No More Learning

After the Trojan times, the migrations of Greeks and of Treres, the
inroads of Cimmerians and Lydians, afterwards of Persians and
Macedonians, and lastly of Galatians, threw everything into confusion.
An obscurity arose not from these changes only, but from the
disagreement between authors in their narration of the same events, and
in their description of the same persons; for they called Trojans
Phrygians, like the Tragic poets; and Lycians Carians, and similarly in
other instances. The Trojans who, from a small beginning, increased so
much in power that they became kings of kings, furnished a motive to the
poet and his interpreters, for determining what country ought to be
called Troy. For the poet calls by the common name of Trojans all their
auxiliaries, as he calls their enemies Danai and Achæi. But certainly we
should not give the name of Troy to Paphlagonia, or to Caria, or to
Lycia, which borders upon it. I mean when the poet says,

“the Trojans advanced with the clashing of armour and shouts,”[1259]

and where he speaks of their enemies,

“but the Achæi advanced silently, breathing forth warlike
ardour,”[1260]

and thus frequently in other passages.

We must endeavour, however, to distinguish as far as we are able one
nation from another, notwithstanding this uncertainty. If anything
relative to ancient history escapes my notice, it must be pardoned, for
this is not the province of the geographer; my concern is with the
present state of people and places.

8. There are two mountains situated above the Propontis, the Mysian
Olympus[1261] and Ida. [1262] At the foot of Olympus is Bithynia, and,
contiguous to the mountain, between Ida and the sea, is Troy.

We shall afterwards speak of Troy, and of the places continuous with it
on the south. At present we shall give an account of the places about
Olympus, and of the adjoining country as far as the Taurus, and parallel
to the parts which we have previously described.

The country lying around Olympus is not well inhabited. On its heights
are immense forests and strongholds, well adapted [CAS. 574] for the
protection of robbers, who, being able to maintain themselves there for
any length of time, often set themselves up as tyrants, as Cleon a
captain of a band of robbers did in my recollection.

9. Cleon was a native of the village Gordium, which he afterwards
enlarged, and erected into a city, giving it the name of Juliopolis. His
first retreat and head-quarters was a place called Callydium, one of the
strongest holds. He was of service to Antony in attacking the soldiers
who collected money for Labienus, at the time that the latter occupied
Asia, and thus hindered the preparations which he was making for his
defence. In the Actian war he separated himself from Antony and attached
himself to the generals of Cæsar; he was rewarded above his deserts, for
in addition to what he received from Antony he obtained power from
Cæsar, and exchanged the character of a freebooter for that of a petty
prince. He was priest of Jupiter Abrettenus, the Mysian god, and a
portion of the Morena was subject to him, which, like Abrettena, is
Mysian. He finally obtained the priesthood of Comana in Pontus, and went
to take possession of it, but died within a month after his arrival. He
was carried off by an acute disease, occasioned either by excessive
repletion, or, according to the account of those employed about the
temple, inflicted by the anger of the goddess. The story is this. Within
the circuit of the sacred enclosure is the dwelling of the priest and
priestess. Besides other sacred observances relative to the temple, the
purity of this enclosure is an especial object of vigilance, by
abstinence from eating swine’s flesh. The whole city, indeed, is bound
to abstain from this food, and swine are not permitted to enter it.
Cleon, however, immediately upon his arrival displayed his lawless
disposition and character by violating this custom, as if he had come
there not as a priest, but a polluter of sacred things.

10. The description of Olympus is as follows. Around it, to the north,
live Bithynians, Mygdonians, and Doliones; the rest is occupied by
Mysians and Epicteti. The tribes about Cyzicus[1263] from Æsepus[1264]
as far as Rhyndacus[1265] and the lake Dascylitis,[1266] are called for
the most part Doliones; those next to the Doliones, and extending as far
as the territory of the Myrleani,[1267] are called Mygdones. Above the
Dascylitis are two large lakes, the Apolloniatis,[1268] and the
Miletopolitis. [1269] Near the Dascylitis is the city Dascylium, and on
the Miletopolitis, Miletopolis. Near a third lake is Apollonia on the
Rhyndacus, as it is called. Most of these places belong at present to
the Cyziceni.

11. Cyzicus is an island[1270] in the Propontis, joined to the continent
by two bridges. It is exceedingly fertile. It is about 500 stadia in
circumference. There is a city of the same name near the bridges, with
two close harbours, and more than two hundred docks for vessels. One
part of the city is in a plain, the other near the mountain which is
called Arcton-oros (or Bear-mountain). Above this is another mountain,
the Dindymus, with one peak, having on it a temple founded by the
Argonauts in honour of Dindymene, mother of the gods. This city rivals
in size, beauty, and in the excellent administration of affairs, both in
peace and war, the cities which hold the first rank in Asia. It appears
to be embellished in a manner similar to Rhodes, Massalia,[1271] and
ancient Carthage. I omit many details. There are three architects, to
whom is intrusted the care of the public edifices and engines. The city
has also three store-houses, one for arms, one for engines, and one for
corn. The Chalcidic earth mixed with the corn prevents it from spoiling.
The utility of preserving it in this manner was proved in the
Mithridatic war. The king attacked the city unexpectedly with an army of
150,000 men and a large body of cavalry, and made himself master of the
opposite hill, which is called the hill of Adrasteia, and of the suburb.
He afterwards transferred his camp to the neck of land above the city,
blockaded it by land, and attacked it by sea with four hundred ships.
The Cyziceni resisted all these attempts, and were even nearly capturing
the king in a subterraneous passage, by working a countermine. He was,
however, apprized of it, and escaped by retreating in time out of the
excavation. Lucullus, the Roman general, was able, though late, to send
succours into the city by night. Famine also came to the aid of the
Cyziceni by spreading among this large army. The king did not foresee
this, and after losing great numbers of his men went away. [CAS. 576]
The Romans respected the city, and to this present time it enjoys
freedom. A large territory belongs to it, some part of which it has held
from the earliest times; the rest was a gift of the Romans. Of the Troad
they possess the parts beyond the Æsepus, namely, those about Zeleia and
the plain of Adrasteia; a part of the lake Dascylitis belongs to them,
the other part belongs to the Byzantines. They also possess a large
district near the Dolionis, and the Mygdonis, extending as far as the
lake Miletopolitis, and the Apolloniatis. Through these countries runs
the river Rhyndacus, which has its source in the Azanitis. Having
received from Mysia Abrettene, among other rivers, the Macestus,[1272]
which comes from Ancyra[1273] in the Abaeitis it empties itself into the
Propontis at the island Besbicus. [1274]

In this island of the Cyziceni is the mountain Artace, well wooded, and
in front of it lies a small island of the same name, near it is the
promontory Melas (or Black), as it is called, which is met with in
coasting from Cyzicus to Priapus. [1275]

12. To Phrygian Epictetus belong the Azani, and the cities Nacoleia,
Cotiaeium,[1276] Midiaeium, Dorylæum,[1277] and Cadi. [1278] Some persons
assign Cadi to Mysia.

