[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 Pelamides1 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,2 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.
1 In Italian, Pelamide, or Palamide, well known in the Mediterranean. It is not to be compared in size to the Thunny, but is much larger than the Mackerel, of a dark blue and streaked. Like the Thunny, it is migratory. Aristotle erroneously conjectures the Pelamide to be the young of the Thunny.
2 The ancient Byzantium, there are grounds for believing, was marked by the present walls of the Seraglio. The enlarged city was founded by the emperor Constantine, A. D. 328, who gave it his name, and made it the rival of Rome itself. It was taken from the Greeks in 1204, by the Venetians under Dandolo; retaken by the Greeks in 1261 under the emperor Michael Palæologus, and conquered by the Turks in 1453. The crescent found on some of the ancient Byzantine coins was adopted as a symbol by the Turks.
The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes, in three volumes. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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