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CHAPTER I.

[1] THERE remain to be described Ionia, Caria, and the sea-coast beyond the Taurus, which is occupied by Lycians, Pamphylians, and Cilicians.¹ We shall thus finish the description of the whole circuit of the peninsula, the isthmus of which, we have said, consists of the tract between the Euxine and the Sea of Issus.

[2] The navigation around Ionia along the coast is about 3430 stadia. It is a considerable distance, on account of the gulfs, and of the peninsular form for the most, part of the country, but the length in a straight line is not great. The distance, for example, from Ephesus to Smyrna is a journey in a straight line of 320 stadia; to Metropolis² is 120 stadia, and the remainder to Smyrna; but this distance by sea is little less than 2200 stadia. The extent of the Ionian coast is reckoned from Poseidium,³ belonging to the Milesians, and the boundaries of Caria, as far as Phocaea,⁴ and the river Hermus.⁵

[3] According to Pherecydes, Miletus, Myus,⁶ Mycale, and Ephesus, on this coast, were formerly occupied by Carians; the part of the coast next in order, as far as Phocaea, and Chios, and Samos, of which Ancaeus was king, were occupied by Leleges, but both nations were expelled by the Ionians, and took refuge in the remaining parts of Caria.

Pherecydes says that the leader of the Ionian, which was posterior to the Aeolian migration, was Androclus, a legitimate son of Codrus king of the Athenians, and that he was the founder of Ephesus, hence it was that it became the seat of the royal palace of the Ionian princes. Even at present the descendants of that race are called kings, and receive certain honours, as the chief seat at the public games, a purple robe as a symbol of royal descent, a staff instead of a sceptre, and the superintendence of the sacrifices in honour of the Eleusinian Ceres.

Neleus, of a Pylian family, founded Miletus. The Messenians and Pylians pretend that there is some affinity between them; in reference to which later poets say that even Nestor was a Messenian, and that many Pylians accompanied Melanthus, the father of Codrus, to Athens, and that all this people sent out the colony in common with the Ionians. There is also to be seen on the promontory Poseidium an altar erected by Neleus.

Myus was founded by Cydrelus, a spurious son of Codrus; Lebedos⁷ by Andropompus, who took possession of a place called Artis; Colophon by Andraemon, a Pylian, as Mimnermus mentions in his poem of Nanno;⁸ Priene by Aepytus, son of Neleus; and afterwards by Philotas, who brought a colony from Thebes; Teos by Athamas, its first founder, whence Anacreon calls the city Athamantis, but at the time of the Ionian migration of the colony it received settlers from Nauclus, a spurious son of Codrus, and after this from Apoecus and Damasus, who were Athenians, and from Geres, a Boeotian; Erythrae was founded by Cnopus, who also was a spurious son of Codrus; Phocaea by Athenians, who accompanied Philogenes; Clazomenae by Paralus; Chios by Egertius, who brought with him a mixed body of colonists; Samos by Tembrion, and afterwards by Procles.

[4] These are the twelve Ionian cities. At a subsequent period Smyrna also was added to the Ionian association at the instance of the Ephesians, for anciently they inhabited the same city, at which time Ephesus was called Smyrna. Callinus somewhere gives it this name, and calls the Ephesians Smyrnaeans in the address to Jupiter:

And pity the Smyrnaeans;

and in another passage,

remember now, if ever, the beautiful thighs of the oxen [which the Smyrnaeans burnt in sacrifice].

Smyrna was an Amazon, who got possession of Ephesus; from her the inhabitants and the city had their name, in the same manner as some Ephesians were called Sisyrbitae from Sisyrba; and a certain spot in Ephesus was called Smyrna, as Hipponax testifies:

He lived in Smyrna, at the back of the city between Tracheia and Lepre Acta.

The mountain Prion was called Lepre Acta; it overhangs the present city, and has on it a portion of the wall. Even now the farms at the back of the Prion retain the name in the term Opistholepria. The country along the foot of the mountain about Coressus was called Tracheia. The city was anciently built about the Athenaeum, which is now beyond the city, at the (fountain) Hypelaeus. Smyrna therefore was situated near the present gymnasium, at the back of the present city, but between Tracheia and Lepre Acta. The Smyrnaeans, upon quitting the Ephesians, marched to the place where Smyrna now stood, and which was in the possession of Leleges. They expelled these people and founded the ancient Smyrna, which is distant from the present city about 20 stadia. They were themselves afterwards expelled by Aeolians, and took refuge at Colophon; they then returned with a body of men from the latter place, and recovered their own city, Smyrna. Mimnermus relates this in his poem of Nanno, and says of Smyrna, that it was always a subject of contention;

after leaving Pylus, the lofty city of Neleus, we came in our voyage to the long wished-for Asia, and settled at Colophon, and hastening thence from the river Astëeis, by the will of the gods we took Aeolian Smyrna.

So much then on this subject.

We must, however, again describe each place in particular, beginning with the principal cities, from which the first settlements originated, I mean Miletus and Ephesus, for these are superior to all others, and the most celebrated.

[5] Next after the Poseidium of the Milesians, at the distance of 18⁹ stadia from the sea-coast, is the oracle of Apollo Didymeus among the Branchidae. This, as well as the other temples, except that at Ephesus, was burnt by the order of Xerxes.¹⁰ The Branchidae delivered up the treasures of the god to the Persian king, and accompanied him in his flight, in order to avoid the punishment of sacrilege and treachery.

The Milesians afterwards built a temple, which exceeded in size all others, but it remained without a roof on account of its magnitude. The circuit of the sacred enclosure contained within it a village with a magnificent grove, which also extended beyond it; other sacred enclosures contain the oracle, and what belongs to the worship of the god.

Here is laid the scene of the fable of Branchus, and Apollo’s love for him. The temple is adorned with the most costly offerings, the productions of ancient art.

Thence to the city the journey is not long either by land or sea.¹¹

[6] Ephorus relates that Miletus was first founded and fortified by the Cretans on the spot above the sea-coast where at present the ancient Miletus is situated, and that Sarpedon conducted thither settlers from the Miletus in Crete,¹² and gave it the same name; that Leleges were the former occupiers of the country, and that afterwards Neleus built the present city.

The present city has four harbours, one of which will admit a fleet of ships.¹³ The citizens have achieved many great deeds, but the most important is the number of colonies which they established. The whole Euxine, for instance, and the Propontis, and many other places, are peopled with their settlers.

Anaximenes of Lampsacus says, that the Milesians colonized both the island Icarus and Lerus, and Limnae on the Hellespont, in the Chersonesus; in Asia, Abydus, Arisba, and Paesus; on the island of the Cyziceni, Artace and Cyzicus; in the interior of the Troad, Scepsis. We have mentioned, in our particular description of places, other cities which this writer has omitted.

Both the Milesians and Delians invoke Apollo Ulius, as dispensing health and curing diseases; for οὔλειν¹⁴ is to be in health, whence οὐλή¹⁵ a wound healed, and the phrase in Homer,¹⁶ οὖλέ τε καὶ μέγα χαῖοͅε, health and good welcome; for Apollo is a healer, and Artemis has her name from making persons ἀοͅτεμέας, or sound. The sun, also, and moon are associated with these deities, since they are the causes of the good qualities of the air; pestilential diseases, also, and sudden death are attributed to these deities.

[7] Illustrious persons, natives of Miletus, were Thales, one of the seven wise men, the first person who introduced among the Greeks physiology and mathematics; his disciple Anaximander, and Anaximenes the disciple of Anaximander. Besides these, Hecataeus the historian;¹⁷ and of our time, Aeschines the orator, who was banished for having spoken with two great freedom before Pompey the Great, and died in exile.

Miletus shut her gates against Alexander, and experienced the misfortune of being taken by storm, which was also the fate of Halicarnassus; long before this time it was captured by the Persians. Callisthenes relates, that Phrynichus the tragic writer was fined a thousand drachmae by the Athenians for composing a play entitled The taking of Miletus by Darius.

The island Lade lies close in front of Miletus, and small islands about Tragaeae,¹⁸ which afford a shelter for pirates.

[8] Next follows the Gulf of Latmus, on which is situated Heracleia under Latmus,¹⁹ as it is called, a small town with a shelter for vessels. It formerly had the same name as the mountain above, which Hecataeus thinks was the same as that called by the poet²⁰ the mountain of the Phtheiri, for he says that the mountain of the Phtheiri was situated below Latmus; but some say that it was Grium, as being parallel to Latmus, and extending from the Milesian territory towards the east, through Caria, as far as Euromus and Chalcetores. However, the mountain rises up in sight of²¹ the city.

At a little distance further, after crossing a small river near Latmus, there is seen in a cave the sepulchre of Endymion. Then from Heracleia to Pyrrha, a small city, is about 100 stadia by sea, but a little more from Miletus to Heracleia, if we include the winding of the bays.

[9] From Miletus to Pyrrha, in a straight line by sea, is 30 stadia; so much longer is the journey by sailing near the land.

[10] When we are speaking of celebrated places, the reader must endure with patience the dryness of such geographical descriptions.

From Pyrrha to the mouth of the Maeander are 50 stadia. The ground about it is marshy and a swamp. In sailing up the river in vessels rowed by oars to the distance of 30 stadia, we come to Myus,²² one of the twelve Ionian cities, which, on account of its diminished population, is now incorporated with Miletus. Xerxes is said to have given this city to Themistocles to supply him with fish, Magnesia with bread, and Lampsacus with wine.²³

[11] At four stadia from Myus is Thymbria, a Carian village, near which is Aornum; this is a sacred cave called Charonium, which emits destructive vapours. Above it is Magnesia²⁴ on the Maeander, a colony of the Magnesians of Thessaly and Crete. We shall speak of it very soon.

[12] After the mouths of the Maeander follows the shore of Priene. Above it is Priene,²⁵ and the mountain Mycale.²⁶ which abounds with animals of the chace, and is covered with forests. It is situated above the Samian territory, and forms towards it, beyond the promontory Trogilium,²⁷ a strait of above 7 stadia in width. Priene is called by some writers Cadme, because Philotus, its second founder, was a Boeotian. Bias, one of the seven wise men, was a native of Priene, of whom Hipponax uses this expression;

More just in pleadings than Bias of Priene.

[13] In front of Trogilium lies an island of the same name. Thence, which is the nearest way, is a passage across to Sunium of 1600 stadia. At the commencement of the voyage, on the right hand are Samos, Icaria, and the Corsiae islands;²⁸ on the left, the Melantian rocks.²⁹ The remainder of the voyage lies through the middle of the Cyclades islands. The promontory Trogilium itself may be considered as a foot of the mountain Mycale. Close to Mycale is another mountain, the Pactyas, belonging to the Ephesian territory, where the Mesogis terminates.

[14] From Trogilium to Samos are 40 stadia. Both this and the harbour, which has a station for vessels, have a southern aspect. A great part of it is situated on a flat, and is overflowed by the sea, but a part also rises towards the mountain which overhangs it. On the right hand, in sailing towards the city, is the Poseidium, a promontory, which forms towards Mycale the strait of 7 stadia. It has upon it a temple of Neptune. In front is a small island, Narthecis; on the left, near the Heraeum, is the suburb, and the river Imbrasus, and the Heraeum, an ancient temple, and a large nave, which at present is a repository for paintings. Besides the great number of paintings in the Heraeum, there are other repositories and some small chapels, filled with works of ancient art. The Hypaethrum also is full of the best statues. Of these, three of colossal size, the work of Myron, stand upon the same base. Antony took them all away, but Augustus Caesar replaced two, the Minerva and the Hercules, upon the same base. He transported the Jupiter to the Capitol, having built a chapel for its reception.

[15] The voyage round the island Sarnos is 600 stadia.³⁰ Formerly, when the Carians inhabited it, it was called Parthenia, then Anthemus, then Melamphylus,³¹ then Samos, either from the name of some native hero, or from some one who conducted a colony thither from Ithaca and Cephallenia. In it is a promontory looking towards Drepanum in Icaria, which has the name of Ampelos, (the Vine,) but the whole mountain, which spreads over the island, has the same name. The island is not remarkable for good wine,³² although the islands around, as Chios, Lesbos, Cos, and almost all the adjacent continent, produce wines of the best kind. The Ephesian and the Metropolites are good wines, but the Mesogis, the Tmolus, the Catacecaumene, Cnidos, Smyrna, and other more obscure places, are distinguished for the excellence of their wines, whether for gratification or dietetic purposes.

Samos is not very fortunate as regards the production of wine, but in general it is fertile, as appears from its possession being a subject of warlike contention, and from the language of its panegyrists, who do not hesitate to apply to it the proverb,

It produces even birds’ milk,

as Menander somewhere says. This was the cause also of the tyrannies established there, and of the enmity of the Athenians.

[16] The tyrannies were at their height in the time of Polycrates and his brother Syloson. The former was distinguished for his good fortune, and the possession of such a degree of power as made him master of the sea. It is related as an instance of his good fortune, that having purposely thrown into the sea his ring, which was of great value both on account of the stone and the engraving, a short time afterwards a fisherman caught the fish which had swallowed it, and on cutting the fish open, the ring was discovered. When the king of Egypt was informed of this, he declared, it is said, with a prophetic spirit, that Polycrates, who had been elevated to such a height of prosperity, would soon end his life unfortunately; and this was actually the case, for he was taken by the Persian satrap by stratagem, and crucified. Anacreon, the lyric poet, was his contemporary, and all his poetry abounds with the praises of Polycrates.

It is said that in his time Pythagoras, observing the growing tyranny, left the city, and travelled to Egypt and Babylon, with a view to acquire knowledge. On his return from his travels, perceiving that the tyranny still prevailed, he set sail for Italy, and there passed the remainder of his life.

So much respecting Polycrates.

[17] Syloson was left by his brother in a private station. But he made a present to Darius, son of Hystaspes, of a robe which the latter saw him wearing, and very much desired to possess. Darius was not king at this time, but when he became king, Polycrates received as a compensation the tyranny of Samos. He governed with so much severity, that the city was depopulated, which gave occasion to the proverb,

By the pleasure of Syloson there is room enough.

[18] The Athenians formerly sent Pericles their general, and with him Sophocles the poet, who harassed with the evils of a siege the refractory Samians. Afterwards³³ they sent thither a colony of two thousand citizens, among whom was Neocles the father of Epicurus, and, according to report, a schoolmaster. It is said, that Epicurus was educated here and at Teos, and was admitted among the ephebi at Athens, having as his comrade in that class Menander the comic poet. Creophylus was a native of Samos,³⁴ who, it is said, once entertained Homer as his guest, and received, in return, his poem entitled The taking of Oechalia. Callimachus, on the contrary, intimates in an epigram that it was the composition of Creophylus, but ascribed to Homer on account of the story of his hospitable entertainment by Creophylus:

I am the work of the Samian, who once entertained in his house, as a guest, the divine Homer. I grieve for the sufferings of Eurytus, and mourn for the yellow-haired Ioleia. I am called Homer’s writing. O Jupiter, how glorious this for Creophylus.

Some say that he was Homer’s master; according to others, it was not Creophylus, but Aristeas of Proconnesus.

[19] The island of Icaria, from which the Icarian Sea has its name, is near Samos. The island has its name from Icarus, the son of Daedalus, who, it is said, having accompanied his father in his flight, when both of them, furnished with wings, set out from Crete, fell on that island, unable to sustain his flight. He had mounted too near the sun, and the wings dropped off on the melting of the wax [with which they were fastened].

The whole island is 300 stadia in circumference; it has no harbours, but only anchorages, the best of which is called Histi. A promontory stretches towards the west. There is also on the island a temple of Diana, called Tauropolium, and a small town Oenoë; and another, Dracanum,³⁵ of the same name as the promontory on which it stands, with an anchorage for vessels. The promontory is distant from the promontory of the Samians, called Cantharius, 80 stadia, which is the shortest passage from one to the other. The Samians occupy it at present in its depopulated state, chiefly for the sake of pasture which it affords for cattle.

[20] Next to the Samian strait at Mycale, on the right hand on the voyage to Ephesus, is the sea-coast of the Ephesians, a part of which even the Samians possess. First on the sea-coast is the Panionium,³⁶ distant from the sea three stadia, where the Panionia, a common festival of the Ionians, is celebrated, and a sacrifice is performed in honour of the Heliconian Neptune. The priests are Prienians. We have spoken of them in the description of Peloponnesus.

Then follows Neapolis, which formerly belonged to the Ephesians, but now belongs to the Samians, having exchanged Marathesium³⁷ for it, the more distant for the nearer place. Next is Pygela, a small town, containing a temple of Diana Munychia. It was founded by Agamemnon, and colonized by some of his soldiers, who had a disease in the buttocks, and were called Pygalgeis; as they laboured under this complaint, they settled there, and the town had the appropriate name of Pygela.³⁸

Next is a harbour called Panormus, with a temple of the Ephesian Diana; then the city.

On the same coast, at a little distance from the sea, is Ortygia, a fine wood with trees of all kinds, but the cypress in the greatest abundance. Through this wood flows the river Cenchrius, in which Latona is said to have bathed after the birth of her child. For here is laid the scene of the birth of the child, the cares of the nurse Ortygia, the cave in which the birth took place, the neighbouring olive tree under which the goddess first reposed when the pains of child-birth had ceased.

Above the wood is the mountain Solmissus, where, it is said, the Curetes stationed themselves, and with the noise of their arms perplexed and terrified Juno, who was enviously watching in secret the delivery of Latona, who was thus assisted in concealing the birth of the child.

There are many temples in the place, some of which are ancient, others of later times; in the former are ancient statues; in the latter are works of Scopas, Latona holding a sceptre, and Ortygia standing by her with a child in each arm.

A convention and festival are celebrated there every year. It is the custom for young men to vie with each other, particularly in the splendour of their convivial entertainments. The body of Curetes celebrate their Symposia at the same time, and perform certain mystic sacrifices.

[21] The city of Ephesus was inhabited both by Carians and Leleges. After Androclus had expelled the greatest part of the inhabitants, he settled his companions about the Athenaeum, and the Hypelaeum, and in the mountainous tract at the foot of the Coressus. It was thus inhabited till the time of Croesus. Afterwards, the inhabitants descended from the mountainous district, and settled about the present temple, and continued there to the time of Alexander. Then Lysimachus built a wall round the present temple, and, perceiving the inhabitants unwilling to remove thither, took advantage of a heavy storm of rain which he saw approaching, and obstructed the drains so as to inundate the city, and the inhabitants were glad to leave it for another place.

He called the city Arsinoë, after the name of his wife, but the old name prevailed. A body of elders was enrolled, with whom were associated persons called Epicleti, who administered all the affairs of the city.

[22] Chersiphron³⁹ was the first architect of the temple of Diana; another afterwards enlarged it, but when Herostratus set fire to it,⁴⁰ the citizens constructed one more magnificent. They collected for this purpose the ornaments of the women, contributions from private property, and the money arising from the sale of pillars of the former temple. Evidence of these things is to be found in the decrees of that time. Artemidorus says, that Timaeus of Tauromenium, in consequence of his ignorance of these decrees, and being otherwise a calumniator and detractor, (whence he had the name of Epitimaeus, or Reviler,) avers that the Ephesians restored the temple by means of the treasure deposited there by the Persians. But at that time no treasure was deposited, and if any had been deposited there, it must have been consumed together with the temple: after the conflagration, when the roof was destroyed, who would wish to have a deposit lying there, with the sacred enclosure exposed to the air?

Besides, Artemidorus says, that Alexander promised to defray the expense of its restoration, both what had been and what would be incurred, on condition that the work should be attributed to him in the inscription, but the Ephesians refused to accede to this ; much less, then, would they be disposed to acquire fame by sacrilege and spoliation. He praises also the reply of an Ephesian to the king, that it was not fit that a god should provide temples in honour of gods.

[23] After the completion of the temple, which, he says, was the work of Cheirocrates (the same person who built Alexandria, and also promised Alexander that he would form Mount Athos into a statue of him, which should represent him as pouring a libation into a dish out of an ewer; that he would build two cities, one on the right hand of the mountain, and another on the left, and a river should flow out of the dish from one to the other,)⁴¹—after the completion of the temple, he says that the multitude of other sacred offerings were purchased by the Ephesians, at the value set on them by artificers, and that the altar was almost entirely full of the works of Praxiteles. They showed us also some of the performances of Thraso, namely, the Hecatesium, a Penelope,⁴² and the old woman Eurycleia.

The priests were eunuchs, who were called Megabyzi. It was the practice to send to various places for persons worthy of this office, and they were held in high honour. They were obliged to appoint virgins as their colleagues in their priesthood. At present some of their rites and customs are observed, and some are neglected.

The temple was formerly, and is at present, a place of refuge, but the limits of the sanctity of this asylum have been frequently altered; Alexander extended them to the distance of a stadium. Mithridates discharged an arrow from the angle of the roof, and supposed that it fell a little beyond the distance of a stadium. Antonius doubled this distance, and included within the range of the sanctuary a certain portion of the city. This was attended with much evil, as it placed the city in the power of criminals and malefactors. On this account Augustus Cesar abolished the privilege.

[24] The city has an arsenal and a harbour. The entrance of the harbour was made narrow, by order of the king Attalus Philadelphus, who, together with the persons that constructed it, was disappointed at the result. The harbour was formerly shallow, on account of the embankment of earth accumulated by the Caÿster; but the king, supposing that there would be deep water for the entrance of large vessels of burden, if a mole were thrown up before the mouth of the river, which was very wide, gave orders for the construction of a mole ; but the contrary effect took place, for the mud, being confined within the harbour, made the whole of it shallow to the mouth. Before the construction of the mole, the flow and ebb of the sea cleared the mud away entirely, by forcing it outwards.

Such then is the nature of the harbour.

The city, by the advantages which it affords, daily improves, and is the largest mart in Asia within the Taurus.

[25] Among illustrious persons in ancient times natives of Ephesus were Heracleitus, surnamed Scoteinus, or the Obscure, and Hermodorus, of whom Heracleitus himself says:

The Ephesians, youths and all, deserve hanging, for expelling Hermodorus, an honest citizen,⁴³ a citizen distinguished for his virtues, and saying, let there be no such amongst us; if there be, let it be in another place and among other people.

