Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK IV. AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, HAVENS, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEOPLES WHO NOW EXIST OR FORMERLY EXISTED., CHAP. 1. (1.)

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CHAP. 1. (1.)—EPIRUS.

The third great Gulf of Europe begins at the mountains of Acroceraunia¹, and ends at the Hellespont, embracing an extent of 2500 miles, exclusive of the sea-line of nineteen smaller gulfs. Upon it are Epirus, Acarnania, Ætolia, Phocis, Locris, Achaia, Messenia, Laconia, Argolis, Megaris, Attica, Bœotia; and again, upon the other sea², the same Phocis and Locris, Doris, Phthiotis, Thessalia, Magnesia, Macedonia and Thracia. All the fabulous lore of Greece, as well as the effulgence of her literature, first shone forth upon the banks of this Gulf. We shall therefore dwell a little the longer upon it.

Epirus³, generally so called, begins at the mountains of Acroceraunia. The first people that we meet are the Chaones, from whom Chaonia⁴ receives its name, then the Thesproti⁵, and then the Antigonenses⁶. We then come to the place where Aornos⁷ stood, with its exhalations so deadly to the feathered race, the Cestrinis⁸, the Perrhæbi⁹, in whose coun- try Mount Pindus is situate, the Cassiopæi¹⁰, the Dryopes¹¹, the Sellæ¹², the Hellopes¹³, the Molossi, in whose territory is the temple of the Dodonæan Jupiter, so famous for its oracle; and Mount Tomarus¹⁴, so highly praised by Theopompus, with its hundred springs gushing from its foot.

(2.) Epirus, properly so called, advances towards Magnesia and Macedonia, having at its back the Dassaretæ, previously¹⁵ mentioned, a free nation, and after them the Dardani, a savage race. On the left hand, before the Dardani are extended the Triballi and the nations of Mœsia, while in front of them the Medi and the Denselatæ join, and next to them the Thracians, who stretch away as far as the Euxine: in such a manner is a rampart raised around the lofty heights of Rhodope, and then of Hæmus.

On the coast of Epirus is the fortress of Chimær¹⁶, situate upon the Acroceraunian range, and below it the spring known as the Royal Waters¹⁷; then the towns of Mæandria, and Cestria¹⁸, the Thyamis¹⁹, a river of Thesprotia, the colony of Buthrotum²⁰, and the Ambracian Gulf²¹, so famed in history; which, with an inlet only half a mile in width, receives a vast body of water from the sea, being thirty-seven miles in length, and fifteen in width. The river Acheron, which runs through Acherusia, a lake of Thesprotia, flows into it²² after a course of thirty-six miles; it is considered wonderful for its bridge, 1000 feet in length, by a people who look upon everything as wonderful that belongs to themselves. Upon this Gulf is also situate the town of Ambracia. There are also the Aphas and the Arachthus²³, rivers of the Molossi; the city of Anactoria²⁴, and the place where Pandosia²⁵ stood.

1 Now called Monti della Chimera, or Mountains of Khimara. See p. 262.

2 The Ægean Sea, the present Archipelago.

3 This country contained, according to Pouqueville, the present Sangiacs of Janina, Delvino, and Chamouri, with the Vavodilika or Principality of Arta. This name was originally given to the whole of the west of Greece, from the Promontory of Acroceraunia to the entrance of the Corinthian Gulf, in contradistinction to Corcyra and the island of Cephallenia.

4 This district, according to Pouqueville, occupied the present Cantons of Chimera, Iapouria, Arboria, Paracaloma, and Philates.

5 They occupied the site of the present Paramythia, according to Pouqueville.

6 Antigonia was about a mile distant, Pouqueville says, from the modern town of Tebelen.

7 From 'A "not," and ὄρνις "a bird." Its site is now unknown. There were many places of this name. Avernus or Aornos in Campania has been previously mentioned.

8 The remains of Cestria are still to be seen at Palea Vnetia, near the town of Filiates. Pouqueville calls the place Chamouri.

