[1] Cineas ¹ says that there was a city in Thessaly, ² and that an oak-tree and the oracle of Zeus were transferred from there to Epeirus.

[1a] In earlier times the oracle was in the neighborhood of Scotussa, a city of Pelasgiotis; but when the tree was set on fire by certain people the oracle was transferred in accordance with an oracle which Apollo gave out at Dodona. However, he gave out the oracle, not through words, but through certain symbols, as was the case at the oracle of Zeus Ammon in Libya. Perhaps there was something exceptional about the flight of the three pigeons from which the priestesses were wont to make observations and to prophesy. It is further said that in the language of the Molossians and the Thesprotians old women are called “peliai” ³ and old men “pelioi.” ⁴ And perhaps the much talked of Peleiades were not birds, but three old women who busied themselves about the temple.

[1b] I mentioned Scotussa also in my discussion of Dodona and of the oracle in Thessaly, because the oracle was originally in the latter region.

[1c] According to the Geographer, a sacred oak tree is revered in Dodona, because it was thought to be the earliest plant created and the first to supply men with food. And the same writer also says in reference to the oracular doves there, as they are called, that the doves are observed for the purposes of augury, just as there were some seers who divined from ravens.

[2] Among the Thesprotians and the Molossians old women are called “peliai” and old men “pelioi,” as is also the case among the Macedonians; at any rate, those people call their dignitaries “peligones” (compare the “gerontes” ⁵ among the Laconians and the Massaliotes). ⁶ And this, it is said, is the origin of the myth about the pigeons in the Dodonaean oak-tree.

[3] The proverbial phrase, “the copper vessel in Dodona,” ⁷ originated thus: In the temple was a copper vessel with a statue of a man situated above it and holding a copper scourge, dedicated by the Corcyraeans; the scourge was three-fold and wrought in chain fashion, with bones strung from it; and these bones, striking the copper vessel continuously when they were swung by the winds, would produce tones so long that anyone who measured the time from the beginning of the tone to the end could count to four hundred. Whence, also, the origin of the proverbial term, “the scourge of the Corcyraeans.”

[4] Paeonia is on the east of these tribes and on the west of the Thracian mountains, but it is situated on the north of the Macedonians; and, by the road that runs through the city Gortynium ⁸ and Stobi, ⁹ it affords a passage to . . . ¹⁰ (through which the Axius ¹¹ flows, and thus makes difficult the passage from Paeonia to Macedonia—just as the Peneius flows through Tempe and thus fortifies Macedonia on the side of Greece). And on the south Paeonia borders on the countries of the Autariatae, the Dardanii, and the Ardiaei; and it extends as far as the Strymon.

[5] The Haliacmon ¹² flows into the Thermaean Gulf.

[6] Orestis is of considerable extent, and has a large mountain which reaches as far as Mount Corax ¹³ in Aetolia and Mount Parnassus, About this mountain dwell the Orestae themselves, the Tymphaei, and the Greeks outside the isthmus that are in the neighborhood of Parnassus, Oeta, and Pindus. As a whole the mountain is called by a general name, Boëum, but taken part by part it has many names. People say that from the highest peaks one can see both the Aegaean Sea and the Ambracian and Ionian Gulfs, but they exaggerate, I think. Mount Pteleum, also, is fairly high; it is situated around the Ambracian Gulf, extending on one side as far as the Corcyraean country and on the other to the sea at Leucas.

[7] Corcyra is proverbially derided as a joke because it was humbled by its many wars.

[8] Corcyra in early times enjoyed a happy lot and had a very large naval force, but was ruined by certain wars and tyrants. And later on, although it was set free by the Romans, it got no commendation, but instead, as an object of reproach, got a proverb: “Corcyra is free, dung where thou wilt.”

[9] There remain of Europe, first, Macedonia and the parts of Thrace that are contiguous to it and extend as far as Byzantium; secondly, Greece; and thirdly, the islands that are close by. Macedonia, of course, is a part of Greece, yet now, since I am following the nature and shape of the places geographically, I have decided to classify it apart from the rest of Greece and to join it with that part of Thrace which borders on it and extends as far as the mouth of the Euxine and the Propontis. Then, a little further on, Strabo mentions Cypsela and the Nebrus River, and also describes a sort of parallelogram in which the whole of Macedonia lies.

[10] Macedonia is bounded, first, on the west, by the coastline of the Adrias; secondly, on the east, by the meridian line which is parallel to this coastline and runs through the outlets of the Nebrus River and through the city Cypsela; thirdly, on the north, by the imaginary straight line which runs through the Bertiscus Mountain, ¹⁴ the Scardus, ¹⁵ the Orbelus, ¹⁶ the Rhodope, ¹⁷ and the Haemus; ¹⁸ for these mountains, beginning at the Adrias, extend on a straight line as far as the Euxine, thus forming towards the south a great peninsula which comprises Thrace together with Macedonia, Epeirus, and Achaea; and fourthly, on the south, by the Egnatian Road, ¹⁹ which runs from the city Dyrrhachium towards the east as far as Thessaloniceia. And thus ²⁰ the shape of Macedonia is very nearly that of a parallelogram.

