Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/109

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CHAP. III. § 21.
INTRODUCTION.
95

Thronium[1] more than half that number. That a torrent of water gushed forth taking three directions, one to Scarphe and Thronium, another to Thermopylæ, and a third to the plains of Daphnus in Phocis. That the springs of [many] rivers were for several days dried up; that the course of the Sperchius[2] was changed, thus rendering navigable what formerly were highways; that the Boagrius[3] flowed through another channel; that many parts of Alope, Cynus, and Opus were injured,[4] and the castle of Œum, which commands the latter city, entirely overturned. That part of the wall of Elateia[5] was thrown down; and that at Alponus,[6] during the celebration of the games in honour of Ceres, twenty-five maidens, who had mounted a tower to enjoy the show exhibited in the port, were precipitated into the sea by the falling of the tower. They also record that a large fissure was made [by the water] through the midst of the island of Atalanta,[p 1] opposite Eubœa,[p 2] sufficient for ships to sail in; that the course of the channel was in places as broad as twenty stadia between the plains; and that a trireme being raised [thereby] out of the docks, was carried over the walls.

21. Those who desire to instil into us that more perfect freedom from [ignorant] wonder, which Democritus and all other philosophers so highly extol, should add the changes which have been produced by the migrations of various tribes: we should thus be inspired with courage, steadiness, and composure. For instance, the Western Iberians,[7] removed to the regions beyond the Euxine and Colchis, being separated from

  1. ↑ A town close to Scarpheia; its ruins are said to be still visible at Palaio Kastro.
  2. ↑ Now Agriomela or Ellada, a river descending from Mount Œta, and emptying itself into the Bay of Zeitoun.
  3. ↑ A torrent near Thronium; its present name is Boagrio.
  4. ↑ Three cities of the Opuntian Locrians; Cynus, the port of Opus, is now called Kyno.
  5. ↑ One of the principal cities of Phocis, near the river Cephissus; a little village called Leuta stands on the ancient site.
  6. ↑ Probably the Alpene in Locris mentioned by Herodotus.
  7. ↑ The Western Iberians are the people who inhabited Spain, and were said to have removed into Eastern Iberia, a country situated in the centre of the isthmus which separates the Euxine from the Caspian Sea. The district is now called Carduel, and is a region of Georgia.
  1. ↑ The modern Talanta.
  2. ↑ Egripo.
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