previous next

CHAPTER I.

AFTER the mouth of the Silaro,1 is Leucania, and the temple of Argive Juno, founded by Jason. Near to this, within 50 stadia, is Posidonia.2 Sailing thence, towards the high sea, is the island of Leucosia,3 at a little distance from the main-land. It bears the name of one of the Sirens, who according to the mythology was cast up here, after having been precipitated with her companions into the deep. The promontory4 of the island projects opposite the Sirenussæ,5 forming the bay of Posidonium.6 After having made this cape there is another contiguous bay, on which is built the city which the Phocæans called Hyela when they founded it, but others Ela from a certain fountain. People in the present day call it Elea. It is here that Parmenides and Zeno, the Pythagorean philosophers, were born. And it is my opinion that through the instrumentality of those men, as well as by previous good management, the government of that place was well arranged, so that they successfully resisted the Leucani and the Posidoniatæ, notwithstanding the smallness of their district and the inferiority of their numbers. They are compelled, therefore, on account of the barrenness of the soil, to apply to maritime trade chiefly, to employ themselves in the salting of fish, and in such other occupations. Antiochus7 says that when Phocea was taken by Harpagus, the general of Cyrus, those who had the means embarked with their families, and sailed under the conduct of Creontiades, first to Cyrnos and Marseilles, but having been driven thence, they founded Elea;8 the name of which some say is derived from the river Elees.9 The city is distant about two hundred stadia from Posidonia. After this city is the promontory of Palinurus. But in front of the Eleatis are the Œnotrides, two islands10 having good anchorage.11 And beyond Palinurus are the promontory, harbour, and river of Pyxus;12 the three having the same name. This colony was founded13 by Micythus, then governor of Messina in Sicily; but those who were located here, except a few, abandoned the place. After Pyxus are the gulf,14 the river,15 and the city16 of Laüs. This, the last17 city of the Leucani, situate a little above the sea, is a colony18 of the Sybarites, and is distant from Ælea 400 stadia. The whole circuit of Leucania, by sea is 650 stadia. Near to Latis is seen the tomb of Draco, one of the companions of Ulysses, and the oracular response, given to the Italian Greeks, alludes to him: “ Some day, around the Dragon's stony tomb,
A mighty multitude shall meet their doom.

” For the Greeks of Italy, enticed by this prophecy, marched against Laiis, and were defeated by the Leucani.19 [2]

Such, along the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea, are the possessions of the Leucani, which at first did not reach to the other sea;20 the Greeks who dwelt on the Gulf of Tarentum possessed it. But before the coming of the Greeks there were no Leucani, the Chones21 and Œnotri possessed these territories. But when the Samnites had greatly increased, and expelled the Chones and Œnotri, and driven the Leucani into this region, while the Greeks possessed the seacoast on both sides as far as the straits, the Greeks and the Barbarians maintained a lengthened contest. The tyrants of Sicily, and afterwards the Carthaginians, at one time making war against the Romans, for the acquisition of Sicily, and at another, for Italy itself, utterly wasted all these regions. The Greeks, however, succeeded in depriving the ancient inhabitants of a great portion of the midland country, beginning even as early as the Trojan war; they increased in power, and extent of territory, to such a degree, that they called this region and Sicily, the Magna Grœcia. But now the whole region, except Tarentum, Rhegium, and Neapolis, has become barbarian,22 and belongs partly to the Leucani and Bruttii, partly to the Campani; to these, however, only in name, but truly to the Romans; for these people have become Roman. However, it is incumbent on one who is treating of uni- versal geography, to speak both of things as they now are, and of some of those that have been, and especially when they are important. Of the Leucani, who border upon the Tuscan Sea, mention has already been made; those who possess the midland regions dwell above the Gulf of Tarentum, but these, as well as the Bruttii, and the Samnites themselves, the progenitors of both, have been so maltreated [by the Romans], that it is difficult to determine the boundaries of each people. The reason of this is, that there no longer remains separately any of the institutions common to these nations; and their peculiarities of language, of military and civil costume, and such particulars, have passed away; besides, even their places of abode, considered separately and apart, possess nothing worthy of observation. [3]

We will narrate in a general manner what we have gathered concerning the Leucani, who dwell in the interior, without too much care in distinguishing them from their neighbours, the Samnites. Petilia23 is considered as the metropolis of the Leucani, and is still well peopled. It owes its foundation to Philoctetes, who was compelled to quit Melibœa on account of civil dissensions. Its position is so strong, that the Samnites were formerly obliged to construct forts around it for the defence of their territory. The ancient Crimissa, situated near these places, was also founded by Philoc- tetes. Apollodorus, in his description of the ships [of the Greeks], narrates concerning Philoctetes, that, according to certain writers, this prince having disembarked in the district of Crotona, settled on the promontory of Crimissa, and built the city of Chone24 above it, from which the inhabitants were called Chones; and that certain colonists being sent by him into Sicily, to the neighbourhood of Eryx,25 with Ægestus the Trojan, founded Ægesta.26 In the inland districts are also Grumentum,27 Vertinæ,28 Calasarna,29 and other small villages, reaching as far as Venusia,30 a city of some importance. This, however, I consider to be a Samnite city, as are also those which are next met with on going into Campania. Above the Thurii lies the district called Tauriana.31 The Leucani are of Samnite origin. Having vanquished the Posidoniates and their allies, they took possession of their cities. At one time the institutions of the Leucani were democratic, but during the wars a king was elected by those who were possessed of chief authority: at the present time they are Roman. [4]

The Bruttii occupy the remainder of the coast as far as the Strait of Sicily, extending about 1350 stadia. Antiochus, in his treatise on Italy, says that this district, which he intended to describe, was called Italy, but that previously it had been called Œnotria. The boundary which he assigns to it on the Tyrrhenian Sea, is the river Lao,32 and on the Sea of Sicily Metapontium, the former of which we have given as the boundary of the Bruttii. He describes Tarentum, which is next to Metapontium,33 as beyond Italy, calling it Iapygian. He also relates that, at a more ancient period, those who dwelt on this side the isthmus, which lies next the Strait of Sicily, were the only people who were called Œnotrians and Italians. The isthmus is 160 stadia across between the two gulfs, namely, that of Hipponium,34 which Antiochus called Napitinus, and that of Scylletium.35 The circumnavigation of the peninsula, which is comprised between this isthmus and the strait, is 2000 stadia. He says that afterwards the names of Italy and of the Œnotrians were extended as far as Metapontium and the Siritis; the Chones, a people of Œnotrian descent, and highly civilized, inhabited these districts, and called their country Chone. However, this author has written in a very loose and old-fashioned manner, without giving any definite boundaries to the Leucani and Bruttii. Now Leucania is situated on the Tyrrhenian and Sicilian Seas, extending on one coast from the Silaro36 to the river Lao, and on the other from Metapontium37 to Thurii. Along the continent it stretches from the country of the Samnites, as far as the isthmus between Thurii and Cerilli,38 near the Lao. This isthmus is 300 stadia39 across. Beyond are the Bruttii, who dwell on the peninsula; in this is included another peninsula, which is bounded by the isthmus between Scylletium40 and the Hipponiate gulf.41 The nation received its appellation from the Leucani, for they call runaways Bruttii, and they say that formerly they ran away from them when employed as shepherds, and that afterwards their independence was established through the weakness [of the Leucani], when Dion [of Syracuse] was prosecuting a war against [the younger] Dionysius, and fomented hostilities amongst all.42 This is all we shall remark as to the Leucani and Bruttii. [5]