[11] What is now called Macedonia was in earlier times called Emathia. And it took its present name from Macedon, one of its early chieftains. And there was also a city Emathia close to the sea. Now a part of this country was taken and held by certain of the Epeirotes and the Illyrians, but most of it by the Bottiaei and the Thracians. The Bottiaei came from Brete originally, so it is said, ²¹ along with Botton as chieftain. As for the Thracians, the Pieres inhabited Pieria and the region about Olympus; the Paeones, the region on both sides of the Axius River, which on that account is called Amphaxitis; the Edoni and Bisaltae, the rest of the country as far as the Strymon. Of these two peoples the latter are called Bisaltae alone, whereas a part of the Edoni are called Mygdones, a part Edones, and a part Sithones. But of all these tribes the Argeadae, ²² as they are called, established themselves as masters, and also the Chalcidians of Euboea; for the Chalcidians of Euboea also came over to the country of the Sithones and jointly peopled about thirty cities in it, although later on the majority of them were ejected and came together into one city, Olynthus; and they were named the Thracian Chalcidians.

[11a] The ethnic ²³ of Botteia ²⁴ is spelled with the “i”, ²⁵ according to Strabo in his Seventh Book. And the city is called ²⁶ after Botton the Cretan. ²⁷

[11b] Amphaxion. Two parts of speech. ²⁸ A city. The ethnic of Amphaxion is Amphaxites.

[12] The Peneius forms the boundary between Lower Macedonia, or that part of Macedonia which is close to the sea, and Thessaly and Magnesia; the Haliacmon forms the boundary of Upper Macedonia; and the Haliacmon also, together with the Erigon and the Axius and another set of rivers, form the boundary of the Epeirotes and the Paeonians.

[12a] For if, according to the Geographer, Macedonia stretches from the Thessalian Pelion and Peneius towards the interior as far as Paeonia and the Epeirote tribes, and if the Greeks had at Troy an allied force from Paeonia, it is difficult to conceive that an allied force came to the Trojans from the aforesaid more distant part of Paeonia.

[13] Of the Macedonian coastline, beginning at the recess of the Thermaean Gulf and at Thessaloniceia, there are two parts—one extending towards the south as far as Sunium and the other towards the east as far as the Thracian Chersonese, thus forming at the recess a sort of angle. Since Macedonia extends in both directions, I must begin with the part first mentioned. The first portion, then, of this part—I mean the region of Sunium—has above it Attica together with the Megarian country as far as the Crisaean Gulf; after this is that Boeotian coastline which faces Euboea, and above this coast-line lies the rest of Boeotia, extending in the direction of the west, parallel to Attica. And he ²⁹ says that the Egnatian Road, also, beginning at the Ionian Gulf, ends at Thessaloniceia.

[14] As for the ribbon-like ³⁰ stretches of land, he ³¹ says, I shall first mark off the boundary of the peoples who live in the one which is beside the sea near the Peneius and the Haliacmon. Now the Peneius flows from the Pindus Mountain through the middle of Thessaly towards the east; and after it passes through the cities of the Lapithae and some cities of the Perrhaebians, it reaches Tempe, after having received the waters of several rivers, among which is the Europus, which the poet called Titaresius, ³² since it has its sources in the Titarius Mountain; the Titarius Mountain joins Olympus, and thence Olympus begins to mark the boundary between Macedonia and Thessaly; for Tempo is a narrow glen between Olympus and Ossa, and from these narrows the Peneius flows for a distance of forty stadia with Olympus, the loftiest mountain in Macedonia, on the left, and with Ossa, near the outlets of the river, on the right. So then, Gyrton, the Perrhaebian and Magnetan city in which Peirithoüs and Ixion reigned, is situated near the outlets of the Peneius on the right; and the city of Crannon lies at a distance of as much as one hundred stadia from Gyrton; and writers say that when the poet says, ³³ and what follows, he means by “Ephyri” the Crannonians and by “Phlegyae” the Gyrtonians. But Pieria is on the other side of the Peneius.

[15] The Peneius River rises in the Pindus Mountain and flows through Tempo and through the middle of Thessaly and of the countries of the Lapithae and the Perrhaebians, and also receives the waters of the Europus River, which Homer called Titaresius; it marks the boundary between Macedonia ³⁴ on the north and Thessaly on the south. But the source-waters of the Europus rise in the Titarius Mountain, which is continuous with Olympus. And Olyunpus belongs to Macedonia, whereas Ossa and Pelion belong to Thessaly.