Hermodorus seems to have compiled laws for the Romans. Hipponax the poet was an Ephesian, and the painters Parrhasius and Apelles.

In more recent times was Alexander the orator, surnamed Lychnus, or the Lamp;⁴⁴ he was an administrator of state affairs, a writer of history, and left behind him poems which contain a description of the heavenly phenomena and a geographical account of the continents, each of which forms the subject of a distinct poem.

[26] Next to the mouth of the Caÿster is a lake called Selinusia, formed by the overflowing of the sea. It is succeeded by another, which communicates with this. They afford a large revenue, of which the kings, although it was sacred, deprived the goddess, but the Romans restored it; then the tax-gatherers seized upon the tribute by force, and converted it to their own use. Artemidorus, who was sent on an embassy to Rome, as he says, recovered possession of the lakes for the goddess, and also of the territory of Heracleotis, which was on the point of separating from Ephesus, by proceeding in a suit at Rome. In return for these services, the city erected in the temple to his honour a statue of gold.

In the most retired part of the lake is a temple of a king, built, it is said, by Agamemnon.

[27] Next follows the mountain Gallesius, and Colophon, an Ionian city, in front of which is the grove of Apollo Clarius, where was once an ancient oracle.⁴⁵ It is said that the prophet Calchas came hither on foot, on his return from Troy with Amphilochus, the son of Amphiaraus, and that meeting at Clarus with a prophet superior to himself, Mopsus, the son of Mantus, the daughter of Teiresias, he died of vexation.

Hesiod relates the fable somewhat in this manner: Calchas propounds to Mopsus something of this kind:

I am surprised to see how large a quantity of figs there is on this small tree; can you tell the number?

Mopsus answered:

There are ten thousand; they will measure a medimnus, and there is one over, which you cannot comprehend.

Thus he spoke; the number and measure were exact. Then Calchas closed his eyes in the sleep of death.

But Pherecydes says, that Calchas proposed a question respecting a pregnant sow, and asked how many young she had; the other answered, three, one of which is a sow. Upon his giving the true answer, Calchas died of vexation. According to others, Calchas propounded the question of the sow, and Mopsus that of the fig-tree; that Mopsus returned the true answer, and that Calchas was mistaken, who died of vexation, according to some oracular prophecy.

Sophocles, in his Helen Claimed, says that he was destined by fate to die when he should meet with a prophet superior to himself. But this writer transfers the scene of the rivalry, and of the death of Calchas, to Cilicia.

These are ancient traditions.

[28] The Colophonians once possessed a considerable armament, consisting both of ships and of cavalry. In the latter they were so much superior to other nations, that in any obstinate engagement, on whichever side the Colophonian horse were auxiliaries, they decided it; whence came the proverb, he put the Colophon to it, when a person brought any affair to a decisive issue.⁴⁶

Among some of the remarkable persons born at Colophon were Mimnermus, a flute-player and an elegiac poet; Xenophanes, the natural philosopher, who composed Silli in verse. Pindar mentions one Polymnastus also, a Colophonian, as distinguished for his skill in music:

Thou knowest the celebrated strains of Polymnastus, the Colophonian:

and some writers affirm that Homer was of that city. The voyage from Ephesus in a straight line is 70 stadia, and including the winding of the bays, 120.

[29] Next to Colophon is the mountain Coracium, and a small island sacred to Artemis, to which it is believed that the hinds swim across to bring forth their young.

Then follows Lebedos,⁴⁷ distant from Colophon 120 stadia. This is the place of meeting and residence⁴⁸ of the Dionysiac artists (who travel about) Ionia as far as the Hellespont. In Ionia a general assembly is held, and games are celebrated every year in honour of Bacchus. These artists formerly inhabited Teos,⁴⁹ a city of the Ionians, next in order after Colophon, but on the breaking out of a sedition they took refuge at Ephesus; and when Attalus settled them at Myonnesus,⁵⁰ between Teos and Lebedos, the Teians sent a deputation to request the Romans not to permit Myonnesus to be fortified, as it would endanger their safety. They migrated to Lebedos, and the Lebedians were glad to receive them, on account of their own scanty population.

Teos is distant from Lebedos 120 stadia. Between these two places is the island Aspis,⁵¹ which some writers call Arconnesus. Myonnesus is situated upon high ground resembling a peninsula.

[30] Teos is situated upon a peninsula, and has a port. Anacreon, the lyric poet, was a native of this place; in his time, the Teians, unable to endure the insults and injuries of the Persians, abandoned Teos, and removed to Abdera, whence originated the verse—

Abdera, the beautiful colony of the Teians.

Some of them returned in after-times to their own country. We have said that Apellicon was of Teos, and Hecataeus also, the historian.

There is another port to the north, at the distance of 30 stadia from the city, Gerrhaeïdae.⁵²

[31] Next follows Chalcideis, and the isthmus of the peninsula⁵³ of the Teians and Erythraeans; the latter inhabit the interior of the isthmus. The Teians and Clazomenians are situated on the isthmus itself. The Teians occupy the southern side of the isthmus, namely, Chalcideis;⁵⁴ the Clazomenians, the northern side, whence they are contiguous to the Erythraean district. At the commencement of the isthmus is Hypocremnus, having on this side the Erythraean, and on the other, the Clazomenian territory. Above Chalcideis is a grove, dedicated to Alexander, the son of Philip, and a festival called Alexandreia is proclaimed and celebrated there by the common body of the Ionians.

The passage across the isthmus from the Alexandrine grove and Chalcideis, as far as the Hypocremnus, is 50 stadia (150?). The circuit round by sea is more than 1000 stadia. Somewhere about the middle of the voyage is Erythrae,⁵⁵ an Ionian city, with a port, having in front four small islands, called Hippoi (the Horses).

[32] But before we come to Erythrae, the first place we meet with is Erae,⁵⁶ a small city belonging to the Teians.

Next is Corycus, a lofty mountain; and below it, Casystes, a port;⁵⁷ then another, called the port of Erythrae, and afterwards many others. It is said that the whole sea-coast along the Corycus was the haunt of pirates, who were called Corycaeans, and who had contrived a new mode of attacking vessels. They dispersed themselves among the ports, and went among the merchants who had just arrived, and listened to their conversation respecting the freight of their ships, and the places whither they were bound. The pirates then collected together, attacked the merchants at sea, and plundered the vessels. Hence all inquisitive persons and those who listen to private and secret conversation we call Corycaeans, and say proverbially,

The Corycaean must have overheard it,

when any one thinks that he has done or said anything not to be divulged, but is betrayed by spies or persons anxious to be informed of what does not concern them.

[33] Next to Corycus is Halonnesus, a small island, then the Argennum,⁵⁸ a promontory of the Erythraean territory, situated close to Poseidium, belonging to the Chians, and forming a strait of about 60 stadia in width. Between Erythrae and Hypocremnus is Mimas,⁵⁹ a lofty mountain, abounding with beasts of chase, and well wooded. Then follows Cybelia, a village, and a promontory called Melaena,⁶⁰ (or Black,) which has a quarry whence millstones are obtained.

[34] Erythrae was the native place of the Sibyl, an ancient inspired prophetess. In the time of Alexander there was another Sibyl, who was also a prophetess, whose name was Athenais, a native of the same city; and in our age there was Heracleides the Herophilian physician, a native of Erythrae, a fellow-student of Apollonius surnamed Mus.

[35] The coasting circumnavigation of Chios is 900 stadia. It has a city⁶¹ 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,⁶² then Phanae,⁶³ 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,⁶⁴ 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,⁶⁵ opposite to which is Psyra,⁶⁶ 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,⁶⁷ the highest mountain in the island. In the island is a marble quarry.

Among illustrious natives of Chios were Ion⁶⁸ 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.⁶⁹

The Chians once possessed a naval force, and aspired to the sovereignty of the sea, and to liberty.⁷⁰

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

[36] After the Hypocremnus is Chytrium, a place where Clazomenae⁷¹ formerly stood; then the present city, having in front eight small islands, the land of which is cultivated by husbandmen.

Anaxagoras, the natural philosopher, was a distinguished Clazomenian; he was a disciple of Anaximenes the Milesian, and master of Archelaus the natural philosopher, and of Euripides the poet.

Next is a temple of Apollo, and hot springs, the bay of Smyrna, and the city Smyrna.

[37] Next is another bay, on which is situated the ancient Smyrna, at the distance of 20 stadia from the present city. After Smyrna had been razed by the Lydians, the inhabitants continued for about four hundred years to live in villages. It was then restored by Antigonus, and afterwards by Lysimachus, and at present it is the most beautiful city in Ionia.

One portion of Smyrna is built up on a hill, but the greater part is in the plain near the harbour, the Metroum, and the Gymnasium. The division of the streets is excellent, and as nearly as possible in straight lines. There are paved roads, large quadrangular porticos, both on a level with the ground and with an upper story.

There is also a library, and the Homereium, a quadrangular portico, which has a temple of Homer and a statue. For the Smyrnaeans, above all others, urge the claims of their city to be the birth-place of Homer, and they have a sort of brass money, called Homereium.⁷²

The river Meles flows near the walls. Besides other conveniences with which the city is furnished, there is a close harbour.

There is one, and not a trifling, defect in the work of the architects, that when they paved the roads, they did not make drains beneath them; the filth consequently lies on the surface, and, during rains particularly, the receptacles of the filth spread it over the streets.

It was here that Dolabella besieged and slew Trebonius, one of the murderers of divus Caesar; he also destroyed many parts of the city.

[38] Next to Smyrna is Leucae,⁷³ a small city, which Aristonicus caused to revolt, after the death of Attalus, the son of Philometor,⁷⁴ under pretence of being descended from the royal family, but with the intention of usurping the kingdom. He was, however, defeated in a naval engagement by the Ephesians, near the Cumaean district, and expelled. But he went into the interior of the country, and quickly collected together a multitude of needy people and slaves, who were induced to follow him by the hope of obtaining their freedom, whom he called Heliopolitae. He first surprised Thyateira,⁷⁵ he then got possession of Apollonis, and had an intention of making himself master of other fortresses, but he did not maintain his ground long. The cities sent immediately a large body of troops against him, and were supported by Nicomedes the Bithynian and the kings of Cappadocia. Afterwards five deputies of the Romans came, then an army, and the consul Publius Crassus. These were followed by M. Perperna, who took Aristonicus prisoner, sent him to Rome, and thus put an end to the war. Aristonicus died in prison; Perperna died of some disease, and Crassus fell near Leucae, in a skirmish with some people who had attacked him from an ambuscade. Manius Aquillius the consul came afterwards, with ten lieutenants; he regulated the affairs of the province, and established that form of government which continues at present.

After Leucae follows Phocaea,⁷⁶ situated on a bay. I have mentioned this place in the description of Massalia.⁷⁷ Then follow the confines of the Ionians and the Aeolians. I have already spoken of these.⁷⁸

In the interior of the Ionian maritime territory there remain to be described the places about the road leading from Ephesus, as far as Antioch⁷⁹ and the Maeander.

This tract is occupied by a mixed population of Lydians, Carians, and Greeks.

[39] The first place after Ephesus is Magnesia, an Aeolian city, and called Magnesia on the Maeander, for it is situated near it; but it is still nearer the Lethaeus, which discharges itself into the Maeander. It has its source in Pactyes, a mountain in the Ephesian district. There is another Lethaeus in Gortyne, a third near Tricca, where Asclepius is said to have been born, and the fourth among the Hesperitae Libyans.⁸⁰

Magnesia lies in a plain, near a mountain called Thorax,⁸¹ on which it is said Daphitas the grammarian was crucified, for reviling the kings in a distich—

O slaves, with backs purpled with stripes, filings of the gold of Lysimachus, you are the kings of Lydia and Phrygia.

An oracle is said to have warned Daphitas to beware of the Thorax.⁸²

[40] The Magnesians appear to be the descendants of Delphians who inhabited the Didymaean mountains in Thessaly, and of whom Hesiod says,

or, as the chaste virgin, who inhabits the sacred Didymaean hills in the plain of Dotium, opposite Amyrus, abounding with vines, and bathes her feet in the lake Boebias—

At Magnesia also was the temple of Dindymene, the mother of the gods. Her priestess, according to some writers, was the daughter, according to others, the wife, of Themistocles. At present there is no temple, because the city has been transferred to another place. In the present city is the temple of Artemis Leucophryene, which in the size of the nave and in the number of sacred offerings is inferior to the temple at Ephesus; but, in the fine proportion and the skill exhibited in the structure of the enclosure, it greatly surpasses the Ephesian temple; in size it is superior to all the temples in Asia, except that at Ephesus and that at Didymi.

Anciently the Magnetes were utterly extirpated by Treres, a Cimmerian tribe, who for a long period made successful inroads. Subsequently Ephesians got possession of the place.⁸³ Callinus speaks of the Magnetes as still in a flourishing state, and successful in the war against the Ephesians. But Archilochus seems to have been acquainted with the calamities which had befallen them:

bewail the misfortunes of the Thasians, not of the Magnetes;

whence we may conjecture that Archilochus was posterior to Callinus. Yet Callinus mentions some other earlier inroad of the Cimmerians, when he says—

and now the army of the daring Cimmerians is advancing,

where he is speaking of the capture of Sardis.

[41] Among the illustrious natives of Magnesia were Hegesias the orator, who first introduced the Asiatic fervour, as it was called, and corrupted the established Attic style of eloquence; Simon (Simus?) the lyric poet, who also corrupted the system and plan of former lyric poets, by introducing the Simodia; it was still more corrupted by the Lysiodi and Magodi;⁸⁴ Cleomachus the pugilist, who was enamoured of a certain cinaedus, and a female servant, who was maintained by the cinaedus, imitated the sort of dialect and the manners of the cinaedi. Sotades was the first person that employed the language of the cinaedi, and he was followed by Alexander the Aetolian; but these were only prose writers. Lysis added verse, but this had been done before his time by Simus.

The theatres had raised the reputation of Anaxenor, the player on the cithara, but Antony elevated him as high as possible, by appointing him receiver of the tribute from four cities, and by giving him a guard of soldiers for the protection of his person. His native country also augmented his dignity, by investing him with the sacred purple of Jupiter Sosipolis, as is represented in the painted figure in the forum. There is also in the theatre a figure in brass, with this inscription:

It is truly delightful to listen to a minstrel such as he is, whose voice is like that of the gods.⁸⁵

The artist who engraved the words was inattentive to the space which they would occupy, and omitted the last letter of the second verse, αυδηι, (voice,) the breadth of the base not being large enough to allow its insertion; this afforded an occasion of accusing the citizens of ignorance, on account of the ambiguity of the inscription; for it is not clear whether the nominative αυδη, or the dative αυδηι, is to be understood, for many persons write the dative cases without the ι, and reject the usage, as not founded on any natural reason.

[42] After Magnesia is the road to Tralles;⁸⁶ travellers have on the left hand Mesogis,⁸⁷ and on the right hand, and from the road itself, the plain of the Maeander, which is occupied in common by Lydians, Carians, Ionians, Milesians, Mysians, and the Aeolians of Magnesia.

The character of the sites of places is the same even as far as Nysa⁸⁸ and Antioch.

The city of Tralles is built upon ground in the shape somewhat of a trapezium. It has a citadel strongly fortified, and the places around are well defended. It is as well peopled as any of the cities in Asia, and its inhabitants are wealthy; some of them constantly occupy chief stations in the province, and are called Asiarchs. Among the latter was Pythodorus, originally a native of Nysa; but, induced by the celebrity of the place, he migrated hither. He was one of the few friends of Pompey who were fortunate. His wealth was kingly, and consisted of more than two thousand talents, which he redeemed when it was confiscated by divus Caesar, on account of his attachment to Pompey, and left it undiminished to his children. Pythodoris, who is at present queen in Pontus, and whom we have mentioned before. is his daughter. Pythodorus flourished in our times, and also Menodorus, an eloquent man, and a person of dignified and grave demeanour; he was priest of Jupiter Larisaeus. He was circumvented by the adherents of Domitius Aenobarbus, who, on the credit of informers, put him to death, for attempting, as was supposed, the revolt of his fleet.

Tralles produced also celebrated orators, Dionysocles, and after him Damasus, surnamed Scombrus.

It is said to have been founded by Argives and a body of Tralli Thracians,⁸⁹ from whom it had its name. It was governed for a short time by tyrants, sons of Cratippus, about the period of the Mithridatic war.

[43] Nysa is situated near the Mesogis, resting for the most part against the mountain. It is as it were a double town, for a kind of torrent watercourse divides it into two parts, and forms a valley, one part of which has a bridge over it, connecting the two towns; the other is adorned with an amphitheatre; underneath it is a passage through which the waters of the torrents flow out of sight.

Near the theatre are situated⁹⁰ two heights; below one lies the gymnasium for the young men; below the other is the forum, and a place of exercise for older persons. To the south below the city lies the plain, as at Tralles.

[44] On the road between Tralles and Nysa is a village of the Nysaeans, not far from the city Acharaca, in which is the Plutonium, to which is attached a large grove, a temple of Pluto and Proserpine, and the Charonium, a cave which overhangs the grove, and possesses some singular physical properties. The sick, it is said, who have confidence in the cures performed by these deities, resort thither, and live in the village near the cave, among experienced priests, who sleep at night in the open air, on behoof of the sick, and direct the modes of cure by their dreams. The priests invoke the gods to cure the sick, and frequently take them into the cave, where, as in a den, they are placed to remain in quiet without food for several days. Sometimes the sick themselves observe their own dreams, but apply to these persons, in their character of priests and guardians of the mysteries, to interpret them, and to counsel what is to be done. To others the place is interdicted and fatal.

An annual festival, to which there is a general resort, is celebrated at Acharaca, and at that time particularly are to be seen and heard those who frequent it, conversing about cures performed there. During this feast the young men of the gymnasium and the ephebi, naked and anointed with oil,⁹¹ carry off a bull by stealth at midnight, and hurry it away into the cave. It is then let loose, and after proceeding a short distance falls down and expires.

[45] Thirty stadia from Nysa, as you cross the Mesogis to-words the southern parts of Mount Tmolus,⁹² is a place called Leimon, or the Meadow, to which the Nysaeans and all the people around repair when they celebrate a festival. Not far from this plain is an aperture in the ground, sacred to the same deities, which aperture is said to extend as far as Acharaca. They say that the poet mentions this meadow, in the words,

On the Asian mead,⁹³

and they show a temple dedicated to two heroes, Caÿstrius and Asius, and the Caÿster flowing near it.

[46] Historians relate that three brothers, Athymbrus, Athymbradus, and Hydrelus, coming hither from Lacedaemon, founded (three?) cities, to which they gave their own names; that the population of these towns afterwards declined, but that out of these jointly Nysa was peopled. The Nysaeans at present regard Athymbrus as their founder.

[47] Beyond the Maeander and in the neighbourhood are considerable settlements, Coscinia⁹⁴ and Orthosia, and on this side the river, Briula, Mastaura,⁹⁵ Acharaca, and above the city on the mountain, Aroma; the letter o is shortened in the pronunciation. From this latter place is obtained the Aromeus, the best Mesogitian wine.

[48] Among illustrious natives of Nysa were Apollonius the Stoic philosopher, the most eminent of the disciples of Panaetius, and of Menecrates, the disciple of Aristarchus; Aristodemus, the son of Menecrates, whom, when I was a very young man, I heard lecturing on philosophy, in extreme old ⁹⁶ age, at Nysa; Sostratus, the brother of Aristodemus, and another Aristodemus, his cousin, the master of Pompey the Great, were distinguished grammarians. My master taught rhetoric also at Rhodes, and in his own country he had two schools; in the morning he taught rhetoric, in the evening grammar. When he superintended the education of the children of Pompey at Rome, he was satisfied with teaching a school of grammar.

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.) — 14.1 focus

[1] λοιπὸν δʼ ἐστὶν εἰπεῖν περὶ Ἰώνων καὶ Καρῶν καὶ τῆς ἔξω τοῦ Ταύρου παραλίας, ἣν ἔχουσι Λύκιοί τε καὶ Πάμφυλοι καὶ Κίλικες· οὕτω γὰρ ἂν ἔχοι τέλος ἡ πᾶσα τῆς χερρονήσου περιήγησις, ἧς ἰσθμὸν ἔφαμεν τὴν ὑπέρβασιν τὴν ἐκ τῆς Ποντικῆς θαλάττης ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰσσικήν.

[2] ἔστι δὲ τῆς Ἰωνίας ὁ μὲν περίπλους ὁ παρὰ γῆν σταδίων που τρισχιλίων τετρακοσίων τριάκοντα διὰ τοὺς κόλπους καὶ διὰ τὸ χερρονησίζειν ἐπὶ πλεῖον τὴν χώραν, τὸ δʼ ἐπʼ εὐθείας μῆκος οὐ πολύ. αὐτὸ οὖν τὸ ἐξ Ἐφέσου μέχρι Σμύρνης ὁδὸς μέν ἐστιν ἐπʼ εὐθείας τριακόσιοι εἴκοσι στάδιοι· εἰς γὰρ Μητρόπολιν ἑκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσι στάδιοι, οἱ λοιποὶ δὲ εἰς Σμύρναν· περίπλους δὲ μικρὸν ἀπολείπων τῶν δισχιλίων καὶ διακοσίων. ἔστι δʼ οὖν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ποσειδίου τοῦ Μιλησίων καὶ τῶν Καρικῶν ὅρων μέχρι Φωκαίας καὶ τοῦ Ἕρμου τὸ πέρας τῆς Ἰωνικῆς παραλίας.