From the Lao the first city is the Temesa43 of the Bruttii, which at present is called Tempsa. It was founded by the Ausonians; afterwards the Ætolians, under the command of Thoas, gained possession of it. These were expelled by the Bruttii; Hannibal and the Romans have overthrown the Bruttii.44 In the vicinity of Temesa is the Heroum of Polites, one of the companions of Ulysses. It is surrounded by a thick grove of wild olives. He was treacherously slain by the barbarians, and became in consequence very wrathful, and his shade so tormented the inhabitants that they submitted to pay him a tribute, according to the direction of a certain oracle. Thus it became a proverb amongst them, ‘Let no one offend the hero of Temesa,’ for they said that [for a long time he45] had tormented them. But when the Epizephyrian Locrians took the city, they feign that Euthymus the pugilist went out against him, and having overcome him in fight, constrained him to free the inhabitants from tribute.46 They say that the poet intended this Temesa, and not the Tamassus47 in Cyprus, (for it is said that the words are suitable to either,48) when he sings,

“ in quest of brass
     To Temesa.49

Odyssey i. 184.
and certain copper-mines are pointed out near to the place, which are now exhausted. Contiguous to it is Terina,50 which Hannibal destroyed, when he found he could no longer retain it; at the time when he took refuge in the country of the Bruttii.51 Next in order comes Cosentia,52 the metropolis of the Bruttii. A little above it is Pandosia, which is strongly fortified, before which Alexander the Molossian king was overthrown. This prince was led astray by the oracle of Dodona, which commanded him to avoid Acheron and Pandosia;53 for places with names like these being pointed out in Thesprotia, caused him to lose his life54 here. The position has three summits, and the river Acheron flows by it. He was also mistaken in another oracle, “ O Pandosia, thou three-topp'd hill,
Hereafter many people thou shalt kill;

” for he thought that it foreshowed the destruction of his enemies, and not of his own people. They say that Pandosia55 was formerly the residence of the Œnotrian kings. After Cosentia is Hipponium,56 founded by the Locrians.57 The Romans took it from the Bruttii, who were in possession of it at a subsequent period, and changed the name into Vibo-Valentia.58 And because the meadows in its vicinity are luxuriant and full of flowers, it is supposed that Proserpine came over from Sicily to gather them, and from thence the custom among women of this city, to gather flowers and plait garlands, prevailed to such an extent, that they now think it shameful to wear purchased garlands at the festivals.59 It also possesses a harbour60 made by Agathocles,61 the tyrant of Sicily, when he was in possession of the town. On sailing hence to the Portus Herculis,62 we come to the point where the headlands of Italy, as they stretch towards the Strait [of Sicily], begin to turn westward. In this voyage we pass Medma,63 a city of the same Locrians,64 which bears the name of a copious fountain, and possessing at a short distance a naval station, called Emporium.65 Very nigh is the river Metauro,66 as also a naval station bearing the same name.67 The Lipari Isles lie off this coast; they are distant 200 stadia from the strait. They say that they are the islands of Æolus, of whom the poet makes mention in the Odyssey.68 They are seven in number, and are all easily distinguished both from Sicily and the coast of the continent about Medma. We will speak of them in particular when we describe Sicily. After the river Metaurus, there is another Metaurus.69 Next in order is Scyllæum, an elevated cliff nearly surrounded by the sea. But connected with the main-land by a low isthmus easily accessible on either side, which Anaxilaus, the tyrant of Rhegium, fortified against the Tyrrheni, and formed a commodious haven, and thus prevented the pirates from passing through the strait. Next to the Scyllæan promontory was that of Cænys, distant from Medma 250 stadia. It is the last headland, and forms the narrowest part of the Strait [of Sicily], being opposite to Cape Pelorus on the Sicilian side, which is one of the three points which give to that island the form of a triangle. Its aspect is towards the rising of the sun in summer, whilst that of Cænys looks towards the west. Indeed they both seem to have diverged from the general line of coast in order to stand out opposite each other.70 From Cænys to the Posidonium71 [and] the Columna Rheginorum,72 the narrow part of the strait stretches as much as 6 stadia, the shortest passage across the strait is a little more. From the Columna [Rhegi- norum] to Rhegium, where the strait begins to widen, is a hundred [stadia] as you advance in a direction towards the exterior and eastern sea, which is called the sea of Sicily. [6]

Rhegium73 was founded by certain Chalcidenses, who, as they say, were decimated as an offering to Apollo in a time of scarcity, by order of an oracle, and afterwards removed hither from Delphi, taking with them certain others from home. As Antiochus says, the Zanclæans sent for the Chalcidenses, and appointed Antimnestus chief over them. Certain fugitives of the Messenians of Peloponnesus accompanied this colony, who had been compelled to fly by those who refused to give satisfaction to the Lacedæmonians for the violation74 of the virgins at Limnæ, whom they had abused when attending the religious festival, and had slain those who assisted them. However when the fugitives had removed to Macistus, they sent to the oracle complaining against Apollo and Diana for suffering these things to happen notwithstanding they so greatly honoured them, and inquiring how the devoted might be saved. Apollo commanded to send them with the Chalcidenses to Rhegium, and to be grateful, therefore, to his sister Diana for that they were not lost but saved, as they should not be destroyed with their country, which would be annihilated shortly after by the Spartans.75 They acted in accordance with the oracle, and thus it was that the rulers of the Rhegini were all of Messenian race until the time of Anaxilaus.

Antiochus asserts that anciently the whole of this district was inhabited by Sicilians and Morgetes; and that they afterwards passed into Sicily when they were expelled by the Œnotri. Some say that Morgantium76 thus received its name from the Morgetes. But the city of the Rhegini became very powerful, and possessed many dependent settlements. It has always been a bulwark for us against the island [of Sicily], and, indeed, has recently served to that purpose when Sextus Pompeins alienated Sicily.77 It was called Rhegium either, as Æschylus says, because of the convulsion which had taken place in this region; for Sicily was broken from the continent by earthquakes, “ Whence it is called Rhegium.78

” Others,79 as well as he, have affirmed the same thing, and adduce as an evidence that which is observed about Ætna, and the appearances seen in other parts of Sicily, the Lipari and neighbouring islands, and even in the Pithecussæ, with the whole coast beyond them, which prove that it was not unlikely that this convulsion had taken place. But now these mouths being opened, through which the fire is drawn up, and the ardent masses and water poured out, they say that the land in the neighbourhood of the Strait of Sicily rarely suffers from the effects of earthquakes; but formerly all the passages to the surface being blocked up, the fire which was smouldering beneath the earth, together with the vapour, occasioned terrible earthquakes, and the regions, being disturbed by the force of the pent-up winds, sometimes gave way, and being rent received the sea, which flowed in from either side; and thus were formed both this strait and the sea which surrounds the other islands in the neighbourhood. For Prochyta80 and the Pithecussæ as well as Capreæ, Leucosia, the Sirenes, and the Œnotrides, are but so many detached fragments from the continent, but other islands have risen from the bottom of the sea, a circumstance which frequently occurs in many places; for it is more reasonable to think that the islands in the midst of the sea have been raised up from the bottom, and that those which lie off headlands and are separated merely by a strait were broken off from them. Still it is beside our purpose to investigate thoroughly whether the name were given to the city for these causes, or whether it were named by the Samnites from the Latin word regium, which signifies royal, on account of its importance,81 for their chieftains participated in the privileges of citizenship with the Romans, and generally used the Latin language. But Dionysius (the elder), having been treated with contempt by them, destroyed the illustrious city which had founded many towns and produced many distinguished characters, whether statesmen or men of letters,82 for when he sought a consort from their city, they offered him the hangman's daughter;83 but his son (Dionysius the younger) partly restored it,84 and called it Phœbia. During the war with Pyrrhus, a body of Campanians destroyed most of the citizens against the faith of treaties,85 and a little before the Marsic or social war, earthquakes destroyed most of the towns;86 but after Augustus Cæsar had driven Sextus Pompeius out of Sicily, when he saw that the city was deficient of inhabitants, he appointed certain of those who accompanied the expedition to reside there, and it is now tolerably well peopled.87 [7]