[15a] The Peneius rises, according to the Geographer, in that part of the Pindus Mountain about which the Perrhaebians live. . . . And Strabo also makes the following statements concerning the Peneius: The Peneius rises in the Pindus; and leaving Tricca on the left it flows around Atrax and Larissa, and after receiving the rivers in Thessaly passes on through Tempe. And he says that the Peneius flows through the center of Thessaly, receiving many rivers, and that in its course it keeps Olympus on the left and Ossa on the right. And at its outlets, on the right, is a Magnetan city, Gyrton, in which Peirithoüs and Ixion reigned; and not far from Gyrton is a city Crannon, whose citizens were called by a different name, “Ephyri,” just’ as the citizens of Gyrton were called “Phlegyae.”

[16] Below the foot-hills of Olympus, along the Peneius River, lies Gyrton, the Perrhaebian and Magnetan city, in which Peirithoüs and Ixion ruled; and Crannon is at a distance of one hundred stadia from Gyrton, and writers say that when the poet says, ³⁵ he means by “Ephyri” the Crannonians and by “Phlegyae” the Gyrtonians. ³⁶

[16a] The city of Crannon is at a distance of one hundred stadia from Gyrton, according to Strabo.

[16b] Homolium, a city of Macedonia and Magnesia. Strabo in his Seventh Book.

[16c] I have said in my description of Macedonia that Homolium is close to Ossa and is where the Peneius, flowing through Tempe, begins to discharge its waters. ³⁷

[16d] There were several different Ephyras, if indeed the Geographer counts as many as nine. ³⁸

[16e] He (the Geographer) speaks of a city Gyrton, a Magnetan city near the outlets of the Peneius.

[17] The city Dium, in the foot-hills of Olympus, is not on the shore of the Thermaean Gulf, but is at a distance of as much as seven stadia from it. And the city Dium has a village near by, Pimpleia, where Orpheus lived.

[18] At the base of Olympus is a city Dium. And it has a village near by, Pimpleia. Here lived Orpheus, the Ciconian, it is said—a wizard who at first collected money from his music, together with his soothsaying and his celebration of the orgies connected with the mystic initiatory rites, but soon afterwards thought himself worthy of still greater things and procured for himself a throng of followers and power. Some, of course, received him willingly, but others, since they suspected a plot and violence, combined against him and killed him. And near here, also, is Leibethra.

[19] In the early times the soothsayers also practised music.

[20] After Dium come the outlets of the Haliacmon; then Pydna, Methone, Alorus, and the Erigon and Ludias Rivers. The Erigon flows from the country of the Triclari ³⁹ through that of the Orestae and through Pellaea, leaves the city on the left, ⁴⁰ and meets the Axius; the Ludias is navigable inland to Pella, a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia. Methone, which lies between the two cities, is about forty stadia from Pydna and seventy from Alorus. Alorus is in the inmost recess of the Thermaean Gulf, and it is called Thessaloniceia because of its fame. ⁴¹ Now Alorus is regarded as a Bottiaean city, whereas Pydna is regarded as a Pierian. ⁴² Pella belongs to lower Macedonia, which the Bottiaei used to occupy; in early times the treasury of Macedonia was here. Philip enlarged it from a small city, because he was reared in it. It has a headland in what is called Lake Ludias; and it is from this lake that the Ludias River issues, and the lake itself is supplied by an offshoot of the Axius. The Axius empties between Chalastra and Therma; and on this river lies a fortified place which now is called Abydon, though Homer calls it Amydon, and says that the Paeonians went to the aid of Troy from there, ⁴³ The place was destroyed by the Argeadae.

[20a] Abydon, Abydonis; a place in Macedonia, according to Strabo.

[21] The Axius is a muddy stream; but Homer ⁴⁴ calls it “water most fair,” perhaps on account of the spring called Aea, which, since it empties purest water into the Axius, proves that the present current reading ⁴⁵ of the passage in the poet is faulty. After the Axius, at a distance of twenty stadia, is the Echedorus; ⁴⁶ then, forty stadia farther on, Thessaloniceia, founded by Gassander, and also the Egnatian Road. Cassander named the city after his wife Thessalonice, daughter of Philip son of Amyntas, after he had razed to the ground the towns in Crusis and those on the Thermaean Gulf, about twenty-six in number, and had settled all the inhabitants together in one city; and this city is the metropolis of what is now Macedonia. Among those included in the settlement were Apollonia, Chalastra, Therma, Garescus, Aenea, and Cissus; and of these one might suspect that Cissus belonged to Cisses, ⁴⁷ whom the poet mentions in speaking of Iphidamas, ⁴⁸

[21a] Crusis; a portion of Mygdonia. Strabo in his Seventh Book.

[21b] Chalastra: a city of Thrace near the Thormaean Gulf—though Strabo, in his Seventh Book, calls it a city of Macedonia.

[22] After the city Dium comes the Haliacmon River, which empties into the Thermaean Gulf. And the part after this, the seaboard of the gulf towards the north as far as the Axius River, is called Pieria, in which is the city Pydna, now called Citrum. Then come the cities Methone and Alorus. Then the Rivers Erigon and Ludias; and from ⁴⁹ Ludias to the city of Pella the river is navigable, a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia. Methone is forty stadia distant from Pydna and seventy stadia from Alorus. Now Pydna is a Pierian city, whereas Alorus is Bottiaean. ⁵⁰ Now it was in the plain before Pydna that the Romans defeated Perseus in war and destroyed the kingdom of the Macedonians, and it was in the plain before Methone that Philip the son of Amyntas, during the siege of the city, had the misfortune to have his right eye knocked out by a bolt from a catapult.

