Chaps. 21-24.

Chap. 21.—Eubœa.

Eubœa [Now called Eubœa, as also Egripo, or Negropont,—a corruption of the former word and “pont,” “a bridge.”] itself has also been rent away from Bœotia; the channel of the Euripus, which flows between them, being so narrow as to admit of the opposite shores being united by a bridge [Hardouin speaks of this as existing in his time, 1670, and being 250 feet in length. It is supposed to have been first constructed about B.C. 411, for the purpose of uninterrupted communication with Bœotia.]. At the south, this island is remarkable for its two promontories, that of Geræstus [Now Capo Mandili.], which looks towards Attica, and that of Caphareus [Now Kavo Doro, or Xylofago.], which faces the Hellespont; on the north it has that of Cenæum [Now Lithadha, with a mountain 2837 feet above the sea.]. In no part does this island extend to a greater breadth than forty miles, while it never contracts to less than two. In length it runs along the whole coast of Bœotia, extending from Attica as far as Thessaly, a distance of 150 miles [These measurements are not exactly correct. The length from north to south is about ninety miles; the extreme breadth across, thirty, and in one part, not more than four miles.]. In circumference it measures 365, and is distant from the Hellespont, on the side of Caphareus, 225 miles. The cities for which it was formerly famous were, Pyrrha, Porthmos, Nesos, Cerinthos [Still extant in the time of Strabo, who speaks of it as an inconsiderable place.], Oreum, Dium, Ædepsos [Its site is now called Lipso. It contained warm baths sacred to Hercules, and used by the Dictator Sylla. They are still to be seen.], Ocha, and Œchalia; at present it is ennobled by those of Chalcis [Now Egripo, or Negropont, having given name to the rest of the island. The Euripus is here only forty yards across, being crossed by a bridge, partly of stone, partly of wood. The poet Lycophron and the orator Isæus were natives of this place, and Aristotle died here.] (opposite which, on the mainland, is Aulis), Geræstus [Near the promontory of that name, now Capo Mandili. In the town there was a famous temple of Poseidon, or Neptune. According to Hardouin, the modern name is Iastura.], Eretria [One of the most powerful cities of Eubœa. It was destroyed by the Persians under Darius, and a new town was built to the south of the old one. New Eretria stood, according to Leake, at the modern Kastri, and old Eretria in the neighbourhood of Vathy. The tragic poet Achæus, a contemporary of Æschylus, was born here; and a school of philosophy was founded at this place by Menedemus, a disciple of Plato.], Carystus [Now Karysto, on the south of the island, at the foot of Mount Ocha, upon which are supposed to have been its quarries of marble. There are but few remains of the ancient city. The historian Antigonus, the comic poet Apollodorus, and the physician Diocles, were natives of this place.], Oritanum, and Artemisium [Probably on the promontory of the same name. It was off this coast that the Greek fleet engaged that of Xerxes, B.C. 480.]. Here are also the Fountain of Arethusa [There were tame fish kept in this fountain; and its waters were sometimes disturbed by volcanic agency. Leake says that it has now totally disappeared.], the river Lelantus, and the warm springs known as Ellopiæ; it is still better known, however, for the marble of Carystus. This island used formerly to be called Chalcodontis and Macris [From the fact of its producing copper, and of its being in shape long and narrow.], as we learn from Dionysius and Ephorus; according to Aristides, Macra; also, as Callidemus says, Chalcis, because copper was first discovered here. Menæchmus says that it was called Abantias [Strabo remarks, that Homer calls its inhabitants Abantes, while he gives to the island the name of Eubœa. The poets say that it took its name from the cow (Βοῦς) Io, who gave birth to Epaphus on this island.], and the poets generally give it the name of Asopis.

Chap. 22.—The Cyclades.

