Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/325

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B. IV. C. VI. § 12.
THE ALPS.
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though not in such large quantities. The same writer, speaking of the extent and height of the Alps, compares with them the largest mountains of Greece, such as Taygetum,[p 1] Lycæum,[1] Parnassus,[p 2] Olympus,[2] Pelion,[p 3] Ossa,[3] and of Thrace, as the Hæmus, Rhodope, and Dunax, saying that an active person might almost ascend any of these in a single day, and go round them in the same time, whereas five days would not be sufficient to ascend the Alps, while their length along the plains extends 2200 stadia.[4] He only names four passes over the mountains, one through Liguria close to the Tyrrhenian Sea,[5] a second through the country of the Taurini,[6] by which Hannibal passed, a third through the country of the Salassi,[p 4] and a fourth through that of the Rhæti,[7] all of them precipitous. In these mountains, he says, there are numerous lakes; three large ones, the first of which is Benacus,[p 5] 500 stadia in length and 130 in breadth, the river Mincio flows from it. The second is the Verbanus,[p 6] 400 stadia [in length], and in breadth smaller than the preceding;

  1. ↑ In Arcadia, some suppose it to be the modern Tetragi, others Diaphorti, and others Mintha.
  2. ↑ Olympus is a mountain range of Thessaly, bordering on Macedonia, its summit is thirty miles north of Larissa, in lat. 40° 4′ 32″ N., long. 22° 25′ E. Its estimated height is 9745 feet.
  3. ↑ Now Kissovo; it is situated to the east of the river Peneus, immediately north of Mount Pelion, and bounds the celebrated vale of Tempe on one side.
  4. ↑ Gosselin observes, both Polybius and Strabo extended the Alps from the neighbourhood of Marseilles to beyond the Adriatic Gulf, a distance twice 2200 stadia. It appears probable from the words of Polybius himself, (lib. ii. c. 14,) that he merely intended to state the length of the plains situated at the foot of the mountains, which bound Italy on the north; and in fact the distance in a right line from the foot of the Alps about Rivoli or Pignerol to Rovigo, and the marshes formed at the mouths of the Adige and Po, is 63 leagues, or 2200 stadia of 700 to a degree.
  5. ↑ This route passes from Tortona, by Vadi, Albinga, Vintimille, and Monaco, where it crosses the maritime Alps, and thence to Nice, Antibes, &c. Gosselin.
  6. ↑ This route passes by Briançon, Mont Genèvre, the Col de Sestrière, and the Val Progelas.
  7. ↑ This route, starting from Milan, passed east of the lake of Como by Coire, and then by Bregentz to the Lake of Constance.
  1. ↑ A mountain of Laconia.
  2. ↑ In Phocis, Iapara, or Liokura.
  3. ↑ Petras or Zagora.
  4. ↑ The passage by the Val Aouste.
  5. ↑ The Lago di Garda.
  6. ↑ Lago Maggiore.
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