[23] As for Pella, though it was formerly small, Philip greatly enlarged it, because he was reared in it. It has a lake before it; and it is from this lake that the Ludias River flows, and the lake is supplied by an offshoot of the Axius. Then the Axius, dividing both Bottiaea and the land called Amphaxitis, and receiving the Erigon River, discharges its waters between Chalastra and Therma. And on the Anius River lies the place which Homer calls Amydon, saying that the Paeonians went to the aid of Troy from there, ^{51 52} But since the Axius is muddy and since a certain spring rises in Amydon and mingles “water most fair” with it, therefore the next line, ^{53 54} is changed to read thus, ⁵⁵ ; for it is not the “water most fair” of the Axius that is spread over the face of the earth, but that of the spring o’er the Axius.

[23a] In the phrase ’spread o’er Aiai,’ or ‘Aian,’ ⁵⁶ , some are of the opinion that ‘Aea’ means, not the earth, but a certain spring, as is clear from what the Geographer says, namely: the Amydon in Homer was later called Abydon, but it was destroyed; and there is a spring near Amydon called Aea, which empties purest water into the Axius; and this river, since it is filled from many rivers, flows muddy. Therefore, he says, the current reading, ‘Axius’s water most fair spreads o’er Aea,’ is faulty, because it is clearly not the water of the Axius that spread o’er the spring, but the reverse. Then the Geographer goes on somewhat gruffly to find fault with the opinion that Aea refers to the earth, and appears disposed to eject such diction from the Homeric poem altogether.

[24] After the Axius River comes Thessalonica, a city which in earlier times was called Therma. It was founded by Cassander, who named it after his wife, the daughter of Philip the son of Amyntas. And he transferred to it the towns in the surrounding country, as, for instance, Chalastra, Aeuea, Cissus, and also some others. And one might suspect that it was from this Cissus that Homer’s Iphidamas came, whose grandfather Cisseus “reared him,” Homer says, in Thrace, which now is called Macedonia.

[25] Mt. Bermium, ⁵⁷ also, is somewhere in this region; in earlier times it was occupied by Briges, a tribe of Thracians; some of these crossed over into Asia and their name was changed to Phryges. After Thessaloniceia come the remaining parts of the Thermaean Gulf as far as Canastraeum; ⁵⁸ this is a headland which forms a peninsula and rises opposite to Magnetis. The name of the peninsula is Pallene; and it has an isthmus five stadia in width, through which a canal is cut. On the isthmus is situated a city founded by the Corinthians, which in earlier times was called Potidaea, although later on it was called Cassandreia, after the same King Cassander, ⁵⁹ who restored it after it had been destroyed. The distance by sea around this peninsula is five hundred and seventy stadia. And further, writers say that in earlier times the giants lived here and that the country was named Phlegra; ⁶⁰ the stories of some are mythical, but the account of others is more plausible, for they tell of a certain barbarous and impious tribe which occupied the place but was broken up by Heracles when, after capturing Troy, be sailed back to his home-land. And here, too, the Trojan women were guilty of their crime, it is said, when they set the ships on fire in order that they might not be slaves to the wives of their captors. ⁶¹

[25a] The Geographer points out that the Phrygians too were called Brigians.

[26] The city Beroea lies in the foot-hills of Mt. Bermium.

[27] The peninsula Pallene, on whose isthmus is situated the city formerly called Ptidaea and now Cassandreia, was called Phlegra in still earlier times. It used to be inhabited by the giants of whom the myths are told, an impious and lawless tribe, whom Heracles destroyed. It has four cities, Aphytis, Mende, Scione, Sane.

[27a] The Scepsian ⁶² apparently accepts the opinion neither of this man ⁶³ nor of those who suppose them ⁶⁴ to be the Halizoni near Pallene, whom I have mentioned in my description of Macedonia.

[28] Olynthus was seventy stadia distant from Potidaea.

[29] The naval station of Olynthus is Macyperna, on the Toronaean Gulf.

[30] Near Olynthus is a hollow place which is called Cantharolethron ⁶⁵ from what happens there; for when the insect called the Cantharos, which is found all over the country, touches that place, it dies.

[31] After Cassandreia, in order, comes the remainder of the seaboard of the Toronic Gulf, extending as far as Derrhis. Derrhis is a headland that rises opposite to Canastraeum and forms the gulf; and directly opposite Berrhis, towards the east, are the capes ⁶⁶ of Athos; and between ⁶⁷ is the Singitic Gulf, which is named after Singus, the ancient city that was on it, now in ruins. After this city comes Acanthus, a city situated on the isthmus of Athos; it was founded by the Andrii, and from it many call the gulf the Acanthian Gulf.