Beyond Eubœa, and out in the Myrtoan [Hardouin remarks here, that Pliny, Strabo, Mela, and Pausanias use the term “Myrtoan Sea,” as meaning that portion of it which lies between Crete and Attica, while Ptolemy so calls the sea which lies off the coast of Caria.] Sea, are numerous other islands; but those more especially famous are, Glauconnesos and the Ægila [Now called Spitilus, and the group of Micronisia, or “Little Islands,” according to Hardouin.]. Off the promontory, too, of Geræstus are the Cyclades, lying in a circle around Delos, from which circumstance [From κύκλος, “a circle.”] they derive their name. The first of them is the one called Andros [Now Andro. It gives name to one of the comedies of Terence. The ruins of the ancient city were found by the German traveller Ross, who has published a hymn to Isis, in hexameter verse, which he discovered here. It was famous for its wines.] with a city of the same name, distant from Geræstus ten miles, and from Ceos thirty-nine. Myrsilus tells us that this island was at first called Cauros, and after that Antandros; Callimachus calls it Lasia, and others again Nonagria, Hydrussa, and Epagris. It is ninety-three miles in circumference. At a distance of one mile from Andros and of fifteen from Delos, is Tenos [Now Tino.], with a city of the same name; this island is fifteen miles in length. Aristotle says that it was formerly called Hydrussa, from the abundance of water found here, while some writers call it Ophiussa [From its abounding in snakes (ὄφεις) and scorpions.]. The other islands are, Myconos [Now Mycono, south-east of Tenos and east of Delos. It was famous in ancient mythology as one of the places where Hercules was said to have defeated the Giants. It was also remarkable for the great proportion of bald persons among its inhabitants.], with the mountain of Dimastus [So called from its resemblance to two breasts, μαζοι.], distant from Delos fifteen [Wheeler says that the distance is but three miles; Tournefort, six.] miles; Siphnus [Once famous for its gold and silver mines, but equally notorious for the bad character of its people. It is now called Siphno.], formerly called Meropia and Acis, twenty-eight miles in circumference; Seriphus [Now Serpho, lying between Cythnos and Siphnus.], twelve miles in circuit; Prepesinthus [Now Fermina, according to Hardouin.]; Cythnos [Between Ceos and Seriphus. It is now called Thermia. Cydias the painter was born here, and it was famous for its cheeses. Its modern name is derived from its hot springs, which are much frequented.]; and then, by far the most famous among the Cyclades, and lying in the very middle of them, Delos [Still called Delos; and, though so celebrated, nothing more than a mere rock, five miles in circumference.] itself, so famous for its temple of Apollo, and its extensive commerce. This island long floated on the waves, and, as tradition says, was the only one that had never experienced an earthquake, down to the time of M. Varro [That is, according to Varro, whose statement is ridiculed by Seneca. Some of the editors, however, punctuate this passage differently, making it to mean, “the only island that has never experienced an earthquake. Mucianus however has informed us, that down to the time of M. Varro, it has been twice so visited.”]; Mucianus however has informed us, that it has been twice so visited. Aristotle states that this island received its name from the fact of its having so suddenly made its appearance [From its then becoming δῆλος, “plain,” or “manifest.” It was after the fall of Corinth that Delos became so famous for its commerce. Its bronze was in great request.] on emerging from the sea; Aglaosthenes, however, gives it the name of Cynthia, and others of Ortygia [From ὄρτυξ, “a quail”; the legend being, that Latona was changed into that bird by Jupiter, in order to effect her escape thither from the anger of Juno. Its name of Asteria was derived from ἄστρον, “a star,” either in consequence of its being devoted to the worship of the great luminary Apollo, or of its being considered by the gods the star of the earth. It was also called Lagia, from λαγὼς, “a hare,” that animal abounding there; and Cynæthus, from κύων, “a dog,” it being famous for its hounds.], Asteria, Lagia, Chlamydia, Cynthus, and, from the circumstance of fire having been first discovered here, Pyrpile. Its circumference is five miles only; Mount Cynthus [A bare granite rock, not more than 500 feet in height. The island is now a mass of ruins; a great part of its remains having been carried away in the middle ages to Venice and Constantinople.] here raises his head.