Sailing 50 stadia from Rhegium towards the east, we meet the cape called Leucopetra, from the colour of the rock, where they say the range of the Apennines terminates.88 Further on is Heraclæum.89 It is the last promontory, and looks towards the south; for presently on doubling it the course takes a south-western direction as far as the promon- tory of Iapygia,90 then it runs towards the north more and more, and towards the west along the Ionian gulf. After the Herculeum Promontorium is the head-land of Locris, which is called Zephyrium,91 possessing a haven exposed to the west winds, whence is derived its name. Then is the state of the Locri Epizephyrii, a colony of Locrians transported by Evanthes from the Crissæan gulf, shortly after the foundation of Crotona and Syracuse.92 Ephorus was not correct in stating that they were a colony of the Locri Opuntii.93 They remained at first during three or four years at Cape Zephyrium; afterwards they removed their city, with the assistance of certain Syracusans who dwelt amongst them. There is also a fountain called Locria in the place where the Locri first took up their abode. From Rhegium to the Locri there are 600 stadia. The city is built on a height, which they call Esopis.94 [8]

The Locri are believed to have been the first who committed their laws to writing, but after they had enjoyed the advantage of these good laws for a very considerable time, Dionysius [the younger], having been expelled95 from Syracuse, found means to abuse them in a most abominable manner, for he, entering into a private chamber where certain young brides had been adorned for their nuptials, violated them; he also gathered the most beautiful virgins to his revels, and having liberated doves with uncut wings, commanded the young women to chase them round the apartment in a state of perfect nudity, while on some he bound sandals of unequal height, one being high and the other low, in order to make their appearance in the pursuit the more unseemly. However he paid dearly for this, for having returned to Sicily to resume his government, the Locri overpowered the guard he had left in their city, freed themselves, and obtained possession of his wife and children; there were two of his daughters, and his second son who had already attained the age of manhood; the eldest, however, called Apollocrates, accompanied his father in the expedition. And although Dionysius himself entreated them earnestly, as did also the Tarentines, to deliver the prisoners for whatever ransom they should name, they remained inexorable, and endured a siege and the wasting of their country, that they might vent their rage on his daughters. After having exposed them to the most shameful out- rages, they strangled them, burnt their bodies, pounded their bones, and cast them into the sea.96 Ephorus in speaking of the written law of the Locri, which Zaleucus had most judiciously selected from the Cretan, Lacedæmonian, and Areopagite codes, says that Zaleucus was the first to establish this principle, that whereas formerly lawgivers had left it to the judges to award the punishments for the several offences, he established a certain penalty in his laws, thinking that the minds of the judges would not be led to attach the same penalties for the same transgressions, which course he considered expedient. He praises him also for having simplified the law of contracts. [He says also] that the Thurians, being desirous to improve [the code of Zaleucus] more than the Locri had done, became more celebrated, but were less judicious.97 For that state is not regulated by the best government, where they guard against all manner of deceit by their laws, but that wherein they abide by laws simply framed. Plato also has observed that where there are many laws, there there will be law-suits and evil lives, in the same way as, where there are many physicians, there it is likely there is much sickness. [9]

There is a certain singular circumstance, respecting grasshoppers, worthy of note. The river Alece98 divides Rhegium from Locris, flowing through a deep ravine; those which are in the territory of the Locrians sing, but those on the other side are silent; and it is thought probable that this is caused by the region being woody, and their membranes being softened by dew do not produce sound; but those on the Locrian side being sunned, are dry and horny, so that the sound is easily produced by them. The statue of Eunomus the harper having a grasshopper seated on his harp is shown at Locri. Timæus says, that this Eunomus was once contending at the Pythian games and disputed with Aristo of Rhegium for the prize, and that Aristo declared that the people of Delphi ought to take part with him, because his ancestors were consecrated to the god, and sent out to found the colony; but Eunomus said that they could have no claim to contend for melody with any one, because that among them even the grasshoppers, who are the most gifted of all creatures, were mute. Nevertheless Aristo was applauded, and had hopes of obtaining the victory, but Eunomus was declared victorious, and dedicated the said statue in his country, because that at the contest one of the chords of his harp having broken, a grasshopper taking his stand on it supplied the sound. Above these towns the Bruttii possess the interior, and there is the city Mamertium,99 and the forest which they call Sila, which produces the best or Bruttian pitch.100 It yields fine trees, and is well watered, extending over a length of 700 stadia. [10]

After the Locri is the [river] Sagras,101 in the feminine gender, on which is situated the altar of the Dioscuri, near which ten thousand Locrians, with a small body of Rhegians gained a victory over 130,000 Crotoniatæ whence they say arose the proverb applied to incredulous people. ‘It is more true than the victory of the Sagras.’ Some people add to the mysterious account, that it was announced the same day at the Olympic games to the people there assembled, and this speedy news was found perfectly correct. They say that this mischance was so unfortunate an event to the Crotoniatæ, that after it they did not long remain as a nation, on account of the number of citizens who fell in the battle. After the Sagras is Caulonia, which was at first called Aulonia, from the αὐλὼν, or valley, in which it was situated; but it is deserted, for its former possessors were driven out by the barbarians,102 and have taken refuge in Sicily, and there founded [another] Caulonia.103 After this is Scylletium,104 a colony of the Athenians, who set out under Menestheus;105 it is now called Scylacium.106

1 The ancient Silaris.

2 Pesti.

3 It is now called Licosa, and sometimes Isola piana; several vestiges of buildings were discovered on the island in 1696. Antonin. della Lucan. p. ii. disc. 8.

4 Capo della Licosa.

5 Punta della Campanella.

6 Golfo di Salerno.

7 Strabo here cites the historian Antiochus, but it is surprising that he does not rather cite the writer from whom Antiochus seems to have borrowed this account, we mean Herodotus, who relates it (lib. i. § 164). But Strabo, probably, looking upon Herodotus as a collector of fables, chose rather to yield to the authority of Antiochus, who had written very accurate memoirs upon Italy, and who was, likewise, himself a very ancient author, (Dion. Halicarn. Antiq. Rom. lib. i. § 12,) and flourished about 420 years before the Christian era.

