδίους διέχον ἀπὸ τῆς νῦν πόλεως. ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς Ἰλιέων κώμης δέκα σταδίοις ἐστὶν ἡ Καλλικολώνη, λόφος τις, παρʼ ὃν ὁ Σιμόεις ῥεῖ πενταστάδιον διέχων· γίνεται οὖν εὔλογον πρῶτον μὲν τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἄρεος

ὦρτο δʼ Ἄρης ἑτέρωθεν ἐρεμνῇ λαίλαπι ἶσος,

ὀξὺ κατʼ ἀκροτάτης πόλιος Τρώεσσι κελεύων,

ἄλλοτε πὰρ Σιμόεντι θέων ἐπὶ Καλλικολώνῃ.

¹ τῆς γὰρ μάχης ἐπὶ τῷ Σκαμανδρίῳ πεδίῳ συντελουμένης πιθανῶς ἂν ὁ Ἄρης ἄλλοτε μὲν τὴν ἐγκέλευσιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ποιοῖτο, ἄλλοτε δʼ ἐκ τῶν πλησίον τόπων τοῦ τε Σιμόεντος καὶ τῆς Καλλικολώνης, μέχρι οὗ εἰκὸς καὶ τὴν μάχην παρατετάσθαι· τετταράκοντα δὲ σταδίους διεχούσης τῆς Καλλικολώνης ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν Ἰλίου, τί χρήσιμον ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον μεταλαμβάνεσθαι τοὺς τόπους ἐφʼ ὅσον ἡ διάταξις οὐ διέτεινε; τό τε

πρὸς Θύμβρης δʼ ἔλαχον Λύκιοι

² οἰκειότερόν ἐστι τῷ παλαιῷ κτίσματι· πλησίον γάρ ἐστι τὸ πεδίον ἡ Θύμβρα καὶ ὁ διʼ αὐτοῦ ῥέων ποταμὸς Θύμβριος, ἐμβάλλων εἰς τὸν Σκάμανδρον κατὰ τὸ Θυμβραίου Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερόν, τοῦ δὲ νῦν Ἰλίου καὶ πεντήκοντα σταδίους διέχει. ὅ τε ἐρινεός, τραχύς τις τόπος καὶ ἐρινεώδης, τῷ μὲν ἀρχαίῳ κτίσματι ὑποπέπτωκεν, ὥστε τὸ

λαὸν δὲ στῆσον παρʼ ἐρινεόν, ἔνθα μάλιστα

ἀμβατός ἐστι πόλις καὶ ἐπίδρομον ἔπλετο τεῖχος

³ οἰκείως ἂν λέγοι ἡ Ἀνδρομάχη· τῆς δὲ νῦν πόλεως πάμπολυ ἀφέστηκε· καὶ ὁ φηγὸς δὲ μικρὸν κατωτέρω ἐστὶ τοῦ ἐρινεοῦ, ἐφʼ οὗ φησιν ὁ Ἀχιλλεύς

ὄφρα δʼ ἐγὼ μετʼ Ἀχαιοῖσιν πολέμιζον,

οὐκ ἐθέλεσκε μάχην ἀπὸ τείχεος ὀρνύμεν Ἕκτωρ,

ἀλλʼ ὅσον ἐς Σκαιάς τε πύλας καὶ φηγὸν ἵκανεν.

⁴

Translations (1)

Geography (Books 6-14) Perseus (Strabo. The Geography of Strabo, Vols. 3-6. Jones, Horace Leonard, translator. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd., 1924-1929 (printing).) — 13.1.35 focus

[35] A little above this¹ 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;

²for 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,

³are 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,⁴ 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,

⁵but Erineus stands at a considerable distance from the present Ilium. Further, a little below Erineus is Phegus,⁶ 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.

⁷

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. Il. xx. 51.

2. Il. x. 430.

3. Tumbrek.

4. Erineos, a wild fig-tree. Homer, it is to be observed, speaks of a single wild fig-tree, whereas Strabo describes a spot planted with them. This place, or a place near the ancient Ilium, is called by the Turks, according to M. Choiseul-Gouffier, Indgirdagh—i. e. the mountain of figtrees, although none were to be found there whether cultivated or wild.

5. Il. vi. 433.

6. Il. ix. 352.

Strabo Geography 13.1.35

Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator)

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