Next to this island is Rhene [Divided by a strait of four stadia in width from Delos. Nicias connected the two islands by a bridge. Its name of Celadussa was said to be derived from the noise of the waves, κέλαδος, and of Artemite, from Artemis, or Diana.], which Anticlides calls by the name of Celadussa, and Callidemus, Artemite; Scyros [Now Syra; famous for its wine and corn.], which the old writers have stated to be twenty miles in circumference, but Mucianus 160; Oliaros [Now Antiparos; famous for its stalactite grotto, which is not mentioned by the ancient writers.]; and Paros [Now Paro; south of Delos and west of Naxos. The ruins of its town are still to be seen at the modern Paroikia. The Parian Chronicle, inscribed on marble, and containing a chronicle of Grecian history from Cecrops, B.C. 1582, to B.C. 264, was found here. It is preserved at Oxford.], with a city of the same name, distant from Delos thirty-eight miles, and famous for its marble [Chiefly obtained from a mountain called Marpessa.]; it was first called Platea, and after that, Minois. At a distance of seven miles from this last island is Naxos [Now Naxia, famous both in ancient and modern times for its remarkable fertility.], with a town of the same name; it is eighteen miles distant from Delos. This island was formerly called Strongyle [From στρογγύλος, “round,” its shape being somewhat inclined to circular, though by Eustathius it is compared to the shape of a vine-leaf. It is commonly called Dia by the poets. Tournefort says that it is distant forty miles from Delos.], then Dia, and then Dionysias [From Διόνυσος, or Bacchus, the god of wine.], in consequence of the fruitfulness of its vineyards; others again have called it the Lesser Sicily, or Callipolis [Or “Fine City.” It took its other name from the fact of its rivalling the fertility of Sicily.]. It is seventy-five [According to Brotier, the Jesuit Babin, on visiting it, found its circumference estimated at thirty-six miles only.] miles in circumference—half as large again as Paros.

Chap. 23.—The Sporades.

The islands thus far are considered as belonging to the Cyclades; the rest that follow are the Sporades [So called from lying scattered at random as it were, σπορὰς “scattered.”]. These are, Helene [Helene is supposed to be the modern Pira; Phacussa, Fecussa; Nicasia, Rachia; Schinussa, Schinusa; and Pholegandros, Policandro.], Phacussa, Nicasia, Schinussa, Pholegandros, and, at a distance of thirty-eight miles from Naxos, Icaros [Now Nikaria, to the west of Samos. According to tradition, it derived its name from Icarus, the son of Dædalus, who was believed to have fallen into the sea in its vicinity.], which has given its name to the surrounding sea, and is the same number of miles in length [Its length is not so great as is here mentioned by Pliny. Its towns were Drepanum, or Dracanum, Œnoë, and Isti.], with two cities, and a third now no longer in existence: this island used formerly to be called Doliche, Macris, and Ichthyoëssa [The first two names are from the Greek, in allusion to its long, narrow shape, and the last bears reference to the fact of its shores abounding in fish.]. It is situate fifty miles to the north-east of Delos, and thirty-five from the island of Samos. Between Eubœa and Andros, there is an arm of the sea ten miles in width, and from Icaros to Geræstus is a distance of 112 1 / 2 miles.