8 Or Velia, founded 532 B.C., mentioned by Horace, Epist. I. xv. l, ‘Quæ sit hyems Veliæ, quod cœlum, Vala, Salerni.’

9 The modern Alento.

10 Now unknown.

11 Pliny affirms that these two islands were called, the one Pontia, the other Ischia; ‘Contra Veliam Pontia et Ischia. Utræquc uno nomine Œnotrides, argumentum possesses ab Œnotriis Italiæ.’ Hist. Nat. lib. iii. § 13. If this reading be not faulty, Pliny will have placed in the latitude, of which our author is now giving a description, a small island bearing the same name, Pontia, as the island lying off Cape Misenum.

12 The Buxentum of the Latins.

13 471 years before the Christian era.

14 Gulf of Policastro.

15 Now the river Laino.

16 Called Laino in the time of Cluverius. Lib. iv. cap. 14.

17 Upon this coast.

18 Founded about the year 510 B. C.

19 About the year 390 before the Christian era.

20 i. e. the Gulf of Tarentum.

21 Strabo seems here to distinguish the Chones from the Œnotri, and the CEnotri from the Greeks. According to Cluvier (Ital. Antiq. cap. 16, p. 1323) here was a double error: ‘not only (says he) Aristotle, but Antiochus, according to Strabo's own testimony, positively affirmed that the Chones and Œnotri were one and the same nation, and Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Antiq. Roman. lib. i. § 11) makes no doubt that the Œnotri were of Greek origin.’ But Mazochi justifies the distinction between the Chones and the Œnotri, and shows cause to doubt that the Œnotri were of Greek origin.

22 ἐκβεβαοͅβαοͅῶσθαι. We think with Mazochi (Prodrom. ad Heracl. pseph. diatrib. 2, cap. 7, sect. 2) that, by the above word, Strabo probably expressed that, at the time when he wrote, Tarentum, Rheggio, and Naples were the only cities founded by the Greeks in Italy, which, although become Roman, retained the language, laws, and usages of their mother country.

23 It has been well observed by Cramer in his Ancient Italy, that Strabo confused this Petilia of the Leucani with another better known of the Bruttii, the foundation of which was attributed to Philoctetes. It is observed by Antonini that Strabo contradicts himself, by ascribing to Philoctetes the origin of a town in Leucania, for he states a few lines further on that that hero occupied a part of the coast near Crotona, which was in the territory of the Bruttii. Strabo's account, however, of the existence of a Leucanian Petilia is confirmed by many inscriptions of early date. The ruins of the town remain on the Monte della Stella. Antonin. della Lucan. p. i. disc. 8. Romanelli, tom. i. p. 350.

24 According to some judicious antiquaries, the site of Chone is located at Casabuona, near Strongoli.

25 Trapani del Monte.

26 The ruins of this city, which was anciently called also Egesta, Acesta, and Segesta, may be seen at Barbara, in the valley of Mazzara.

27 Kramer, following the suggestion of Xylander, has printed γοͅουμεντὸν. I am inclined, however, to think that πουμεντὸν, the reading of Manuscripts, is correct. According to Barrio, it occupied the situation of Gerenza, on the right bank of the Nieto.

28 Verzine on the Nieto. (Barr. lib. iv. cap. 18. Maraf. lib. iii. c. 18.)

29 Calasarna is supposed by the Calabrian topographers to accord with the site of Campania.

30 Venosa, situated about 15 miles south of the Aufidus. It was a colony of importance before the war against Pyrrhus. After the disaster at Cannæ, it afforded a retreat to Varro and the few who escaped that signal overthrow. Horace was born there in the year of the city 688. About six miles from Venosa, on the site named Palazzo, was the Fons Bandusiæ. (Chaupy, Des c. de la maison de Camp. d' Horace, tom. iii. p. 538.)

31 Cluvier thought that we should read θουριανὴ instead of ταυριανὴ.

32 Laos, now Lao.

33 Torre di Mare.

34 Golfo di S. Eufemia.

35 Golfo di Squillace. Scylletium was once a Greek city of note, communicating its name to the gulf. Servius observes that the Athenians who founded the colony were returning from Africa. There was a Greek inscription found in 1791 relative to the λαμπαδηδοͅομία, which seems to confirm the tradition of the Athenian origin of Scylletium. It was the birth-place of Cassiodorus.

36 σιλαοͅις. The Silaro, which divides Lucania from Campania, takes its rise in the Apennines, in a district which formerly belonged to the Hirpini; and after receiving the Tanager, now Negro, and the Calor, now Calore, falls into the Gulf of Salerno. Silius Italicus (viii. 582) states that this river possessed the property of incrusting twigs with a calcareous deposit: “ Nunc Silarus quos nutrit aquis, quo gurgite tradunt
Duritiem lapidum mersis inolescere ramis.

” At its mouth was a haven named Portus Albernus.

37 Torre di Mare.

38 Cirella.

39 This measure, upon our charts, is 330 Olympic stadia. Gosselin.

40 Golfo di Squillace.

41 The Golfo di S. Eufemia. ποͅὸς ἅπαντας. Lit. ‘He stirred up every body against every body.’ It is conceived that the hostilities of the Bruttii were fomented by Dion in order to prevent the tyrant Dionysius from deriving any aid from his Leucanian allies. The advancement of the Bruttii to independence is computed by Diodorus Siculus to have taken place about 397 years after the foundation of Rome, that is, 356 before the Christian era.

42 ἐξετάραξ.

43 The situation of Temesa has not yet been fully determined. Cluve- rius fixes it about ten miles south of Amantea, near Torre Loppa. Romanelli observes, however, that Cluverius has not allowed for the difference between the ancient and modern computation of distance. To rectify this oversight, he makes choice of Torre del piano del Casale, nearly two miles north of Torre Loppa, as the locality of this ancient site. The silver coins of Temesa are scarce. They have the Greek epigraph, TEM.

44 After the second Punic war it was colonized by the Romans, who called it Tempsa, B. C. 195.

45 We concur with Kramer in approving the proposition of Groskurd to understand the words ἐκεῖνον μὲν οὺ̂ν διά πολλοῦ as having been originally written in the text immediately before ἐπικεῖσθαι αὐτοῖς.

46 They had been compelled to sacrifice a virgin annually in order to appease his disturbed spirit.

47 Borgo di Tamasso.

48 These words in parenthesis seem to have been interpolated by the transcribers of our author. Both Temesa and Tamassus were rich in metal, but the spelling of the name in Homer is more in accordance with Temesa than Tamassus, and other poets have alluded to it, as Ovid. Met. xv. 706,

“ Evincitque fretum, Siculique angusta Pelori,
Hippotadæque domos regis, Temesesque metalla.

Ovid. Met. xv. 706
And Fast. v. 441,

“ . . . . . Temesæaque concrepat sera.

Fast. v. 441
And Statius, Silv. i. 42,

“ Et cui se toties Temese dedit hausta metallis.

Statius, Silv. i. 42

49 Odyssey i. 184.

50 Nocera.

51 Hannibal took refuge in Calabria about 209 years before the Christian era.

52 Cosenza, near the source of the Crathis, now Crati, represents Cosentia. It was taken by Hannibal after the surrender of Petilia, but towards the end of the war the Romans regained it.

53αἰακίδη, προφύλαξαξο μολεῖν ᾿αχερούσιον ὕδωρ
πανδοσίην θ᾽, ὅθι τοι θάνατος πεπρωμένος ἐστί.