Mysia extends in the inland parts from Olympene to Pergamene, and to the
plain of Caïcus, as it is called; so that it lies between Ida and the
Catacecaumene, which some place in Mysia, others in Mæonia.

13. Beyond the Epictetus to the south is the Greater Phrygia, leaving on
the left Pessinus, and the parts about Orcaorci, and Lycaonia, and on
the right Mæones, Lydians, and Carians. In the Epictetus are Phrygia
Paroreia, and the country towards Pisidia, and the parts about
Amorium,[1279] Eumeneia,[1280] and Synnada. [1281] Next are Apameia
Cibotus,[1282] and Laodiceia,[1283] the largest cities in Phrygia.
Around them lie the towns [and places], Aphrodisias,[1284]
Colossæ,[1285] Themisonium,[1286] Sanaus, Metropolis,[1287] Apollonias,
and farther off than these, Peltæ, Tabeæ, Eucarpia, and Lysias.

14. The Paroreia[1288] has a mountainous ridge extending from east to
west. Below it on either side stretches a large plain, cities are
situated near the ridge, on the north side, Philomelium,[1289] on the
south Antiocheia, surnamed Near Pisidia. [1290] The former lies entirely
in the plain, the other is on a hill, and occupied by a Roman colony.
This was founded by the Magnetes, who live near the Mæander. The Romans
liberated them from the dominion of the kings, when they delivered up
the rest of Asia within the Taurus to Eumenes. In this place was
established a priesthood of Men Arcæus, having attached to it a
multitude of sacred attendants, and tracts of sacred territory. It was
abolished after the death of Amyntas by those who were sent to settle
the succession to his kingdom.

Synnada is not a large city. In front of it is a plain planted with
olives, about 60 stadia in extent. Beyond is Docimia, a village, and the
quarry of the Synnadic marble. This is the name given to it by the
Romans, but the people of the country call it Docimite and Docimæan. At
first the quarry produced small masses, but at present, through the
extravagance of the Romans, pillars are obtained, consisting of a single
stone and of great size, approaching the alabastrite marble in variety
of colours; although the distant carriage of such heavy loads to the sea
is difficult, yet both pillars and slabs of surprising magnitude and
beauty are conveyed to Rome.

15. Apameia is a large mart of Asia, properly so called, and second in
rank to Ephesus, for it is the common staple for merchandise brought
from Italy and from Greece. It is built upon the mouth of the river
Marsyas, which runs through the middle of it, and has its commencement
above the city; being carried down to the suburb with a strong and
precipitous current, it enters the Mæander,[1291] which receives also
another river, the Orgas, and traverses a level tract with a gentle and
unruffled stream. Here the Mæander becomes a large river, and flows for
some time through Phrygia; it then separates Caria and Lydia at the
plain, as it is called, of the Mæander, running in a direction
excessively tortuous, so that from the course of this river all windings
are called Mæanders. Towards its termination it runs through the part of
Caria occupied by the Ionians; the mouths by which it empties itself are
between Miletus and Priene. [1292] It rises in a hill called Celænæ, on
which was a city of the same name. Antiochus [CAS. 578] Soter
transferred the inhabitants to the present Apameia, and called the city
after his mother Apama, who was the daughter of Artabazus. She was given
in marriage to Seleucus Nicator. Here is laid the scene of the fable of
Olympus and Marsyas, and of the contest between Marsyas and Apollo.
Above is situated a lake[1293] on which grows a reed, which is suited to
the mouth-pieces of pipes. From this lake, it is said, spring the
Marsyas and the Mæander.

16. Laodiceia,[1294] formerly a small town, has increased in our time,
and in that of our ancestors, although it received great injury when it
was besieged by Mithridates Eupator; the fertility however of the soil
and the prosperity of some of its citizens have aggrandized it. First,
Hiero embellished the city with many offerings, and bequeathed to the
people more than 2000 talents; then Zeno the rhetorician, and his son
Polemo, were an ornament and support to it; the latter was thought by
Antony, and afterwards by Augustus Cæsar, worthy even of the rank of
king in consequence of his valiant and upright conduct.

The country around Laodiceia breeds excellent sheep, remarkable not only
for the softness of their wool, in which they surpass the Milesian
flocks, but for their dark or raven colour. The Laodiceans derive a
large revenue from them, as the Colosseni do from their flocks, of a
colour of the same name.

Here the Caprus and the Lycus, a large river, enter the Mæander. From
the Lycus, a considerable river, Laodiceia has the name of Laodiceia on
the Lycus. Above the city is the mountain Cadmus, from which the Lycus
issues, and another river of the same name as the mountain. The greater
part of its course is under-ground; it then emerges, and unites with
other rivers, showing that the country abounds with caverns and is
liable to earthquakes. For of all countries Laodiceia is very subject to
earthquakes, as also the neighbouring district Carura.