[3] ταύτης δέ φησι Φερεκύδης Μίλητον μὲν καὶ Μυοῦντα καὶ τὰ περὶ Μυκάλην καὶ Ἔφεσον Κᾶρας ἔχειν πρότερον, τὴν δʼ ἑξῆς παραλίαν μέχρι Φωκαίας καὶ Χίον καὶ Σάμον, ἧς Ἀγκαῖος ἦρχε, Λέλεγας· ἐκβληθῆναι δʼ ἀμφοτέρους ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰώνων καὶ εἰς τὰ λοιπὰ μέρη τῆς Καρίας ἐκπεσεῖν. ἄρξαι δέ φησιν Ἄνδροκλον τῆς τῶν Ἰώνων ἀποικίας, ὕστερον τῆς Αἰολικῆς, υἱὸν γνήσιον Κόδρου τοῦ Ἀθηνῶν βασιλέως, γενέσθαι δὲ τοῦτον Ἐφέσου κτίστην. διόπερ τὸ βασίλειον τῶν Ἰώνων ἐκεῖ συστῆναί φασι, καὶ ἔτι νῦν οἱ ἐκ τοῦ γένους ὀνομάζονται βασιλεῖς ἔχοντές τινας τιμάς, προεδρίαν τε ἐν ἀγῶσι καὶ πορφύραν ἐπίσημον τοῦ βασιλικοῦ γένους, σκίπωνα ἀντὶ σκήπτρου, καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ τῆς Ἐλευσινίας Δήμητρος. καὶ Μίλητον δʼ ἔκτισεν Νηλεὺς ἐκ Πύλου τὸ γένος ὤν· οἵ τε Μεσσήνιοι καὶ οἱ Πύλιοι συγγένειάν τινα προσποιοῦνται, καθʼ ἣν καὶ Μεσσήνιον τὸν Νέστορα οἱ νεώτεροί φασι ποιηταί, καὶ τοῖς περὶ Μέλανθον τὸν Κόδρου πατέρα πολλοὺς καὶ τῶν Πυλίων συνεξᾶραί φασιν εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας· τοῦτον δὴ πάντα τὸν λαὸν μετὰ τῶν Ἰώνων κοινῇ στεῖλαι τὴν ἀποικίαν· τοῦ δὲ Νηλέως ἐπὶ τῷ Ποσειδίῳ βωμὸς ἵδρυμα δείκνυται. Κυδρῆλος δὲ νόθος υἱὸς Κόδρου Μυοῦντα κτίζει· Ἀνδρόπομπος δὲ Λέβεδον καταλαβόμενος τόπον τινὰ Ἄρτιν· Κολοφῶνα δʼ Ἀνδραίμων Πύλιος, ὥς φησι καὶ Μίμνερμος ἐν Ναννοῖ· Πριήνην δʼ Αἴπυτος ὁ Νηλέως, εἶθʼ ὕστερον Φιλωτᾶς ἐκ Θηβῶν λαὸν ἀγαγών· Τέω δὲ Ἀθάμας μὲν πρότερον, διόπερ Ἀθαμαντίδα καλεῖ αὐτὴν Ἀνακρέων, κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἰωνικὴν ἀποικίαν Ναῦκλος υἱὸς Κόδρου νόθος, καὶ μετὰ τοῦτον Ἄποικος καὶ Δάμασος Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ Γέρης ἐκ Βοιωτῶν· Ἐρυθρὰς δὲ Κνῶπος, καὶ οὗτος υἱὸς Κόδρου νόθος· Φώκαιαν δʼ οἱ μετὰ Φιλογένους Ἀθηναῖοι· Κλαζομενὰς δὲ Πάραλος· Χίον δὲ Ἐγέρτιος, σύμμικτον ἐπαγαγόμενος πλῆθος· Σάμον δὲ Τεμβρίων, εἶθʼ ὕστερον Προκλῆς.

[4] αὗται μὲν δώδεκα Ἰωνικαὶ πόλεις, προσελήφθη δὲ χρόνοις ὕστερον καὶ Σμύρνα εἰς τὸ Ἰωνικὸν ἐναγαγόντων Ἐφεσίων· ἦσαν γὰρ αὐτοῖς σύνοικοι τὸ παλαιόν, ἡνίκα καὶ Σμύρνα ἐκαλεῖτο ἡ Ἔφεσος· καὶ Καλλῖνός που οὕτως ὠνόμακεν αὐτήν, Σμυρναίους τοὺς Ἐφεσίους καλῶν ἐν τῷ πρὸς τὸν Δία λόγῳ

Σμυρναίους δʼ ἐλέησον

καὶ πάλιν

μνῆσαι δʼ εἴκοτέ τοι μηρία καλὰ βοῶν

Σμυρναῖοι κατέκηαν.

¹ Σμύρνα δʼ ἦν Ἀμαζὼν ἡ κατασχοῦσα τὴν Ἔφεσον, ἀφʼ ἧς τοὔνομα καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις καὶ τῇ πόλει, ὡς καὶ ἀπὸ Σισύρβης Σισυρβῖται τινὲς τῶν Ἐφεσίων ἐλέγοντο· καὶ τόπος δέ τις τῆς Ἐφέσου Σμύρνα ἐκαλεῖτο, ὡς δηλοῖ Ἱππῶναξ

ᾤκει δʼ ὄπισθε τῆς πόλιος ἐνὶ Σμύρνῃ

μεταξὺ Τρηχείης τε καὶ Λεπρῆς ἀκτῆς.

² ἐκαλεῖτο γὰρ Λεπρὴ μὲν ἀκτὴ ὁ πρηὼν ὁ ὑπερκείμενος τῆς νῦν πόλεως, ἔχων μέρος τοῦ τείχους αὐτῆς· τὰ γοῦν ὄπισθεν τοῦ πρηῶνος κτήματα ἔτι νυνὶ λέγεται ἐν τῇ Ὀπισθολεπρίᾳ· τραχεῖα δʼ ἐκαλεῖτο ἡ περὶ τὸν Κορησσὸν Παρώρειος. ἡ δὲ πόλις ἦν τὸ παλαιὸν περὶ τὸ Ἀθήναιον τὸ νῦν ἔξω τῆς πόλεως ὂν κατὰ τὴν καλουμένην Ὑπέλαιον, ὥστε ἡ Σμύρνα ἦν κατὰ τὸ νῦν γυμνάσιον ὄπισθεν μὲν τῆς τότε πόλεως, μεταξὺ δὲ Τρηχείης τε καὶ Λεπρῆς ἀκτῆς. ἀπελθόντες δὲ παρὰ τῶν Ἐφεσίων οἱ Σμυρναῖοι στρατεύουσιν ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον, ἐν ᾧ νῦν ἔστιν ἡ Σμύρνα, Λελέγων κατεχόντων· ἐκβαλόντες δʼ αὐτοὺς ἔκτισαν τὴν παλαιὰν Σμύρναν διέχουσαν τῆς νῦν περὶ εἴκοσι σταδίους. ὕστερον δὲ ὑπὸ Αἰολέων ἐκπεσόντες κατέφυγον εἰς Κολοφῶνα, καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἐνθένδε ἐπιόντες τὴν σφετέραν ἀπέλαβον· καθάπερ καὶ Μίμνερμος ἐν τῇ Ναννοῖ φράζει μνησθεὶς τῆς Σμύρνης ὅτι περιμάχητος ἀεί

ἡμεῖς δηὖτε Πύλον Νηλήιον ἄστυ λιπόντες

ἱμερτὴν Ἀσίην νηυσὶν ἀφικόμεθα·

ἐς δʼ ἐρατὴν Κολοφῶνα βίην ὑπέροπλον ἔχοντες

ἑζόμεθʼ ἀργαλέης ὕβριος ἡγεμόνες.

κεῖθεν δʼ ἀστήεντος ἀπορνύμενοι ποταμοῖο

θεῶν βουλῇ Σμύρνην εἵλομεν Αἰολίδα.

³ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τούτων· ἐφοδευτέον δὲ πάλιν τὰ καθʼ ἕκαστα, τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἡγεμονικωτέρων τόπων ποιησαμένους, ἐφʼ ὧνπερ καὶ πρῶτον αἱ κτίσεις ἐγένοντο, λέγω δὲ τῶν περὶ Μίλητον καὶ Ἔφεσον· αὗται γὰρ ἄρισται πόλεις καὶ ἐνδοξόταται.

[5] μετὰ δὲ τὸ Ποσείδιον τὸ Μιλησίων ἑξῆς ἐστι τὸ μαντεῖον τοῦ Διδυμέως Ἀπόλλωνος τὸ ἐν Βραγχίδαις ἀναβάντι ὅσον ὀκτωκαίδεκα σταδίους· ἐνεπρήσθη δʼ ὑπὸ Ξέρξου, καθάπερ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἱερὰ πλὴν τοῦ ἐν Ἐφέσῳ· οἱ δὲ Βραγχίδαι τοὺς θησαυροὺς τοῦ θεοῦ παραδόντες τῷ Πέρσῃ φεύγοντι συναπῆραν τοῦ μὴ τῖσαι δίκας τῆς ἱεροσυλίας καὶ τῆς προδοσίας. ὕστερον δʼ οἱ Μιλήσιοι μέγιστον νεὼν τῶν πάντων κατεσκεύασαν, διέμεινε δὲ χωρὶς ὀροφῆς διὰ τὸ μέγεθος· κώμης γοῦν κατοικίαν ὁ τοῦ σηκοῦ περίβολος δέδεκται καὶ ἄλσος ἐντός τε καὶ ἐκτὸς πολυτελές· ἄλλοι δὲ σηκοὶ τὸ μαντεῖον καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ συνέχουσιν· ἐνταῦθα δὲ μυθεύεται τὰ περὶ τὸν Βράγχον καὶ τὸν ἔρωτα τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος· κεκόσμηται δʼ ἀναθήμασι τῶν ἀρχαίων τεχνῶν πολυτελέστατα· ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν οὐ πολλὴ ὁδός ἐστιν οὐδὲ πλοῦς.

[6] φησὶ δʼ Ἔφορος τὸ πρῶτον κτίσμα εἶναι Κρητικόν, ὑπὲρ τῆς θαλάττης τετειχισμένον, ὅπου νῦν ἡ πάλαι Μίλητος ἔστι, Σαρπηδόνος ἐκ Μιλήτου τῆς Κρητικῆς ἀγαγόντος οἰκήτορας καὶ θεμένου τοὔνομα τῇ πόλει τῆς ἐκεῖ πόλεως ἐπώνυμον, κατεχόντων πρότερον Λελέγων τὸν τόπον· τοὺς δὲ περὶ Νηλέα ὕστερον τὴν νῦν τειχίσαι πόλιν. ἔχει δὲ τέτταρας λιμένας ἡ νῦν, ὧν ἕνα καὶ στόλῳ ἱκανόν. πολλὰ δὲ τῆς πόλεως ἔργα ταύτης, μέγιστον δὲ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀποικιῶν· ὅ τε γὰρ Εὔξεινος πόντος ὑπὸ τούτων συνῴκισται πᾶς καὶ ἡ Προποντὶς καὶ ἄλλοι πλείους τόποι. Ἀναξιμένης γοῦν ὁ Λαμψακηνὸς οὕτω φησὶν ὅτι καὶ Ἴκαρον τὴν νῆσον καὶ Λέρον Μιλήσιοι συνῴκισαν καὶ περὶ Ἑλλήσποντον ἐν μὲν τῇ Χερρονήσῳ Λίμνας, ἐν δὲ τῇ Ἀσίᾳ Ἄβυδον Ἄρισβαν Παισόν, ἐν δὲ τῇ Κυζικηνῶν νήσῳ Ἀρτάκην Κύζικον, ἐν δὲ τῇ μεσογαίᾳ τῆς Τρῳάδος Σκῆψιν· ἡμεῖς δʼ ἐν τοῖς καθʼ ἕκαστα λέγομεν καὶ τὰς ἄλλας τὰς ὑπὸ τούτου παραλελειμμένας. οὔλιον δʼ Ἀπόλλωνα καλοῦσί τινα καὶ Μιλήσιοι καὶ Δήλιοι, οἷον ὑγιαστικὸν καὶ παιωνικόν· τὸ γὰρ οὔλειν ὑγιαίνειν, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ τὸ οὐλὴ καὶ τό οὖλέ τε καὶ μέγα χαῖρε. ἰατικὸς γὰρ ὁ Ἀπόλλων· καὶ ἡ Ἄρτεμις ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀρτεμέας ποιεῖν· καὶ ὁ Ἥλιος δὲ καὶ ἡ Σελήνη συνοικειοῦνται τούτοις, ὅτι τῆς περὶ τοὺς ἀέρας εὐκρασίας αἴτιοι· καὶ τὰ λοιμικὰ δὲ πάθη καὶ τοὺς αὐτομάτους θανάτους τούτοις ἀνάπτουσι τοῖς θεοῖς.

[7] ἄνδρες δʼ ἄξιοι μνήμης ἐγένοντο ἐν τῇ Μιλήτῳ Θαλῆς τε εἷς τῶν ἑπτὰ σοφῶν, ὁ πρῶτος φυσιολογίας ἄρξας ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι καὶ μαθηματικῆς, καὶ ὁ τούτου μαθητὴς Ἀναξίμανδρος καὶ ὁ τούτου πάλιν Ἀναξιμένης, ἔτι δʼ Ἑκαταῖος ὁ τὴν ἱστορίαν συντάξας, καθʼ ἡμᾶς δὲ Αἰσχίνης ὁ ῥήτωρ, ὃς ἐν φυγῇ διετέλεσε, παρρησιασάμενος πέρα τοῦ μετρίου πρὸς Πομπήιον Μάγνον. ἠτύχησε δʼ ἡ πόλις ἀποκλείσασα Ἀλέξανδρον καὶ βίᾳ ληφθεῖσα, καθάπερ καὶ Ἁλικαρνασός· ἔτι δὲ πρότερον ὑπὸ Περσῶν· καί φησί γε Καλλισθένης ὑπʼ Ἀθηναίων χιλίαις δραχμαῖς ζημιωθῆναι Φρύνιχον τὸν τραγικόν, διότι δρᾶμα ἐποίησε Μιλήτου ἅλωσιν ὑπὸ Δαρείου. πρόκειται δʼ ἡ Λάδη νῆσος πλησίον καὶ τὰ περὶ τὰς Τραγαίας νησία ὑφόρμους ἔχοντα λῃσταῖς.

[8] ἑξῆς δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ Λατμικὸς κόλπος, ἐν ᾧ Ἡράκλεια ἡ ὑπὸ Λάτμῳ λεγομένη, πολίχνιον ὕφορμον ἔχον· ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ πρότερον Λάτμος ὁμωνύμως τῷ ὑπερκειμένῳ ὄρει, ὅπερ Ἑκαταῖος μὲν ἐμφαίνει τὸ αὐτὸ εἶναι νομίζων τῷ ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιητοῦ Φθειρῶν ὄρει λεγομένῳ (ὑπὲρ γὰρ τῆς Λάτμου φησὶ τὸ Φθειρῶν ὄρος κεῖσθαι), τινὲς δὲ τὸ Γρίον φασίν, ὡς ἂν παράλληλον τῷ Λάτμῳ ἀνῆκον ἀπὸ τῆς Μιλησίας πρὸς ἕω διὰ τῆς Καρίας μέχρι Εὐρώμου καὶ Χαλκητόρων· ὑπέρκειται δὲ ταύτης ἐν ὄψει. μικρὸν δʼ ἄπωθεν διαβάντι ποταμίσκον πρὸς τῷ Λάτμῳ δείκνυται τάφος Ἐνδυμίωνος ἔν τινι σπηλαίῳ· εἶτα ἀφʼ Ἡρακλείας ἐπὶ Πύρραν πολίχνην πλοῦς ἑκατόν που σταδίων.

[9] μικρὸν δὲ πλέον τὸ ἀπὸ Μιλήτου εἰς Ἡράκλειαν ἐγκολπίζοντι, εὐθυπλοίᾳ δʼ εἰς Πύρραν ἐκ Μιλήτου τριάκοντα· τοσαύτην ἔχει μακροπορίαν ὁ παρὰ γῆν πλοῦς. ἀνάγκη δʼ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐνδόξων τόπων ὑπομένειν τὸ περισκελὲς τῆς τοιαύτης γεωγραφίας.

[10] ἐκ δὲ Πύρρας ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκβολὴν τοῦ Μαιάνδρου πεντήκοντα· τεναγώδης δʼ ὁ τόπος καὶ ἑλώδης· ἀναπλεύσαντι δʼ ὑπηρετικοῖς σκάφεσι τριάκοντα σταδίους πόλις Μυοῦς, μία τῶν Ἰάδων τῶν δώδεκα, ἣ νῦν διʼ ὀλιγανδρίαν Μιλησίοις συμπεπόλισται. ταύτην ὄψον λέγεται Θεμιστοκλεῖ δοῦναι Ξέρξης, ἄρτον δὲ Μαγνησίαν, οἶνον δὲ Λάμψακον.

[11] ἔνθεν ἐν σταδίοις τέτταρσι κώμη Καρικὴ Θυμβρία, παρʼ ἣν ἄορνόν ἐστι σπήλαιον ἱερόν, Χαρώνιον λεγόμενον, ὀλεθρίους ἔχον ἀποφοράς. ὑπέρκειται δὲ Μαγνησία ἡ πρὸς Μαιάνδρῳ, Μαγνήτων ἀποικία τῶν ἐν Θετταλίᾳ καὶ Κρητῶν, περὶ ἧς αὐτίκα ἐροῦμεν.

[12] μετὰ δὲ τὰς ἐκβολὰς τοῦ Μαιάνδρου ὁ κατὰ Πριήνην ἐστὶν αἰγιαλός· ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ δʼ ἡ Πριήνη καὶ Μυκάλη τὸ ὄρος εὔθηρον καὶ εὔδενδρον. ἐπίκειται δὲ τῇ Σαμίᾳ καὶ ποιεῖ πρὸς αὐτὴν ἐπέκεινα τῆς Τρωγιλίου καλουμένης ἄκρας ὅσον ἑπταστάδιον πορθμόν. λέγεται δʼ ὑπό τινων ἡ Πριήνη Κάδμη, ἐπειδὴ Φιλωτᾶς ὁ ἐπικτίσας αὐτὴν Βοιώτιος ὑπῆρχεν· ἐκ Πριήνης δʼ ἦν Βίας εἷς τῶν ἑπτὰ σοφῶν, περὶ οὗ φησιν οὕτως Ἱππῶναξ

καὶ δικάσσασθαι Βίαντος τοῦ Πριηνέως κρέσσον.

⁴

[13] τῆς δὲ Τρωγιλίου πρόκειται νησίον ὁμώνυμον· ἐντεῦθεν δὲ τὸ ἐγγυτάτω δίαρμά ἐστιν ἐπὶ Σούνιον σταδίων χιλίων ἑξακοσίων, κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν Σάμον ἐν δεξιᾷ ἔχοντι καὶ Ἰκαρίαν καὶ Κορσίας, τοὺς δὲ Μελαντίους σκοπέλους ἐξ εὐωνύμων, τὸ λοιπὸν δὲ διὰ μέσων τῶν Κυκλάδων νήσων. καὶ αὐτὴ δʼ ἡ Τρωγίλιος ἄκρα πρόπους τις τῆς Μυκάλης ἐστί. τῇ Μυκάλῃ δʼ ὄρος ἄλλο πρόσκειται τῆς Ἐφεσίας Πακτύης· καὶ ἡ Μεσωγὶς δὲ εἰς αὐτὴν καταστρέφει.

[14] ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς Τρωγιλίου στάδιοι τετταράκοντα εἰς τὴν Σάμον· βλέπει δὲ πρὸς νότον καὶ αὐτὴ καὶ ὁ λιμὴν ἔχων ναύσταθμον. ἔστι δʼ αὐτῆς ἐν ἐπιπέδῳ τὸ πλέον ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάττης κλυζόμενον, μέρος δέ τι καὶ εἰς τὸ ὄρος ἀνέχει τὸ ὑπερκείμενον. ἐν δεξιᾷ μὲν οὖν προσπλέουσι πρὸς τὴν πόλιν ἔστι τὸ Ποσείδιον ἄκρα ἡ ποιοῦσα πρὸς τὴν Μυκάλην τὸν ἑπταστάδιον πορθμόν, ἔχει δὲ νεὼν Ποσειδῶνος· πρόκειται δʼ αὐτοῦ νησίδιον ἡ Ναρθηκίς· ἐπʼ ἀριστερᾷ δὲ τὸ προάστειον τὸ πρὸς τῷ Ἡραίῳ καὶ ὁ Ἴμβρασος ποταμὸς καὶ τὸ Ἡραῖον, ἀρχαῖον ἱερὸν καὶ νεὼς μέγας, ὃς νῦν πινακοθήκη ἐστί· χωρὶς δὲ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἐνταῦθα κειμένων πινάκων ἄλλαι πινακοθῆκαι καὶ ναΐσκοι τινές εἰσι πλήρεις τῶν ἀρχαίων τεχνῶν· τό τε ὕπαιθρον ὁμοίως μεστὸν ἀνδριάντων ἐστὶ τῶν ἀρίστων· ὧν τρία Μύρωνος ἔργα κολοσσικὰ ἱδρυμένα ἐπὶ μιᾶς βάσεως, ἃ ἦρε μὲν Ἀντώνιος ἀνέθηκε δὲ πάλιν ὁ Σεβαστὸς Καῖσαρ εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν βάσιν τὰ δύο, τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν καὶ τὸν Ἡρακλέα, τὸν δὲ Δία εἰς τὸ Καπετώλιον μετήνεγκε κατασκευάσας αὐτῷ ναΐσκον.