” Son of Æacus, beware of approaching the Acherusian water and Pandosia, where death is destined for thee.

54 About B. C. 330.

55 Commentators generally agree that this is the Pandosia memorable for the defeat and death of Alexander, king of Epirus. The early Calabrian antiquaries have placed it at Castel Franco. D'Anville, in his map, lays it down near Lao and Cirella. Modern investigators have sought its ruins near Mendocino, between Cosenza and the sea, a hill with three summits having been remarked there, which answers to the fatal height pointed out by the oracle, “ πανδοσία τρικόλωνε, πολύν ποτε λαὸν ὀλέσσε<*>ς

” together with a rivulet, Maresanto or Arconti; which last name recalls the Acheron denounced by another prediction, as so inauspicious to the Molossian king. Scylax, in his Periplus, seems to place Pandosia, together with Clampetia and Terina, near the western coast.

56 Afterwards Vibo Valentia, now Monte-Leone.

57 Surnamed the Epizephyrii. Heyne supposes this took place B. C. 388.

58 B. C. 193.

59 There was a temple erected to Proserpine in these meadows, and a building called ‘Amalthea's horn,’ raised by Gelon of Syracuse.

60 The present harbour of Bivona.

61 He reigned from B. C. 317 to B. C. 289.

62 Now Le Formicole. The promontory named Capo Vaticano seems to have been anciently known under the same appellation.

63 Medma, or Mesma, was situated on the right bank of the river Mesima, which seems to retain traces of the name of the ancient city. Antiquaries report that its ruins are seen between Nicotera and the river Mesima. The epigraph on the coins of this city is generally μεσμα, Or μεσμαιων, and in a single instance μεδαμα.

64 That is, the Epizephyrian Locrians.

65 Cluverius considers this to be the modern Bagnara.

66 The ancient river Metaurus is now also called Marro, and sometimes Petrace. It was noted for the excellence of the thunny fish caught at its mouth.

67 Metaurum. The site of this place is supposed to accord with that of the town of Gioja.

68 Homer, Odyssey, lib. x.

69 There have been many suggestions for the correction of this passage. Kramer thinks that Cluverius was happy in proposing ποταμὸς instead of μέτανοͅος, and that then the Cratais, now Solano, or Fiume de' Pesci, would be the river which Strabo intended.

70 According to Pliny, these two promontories were separated by an interval of twelve stadia, or a mile and a half, which accords with the statement of Polybius. Thucydides, however, allows about two miles and a half, which he considers to be the utmost possible distance. Topographers are divided as to the exact point of the Italian coast which answers to Cape Cænys. The Calabrian geographers say the Punta del Pezzo, called also Coda del Volpe, in which opinion Cluverius and D'Anville coincide, but Holstenius contends for the Torre del Cavallo, which the French translators seem to favour. In fact, that may be the narrowest point, still it does not answer so well to Strabo's description of the figure and bearing of Cape Cænys as the Punta del Pezzo.

71 The temple or altar of Neptune.

72 The Columna Rhegina, as remarked by Cramer, (vol. ii. p. 427,) was probably a pillar set up to mark the consular road leading to the south of Italy. Strabo speaks of it as a small tower (book iii. c. v. § 5, p 265). In the Itinerary of Antoninus it is simply termed Columna, but In the inscription relative to the Via Aquilia, it is called Statua. The situation of this tower is generally identified with the site of La Catona.

73 Now Reggio, one of the most celebrated and flourishing cities of Magna Grecia, founded about 696 years B. C. Cato affirms that it was once in the possession of the Aurunci. The connexion which subsisted between Rhegium and the Chalcidian colonies in Sicily, induced its inhabitants to take part with the Athenians in their first hostilities against the Syracusans and Locrians. In the great Sicilian expedition, the Rhegians observed a strict neutrality. While the Athenian fleet was moored in their roads, they refused to admit the army within their walls, which therefore encamped near the temple of Diana outside the town. Rhegium subsequently pursued a similar policy, and suffered severely under tyrants, but the Roman senate at length freed the unfortunate citizens.

74 Strabo here alludes to the crime which was perpetrated in the reign of Teleclus, about 811 years before the Christian era. The division of the Messenians into two parties, the one wishing and the other refusing to give satisfaction, lasted about 150 years. See book vi. cap. iii. § .3.

75 It Was taken by the Lacedæmonians about B. C. 668.

76 It seems probable that Strabo here refers to Morgantium in Sicily, which had disappeared in his days, and which he mentions in b. vi. c. ii. § 4.

77 Sextus Pompeius, having received from the senate the command of the fleet, B. C. 43, in a short time made himself master of Sicily, which he held till 36.

78 This is a quotation from one of the missing works of Æschylus.

79 Virgil speaks of this great catastrophe, Æn. iii. 414,

“ Hæc loca, vi quondam et vasta convulsa ruina
(Tantum ævi longinqua valet mutare vetustas,)
Dissiluisse ferunt: cum protinus utraque tell us
Una foret, venit medio vi pontus, et undis
Hesperium Sicuto latus abscidit: arvaque et urbes
Litore diductas angusto interluit æstu.

Æn. iii. 414

80 Procida.

81 It appears from the more ancient coins of Rhegium, that the original name was RECION. In these the epigraph is REC. RECI. RECINOS, in characters partaking more of the Oscan than the Greek form; those of more recent date are decidedly Greek, PHT. PHTINQN, being inscribed on them. A note in the French translation shows that the inhabitants of Rhegium did not participate in the rights of Roman citizens till about 90 years before the Christian era.

82 Among these were many followers of Pythagoras, also Theagenes Hippys, Lycus surnamed Butera, and Glaucus, who were historians; Ibicus, Cleomenes, and Lycus the adoptive father of Lycophron, who were poets; Clearchus and Pythagoras, who were sculptors.

83 The Rhegians firmly opposed the designs of this tyrant; and when, under pretence of courting their alliance, he sought a consort from their city, they replied with independent feeling that he might have their hangman's daughter. (See Diodorus Siculus, xiv. 44.) Had the other states of Magna Grecia displayed the same energy, the ambitious views of this artful prince might have been frustrated; but after the defeat of their forces on the Elleporus, now Callipari, they succumbed, and Rhegium, after a gallant defence which lasted nearly a year, was compelled to yield, about the year 398 B. C. The insulting tyrant sentenced the heroic Phyton, who had commanded the town, to a cruel death, and removed the few inhabitants that remained to Sicily.

84 B. C. 360.

85 B. C. 280.

86 B.C. 91.

87 The defeat of Sextus Pompeins is referred to the year 36 B. C., but there is no precise date mentioned for the establishment of the veteran soldiers in Rhegium, which probably took place about the year 31 B. C.

88 Pliny computes the distance from Rhegium to Cape Leucopetra at 12 miles; there is probably some error in the text, as there is no cape which corresponds with the distance of 50 stadia from Rhegium. A note in the French translation proposes to read 100 instead of 50 stadia. Topographers are not agreed in fixing the situation of the celebrated Leucopetra. D'Anville places it at Capo Pittaro, Grimaldi at the Punta della Saetta, and Cluverius, Holstenius, and Cellarius at the Capo dell' Armi. This latter opinion seems more compatible with the statement of Pliny, and is also more generally accredited.

