Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/504

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
490
STRABO.
CASAUB. 319.

distance of 500 stadia, Ister,[p 1] a small town founded by Milesians; then Tomis,[p 2] another small town, at the distance of 250 stadia; then Callatis,[p 3] a city, a colony of the Heracleotæ, at 280 stadia; then, at 1300 stadia, Apollonia,[p 4] a colony of Milesians, having the greater part of the buildings upon a small island, where is a temple of Apollo, whence Marcus Lucullus took the Colossus of Apollo, the work of Calamides, and dedicated it as a sacred offering in the Capitol. In the intermediate distance between Callatis and Apollonia, is Bizone, a great part of which was swallowed up by an earthquake; Cruni;[p 5] Odessus,[p 6] a colony of Milesians; and Naulochus, a small town of the Mesembriani. Next follows the mountain Hæmus,[1] extending to the sea in this quarter; then Mesembria,[p 7] a colony of the Megarenses, formerly called Menabria, or city of Mena, Menas being the name of the founder, and bria,[2] signifying in the Thracian tongue, city. Thus the city of Selys is called Selybria, and Ænus once had the name of Poltyobria. Then follows Anchiale,[p 8] a small town of the Apolloniatæ, and Apollonia itself.

On this coast is the promontory Tirizis, a place naturally strong, which Lysimachus formerly used as a treasury. Again, from Apollonia to the Cyaneæ are about 1500 stadia. In this interval are Thynias, a tract belonging to the Apolloniatæ, Phinopolis, and Andriace,[p 9] which are contiguous to Salmydessus. This coast is without inhabitants and rocky, without harbours, stretching far towards the north, and extending as far as the Cyaneæ, about 700 stadia. Those who are wrecked on this coast are plundered by the Asti, a Thracian tribe who live above it.

The Cyaneæ[3] are two small islands at the mouth of the Pontus, one lying near Europe, the other near Asia, and are separated by a channel of about 20 stadia. This is the measure

  1. ↑ Istropolis or Kara-Herman.
  2. ↑ Tomesvar.
  3. ↑ Mangalia.
  4. ↑ Sizepoli.
  5. ↑ Baltchik, near Kavarna.
  6. ↑ Varna.
  7. ↑ Missemvria.
  8. ↑ Ahiolou.
  9. ↑ Places no longer known. G.
  1. ↑ Cape Emineh—in the English charts Emona, but there is no fixed system of spelling for names of places in this part of the world. Emineh is probably a corruption of Hæmus.
  2. ↑ Or Meneburgh, we should say. The Thracian was a language cognate with that of the Getæ; see Strabo, book vii. chap. iii. § 10; and the Getæ were Gothic. We have the Liber Aureus in the Moeso Gothic language still.
  3. ↑ In the English charts Kyanees. They do not correspond to the description here given. The well-known poetical name is Symplegades.
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.