17. Carura[1295] is the boundary of Phrygia and Caria. It is a village,
where there are inns for the reception of travellers, and springs of
boiling water, some of which rise in the river Mæander, and others on
its banks. There is a story, that a pimp had lodgings in the inns for a
great company of women, and that during the night he and all the women
were overwhelmed by an earthquake and disappeared. Nearly the whole of
the country about the Mæander, as far as the inland parts, is subject to
earthquakes, and is undermined by fire and water. For all this cavernous
condition of the country, beginning from the plains, extends to the
Charonia; it exists likewise in Hierapolis, and in Acharaca in the
district Nysæis, also in the plain of Magnesia, and in Myus. The soil is
dry and easily reduced to powder, full of salts, and very inflammable.
This perhaps is the reason why the course of the Mæander is winding, for
the stream is diverted in many places from its direction, and brings
down a great quantity of alluvial soil, some part of which it deposits
in various places along the shore, and forcing the rest forwards
occasions it to drift into the open sea. It has made, for example,
Priene, which was formerly upon the sea, an inland city, by the
deposition of banks of alluvial earth along an extent of 40 stadia.

18. Phrygia Catacecaumene, (or the Burnt,) which is occupied by Lydians
and Mysians, obtained this name from something of the following kind. In
Philadelphia,[1296] a city adjoining to it, even the walls of the houses
are not safe, for nearly every day they are shaken, and crevices appear.
The inhabitants are constantly attentive to these accidents to which the
ground is subject, and build with a view to their occurrence.

Apameia among other cities experienced, before the invasion of
Mithridates, frequent earthquakes, and the king, on his arrival, when he
saw the overthrow of the city, gave a hundred talents for its
restoration. It is said that the same thing happened in the time of
Alexander; for this reason it is probable that Neptune is worshipped
there, although they are an inland people, and that it had the name of
Celænæ from Celænus,[1297] the son of Neptune, by Celæno, one of the
Danaïdes, or from the black colour of the stones, or from the blackness
which is the effect of combustion. What is related of Sipylus and its
overthrow is not to be regarded as a fable. For earthquakes overthrew
the present Magnesia, which is situated [CAS. 579] below that mountain,
at the time that Sardis and other celebrated cities in various parts
sustained great injury. [1298] The emperor[1299] gave a sum of money for
their restoration, as formerly his father had assisted the Tralliani on
the occurrence of a similar calamity, when the gymnasium and other parts
of the city were destroyed; in the same manner he had assisted also the
Laodiceans.

19. We must listen, however, to the ancient historians, and to the
account of Xanthus, who composed a history of Lydian affairs; he relates
the changes which had frequently taken place in this country,--I have
mentioned them in a former part of my work. [1300] Here is laid the scene
of the fable of what befell Typhon; here are placed the Arimi, and this
country is said to be the Catacecaumene. Nor do historians hesitate to
suppose, that the places between the Mæander and the Lydians are all of
this nature, as well on account of the number of lakes and rivers, as
the caverns, which are to be found in many parts of the country. The
waters of the lake between Laodiceia and Apameia, although like a sea,
emit a muddy smell, as if they had come through a subterraneous channel.
It is said that actions are brought against the Mæander for transferring
land from one place to another by sweeping away the angles of the
windings, and a fine is levied out of the toll, which is paid at the
ferries.

20. Between Laodiceia and Carura is a temple of Mēn Carus, which is held
in great veneration. In our time there was a large Herophilian[1301]
school of medicine under the direction of Zeuxis,[1302] and afterwards
of Alexander Philalethes, as in the time of our ancestors there was, at
Smyrna, a school of the disciples of Erasistratus under the conduct of
Hicesius. At present there is nothing of this kind.

21. The names of some Phrygian tribes, as the Berecyntes [and Cerbesii],
are mentioned, which no longer exist. And Alcman says,

“He played the Cerbesian, a Phrygian air. ”

They speak also of a Cerbesian pit which sends forth destructive
exhalations; this however exists, but the people have no longer the name
of Cerbesii. Æschylus in his Niobe[1303] confounds them; Niobe says that
she shall remember Tantalus, and his story;

“those who have an altar of Jupiter, their paternal god, on
the Idæan hill,”

and again;

“Sipylus in the Idæan land,”

--and Tantalus says,

“I sow the furrows of the Berecynthian fields, extending
twelve days’ journey, where the seat of Adrasteia and Ida
resound with the lowing of herds and the bleating of sheep;
all the plain re-echoes with their cries. ”




BOOK XIII.

ASIA.

SUMMARY.


The Thirteenth Book contains the part of Asia south of the
Propontis (Sea of Marmara), the whole of the sea-coast, and
the adjacent islands. The author dwells some time on Troy,
though deserted, on account of its distinction, and the great
renown it derived from the war.




CHAPTER I.


1. These are the limits of Phrygia. We return again to the Propontis,
and to the sea-coast adjoining the Æsepus,[1304] and shall observe, in
our description of places, the same order as before.

The first country which presents itself on the sea-coast is the
Troad. [1305] Although it is deserted, and covered with ruins, yet it is
so celebrated as to furnish a writer with no ordinary excuse for
expatiating on its history. But we ought not only to be excused, but
encouraged, for the reader should not impute the fault of prolixity to
us, but to those whose curiosity and desire of information respecting
the celebrated places of antiquity is to be gratified. The prolixity is
greater than it would be otherwise, from the great number of nations,
both Greeks and Barbarians, who have occupied the country, and from the
disagreement among writers, who do not relate the same things of the
same persons and places, nor even do they express themselves with
clearness. Among these in particular is Homer, who suggests occasions
for conjecture in the greatest part of his local descriptions. We are
therefore to examine what the poet and other writers advance, premising
a summary description of the nature of the places.

2. The coast of the Propontis extends from Cyzicene and the places about
the Æsepus and Granicus[1306] as far as Abydos, and Sestos. [1307]
Between Abydos and Lectum[1308] is the country about Ilium, and Tenedos
and Alexandreia Troas. [1309] Above all these is the mountain Ida,
extending as far as Lectum. From Lectum to the river Caïcus[1310] and
the Canæ mountains as they are called is the district comprising
Assus,[1311] Adramyttium,[1312] Atarneus,[1313] Pitane,[1314] and the
Elaïtic bay, opposite to all which places lies the island Lesbos. [1315]
Next follows the country about Cyme[1316] as far as Hermus,[1317] and
Phocæa,[1318] where Ionia begins, and Æolis terminates. Such then is the
nature of the country.