After we pass these, no regular order can be well observed; the rest must therefore be mentioned indiscriminately. There is the island of Scyros [Now Scyro, east of Eubœa, and one of the Sporades. Here Achilles was said to have been concealed by his mother Thetis, in woman’s attire.], and that of Ios [Now Nio, one of the Sporades, inaccurately called by Stephanus one of the Cyclades. The modern town is built on the site of the ancient one, of which there are some remains. It was said that Homer died here, on his voyage from Smyrna to Athens, and that his mother, Clymene, was a native of this island. In 1773, Van Krienen, a Dutch nobleman, asserted that he had discovered the tomb of Homer here, with certain inscriptions relative to him; but they have been generally regarded by the learned as forgeries. Odia and Oletandros seem not to have been identified.], eighteen miles distant from Naxos, and deserving of all veneration for the tomb there of Homer; it is twenty-five miles in length, and was formerly known by the name of Phœnice; also Odia, Oletandros, and Gyara [Now called Gioura, or Jura. It was little better than a barren rock, though inhabited; but so notorious for its poverty, that its mice were said to be able to gnaw through iron. It was used as a place of banishment under the Roman emperors, whence the line of Juvenal, i. 73— “Aude aliquid brevibus Gyaris et carcere dignum.” “Dare some deed deserving of the little Gyara and the gaol.” It is now uninhabited, except by a few shepherds in the summer.], with a city of the same name, the island being twelve miles in circumference, and distant from Andros sixty-two. At a distance of eighty miles from Gyara is Syrnos, then Cynæthus, Telos [Now Telos, or Piskopi, a small island in the Carpathian Sea, and one of the Sporades. It lies off the coast of Caria. Syrnos appears not to have been identified.], noted for its unguents, and by Callimachus called Agathussa, Donusa [Near Naxos. Virgil calls it ‘viridis,’ or ‘green,’ which Servius explains by the colour of its marble. Like Gyara, it was used as a place of banishment under the Roman Empire. In C., Pliny has mentioned Cynæthus as one of the names of Delos.], Patmos [Now Patmo, one of the Sporades, and west of the Promontory of Posidium, in Caria. To this place St. John was banished, and here he wrote the Apocalypse.], thirty miles in circumference, the Corassiæ [A group between Icaria and Samos. They are now called Phurni and Krusi.], Lebinthus [One of the Sporades, now Lebitha.], Leros [Now Lero. Its inhabitants were of Milesian origin, and of indifferent character. In its temple of Artemis, the sisters of Meleager were said to have been changed into guinea-fowls. It was opposite the coast of Caria.], Cinara [Now Zinari, N.E. of Amorgos. The artichoke (called κίναρα in Greek) is said to have given name to it.]; Sicinus [Now Sikino; between Pholegandros and Ios.], formerly called Œnoë [So called, according to Stephanus, from its cultivation of the vine and produce of wine, οἶνος. It was situate between Pholegandros and Ios. It was said to have had the name of Sicinus from a son of Thoas and Œnoë. Hieracia seems to be unknown.]; Hieracia, also called Onus; Casos [Still known by that name, and lying between Carpathus and Crete. The ruins of the ancient town of Casos are still to be seen at the village of Polin. It is mentioned by Homer.], likewise called Astrabe; Cimolus [Now Kimoli, one of the Cyclades, between Siphnos and Melos. It took its name of Echinussa from the ‘Echinus,’ or Sea-urchin, of which various fossil specimens are still found on the coast; but nowhere else in these islands, except the opposite coast of Melos. There are considerable ruins of its ancient town.], or Echinussa; and Melos [Now Milo, the most westerly of the Cyclades. It is remarkable for its extreme fertility. Its town, which, according to most authorities, was called Byblis, was situate on the north of the island.], with a city of that name, which island Aristides calls Memblis, Aristotle Zephyria, Callimachus Mimallis, Heraclides Siphis and Acytos. This last is the most circular [Ansart remarks, that our author is mistaken in this assertion, for not only are many others of these islands more circular in form, but even that of Kimolo, which stands next to it.] in form of all these islands. After this comes Machia, then Hypere, formerly Patage, or, as others have it, Platage, but now called Amorgos [Now Amorgo, S.E. of Naxos. It was the birth-place of the Iambic poet Simonides. It is noted for its fertility. Under the Roman emperors, it was used as a place of banishment.], Polyægos [Now Polybos, or Antimelos, an uninhabited island near Melos. Phyle seems not to have been identified.], Phyle, and Thera [Now Santorin, south of the island of Ios. The tradition was, that it was formed from a clod of earth, thrown from the ship Argo. It is evidently of volcanic origin, and is covered with pumice-stone. It was colonized by Lacedæmonians and Minyans of Lemnos, under the Spartan Theras, who gave his name to the island.], known as Calliste when it first sprang from the waves. From this, at a later period, the island of Therasia [A small island to the west of Thera, still known by the same name.] was torn away, and between the two afterwards arose Automate, also called Hiera, and Thia, which in our own times came into existence in the vicinity of these islands. Ios is distant from Thera twenty-five miles.

