Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 13.1.36

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[36] Besides, the Naustathmus which retains its name at present, is so near the present city that any person may justly be surprised at the imprudence of the Greeks, and the want of spirit in the Trojans;—imprudence on the part of the Greeks, that they should have left the place for so long a time unfortified with a wall, in the neighbourhood of so large a city, and so great a body of men, both inhabitants and auxiliaries; for the wall, Homer says, was constructed at a late period; or perhaps no wall was built and the erection and destruction of it, as Aristotle says, are due to the invention of the poet;—a want of spirit on the part of the Trojans, who, after the wall was built, attacked that, and the Naustathmus, and the vessels themselves, but had not the courage before there was a wall to approach and besiege this station, although the distance was not great, for the Naustathmus is near Sigeium. The Scamander discharges itelf near this place at the distance of 20 stadia from Ilium.¹ If any one shall say that the Naustathmus is the present harbour of the Achaeans, he must mean a place still nearer, distant about twelve stadia from the sea, which is the extent of the plain in front of the city to the sea; but he will be in error if he include (in the ancient) the present plain, which is all alluvial soil brought down by the rivers,² so that if the interval is 12 stadia at present, it must have been at that period less in extent by one half. The story framed by Ulysses, which he tells Eumaeus, implies a great distance from the Naustathmus to the city;

when we lay in ambush below Troy,³

Od. xiv. 469. and he adds afterwards,

for we had advanced too far from the ships.⁴

Od. xiv. 496. Scouts are despatched to learn whether the Trojans will remain near the ships when drawn away far from their own walls, or whether

they will return back to the city.⁵

Il. xx. 209.

Polydamas also says,

Consider well, my friends, what is to be done, for my advice is to return now to the city, for we are far from the walls.⁶

Demetrius (of Scepsis) adds the testimony of Hestiaea⁷ of Alexandreia, who composed a work on the Iliad of Homer, and discusses the question whether the scene of the war was about the present city, and what was the Trojan plain which the poet mentions as situated between the city and the sea, for the plain seen in front of the present city is an accumulation of earth brought down by the rivers, and formed at a later period.

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

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

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.) — 13.1.36 focus

[36] καὶ μὴν τό γε ναύσταθμον τὸ νῦν ἔτι λεγόμενον πλησίον οὕτως ἐστὶ τῆς νῦν πόλεως, ὥστε θαυμάζειν εἰκότως ἄν τινα τῶν μὲν τῆς ἀπονοίας τῶν δὲ τοὐναντίον τῆς ἀψυχίας· ἀπονοίας μέν, εἰ τοσοῦτον χρόνον ἀτείχιστον αὐτὸ εἶχον, πλησίον οὔσης τῆς πόλεως καὶ τοσούτου πλήθους τοῦ τʼ ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ τοῦ ἐπικουρικοῦ· νεωστὶ γὰρ γεγονέναι φησὶ τὸ τεῖχος (ἢ οὐδʼ ἐγένετο, ὁ δὲ πλάσας ποιητὴς ἠφάνισεν, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης φησίν)· ἀψυχίας δέ, εἰ γενομένου τοῦ τείχους ἐτειχομάχουν καὶ εἰσέπεσον εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ ναύσταθμον καὶ προσεμάχοντο ταῖς ναυσίν, ἀτείχιστον δὲ ἔχοντες οὐκ ἐθάρρουν προσιόντες πολιορκεῖν μικροῦ τοῦ διαστήματος ὄντος· ἔστι γὰρ τὸ ναύσταθμον πρὸς Σιγείῳ, πλησίον δὲ καὶ ὁ Σκάμανδρος ἐκδίδωσι διέχων τοῦ Ἰλίου σταδίους εἴκοσιν. εἰ δὲ φήσει τις τὸν νῦν λεγόμενον Ἀχαιῶν λιμένα εἶναι τὸ ναύσταθμον, ἐγγυτέρω τινὰ λέξει τόπον ὅσον δώδεκα σταδίους διεστῶτα τῆς πόλεως, τὸ ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ πεδίον συμπροστιθείς διότι τοῦτο πᾶν πρόχωμα τῶν ποταμῶν ἐστι τὸ πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ πεδίον, ὥστε εἰ δωδεκαστάδιόν ἐστι νῦν τὸ μεταξύ, τότε καὶ τῷ ἡμίσει ἔλαττον ὑπῆρχε. καὶ ἡ διήγησις δʼ ἡ πρὸς τὸν Εὔμαιον ὑπὸ τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως διασκευασθεῖσα μέγα ἐμφαίνει τὸ διάστημα τὸ μέχρι τῆς πόλεως ἀπὸ τοῦ ναυστάθμου

ὡς ὅθʼ ὑπὸ Τροίῃ λόχον ἤγομεν.

¹ φησὶ γὰρ ὑποβάς

λίην γὰρ νηῶν ἑκὰς ἤλθομεν.

² ἐπί τε τὴν κατασκοπὴν πέμπονται γνωσόμενοι, πότερον μενοῦσι παρὰ νηυσὶν ἀπόπροθεν πολὺ ἀπεσπασμένοι τοῦ οἰκείου τείχους

ἠὲ πόλινδε

ἂψ ἀναχωρήσουσι.

³ καὶ ὁ Πολυδάμας

ἀμφὶ μάλα φράζεσθε, φίλοι· κέλομαι γὰρ ἔγωγε ἄστυδε νῦν ἰέναι

φησίν

ἑκὰς δʼ ἀπὸ τείχεός εἰμεν.

⁴ παρατίθησι δʼ ὁ Δημήτριος καὶ τὴν Ἀλεξανδρίνην Ἑστίαιαν μάρτυρα, τὴν συγγράψασαν περὶ τῆς Ὁμήρου Ἰλιάδος, πυνθανομένην εἰ περὶ τὴν νῦν πόλιν ὁ πόλεμος συνέστη, καὶ τὸ Τρωικὸν πεδίον, ὃ μεταξὺ τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῆς θαλάττης ὁ ποιητὴς φράζει· τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρὸ τῆς νῦν πόλεως ὁρώμενον πρόχωμα εἶναι τῶν ποταμῶν ὕστερον γεγονός.

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).) — 13.1.36 focus

[36] 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,

¹ he adds a little below,

for we went very far from the ships.

²And 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.

³And 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.

⁴Demetrius 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.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. 1628 toises. The alluvial deposit has now extended the mouth of the Menderé 3400 toises from the ruins where the measurement indicated the position of New Ilium.— Gossellin.

2. The passage is corrupt, and the translation is rather a paraphrase, assisted by the conjectures of Kramer.

3. Od. xiv. 469.

4. Od. xiv. 496.

5. Il. xx. 209.

6. Il. xviii. 254.

7. Hestiaea was distinguished for her commentary on Homer somewhat in the same manner as Madame Dacier in modern times.

Strabo Geography 13.1.36

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

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