9 According to Pouqueville, the modern Zagori stands on the site of Perrhæbia. Pindus is sometimes called Grammos, but is still known by its ancient name.

10 Cassiope or Cassope stood near the sea, and near the present village of Kamarina. Its extensive ruins are still to be seen.

11 Their district, according to Pouqueville, was in the present Canton of Drynopolis.

12 The Selli or Sellæ lived in the vicinity of the temple of Jupiter at Dodona, in the modern canton of Souli, according to Pouqueville.

13 The country about Dodona is called Hellopia by Hesiod. By some the Helli or Hellopes are considered the same as the Selli. Pouqueville thinks that the Hellopes dwelt in the modern cantons of Janina, Pogoniani, Sarachovitzas, and Courendas, and that the temple of Jupiter stood at the spot now called Proskynisis, near Gardiki, the town of Dodona being near Castritza. Leake is of the same opinion as to the site of the town; but, as has been a subject of remark, it is the only place of celebrity in Greece of which the situation is not exactly known. Leake however thinks that the temple stood on the peninsula now occupied by the citadel of Joanina.

14 Pouqueville thinks that this is the hill to be seen at the modern village of Gardiki. He is also of opinion that the springs here mentioned are those at the modern village of Besdounopoulo. His opinions however on these points have not been implicitly received.

15 B. iii. c. 26. The Dardani, Triballi, and Mœsi are mentioned in c. 29. The localities of the other tribes here mentioned are not known with any exactness.

16 It retains the same name or that of Khimara, and gives its name to the Acroceraunian range. It was situate at the foot of the chain, which begins at this spot.

17 "Aquæ regiæ." Pouqueville suggests, without good reason, as Ansart thinks, that this spring was situate near the modern Drimodez or Dermadez.

18 The place called Palæo-Kistes now stands on its site, and some remains of antiquity are to be seen.

19 Now the Calama.

20 Its ruins are to be seen near the modern Butrinto. It was said to have been founded by Helenus, the son of Priam. Pamponius Atticus had an estate here.

21 This corresponds to the present Gulf of Arta, and was especially famous for being the scene of the battle of Actium. The city of Ambracia lay to the north of it. The present Arta is generally believed to occupy its site.

22 Pouqueville has shown that Pliny is in error here, and he says that the Acheron is the modern Mavro Potamos; but according to Leake, the name of it is Gurla, or the river of Suli. It flows into the Port Fanari, formerly called Glykys Limen, or Sweet Harbour, from the freshness of the water there. The Acherusian Lake is probably the great marsh that lies below Kastri.

23 It is now called the Arta, and gives name to the Gulf.

24 The site of Anactoria or Anactorium, like that of its neighbour Actium, has been a subject of much dispute; but it is now pretty generally agreed that the former stood on the modern Cape Madonna, and Actium on the headland of La Punta.

25 Pouqueville takes the ruins in the vicinity of Turco Palaka, eight miles from Margariti, to be those of Pandosia.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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Cross-references to this page (20):
- The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, KARA-ALI-BEY (“Maiandria”) S Albania.
- Harper's, Pons
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), PONS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), A´CHERON
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), A´CTIUM
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ANACTO´RIUM
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ANTIGONEIA
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ARACHTHUS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ARGOS AMPHILO´CHICUM, Argivi
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), AUSCHI´SAE
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), BUTHRO´TUM
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), CESTRINE
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), CHIMAERA
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), DODO´NA
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ECHI´NADES
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), LEUCAS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), NICO´POLIS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), PANDO´SIA
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), THESSA´LIA
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), THY´AMIS
Cross-references in notes to this page (1):
- Strabo, Geography, Strab. 7.6
Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (7):
- Lewis & Short, Ăcarnānĭa
- Lewis & Short, Ăchĕlōŭs
- Lewis & Short, Ăchĕrūsĭa
- Lewis & Short, Attĭca
- Lewis & Short, Ēpīrus
- Lewis & Short, ac-cŭmŭlo
- Lewis & Short, incĭpĭo

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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 1. (1.)—EPIRUS.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 1. (1.)—EPIRUS.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.