[15] περίπλους δʼ ἐστὶ τῆς Σαμίων νήσου σταδίων ἑξακοσίων. ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ Παρθενία πρότερον οἰκούντων Καρῶν, εἶτα Ἀνθεμοῦς, εἶτα Μελάμφυλλος, εἶτα Σάμος, εἴτʼ ἀπό τινος ἐπιχωρίου ἥρωος εἴτʼ ἐξ Ἰθάκης καὶ Κεφαλληνίας ἀποικήσαντος. καλεῖται μὲν οὖν καὶ ἄκρα τις Ἄμπελος βλέπουσά πως πρὸς τὸ τῆς Ἰκαρίας Δρέπανον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ὄρος ἅπαν ὃ ποιεῖ τὴν ὅλην νῆσον ὀρεινὴν ὁμωνύμως λέγεται· ἔστι δʼ οὐκ εὔοινος, καίπερ εὐοινουσῶν τῶν κύκλῳ νήσων, καὶ τῆς ἠπείρου σχεδόν τι τῆς προσεχοῦς πάσης τοὺς ἀρίστους ἐκφερούσης οἴνους⁵· οἷον Χίου καὶ Λέσβου καὶ Κῶ· καὶ μὴν καὶ ὁ Ἐφέσιος καὶ Μητροπολίτης ἀγαθοί, ἥ τε Μεσωγὶς καὶ ὁ Τμῶλος καὶ ἡ Κατακεκαυμένη καὶ Κνίδος καὶ Σμύρνα καὶ ἄλλοι ἀσημότεροι τόποι διαφόρως χρηστοινοῦσιν ἢ πρὸς ἀπόλαυσιν ἢ πρὸς διαίτας ἰατρικάς. περὶ μὲν οὖν οἴνους οὐ πάνυ εὐτυχεῖ Σάμος, τὰ δʼ ἄλλα εὐδαίμων, ὡς δῆλον ἔκ τε τοῦ περιμάχητον γενέσθαι καὶ ἐκ τοῦ τοὺς ἐπαινοῦντας μὴ ὀκνεῖν ἐφαρμόττειν αὐτῇ τὴν λέγουσαν παροιμίαν ὅτι φέρει καὶ ὀρνίθων γάλα⁶. τοῦτο δὲ καὶ τῶν τυραννίδων αἴτιον αὐτῇ κατέστη καὶ τῆς πρὸς Ἀθηναίους ἔχθρας.

[16] αἱ μὲν οὖν τυραννίδες ἤκμασαν κατὰ Πολυκράτη μάλιστα καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ Συλοσῶντα· ἦν δʼ ὁ μὲν καὶ τύχῃ καὶ δυνάμει λαμπρὸς ὥστε καὶ θαλαττοκρατῆσαι· τῆς δʼ εὐτυχίας αὐτοῦ σημεῖον τιθέασιν ὅτι ῥίψαντος εἰς τὴν θάλατταν ἐπίτηδες τὸν δακτύλιον λίθου καὶ γλύμματος πολυτελοῦς, ἀνήνεγκε μικρὸν ὕστερον τῶν ἁλιέων τις τὸν καταπιόντα ἰχθὺν αὐτόν· ἀνατμηθέντος δʼ εὑρέθη ὁ δακτύλιος· πυθόμενον δὲ τοῦτο τὸν Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέα φασὶ μαντικῶς πως ἀποφθέγξασθαι ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ καταστρέψει τὸν βίον εἰς οὐκ εὐτυχὲς τέλος ὁ τοσοῦτον ἐξηρμένος ταῖς εὐπραγίαις· καὶ δὴ καὶ συμβῆναι τοῦτο· ληφθέντα γὰρ ἐξ ἀπάτης ὑπὸ τοῦ σατράπου τῶν Περσῶν κρεμασθῆναι. τούτῳ συνεβίωσεν Ἀνακρέων ὁ μελοποιός· καὶ δὴ καὶ πᾶσα ἡ ποίησις πλήρης ἐστὶ τῆς περὶ αὐτοῦ μνήμης. ἐπὶ τούτου δὲ καὶ Πυθαγόραν ἱστοροῦσιν ἰδόντα φυομένην τὴν τυραννίδα ἐκλιπεῖν τὴν πόλιν καὶ ἀπελθεῖν εἰς Αἴγυπτον καὶ Βαβυλῶνα φιλομαθείας χάριν· ἐπανιόντα δʼ ἐκεῖθεν, ὁρῶντα ἔτι συμμένουσαν τὴν τυραννίδα, πλεύσαντα εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἐκεῖ διατελέσαι τὸν βίον. περὶ Πολυκράτους μὲν ταῦτα.

[17] Συλοσῶν δʼ ἀπελείφθη μὲν ἰδιώτης ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, Δαρείῳ δὲ τῷ Ὑστάσπεω χαρισάμενος ἐσθῆτα, ἧς ἐπεθύμησεν ἐκεῖνος φοροῦντα ἰδών, οὔπω δʼ ἐβασίλευε τότε, βασιλεύσαντος ἀντέλαβε δῶρον τὴν τυραννίδα. πικρῶς δʼ ἦρξεν, ὥστε καὶ ἐλειπάνδρησεν ἡ πόλις· κἀκεῖθεν ἐκπεσεῖν συνέβη τὴν παροιμίαν

ἕκητι Συλοσῶντος εὐρυχωρίη.

[18] Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ πρότερον μὲν πέμψαντες στρατηγὸν Περικλέα καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ Σοφοκλέα τὸν ποιητὴν πολιορκίᾳ κακῶς διέθηκαν ἀπειθοῦντας τοὺς Σαμίους, ὕστερον δὲ καὶ κληρούχους ἔπεμψαν δισχιλίους ἐξ ἑαυτῶν, ὧν ἦν καὶ Νεοκλῆς ὁ Ἐπικούρου τοῦ φιλοσόφου πατήρ, γραμματοδιδάσκαλος, ὥς φασι· καὶ δὴ καὶ τραφῆναί φασιν ἐνθάδε καὶ ἐν Τέῳ καὶ ἐφηβεῦσαι Ἀθήνησι· γενέσθαι δʼ αὐτῷ συνέφηβον Μένανδρον τὸν κωμικόν· Σάμιος δʼ ἦν καὶ Κρεώφυλος, ὅν φασι δεξάμενον ξενίᾳ ποτὲ Ὅμηρον λαβεῖν δῶρον τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν τοῦ ποιήματος ὃ καλοῦσιν Οἰχαλίας ἅλωσιν. Καλλίμαχος δὲ τοὐναντίον ἐμφαίνει διʼ ἐπιγράμματός τινος, ὡς ἐκείνου μὲν ποιήσαντος λεγομένου δʼ Ὁμήρου διὰ τὴν λεγομένην ξενίαν

τοῦ Σαμίου πόνος εἰμί, δόμῳ ποτὲ θεῖον Ὅμηρον

δεξαμένου· κλείω δʼ Εὔρυτον ὅσσʼ ἔπαθεν,

καὶ ξανθὴν Ἰόλειαν· Ὁμήρειον δὲ καλεῦμαι

γράμμα· Κρεωφύλῳ, Ζεῦ φίλε, τοῦτο μέγα.

τινὲς δὲ διδάσκαλον Ὁμήρου τοῦτόν φασιν, οἱ δʼ οὐ τοῦτον ἀλλʼ Ἀριστέαν τὸν Προκοννήσιον.

[19] παράκειται δὲ τῇ Σάμῳ νῆσος Ἰκαρία ἀφʼ ἧς τὸ Ἰκάριον πέλαγος. αὕτη δʼ ἐπώνυμός ἐστιν Ἰκάρου παιδὸς τοῦ Δαιδάλου, ὅν φασι τῷ πατρὶ κοινωνήσαντα τῆς φυγῆς, ἡνίκα ἀμφότεροι πτερωθέντες ἀπῆραν ἐκ Κρήτης, πεσεῖν ἐνθάδε μὴ κρατήσαντα τοῦ δρόμου· μετεωρισθέντι γὰρ πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ἐπὶ πλέον περιρρυῆναι τὰ πτερὰ τακέντος τοῦ κηροῦ. τριακοσίων δʼ ἐστὶ τὴν περίμετρον σταδίων ἡ νῆσος ἅπασα καὶ ἀλίμενος πλὴν ὑφόρμων, ὧν ὁ κάλλιστος Ἱστοὶ λέγονται· ἄκρα δʼ ἐστὶν ἀνατείνουσα πρὸς ζέφυρον. ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ἀρτέμιδος ἱερὸν καλούμενον Ταυροπόλιον ἐν τῇ νήσῳ καὶ πολισμάτιον Οἰνόη, καὶ ἄλλο Δράκανον ὁμώνυμον τῇ ἄκρᾳ ἐφʼ ᾗ ἵδρυται, πρόσορμον ἔχον· ἡ δὲ ἄκρα διέχει τῆς Σαμίων ἄκρας τῆς Κανθαρίου καλουμένης ὀγδοήκοντα σταδίους, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἐλάχιστον δίαρμα τὸ μεταξύ. νυνὶ μέντοι λιπανδροῦσαν Σάμιοι νέμονται τὰ πολλὰ βοσκημάτων χάριν.

[20] μετὰ δὲ τὸν Σάμιον πορθμὸν τὸν πρὸς Μυκάλῃ πλέουσιν εἰς Ἔφεσον ἐν δεξιᾷ ἐστιν ἡ Ἐφεσίων παραλία· μέρος δέ τι ἔχουσιν αὐτῆς καὶ οἱ Σάμιοι. πρῶτον δʼ ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ παραλίᾳ τὸ Πανιώνιον τρισὶ σταδίοις ὑπερκείμενον τῆς θαλάττης, ὅπου τὰ Πανιώνια, κοινὴ πανήγυρις τῶν Ἰώνων, συντελεῖται τῷ Ἑλικωνίῳ Ποσειδῶνι καὶ θυσία· ἱερῶνται δὲ Πριηνεῖς· εἴρηται δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς Πελοποννησιακοῖς. εἶτα Νεάπολις, ἣ πρότερον μὲν ἦν Ἐφεσίων νῦν δὲ Σαμίων διαλλαξαμένων πρὸς τὸ Μαραθήσιον, τὸ ἐγγυτέρω πρὸς τὸ ἀπωτέρω· εἶτα Πύγελα πολίχνιον, ἱερὸν ἔχον Ἀρτέμιδος Μουνυχίας, ἵδρυμα Ἀγαμέμνονος, οἰκούμενον ὑπὸ μέρους τῶν ἐκείνου λαῶν· πυγαλγίας γάρ τινας καὶ γενέσθαι καὶ κληθῆναι, κάμνοντας δʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους καταμεῖναι, καὶ τυχεῖν οἰκείου τοῦδε τοῦ ὀνόματος τὸν τόπον. εἶτα λιμὴν Πάνορμος καλούμενος ἔχων ἱερὸν τῆς Ἐφεσίας Ἀρτέμιδος· εἶθʼ ἡ πόλις. ἐν δὲ τῇ αὐτῇ παραλίᾳ μικρὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς θαλάττης ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ Ὀρτυγία, διαπρεπὲς ἄλσος παντοδαπῆς ὕλης, κυπαρίττου δὲ τῆς πλείστης. διαρρεῖ δὲ ὁ Κέγχριος ποταμός, οὗ φασι νίψασθαι τὴν Λητὼ μετὰ τὰς ὠδῖνας. ἐνταῦθα γὰρ μυθεύουσι τὴν λοχείαν καὶ τὴν τροφὸν τὴν Ὀρτυγίαν καὶ τὸ ἄδυτον ἐν ᾧ ἡ λοχεία, καὶ τὴν πλησίον ἐλαίαν, ᾗ πρῶτον ἐπαναπαύσασθαί φασι τὴν θεὸν ἀπολυθεῖσαν τῶν ὠδίνων. ὑπέρκειται δὲ τοῦ ἄλσους ὄρος ὁ Σολμισσός, ὅπου στάντας φασὶ τοὺς Κουρῆτας τῷ ψόφῳ τῶν ὅπλων ἐκπλῆξαι τὴν Ἥραν ζηλοτύπως ἐφεδρεύουσαν, καὶ λαθεῖν συμπράξαντας τὴν λοχείαν τῇ Λητοῖ. ὄντων δʼ ἐν τῷ τόπῳ πλειόνων ναῶν, τῶν μὲν ἀρχαίων τῶν δʼ ὕστερον γενομένων, ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἀρχαίοις ἀρχαῖά ἐστι ξόανα, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ὕστερον Σκόπα ἔργα· ἡ μὲν Λητὼ σκῆπτρον ἔχουσα, ἡ δʼ Ὀρτυγία παρέστηκεν ἑκατέρᾳ τῇ χειρὶ παιδίον ἔχουσα. πανήγυρις δʼ ἐνταῦθα συντελεῖται κατʼ ἔτος, ἔθει δέ τινι οἱ νέοι φιλοκαλοῦσι μάλιστα περὶ τὰς ἐνταῦθα εὐωχίας λαμπρυνόμενοι· τότε δὲ καὶ τῶν Κουρήτων ἀρχεῖον συνάγει συμπόσια καί τινας μυστικὰς θυσίας ἐπιτελεῖ.

[21] τὴν δὲ πόλιν ᾤκουν μὲν Κᾶρές τε καὶ Λέλεγες, ἐκβαλὼν δʼ ὁ Ἄνδροκλος τοὺς πλείστους ᾤκισεν ἐκ τῶν συνελθόντων αὐτῷ περὶ τὸ Ἀθήναιον καὶ τὴν Ὑπέλαιον, προσπεριλαβὼν καὶ τῆς περὶ τὸν Κορησσὸν παρωρείας. μέχρι μὲν δὴ τῶν κατὰ Κροῖσον οὕτως ᾠκεῖτο, ὕστερον δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς Παρωρείου καταβάντες περὶ τὸ νῦν ἱερὸν ᾤκησαν μέχρι Ἀλεξάνδρου. Λυσίμαχος δὲ τὴν νῦν πόλιν τειχίσας, ἀηδῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων μεθισταμένων, τηρήσας καταρράκτην ὄμβρον συνήργησε καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ τοὺς ῥινούχους ἐνέφραξεν ὥστε κατακλύσαι τὴν πόλιν· οἱ δὲ μετέστησαν ἄσμενοι. ἐκάλεσε δʼ Ἀρσινόην ἀπὸ τῆς γυναικὸς τὴν πόλιν, ἐπεκράτησε μέντοι τὸ ἀρχαῖον ὄνομα. ἦν δὲ γερουσία καταγραφομένη, τούτοις δὲ συνῄεσαν οἱ ἐπίκλητοι καλούμενοι καὶ διῴκουν πάντα.

[22] τὸν δὲ νεὼν τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος πρῶτος μὲν Χερσίφρων ἠρχιτεκτόνησεν, εἶτʼ ἄλλος ἐποίησε μείζω· ὡς δὲ τοῦτον Ἡρόστρατός τις ἐνέπρησεν, ἄλλον ἀμείνω κατεσκεύασαν συνενέγκαντες τὸν τῶν γυναικῶν κόσμον καὶ τὰς ἰδίας οὐσίας, διαθέμενοι δὲ καὶ τοὺς προτέρους κίονας· τούτων δὲ μαρτύριά ἐστι τὰ γενηθέντα τότε ψηφίσματα, ἅπερ ἀγνοοῦντά φησιν ὁ Ἀρτεμίδωρος τὸν Ταυρομενίτην Τίμαιον καὶ ἄλλως βάσκανον ὄντα καὶ συκοφάντην (διὸ καὶ Ἐπιτίμαιον κληθῆναι) λέγειν ὡς ἐκ τῶν Περσικῶν παρακαταθηκῶν ἐποιήσαντο τοῦ ἱεροῦ τὴν ἐπισκευήν· οὔτε δὲ ὑπάρξαι παρακαταθήκας τότε, εἴ τε ὑπῆρξαν, συνεμπεπρῆσθαι τῷ ναῷ· μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἔμπρησιν τῆς ὀροφῆς ἠφανισμένης, ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ τῷ σηκῷ τίνα ἂν ἐθελῆσαι παρακαταθήκην κειμένην ἔχειν; Ἀλέξανδρον δὴ τοῖς Ἐφεσίοις ὑποσχέσθαι τὰ γεγονότα καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα ἀναλώματα, ἐφʼ ᾧ τε τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν αὐτὸν ἔχειν, τοὺς δὲ μὴ ἐθελῆσαι, πολὺ μᾶλλον οὐκ ἂν ἐθελήσαντας ἐξ ἱεροσυλίας καὶ ἀποστερήσεως φιλοδοξεῖν· ἐπαινεῖ τε τὸν εἰπόντα τῶν Ἐφεσίων πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα, ὡς οὐ πρέποι θεῷ θεοῖς ἀναθήματα κατασκευάζειν.

[23] μετὰ δὲ τὴν τοῦ νεὼ συντέλειαν, ὅν φησιν εἶναι Δεινοκράτους ἔργον (τοῦ δʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν Ἀλεξανδρείας κτίσιν· τὸν δʼ αὐτὸν ὑποσχέσθαι Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τὸν Ἄθω διασκευάσειν εἰς αὐτόν, ὡσανεὶ ἐκ πρόχου τινὸς εἰς φιάλην καταχέοντα σπονδήν, ποιήσοντα πόλεις δύο, τὴν μὲν ἐκ δεξιῶν τοῦ ὄρους τὴν δʼ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς ἑτέρας εἰς τὴν ἑτέραν ῥέοντα ποταμόν), μετὰ δʼ οὖν τὸν νεὼν τὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἀναθημάτων πλῆθος εὑρέσθαι τῇ ἐκτιμήσει τῶν δημιουργῶν, τὸν δὲ δὴ βωμὸν εἶναι τῶν Πραξιτέλους ἔργων ἅπαντα σχεδόν τι πλήρη. ἡμῖν δʼ ἐδείκνυτο καὶ τῶν Θράσωνός τινα, οὗπερ καὶ τὸ Ἑκατήσιόν ἐστι καὶ ἡ κηρίνη Πηνελόπη καὶ ἡ πρεσβῦτις ἡ Εὐρύκλεια. ἱερέας δʼ εὐνούχους εἶχον οὓς ἐκάλουν Μεγαβύζους, καὶ ἀλλαχόθεν μετιόντες ἀεί τινας ἀξίους τῆς τοιαύτης προστασίας, καὶ ἦγον ἐν τιμῇ μεγάλῃ· συνιερᾶσθαι δὲ τούτοις ἐχρῆν παρθένους. νυνὶ δὲ τὰ μὲν φυλάττεται τῶν νομίμων τὰ δʼ ἧττον, ἄσυλον δὲ μένει τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ νῦν καὶ πρότερον· τῆς δʼ ἀσυλίας τοὺς ὅρους ἀλλαγῆναι συνέβη πολλάκις, Ἀλεξάνδρου μὲν ἐπὶ στάδιον ἐκτείναντος, Μιθριδάτου δὲ τόξευμα ἀφέντος ἀπὸ τῆς γωνίας τοῦ κεράμου καὶ δόξαντος ὑπερβαλέσθαι μικρὰ τὸ στάδιον, Ἀντωνίου δὲ διπλασιάσαντος τοῦτο καὶ συμπεριλαβόντος τῇ ἀσυλίᾳ μέρος τι τῆς πόλεως· ἐφάνη δὲ τοῦτο βλαβερὸν καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς κακούργοις ποιοῦν τὴν πόλιν, ὥστʼ ἠκύρωσεν ὁ Σεβαστὸς Καῖσαρ.

[24] ἔχει δʼ ἡ πόλις καὶ νεώρια καὶ λιμένα· βραχύστομον δʼ ἐποίησαν οἱ ἀρχιτέκτονες, συνεξαπατηθέντες τῷ κελεύσαντι βασιλεῖ. οὗτος δʼ ἦν Ἄτταλος ὁ φιλάδελφος· οἰηθεὶς γὰρ οὗτος βαθὺν τὸν εἴσπλουν ὁλκάσι μεγάλαις ἔσεσθαι καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν λιμένα τεναγώδη ὄντα πρότερον διὰ τὰς ἐκ τοῦ Καΰστρου προχώσεις, ἐὰν παραβληθῇ χῶμα τῷ στόματι πλατεῖ τελέως ὄντι, ἐκέλευσε γενέσθαι τὸ χῶμα. συνέβη δὲ τοὐναντίον· ἐντὸς γὰρ ἡ χοῦς εἰργομένη τεναγίζειν μᾶλλον ἐποίησε τὸν λιμένα σύμπαντα μέχρι τοῦ στόματος· πρότερον δʼ ἱκανῶς αἱ πλημμυρίδες καὶ ἡ παλίρροια τοῦ πελάγους ἀφῄρει τὴν χοῦν καὶ ἀνέσπα πρὸς τὸ ἐκτός. ὁ μὲν οὖν λιμὴν τοιοῦτος· ἡ δὲ πόλις τῇ πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα εὐκαιρίᾳ τῶν τόπων αὔξεται καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν, ἐμπόριον οὖσα μέγιστον τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν τὴν ἐντὸς τοῦ Ταύρου.

[25] ἄνδρες δʼ ἀξιόλογοι γεγόνασιν ἐν αὐτῇ τῶν μὲν παλαιῶν Ἡράκλειτός τε ὁ σκοτεινὸς καλούμενος καὶ Ἑρμόδωρος, περὶ οὗ ὁ αὐτὸς οὗτός φησιν

ἄξιον Ἐφεσίοις ἡβηδὸν ἀπάγξασθαι, οἵτινες Ἑρμόδωρον ἄνδρα ἑωυτῶν ὀνήιστον ἐξέβαλον, φάντες ἡμέων μηδὲ εἷς ὀνήιστος ἔστω, εἰ δὲ μή, ἄλλῃ τε καὶ μετʼ ἄλλων.

δοκεῖ δʼ οὗτος ὁ ἀνὴρ νόμους τινὰς Ῥωμαίοις συγγράψαι. καὶ Ἱππῶναξ δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ ποιητὴς ἐξ Ἐφέσου καὶ Παρράσιος ὁ ζωγράφος καὶ Ἀπελλῆς, τῶν δὲ νεωτέρων Ἀρτεμίδωρος καὶ Ἀλέξανδρος ῥήτωρ ὁ Λύχνος προσαγορευθείς, ὃς καὶ ἐπολιτεύσατο καὶ συνέγραψεν ἱστορίαν καὶ ἔπη κατέλιπεν, ἐν οἷς τά τε οὐράνια διατίθεται καὶ τὰς ἠπείρους γεωγραφεῖ, καθʼ ἑκάστην ἐκδοὺς ποίημα.