[32] Opposite Canastrum, ⁶⁸ a cape of Pallene, is Derrhis, a headland near Cophus Harbor; and these two mark off the limits of the Toronaean Gulf. And towards the east, again, lies the cape of Athos, which marks off the limit of the Singitic Gulf. And so the gulfs of the Aegaean Sea lie in order, though at some distance from one another, towards the north, as follows: the Maliac, the Pagasitic, the Thermaean, the Toronaean, the Singitic, the Strymonic. The capes are, first, Poseidium, the one between the Maliac and the Pegasitic; secondly, the next one towards the north, Sepias; then the one on Pallene, Canastrum; then Derrhis; then come Nymphaeum, on Athos on the Singitic Gulf, and Acrathos, the cape that is on the Strymonic Gulf (Mt. Athos is between these two capes, and Lemnos is to the east of Mt. Athos); on the north, however, the limit of the Strymonic Gulf is marked by Neapolis. ⁶⁹

[33] Acanthus, a city on the Singitic Gulf, is on the coast near the canal of Xerxes. Athos has five cities, Dium, Cleonae, Thyssus, Olophyxis, Acrothol; and Acrothol is near the crest of Athos. Mt. Athos is breast-shaped, has a very sharp crest, and is very high, since those who live on the crest see the sun rise three hours before it rises on the seaboard. And the distance by sea around the peninsula from the city Acanthus as far as Stageirus, ⁷⁰ the city of Aristotle, is four hundred stadia. On this coast is a harbor, Caprus by name, and also an isle with the same name as the harbor. Then come the outlets of the Strymon; then Phagres, Galepsus, Apollonia, all cities; then the month of the Nestus, ⁷¹ which is the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace as fixed by Philip and his son Alexander in their times. There is also another set of cities about the Strymonic Gulf, as, for instance, Myrcinus, Argilus, Drabescus, and Datum. ⁷² The last named has not only excellent and fruitful soil but also dock-yards and gold mines; and hence the proverb, “a Datum of good things,” like that other proverb, “spools of good things.”

[34] There are very many gold mines in Crenides, where the city Philippi ⁷³ now is situated, near Mt. Pangaeum. ⁷⁴ And Mt. Pangaeum as well has gold and silver mines, as also the country across, and the country this side, the Strymon River as far as Paeonia. And it is further said that the people who plough the Paeonian land find nuggets of gold.

[35] Mt. Athos is high and breast-shaped; so high that on its crests the sun is up and the people are weary of ploughing by the time cock-crow ⁷⁵ begins among the people who live on the shore. It was on this shore that Phamyris the Thracian reigned, who was a man of the same pursuits as Orpheus. ⁷⁶ Here, too, is to be seen a canal, in the neighborhood of Acanthus, where Xerxes dug a canal across Athos, it is said, and, by admitting the sea into the canal, brought his fleet across from the Strymonic Gulf through the isthmus. Demetrius of Scepsis, however, does not believe that this canal was navigable, for, he says, although as far as ten stadia the ground is deep-soiled and can be dug, and in fact a canal one plethrum in width has been dug, yet after that it is a flat rock, almost a stadium in length, which is too high and broad to admit of being quarried out through the whole of the distance as far as the sea; but even if it were dug thus far, certainly it could not be dug deep enough to make a navigable passage; this, he adds, is where Alexarchus, the son of Antipater, ⁷⁷ laid the foundation of Uranopolis, with its circuit of thirty stadia. Some of the Pelasgi from Lemnos took up their abode on this peninsula, and they were divided into five cities, Cleonae, Olophyxis, Acrothoï, Dium, Thyssus. After Athos comes the Strymonic Gulf extending as far as the Nestus, the river which marks off the boundary of Macedonia as fixed by Philip and Alexander; to be accurate, however, there is a cape which with Athos forms the Strymonic Gulf, I mean the cape which has had on it a city called Apollonia. ⁷⁸ The first city on this gulf after the harbor of the Acanthians is Stageira, the native city of Aristotle, now deserted; this too belongs to the Chalcidians and so do its harbor, Caprus, and an isle ⁷⁹ bearing the same name as the harbor. Then come the Strymon and the inland voyage of twenty stadia to Amphipolis. Amphipolis was founded by the Athenians and is situated in that place which is called Ennea Hodoi. ⁸⁰ Then come Galepsus and Apollonia, which were razed to the ground by Philip.

[36] From the Peneius, he says, to Pydna is one hundred and twenty stadia. Along the seaboard of the Strymon and the Dateni are, not only the city Neapolis, but also Datum ⁸¹ itself, with its fruitful plains, lake, rivers, dock-yards, and profitable gold mines; and hence the proverb, “a Datum of good things,” like that other proverb, “spools of good things.” Now the country that is on the far side of the Strymon, I mean that which is near the sea and those places that are in the neighborhood of Datum, is the country of the Odomantes and the Edoni and the Bisaltae, both those who are indigenous and those who crossed over from Macedonia, amongst whom Rhesus reigned. Above Amphipolis, however, and as far as the city Heracleia, ⁸² is the country of the Bisaltae, with its fruitful valley; this valley is divided into two parts by the Strymon, which has its source in the country of the Agrianes who live round about Rhodope; and alongside this country lies Parorbelia, a district of Macedonia, which has in its interior, along the valley that begins at Eidonene, the cities Callipolis, Orthopolis, Philippopolis, Garescus.