89 The Herculeum Promontorium is known in modern geography as Capo Spartivento.

90 The Promontorium Iapygium, or Sallentinum, as it was sometimes called, formed a remarkable feature in the figure of Italy, while the art of navigation was in its infancy. It was a conspicuous land-mark to mariners bound from the ports of Greece to Sicily. The fleets of Athens, after having circumnavigated the Peloponnesus, usually made for Corcyra, whence they steered straight across to the promontory, and then coasted along the south of Italy. It seems from Thucydides (vi. 44) that there was a haven here which afforded a shelter to vessels in tempestuous weather.

91 Now Capo di Bruzzano.

92 The one 710, the other 734 years B. C.

93 The opinion of Ephorus seems to be supported by many other writers, and is generally preferred by modern critics.

94 Monte Esope.

95 This wicked prince, having been expelled from Syracuse, had found refuge among the Locrians from the storm which threatened his existence, but, depraved as he was degraded, he repaid the kindness of the people, who treated him as their kinsman because his mother Doris had been the daughter of one of their principal citizens, with the basest treachery and ingratitude. He introduced into their city a number of miscreants and having overpowered the inhabitants, gave loose to all the vicious propenalties of his nature.

96 Horrid as is the vengeance which the Locri took on these unfortunate victims of a husband's and a father's crimes, it serves to confirm the accounts of the iniquity and barbarity of a prince, whose mean and imbecile conduct at other times sanctions the notion that his intellect was disordered.

97 We could almost wish to read this passage—‘rendered them more plausible, but impaired their utility.’

98 The ancient Halex.

99 Although Strabo ascribes Mamertium to the Bruttii, it is more probable that it was a colony of Campanian mercenaries, deriving their name from Mamers, the Oscan Mars, who served under Agathocles, and other princes of Sicily. The Mamertini were employed by the Romans against Pyrrhus, whom they attacked in the woods and defiles about Rhegium. Barrio (lib. ii. c. 10) and Maraf. (lib. iii. c. 25, f. 222) have identified the site of this ancient town with Martorano, but it seems too distant from Locri and Rhegium to accord with Strabo's description. Cluverius, D'Anville, and Romanelli place it at Oppido, a bishop's see above Reggio, and Gerace, where old coins are said to have been discovered. Cramer (vol. ii. p. 439) thinks that the Melæ mentioned by Thucydides may have been identical with Mamertium. Several remains of antiquity exist on the site called Mela, in the vicinity of Oppido.

100 The pix Bruttia is noticed by Pliny, Columella, Dioscorides, and other authorities mentioned by Bochart, Canaan, p. 595. Bochart looks upon the Bruttii as a people known to the Phoenicians at a very remote period.

101 Geographers differ much as to the modern river which corresponda to this stream. Romanelli and Swinburne consider it to be the Alam.

102 During the war against Pyrrhus, whose cause was espoused by Cau- lonia, the city was pillaged by the Mamertini, the allies of the Romans. The town was subsequently occupied by the Bruttii, who defended it against the Romans in the second Punic war. Barrio and other Calabrian topographers have fixed its site at Castro Vetere, but Strabo placed it on the left bank of the Sagras, which is inconsistent with their supposition, and it is still a subject of inquiry.

103 Cluvier (Sicil. ant. lib. ii.) reckons this place was situated between Caltanis and Pietrapreccia.

104 Now Squillace.

105 Servius observes that these Athenians were returning from Africa, Serv. Æn. iii. 552.

106 Saumaise (Exercit. Plin. p. 47, 57) thinks the true reading should be Scylaceium, or Virgil could not have made the penultimate long.

“ . . . Attollit se diva Lacinia contra
Caulonisque arces, et navifragum Scylaceum.

Æn. iii. 652.
Dionysius [the elder] allotted a portion of it to the Locri, whilst it was in the possession of the Crotoniatæ.106 The Scylleticus Sinus received its name from this city. It together with the Hipponiates Sinus forms the isthmus which we have mentioned above.107 Dionysius108 undertook to build a wall across the isthmus, at the time he was carrying on war against the Leucani, assigning as a pretext that it would afford security to the inhabitants of the peninsula from the inroads of the barbarians dwelling beyond it; but in truth his intention was to cut off the communication of the Greeks with each other, and to have the greater power over those who dwelt within the peninsula, but those who dwelt without109 assembled and prevented the undertaking. [11] After Scylletium is the region of Crotona, and the lapygum tria Promontoria,110 and after these the Lacinium,111 sacred to Juno, formerly rich and filled with many offerings. But the distances have not been accurately stated. We can only say that in a general way Polybius reckons 2300112 stadia from the strait113 to Lacinium,114 and 700 stadia from Lacinium to the Iapygian promontory. They call this the entrance of the Gulf of Taranto. The extent of the gulf is considerable, being 240 miles along the shore. As the chorographer says .. of 380 .. . to a light person, Artemidorus: wanting also by so many . . . of the breadth of the mouth of the gulf.115 Its aspect looks towards the rising of the sun in winter.116 It commenced from Lacinium, for presently on doubling the cape you come to where the Greek cities formerly stood; now they no longer exist, with the exception of Tarentum. But on account of the estimation in which certain of them were held, it is worth while to speak of them somewhat in detail. [12]

The first is Crotona, 150 stadia from Lacinium and the river Esaro;117 there is also a haven118 there, and another river Nieto.119 the name whereof is said to be derived from the following circumstance—they say that certain of the Greeks who had wandered from the fleet which had besieged Troy, having arrived in this place, disembarked to take a survey of the country, and that the Trojan women who accompanied them in the fleet, having observed the absence of the men, and being wearied with a toilsome voyage, set fire to the fleet, so that they were compelled to abide, when they saw, in addition [to the loss of their ships], that the soil was very fertile. Many others arriving soon after, and being desirous to live near their fellow-countrymen, founded several settlements. Most of them derived their names from the Trojans, and the river Nieto received its appellation from the destruction120 [of the ships]. But Antiochus relates that an oracle having commanded the Greeks to found Crotona, Myscellus went forth to view the place, and having seen Sybaris already built on a neighbouring river of the same name, thought it better, and returned to the god to ask if he might be permitted to settle in that, instead of the other; but that the oracle answered, applying to him an epithet noticing his defective stature, (for Myscellus was somewhat crook-backed,) “‘O short-backed Myscellus, whilst seeking somewhat else of thyself, Thou pursuest only misfortune: it is right to accept that which is proffered to thee:

121” and that he returned and built Crotena, wherein he was assisted by Archias,122 the founder of Syracuse, who happened to touch at Crotona by chance, as he was proceeding to the colony of the Syracusans. The Iapyges possessed Crotona before this time,123 as Ephorus relates. The city cultivated martial discipline and athletic exercises to a great extent, and in one of the Olympic games all the seven wrestlers, who obtained the palm in the stadium, were Crotoniatæ; whence, it seems, the saying arose that the last wrestler of Crotona was the first of the other Greeks, and hence they say also is the origin of the expression, ‘more salubrious than Crotona,’ as instancing a place which had something to show, in the number of wrestlers which it produced, as a proof of its salubrity and the robust frame of body which it was capable of rearing. Thus it had many victors in the Olympic games, although it cannot be reckoned to have been long inhabited on account of the vast destruction of its citizens, who fell at the battle of the Sagras. Its celebrity too was not a little spread by the number of Pythagoreans who resided there, and Milo,124 who was the most renowned of wrestlers, and lived in terms of intimacy with Pythagoras, who abode long in this city. They relate that at a banquet of the philosophers, when one of the pillars in the hall gave way, Milo sustained the ceiling while they all escaped, and afterwards saved himself. It is likely that, trusting to the same strength, he met his fate as related by some, for whilst making his way through a thick wood, he strayed considerably out of the path, when finding a great log with wedges in it, he thrust both his hands and feet into the fissure, intending to split it completely, but was only able to force it enough to let the wedges fall out, when the gaping log presently closed on him, and he, being taken as in a snare, was devoured by wild beasts. [13]