[26] μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἐκβολὴν τοῦ Καΰστρου λίμνη ἐστὶν ἐκ τοῦ πελάγους ἀναχεομένη (καλεῖται δὲ Σελινουσία) καὶ ἐφεξῆς ἄλλη σύρρους αὐτῇ μεγάλας ἔχουσαι προσόδους, ἃς οἱ βασιλεῖς μὲν ἱερὰς οὔσας ἀφείλοντο τὴν θεόν, Ῥωμαῖοι δʼ ἀπέδοσαν· πάλιν δʼ οἱ δημοσιῶναι βιασάμενοι περιέστησαν εἰς ἑαυτοὺς τὰ τέλη, πρεσβεύσας δὲ ὁ Ἀρτεμίδωρος, ὥς φησι, τάς τε λίμνας ἀπέλαβε τῇ θεῷ καὶ τὴν Ἡρακλεῶτιν ἀφισταμένην ἐξενίκησε κριθεὶς ἐν Ῥώμῃ· ἀντὶ δὲ τούτων εἰκόνα χρυσῆν ἀνέστησεν ἡ πόλις ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ. τῆς δὲ λίμνης ἐν τῷ κοιλοτάτῳ βασιλέως ἐστὶν ἱερόν· φασὶ δʼ Ἀγαμέμνονος ἵδρυμα.

[27] εἶτα τὸ Γαλλήσιον ὄρος καὶ ἡ Κολοφὼν πόλις Ἰωνικὴ καὶ τὸ πρὸ αὐτῆς ἄλσος τοῦ Κλαρίου Ἀπόλλωνος, ἐν ᾧ καὶ μαντεῖόν ἐστι παλαιόν. λέγεται δὲ Κάλχας ὁ μάντις μετʼ Ἀμφιλόχου τοῦ Ἀμφιαράου κατὰ τὴν ἐκ Τροίας ἐπάνοδον πεζῇ δεῦρο ἀφικέσθαι, περιτυχὼν δʼ ἑαυτοῦ κρείττονι μάντει κατὰ τὴν Κλάρον, Μόψῳ τῷ Μαντοῦς τῆς Τειρεσίου θυγατρός, διὰ λύπην ἀποθανεῖν. Ἡσίοδος μὲν οὖν οὕτω πως διασκευάζει τὸν μῦθον· προτεῖναι γάρ τι τοιοῦτο τῷ Μόψῳ τὸν Κάλχαντα

θαῦμά μʼ ἔχει κατὰ θυμόν, ὅσους ἐρινειὸς ὀλύνθους

οὗτος ἔχει μικρός περ ἐών· εἴποις ἂν ἀριθμόν;

τὸν δʼ ἀποκρίνασθαι

μύριοί εἰσιν ἀριθμόν, ἀτὰρ μέτρον γε μέδιμνος·

εἷς δὲ περισσεύει, τὸν ἐπενθέμεν οὔ κε δύναιο.

ὣς φάτο· καί σφιν ἀριθμὸς ἐτήτυμος εἴδετο μέτρου.

καὶ τότε δὴ Κάλχανθʼ ὕπνος θανάτοιο κάλυψε.

⁷ Φερεκύδης δέ φησιν ὗν προβαλεῖν ἔγκυον τὸν Κάλχαντα πόσους ἔχει χοίρους, τὸν δʼ εἰπεῖν ὅτι τρεῖς, ὧν ἕνα θῆλυν· ἀληθεύσαντος δʼ ἀποθανεῖν ὑπὸ λύπης. οἱ δὲ τὸν μὲν Κάλχαντα προβαλεῖν τὴν ὗν φασι τὸν δὲ ἐρινεόν, καὶ τὸν μὲν εἰπεῖν τἀληθὲς τὸν δὲ μή, ἀποθανεῖν δὲ ὑπὸ λύπης καὶ κατά τι λόγιον. λέγει δʼ αὐτὸ Σοφοκλῆς ἐν Ἑλένης ἀπαιτήσει ὡς εἱμαρμένον εἴη ἀποθανεῖν, ὅταν κρείττονι ἑαυτοῦ μάντει περιτύχῃ· οὗτος δὲ καὶ εἰς Κιλικίαν μεταφέρει τὴν ἔριν καὶ τὸν θάνατον τοῦ Κάλχαντος. τὰ μὲν παλαιὰ τοιαῦτα.

[28] ἐκτήσαντο δέ ποτε καὶ ναυτικὴν ἀξιόλογον δύναμιν Κολοφώνιοι καὶ ἱππικήν, ἐν ᾗ τοσοῦτον διέφερον τῶν ἄλλων ὥσθʼ, ὅπου ποτὲ ἐν τοῖς δυσκαταλύτοις πολέμοις τὸ ἱππικὸν τῶν Κολοφωνίων ἐπικουρήσειε, λύεσθαι τὸν πόλεμον· ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ τὴν παροιμίαν ἐκδοθῆναι τὴν λέγουσαν τὸν Κολοφῶνα ἐπέθηκεν ὅταν τέλος ἐπιτεθῇ βέβαιον τῷ πράγματι. ἄνδρες δʼ ἐγένοντο Κολοφώνιοι τῶν μνημονευομένων Μίμνερμος αὐλητὴς ἅμα καὶ ποιητὴς ἐλεγείας, καὶ Ξενοφάνης ὁ φυσικός, ὁ τοὺς σίλλους ποιήσας διὰ ποιημάτων· λέγει δὲ Πίνδαρος καὶ Πολύμναστόν τινα τῶν περὶ τὴν μουσικὴν ἐλλογίμων

φθέγμα μὲν πάγκοινον ἔγνωκας ;Πολυμνάστου Κολοφωνίου ἀνδρός.

⁸ καὶ Ὅμηρον δέ τινες ἐντεῦθεν εἶναί φασιν. Εὐθυπλοίᾳ μὲν οὖν ἑβδομήκοντα στάδιοί εἰσιν ἐξ Ἐφέσου, ἐγκολπίζοντι δὲ ἑκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσι.

[29] μετὰ δὲ Κολοφῶνα ὄρος Κοράκιον καὶ νησίον ἱερὸν Ἀρτέμιδος, εἰς ὃ διανηχομένας τίκτειν τὰς ἐλάφους πεπιστεύκασιν. εἶτα Λέβεδος διέχουσα Κολοφῶνος ἑκατὸν καὶ εἴκοσιν· ἐνταῦθα τῶν περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον τεχνιτῶν ἡ σύνοδος καὶ κατοικία τῶν ἐν Ἰωνίᾳ μέχρι Ἑλλησπόντου, ἐν ᾗ πανήγυρίς τε καὶ ἀγῶνες κατʼ ἔτος συντελοῦνται τῷ Διονύσῳ. ἐν Τέῳ δὲ ᾤκουν πρότερον τῇ ἐφεξῆς πόλει τῶν Ἰώνων, ἐμπεσούσης δὲ στάσεως εἰς Ἔφεσον κατέφυγον· Ἀττάλου δʼ εἰς Μυόννησον αὐτοὺς καταστήσαντος μεταξὺ Τέω καὶ Λεβέδου, πρεσβεύονται Τήιοι δεόμενοι Ῥωμαίων μὴ περιιδεῖν ἐπιτειχιζομένην σφίσι τὴν Μυόννησον, οἱ δὲ μετέστησαν εἰς Λέβεδον δεξαμένων τῶν Λεβεδίων ἀσμένως διὰ τὴν κατέχουσαν αὐτοὺς ὀλιγανδρίαν. καὶ Τέως δὲ Λεβέδου διέχει ἑκατὸν εἴκοσι, μεταξὺ δὲ νῆσος Ἀσπίς, οἱ δʼ Ἀρκόνησον καλοῦσι· καὶ ἡ Μυόννησος δὲ ἐφʼ ὕψους χερρονησίζοντος κατοικεῖται.

[30] καὶ ἡ Τέως δὲ ἐπὶ χερρονήσῳ ἵδρυται λιμένα ἔχουσα· ἐνθένδʼ ἐστὶν Ἀνακρέων ὁ μελοποιός, ἐφʼ οὗ Τήιοι τὴν πόλιν ἐκλιπόντες εἰς Ἄβδηρα ἀπῴκησαν Θρᾳκίαν πόλιν, οὐ φέροντες τὴν τῶν Περσῶν ὕβριν, ἀφʼ οὗ καὶ τοῦτʼ εἴρηται

Ἄβδηρα καλὴ Τηίων ἀποικίη.

πάλιν δʼ ἐπανῆλθόν τινες αὐτῶν χρόνῳ ὕστερον· εἴρηται δὲ καὶ περὶ Ἀπελλικῶντος ὅτι Τήιος ἦν κἀκεῖνος· γέγονε δὲ καὶ συγγραφεὺς Ἑκαταῖος ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως. ἔστι καὶ ἄλλος λιμὴν ὁ πρόσβορρος ἀπὸ τριάκοντα σταδίων τῆς πόλεως Γερραιίδαι.

[31] εἶτα Χαλκιδεῖς καὶ ὁ τῆς χερρονήσου ἰσθμὸς τῆς Τηίων καὶ Ἐρυθραίων· ἐντὸς μὲν οὖν τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ οἰκοῦσιν οὗτοι, ἐπʼ αὐτῷ δὲ τῷ ἰσθμῷ Τήιοι καὶ Κλαζομένιοι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ νότιον τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ πλευρὸν ἔχουσι Τήιοι τοὺς Χαλκιδέας, τὸ δὲ πρόσβορρον Κλαζομένιοι, καθʼ ὃ συνάπτουσι τῇ Ἐρυθραίᾳ. κεῖται δʼ Ὑπόκρημνος ὁ τόπος ἐπὶ τῇ ἀρχῇ τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ, ἐντὸς μὲν ἀπολαμβάνων τὴν Ἐρυθραίαν ἐκτὸς δὲ τὴν τῶν Κλαζομενίων. ὑπέρκειται δὲ τῶν Χαλκιδέων ἄλσος καθιερωμένον Ἀλεξάνδρῳ τῷ Φιλίππου, καὶ ἀγὼν ὑπὸ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῶν Ἰώνων Ἀλεξάνδρεια καταγγέλλεται, συντελούμενος ἐνταῦθα. ἡ δʼ ὑπέρβασις τοῦ ἰσθμοῦ τοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀλεξανδρείου καὶ τῶν Χαλκιδέων μέχρι τοῦ Ὑποκρήμνου πεντήκοντά εἰσι στάδιοι, ὁ δὲ περίπλους πλείους ἢ χίλιοι. κατὰ μέσον δέ που τὸν περίπλουν αἱ Ἐρυθραί, πόλις Ἰωνικὴ λιμένα ἔχουσα καὶ νησῖδας προκειμένας τέτταρας Ἵππους καλουμένας.

[32] πρὶν δʼ ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ τὰς Ἐρυθράς, πρῶτον μὲν Ἔραι πολίχνιόν ἐστι Τηίων· εἶτα Κώρυκος ὄρος ὑψηλὸν καὶ λιμὴν ὑπʼ αὐτῷ Κασύστης καὶ ἄλλος Ἐρυθρᾶς λιμὴν καλούμενος καὶ ἐφεξῆς πλείους ἕτεροι. φασὶ δὲ τὸν παράπλουν τοῦ Κωρύκου πάντα λῃστήριον ὑπάρξαι τῶν Κωρυκαίων καλουμένων, εὑρομένων τρόπον καινὸν τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς τῶν πλοϊζομένων· κατεσπαρμένους γὰρ ἐν τοῖς λιμέσι τοῖς καθορμιζομένοις ἐμπόροις προσφοιτᾶν καὶ ὠτακουστεῖν τί φέροιεν καὶ ποῦ πλέοιεν, εἶτα συνελθόντας ἀναχθεῖσι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπιτίθεσθαι καὶ καθαρπάζειν· ἀφʼ οὗ δὴ πάντα τὸν πολυπράγμονα καὶ κατακούειν ἐπιχειροῦντα τῶν λάθρα καὶ ἐν ἀπορρήτῳ διαλεγομένων Κωρυκαῖον καλοῦμεν, καὶ ἐν παροιμίᾳ φαμέν

τοῦ δʼ ἆρʼ ὁ Κωρυκαῖος ἠκροάζετο,

ὅταν δοκῇ τις πράττειν διʼ ἀπορρήτων ἢ λαλεῖν, μὴ λανθάνῃ δὲ διὰ τοὺς κατασκοποῦντας καὶ φιλοπευστοῦντας τὰ μὴ προσήκοντα.

[33] μετὰ δὲ Κώρυκον Ἁλόννησος νησίον· εἶτα τὸ Ἄργεννον, ἄκρα τῆς Ἐρυθραίας πλησιάζουσα μάλιστα τῷ Χίων Ποσειδίῳ ποιοῦντι πορθμὸν ὅσον ἑξήκοντα σταδίων. μεταξὺ δὲ τῶν Ἐρυθρῶν καὶ τοῦ Ὑποκρήμνου Μίμας ἐστὶν ὄρος ὑψηλὸν εὔθηρον πολύδενδρον· εἶτα κώμη Κυβέλεια καὶ ἄκρα Μέλαινα καλουμένη μύλων ἔχουσα λατόμιον.

[34] ἐκ δʼ Ἐρυθρῶν Σίβυλλά ἐστιν, ἔνθους καὶ μαντικὴ γυνὴ τῶν ἀρχαίων τις· κατʼ Ἀλέξανδρον δὲ ἄλλη ἦν τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον μαντική, καλουμένη Ἀθηναΐς, ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως· καὶ καθʼ ἡμᾶς Ἡρακλείδης Ἡροφίλειος ἰατρὸς συσχολαστὴς Ἀπολλωνίου τοῦ Μυός.

[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

⁹ ἐκέκτηντο δὲ καὶ ναυτικόν ποτε Χῖοι, καὶ ἀνθήπτοντο τῆς κατὰ θάλατταν ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐλευθερίας. ἐκ Χίου δʼ εἰς Λέσβον νότῳ τετρακόσιοί που στάδιοι.

[36] ἐκ δὲ τοῦ Ὑποκρήμνου Χύτριόν ἐστι τόπος, ὅπου πρότερον ἵδρυντο Κλαζομεναί· εἶθʼ ἡ νῦν πόλις νησία ἔχουσα προκείμενα ὀκτὼ γεωργούμενα· Κλαζομένιος δʼ ἦν ἀνὴρ ἐπιφανὴς Ἀναξαγόρας ὁ φυσικός, Ἀναξιμένους ὁμιλητὴς τοῦ Μιλησίου· διήκουσαν δὲ τούτου Ἀρχέλαος ὁ φυσικὸς καὶ Εὐριπίδης ὁ ποιητής. εἶθʼ ἱερὸν Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ θερμὰ ὕδατα καὶ ὁ Σμυρναίων κόλπος καὶ ἡ πόλις.

[37] ἑξῆς δὲ ἄλλος κόλπος, ἐν ᾧ ἡ παλαιὰ Σμύρνα ἀπὸ εἴκοσι σταδίων τῆς νῦν. Λυδῶν δὲ κατασπασάντων τὴν Σμύρναν περὶ τετρακόσια ἔτη διετέλεσεν οἰκουμένη κωμηδόν· εἶτα ἀνήγειρεν αὐτὴν Ἀντίγονος, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Λυσίμαχος, καὶ νῦν ἐστι καλλίστη τῶν πασῶν, μέρος μέν τι ἔχουσα ἐπʼ ὄρει τετειχισμένον, τὸ δὲ πλέον ἐν πεδίῳ πρὸς τῷ λιμένι καὶ πρὸς τῷ μητρῴῳ καὶ πρὸς γυμνασίῳ. ἔστι δʼ ἡ ῥυμοτομία διάφορος ἐπʼ εὐθειῶν εἰς δύναμιν καὶ αἱ ὁδοὶ λιθόστρωτοι στοαί τε μεγάλαι τετράγωνοι, ἐπίπεδοί τε καὶ ὑπερῷοι· ἔστι δὲ καὶ βιβλιοθήκη καὶ τὸ Ὁμήρειον, στοὰ τετράγωνος, ἔχουσα νεὼν Ὁμήρου καὶ ξόανον· μεταποιοῦνται γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι διαφερόντως τοῦ ποιητοῦ, καὶ δὴ καὶ νόμισμά τι χαλκοῦν παρʼ αὐτοῖς Ὁμήρειον λέγεται. ῥεῖ δὲ πλησίον τοῦ τείχους ὁ Μέλης ποταμός. ἔστι δὲ πρὸς τῇ ἄλλῃ κατασκευῇ τῆς πόλεως καὶ λιμὴν κλειστός. ἓν δʼ ἐλάττωμα τῶν ἀρχιτεκτόνων οὐ μικρόν, ὅτι τὰς ὁδοὺς στορνύντες ὑπορρύσεις οὐκ ἔδωκαν αὐταῖς, ἀλλʼ ἐπιπολάζει τὰ σκύβαλα καὶ μάλιστα ἐν τοῖς ὄμβροις ἐπαφιεμένων τῶν ἀποσκευῶν. ἐνταῦθα Δολοβέλλας Τρεβώνιον ἐκπολιορκήσας ἀνεῖλεν, ἕνα τῶν δολοφονησάντων Καίσαρα τὸν θεόν, καὶ τῆς πόλεως παρέλυσε πολλὰ μέρη.

[38] μετὰ δὲ Σμύρναν αἱ Λεῦκαι πολίχνιον, ὃ ἀπέστησεν Ἀριστόνικος μετὰ τὴν Ἀττάλου τοῦ φιλομήτορος τελευτήν, δοκῶν τοῦ γένους εἶναι τοῦ τῶν βασιλέων καὶ διανοούμενος εἰς ἑαυτὸν ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἀρχήν· ἐντεῦθεν μὲν οὖν ἐξέπεσεν ἡττηθεὶς ναυμαχίᾳ περὶ τὴν Κυμαίαν ὑπὸ Ἐφεσίων, εἰς δὲ τὴν μεσόγαιαν ἀνιὼν ἤθροισε διὰ ταχέων πλῆθος ἀπόρων τε ἀνθρώπων καὶ δούλων ἐπʼ ἐλευθερίᾳ κατακεκλημένων, οὓς Ἡλιοπολίτας ἐκάλεσε. πρῶτον μὲν οὖν παρεισέπεσεν εἰς Θυάτειρα, εἶτʼ Ἀπολλωνίδα ἔσχεν, εἶτʼ ἄλλων ἐφίετο φρουρίων· οὐ πολὺν δὲ διεγένετο χρόνον, ἀλλʼ εὐθὺς αἵ τε πόλεις ἔπεμψαν πλῆθος, καὶ Νικομήδης ὁ Βιθυνὸς ἐπεκούρησε καὶ οἱ τῶν Καππαδόκων βασιλεῖς. ἔπειτα πρέσβεις Ῥωμαίων πέντε ἧκον, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα στρατιὰ καὶ ὕπατος Πόπλιος Κράσσος, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Μάρκος Περπέρνας, ὃς καὶ κατέλυσε τὸν πόλεμον ζωγρίᾳ λαβὼν τὸν Ἀριστόνικον καὶ ἀναπέμψας εἰς Ῥώμην. ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ κατέστρεψε τὸν βίον, Περπέρναν δὲ νόσος διέφθειρε, Κράσσος δὲ περὶ Λεύκας ἐπιθεμένων τινῶν ἔπεσεν ἐν μάχῃ. Μάνιος δʼ Ἀκύλλιος ἐπελθὼν ὕπατος μετὰ δέκα πρεσβευτῶν διέταξε τὴν ἐπαρχίαν εἰς τὸ νῦν ἔτι συμμένον τῆς πολιτείας σχῆμα. μετὰ δὲ Λεύκας Φώκαια ἐν κόλπῳ· περὶ δὲ ταύτης εἰρήκαμεν ἐν τῷ περὶ Μασσαλίας λόγῳ. εἶθʼ οἱ ὅροι τῶν Ἰώνων καὶ τῶν Αἰολέων· εἴρηται δὲ καὶ περὶ τούτων. ἐν δὲ τῇ μεσογαίᾳ τῆς Ἰωνικῆς παραλίας λοιπά ἐστι τὰ περὶ τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν ἐξ Ἐφέσου μέχρι Ἀντιοχείας καὶ τοῦ Μαιάνδρου. ἔστι δὲ καὶ τὰ χωρία ταῦτα Λυδοῖς καὶ Καρσὶν ἐπίμικτα καὶ τοῖς Ἕλλησι.

[39] πρώτη δʼ ἐστὶν ἐξ Ἐφέσου Μαγνησία πόλις Αἰολίς, λεγομένη δὲ ἐπὶ Μαιάνδρῳ· πλησίον γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἵδρυται· πολὺ δὲ πλησιαίτερον ὁ Ληθαῖος ἐμβάλλων εἰς τὸν Μαίανδρον, τὴν δʼ ἀρχὴν ἔχων ἀπὸ Πακτύου τοῦ τῶν Ἐφεσίων ὄρους· ἕτερος δʼ ἐστὶ Ληθαῖος ὁ ἐν Γορτύνῃ καὶ ὁ περὶ Τρίκκην, ἐφʼ ᾧ ὁ Ἀσκληπιὸς γεννηθῆναι λέγεται, καὶ ἔτι ἐν τοῖς Ἑσπερίταις Λίβυσι. κεῖται δʼ ἐν πεδίῳ πρὸς ὄρει καλουμένῳ Θώρακι ἡ πόλις, ἐφʼ ᾧ σταυρωθῆναί φασι Δαφίταν τὸν γραμματικὸν λοιδορήσαντα τοὺς βασιλέας διὰ διστίχου

πορφύρεοι μώλωπες, ἀπορρινήματα γάζης

Λυσιμάχου, Λυδῶν ἄρχετε καὶ Φρυγίης.

καὶ λόγιον δʼ ἐκπεσεῖν αὐτῷ λέγεται φυλάττεσθαι τὸν Θώρακα.