The poet implies that it was the Trojans chiefly who were divided into
eight or even nine bodies of people, each forming a petty princedom, who
had under their sway the places about Æsepus, and those about the
territory of the present Cyzicene, as far as the river Caïcus. The
troops of auxiliaries are reckoned among the allies.

3. The writers subsequent to Homer do not assign the same boundaries,
but introduce other names, and a greater number of territorial
divisions. The Greek colonies were the cause of this; the Ionian
migration produced less change, for it was further distant from the
Troad, but the Æolian colonists occasioned it throughout, for they were
dispersed over the whole of the country from Cyzicene as far as the
Caïcus, and occupied besides the district between the Caïcus and the
river Hermus. It is said that the Æolian preceded the Ionian migration
four generations, but it was attended with delays, and the settlement of
the colonies took up a longer time. Orestes was the leader of the
colonists, and died in Arcadia. He was preceded by his son Penthilus,
who advanced as far as Thrace, sixty years[1319] after the Trojan [CAS.
582] war, about the time of the return of the Heracleidæ to
Peloponnesus. Then Archelaus the son of Penthilus conducted the Æolian
colonies across the sea to the present Cyzicene, near Dascylium. Gras
his youngest son proceeded as far as the river Granicus, and, being
provided with better means, transported the greater part of those who
composed the expedition to Lesbos, and took possession of it.

On the other side, Cleuas, the son of Dorus, and Malaus, who were
descendants of Agamemnon, assembled a body of men for an expedition
about the same time as Penthilus, but the band of Penthilus passed over
from Thrace into Asia before them; while the rest consumed much time
near Locris, and the mountain Phricius. At last however they crossed the
sea, and founded Cyme, to which they gave the name of Phriconis, from
Phricius, the Locrian mountain.

4. The Æolians then were dispersed over the whole country, which we have
said the poet calls the Trojan country. Later writers give this name to
the whole, and others to a part, of Æolis; and so, with respect to
Troja, some writers understand the whole, others only a part, of that
country, not entirely agreeing with one another in anything.

According to Homer, the commencement of the Troad is at the places on
the Propontis, reckoning it from the Æsepus. According to Eudoxus, it
begins from Priapus, and Artace, situated in the island of the Cyziceni
opposite to Priapus, and thus he contracts the boundaries [of the
Troad]. Damastes contracts them still more by reckoning its commencement
from Parium. [1320] He extends the Troad as far as Lectum. But different
writers assign different limits to this country. Charon of Lampsacus
diminishes its extent by three hundred stadia more, by reckoning its
commencement from Practius, for this is the distance between Parium and
Practius, but protracts it to Adramyttium. It begins, according to
Scylax of Caryanda, at Abydos. There is the same diversity of opinion
respecting the boundaries of Æolis. Ephorus reckons its extent from
Abydos to Cyme, but different writers compute it in different ways.

5. The situation of the country actually called Troja is best marked by
the position of Ida, a lofty mountain, looking to the west, and to the
western sea, but making a slight bend to the north and towards the
northern coast. This latter is the coast of the Propontis, extending
from the straits near Abydos to the Æsepus, and to the territory of
Cyzicene. The western sea is the exterior (part of the) Hellespont, and
the Ægæan Sea.

Ida has many projecting parts like feet, and resembles in figure a
tarantula, and is bounded by the following extreme points, namely, the
promontory[1321] at Zeleia, and that called Lectum; the former
terminates in the inland parts a little above Cyzicene (to the Cyziceni
belongs the present Zeleia), and Lectum projects into the Ægæan Sea, and
is met with in the coasting voyage from Tenedos to Lesbos.

“They (namely, Somnus and Juno) came, says Homer, to Ida,
abounding with springs, the nurse of wild beasts, to Lectum
where first they left the sea,”[1322]

where the poet describes Lectum in appropriate terms, for he says
correctly that Lectum is a part of Ida, and that this was the first
place of disembarkation for persons intending to ascend Mount Ida. [1323]
[He is exact in the epithet “abounding with springs;” for the mountain,
especially in that part, has a very large supply of water, which appears
from the great number of rivers which issue from it;

“all the rivers which rise in Ida, and proceed to the sea, the
Rhesus, and Heptaporus,”[1324]

and others, which he mentions afterwards, and which are now to be seen
by us. ]

In speaking of the projections like feet on each side of Ida, as Lectum,
and Zeleia,[1325] he distinguishes in proper terms [CAS. 584] the summit
Gargarum,[1326] calling it the top[1327] (of Ida), for there is now in
existence in the higher parts of Ida a place, from which the present
Gargara, an Æolian city, has its name.
Between Zeleia and Lectum,
proceeding from the Propontis, are first the parts extending to the
straits at Abydos. Then the parts below the Propontis, extending as far
as Lectum.

6. On doubling Lectum a large bay opens,[1328] formed by Mount Ida,
which recedes from Lectum, and by Canæ, the promontory opposite to
Lectum on the other side. Some persons call it the Bay of Ida, others
the Bay of Adramyttium. On this bay are situated the cities of the
Æolians, extending, as we have said, to the mouths of the Hermus. I have
mentioned also in a former part of my work, that in sailing from
Byzantium in a straight line towards the south, we first arrive at
Sestos and Abydos through the middle of the Propontis; then at the
sea-coast of Asia as far as Caria. The readers of this work ought to
attend to the following observation; although we mention certain bays on
this coast, they must understand the promontories also which form them,
situated on the same meridian. [1329]

7. Those who have paid particular attention to this subject conjecture,
from the expressions of the poet, that all this coast was subject to the
Trojans, when it was divided into nine dynasties, but that at the time
of the war it was under the sway of Priam, and called Troja. This
appears from the detail. Achilles and his army perceiving, at the
beginning of the war, that the inhabitants of Ilium were defended by
walls, carried on the war beyond them, made a circuit, and took the
places about the country;

“I sacked with my ships twelve cities, and eleven in the
fruitful land of Troja. ”[1330]

By Troja he means the continent which he had ravaged. Among other
places which had been plundered, was the country opposite Lesbos,--that
about Thebe, Lyrnessus, and Pedasus belonging to the Leleges, and the
territory also of Eurypylus, the son of Telephus;

“as when he slew with his sword the hero Eurypylus, the son of
Telephus;”[1331]

and Neoptolemus,

“the hero Eurypylus. ”

The poet says these places were laid waste, and even Lesbos;

“when he took the well-built Lesbos,”[1332]

and,

“he sacked Lyrnessus and Pedasus,”[1333]

and,

“laid waste Lyrnessus, and the walls of Thebe. ”[1334]

Briseïs was taken captive at Lyrnessus;

“whom he carried away from Lyrnessus. ”[1335]

In the capture of this place the poet says, Mynes and Epistrophus were
slain, as Briseïs mentions in her lament over Patroclus,

“Thou didst not permit me, when the swift-footed Achilles slew
my husband, and destroyed the city of the divine Mynes, to
make any lamentation;”[1336]

for by calling Lyrnessus “the city of the divine Mynes,” the poet
implies that it was governed by him who was killed fighting in its
defence.

Chryseïs was carried away from Thebe;

“we came to Thebe, the sacred city of Eetion,”[1337]

and Chryseïs is mentioned among the booty which was carried off from
that place.

Andromache, daughter of the magnanimous Eetion, Eetion king of
the Cilicians, who dwelt under the woody Placus at Thebe
Hypoplacia. [1338]

This is the second Trojan dynasty after that of Mynes, and in agreement
with what has been observed are these words of Andromache;[CAS. 585]

“Hector, wretch that I am; we were both born under the same
destiny; thou at Troja in the palace of Priam, but I at
Thebe. ”

The words are not to be understood in their direct sense, but by a
transposition; “both born in Troja, thou in the house of Priam, but I at
Thebe. ”

The third dynasty is that of the Leleges, which is also a Trojan
dynasty;

“of Altes, the king of the war-loving Leleges,”[1339]

by whose daughter Priam had Lycaon and Polydorus. Even the people, who
in the Catalogue are said to be commanded by Hector, are called Trojans;

“Hector, the mighty, with the nodding crest, commanded the
Trojans;”[1340]

then those under Æneas,

“the brave son of Anchises had the command of the Dardanii,”[1341]

and these were Trojans, for the poet says,

“Thou, Æneas, that counsellest Trojans;”[1342]

then the Lycians under the command of Pandarus he calls Trojans;

“Aphneian Trojans, who inhabited Zeleia at the farthest
extremity of Ida, who drink of the dark waters of Æsepus,
these were led by Pandarus, the illustrious son of
Lycaon. ”[1343]

This is the sixth dynasty.

The people, also, who lived between the Æsepus and Abydos were Trojans,
for the country about Abydos was governed by Asius;

“those who dwelt about Percote and Practius, at Sestos,
Abydos, and the noble Arisbe, were led by Asius, the son of
Hyrtacus. ”[1344]

Now it is manifest that a son of Priam, who had the care of his father’s
brood mares, dwelt at Abydos;

“he wounded the spurious son of Priam, Democoon, who came from
Abydos from the pastures of the swift mares. ”[1345]

At Percote,[1346] the son of Hicetaon was the herdsman of oxen, but not
of those belonging to strangers;

“first he addressed the brave son of Hicetaon, Melanippus, who
was lately tending the oxen in their pastures at
Percote. ”[1347]

so that this country also was part of the Troad, and the subsequent
tract as far as Adrasteia, for it was governed by

“the two sons of Merops of Percote. ”[1348]

All therefore were Trojans from Abydos to Adrasteia, divided, however,
into two bodies, one governed by Asius, the other by the Meropidæ, as
the country of the Cilicians is divided into the Thebaic and the
Lyrnessian Cilicia. To this district may have belonged the country under
the sway of Eurypylus, for it follows next to the Lyrnessis, or
territory of Lyrnessus. [1349]

That Priam[1350] was king of all these countries the words with which
Achilles addresses him clearly show;[CAS. 586]

“we have heard, old man, that your riches formerly consisted in
what Lesbos, the city of Macar, contained, and Phrygia above
it and the vast Hellespont. ”[1351]

8. Such was the state of the country at that time. Afterwards changes of
various kinds ensued. Phrygians occupied the country about Cyzicus as
far as Practius; Thracians, the country about Abydos; and Bebryces and
Dryopes, before the time of both these nations. The next tract of
country was occupied by Treres, who were also Thracians; the plain of
Thebe, by Lydians, who were then called Mæonians, and by the survivors
of the Mysians, who were formerly governed by Telephus and Teuthoras.

Since then the poet unites together Æolis and Troja, and since the
Æolians occupied all the country from the Hermus as far as the sea-coast
at Cyzicus, and founded cities, we shall not do wrong in combining in
one description Æolis, properly so called, (extending from the Hermus to
Lectum,) and the tract which follows, as far as the Æsepus;
distinguishing them again in speaking of them separately, and comparing
what is said of them by Homer and by other writers with their present
state.

9. According to Homer, the Troad begins from the city Cyzicus and the
river Æsepus. He speaks of it in this manner:

“Aphneian Trojans, who inhabited Zeleia at the farthest
extremity of Ida, who drink the dark waters of Æsepus, these
were led by Pandarus, the illustrious son of Lycaon. ”[1352]

These people he calls also Lycians. They had the name of Aphneii, it is
thought, from the lake Aphnitis, for this is the name of the lake
Dascylitis.

10. Now Zeleia is situated at the farthest extremity of the country
lying at the foot of Ida, and is distant 190 stadia from Cyzicus, and
about 80[1353] from the nearest sea, into which the Æsepus discharges
itself.

The poet then immediately gives in detail the parts of the sea-coast
which follow the Æsepus;

“those who occupied Adrasteia, and the territory of Apæsus,
and Pityeia and the lofty mountain Tereia, these were
commanded by Adrastus, and Amphius with the linen corslet, the
two sons of Merops of Percote,”[1354]

These places lie below Zeleia, and are occupied by Cyziceni, and
Priapeni as far as the sea-coast. The river Tarsius[1355] runs near
Zeleia; it is crossed twenty times on the same road, like the
Heptaporus, mentioned by the poet, which is crossed seven times. The
river flowing from Nicomedia to Nicæa is crossed four-and-twenty times;
the river which flows from Pholoe to Eleia, several times; [that flowing
from * * * * to Scardon,[1356]] five-and-twenty times; that running from
Coscinii to Alabanda, in many places, and the river flowing from Tyana
through the Taurus to Soli, is crossed seventy-five times.

11. Above the mouth of the Æsepus about * * stadia is a hill on which is
seen the sepulchre of Memnon, the son of Tithonus. Near it is the
village of Memnon. Between the Æsepus and Priapus flows the Granicus,
but for the most part it flows through the plain of Adrasteia, where
Alexander defeated in a great battle the satraps of Dareius, and
obtained possession of all the country within the Taurus and the
Euphrates.

On the banks of the Granicus was the city Sidene, with a large territory
of the same name. It is now in ruins.

Upon the confines of Cyzicene and Priapene is Harpagia, a place from
which, so says the fable, Ganymede was taken away by force. Others say
that it was at the promontory Dardanium, near Dardanus.

12. Priapus is a city on the sea, with a harbour. Some say that it was
built by Milesians, who, about the same time, founded Abydos and
Proconnesus; others, that it was built by Cyziceni. It has its name from
Priapus,[1357] who is worshipped there; either because his worship was
transferred thither from Orneæ near Corinth, or the inhabitants were
disposed to worship him because the god was said to be the son of
Bacchus and a nymph, for their country abounds with vines, as also the
country on their confines, namely, the territory of the Pariani and of
the Lampsaceni. It was for this reason that Xerxes assigned
Lampsacus[1358] to Themistocles to supply him with wine.

It was in later times that Priapus was considered as a god. [CAS. 588]
Hesiod for instance knew nothing of Priapus, and he resembles the
Athenian gods Orthane, Conisalus, Tychon, and others such as these.

13. This district was called Adrasteia, and the plain of Adrasteia,
according to the custom of giving two names to the same place, as Thebe,
and the plain of Thebe; Mygdonia, and the plain of Mygdonia.

Callisthenes says that Adrasteia had its name from King Adrastus, who
first built the temple of Nemesis. The city Adrasteia is situated
between Priapus and Parium, with a plain of the same name below it, in
which there was an oracle of the Actæan Apollo and Artemis near the
sea-shore. [1359] On the demolition of the temple, all the furniture and
the stone-work were transported to Parium, where an altar, the
workmanship of Hermocreon, remarkable for its size and beauty, was
erected, but the oracle, as well as that at Zeleia, was abolished. No
temple either of Adrasteia or Nemesis exists. But there is a temple of
Adrasteia near Cyzicus. Antimachus, however, says,

“There is a great goddess Nemesis, who has received all these
things from the immortals. Adrastus first raised an altar to
her honour on the banks of the river Æsepus, where she is
worshipped under the name of Adrasteia. ”

14. The city of Parium lies upon the sea, with a harbour larger than
that of Priapus, and has been augmented from the latter city; for the
Pariani paid court to the Attalic kings, to whom Priapene was subject,
and, by their permission, appropriated to themselves a large part of
that territory.

It is here the story is related that the Ophiogeneis have some affinity
with the serpent tribe (τοὺς ὄφεις). They say that the males of the
Ophiogeneis have the power of curing persons bitten by serpents by
touching them without intermission, after the manner of the enchanters.
They first transfer to themselves the livid colour occasioned by the
bite, and then cause the inflammation and pain to subside. According
to the fable, the founder of the race of Ophiogeneis, a hero, was
transformed from a serpent into a man. He was perhaps one of the
African Psylli. The power continued in the race for some time.

Parium was founded by Milesians, Erythræans, and Parians.

15. Pitya is situated in Pityus in the Parian district, and having
above it a mountain abounding with pine trees (πιτυῶδες); it is between
Parium and Priapus, near Linum, a place upon the sea, where the
Linusian cockles are taken, which excel all others.

16. In the voyage along the coast from Parium to Priapus are the ancient
and the present Proconnesus,[1360] with a city, and a large quarry of
white marble, which is much esteemed. The most beautiful works in the
cities in these parts, and particularly those in Cyzicus, are
constructed of this stone.

Aristeas, the writer of the poems called Arimaspeian, the greatest of
impostors, was of Proconnesus.

17. With respect to the mountain Tereia, some persons say that it is the
range of mountains in Peirossus, which the Cyziceni occupy, contiguous
to Zeleia, among which was a royal chase for the Lydian, and afterwards
for the Persian, kings. Others say that it was a hill forty stadia from
Lampsacus, on which was a temple sacred to the mother of the gods,
surnamed Tereia.

18. Lampsacus, situated on the sea, is a considerable city with a good
harbour, and, like Abydos, supports its state well. It is distant from
Abydos about 170 stadia. It had formerly, as they say Chios had, the
name of Pityusa. On the opposite territory in Cherronesus is
Callipolis,[1361] a small town. It is situated upon the shore, which
projects so far towards Asia opposite to Lampsacus that the passage
across does not exceed 40 stadia.

19. In the interval between Lampsacus and Parium was Pæsus, a city, and
a river Pæsus. [1362] The city was razed, and the Pæseni, who, as well as
the Lampsaceni, were a colony of Milesians, removed to Lampsacus. The
poet mentions the city with the addition of the first syllable,

“and the country of Apæsus;”[1363]

and without it,

“a man of great possessions, who lived at Pæsus;”[1364]

and this is still the name of the river.

Colonæ [CAS. 589] also is a colony of Milesians. It is situated above
Lampsacus, in the interior of the territory Lampsacene. There is another
Colonæ situated upon the exterior Hellespontic Sea, at the distance of
140 stadia from Ilium; the birth-place, it is said, of Cycnus.
Anaximenes mentions a Colonæ in the Erythræan territory, in Phocis, and
in Thessaly. Iliocolone is in the Parian district. In Lampsacene is a
place well planted with vines, called Gergithium, and there was a city
Gergitha, founded by the Gergithi in the Cymæan territory, where
formerly was a city called Gergitheis, (used in the plural number, and
of the feminine gender,) the birth-place of Cephalon[1365] the
Gergithian, and even now there exists a place in the Cymæan territory
called Gergithium, near Larissa.

Neoptolemus,[1366] surnamed the Glossographer, a writer of repute, was
of Parium. Charon,[1367] the Historian, was of Lampsacus.
Adeimantes,[1368] Anaximenes,[1369] the Rhetorician, and Metrodorus, the
friend of Epicurus, even Epicurus himself might be said to be a
Lampsacenian, having lived a long time at Lampsacus, and enjoyed the
friendship of Idomeneus and Leontes, the most distinguished of its
citizens.

It was from Lampsacus that Agrippa transported the Prostrate Lion, the
workmanship of Lysippus, and placed it in the sacred grove between the
lake[1370] and the strait.

20. Next to Lampsacus is Abydos, and the intervening places, of which
the poet speaks in such a manner as to comprehend both Lampsacene and
some parts of Pariane, for, in the Trojan times, the above cities were
not yet in existence:

“those who inhabited Percote, Practius, Sestos, Abydos, and
the famed Arisbe, were led by Asius, the son of
Hyrtacus,”[1371]

who, he says,

“came from Arisbe, from the river Selleïs in a chariot drawn
by large and furious coursers;”

implying by these words that Arisbe was the royal seat of Asius, whence,
he says, he came,

“drawn by coursers from the river Selleïs. ”

But these places are so little known, that writers do not agree among
themselves about their situation, except that they are near Abydos,
Lampsacus, and Parium, and that the name of the last place was changed
from Percope to Percote.

21. With respect to the rivers, the poet says that the Selleïs flows
near Arisbe, for Asius came from Arisbe and the river Selleïs. Practius
is a river, but no city of that name, as some have thought, is to be
found. This river runs between Abydos and Lampsacus; the words,
therefore,

“and dwelt near Practius,”

must be understood of the river, as these expressions of the poet,

“they dwelt near the sacred waters of Cephisus,”[1372]

and

“they occupied the fertile land about the river Parthenius. ”[1373]

There was also in Lesbos a city called Arisba, the territory belonging
to which was possessed by the Methymnæans. There is a river Arisbus in
Thrace, as we have said before, near which are situated the Cabrenii
Thracians. There are many names common to Thracians and Trojans, as
Scæi, a Thracian tribe, a river Scæus, a Scæan wall, and in Troy, Scæan
gates. There are Thracians called Xanthii, and a river Xanthus in Troja;
an Arisbus which discharges itself into the Hebrus,[1374] and an Arisbe
in Troja; a river Rhesus in Troja, and Rhesus, a king of the Thracians.
The poet mentions also another Asius, besides the Asius of Arisbe,

“who was the maternal uncle of the hero Hector, own brother of
Hecuba, and son of Dymas who lived in Phrygia on the banks of
the Sangarius. ”[1375]

22. Abydos was founded by Milesians by permission of Gyges, king of
Lydia; for those places and the whole of the Troad were under his sway.
There is a promontory near [CAS. 591] Dardanus called Gyges. Abydos is
situated upon the mouth of the Propontis and the Hellespont, and is at
an equal distance from Lampsacus and Ilium, about 170 stadia. At Abydos
is the Hepta Stadium, (or strait of seven stadia,) the shores of which
Xerxes united by a bridge. It separates Europe from Asia. The extremity
of Europe is called Cherronesus, from its figure; it forms the straits
at the Zeugma (or Junction)[1376] which is opposite to Abydos.

Sestos is the finest[1377] city in the Cherronesus, and from its
proximity to Abydos was placed under the command of the same governor,
at a time when the same limits were not assigned to the governments and
to the continents. Sestos and Abydos are distant from each other, from
harbour to harbour, about 30 stadia. The Zeugma is a little beyond the
cities; on the side of the Propontis, beyond Abydos, and on the opposite
side, beyond Sestos. There is a place near Sestos, called Apobathra,
where the raft was fastened. Sestos lies nearer the Propontis, and above
the current which issues from it; whence the passage is more easy from
Sestos by deviating a little towards the tower of Hero, when, letting
the vessel go at liberty, the stream assists in effecting the crossing
to the other side. In crossing from Abydos to the other side persons
must sail out in the contrary direction, to the distance of about eight
stadia towards a tower which is opposite Sestos; they must then take an
oblique course, and the current will not be entirely against them.

After the Trojan war, Abydos was inhabited by Thracians, then by
Milesians. When the cities on the Propontis were burnt by Dareius,
father of Xerxes, Abydos shared in the calamity. Being informed, after
his return from Scythia, that the Nomades were preparing to cross over
to attack him, in revenge for the treatment which they had experienced,
he set fire to these cities, apprehending that they would assist in
transporting the Scythian army across the strait.

In addition to other changes of this kind, those occasioned by time are
a cause of confusion among places.

We spoke before of Sestos, and of the whole of the Cherronesus, when we
described Thrace. Theopompus says that Sestos is a small but
well-fortified place, and is connected with the harbour by a wall of two
plethra in extent, and for this reason, and by its situation above the
current, it commands the passage of the strait.

23. In the Troad, above the territory of Abydos is Astyra, which now
belongs to the Abydeni,--a city in ruins, but it was formerly an
independent place, and had gold-mines, which are now nearly exhausted,
like those in Mount Tmolus near the Pactolus.

From Abydos to the Æsepus are, it is said, about 700 stadia, but not so
much in sailing in a direct line.

24. Beyond Abydos are the parts about Ilium, the sea-coast as far as
Lectum, the places in the Trojan plain, and the country at the foot of
Ida, which was subject to Æneas. The poet names the Dardanii in two
ways, speaking of them as

“Dardanii governed by the brave son of Anchises,”[1378]

calling them Dardanii, and also Dardani;

“Troes, and Lycii, and close-fighting Dardani. ”[1379]

It is probable that the Dardania,[1380] so called by the poet, was
anciently situated there;

“Dardanus, the son of cloud-compelling Jupiter, founded
Dardania:”[1381]

at present there is not a vestige of a city.

25. Plato conjectures that, after the deluges, three kinds of
communities were established; the first on the heights of the mountains,
consisting of a simple and savage race, who had taken refuge there
through dread of the waters, which overflowed the plains; the second, at
the foot of the mountains, who regained courage by degrees, as the
plains began to dry; the third, in the plains. But a fourth, and perhaps
a fifth, or more communities might be supposed to be formed, the last of
which might be on the sea-coast, and in the islands, after all fear of
deluge was dissipated. For as men approached the sea with a greater or
less degree of courage, we should have greater variety in forms of
government, diversity also in manners and habits, according [CAS. 593]
as a simple and savage people assumed the milder character of the second
kind of community. There is, however, a distinction to be observed even
among these, as of rustic, half rustic, and of civilized people. Among
these finally arose a gradual change, and an assumption of names,
applied to polished and high character, the result of an improved moral
condition produced by a change of situation and mode of life. Plato says
that the poet describes these differences, alleging as an example of the
first form of society the mode of life among the Cyclops, who subsisted
on the fruits of the earth growing spontaneously, and who occupied
certain caves in the heights of mountains;

“all things grow there,” he says, “without sowing seed, and
without the plough.

But they have no assemblies for consulting together, nor
administration of laws, but live on the heights of lofty
mountains, in deep caves, and each gives laws to his wife and
children. ”[1382]

As an example of the second form of society, he alleges the mode of life
under Dardanus;

“he founded Dardania; for sacred Ilium was not yet a city in
the plain with inhabitants, but they still dwelt at the foot
of Ida abounding with streams. ”[1383]

An example of the third state of society is taken from that in the time
of Ilus, when the people inhabited the plains. He is said to have been
the founder of Ilium, from whom the city had its name. It is probable
that for this reason he was buried in the middle of the plain, because
he first ventured to make a settlement in it,

“they rushed through the middle of the plain by the wild
fig-tree near the tomb of ancient Ilus, the son of
Dardanus. ”[1384]

He did not, however, place entire confidence in the situation, for he
did not build the city where it stands at present, but nearly thirty
stadia higher to the east, towards Ida, and Dardania, near the present
village of the Ilienses. The present Ilienses are ambitious of having it
supposed that theirs is the ancient city, and have furnished a subject
of discussion to those who form their conjectures from the poetry of
Homer; but it does not seem to be the city meant by the poet. Other
writers also relate, that the city had frequently changed its place,
but at last about the time of Crœsus it became stationary. Such changes,
which then took place, from higher to lower situations, mark the
differences, I conceive, which followed in the forms of government and
modes of life. But we must examine this subject elsewhere.

26. The present city of Ilium was once, it is said, a village,
containing a small and plain temple of Minerva; that Alexander,
after[1385] his victory at the Granicus, came up, and decorated the
temple with offerings, gave it the title of city, and ordered those who
had the management of such things to improve it with new buildings; he
declared it free and exempt from tribute. Afterwards, when he had
destroyed the Persian empire, he sent a letter, expressed in kind terms,
in which he promised the Ilienses to make theirs a great city, to build
a temple of great magnificence, and to institute sacred games.

After the death of Alexander, it was Lysimachus who took the greatest
interest in the welfare of the place; built a temple, and surrounded the
city with a wall of about 40 stadia in extent. He settled here the
inhabitants of the ancient cities around, which were in a dilapidated
state. It was at this time that he directed his attention to
Alexandreia, founded by Antigonus, and surnamed Antigonia, which was
altered (into Alexandreia). For it appeared to be an act of pious duty
in the successors of Alexander first to found cities which should bear
his name, and afterwards those which should be called after their own.
Alexandreia continued to exist, and became a large place; at present it
has received a Roman colony, and is reckoned among celebrated cities.

27. The present Ilium was a kind of village-city, when the Romans first
came into Asia and expelled Antiochus the Great from the country within
the Taurus. Demetrius of Scepsis says that, when a youth, he came, in
the course of his travels, to this city, about that time, and saw the
houses so neglected that even the roofs were without tiles.
Hegesianax[1386] also relates, that the Galatians, who crossed over from
Europe, being in want of some stronghold, went up to the city, but
immediately left it, when they saw that it was not fortified with a
wall; afterwards it underwent great reparation and [CAS. 595]
improvement. It was again injured by the Romans under the command of
Fimbrias. They took it by siege in the Mithridatic war. Fimbrias was
sent as quæstor, with the consul Valerius Flaccus, who was appointed to
carry on the war against Mithridates. But having excited a sedition, and
put the consul to death in Bithynia, he placed himself at the head of
the army and advanced towards Ilium, where the inhabitants refused to
admit him into the city, as they regarded him as a robber. He had
recourse to force, and took the city on the eleventh day. When he was
boasting that he had taken a city on the eleventh day, which Agamemnon
had reduced with difficulty in the tenth year of the siege with a fleet
of a thousand vessels, and with the aid of the whole of Greece, one of
the Ilienses replied, “We had no Hector to defend the city. ”

Sylla afterwards came, defeated Fimbrias, and dismissed Mithridates,
according to treaty, into his own territory. Sylla conciliated the
Ilienses by extensive repairs of their city. In our time divus Cæsar
showed them still more favour, in imitation of Alexander. He was
inclined to favour them, for the purpose of renewing his family
connexion with the Ilienses, and as an admirer of Homer.

There exists a corrected copy of the poems of Homer, called “the
casket-copy. ” Alexander perused it in company with Callisthenes and
Anaxarchus, and having made some marks and observations deposited it in
a casket[1387] of costly workmanship which he found among the Persian
treasures. On account then of his admiration of the poet and his descent
from the Æacidæ, (who were kings of the Molossi, whose queen they say
was Andromache, afterwards the wife of Hector,) Alexander treated the
Ilienses with kindness.

But Cæsar, who admired the character of Alexander, and had strong proofs
of his affinity to the Ilienses, had the greatest possible desire to be
their benefactor. The proofs of his affinity to the Ilienses were
strong, first as being a Roman,--for the Romans consider Æneas to be the
founder of their race,--next he had the name of Julius, from Iulus, one
of his ancestors, a descendant of Æneas. He therefore assigned to them
a district, and guaranteed their liberty with exemption from imposts,
and they continue at present to enjoy these advantages. They maintain by
this evidence that the ancient Ilium, even by Homer’s account, was not
situated there. I must however first describe the places which commence
from the sea-coast, where I made the digression.