Beyond this, at the distance of 200 stadia, is situated Sybaris,125 a colony settled by the Achœans, between the two rivers Crati126 and Sybaris.127 Its founder was Is . . . .128 the Helice an.129 So great was the prosperity enjoyed by this city anciently, that it held dominion over four neighbouring people and twenty-five towns; in the war with the Crotoniatæ it brought into the field 300,000 men, and occupied a circuit of 50 stadia on the Crati. But on account of the arrogance and turbulence of its citizens, it was deprived of all its prosperity by the Crotoniatæ in 70130 days, who took the city, and turning the waters of the river [Crati], overwhelmed it with an inundation.131 Some time after, a few who had escaped came together and inhabited the site of their former city, but in time they were dispossessed by the Athenians132 and other Greeks, who came and settled amongst them, but they despised and subjugated them, and removed the city to a neighbouring place, calling its name Thurii, from a fountain of that name. The water of the river Sybaris has the peculiar property of making the horses which drink it shy,133 for which reason they keep their horses away from the river. The Crati turns the hair of those who bathe in it yellow, and sometimes white, but has been found salutary for the cure of many disorders. Thurii, after having flourished for a long time, became a continual prey to the aggressions of the Leucani,134 and afterwards the Tarentini troubling them, they appealed to the Romans for succour, who, in course of time, sent a colony135 when it was nearly deserted, and changed the name of the city to Copiæ.136 [14]

After Thurii is Lagaria,137 a garrison fort; it was originally settled by Epeius138 and the Phocenses; hence is derived the Lagaritan wine, sweet and delicate, and much recommended by the physicians, as is likewise the Thurian wine, which is reckoned among the best. Then comes the city of Heraclea,139 a little way from the sea, and two navigable rivers, the Agri140 and the Sinno,141 on which was the city Siris, founded by a Trojan colony, but in course of time, when Heraclea was peopled with the citizens of Siris by the Tarentini, it became the harbour of Heraclea. Its distance from Heraclea was 24 stadia, and from Thurii about 330.142 They point out the statue of the Trojan Minerva, which is erected there, as a proof of its colonization by the Trojans. They also relate as a miracle how the statue closed its eyes when the suppliants, who had fled for sanctuary to her shrine, were dragged away by the Ionians after they had taken the city;143 they say that these Ionians came to settle here, when they fled from the yoke of the Lydians, and took the town of the Trojans144 by force, calling its name Polieum. They show, too, at the present time the statue that closes its eyes. It must, however, require a good courage, not to assert that it appeared to have closed its eyes, as that at Troy turned away its eyes from beholding the violence offered to Cassandra, but to show it in the act of winking:—but it is much more daring to make so many statues of the Minerva rescued from Ilium, as those who describe them affirm, for there is a Minerva said to be Trojan in the sense of having been rescued from that city, not only at Siris, but at Rome, at Lavinium, and at Luceria. The scene, too, of the daring of the Trojan female captives is assigned to many different places and appears incredible, although it is by no means impossible. There are some who say that Siris, and also that Sybaris on the Trionto,145 were founded by the Rhodians. Antiochus says that the site of Siris having become the subject of a contention between the Tarentini and the Thurii, on that occasion commanded by Cleandridas the general who had been banished from Lacedæmon, the two people came to a composition, and agreed to inhabit it in common, but that the colony146 should be considered as Tarentine; however, at a subsequent period both the name and the locality were changed, and it was called Heraclea.147 [15]

Next in order is Metapontium,148 at a distance of 140 stadia from the sea-port of Heraclea. It is said to be a settlement of the Pylians at the time of their return from Ilium under Nestor; their success in agriculture was so great, that it is said they offered at Delphi a golden harvest:149 they adduce, as a proof of this foundation, the offerings of the dead sacrificed periodically to the Neleïdæ;150 but it was destroyed by the Samnites.151 Antiochus says that certain Achæans, who had been sent for by the Achæans of Sybaris, settled in this place when it had been desolated; he adds that these were sent for on account of the hatred of the Achæans to the Tarentini, who had originally migrated from Laconia, in order to prevent their seizing upon the place which lay adjacent to them. Of the two cities, viz. Metapontium which was situated the nearer, [and Siris the further,152] from Tarentum, the new comers preferred to occupy Metapontium. This choice was suggested by the Sybarites, because, if they should make good their settlement there, they would also possess Siris, but if they were to turn to Siris, Metapontium would be annexed to the territory of the Tarentines which was conterminous. But after being engaged in war with the Tarentini and the Œnotrians, who dwelt beyond them, they came to an agreement, securing to them a portion of land, which should constitute the boundary between Italy, as it then existed, and Iapygia. This, too, is the locality which tradition assigns to the adventures of Metapontus and the captive Melanippe, and her son Bœotus. But Antiochus is of opinion that the city Metapontium was originally called Metabum, and that its name was altered at a subsequent period; and that Melanippe was not entertained here but at Dius, and thinks that the heroum of Metabus as well as the testimony of the poet Asius, who says that “ The beautiful Melanippe, in the halls of Dius, bare Bœotus,

” afford sufficient proof that Melanippe was led to Dius and not to Metabum. Ephorus says that Daulius, the tyrant of Crissa153 near Delphi, was the founder of Metapontium. There is, however, another tradition, that Leucippus was sent by the Achæans to help to found the colony, and having asked permission of the Tarentini to have the place for a day and a night, would not give it up, replying by day to those who asked it of him, that he had asked and obtained it till the following night, and when asked by night, he said that he held it till the coming day.

Next adjoining is Tarentum and lapygia, which we will describe when we shall have first gone through the islands which lie off Italy, according to our original purpose; for we have always given the adjacent islands with every nation we have hitherto described, and since we have gone through Œnotria, which only, the people of ancient times named Italy we feel justified in keeping to the same arrangement, and shall pass on to Sicily and the surrounding islands.

107 About B. C. 389.

108 Book vi. cap. i. § 4.

109 Pliny seems to attribute to Dionysius the elder the project of cutting not walling off the isthmus: ‘Itaque Dionysius major intercisam eo loco adjicere Siciliæ voluit.’ Hist. Nat. lib. iii. § 15. Grimaldi also is of opinion that the circumstance mentioned by Strabo should be referred to the first years of Dionysius the younger, about B. C. 366–359.

110 By those who dwelt without, Strabo doubtless intended the Croto- niatæ, and their allies.

111 These three capes are now called Capo delle Castella, Capo Rizzuto, and Capo della Nave.

112 Lacinium was about six miles from Crotona. The celebrated temple of Juno derived its name from the promontory. According to Diodorus Siculus, some ascribe its origin to Hercules. (Diod. Sic. iv. 24.) Its ruins are in the early Doric style, with fluted pillars broader at the base than at the capital. It measured about 132 yards in length, and 66 in breadth. Its principal entrance opened to the west.