[40] δοκοῦσι δʼ εἶναι Μάγνητες Δελφῶν ἀπόγονοι τῶν ἐποικησάντων τὰ Δίδυμα ὄρη ἐν Θετταλίᾳ, περὶ ὧν φησιν Ἡσίοδος

ἢ οἵη Διδύμους ἱεροὺς ναίουσα κολωνούς,

Δωτίῳ ἐν πεδίῳ πολυβότρυος ἄντʼ Ἀμύροιο,

νίψατο Βοιβιάδος λίμνης πόδα παρθένος ἀδμής.

¹⁰ ἐνταῦθα δʼ ἦν καὶ τὸ τῆς Δινδυμήνης ἱερὸν μητρὸς θεῶν· ἱεράσασθαι δʼ αὐτοῦ τὴν Θεμιστοκλέους γυναῖκα, οἱ δὲ θυγατέρα παραδιδόασι· νῦν δʼ οὐκ ἔστι τὸ ἱερὸν διὰ τὸ τὴν πόλιν εἰς ἄλλον μετῳκίσθαι τόπον· ἐν δὲ τῇ νῦν πόλει τὸ τῆς Λευκοφρυήνης ἱερὸν ἔστιν Ἀρτέμιδος, ὃ τῷ μὲν μεγέθει τοῦ ναοῦ καὶ τῷ πλήθει τῶν ἀναθημάτων λείπεται τοῦ ἐν Ἐφέσῳ, τῇ δʼ εὐρυθμίᾳ καὶ τῇ τέχνῃ τῇ περὶ τὴν κατασκευὴν τοῦ σηκοῦ πολὺ διαφέρει· καὶ τῷ μεγέθει ὑπεραίρει πάντας τοὺς ἐν Ἀσίᾳ πλὴν δυεῖν, τοῦ ἐν Ἐφέσῳ καὶ τοῦ ἐν Διδύμοις. καὶ τὸ παλαιὸν δὲ συνέβη τοῖς Μάγνησιν ὑπὸ Τρηρῶν ἄρδην ἀναιρεθῆναι, Κιμμερικοῦ ἔθνους, εὐτυχήσαντας πολὺν χρόνον, τὸ δʼ ἑξῆς τοὺς Ἐφεσίους κατασχεῖν τὸν τόπον. Καλλῖνος μὲν οὖν ὡς εὐτυχούντων ἔτι τῶν Μαγνήτων μέμνηται καὶ κατορθούντων ἐν τῷ πρὸς τοὺς Ἐφεσίους πολέμῳ, Ἀρχίλοχος δὲ ἤδη φαίνεται γνωρίζων τὴν γενομένην αὐτοῖς συμφοράν

κλαίειν τὰ Θασίων, οὗ τὰ Μαγνήτων κακά.

¹¹ ἐξ οὗ καὶ αὐτὸν νεώτερον εἶναι τοῦ Καλλίνου τεκμαίρεσθαι πάρεστιν. ἄλλης δέ τινος ἐφόδου τῶν Κιμμερίων μέμνηται πρεσβυτέρας ὁ Καλλῖνος ἐπὰν φῇ

νῦν δʼ ἐπὶ Κιμμερίων στρατὸς ἔρχεται ὀβριμοεργῶν,

¹² ἐν ᾗ τὴν Σάρδεων ἅλωσιν δηλοῖ.

[41] ἄνδρες δʼ ἐγένοντο γνώριμοι Μάγνητες Ἡγησίας τε ὁ ῥήτωρ, ὃς ἦρξε μάλιστα τοῦ Ἀσιανοῦ λεγομένου ζήλου παραφθείρας τὸ καθεστὼς ἔθος τὸ Ἀττικόν, καὶ Σῖμος ὁ μελοποιὸς παραφθείρας καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν τῶν προτέρων μελοποιῶν ἀγωγὴν καὶ τὴν σιμῳδίαν εἰσαγαγών (καθάπερ ἔτι μᾶλλον λυσιῳδοὶ καὶ μαγῳδοί), καὶ Κλεόμαχος ὁ πύκτης, ὃς εἰς ἔρωτα ἐμπεσὼν κιναίδου τινὸς καὶ παιδίσκης ὑπὸ τῷ κιναίδῳ τρεφομένης ἀπεμιμήσατο τὴν ἀγωγὴν τῶν παρὰ τοῖς κιναίδοις διαλέκτων καὶ τῆς ἠθοποιίας· ἦρξε δὲ Σωτάδης μὲν πρῶτος τοῦ κιναιδολογεῖν, ἔπειτα Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Αἰτωλός· ἀλλʼ οὗτοι μὲν ἐν ψιλῷ λόγῳ, μετὰ μέλους δὲ Λῦσις, καὶ ἔτι πρότερος τούτου ὁ Σῖμος. Ἀναξήνορα δὲ τὸν κιθαρῳδὸν ἐξῆρε μὲν καὶ τὰ θέατρα, ἀλλʼ ὅτι μάλιστα Ἀντώνιος, ὅς γε καὶ τεττάρων πόλεων ἀπέδειξε φορολόγον στρατιώτας αὐτῷ συστήσας. καὶ ἡ πατρὶς δʼ ἱκανῶς αὐτὸν ηὔξησε πορφύραν ἐνδύσασα ἱερωμένον τοῦ σωσιπόλιδος Διός, καθάπερ καὶ ἡ γραπτὴ εἰκὼν ἐμφανίζει ἡ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ. ἔστι δὲ καὶ χαλκῆ εἰκὼν ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ ἐπιγραφὴν ἔχουσα

ἤτοι μὲν τόδε καλὸν ἀκουέμεν ἐστὶν ἀοιδοῦ τοιοῦδʼ, οἷος ὅδʼ ἐστί, θεοῖς ἐναλίγκιος αὐδῇ.

¹³ οὐ στοχασάμενος δὲ ὁ ἐπιγράψας τὸ τελευταῖον γράμμα τοῦ δευτέρου ἔπους παρέλιπε τοῦ πλάτους τῆς βάσεως μὴ συνεξαρκοῦντος, ὥστε τῆς πόλεως ἀμαθίαν καταγινώσκειν παρέσχε διὰ τὴν ἀμφιβολίαν τὴν περὶ τὴν γραφήν, εἴτε τὴν ὀνομαστικὴν δέχοιτο πτῶσιν τῆς ἐσχάτης προσηγορίας εἴτε τὴν δοτικήν· πολλοὶ γὰρ χωρὶς τοῦ ι γράφουσι τὰς δοτικάς, καὶ ἐκβάλλουσι δὲ τὸ ἔθος φυσικὴν αἰτίαν οὐκ ἔχον.

[42] μετὰ δὲ Μαγνησίαν ἡ ἐπὶ Τράλλεις ἐστὶν ὁδὸς ἐν ἀριστερᾷ μὲν τὴν Μεσωγίδα ἔχουσιν, ἐν αὐτῇ δὲ τῇ ὁδῷ καὶ ἐν δεξιᾷ τὸ Μαιάνδρου πεδίον, Λυδῶν ἅμα καὶ Καρῶν νεμομένων καὶ Ἰώνων Μιλησίων τε καὶ Μυησίων, ἔτι δὲ Αἰολέων τῶν ἐν Μαγνησίᾳ· ὁ δʼ αὐτὸς τρόπος τῆς τοποθεσίας καὶ μέχρι Νύσης καὶ Ἀντιοχείας. ἵδρυται δʼ ἡ μὲν τῶν Τραλλιανῶν πόλις ἐπὶ τραπεζίου τινὸς ἄκραν ἔχοντος ἐρυμνήν· καὶ τὰ κύκλῳ δʼ ἱκανῶς εὐερκῆ· συνοικεῖται δὲ καλῶς εἴ τις ἄλλη τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν ὑπὸ εὐπόρων ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ἀεί τινες ἐξ αὐτῆς εἰσιν οἱ πρωτεύοντες κατὰ τὴν ἐπαρχίαν, οὓς Ἀσιάρχας καλοῦσιν· ὧν Πυθόδωρός τε ἦν, ἀνὴρ Νυσαεὺς τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ἐκεῖσε δὲ μεταβεβηκὼς διὰ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν καὶ ἐν τῇ πρὸς Πομπήιον φιλίᾳ διαπρέπων μετʼ ὀλίγων· περιεβέβλητο δὲ καὶ οὐσίαν βασιλικὴν πλειόνων ἢ δισχιλίων ταλάντων, ἣν ὑπὸ Καίσαρος τοῦ θεοῦ πραθεῖσαν διὰ τὴν πρὸς Πομπήιον φιλίαν ἐξωνησάμενος οὐχ ἥττω τοῖς παισὶ κατέλιπε· τούτου δʼ ἐστὶ θυγάτηρ Πυθοδωρὶς ἡ νῦν βασιλεύουσα ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ, περὶ ἧς εἰρήκαμεν. οὗτός τε δὴ καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἤκμασε καὶ Μηνόδωρος, ἀνὴρ λόγιος καὶ ἄλλως σεμνὸς καὶ βαρύς, ἔχων τὴν ἱερωσύνην τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Λαρισαίου· κατεστασιάσθη δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν Δομετίου τοῦ Ἀηνοβάρβου φίλων, καὶ ἀνεῖλεν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνος ὡς ἀφιστάντα τὸ ναυτικόν, πιστεύσας τοῖς ἐνδειξαμένοις. ἐγένοντο δὲ καὶ ῥήτορες ἐπιφανεῖς Διονυσοκλῆς τε καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Δάμασος ὁ σκόμβρος. κτίσμα δέ φασιν εἶναι τὰς Τράλλεις Ἀργείων καί τινων Θρᾳκῶν Τραλλίων, ἀφʼ ὧν τοὔνομα. τυραννηθῆναι δʼ ὀλίγον συνέπεσε χρόνον τὴν πόλιν ὑπὸ τῶν Κρατίππου παίδων κατὰ τὰ Μιθριδατικά.

[43] Νῦσα δʼ ἵδρυται πρὸς τῇ Μεσωγίδι τὸ πλέον τῷ ὄρει προσανακεκλιμένη, ἔστι δʼ ὥσπερ δίπολις· διαιρεῖ γὰρ αὐτὴν χαράδρα τις ποιοῦσα φάραγγα, ἧς τὸ μὲν γέφυραν ἐπικειμένην ἔχει συνάπτουσαν τὰς δύο πόλεις, τὸ δʼ ἀμφιθεάτρῳ κεκόσμηται κρυπτὴν ἔχοντι τὴν ὑπόρρυσιν τῶν χαραδρωδῶν ὑδάτων· τῷ δὲ θεάτρῳ δύο ἄκραι, ὧν τῇ μὲν ὑπόκειται τὸ γυμνάσιον τῶν νέων, τῇ δʼ ἀγορὰ καὶ τὸ γεροντικόν· πρὸς δὲ νότον ὑποπέπτωκε τῇ πόλει τὸ πεδίον, καθάπερ καὶ ταῖς Τράλλεσιν.

[44] ἐν δὲ τῇ ὁδῷ τῇ μεταξὺ τῶν Τράλλεων καὶ τῆς Νύσης κώμη τῶν Νυσαέων ἐστὶν οὐκ ἄπωθεν τῆς πόλεως Ἀχάρακα, ἐν ᾗ τὸ Πλουτώνιον ἔχον καὶ ἄλσος πολυτελὲς καὶ νεὼν Πλούτωνός τε καὶ Κόρης, καὶ τὸ Χαρώνιον ἄντρον ὑπερκείμενον τοῦ ἄλσους θαυμαστὸν τῇ φύσει· λέγουσι γὰρ δὴ¹⁴ τοὺς νοσώδεις καὶ προσέχοντας ταῖς τῶν θεῶν τούτων θεραπείαις φοιτᾶν ἐκεῖσε καὶ διαιτᾶσθαι ἐν τῇ κώμῃ πλησίον τοῦ ἄντρου παρὰ τοῖς ἐμπείροις τῶν ἱερέων, οἳ ἐγκοιμῶνταί τε ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν καὶ διατάττουσιν ἐκ τῶν ὀνείρων τὰς θεραπείας. οὗτοι δʼ εἰσὶ καὶ οἱ ἐπικαλοῦντες τὴν τῶν θεῶν ἰατρείαν· ἄγουσι δὲ πολλάκις εἰς τὸ ἄντρον καὶ ἱδρύουσι μένοντας καθʼ ἡσυχίαν ἐκεῖ καθάπερ ἐν φωλεῷ σιτίων χωρὶς ἐπὶ πλείους ἡμέρας. ἔστι δʼ ὅτε καὶ ἰδίοις ἐνυπνίοις οἱ νοσηλευόμενοι προσέχουσι, μυσταγωγοῖς δʼ ὅμως καὶ συμβούλοις ἐκείνοις χρῶνται ὡς ἂν ἱερεῦσι· τοῖς δʼ ἄλλοις ἄδυτός ἐστιν ὁ τόπος καὶ ὀλέθριος. πανήγυρις δʼ ἐν τοῖς Ἀχαράκοις συντελεῖται κατʼ ἔτος, καὶ τότε μάλιστα ὁρᾶν ἔστι καὶ ἀκούειν περὶ τῶν νοσούντων τοὺς πανηγυρίζοντας· τότε δὲ καὶ περὶ τὴν μεσημβρίαν ὑπολαβόντες ταῦρον οἱ ἐκ τοῦ γυμνασίου νέοι καὶ ἔφηβοι γυμνοὶ λίπʼ ἀληλιμμένοι μετὰ σπουδῆς ἀνακομίζουσιν εἰς τὸ ἄντρον· ἀφεθεὶς δὲ μικρὸν προελθὼν πίπτει καὶ ἔκπνους γίνεται.

[45] ἀπὸ δὲ τριάκοντα σταδίων τῆς Νύσης ὑπερβᾶσι Τμῶλον καὶ τὸ ὄρος τὴν Μεσωγίδα ἐπὶ τὰ πρὸς νότον μέρη καλεῖται τόπος Λειμών, εἰς ὃν ἐξοδεύουσι πανηγυριοῦντες Νυσαεῖς τε καὶ οἱ κύκλῳ πάντες· οὐ πόρρω δὲ τούτου στόμιόν ἐστιν ἱερὸν τῶν αὐτῶν θεῶν, ὅ φασι καθήκειν μέχρι τῶν Ἀχαράκων. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν λειμῶνα ὀνομάζειν τὸν ποιητήν φασιν ὅταν φῇ Ἀσίω ἐν λειμῶνι, δεικνύντες Καϋστρίου καὶ Ἀσίου τινὸς ἡρῷον καὶ τὸν Κάυστρον πλησίον ἀπορρέοντα.

[46] ἱστοροῦσι δὲ τρεῖς ἀδελφούς, Ἄθυμβρόν τε καὶ Ἀθύμβραδον καὶ Ὕδρηλον, ἐλθόντας ἐκ Λακεδαίμονος τὰς ἐπωνύμους ἑαυτῶν κτίσαι πόλεις, λιπανδρῆσαι δʼ ὕστερον, ἐξ ἐκείνων δὲ συνοικισθῆναι τὴν Νῦσαν· καὶ νῦν Ἄθυμβρον ἀρχηγέτην νομίζουσιν οἱ Νυσαεῖς.

[47] περίκεινται δὲ ἀξιόλογοι κατοικίαι πέραν τοῦ Μαιάνδρου, Κοσκίνια καὶ Ὀρθωσία· ἐντὸς δὲ Βρίουλα Μάσταυρα Ἀχάρακα καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ἐν τῷ ὄρει τὰ Ἄρομα¹⁵, ὅθεν ἄριστος Μεσωγίτης οἶνος ὁ Ἀρομεύς.

[48] ἄνδρες δὲ γεγόνασιν ἔνδοξοι Νυσαεῖς Ἀπολλώνιός τε ὁ στωικὸς φιλόσοφος τῶν Παναιτίου γνωρίμων ἄριστος, καὶ Μενεκράτης Ἀριστάρχου μαθητής, καὶ Ἀριστόδημος ἐκείνου υἱός, οὗ διηκούσαμεν ἡμεῖς ἐσχατόγηρω νέοι παντελῶς ἐν τῇ Νύσῃ· καὶ Σώστρατος δὲ ὁ ἀδελφὸς τοῦ Ἀριστοδήμου καὶ ἄλλος Ἀριστόδημος ἀνεψιὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ παιδεύσας Μάγνον Πομπήιον ἀξιόλογοι γεγόνασι γραμματικοί· ὁ δʼ ἡμέτερος καὶ ἐρρητόρευε καὶ ἐν τῇ Ῥόδῳ καὶ ἐν τῇ πατρίδι δύο σχολὰς συνεῖχε, πρωὶ μὲν τὴν ῥητορικὴν δείλης δὲ τὴν γραμματικὴν σχολήν· ἐν δὲ τῇ Ῥώμῃ τῶν Μάγνου παίδων ἐπιστατῶν ἠρκεῖτο τῇ γραμματικῇ σχολῇ.

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 focus

[1] It remains for me to speak of the Ionians and the Carians and the seaboard outside the Taurus, which last is occupied by Lycians, Pamphylians, and Cilicians; for in this way I can finish my entire description of the peninsula, the isthmus of which, as I was saying,¹ is the road which leads over from the Pontic Sea to the Issic Sea.²

[2] The coasting voyage round Ionia is about three thousand four hundred and thirty stadia, this distance being so great because of the gulfs and the fact that the country forms a peninsula of unusual extent; but the distance in a straight line across the isthmus is not great. For instance, merely the distance from Ephesus to Smyrna is a journey, in a straight line, of three hundred and twenty stadia, for the distance to Metropolis is one hundred and twenty stadia and the remainder to Smyrna, whereas the coasting voyage is but slightly short of two thousand two hundred. Be that as it may, the bounds of the Ionian coast extend from the Poseidium of the Milesians, and from the Carian frontiers, as far as Phocaea and the Hermus River, which latter is the limit of the Ionian seaboard.

[3] Pherecydes says concerning this seaboard that Miletus and Myus and the parts round Mycale and Ephesus were in earlier times occupied by Carians, and that the coast next thereafter, as far as Phocaea and Chios and Samos, which were ruled by Ancaeus, was occupied by Leleges, but that both were driven out by the Ionians and took refuge in the remaining parts of Caria. He says that Androclus, legitimate son of Codrus the king of Athens, was the leader of the Ionian colonization, which was later than the Aeolian, and that he became the founder of Ephesus; and for this reason, it is said, the royal seat of the Ionians was established there. And still now the descendants of his family are called kings; and they have certain honors, I mean the privilege of front seats at the games and of wearing purple robes as insignia of royal descent, and staff instead of sceptre, and of the superintendence of the sacrifices in honor of the Eleusinian Demeter. Miletus was founded by Neleus, a Pylian by birth. The Messenians and the Pylians pretend a kind of kinship with one another, according to which the more recent poets call Nestor a Messenian; and they say that many of the Pylians accompanied Melanthus, father of Codrus, and his followers to Athens, and that, accordingly, all this people sent forth the colonizing expedition in common with the Ionians. There is an altar, erected by Neleus, to be seen on the Poseidium. Myus was founded by Cydrelus, bastard son of Codrus; Lebedus by Andropompus, who seized a place called Artis; Colophon by Andraemon a Pylian, according to Mimnermus in his Nanno;³ Priene by Aepytus the son of Neleus, and then later by Philotas, who brought a colony from Thebes; Teos, at first by Athamas, for which reason it is by Anacreon called Athamantis, and at the time of the Ionian colonization by Nauclus, bastard son of Codrus, and after him by Apoecus and Damasus, who were Athenians, and Geres, a Boeotian; Erythrae by Cnopus, he too a bastard son of Codrus; Phocaea by the Athenians under Philogenes; Clazomenae by Paralus; Chios by Egertius, who brought with him a mixed crowd; Samos by Tembrion, and then later by Procles.

[4] These are the twelve Ionian cities,⁴ but at a later time Smyrna was added, being induced by the Ephesians to join the Ionian League; for the Ephesians were fellow-inhabitants of the Smyrnaeans in ancient times, when Ephesus was also called Smyrna. And Callinus somewhere so names it, when he calls the Ephesians Smyrnaeans in the prayer to Zeus,

and pity the Smyrnaeans;

and again,

remember, if ever the Smyrnaeans burnt up beautiful thighs of oxen in sacrifice to thee.

⁵Smyrna was an Amazon who took possession of Ephesus; and hence the name both of the inhabitants and of the city, just as certain of the Ephesians were called Sisyrbitae after Sisyrbe. Also a certain place belonging to Ephesus was called Smyrna, as Hipponax plainly indicates:

He lived behind the city in Smyrna between Tracheia and Lepra Acte;

⁶for the name Lepra Acte was given to Mt. Prion, which lies above the present city and has on it a part of the city’s wall. At any rate, the possessions behind Prion are still now referred to as in the “opistholeprian” territory,⁷ and the country alongside the mountain round Coressus was called “Tracheia.”⁸ The city was in ancient times round the Athenaeum, which is now outside the city near the Hypelaeus,⁹ as it is called; so that Smyrna was near the present gymnasium, behind the present city, but between Tracheia and Lepra Acte. On departing from the Ephesians, the Smyrnaeans marched to the place where Smyrna now is, which was in the possession of the Leleges, and, having driven them out, they founded the ancient Smyrna, which is about twenty stadia distant from the present Smyrna. But later, being driven out by the Aeolians, they fled for refuge to Colophon, and then with the Colophonians returned to their own land and took it back, as Mimnermus tells us in his Nanno, after recalling that Smyrna was always an object of contention:

After we left Pylus, the steep city of Neleus, we came by ship to lovely Asia, and with our overweening might settled in beloved Colophon, taking the initiative in grievous insolence. And from there, setting out from the Astëeis River, by the will of the gods we took Aeolian Smyrna.

¹⁰So much, then, on this subject. But I must again go over the several parts in detail, beginning with the principal places, those where the foundings first took place, I mean those round Miletus and Ephesus; for these are the best and most famous cities.

[5] Next after the Poseidium of the Milesians, eighteen stadia inland, is the oracle of Apollo Didymeus among the Branchidae.¹¹ It was set on fire by Xerxes, as were also the other temples, except that at Ephesus. The Branchidae gave over the treasures of the god to the Persian king, and accompanied him in his flight in order to escape punishment for the robbing and the betrayal of the temple. But later the Milesians erected the largest temple in the world, though on account of its size it remained without a roof. At any rate, the circuit of the sacred enclosure holds a village settlement; and there is a magnificent sacred grove both inside and outside the enclosure; and other sacred enclosures contain the oracle and the shrines. Here is laid the scene of the myth of Branchus and the love of Apollo. The temple is adorned with costliest offerings consisting of early works of art. Thence to the city is no long journey, by land or by sea.

[6] Ephorus says: Miletus was first founded and fortified above the sea by the Cretans, where the Miletus of olden times is now situated, being settled by Sarpedon, who brought colonists from the Cretan Miletus and named the city after that Miletus, the place formerly being in the possession of the Leleges; but later Neleus and his followers fortified the present city. The present city has four harbors, one of which is large enough for a fleet. Many are the achievements of this city, but the greatest is the number of its colonizations; for the Euxine Pontus has been colonized everywhere by these people, as also the Propontis and several other regions. At any rate, Anaximenes of Lampsacus says that the Milesians colonized the islands Icaros and Leros; and, near the Hellespont, Limnae in the Chersonesus, as also Abydus and Arisba and Paesus in Asia; and Artace and Cyzicus in the island of the Cyziceni; and Scepsis in the interior of the Troad. I, however, in my detailed description speak of the other cities, which have been omitted by him. Both Milesians and Delians invoke an Apollo “Ulius,” that is, as god of “health and healing,” for the verb “ulein” means “to be healthy”; whence the noun “ule”¹² and the salutation, “Both health and great joy to thee”; for Apollo is the god of healing. And Artemis has her name from the fact that she makes people “Artemeas.”¹³ And both Helius¹⁴ and Selene¹⁵ are closely associated with these, since they are the causes of the temperature of the air. And both pestilential diseases and sudden deaths are imputed to these gods.

[7] Notable men were born at Miletus: Thales, one of the Seven Wise Men, the first to begin the science of natural philosophy¹⁶ and mathematics among the Greeks, and his pupil Anaximander, and again the pupil of the latter, Anaximenes, and also Hecataeus, the author of the History, and, in my time, Aeschines the orator, who remained in exile to the end, since he spoke freely, beyond moderation, before Pompey the Great. But the city was unfortunate, since it shut its gates against Alexander and was taken by force, as was also the case with Halicarnassus; and also, before that time, it was taken by the Persians. And Callisthenes says that Phrynichus the tragic poet was fined a thousand drachmas by the Athenians because he wrote a play entitled The Capture of Miletus by Dareius. The island Lade lies close in front of Miletus, as do also the isles in the neighborhood of the Tragaeae, which afford anchorage for pirates.

[8] Next comes the Latmian Gulf, on which is situated “Heracleia below Latmus,” as it is called, a small town that has an anchoring-place. It was at first called Latmus, the same name as the mountain that lies above it, which Hecataeus indicates, in his opinion, to be the same as that which by the poet is called “the mountain of the Phtheires”¹⁷ (for he says that the mountain of the Phtheires lies above Latmus), though some say that it is Mt. Grium, which is approximately parallel to Latmus and extends inland from Milesia towards the east through Caria to Euromus and Chalcetores.¹⁸ This mountain lies above Heracleia, and at a high elevation.¹⁹ At a slight distance away from it, after one has crossed a little river near Latmus, there is to be seen the sepulchre of Endymion, in a cave. Then from Heracleia to Pyrrha, a small town, there is a voyage of about one hundred stadia.

[9] But the voyage from Miletus to Heracleia, including the sinuosities of the gulfs, is a little more than one hundred stadia, though that from Miletus to Pyrrha, in a straight course, is only thirty—so much longer is the journey along the coast. But in the case of famous places my reader must needs endure the dry part of such geography as this.

[10] The voyage from Pyrrha to the outlet of the Maeander River is fifty stadia, a place which consists of shallows and marshes; and, travelling in rowboats thirty stadia, one comes to the city Myus, one of the twelve Ionian cities, which, on account of its sparse population, has now been incorporated into Miletus. Xerxes is said to have given this city to Themistocles to supply him with fish, Magnesia to supply him with bread, and Lampsacus with wine.

[11] Thence, within four stadia, one comes to a village, the Carian Thymbria, near which is Aornum, a sacred cave, which is called Charonium, since it emits deadly vapors. Above it lies Magnesia on the Maeander, a colony of the Magnesians of Thessaly and the Cretans, of which I shall soon speak.²⁰

[12] After the outlets of the Maeander comes the shore of Priene, above which lies Priene, and also the mountain Mycale, which is well supplied with wild animals and with trees. This mountain lies above the Samian territory²¹ and forms with it, on the far side of the promontory called Trogilian, a strait about seven stadia in width. Priene is by some writers called Cadme, since Philotas, who founded it, was a Boeotian. Bias, one of the Seven Wise Men, was a native of Priene, of whom Hipponax says

stronger in the pleading of his cases than Bias of Priene.

²²

[13] Off the Trogilian promontory lies an isle of the same name. Thence the nearest passage across to Sunium is one thousand six hundred stadia; on the voyage one has at first Samos and Icaria and Corsia on the right, and the Melantian rocks on the left; and the remainder of the voyage is through the midst of the Cyclades islands. The Trogilian promontory itself is a kind of spur of Mt. Mycale. Close to Mycale lies another mountain, in the Ephesian territory, I mean Mt. Pactyes, in which the Mesogis terminates.

[14] The distance from the Trogilian promontory to Samos²³ is forty stadia. Samos faces the south, both it and its harbor, which latter has a naval station. The greater part of it is on level ground, being washed by the sea, but a part of it reaches up into the mountain that lies above it. Now on the right, as one sails towards the city, is the Poseidium, a promontory which with Mt. Mycale forms the seven-stadia strait; and it has a temple of Poseidon; and in front of it lies an isle called Narthecis; and on the left is the suburb near the Heraeum, and also the Imbrasus River, and the Heraeum, which consists of an ancient temple and a great shrine, which latter is now a repository of tablets.²⁴ Apart from the number of the tablets placed there, there are other repositories of votive tablets and some small chapels full of ancient works of art. And the temple, which is open to the sky, is likewise full of most excellent statues. Of these, three of colossal size, the work of Myron, stood upon one base; Antony took these statues away,²⁵ but Augustus Caesar restored two of them, those of Athena and Heracles, to the same base, although he transferred the Zeus to the Capitolium, having erected there a small chapel for that statue.

[15] The voyage round the island of the Samians is six hundred stadia. In earlier times, when it was inhabited by Carians, it was called Parthenia, then Anthemus, then Melamphyllus, and then Samos, whether after some native hero or after someone who colonized it from Ithaca and Cephallenia.²⁶ Now in Samos there is a promontory approximately facing Drepanum in Icaria which is called Ampelus, but the entire mountain which makes the whole of the island mountainous is called by the same name. The island does not produce good wine, although good wine is produced by the islands all round, and although most of the whole of the adjacent mainland produces the best of wines, for example, Chios and Lesbos and Cos. And indeed the Ephesian and Metropolitan wines are good; and Mt. Mesogis and Mt. Tmolus and the Catacecaumene country and Cnidos and Smyrna and other less significant places produce exceptionally good wine, whether for enjoyment or medicinal purposes. Now Samos is not altogether fortunate in regard to wines, but in all other respects it is a blest country, as is clear from the fact that it became an object of contention in war, and also from the fact that those who praise it do not hesitate to apply to it the proverb that “it produces even birds’ milk,” as Menander somewhere says. This was also the cause of the establishment of the tyrannies there, and of their enmity against the Athenians.

[16] Now the tyrannies reached their greatest height in the time of Polycrates and his brother Syloson. Polycrates was such a brilliant man, both in his good fortune and in his natural ability, that he gained supremacy over the sea; and it is set down,²⁷ as a sign of his good fortune, that he purposely flung into the sea his ring, a ring of very costly stone and engraving, and that a little later one of the fishermen brought him the very fish that swallowed it; and that when the fish was cut open the ring was found; and that on learning this the king of the Egyptians, it is said, declared in a kind of prophetic way that any man who had been exalted so highly in welfare would shortly come to no happy end of life; and indeed this is what happened, for he was captured by treachery by the satrap of the Persians and hanged. Anacreon the melic poet lived in companionship with Polycrates; and indeed the whole of his poetry is full of his praises. It was in his time, as we are told, that Pythagoras, seeing that the tyranny was growing in power, left the city and went off to Egypt and Babylon, to satisfy his fondness for learning; but when he came back and saw that the tyranny still endured, he set sail for Italy and lived there to the end of his life. So much for Polycrates.

[17] Syloson was left a private citizen by his brother, but to gratify Dareius, the son of Hystaspes, he gave him a robe which Dareius desired when he saw him wearing it; and Dareius at that time was not yet king, but when Dareius became king, Syloson received as a return-gift the tyranny of Samos. But he ruled so harshly that the city became depopulated; and thence arose the proverb,

by the will of Syloson there is plenty of room.

[18] The Athenians at first sent Pericles as general and with him Sophocles the poet, who by a siege put the disobedient Samians in bad plight; but later they sent two thousand allottees from their own people, among whom was Neocles, the father of Epicurus the philosopher, a schoolmaster as they call him. And indeed it is said that Epicurus grew up here and in Teos, and that he became an ephebus²⁸ at Athens, and that Menander the comic poet became an ephebus at the same time. Creophylus, also, was a Samian, who, it is said, once entertained Homer and received as a gift from him the inscription of the poem called The Capture of Oechalia. But Callimachus clearly indicates.the contrary in an epigram of his, meaning that Creophylus composed the poem, but that it was ascribed to Homer because of the story of the hospitality shown him:

I am the toil of the Samian, who once entertained in his house the divine Homer. I bemoan Eurytus, for all that he suffered, and golden-haired Ioleia. I am called Homer’s writing. For Creophylus, dear Zeus, this is a great achievement.

Some call Creophylus Homer’s teacher, while others say that it was not Creophylus, but Aristeas the Proconnesian, who was his teacher.

[19] Alongside Samos lies the island Icaria, whence was derived the name of the Icarian Sea. This island is named after Icarus the son of Daedalus, who, it is said, having joined his father in flight, both being furnished with wings, flew away from Crete and fell here, having lost control of their course; for, they add, on rising too close to the sun, his wings slipped off, since the wax²⁹ melted. The whole island is three hundred stadia in perimeter; it has no harbors, but only places of anchorage, the best of which is called Histi.³⁰ It has a promontory which extends towards the west. There is also on the island a temple of Artemis, called Tauropolium; and a small town Oenoe; and another small town Dracanum, bearing the same name as the promontory on which it is situated and having near by a place of anchorage. The promontory is eighty stadia distant from the promontory of the Samians called Cantharius, which is the shortest distance between the two. At the present time, however, it has but few inhabitants left, and is used by Samians mostly for the grazing of cattle.

[20] After the Samian strait, near Mt. Mycale, as one sails to Ephesus, one comes, on the right, to the seaboard of the Ephesians; and a part of this seaboard is held by the Samians. First on the seaboard is the Panionium, lying three stadia above the sea where the Pan-Ionia, a common festival of the Ionians, are held, and where sacrifices are performed in honor of the Heliconian Poseidon; and Prienians serve as priests at this sacrifice, but I have spoken of them in my account of the Peloponnesus.³¹ Then comes Neapolis, which in earlier times belonged to the Ephesians, but now belongs to the Samians, who gave in exchange for it Marathesium, the more distant for the nearer place. Then comes Pygela, a small town, with a temple of Artemis Munychia, founded by Agamemnon and inhabited by a part of his troops; for it is said that some of his soldiers became afflicted with a disease of the buttocks³² and were called “diseased-buttocks,” and that, being afflicted with this disease, they stayed there, and that the place thus received this appropriate name. Then comes the harbor called Panormus, with a temple of the Ephesian Artemis; and then the city Ephesus. On the same coast, slightly above the sea, is also Ortygia, which is a magnificent grove of all kinds of trees, of the cypress most of all. It is traversed by the Cenchrius River, where Leto is said to have bathed herself after her travail.³³ For here is the mythical scene of the birth, and of the nurse Ortygia, and of the holy place where the birth took place, and of the olive tree near by, where the goddess is said first to have taken a rest after she was relieved from her travail. Above the grove lies Mt. Solmissus, where, it is said, the Curetes stationed themselves, and with the din of their arms frightened Hera out of her wits when she was jealously spying on Leto, and when they helped Leto to conceal from Hera the birth of her children. There are several temples in the place, some ancient and others built in later times; and in the ancient temples are many ancient wooden images, but in those of later times there are works of Scopas; for example, Leto holding a sceptre and Ortygia standing beside her with a child in each arm. A general festival is held there annually; and by a certain custom the youths vie for honor, particularly in the splendor of their banquets there. At that time, also, a special college of the Curetes holds symposiums and performs certain mystic sacrifices.

[21] The city of Ephesus was inhabited both by Carians and by Leleges, but Androclus drove them out and settled the most of those who had come with him round the Athenaeum and the Hypelaeus, though he also included a part of the country situated on the slopes of Mt. Coressus. Now Ephesus was thus inhabited until the time of Croesus, but later the people came down from the mountainside and abode round the present temple until the time of Alexander. Lysimachus built a wall round the present city, but the people were not agreeably disposed to change their abodes to it; and therefore he waited for a downpour of rain and himself took advantage of it and blocked the sewers so as to inundate the city; and the inhabitants were then glad to make the change. He named the city after his wife Arsinoe; the old name, however, prevailed. There was a senate, which was conscripted; and with these were associated the Epicleti,³⁴ as they were called, who administered all the affairs of the city.

[22] As for the temple of Artemis, its first architect was Chersiphron; and then another man made it larger. But when it was set on fire by a certain Herostratus, the citizens erected another and better one, having collected the ornaments of the women and their own individual belongings, and having sold also the pillars of the former temple. Testimony is borne to these facts by the decrees that were made at that time. Artemidorus says: Timaeus of Tauromenium, being ignorant of these decrees and being any way an envious and slanderous fellow (for which reason he was also called Epitimaeus),³⁵ says that they exacted means for the restoration of the temple from the treasures deposited in their care by the Persians; but there were no treasures on deposit in their care at that time, and, even if there had been, they would have been burned along with the temple; and after the fire, when the roof was destroyed, who could have wished to keep deposits of treasure lying in a sacred enclosure that was open to the sky? Now Alexander, Artemidorus adds, promised the Ephesians to pay all expenses, both past and future, on condition that he should have the credit therefor on the inscription, but they were unwilling, just as they would have been far more unwilling to acquire glory by sacrilege and a spoliation of the temple.³⁶ And Artemidorus praises the Ephesian who said to the king³⁷ that it was inappropriate for a god to dedicate offerings to gods.

[23] After the completion of the temple, which, he says, was the work of Cheirocrates³⁸ (the same man who built Alexandreia and the same man who proposed to Alexander to fashion Mt. Athos into his likeness, representing him as pouring a libation from a kind of ewer into a broad bowl, and to make two cities, one on the right of the mountain and the other on the left, and a river flowing from one to the other)—after the completion of the temple, he says, the great number of dedications in general were secured by means of the high honor they paid their artists,³⁹ but the whole of the altar was filled, one might say, with the works of Praxiteles. They showed me also some of the works of Thrason, who made the chapel of Hecate, the waxen image of Penelope, and the old woman Eurycleia. They had eunuchs as priests, whom they called Megabyzi. And they were always in quest of persons from other places who were worthy of this preferment, and they held them in great honor. And it was obligatory for maidens to serve as colleagues with them in their priestly office. But though at the present some of their usages are being preserved, yet others are not; but the temple remains a place of refuge, the same as in earlier times, although the limits of the refuge have often been changed; for example, when Alexander extended them for a stadium, and when Mithridates shot an arrow from the corner of the roof and thought it went a little farther than a stadium, and when Antony doubled this distance and included within the refuge a part of the city. But this extension of the refuge proved harmful, and put the city in the power of criminals; and it was therefore nullified by Augustus Caesar.

[24] The city has both an arsenal and a harbor. The mouth of the harbor was made narrower by the engineers,⁴⁰ but they, along with the king who ordered it, were deceived as to the result, I mean Attalus Philadelphus; for he thought that the entrance would be deep enough for large merchant vessels—as also the harbor itself, which formerly had shallow places because of the silt deposited by the Caÿster River—if a mole were thrown up at the mouth, which was very wide, and therefore ordered that the mole should be built. But the result was the opposite, for the silt, thus hemmed in, made the whole of the harbor, as far as the mouth, more shallow. Before this time the ebb and flow of the tides would carry away the silt and draw it to the sea outside. Such, then, is the harbor; and the city, because of its advantageous situation in other respects, grows daily, and is the largest emporium in Asia this side the Taurus.

[25] Notable men have been born in this city: in ancient times, Heracleitus the Obscure, as he is called; and Hermodorus, concerning whom Heracleitus himself says:

It were right for the Ephesians from youth upwards to be hanged, who banished their most useful man, saying: ‘Let no man of us be most useful; otherwise, let him be elsewhere and with other people.’

Hermodorus is reputed to have written certain laws for the Romans. And Hipponax the poet was from Ephesus; and so were Parrhasius the painter and Apelles, and more recently Alexander the orator, surnamed Lychnus,⁴¹ who was a statesman, and wrote history, and left behind him poems in which he describes the position of the heavenly bodies and gives a geographic description of the continents, each forming the subject of a poem.

[26] After the outlet of the Caÿster River comes a lake that runs inland from the sea, called Selinusia; and next comes another lake that is confluent with it, both affording great revenues. Of these revenues, though sacred, the kings deprived the goddess, but the Romans gave them back; and again the tax-gatherers forcibly converted the tolls to their own use; but when Artemidorus was sent on an embassy, as he says, he got the lakes back for the goddess, and he also won the decision over Heracleotis, which was in revolt,⁴² his case being decided at Rome; and in return for this the city erected in the temple a golden image of him. In the innermost recess of the lake there is a temple of a king, which is said to have been built by Agamemnon.

[27] Then one comes to the mountain Gallesius, and to Colophon, an Ionian city, and to the sacred precinct of Apollo Clarius, where there was once an ancient oracle. The story is told that Calchas the prophet, with Amphilochus the son of Amphiaräus, went there on foot on his return from Troy, and that having met near Clarus a prophet superior to himself, Mopsus, the son of Manto, the daughter of Teiresias, he died of grief. Now Hesiod revises the myth as follows, making Calchas propound to Mopsus this question:

I am amazed in my heart at all these figs on this wild fig tree, small though it is; can you tell me the number?

And he makes Mopsus reply:

They are ten thousand in number, and their measure is a medimnus;⁴³ but there is one over, which you cannot put in the measure.

⁴⁴ “Thus he spake,” Hesiod adds,

and the number the measure could hold proved true. And then the eyes of Calchas were closed by the sleep of death.

⁴⁵But Pherecydes says that the question propounded by Calchas was in regard to a pregnant sow, how many pigs she carried, and that Mopsus said, “three, one of which is a female,” and that when Mopsus proved to have spoken the truth, Calchas died of grief. Some say that Calchas propounded the question in regard to the sow, but that Mopsus propounded the question in regard to the wild fig tree, and that the latter spoke the truth but that the former did not, and died of grief, and in accordance with a certain oracle. Sophocles tells the oracle in his Reclaiming of Helen, that Calchas was destined to die when he met a prophet superior to himself, but he transfers the scene of the rivalry and of the death of Calchas to Cilicia. Such are the ancient stories.

[28] The Colophonians once possessed notable naval and cavalry forces, in which latter they were so far superior to the others that wherever in wars that were hard to bring to an end, the cavalry of the Colophonians served as ally, the war came to an end; whence arose the proverb, “he put Colophon to it,” which is quoted when a sure end is put to any affair. Native Colophonians, among those of whom we have record, were: Mimnermus, who was both a flute-player and elegiac poet; Xenophanes, the natural philosopher, who composed the “Silli”⁴⁶ in verse; and Pindar speaks also of a certain Polymnastus as one of the famous musicians:

Thou knowest the voice, common to all, of Polymnastus the Colophonian.

⁴⁷And some say that Homer was from there. On a straight voyage it is seventy stadia from Ephesus, but if one includes the sinuosities of the gulfs it is one hundred and twenty.

[29] After Colophon one comes to the mountain Coracius and to an isle sacred to Artemis, whither deer, it has been believed, swim across and give birth to their young. Then comes Lebedus, which is one hundred and twenty stadia distant from Colophon. This is the meeting-place and settlement of all the Dionysiac artists in Ionia as far as the Hellespont; and this is the place where both games and a general festal assembly are held every year in honor of Dionysus. They formerly lived in Teos, the city of the Ionians that comes next after Colophon, but when the sedition broke out they fled for refuge to Ephesus. And when Attalus settled them in Myonnesus between Teos and Lebedus the Tëians sent an embassy to beg of the Romans not to permit Myonnesus to be fortified against them; and they migrated to Lebedus, whose inhabitants gladly received them because of the dearth of population by which they were then afflicted. Teos, also, is one hundred and twenty stadia distant from Lebedus; and in the intervening distance there is an island Aspis, by some called Arconnesus. And Myonnesus is settled on a height that forms a peninsula.

[30] Teos also is situated on a peninsula; and it has a harbor. Anacreon the melic poet was from Teos; in whose time the Tëians abandoned their city and migrated to, Abdera, a Thracian city, being unable to bear the insolence of the Persians; and hence the verse in reference to Abdera.

Abdera, beautiful colony of the Tëians.

But some of them returned again in later times. As I have already said,⁴⁸ Apellicon also was a Tëian; and Hecataeus the historian was from the same city. And there is also another harbor to the north, thirty stadia distant from the city, called Gerrhaeïdae.

[31] Then one comes to Chalcideis, and to the isthmus of the Chersonesus, belonging to the Tëians and Erythraeans. Now the latter people live this side the isthmus, but the Tëians and Clazomenians live on the isthmus itself; for the southern side of the isthmus, I mean the Chalcideis, is occupied by Tëians, but the northern by Clazomenians, where their territory joins the Erythraean. At the beginning of the isthmus lies the place called Hypocremnus, which lies between the Erythraean territory this side the isthmus and that of the Clazomenians on the other side. Above the Chalcideis is situated a sacred precinct consecrated to Alexander the son of Philip; and games, called the Alexandreia, are proclaimed by the general assembly of the Ionians and are celebrated there. The passage across the isthmus from the sacred precinct of Alexander and from the Chalcideis to Hypocremnus is fifty stadia, but the voyage round by sea is more than one thousand. Somewhere about the middle of the circuit is Erythrae, an Ionian city, which has a harbor, and also four isles lying off it, called Hippi.⁴⁹

[32] Before coming to Erythrae, one comes first to a small town Erae belonging to the Tëians; and then to Corycus, a high mountain, and to a harbor at the foot of it, Casystes, and to another harbor called Erythras, and to several others in order thereafter. The waters along the coast of Mt. Corycus, they say, were everywhere the haunt of pirates, the Corycaeans, as they are called, who had found a new way of attacking vessels; for, they say, the Corycaeans would scatter themselves among the harbors, follow up the merchants whose vessels lay at anchor in them, and overhear what cargoes they had aboard and whither they were bound, and then come together and attack the merchants after they had put to sea and plunder their vessels; and hence it is that we call every person who is a busybody and tries to overhear private and secret conversations a Corycaean; and that we say in a proverb:

Well then, the Corycaean was listening to this,

when one thinks that he is doing or saying something in secret, but fails to keep it hidden because of persons who spy on him and are eager to learn what does not concern them.

[33] After Mt. Corycus one comes to Halonnesos, a small island. Then to Argennum, a promontory of the Erythraean territory; it is very close to the Poseidium of the Chians, which latter forms a strait about sixty stadia in width. Between Erythrae and Hypocremnus lies Mimas, a lofty mountain, which is well supplied with game and well wooded. Then one comes to a village Cybelia, and to a promontory Melaena, as it is called, which has a millstone quarry.

[34] Erythrae was the native city of Sibylla, a woman who was divinely inspired and had the gift of prophecy, one of the ancients. And in the time of Alexander there was another woman who likewise had the gift of prophecy; she was called Athenaïs, and was a native of the same city. And, in my time, Heracleides the Herophileian physician, fellow.pupil of Apollonius Mys,⁵⁰ was born there.

[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. . . .

⁵¹The 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.

[36] After Hypocremnus one comes to Chytrium, the site on which Clazomenae was situated in earlier times. Then to the present Clazomenae, with eight small islands lying off it that are under cultivation. Anaxagoras, the natural philosopher, an illustrious man and associate of Anaximenes the Milesian, was a Clazomenian. And Archeläus the natural philosopher and Euripides the poet took his entire course. Then to a temple of Apollo and to hot springs, and to the gulf and the city of the Smyrnaeans.

[37] Next one comes to another gulf, on which is the old Smyrna, twenty stadia distant from the present Smyrna. After Smyrna had been razed by the Lydians, its inhabitants continued for about four hundred years to live in villages. Then they were reassembled into a city by Antigonus, and afterwards by Lysimachus, and their city is now the most beautiful of all; a part of it is on a mountain and walled, but the greater part of it is in the plain near the harbor and near the Metröum and near the gymnasium. The division into streets is exceptionally good, in straight lines as far as possible; and the streets are paved with stone; and there are large quadrangular porticoes, with both lower and upper stories. There is also a library; and the Homereium, a quadrangular portico containing a shrine and wooden statue⁵² of Homer; for the Smyrnaeans also lay especial claim to the poet; and indeed a bronze coin of theirs is called Homereium. The River Meles flows near the walls; and, in addition to the rest of the city’s equipment, there is also a harbor that can be closed. But there is one error, not a small one, in the work of the engineers, that when they paved the streets they did not give them underground drainage; instead, filth covers the surface, and particularly during rains, when the cast-off filth is discharged upon the streets. It was here that Dolabella captured by siege, and slew, Trebonius, one of the men who treacherously murdered the deified Caesar; and he set free⁵³ many parts of the city.

[38] After Smyrna one comes to Leucae, a small town, which after the death of Attalus Philometor⁵⁴ was caused to revolt by Aristonicus, who was reputed to belong to the royal family and intended to usurp the kingdom. Now he was banished from Smyrna, after being defeated in a naval battle near the Cymaean territory by the Ephesians, but he went up into the interior and quickly assembled a large number of resourceless people, and also of slaves, invited with a promise of freedom, whom he called Heliopolitae.⁵⁵ Now he first fell upon Thyateira unexpectedly, and then got possession of Apollonis, and then set his efforts against other fortresses. But he did not last long; the cities immediately sent a large number of troops against him, and they were assisted by Nicomedes the Bithynian and by the kings of the Cappadocians. Then came five Roman ambassadors, and after that an army under Publius Crassus the consul,⁵⁶ and after that Marcus Perpernas, who brought the war to an end, having captured Aristonicus alive and sent him to Rome. Now Aristonicus ended his life in prison; Perpernas died of disease; and Crassus, attacked by certain people in the neighborhood of Leucae, fell in battle. And Manius Aquillius came over as consul⁵⁷ with ten lieutenants and organized the province into the form of government that still now endures. After Leucae one comes to Phocaea, on a gulf, concerning which I have already spoken in my account of Massalia. Then to the boundaries of the Ionians and the Aeolians; but I have already spoken of these. In the interior above the Ionian seaboard there remain to be described the places in the neighborhood of the road that leads from Ephesus to Antiocheia and the Maeander River. These places are occupied by Lydians and Carians mixed with Greeks.

[39] The first city one comes to after Ephesus is Magnesia, which is an Aeolian city and is called “Magnesia on the Maeander,” for it is situated near that river. But it is much nearer the Lethaeus River, which empties into the Maeander and has its beginning in Mt. Pactyes, the mountain in the territory of the Ephesians. There is another Lethaeus in Gortyna, and another near Tricce, where Asclepius is said to have been born, and still another in the country of the Western Libyans. And the city lies in the plain near the mountain called Thorax, on which Daphitas the grammarian is said to have been crucified, because he reviled the kings in a distich:

Purpled with stripes, mere filings of the treasure of Lysimachus, ye rule the Lydians and Phrygia.

It is said that an oracle was given out that Daphitas should be on his guard against Thorax.

[40] The Magnetans are thought to be descendants of Delphians who settled in the Didyman hills, in Thessaly, concerning whom Hesiod says:

Or as the unwedded virgin who, dwelling on the holy Didyman hills, in the Dotian Plain, in front of Amyrus, bathed her foot in Lake Boebeïs.

⁵⁸⁵⁹ Here was also the temple of Dindymene, Mother of the gods. According to tradition, the wife of Themistocles, some say his daughter, served as a priestess there. But the temple is not now in existence, because the city has been transferred to another site. In the present city is the temple of Artemis Leucophryene, which in the size of its shrine and in the number of its votive offerings is inferior to the temple at Ephesus, but in the harmony and skill shown in the structure of the sacred enclosure is far superior to it. And in size it surpasses all the sacred enclosures in Asia except two, that at Ephesus and that at Didymi. In ancient times, also, it came to pass that the Magnetans were utterly destroyed by the Treres, a Cimmerian tribe, although they had for a long time been a prosperous people, but the Milesians took possession of the place in the following year. Now Callinus mentions the Magnetans as still being a prosperous people and as being successful in their war against the Ephesians, but Archilochus is obviously already aware of the misfortune that befell them:

to bewail the woes of the Thasians, not those of the Magnetans;

⁶⁰ whence one may judge that he was more recent than Callinus. And Callinus recalls another, and earlier, invasion of the Cimmerians when he says:

And now the army of the Cimmerians, mighty in deeds, advanceth,

⁶¹in which he plainly indicates the capture of Sardeis.

[41] Well-known natives of Magnesia are: Hegesias the orator, who, more than any other, initiated the Asiatic style, as it is called, whereby he corrupted the established Attic custom; and Simus the melic poet, he too a man who corrupted the style handed down by the earlier melic poets and introduced the Simoedia,⁶² just as that style was corrupted still more by the Lysioedi and the Magoedi, and by Cleomachus the pugilist, who, having fallen in love with a certain cinaedus⁶³ and with a young female slave who was kept as a prostitute by the cinaedus, imitated the style of dialects and mannerisms that was in vogue among the cinaedi. Sotades was the first man to write the talk of the cinaedi; and then Alexander the Aetolian. But though these two men imitated that talk in mere speech, Lysis accompanied it with song; and so did Simus, who was still earlier than he. As for Anaxenor, the citharoede⁶⁴, the theatres exalted him, but Antony exalted him all he possibly could, since he even appointed him exactor of tribute from four cities, giving him a body.guard of soldiers. Further, his native land greatly increased his honors, having clad him in purple as consecrated to Zeus Sosipolis,⁶⁵ as is plainly indicated in his painted image in the market-place. And there is also a bronze statue of him in the theatre, with the inscription,

Surely this is a beautiful thing, to listen to a singer such as this man is, like unto the gods in voice.

⁶⁶But the engraver, missing his guess, left out the last letter of the second verse, the base of the statue not being wide enough for its inclusion; so that he laid the city open to the charge of ignorance, Because of the ambiguity of the writing, as to whether the last word should be taken as in the nominative case or in the dative;⁶⁷ for many write the dative case without the iota, and even reject the ordinary usage as being without natural cause.

[42] After Magnesia comes the road to Tralleis, with Mt. Mesogis on the left, and, at the road itself and on the right, the plain of the Maeander River, which is occupied by Lydians and Carians, and by Ionians, both Milesians and Myesians, and also by the Aeolians of Magnesia. And the same kind of topographical account applies as far as Nysa and Antiocheia. The city of the Tralleians is situated upon a trapezium-shaped site, with a height fortified by nature; and the places all round are well defended. And it is as well peopled as any other city in Asia by people of means; and always some of its men hold the chief places in the province, being called Asiarchs. Among these was Pythodorus, originally a native of Nysa, but he changed his abode to Tralleis because of its celebrity; and with only a few others he stood out conspicuously as a friend of Pompey. And he came into possession of the wealth of a king, worth more than two thousand talents, which, though sold by the deified Caesar, was redeemed by him through his friendship with Pompey and was left by him unimpaired to his children. He was the father of Pythodoris, the present queen in Pontus, of whom I have already spoken.⁶⁸ Pythodorus, then, flourished in my time, as also Menodorus, a man of learning, and otherwise august and grave, who held the priesthood of Zeus Larisaeus. But he was overthrown by a counter-party friendly to Dometius Ahenobarbus; and Dometius, relying on his informers, slew him, as guilty of causing the fleet to revolt. Here were born famous orators: Dionysocles and afterwards Damasus Scombrus. Tralleis is said to have been founded by Argives and by certain Tralleian Thracians, and hence the name. And the city was ruled for a short time by tyrants, the sons of Cratippus, at the time of the Mithridatic war.

[43] Nysa is situated near Mt. Mesogis, for the most part lying upon its slopes; and it is a double city, so to speak, for it is divided by a torrential stream that forms a gorge, which at one place has a bridge over it, joining the two cities, and at another is adorned with an amphitheatre, with a hidden underground passage for the torrential waters. Near the theatre are two heights, below one of which is the gymnasium of youths; and below the other is the market place and the gymnasium for older persons. The plain lies to the south of the city, as it does to the south of Tralleis.

[44] On the road between the Tralleians and Nysa is a village of the Nysaeans, not far from the city Acharaca, where is the Plutonium, with a costly sacred precinct and a shrine of Pluto and Core, and also the Charonium, a cave that lies above the sacred precinct, by nature wonderful; for they say that those who are diseased and give heed to the cures prescribed by these gods resort thither and live in the village near the cave among experienced priests, who on their behalf sleep in the cave and through dreams prescribe the cures. These are also the men who invoke the healing power of the gods. And they often bring the sick into the cave and leave them there, to remain in quiet, like animals in their lurking-holes, without food for many days. And sometimes the sick give heed also to their own dreams, but still they use those other men, as priests, to initiate them into the mysteries and to counsel them. To all others the place is forbidden and deadly. A festival is celebrated every year at Acharaca; and at that time in particular those who celebrate the festival can see and hear concerning all these things; and at the festival, too, about noon, the boys and young men of the gymnasium, nude and anointed with oil, take up a bull and with haste carry him up into the cave; and, when let loose, the bull goes forward a short distance, falls, and breathes out his life.

[45] Thirty stadia from Nysa, after one crosses over Mt. Tmolus and the mountain called Mesogis, towards the region to the south of the Mesogis,⁶⁹ there is a place called Leimon,⁷⁰ whither the Nysaeans and all the people about go to celebrate their festivals. And not far from Leimon is an entrance into the earth sacred to the same gods, which is said to extend down as far as Acharaca. The poet is said to name this meadow when he says, “On the Asian meadow”; and they point out a hero-temple of Caÿster and a certain Asius, and the Caÿster River that streams forth near by.

[46] The story is told that three brothers, Athymbrus and Athymbradus and Hydrelus, who came from Lacedaemon, founded the three cities which were named after them, but that the cities later became scantily populated, and that the city Nysa was founded by their inhabitants; but that Athymbrus is now regarded by them as their original founder.

[47] Near Nysa, on the far side of the Maeander River, are situated noteworthy settlements; I mean Coscinia and Orthosia; and this side the river, Briula, Mastaura and Acharaca, and above the city, on the mountain, Aroma (in which the letter rho⁷¹ is short), whence comes the best Mesogitan wine, I mean the Aromian.

[48] Famous men born at Nysa are: Apollonius the Stoic philosopher, best of the disciples of Panaetius; and Menecrates, pupil of Aristarchus; and Aristodemus, his son, whose entire course, in his extreme old age, I in my youth took at Nysa; and Sostratus, the brother of Aristodemus, and another Aristodemus, his cousin, who trained Pompey the Great, proved themselves notable grammarians. But my teacher also taught rhetoric and had two schools, both in Rhodes and in his native land, teaching rhetoric in the morning and grammar in the evening; at Rome, however, when he was in charge of the children of Pompey the Great, he was content with the teaching of grammar.

Notes on the current edition

Geography

1. That is, the maritime parts of Asia Minor, from Cape Coloni opposite Mitilini to Bajas, the ancient Issus. The coast of Ionia comprehended between Cape Coloni and the Maeander (Bojuk Mender Tschai) forms part of the modern pachalics, Saruchan and Soghla; Caria and Lycia are contained in the pachalic, Mentesche; Pamphylia and Lycia in those of Teke and Itsch-ili. Mount Taurus had its beginning at the promontory Trogilium, now Cape Samsoun, or Santa Maria opposite Samos.

2. Jenikoi.

3. Cape Arbora.

4. Karadscha-Fokia.

5. Gedis-Tschai.

6. Derekoi.

7. Lebedigli, Lebeditzhissar.

8. A portion of this poem by Mimnermus is quoted in Athenaeus, b. xi. 39, p. 748 of the translation, Bohn’s Class. Library.

9. Pliny, v. 29, says the distance is 20 stadia.

10. The Branchidae were descendants of Branchus, who himself was descended from Macaereus, who killed Neoptolemus, son of Achilles. According to Herodotus, the temple was burnt by order of Darius, Herod. v. 36; vi. 19.

11. Pliny, v. 29, says that the distance is 180 stadia.

12. According to Pausanias, vii. 2, a friend of Sarpedon, named Miletus, conducted the colony from Crete, founded Miletus, and gave his name to it. Before his arrival the place bore the name of Anactoria, and more anciently Lelegis.

13. More than 80, according to Pliny, v. 29.

14. To be well.

15. Hence the English weal, the mark of a stripe.

16. Od. xxiv. 402.

17. Coraÿ, who is followed by Groskurd, supposes the words and Cadmus to be here omitted. Kramer considers this correction to be very doubtful; see b. i. c. ii. § 6.

18. Chandler says that the Tragaeae were sand-banks or shallows.

19. Bafi.

20. Il. ii. 868.

21. ἐν ὕψει, according to Groskurd’s emendation, in place of ἐν ὄψσι.

22. Derekoi.

23. Two other towns, Percote and Palaescepsis, were also given to Themistocles, the first to supply him with dress, the second with bed-room furniture.— Plutarch, Life of Themistocles.

24. Aineh-Basar.

25. Samsun.

26. Samsun Dagh.

27. Cape Santa Maria.

28. The Furni islands.

29. Stapodia.

30. According to Pliny, it is 716 stadia.

31. In b. x. ch. ii. §17, Strabo informs us that Samos was first called Melamphylus, then Anthemis, and afterwards Parthenia. These names appear in this passage in a reversed but, as appears from Pliny, b. v. 31, in their true chronological order.

32. Either an error of our author, or he speaks of its wine in comparison with that of other islands.

33. After the death of Pericles.

34. Among distinguished natives of Samos, Strabo has omitted to mention Melissus the philosopher, who commanded the fleet of the island, and was contemporary with Pericles.— Plutarch, Life of Pericles.

35. Before called Drepanum.

36. Ischanli.

37. Scala Nova.

38. Pliny and Mela give a different origin and name to this town: by them it is called Phygela from φυλὴ, flight or desertion of the sailors, who, wearied with the voyage, abandoned Agamemnon.

39. Chersiphron was of Gnossus in Crete. The ground being marshy on which the temple was to be built, he prepared a foundation for it of pounded charcoal, at the suggestion of Theodorus, a celebrated statuary of Samos.

40. The temple is said to have been burnt the night Alexander the Great was born.— Cicero, de Nat. Deo. ii. 27.

41. Plutarch says that the artist offered Alexander to make a statue of Mount Athos, which should hold in the left hand a city, capable of containing 10,000 inhabitants, and pouring from the right hand a river falling into the sea.

42. For the word κοͅήνη, a fountain, which occurs in the text before Penelope, and is here unintelligible, Kramer proposes to read κηοͅίνη. The translation of the passage, thus corrected, would be, a figure in wax of Penelope. Kramer does not adopt the reading, on the ground that no figures in wax are mentioned by ancient authors.

43. ὀνήιστος

44. Coraÿ is of opinion that the name of Artemidorus of Ephesus has been omitted by the copyist in this passage, before the name of Alexander. Kramer thinks that if the name had existed in the original manuscript, it would have been accompanied, according to the practice of Strabo, with some notice of the writings of Artemidorus. The omission of the name is remarkable, as Artemidorus is one of the geographers most frequently quoted by Strabo. He flourished about 100 B. c. His geography in eleven books is lost. An abridgement of this work was made by Marcianus, of which some portions still exist, relating to the Black Sea and its southern shore.

45. It must have been in existence in the time of Strabo.— Tacit. Ann. ii. 54

46. Another explanation is given to the proverb, from the circumstance of Colophon having a casting vote in the deliberations of the twelve cities forming the Panionium.

47. Lebedigli Lebeditz hissar.

48. During the season when these actors, dancers, and singers were not on circuit at festivals.

49. Budrun.

50. Ouvriokasli.

51. Ypsilo Nisi.

52. Called by Livy, xxvii. 27, Portus Geraesticus.

53. Which forms the Gulf of Smyrna.

54. The district called Chalcitis by Pausanias, xii. 5, 12.

55. Ritri.

56. Sighadschik.

57. Koraka, or Kurko.

58. Called in Thucyd. viii. 34, Arginum.

59. Karaburun-Dagh.

60. Karaburun, which has the same meaning.

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

62. Cape Mastico.

63. Porto Mastico.

64. 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.

65. Cape Nicolo.

66. Psyra.

67. Ilias.

68. 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.

69. 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.

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

71. Kelisman.

72. Still to be found in collections of coins.

73. Leokaes?

74. B. xiii. c. iv. §2.

75. Ak-Hissar.

76. Karadscha-Fokia.

77. Marseilles, b. iv. ch. i. §4.

78. B. xiii. ch. i. 2.

79. Jenidscheh.

80. Western Africa.

81. Gumusch-dagh.

82. According to Suidas, Daphnidas ridiculed oracles, and inquired of the oracle of Apollo, Shall I find my horse? when he had none. The oracle answered that he would find it. He was afterwards, by the command of Attalus, king of Pergamum, taken and thrown from a precipice called the Horse.

83. The incursions of the Treres, with Cimmerians, into Asia and Europe followed after the Trojan war. The text is here corrupt. The translation follows the amendments proposed partly by Coraÿ, and partly by Kramer, τὸ δ̓ ἑξῆς?̓εφεσίου.

84. These innovations or corruptions were not confined to the composition of pieces intended for the theatre, but extended also to the manner of their representation, to music, dancing, and the costume of the actors. It was an absolute plague, which corrupted taste, and finally destroyed the Greek theatre. We are not informed of the detail of these innovations, but from what we are able to judge by comparing Strabo with what is found in Athenaeus, (b. xiv. §14, p. 990, of Bohn’s Classical Library,) Simodia was designated by the name of Hilarodia, (joyous song,) and obtained the name Simodia from one Simus, or Simon, who excelled in the art. The Lysiodi and Magodi, or Lysodia and Magodia, were the same thing, according to some writers. Under these systems decency appears to have been laid aside.

85. Od. ix. 3.

86. Aidin-Gusel-Hissar.

87. The chain of mountains between the Caÿster and the Maeander, the different eminences of which bear the names of Samsun-dagh, Gumusch-dagh, Dsehuma-dagh, etc.

88. Sultan-Hissar.

89. The Tralli Thracians appear to have acted as mercenary soldiers, according to Hesychius.

90. Groskurd supplies the word πρόσκεινται.

91. Meineke’s conjecture is followed, λίπα ἀληλιμμένοι, for ἀπαληλιμμένοι.

92. Groskurd’s emendation of this corrupt passage is adopted, ὑπεοͅβᾶσιτὴν μεσωγίδα ἐπὶ τὰ ποͅὸς τὸν νότον μέοͅη τμώλου τοῦ ὄρους.

93. Il. ii. 461.

94. Arpas-Kalessi.

95. Mastauro.

96. 1 Groskurd reads τοιούτων, for τοσσούτων in the text. Coraÿ proposes νοσούντων.

Strabo Geography 14.1

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

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