Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 14.1.35

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[35] The coasting circumnavigation of Chios is 900 stadia. It has a city¹ with a good port, and a station for eighty vessels. In the voyage round the island, a person sailing from the city, with the island on his right hand, first meets with Poseidium,² then Phanae,³ a deep harbour, and a temple of Apollo, and a grove of palm trees; then Notium, a part of the coast affording a shelter for vessels; next Laïus,⁴ which is also a place of shelter for vessels; hence to the city is an isthmus of 60 stadia. The circumnavigation is 360 stadia, as I have before described it. Next, the promontory Melaena,⁵ opposite to which is Psyra,⁶ an island distant from the promontory 50 stadia, lofty, with a city of the same name. The island is 40 stadia in circumference. Next is the rugged tract, Ariusia, without harbours, about 30 stadia in extent. It produces the best of the Grecian wines. Then follows Pelinaeum,⁷ the highest mountain in the island. In the island is a marble quarry.

Among illustrious natives of Chios were Ion⁸ the tragic writer, Theopompus the historian, and Theocritus the sophist. The two latter persons were opposed to each other in the political parties in the state. The Chians claim Homer as a native of their country, alleging as a proof the Homeridae, as they are called, descendants from his family, whom Pindar mentions:

Whence also the Homeridae, the chanters of the rhapsodies, most frequently begin their song.⁹

The Chians once possessed a naval force, and aspired to the sovereignty of the sea, and to liberty.¹⁰

From Chios to Lesbos is a voyage of about 400 stadia, with a south wind.

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

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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.) — 14.1.35 focus

[35] ἡ δὲ Χίος τὸν μὲν περίπλουν ἐστὶ σταδίων ἐνακοσίων παρὰ γῆν φερομένῳ, πόλιν δʼ ἔχει εὐλίμενον καὶ ναύσταθμον ναυσὶν ὀγδοήκοντα. ἐν δὲ τῷ περίπλῳ δεξιὰν τὴν νῆσον ἔχοντι ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως πρῶτον μέν ἐστι τὸ Ποσείδιον, εἶτα Φάναι λιμὴν βαθύς, καὶ νεὼς Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ ἄλσος φοινίκων· εἶτα Νότιον ὕφορμος αἰγιαλός· εἶτα Λαΐους, καὶ οὗτος ὕφορμος αἰγιαλός, ὅθεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἑξήκοντα σταδίων ἰσθμός· περίπλους δὲ τριακοσίων ἑξήκοντα ὃν ἐπήλθομεν. εἶτα Μέλαινα ἄκρα, καθʼ ἣν τὰ Ψύρα νῆσος ἀπὸ πεντήκοντα σταδίων τῆς ἄκρας, ὑψηλή, πόλιν ὁμώνυμον ἔχουσα· κύκλος δὲ τῆς νήσου τετταράκοντα στάδιοι. εἶθʼ ἡ Ἀριουσία χώρα τραχεῖα καὶ ἀλίμενος σταδίων ὅσον τριάκοντα, οἶνον ἄριστον φέρουσα τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν. εἶτα τὸ Πελιναῖον ὄρος ὑψηλότατον τῶν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ. ἔχει δʼ ἡ νῆσος καὶ λατόμιον μαρμάρου λίθου. ἄνδρες δὲ Χῖοι γεγόνασιν ἐλλόγιμοι Ἴων τε ὁ τραγικὸς καὶ Θεόπομπος ὁ συγγραφεὺς καὶ Θεόκριτος ὁ σοφιστής· οὗτοι δὲ καὶ ἀντεπολιτεύσαντο ἀλλήλοις. ἀμφισβητοῦσι δὲ καὶ Ὁμήρου Χῖοι, μαρτύριον μέγα τοὺς Ὁμηρίδας καλουμένους ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐκείνου γένους προχειριζόμενοι, ὧν καὶ Πίνδαρος μέμνηται

ὅθεν περ καὶ Ὁμηρίδαι

ῥαπτῶν ἐπέων τὰ πόλλʼ ἀοιδοί

¹ ἐκέκτηντο δὲ καὶ ναυτικόν ποτε Χῖοι, καὶ ἀνθήπτοντο τῆς κατὰ θάλατταν ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐλευθερίας. ἐκ Χίου δʼ εἰς Λέσβον νότῳ τετρακόσιοί που στάδιοι.

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).) — 14.1.35 focus

[35] As for Chios, the voyage round it along the coast is nine hundred stadia; and it has a city with a good port and with a naval station for eighty ships. On making the voyage round it from the city, with the island on the right, one comes first to the Poseidium. Then to Phanae, a deep harbor, and to a temple of Apollo and a grove of palm trees. Then to Notium, a shore suited to the anchoring of vessels. Then to Laïus, this too a shore suited to the anchoring of vessels; whence to the city there is an isthmus of sixty stadia, but the voyage round, which I have just now described, is three hundred and sixty stadia. Then to Melaena, a promontory, opposite to which lies Psyra, an island fifty stadia distant from the promontory, lofty, and having a city of the same name. The circuit of the island is forty stadia. Then one comes to Ariusia, a rugged and harborless country, about thirty stadia in extent, which produces the best of the Grecian wines. Then to Pelinaeus, the highest mountain in the island. And the island also has a marble quarry. Famous natives of Chios are: Ion the tragic poet, and Theopompus the historian, and Theocritus the sophist. The two latter were political opponents of one another. The Chians also claim Homer, setting forth as strong testimony that the men called Homeridae were descendants of Homer’s family; these are mentioned by Pindar:

Whence also the Homeridae, singers of deftly woven lays, most often. . . .

¹The Chians at one time possessed also a fleet, and attained to liberty and to maritime empire. The distance from Chios to Lesbos, sailing southwards, is about four hundred stadia.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. Groskurd is of opinion that of the same name is omitted after city.

2. Cape Mastico.

3. Porto Mastico.

4. This name is doubtful. Coraÿ suggests Elaeus; Groskurd, Lainus, which Kramer does not approve of, although this part of the coast is now called Lithi. It seems to be near a place called Port Aluntha.

5. Cape Nicolo.

6. Psyra.

7. Ilias.

8. Ion was a contemporary of Sophocles. Theopompus was the disciple of Socrates, and the author of an epitome of the history of Herodotus, of a history of Greece, of a history of Philip, father of Alexander the Great, and of other works. He was of the aristocratic or Macedonian party. Theocritus, his contemporary, was a poet, orator, and historian ; he was of the democratic party. To these, among illustrious natives of Chios, may be added Oenopides the astronomer and mathematician, who was the discoverer of the obliquity of the ecliptic and the cycle of 59 years, for bringing the lunar and solar years into accordance; Nessus the philosopher; his disciple Metrodorus (about B. C. 330) the sceptic, and master of Hippocrates; Scymnus the geographer, and author of a description of the earth.

9. The Homeridae may have been at first descendants of Homer; but in later times those persons went by the name Homeridae, or Homeristae, who travelled from town to town for the purpose of reciting the poems of Homer. They did not confine themselves to that poet alone, but recited the poetry of Hesiod, Archilochus, Mimnermus, and others; and finally passages from prose writers.— Athenaeus, b. xiv. c. 13.

10. Of the 283 vessels sent by the eight cities of Ionia in the war with Darius, one hundred came from Chios.

Strabo Geography 14.1.35

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

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