If one goes up the Strymon, one comes to Berge; ⁸³ it, too, is situated in the country of the Bisaltae, and is a village about two hundred stadia distant from Amphipolis. And if one goes from Heracleia towards the north and the narrows through which the Strymon flows, keeping the river on the right, one has Paeonia and the region round about Doberus, ⁸⁴ Rhodope, and the Haemus Mountain on the left, whereas on the right one has the region round about the Haemus. ⁸⁵ This side the Strymon are Scotussa, near the river itself, and Arethusa, near lake Bolbe. ⁸⁶ Furthermore, the name Mygdones is applied especially to the people round about the lake. Not only the Axius flows out of the country of the Paeonians, but also the Strymon, for it flows out of the country of the Agrianes through that of the Medi and Sinti and empties into the parts that are between the Bisaltae and the Odomantes.

[37] The Strymon River rises in the country of the Agrianes who live round about Rhodope.

[38] Some represent the Paeonians as colonists from the Phrygians, while others represent them as independent founders. And it is said that Paeonia has extended as far as Pelagonia and Pieria; that Pelagonia was called Orestia in earlier times, that Asteropaeus, one of the leaders who made the expedition from Paeonia to Troy, was not without good reason called “son of Pelegon,” and that the Paeonians themselves were called Pelagonians.

[39] The Homeric ⁸⁷ was, as history tells us, from Paeonia in Macedonia; wherefore “son of Pelegon,” for the Paeonians were called Pelagonians.

[40] Since the “paeanismos” ⁸⁸ of the Thracians is called “titanismos” by the Greeks, in imitation of the cry ⁸⁹ uttered in paeans, the Titans too were called Pelagonians.

[41] It is clear that in early times, as now, the Paeonians occupied much of what is now Macedonia, so that they could not only lay siege to Perinthus but also bring under their power all Crestonia and Mygdonis and the country of the Agrianes as far as Pangaeurum. ⁹⁰ Philippi and the region about Philippi lie above that part of the seaboard of the Strymonic Gulf which extends from Galepsus as far as Nestus. In earlier times Pllilippi was called Crenides, and was only a small settlement, but it was enlarged after the defeat of Brutus and Cassius. ⁹¹

[42] What is now the city Philippi was called Crenides in early times.

[43] Off this seaboard lie two islands, Lemnos and Thasos. And after the strait of Thasos one comes to Abdera ⁹² and the scene of the myths connected with Abderus. It was inhabited by the Bistonian Thracians over whom Diomedes ruled. The Nestus River does not always remain in the same bed, but oftentimes floods the country. Then come Dicaea, ⁹³ a city situated on a gulf, and a harbor. Above these lies the Bistonis, ⁹⁴ a lake which has a circuit of about two hundred stadia. It is said that, because this plain was altogether a hollow and lower than the sea, Heracles, since he was inferior in horse when he came to get the mares of Diomedes, dug a canal through the shore and let in the water of the sea upon the plain and thus mastered his adversaries. One is shown also the royal residence ⁹⁵ of Diomedes, which, because of its naturally strong position and from what is actually the case, is called Cartera Come. ⁹⁶ After the lake, which is midway between, come Xantheia, ⁹⁷ Maroneia, ⁹⁸ and Ismarus, ⁹⁹ the cities of the Cicones. Ismarus, however, is now called Ismara; it is near Maroneia. And near here, also, Lake Ismaris sends forth its stream; this stream is called Odysseium. And here, too, are what are called the Thasiön Cephalae. ¹⁰⁰ But the people situated in the interior are Sapaei.

[44] Topeira is near Abdera and Maroneia.

[44a] The aforesaid Ismarus, in later times called Ismara, is, they say, a city of the Cicones; it is near Maroneia, where is also a lake, the stream of which is called Odysseium; here too is a hero-temple of Maron, as the Geographer records.

[45] The Sinti, a Thracian tribe, inhabit the island Lemnos; and from this fact Homer calls them Sinties, when he says, ^{101 102}

[45a] Lemnos: first settled by the Thracians who were called Sinties, according to Strabo.

[46] After the Nestus River, towards the east, is the city Abdera, named after Abderus, whom the horses of Diomedes devoured; then, near by, the city Picaea, above which lies a great lake, Bistonis; then the city Maroneia.