113 Gosselin follows the opinion that Polybius wrote 1300 stadia.

114 The Strait of Sicily.

115 The modern names of Cape Lacinium, viz. Capo delle Colonne and Capo Nao, are derived from the remains of the temple, which is still visible on its summit.

116 The text is here evidently deficient. Groskurd says that Strabo most probably wrote as follows, ‘As the chorographer says, Artemidorus reckons that [the journey would take 12 days for one travelling on foot], with his girdle on; [but, to one sailing, the distance is 2000 stadia:] leaving at the same time as many [for the mouth, as Polybius has given] for the breadth of the mouth of the gulf.’ The French translators, however, have attempted to read the text as follows, ‘The chorographer makes it 240 miles, and Artemidorus says that it is 380 for a light traveller; a computation in which the breadth of the mouth is not included;’ but comment on it in several extensive notes.

117 South-east.

118 The ancient Æsar.

119 Groskurd observes, Im Texte καὶ λιμὴν. Besser also, liest man mit Cluv. λιμνη, and translates it ‘a salt-marsh;’ but Cramer, in his description of ancient Italy, observes that the mouth of the river Esaro formed a haven, which, however incommodious compared with those of Tarentum and Brundusium, was long a source of great wealth to Crotona, as we are assured by Polybius, Frag. x. 1.

120 Neæthus. This river was said to derive its name from the circumstance of the captive Trojan women having there set fire to the Grecian fleet.

121 νέαιθος, from νῆας and αἰθεῖν, ‘to burn the ships.’

122 There is much obscurity in this oracular response. The various manuscripts offer many readings.

123 A note in the French translation observes that the establishment of Myscellus at Crotona took place about 709 or 703 years B. C., and that Syracuse was founded as early as 735 years B. C.

124 According to some traditions, Crotona was very ancient, and derived its name from the hero Cro'o. Thus Ovid:

“ Vixque pererratis quæ spectant littora terris,
Invenit Æsarei fatalia fluminis ora:
Nec procul hinc tumulum, sub quo sacrata Crotonis
Ossa tegebat humus. Jussaque ibi mœnia terra
Condidit; et nomen tumulati traxit in urbem.

Ovid. Metam. xv. 53.

125 Milo is said to have carried off the prize for wrestling from the 62nd Olympiad, B. C. 532, and also to have commanded the 100,000 Crotoniatæ who engaged the hostile armies of Sybaris and destroyed their city, about B. C. 509. Diod. Sic. xii. 9, &c.

126 Sybaris was said to have been founded by the people of Trœzene not long after the siege of Troy. Aristot. Politic. lib. v. cap. 3. Solin. viii. But those were subsequently joined by a more numerous colony of Achmæans, about B. C. 720. Euseb. Chron. ii.

127 κοͅᾶθις. There was a stream of the same name in Achaia, from whence the Italian Crathis, now Crati, derived its name. The Crathis and Sybaris now join about 14 miles from the sea.

128 Now Cochile.

129 Koray objected to the old reading, ᾿ισελικεν̀ς, and proposed instead οἰς. . . . ῾ελικεὺς; Groskurd thought it better to translate it Ihr Erbauer war Is .....aus He like; and Kramer has adopted this latter view, which we have followed.

130 Helice was mentioned, book i. chap. iii. § 18. Ovid, Metam. xv. 293, also speaks of this city,

“ Si quæras Helicen et Buram Achaïdas urbes,
Invenies sub aquis...

Ovid, Metam. xv. 293

131 The Epitome gives nine days.

132 The events which led to this catastrophe are thus related by Diodorns Siculus: ‘A democratical party, at the head of which was Telys, having gained the ascendency, expelled 500 of the principal citizens, who sought refuge at Crotona. This city, upon receiving a summons to give up the fugitives, or prepare for war, by the advice of Pythagoras chose the latter. The armies met near the river Triunti, in the territory of Crotona, where the brave citizens gained a complete victory.’

133 At the instigation of Pericles, the Athenians sent out a colony under the command of Lampon and Xenocritus, which arrived about 55 years after the overthrow of Sybaris. Two celebrated characters are named among those who joined this expedition, which was collected from different parts of Greece. These were Herodotus, and Lysias the orator.

134 "Compare Ælian. Hist. Anim. ii. 36.

135 From B. C. 390 to 290.

136 About B. C. 194.

137 Cæsar however calls it Thurii, and designates it a municipal town. Civ. Bell. iii. 22.

138 Now La Nucara.

139 It is not ascertained whether this leader were the architect of the Horse of Troy.

140 Antiquaries seem agreed in fixing the site of this town at Policoro, about three miles from the mouth of the Agri, where considerable remains are still visible. The city is famous as the seat of the general council of the Greek states, and the celebrated bronze tables on which the learned Mazzocchi bestowed so much labour were discovered near its site. Its coins represent Hercules contending with the lion, and bear the epigraph ηρα or ηρακληιων.

141 ᾿ακιοͅις.

142 σῖοͅις

143 This accords very well with the distance given in the Itinerary of Antoninus.

144 About B. C. 580.

145 Kramer reads χώνων in the text. We have followed the opinion of the French translators, who have rendered it ‘possédée par des Troyens.’ MSS. give various readings.

146 Kramer reads ἐπὶ τεύθοͅαντος, but thinks with Groskurd that ἐπὶ τοῦ τοͅάεντος, the Traens or modern Trionto, is the true reading.

147 About B. C. 444.

148 About B. C. 433.

149 In the time of Pausanias, this city was a heap of ruins, and nothing remained standing but the walls and theatre. Considerable vestiges, situated near the station called Torre di Mare, indicate the site it an- ciently adorned.

150 θερος χρυσοῦν. Xylander and others have thought this was a statue representing Summer; others have reckoned that golden sheaves were intended. The coins of Metapontium, which are greatly admired as works of art, have a head of Ceres, and on the reverse an ear of corn. A large sum of these might be justly called a golden harvest.

151 Neleus had twelve sons, eleven of whom were slain by Hercules, while Nestor alone escaped; we must therefore infer from this passage, that rites were celebrated at Metapontium in honour of his brothers.

152 The Greek words might either mean that Metapontium was destroyed or that the sacrifices were abolished. From the succeeding sentence it would be most natural to suppose that Strabo meant to say the city was overthrown.

153 These words are not in the Greek text, but seem to have been accidentally omitted by the transcriber.

154 A city of Phocis, now Krisso.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

load focus Greek (1877)
load focus English (1924)
hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
532 BC (2)
1791 AD (1)
1696 AD (1)
1350 AD (1)
1300 AD (1)
91 BC (1)
720 BC (1)
668 BC (1)
580 BC (1)
510 BC (1)
509 BC (1)
444 BC (1)
433 BC (1)
43 BC (1)
398 BC (1)
390 BC (1)
389 BC (1)
388 BC (1)
366 BC (1)
360 BC (1)
36 BC (1)
330 BC (1)
317 BC (1)
31 BC (1)
289 BC (1)
280 BC (1)
195 BC (1)
194 BC (1)
193 BC (1)
hide References (1 total)
  • Cross-references to this page (1):
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: