Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/499

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B. VII. C. V. § 7, 8.
THE ADRIATIC.
485

was infested by their piracies, and compelled them to cultivate the ground; but as the country was rugged and barren, and not adapted to husbandry, the nation was entirely ruined and nearly extinguished. The same happened to other neighbouring nations. People formerly very powerful are extinct, or were reduced to the lowest condition, as the Boii and Scordisci among the Galatæ; the Autariatæ, Ardiæi, and Dardanii, among the Illyrians; and the Triballi among the Thracians. They first declined in consequence of disputes amongst themselves, but were finally prostrated by wars with the Macedonians and Romans.

7. After the termination of the coast of the Ardiæi and Pleræi is the bay of the Rhizæi, a city Rhizon,[p 1] other small towns, and the river Drilon,[p 2] which may be navigated up its stream towards the east as far as Dardanica. This country is situated close to the Macedonian and Pæonian nations, towards the south, as also the Autariatæ and the Dasaretii are in parts contiguous to one another [and to the Autariatæ].[1] To the Dardaniatæ belong the Galabrii,[2] in whose territory is an ancient city; and the Thunatæ, who approach on the east close to the Mædi,[3] a Thracian tribe.

The Dardanii are entirely a savage people, so much so that they dig caves beneath dungheaps, in which they dwell; yet they are found of music, and are much occupied in playing upon pipes and on stringed instruments. They inhabit the inland parts of the country, and we shall mention them again in another place.

8. After the bay of Rhizon[p 3] is Lissus,[p 4] a city, Acrolissus,[p 5] and Epidamnus, the present Dyrrhachium,[p 6] founded by Corcyræans, and bearing the name of the peninsula on which it

  1. ↑ Kramer suggests the omission of these words, which render the passage obscure.
  2. ↑ Galabrii. The name of this people is unknown. Probably it should be changed to Taulantii, an Illyrian tribe, or considered as a second name of the Taulantii, or that of a tribe belonging to them. The name Galabrus, or Galaurus, king of the Taulantii, has come down to us, which gives some probability to the second conjecture. C.
  3. ↑ The Mædi occupied the mountains which separate Macedonia from Thrace, between the river Strymon and Mount Rhodope. G.
  1. ↑ Risano in the Gulf of Cataro.
  2. ↑ The river Drin.
  3. ↑ The Gulf of Cataro.
  4. ↑ Alesso.
  5. ↑ A fortified rock near.
  6. ↑ Durazzo.
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