Strabo, Geography, Hans Claude Hamilton (Translator), William Falconer (Translator), 7.4.2

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[2] On the left in sailing out of the bay [Carcinites] there is a small town and another harbour¹ belonging to the people of the Chersonese; for in coasting along the bay, there projects towards the south a large promontory, which is a part of the great Chersonese. Upon it stands a city of the Heracleotae, who are a colony from Heraclea² in the Euxine; it bears the same name, Chersonesus, as the territory. It is distant from the Dniester,³ in following the coast, 4400 stadia. In this city is a temple of the Virgin, some goddess,⁴ after whom the promontory, which is in front of the city, at the distance of 100 stadia, is called Parthenium. It has a shrine of the goddess and a statue. Between the city⁵ and the promontory are three harbours; next is the Old city Chersonesus in ruins; then follows a harbour with a narrow entrance. It was called Symbolon Limen, or Signal Harbour; and here principally was carried on a system of piracy against those who took refuge in the ports. This, together with another harbour, called Ctenus,⁶ forms an isthmus of 40 stadia in extent. This isthmus locks in the Smaller Chersonesus, which we said was a part of the Great Chersonesus, having on it a city of the same name.

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.) — 7.4.2 focus

[2] ἐκπλέοντι δʼ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ πολίχνη καὶ ἄλλος λιμὴν Χερρονησιτῶν. ἔκκειται γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν μεσημβρίαν ἄκρα μεγάλη κατὰ τὸν παράπλουν ἐφεξῆς, μέρος οὖσα τῆς ὅλης χερρονήσου, ἐφʼ ᾗ ἵδρυται πόλις Ἡρακλεωτῶν ἄποικος τῶν ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ, αὐτὸ τοῦτο καλουμένη Χερρόνησος, διέχουσα τοῦ Τύρα παράπλουν σταδίων τετρακισχιλίων τετρακοσίων· ἐν ᾗ τὸ τῆς Παρθένου ἱερόν, δαίμονός τινος, ἧς ἐπώνυμος καὶ ἡ ἄκρα ἡ πρὸ τῆς πόλεώς ἐστιν ἐν σταδίοις ἑκατόν, καλουμένη Παρθένιον, ἔχον νεὼν τῆς δαίμονος καὶ ξόανον. μεταξὺ δὲ τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῆς ἄκρας λιμένες τρεῖς· εἶθʼ ἡ παλαιὰ Χερρόνησος κατεσκαμμένη καὶ μετʼ αὐτὴν λιμὴν στενόστομος, καθʼ ὃν μάλιστα οἱ Ταῦροι, Σκυθικὸν ἔθνος, τὰ λῃστήρια συνίσταντο τοῖς καταφεύγουσιν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἐπιχειροῦντες· καλεῖται δὲ συμβόλων λιμήν. οὗτος δὲ ποιεῖ πρὸς ἄλλον λιμένα Κτενοῦντα καλούμενον τετταράκοντα σταδίων ἰσθμόν· οὗτος δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ ἰσθμὸς ὁ κλείων τὴν μικρὰν χερρόνησον, ἣν ἔφαμεν τῆς μεγάλης χερρονήσου μέρος, ἔχουσαν ἐν αὑτῇ τὴν ὁμωνύμως λεγομένην πόλιν Χερρόνησον.

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).) — 7.4.2 focus

[2] As one sails out of the gulf, one comes, on the left, to a small city and another harbor¹ belonging to the Chersonesites. For next in order as one sails along the coast is a great cape which projects towards the south and is a part of the Chersonesus as a whole;² and on this cape is situated a city of the Heracleotae, a colony of the Heracleotae who live on the Pontus,³ and this place itself⁴ is called Chersonesus,⁵ being distant as one sails along the coast⁶ four thousand four hundred stadia from the Tyras. In this city is the temple of the Parthenos, a certain deity;⁷ and the cape⁸ which is in front of the city, at a distance of one hundred stadia, is also named after this deity, for it is called the Parthenium, and it has a shrine and xoanon⁹ of her. Between the city and the cape are three harbors. Then comes the Old Chersonesus, which has been razed to the ground; and after it comes a narrow-mouthed harbor, where, generally speaking, the Tauri, a Scythian tribe, used to assemble their bands of pirates in order to attack all who fled thither for refuge. It is called Symbolon Limen.¹⁰ This harbor forms with another harbor called Ctenus Limen¹¹ an isthmus forty stadia in width; and this is the isthmus that encloses the Little Chersonesus, which, as I was saying, is a part of the Great Chersonesus and has on it the city of Chersonesus, which bears the same name as the peninsula.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. Casaubon suggests, and Gossellin adopts, the reading καλὸς λιμὴν, Fair Haven, for ἄλλος λιμὴν, another harbour. Whatever harbour was meant, its situation is uncertain.

2. Tereklias.

3. The ancient Tyras.

4. In speaking of the Virgin as some goddess, it may be doubted whether Diana is here meant, or some Scythian or Eastern divinity. Parthenium, a village, is mentioned, c. 4, 5. The scene of the Iphigenia in Tauris of Euripides is laid some where on these shores.

5. The New Chersonesus, Cape Cherson, and the three small harbours ear Khut.

6. The Heracleotic Chersonese was comprehended in the triangle formed by Ctenus, (Inkerman,) Parthenium, (Cape Cherson,) and Symbolon Limen (Baluklava). The Gulf of Ctenus is now the Gulf of Sebastopol, a name substituted for that of Akhtiar in the time of Catherine II. of Russia. On the first small bay to the west of the town of Sebastopol, was situated the New city Chersonesus, flourishing in the time of Strabo; the Old Chersonesus, described as in ruins, was situated on the small peninsula, the extreme western point of which is Cape Cherson. Both here and in various parts of the Crimea were very interesting remains of antiquity, but Dr. Clarke complains of their wanton destruction. Ctenus is probably derived from κτενώδης, like a comb, descriptive of the indented nature of the gulf. Both Gossellin and D’Anville have mistaken the true position of the Heracleotic Chersonese.

Strabo Geography 7.4.2

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

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