Читать книгу The Natural History of Pliny (Vol. 1-6) - Pliny the Elder - Страница 257

2566 He alludes to the poetical story of Tereus, king of Thrace, Progne, and Philomela. Aldrovandus suggests that the real cause of the absence of the swallow is the great prevalence here of northern winds, to which they have an aversion.

2567 So called probably from the Thracian tribe of the Cænici, or Cæni.

2568 Now called Erkene, a tributary of the Hebrus.

2569 All that is known of it is, that it is mentioned as a fortress on the Propontis.

2570 Hexamila now occupies its site.

2571 The isthmus or neck of the Peninsula of Gallipoli, or the Dardanelles.

2572 That of Corinth. They are both about five miles wide at the narrowest part.

2573 Now Cardia, or Caridia. It was the birth-place of king Eumenes.

2574 From καρδία, in consequence of its supposed resemblance to a heart.

2575 Lysimachus destroyed Cardia, and, building Lysimachia, peopled it with the inhabitants.

2576 Mannert identities it with the ancient Ægos and the modern Galata.

2577 More generally called Ægospotamos, the “Goat River,” upon which the town of Ægos stood. It was here that Lysander defeated the Athenian fleet, B.C. 405, which put an end to the Peloponnesian war.

2578 Antoninus, in his Itinerary, makes this distance twenty-six miles.

2579 B. ii. c. 92. The present Straits of Gallipoli.

2580 Now Gallipoli, a place of considerable commercial importance.

2581 Now Ialova; famous in Grecian poetry, with Abydos, for the loves of Hero and Leander.

2582 Now Lamsaki.

2583 The village of Aidos, or Avido, probably marks its site. To the north, Xerxes passed over to Sestos on his bridge of boats, B.C. 480.

2584 Now Capo Helles.

2585 Now Jeni-Hisari, the N.W. promontory of Troas. Here Homer places the Grecian camp during the Trojan war.

2586 Meaning the “Bitch’s tomb,” the fable being that Hecuba, in her old age, was changed into that animal. It was near the town of Madytus.

2587 Meaning that their fleet was anchored off here during the Trojan war.

2588 A magnificent temple was erected near his tomb at Eleus, where he also had a sacred grove. It was greatly enriched by the votive offerings of Greek travellers. According to D’Anville, its site lay to the south of Mastusia.

2589 Now called Kilidbahr. Near this place the Spartans were defeated by the Athenians, who erected a trophy near the tomb of Hecuba.

2590 In the present Chapter; where he says that the distance from Byzantium to Dyrrhachium is 711 miles. See p. 305.

2591 Αἲξ, “a goat.” Other authors give other derivations for the name of Ægean,—from the town of Ægæ in Eubœa, or from Ægeus, the father of Theseus, who threw himself into it; or from Ægæa, a queen of the Amazons, who perished there; or from Ægæon, a god of the sea; or from the Greek αἰγὶς, “a squall,” on account of its storms.

2592 See c. 5 of this Book.

2593 Both places in Eubœa, mentioned in c. 21 of this Book.

2594 Now Corfu. Of its city of Corcyra only a few ruins now exist.

2595 There are still some remains of it near the village called Cassopo.

2596 Now Fano, or Merlere.

2597 Now Paxo and Antipaxo.

2598 On the contrary, they lie at the other end of the isle of Corcyra. Some of them are mere rocks, and cannot be distinguished by their ancient names. The present names of four are Sametraki, Diaplo, Boaia, and the Isle of Ulysses.

2599 Now Capo Drasti.

2600 Now Capo Levkimo. The islands are those of Santo Niccolo.

2601 Or Islands of the Teleboans.

2602 These three seem to be those now called Magnisi, Kalamota, and Kastus. These lie facing the promontory of Leucadia, the others opposite Ætolia.

2603 Opposite Acarnania: by the Venetians they were called the Islands of Kurtzolari. Some of them are cultivated, others again are mere rocks.

2604 Now called Cephallenia.

2605 Now Zante.

2606 Now Thiaki, or Cefalogna Piccola—Little Cephallenia.

2607 The general opinion is, that Strabo is right in identifying this island with one of the Echinades; but it seems impossible now to say which of them was so called.

2608 Sometimes confounded with Cephallenia; but, according to Virgil and Mela, as well as Pliny, they were different islands.

2609 Crocylæa was a town of Acarnania, referred to by Homer; and there was a district of Ithaca called Crocylcium. Pliny is probably in error in mentioning Crocyle as an island.

2610 Or the “Black Island;” probably from its thick foliage.

2611 Pale, Cranii, and Proni.

2612 So called from its fir-trees. It now has the name of Scopo.

2613 Now Monte Stefano.

2614 See c. 6 of this Book.

2615 Supposed by some writers to be the same with the rocky isle now called Dyscallio. Though mentioned by Homer, its existence was disputed by many of the ancient commentators.

2616 The modern Strivali and Stamphane.

2617 The present Guardiania, according to Lapie.

2618 According to Ansart, these were Prote, now Prodano, and Sphagia, formerly Sphacteria, before Pylos, now called Zonchio, or Old Navarino; the third being perhaps the isle of Bechli, in the Bay of Navarino.

2619 Now called Sapienza, Santa Maria, and Cabrera.

2620 Venetico and Formignes are the names of two of them.

2621 Now Servi.

2622 The modern Cerigo.

2623 It is much further from the Cape of Malea or Santo Angelo than the distance here mentioned. It derived its name of Porphyris from the purple fishery established here by the Phœnicians.

2624 The modern Isle of Port Tolon. Irine is the present Hipsyli according to Leake, who also identifies Ephyre with Spetzia.

2625 At the south of Argolis.

2626 The modern Dhoko, according to Leake. Some authorities think that Tiparenus, and not Ephyre, is the modern Spetzia.

2627 Leake thinks that Colonis and Hydreia, now called Hydra, were the same island; but Kiepert thinks it the same as the small island to the south of Spetzia.

2628 Now Poros.

2629 These are the islands now called Moni Jorench, Kophinidia, and San Giorgio d’Arbora. It is perhaps impossible to identify them, except that Belbina is generally supposed to be the island of San Giorgio.

2630 Now Kyra.

2631 The modern Angistri.

2632 Which name, or Eghina, it still retains.

2633 See c. 9 of this Book.

2634 Probably the modern Laoussa, one of this group.

2635 By Brotier said to be the modern Pentenesia. The other islands here mentioned seem not to have been identified.

2636 Now Cerigotto.

2637 Dalechamps suggests Hesperus.

2638 The island “of the Blessed.”

2639 Now Capo Salomon.

2640 From the Greek κριοῦ μέτωπον, “the ram’s forehead”; now called Capo Crio.

2641 Also called Elæa. Pococke speaks of it as a promontory called Chaule-burnau.

2642 Hardouin calls it Chisamo.

2643 The modern Khania. The quince derived its Latin name, “Malum Cydonium,” from this district, to which it was indigenous. From its Latin name it was called melicotone by the writers of the Elizabethan period.

2644 Now Minolo, according to Hardouin.

2645 The port of Apteron, or Aptera, which Mr. Pashley supposes to be denoted by the ruins of Palæokastro; he also thinks that its port was at or near the modern Kalyres.

2646 Now La Suda, according to Hardouin, who says that Rhithymna is called Retimo; Panormus, Panormo; and Cytæum, Setia.

2647 Supposed by Ansart to have stood in the vicinity of the modern city of Candia.

2648 Strabo says that it stood on the narrowest part of the island, opposite Minoa. Vestiges of it have been found at the Kastéle of Hierapetra. Its foundation was ascribed to the Corybantes.

2649 Now Lionda.

2650 Next to Cnossus in splendour and importance. Mr. Pashley places its site near the modern Haghius Dheka, the place of the martyrdom of the ten Saints, according to tradition, in the Decian persecution.

2651 It has been remarked, that Pliny is mistaken here if he intends to enumerate Cnossus among the towns of the interior of Crete. The only remains of this capital of Crete, situate on the north of the island, are those seen at Makro-Teikho, or the “Long Walls,” so called from the masses of Roman brick-work there seen.

2652 Though an inland town, it probably stood in the vicinity of the headland or promontory of the same name, which is now called Kavo Stavro. Many of these names are utterly unknown.

2653 One of the most important towns of Crete, on the N.W. slope of Mount Ida, about fifty stadia from the port of Astale. Mr. Pashley says that some remains probably of this place are still to be seen on a hill near a place called Eletherna, five miles south of the great convent of Arkadhi.

2654 The loftiest point of the mountain-range that traverses the island of Crete from west to east. Its head is covered with snow. The modern name is Psiloriti, looking down on the plain of Mesara. The word Ida is supposed to mean a mountain in which mines are worked, and the Idæi Dactyli of Crete were probably among the first workers in iron and bronze. The position of Mount Cadistus, belonging to the range of White Mountains, has been fixed by Hoeck at Cape Spadha, the most northerly point of the island. It is thought that Pliny and Solinus are in error in speaking of Cadistus and Dictynnæus as separate peaks, these being, both of them, names of the mountain of which the cape was formed; the latter name having been given in later times, from the worship and temple there of Dictynna.

2655 Now Grabusa, the N.W. promontory of Crete.

2656 Now Ras-al-Sem, or Cape Rasat, in Africa. The distance, according to Brotier, is in reality about 225 miles.

2657 Now Skarpanto.

2658 According to Hardouin, all of these are mere rocks rather than islands.

2659 The modern Haghios Theodhoros.

2660 According to Hoeck, they are now called Turlure.

2661 Now called Standiu.

2662 Now Capo Xacro, on the east, though Cape Salomon, further north, has been suggested. In the latter case, the Grandes islands would correspond with Onisia and Leuce, mentioned by Pliny.

2663 Now Gaidurognissa. None of the other islands here mentioned seem to have been identified.

2664 Between Eubœa and Locris. They are now called Ponticonesi.

2665 Now Koluri. It is memorable for the naval battle fought off its coast, when Xerxes was defeated by the Greeks, B.C. 480.

2666 Now called Lypsokutali.

2667 Now Makronisi, or “the Long Island.” Its ancient name was also Macris. Strabo identifies it with the Homeric Cranaë, to which Paris fled with Helen.

2668 Usually called Cea, one of the Cyclades, about thirteen miles S.E. of Sunium. Its modern name is Zea. Iulis was the most important town, and the birth-place of the poets Simonides and Bacchylides, of the sophist Prodicus, the physician Erasistratus, and the Peripatetic philosopher Ariston. Extensive remains of it still exist.

2669 There are considerable remains of this town, called by the inhabitants Stais Palais.

2670 Or Coresia. It was the harbour of Iulis, to which place we learn from Strabo that its inhabitants were transferred.

2671 On the S.W. side of the island. Its ruins are inconsiderable, but retain their ancient name.

2672 Now called Eubœa, as also Egripo, or Negropont,—a corruption of the former word and “pont,” “a bridge.”

2673 Hardouin speaks of this as existing in his time, 1670, and being 250 feet in length. It is supposed to have been first constructed about B.C. 411, for the purpose of uninterrupted communication with Bœotia.

2674 Now Capo Mandili.

2675 Now Kavo Doro, or Xylofago.

2676 Now Lithadha, with a mountain 2837 feet above the sea.

2677 These measurements are not exactly correct. The length from north to south is about ninety miles; the extreme breadth across, thirty, and in one part, not more than four miles.

2678 Still extant in the time of Strabo, who speaks of it as an inconsiderable place.

2679 Its site is now called Lipso. It contained warm baths sacred to Hercules, and used by the Dictator Sylla. They are still to be seen.

2680 Now Egripo, or Negropont, having given name to the rest of the island. The Euripus is here only forty yards across, being crossed by a bridge, partly of stone, partly of wood. The poet Lycophron and the orator Isæus were natives of this place, and Aristotle died here.

2681 Near the promontory of that name, now Capo Mandili. In the town there was a famous temple of Poseidon, or Neptune. According to Hardouin, the modern name is Iastura.

2682 One of the most powerful cities of Eubœa. It was destroyed by the Persians under Darius, and a new town was built to the south of the old one. New Eretria stood, according to Leake, at the modern Kastri, and old Eretria in the neighbourhood of Vathy. The tragic poet Achæus, a contemporary of Æschylus, was born here; and a school of philosophy was founded at this place by Menedemus, a disciple of Plato.

2683 Now Karysto, on the south of the island, at the foot of Mount Ocha, upon which are supposed to have been its quarries of marble. There are but few remains of the ancient city. The historian Antigonus, the comic poet Apollodorus, and the physician Diocles, were natives of this place.

2684 Probably on the promontory of the same name. It was off this coast that the Greek fleet engaged that of Xerxes, B.C. 480.

2685 There were tame fish kept in this fountain; and its waters were sometimes disturbed by volcanic agency. Leake says that it has now totally disappeared.

2686 From the fact of its producing copper, and of its being in shape long and narrow.

2687 Strabo remarks, that Homer calls its inhabitants Abantes, while he gives to the island the name of Eubœa. The poets say that it took its name from the cow (Βοῦς) Io, who gave birth to Epaphus on this island.

2688 Hardouin remarks here, that Pliny, Strabo, Mela, and Pausanias use the term “Myrtoan Sea,” as meaning that portion of it which lies between Crete and Attica, while Ptolemy so calls the sea which lies off the coast of Caria.

2689 Now called Spitilus, and the group of Micronisia, or “Little Islands,” according to Hardouin.

2690 From κύκλος, “a circle.”

2691 Now Andro. It gives name to one of the comedies of Terence. The ruins of the ancient city were found by the German traveller Ross, who has published a hymn to Isis, in hexameter verse, which he discovered here. It was famous for its wines.

2692 Now Tino.

2693 From its abounding in snakes (ὄφεις) and scorpions.

2694 Now Mycono, south-east of Tenos and east of Delos. It was famous in ancient mythology as one of the places where Hercules was said to have defeated the Giants. It was also remarkable for the great proportion of bald persons among its inhabitants.

2695 So called from its resemblance to two breasts, μαζοι.

2696 Wheeler says that the distance is but three miles; Tournefort, six.

2697 Once famous for its gold and silver mines, but equally notorious for the bad character of its people. It is now called Siphno.

2698 Now Serpho, lying between Cythnos and Siphnus.

2699 Now Fermina, according to Hardouin.

2700 Between Ceos and Seriphus. It is now called Thermia. Cydias the painter was born here, and it was famous for its cheeses. Its modern name is derived from its hot springs, which are much frequented.

2701 Still called Delos; and, though so celebrated, nothing more than a mere rock, five miles in circumference.

2702 That is, according to Varro, whose statement is ridiculed by Seneca. Some of the editors, however, punctuate this passage differently, making it to mean, “the only island that has never experienced an earthquake. Mucianus however has informed us, that down to the time of M. Varro, it has been twice so visited.”

2703 From its then becoming δῆλος, “plain,” or “manifest.” It was after the fall of Corinth that Delos became so famous for its commerce. Its bronze was in great request.

2704 From ὄρτυξ, “a quail”; the legend being, that Latona was changed into that bird by Jupiter, in order to effect her escape thither from the anger of Juno. Its name of Asteria was derived from ἄστρον, “a star,” either in consequence of its being devoted to the worship of the great luminary Apollo, or of its being considered by the gods the star of the earth. It was also called Lagia, from λαγὼς, “a hare,” that animal abounding there; and Cynæthus, from κύων, “a dog,” it being famous for its hounds.

2705 A bare granite rock, not more than 500 feet in height. The island is now a mass of ruins; a great part of its remains having been carried away in the middle ages to Venice and Constantinople.

2706 Divided by a strait of four stadia in width from Delos. Nicias connected the two islands by a bridge. Its name of Celadussa was said to be derived from the noise of the waves, κέλαδος, and of Artemite, from Artemis, or Diana.

2707 Now Syra; famous for its wine and corn.

2708 Now Antiparos; famous for its stalactite grotto, which is not mentioned by the ancient writers.

2709 Now Paro; south of Delos and west of Naxos. The ruins of its town are still to be seen at the modern Paroikia. The Parian Chronicle, inscribed on marble, and containing a chronicle of Grecian history from Cecrops, B.C. 1582, to B.C. 264, was found here. It is preserved at Oxford.

2710 Chiefly obtained from a mountain called Marpessa.

2711 Now Naxia, famous both in ancient and modern times for its remarkable fertility.

2712 From στρογγύλος, “round,” its shape being somewhat inclined to circular, though by Eustathius it is compared to the shape of a vine-leaf. It is commonly called Dia by the poets. Tournefort says that it is distant forty miles from Delos.