[47] Thrace as a whole consists of twenty-two tribes. But although it has been devastated to an exceptional degree, it can send into the field fifteen thousand cavalry and also two hundred thousand infantry. After Maroneis one comes to the city Orthagoria and to the region about Serrhium ¹⁰³ (a rough coastingvoyage) and to Tempyra, the little town of the Samothracians, and to Caracoma, ¹⁰⁴ another little town, off which lies the island Samothrace, and to Imbros, which is not very far from Samothrace; Thasos, however, is more than twice as far from Samothrace as Imbros is. From Caracoma one comes to Doriscus, ¹⁰⁵ where Xerxes enumerated his army; then to the Hebrus, which is navigable inland to Cypsela, ¹⁰⁶ a distance of one hundred and twenty stadia. This, he ¹⁰⁷ says, was the boundary of the Macedonia which the Romans first took away from Perseus and afterwards from the Pseudo-Philip. ¹⁰⁸ Now Paulus, ¹⁰⁹ who captured Perseus, annexed the Epeirotic tribes to Macedonia, divided the country into four parts for purposes of administration, and apportioned one part to Amphipolis, another to Thessaloniceia, another to Pella, and another to the Pelagonians. Along the Hebrus live the Corpili, and, still farther up the river, the Brenae, and then, farthermost of all, the Bessi, for the river is navigable thus far. All these tribes are given to brigandage, but most of all the Bessi, who, He ¹¹⁰ says, are neighbors to the Odrysae and the Sapaei. Bizye ¹¹¹ was the royal residence of the Astae. The term “Odrysae” is applied by some to all the peoples living above the seaboard from the Hebrus and Cypsela as far as Odessus ¹¹² —the peoples over whom Amadocus, Cersobleptes, Berisades, Seuthes, and Cotys reigned as kings.

[47a] Odrysae: a tribe of Thrace; Strabo in his Seventh Book.

[47b] The Geographer, in pointing out the great extent of Thrace, says also that Thrace as a whole consists of twenty-two tribes.

[48] The river in Thrace that is now called Rheginia used to be called Erigon.

[49] Iasion and Dardanus, two brothers, used to live in Samothrace. But when Iasion was struck by a thunderbolt because of his sin against Demeter, Dardanus sailed away from Samothrace, went and took up his abode at the foot of Mount Ida, calling the city Dardania, and taught the Trojans the Samothracian Mysteries. In earlier times, however, Samothrace was called Samos.

[50] Many writers have identified the gods that are worshipped in Samothrace with the Cabeiri, though they cannot say who the Cabeiri themselves are, just as the Cyrbantes and Corybantes, and likewise the Curetes and the Idaean Dactyli, are identified with them.

[50a] This Thracian island, according to the Geographer, is called Samos because of its height; for “samoi,” he says, means “heights.” . . . And the Geographer says that in olden times Samians from Mycale settled in the island, which had been deserted because of a dearth of crops, and that in this way it was called Samos. . . . And the Geographer records also that in earlier times Samothrace was called Melite, as also that it was rich; for Cilician pirates, he says, secretly broke into the temple in Samothrace, robbed it, and carried off more than a thousand talents.

[51] Near the outlet of the Hebrus, which has two mouths, lies the city Aenus, ¹¹³ on the Melas Gulf; ¹¹⁴ it was founded by Mitylenaeans and Cumaeans, though in still earlier times by Alopeconnesians. Then comes Cape Sarpedon; then what is called the Thracian Chersonesus, which forms the Propontis and the Melas Gulf and the Hellespont; for it is a cape which projects towards the south-east, thus connecting Europe with Asia by the strait, seven stadia wide, which is between Abydus and Sestus, and thus having on the left the Propontis and on the right the Melas Gulf—so called, just as Herodotus ¹¹⁵ and Eudoxus say, from the Melas River ¹¹⁶ which empties into it. But Herodotus, ¹¹⁷ he ¹¹⁸ says, states that this stream was not sufficient to supply the army of Xerxes. The aforesaid cape is closed in by an isthmus forty stadia wide. Now in the middle of the isthmus is situated the city Lysimacheia, named after the king who founded it; and on either side of it lies a city—on the Melas Gulf, Cardia, the largest of the cities on the Chersonesus, founded by Milesians and Clazomenians but later refounded by Athenians, and on the Propontis, Pactye. And after Cardia come Drabus and Limnae; then Alopeconnesus, in which the Melas Gulf comes approximately to an end; then the large headland, Mazusia; then, on a gulf, Eleus, ¹¹⁹ where is the temple of Protesilaus, opposite which, forty stadia distant, is Sigeium, ¹²⁰ a headland of the Troad; and this is about the most southerly extremity of the Chersonesus, being slightly more than four hundred stadia from Cardia; and if one sails around the rest of the circuit, towards the other side of the isthmus, the distance is slightly more than this.

[51a] Aenus; a city of Thrace, called Apsinthus. Strabo in his Seventh Book. The city Aenus is in the outlet of the Hebrus, which has two mouths, and was founded by Cumaeans; and it was so called because there was an Aenius River and also a village of the same name near Ossa.

