Ister
1.
（
Ἴστρος) and
Danubius (
Δανούβιος), also
Danuvius. The greatest river
in southeastern Europe; now the Danube,
Donau. Its sources are at
Donaueschingen near the Mons Abnoba, and after a long course through Vindelicia, Noricum,
Pannonia, and Dacia, it separates into a delta of three branches and empties into the Pontus
Euxinus (Black Sea). Among its 400 tributaries are the Dravus (Drave), Savus (Save),
Pathiseus or Tibiseus (Theiss?), and Margus (Morava). The early writers, such as Pindar, had
only the vaguest notions about the sources of this stream, and even in later times it was
supposed to empty into the Adriatic. Ister was said to be its Keltic name and Danubis its
Thracian. The syllable Dan is that found in Rho-dan-us, Tan-aïs, Eri-dan-us, etc.,
and is said to mean “river.” The most ancient name of the stream was said
to be Matoas. Some writers use Ister of the lower Danube, and Danubius of the upper from its
source as far as Vindobona (Vienna). The total length of the river is 1740 miles.
2.
A Greek historian, at one time the slave of
Callimachus (q.v.). He wrote, in the third century B.C., a number of works, of which
an
Atthis, or history of Attica, was especially important. The fragments are
given in Müller's
Frag. Hist. Graec. i. pp. 418-427.