Next to these follow Lea, Ascania [In Lapie’s map, Ascania is set down as the present Christiana.], Anaphe [Now Anaphe, Namfi, or Namphio, one of the Sporades. It was celebrated for the temple of Apollo Ægletes, the foundation of which was ascribed to the Argonauts, and of which considerable remains still exist. It abounds in partridges, as it did also in ancient times.], Hippuris, and Astypalæa [Now Astropalæa, or Stamphalia. By Strabo it is called one of the Sporades, by Stephanus one of the Cyclades. It probably was favoured by the Romans for the excellence and importance of its harbours. From Hegesander we learn that it was famous for its hares, and Pliny tells us, in B. viii. c. 59, that its mussels were (as they still are) very celebrated.], a free state. This island is eighty-eight miles in circumference, and 125 miles distant from Cadistus, in Crete. From Astypalæa, Platea is distant sixty miles, and Caminia thirty-eight from this last. We then come to the islands of Azibintha, Lanise, Tragæa, Pharmacussa, Techedia, Chalcia [None of these islands can be now identified, except perhaps Chalcia, also mentioned by Strabo, and now known as Karki.], Calymna [Now Kalymno, the principal island of the group, by Homer called Calydne. According to most of the editions, Pliny mentions here Calydna and Calymna, making this island, which had those two names, into two islands. Although Pliny here mentions only the town of Coös, still, in B. v. c., he speaks of three others, Notium, Nisyrus, and Mendeterus. There are still some remains of antiquity to be seen here.], in which is the town of Coös, Calymna, at a distance of twenty-five miles from which is Carpathum [Or Carpathus, now Skarpanto. It gave name to the sea between Crete and Rhodes.], which has given its name to the Carpathian Sea. The distance thence to Rhodes [It still preserves its ancient name, and presents some interesting remains of antiquity.], in the direction of the south-west wind, is fifty miles. From Carpathum to Casus is seven miles, and from Casus to Sammonium, the promontory of Crete, thirty [Brotier says that the distance is really fifty-two miles.]. In the Euripus of Eubœa, almost at the very mouth of it, are the four islands called Petaliæ [So called from the town of Petalia, on the mainland. Ansart says that their present name is Spili.]; and, at its outlet, Atalante [Now Talanti, giving name to the Channel of Talanti.]. The Cyclades and the Sporades are bounded on the east by the Asiatic shores of the Icarian Sea, on the west by the Attic shores of the Myrtoan Sea, on the north by the Ægean, and on the south by the Cretan and Carpathian seas, extending 700 miles in length, and 200 in breadth.

The Gulf of Pagasa [The present Gulf of Volo, mentioned in C. of the present Book.] has in front of it Euthia [Ansart suggests that this may possibly be the small island now called Agios Nicolaos.], Cicynethus [Now Trikeri.], Scyros, previously mentioned [In the present Chapter.], and the very furthermost of the Cyclades and Sporades, Gerontia and Scandila [Now Scangero, or Skantzoura, according to Ansart.]; the Gulf of Thermæ [Now the Gulf of Saloniki, mentioned in C.. The islands here mentioned have apparently not been identified.], Iræsia, Solimnia, Eudemia, and Nea, which last is sacred to Minerva. Athos has before it four islands; Peparethus [Off the coast of Thessaly, now Piperi.], formerly called Evœnus, with a city of that name, at a distance from Athos of nine miles; Sciathus [Now Skiathos. It was famous for its wine.], at a distance of fifteen, and Imbros [Now called Embro, or Imru. Both the island and city of Imbros are mentioned by Homer.], with a city of the same name, at a distance of eighty-eight miles. This last island is distant from Mastusia, in the Chersonesus, twenty-five miles; it is sixty-two [This is double the actual circumference of the island.] miles in circumference, and is washed by the river Ilisus. At a distance of twenty-two miles from it is Lemnos [Now called Stalimene.], being distant from Mount Athos eighty-seven; it is 112 miles in circumference, and has the cities of Hephæstia and Myrina [Its site is now called Palæo Kastro. Hephæstia, or Vulcan’s Town, stood near the modern Rapanidi. That god was said to have fallen into this island when thrown from heaven by Jupiter.]; into the market-place of which last city Athos throws its shadow at the summer solstice. The island of Thasos [Now Thaso, or Tasso. Its gold mines were in early periods very valuable.], constituting a free state, is six miles distant from Lemnos; it formerly had the name of Aëria, or Æthria. Abdera [Mentioned in C. of this Book.], on the mainland, is distant from Thasos twenty-two miles, Athos sixty-two [Ansart says that “forty-two” would be the correct reading here, that being also the distance between Samothrace and Thasos.]. The island of Samothrace [Its modern name is Samothraki. It was the chief seat of the mysterious worship of the Cabiri.], a free state, facing the river Hebrus, is the same distance from Thasos, being also thirty-two [Only twelve, according to Ansart.] miles from Imbros, twenty-two from Lemnos, and thirty-eight [Barely eighteen, according to Brotier.] from the coast of Thrace; it is thirty-two miles in circumference, and in it rises Mount Saoce [Now Monte Nettuno. Of course the height here mentioned by Pliny is erroneous; but Homer says that from this mountain Troy could be seen.], ten miles in height. This island is the most inaccessible of them all. Callimachus mentions it by its ancient name of Dardania.