[52] The Thracian Chersonesus forms three seas: the Propontis in the north, the Hellespont in the east, and the Melas Gulf in the south, into which empties the Melas River, which bears the same name as the gulf.

[53] On the isthmus of the Chersonesus are situated three cities: near the Melas Gulf, Cardia, and near the Propontis, Pactye, and near the middle, Lysimacheia. The length ¹²¹ of the isthmus is forty stadia.

[54] The name of the city Eleus is masculine; and perhaps also that of the city Trapesus.

[55] On this voyage along the coast of the Chersonesus after leaving Eleus, one comes first to the entrance which leads through the narrows into the Propontis; and this entrance is called the beginning of the Hellespont. And here is the cape called the Cynos-Sema; ¹²² though some call it Hecabe’s Sema, and in fact her tomb is pointed out after one has doubled the cape. Then one comes to Madytus, and to Cape Sestias, where the pontoon bridge of Xerxes was built; and, after these, to Sestus. The distance from Eleus to the place of the pontoon-bridge is one hundred and seventy stadia. After Sestus one comes to Aegospotami, eighty ¹²³ stadia, a town which has been razed to the ground, where it is said, the stone ¹²⁴ fell at the time of the Persian war. Then comes Callipolis, ¹²⁵ from which the distance across to Lampsacus in Asia is forty stadia; then Crithote, a little town which has been razed to the ground; then Pactye; then Macron Teichos,” ¹²⁶ Leuce Acte, ¹²⁷ Hieron Oros, ¹²⁸ and Perinthus, founded by the Samians: then Selybria. ¹²⁹ Above these places lies Silta; ¹³⁰ and the Hieron Oros is revered by all the natives and is a sort of acropolis of the country. The Hieron Oros discharges asphalt into the sea, near the place where the Proconnesus, ¹³¹ only one hundred and twenty stadia distant, is nearest to the land; and the quarry of white marble in the Proconnesus is both large and excellent. After Selybria come the Rivers Athyras and Bathynias; and then, Byzantium and the places which come in order thereafter as far as the Cyanean Rocks.

[55a] As for Sestus and the whole of the Chersonesus, I have already discussed them in my description of the regions of Thrace.

[55b] Sestus, a colony of the Lesbians, as is also Madytus, as the Geographer says, is a Chersonesian city thirty stadia distant from Abydus, from harbor to harbor.

[56] The distance from Perinthus to Byzantium is six hundred and thirty stadia; but from the Hebrus and Cypsela to Byzantium, as far as the Cyanean Rocks, three thousand one hundred, as Artemidorus says; and the entire distance from the Ionian Gulf at Apollonia as far as Byzantium is seven thousand three hundred and twenty stadia, though Polybius adds one hundred and eighty more, since he adds a third of a stadium to the eight stadia in the mile. Demetrius of Scepsis, however, in his work On the Marshalling of the Trojan Forces ¹³² calls the distance from Perinthus to Byzantium six hundred stadia and the distance to Parium equal thereto; and he represents the Propontis as one thousand four hundred stadia in length and five hundred in breadth; while as for the Hellespont, he calls its narrowest breadth seven stadia and its length four hundred.

[57] There is no general agreement in the definition of the term “Hellespont”: in fact, there are several opinions concerning it. For some writers call “Hellespont” the whole of the Propontis; others, that part of the Propontis which is this side Perinthus; others go on to add that part of the outer sea which faces the Melas Gulf and the open waters of the Aegaean Sea, and these writers in turn each comprise different sections in their definitions, some the part from Sigeium to Lampsacus and Cysicus, or Parium, or Priapus, another going on to add the part which extends from Sigrium in the Lesbian Isle. And some do not shrink even from applying the name Hellespont to the whole of the high sea as far as the Myrtoan Sea, since, as Pindar ¹³³ says in his hymns, those who were sailing with Heracles from Troy through Helle’s maidenly strait, on touching the Myrtoan Sea, ran back again to Cos, because Zephyrus blew contrary to their course. And in this way, also, they require that the whole of the Aegaean Sea as far as the Thermaean Gulf and the sea which is about Thessaly and Macedonia should be called Hellespont, invoking Homer also as witness; for Homer says, ¹³⁴ ; but such an argument is refuted by those other lines, ¹³⁶ but he was the leader of the Thracians, ^{137 138} that is, Homer would represent those ¹³⁹ who are situated next after these ¹⁴⁰ as situated outside the Hellespont; that is, Aenus lies in what was formerly called Apsinthis, though now called Corpilice, whereas the country of the Cicones lies next thereafter towards the west. ¹⁴¹

[58] Corpili: certain of the Thracians. Strabo, Seventh Book; their country is called Corpilice; for Aenus lies in what was formerly called Apsinthis, though now called Corpilice.

[59] Tetrachoritae: the Bessi, according to Strabo in his Seventh Book. These are also called Tetracomi.

[60] For he ¹⁴² says in the Seventh Book of the same work ¹⁴³ that he knew Poseidonius, the Stoic philosopher. ¹⁴⁴