CHAPTER VI.
OF the country situated between the Danube and the
mountains on each side of Pæonia, there remains to be described the Pontic coast, which reaches from the Sacred
mouth of the Danube to the mountainous district about Hæ-
mus, and to the mouth of the Pontus at Byzantium. As in
describing the Illyrian coast we had proceeded as far as the
Ceraunian mountains, which, although they stretch beyond
the mountainous district of Illyria, yet constitute a sort of
proper boundary, we determined by means of these mountains
the limits of the nations in the inland parts, considering, that
such separating lines would be better marks both for our present and future use; so here also the coast, although it may
fall beyond the mountainous line, will still end at a proper
kind of limit, the mouth of the Pontus, which will be useful
both for our present and our future descriptions.
If we set out from the Sacred mouth of the Danube, having
on the right hand the continuous line of coast, we find at the
distance of 500 stadia, Ister,
1 a small town founded by Mile-
sians; then Tomis,
2 another small town, at the distance of
250 stadia; then Callatis,
3 a city, a colony of the Heracleotæ,
at 280 stadia; then, at 1300 stadia, Apollonia,
4 a colony of
Milesians, having the greater part of the buildings upon a
small island, where is a temple of Apollo, whence Marcus
Lucullus took the Colossus of Apollo, the work of Calamides,
and dedicated it as a sacred offering in the Capitol. In the
intermediate distance between Callatis and Apollonia, is Bizone, a great part of which was swallowed up by an earthquake; Cruni;
5 Odessus,
6 a colony of Milesians; and Naulochus, a small town of the Mesembriani. Next follows the
mountain Hæmus,
7 extending to the sea in this quarter; then
Mesembria,
8 a colony of the Megarenses, formerly called Menabria, or city of Mena, Menas being the name of the founder,
and bria,
9 signifying in the Thracian tongue, city. Thus the
city of Selys is called Selybria, and Ænus once had the name
of Poltyobria. Then follows Anchiale,
10 a small town of the
Apolloniat$aa, and Apollonia itself.
On this coast is the promontory Tirizis, a place naturally
strong, which Lysimachus formerly used as a treasury. Again,
from Apollonia to the Cyanetæ are about 1500 stadia. In this
interval are Thynias, a tract belonging to the Apolloniatæ,
Phinopolis, and Andriace,
11 which are contiguous to Salmydessus. This coast is without inhabitants and rocky, without
harbours, stretching far towards the north, and extending as
far as the Cyaneæ, about 700 stadia. Those who are wrecked
on this coast are plundered by the Asti, a Thracian tribe
who live above it.
The Cyaneæ
12 are two small islands at the mouth of the
Pontus, one lying near Europe, the other near Asia, and are
separated by a channel of about 20 stadia. This is the mea-
sure of the distance between the temple of the Byzantines
and the temple of the Chalcedonians, where is the narrowest
part of the mouth of the Euxine Sea. For proceeding onwards 10 stadia there is a promontory, which reduces the
strait to 5 stadia; the strait afterwards opens to a greater
width, and begins to form the Propontis.
[
2]
From the promontory, then, that reduces the strait to
5 stadia, to the Port under the Fig-tree, as it is called, are 35
stadia; thence to the Horn of the Byzantines, 5 stadia. This
Horn, close to the walls of Byzantium, is a bay, extending
westwards 60 stadia, and resembling a stag's horn, for it is
divided into a great many bays, like so many branches. The
Pelamides
13 resort to these bays, and are easily taken, on account
of their great number, and the force of the current, which
drives them together in a body; and also on account of the
narrowness of the bays, which is such that they are caught
even by the hand. These fish are bred in the marshes of the
Mæotis. When they have attained a little size and strength,
they rush through the mouth in shoals, and are carried along
the Asiatic coast as far as Trapezus and Pharnacia. It is
here that the fishery begins, but it is not carried on to any
considerable extent, because the fish are not of a proper size at
this place. When they get as far as Sinope, they are in better
season for the fishery, and for the purpose of salting. But
when they have reached and passed the Cyaneæ, a white rock
projects from the Chalcedonian shore, which alarms the fish,
so that they immediately turn away to the opposite coast.
There they are caught by the stream, and the nature of the
places being such as to divert the current of the sea in that
part towards Byzantium, and the Horn near it, the fish are
impelled thither in a body, and afford to the Byzantines, and
to the Roman people, a large revenue. The Chalcedonians,
however, although situated near, and on the opposite side,
have no share of this supply, because the Pelamides do not
approach their harbours.
After the foundation of Chalcedon, Apollo is said to have
enjoined the founders of Byzantium, in answer to their in-
quiries, to build their city opposite to the Blind, applying this
name to the Chalcedonians, who, although they were the first
persons to arrive in these parts, had omitted to take possession
of the opposite side, which afforded such great resources of
wealth, and chose the barren coast.
We have continued our description to Byzantium, because
this celebrated city,
14 by its proximity to the mouth of the
Euxine Sea, forms a better-known and more remarkable
termination of an account of the coast from the Danube than
any other.
Above Byzantium is the nation of the Asti, in whose territory is the city Calybe, which Philip the son of Amyntas
made a settlement for criminals.