Between the Chersonesus and Samothrace, at a distance of about fifteen miles from them both, is the island of Halonnesos [Now called Skopelo, if it is the same island which is mentioned by Ptolemy under the name of Scopelus. It exports wine in large quantities.], and beyond it Gethone, Lamponia, and Alopeconnesus [Or the Fox Island, so called from its first settlers having been directed by an oracle to establish a colony where they should first meet a fox with its cub. Like many others of the islands here mentioned, it appears not to have been identified.], not far from Cœlos, a port [See C. of this Book.] of the Chersonesus, besides some others of no importance. The following names may be also mentioned, as those of uninhabited islands in this gulf, of which we have been enabled to discover the names:—Desticos, Sarnos, Cyssiros, Charbrusa, Calathusa, Scylla, Draconon, Arconnesus, Diethusa, Scapos, Capheris, Mesate, Æantion, Pateronnesos, Pateria, Calate, Neriphus, and Polendos [None of these islands appear to have been identified by modern geographers.].

Chap. 24.—The Hellespont.—The Lake Mæotis.

The fourth great Gulf of Europe begins at the Hellespont and ends at the entrance of the Mæotis [Now generally known as the Palus Mæotis or Sea of Azof.]. But in order that the several portions of the Euxine and its coasts may be the better known, we must briefly embrace the form of it in one general view. This vast sea, lying in front of Asia, is shut out from Europe by the projection of the shores of the Chersonesus, and effects an entrance into those countries by a narrow channel only, of the width, as already mentioned, of seven stadia, thus separating Europe from Asia. The entrance of these Straits is called the Hellespont; over it Xerxes, the king of the Persians, constructed a bridge of boats, across which he led his army. A narrow channel extends thence a distance of eighty-six miles, as far as Priapus [The modern Caraboa, according to Brotier, stands on its site. Priapus was the tutelary divinity of Lampsacus in this vicinity.], a city of Asia, at which Alexander the Great passed over. At this point the sea becomes wider, and after some distance again takes the form of a narrow strait. The wider part is known as the Propontis [Or “entrance of Pontus”; now the Sea of Marmora.], the Straits as the Thracian Bosporus [“Ox Ford,” or “passage of the cow,” Io being said to have crossed it in that form: now called the “Straits of Constantinople.”], being only half-a-mile in width, at the place where Darius, the father of Xerxes, led his troops across by a bridge. The extremity of this is distant from the Hellespont 239 miles.

We then come to the vast sea called the Euxine, which invades the land as it retreats afar, and the name of which was formerly Axenus [Said to have been called ἄξενος or “inhospitable,” from its frequent storms and the savage state of the people living on its shores. In later times, on the principle of Euphemism, or abstaining from words of ill omen, its name was changed to εὔξεινος, “hospitable.”]. As the shores bend inwards, this sea with a vast sweep stretches far away, curving on both sides after the manner of a pair of horns, so much so that in shape it bears a distinct resemblance to a Scythian bow [This was a favourite comparison of the ancients; the north coast, between the Thracian Bosporus and the Phasis, formed the bow, and the southern shores the string. The Scythian bow somewhat resembled in form the figure Σ, the capital Sigma of the Greeks.]. In the middle of the curve it is joined by the mouth of Lake Mæotis, which is called the Cimmerian [Now the Straits of Kaffa or Enikale.] Bosporus, and is two miles and a half in width. Between the two Bospori, the Thracian and the Cimmerian, there is a distance in a straight line, of 500 miles, as Polybius informs us. We learn from Varro and most of the ancient writers, that the circumference of the Euxine is altogether 2150 miles; but to this number Cornelius Nepos adds 350 more; while Artemidorus makes it 2919 miles, Agrippa 2360, and Mucianus 2425. In a similar manner some writers have fixed the length of the European shores of this sea at 1478 miles, others again at 1172. M. Varro gives the measurement as follows:—from the mouth of the Euxine to Apollonia 187 miles, and to Callatis the same distance; thence to the mouth of the Ister 125 miles; to the Borysthenes 250; to Chersonesus [This town lay about the middle of the Tauric Chersonesus or Crimea, and was situate on a small peninsula, called the Smaller Chersonesus, to distinguish it from the larger one, of which it formed a part. It was founded by the inhabitants of the Pontic Heraclea, or Heracleium, the site of which is unknown. See note to p. 333.], a town of the Heracleotæ, 325; to Panticapæum [Now Kertsch, in the Crimea. It derived its name from the river Panticapes; and was founded by the Milesians about B.C. 541. It was the residence of the Greek kings of Bosporus, and hence it was sometimes so called.], by some called Bosporus, at the very extremity of the shores of Europe, 212 miles: the whole of which added together, makes 1337 [“Thirty-six” properly.] miles. Agrippa makes the distance from Byzantium to the river Ister 560 miles, and from thence to Panticapæum, 635.

