RHY´TIUM
RHY´TIUM (
Ῥύτιον,
Steph. B. sub voce Plin. Nat. 4.20: Eth.
Ῥυτιεύς), a town of Crete which Homer (
Hom. Il. 2.648) couples with Phaestus as “well-peopled cities.” The city belonged to the Gortynians (
Strab. x. p.479; Nonnus,
Dionys. 13.233.)
The corrupt reading
Ῥυθίμνη in
Steph. B. sub voce (s. v.
Στῆλαι) should be emended into
Ῥύτιον. (Höck,
Kreta, vol. i. p. 414.)
The city must have existed somewhere on or close to the route which leads from
Kastelianá to
Haghíus Dhéka; but Pashley (
Crete, vol. i. p. 293) could find no vestiges of antiquity in the neighbourhood.
[
E.B.J]