Lake Mæotis, which receives the river Tanais as it flows from the Riphæan Mountains [The Tanais or Don does not rise in the Riphæan Mountains, or western branch of the Uralian chain, but on slightly elevated ground in the centre of European Russia.], and forms the extreme boundary between Europe and Asia, is said to be 1406 miles in circumference; which however some writers state at only 1125. From the entrance of this lake to the mouth of the Tanais in a straight line is, it is generally agreed, a distance of 375 miles.

The inhabitants of the coasts of this fourth great Gulf of Europe, as far as Istropolis, have been already [Chap. 18 of the present Book. Istropolis is supposed to be the present Istere, though some would make it to have stood on the site of the present Kostendsje, and Brotier identifies it with Kara-Kerman.] mentioned in our account of Thrace. Passing beyond that spot we come to the mouths of the Ister. This river rises in Germany in the heights of Mount Abnoba [Now called the Schwarzwald or Black Forest. The Danube or Ister rises on the eastern side at the spot called Donaueschingen.], opposite to Rauricum [So called from the Raurici, a powerful people of Gallia Belgica, who possessed several towns, of which the most important were Augusta, now Augst, and Basilia, now Bâle.], a town of Gaul, and flows for a course of many miles beyond the Alps and through nations innumerable, under the name of the Danube. Adding immensely to the volume of its waters, at the spot where it first enters Illyricum, it assumes the name of Ister, and, after receiving sixty rivers, nearly one half of which are navigable, rolls into the Euxine by six [Only three of these are now considered of importance, as being the main branches of the river. It is looked upon as impossible by modern geographers to identify the accounts given by the ancients with the present channels, by name, as the Danube has undergone in lapse of time, very considerable changes at its mouth. Strabo mentions seven mouths, three being lesser ones.] vast channels. The first of these is the mouth of Peuce [So called, as stated by Pliny, from the island of Peuce, now Piczina. Peuce appears to have been the most southerly of the mouths.], close to which is the island of Peuce itself, from which the neighbouring channel takes its name; this mouth is swallowed up in a great swamp nineteen miles in length. From the same channel too, above Istropolis, a lake [Now called Kara-Sou, according to Brotier. Also called Rassefu in the maps.] takes its rise, sixty-three miles in circuit; its name is Halmyris. The second mouth is called Naracu-Stoma [Now called Hazrali Bogasi, according to Brotier. It is called by Ptolemy the Narakian Mouth.]; the third, which is near the island of Sarmatica, is called Calon-Stoma [Or the “Beautiful Mouth.” Now Susie Bogasi, according to Brotier.]; the fourth is known as Pseudo-Stomon [Or the “False Mouth”: now the Sulina Bogasi, the principal mouth of the Danube, so maltreated by its Russian guardians.], with its island called Conopon-Diabasis [Or the “Passage of the Gnats,” so called from being the resort of swarms of mosquitoes, which were said at a certain time of the year to migrate to the Palus Mæotis. According to Brotier the present name of this island is Ilan Adasi, or Serpent Island.]; after which come the Boreon-Stoma [The “Northern Mouth”: near the town of Kilia.] and the Psilon-Stoma [Or the “Narrow Mouth.”]. These mouths are each of them so considerable, that for a distance of forty miles, it is said, the saltness of the sea is quite overpowered, and the water found to be fresh.