2658 This is not in Plato’s Republic, but in his fourth book of Laws.
2659 This passage, if it is the writing of Strabo, and not the marginal note of some learned reader, should doubtless be transferred back to the end of § 7 of this chapter.
2661 Kramer quotes Nækius in proof that we should here read Xerxes instead of Darius; and Groskurd refers to another passage in Strabo, book xiii. chap. i. § 22.
2662 Casaubon observes that Diodorus Siculus attributes the invention of the potter’s wheel to Talus, a nephew of Dædalus, and that Theophrastus awards it to one Hyperbius of Corinth.
2663 Iliad xviii. 600. Posidonius chose to regard this passage as an interpolation, and would not give the praise of the invention to any other than Anacharsis.
2664 ἀβίους.
2665 Iliad xiii. 5.
2666 See chap. iii. § 3, 4, of this book.
2667 ἄνδρα γόητα, one who used a kind of howling incantation while repeating spells.
2668 See book vii. chap. iii. § 5, page 456.
2669 Gossellin observes that the Dacians did not extend to the sources of the Danube, but to Bohemia, near the middle of the course of the Danube.
2670 Gossellin seems to think that these Daæ are identical with the inhabitants of Daghistan. Davus is not found as the name of a slave amongst the Greeks till after the conquests of Alexander the Great.
2671 Hyrcania comprehended the Corcan and Daghistan.
2672 From Lydia and Syria.
2673 Μάρισος ποταμός.
2674 ὁ Δανούιος.
2675 ὁ Ἴστρος. Stephen of Byzantium says that the Ister was called Δάνουβις, and that in very ancient times it was called Matoas. According to Ptolemy the lower part of the Danube was called Ister from Axiopolis, now Rassovat; according to Agathemerus, from Vienna.
2676 Σαυρομάται.
2677 The ancient Tyras.
2678 Bessarabia and the southern part of Moldavia.
2679 Peter the Great, at the beginning of the last century, incurred the risk of falling into the hands of the Turks almost on the same spot where Darius and Lysimachus had been in distress.
2680 Now Piczina.
2681 Ammianus Marcellinus, book xxii. chap. 8, gives the names of these mouths. He calls the Sacred Mouth by the name of the island Peuce.
2682 There has been much geographical change in this locality since Strabo wrote.
2683 The Tyras.
2684 Gossellin supports this distance.
2685 The Lake Ovidovo.
2686 Now Akkerman.
2687 Gossellin could not identify Niconia with any modern town. Groskurd marks it as destroyed.
2688 Groskurd identifies this with Palanka.
2689 Groskurd calls this Ilan-Adassi, or Schlangeninsel. Gossellin likewise translates Ilan-Adassi as “Isle of Serpents.”
2690 The ancient Borysthenes.
2691 Gossellin considers that Strabo wrote 1600 stadia, for at that distance from the sea there are cataracts which stop the ships that come from the sea.
2692 Strabo’s word is Ὕπανις. Gossellin observes that we should look for the Ὕπανις to the east of the Dnieper, while the Bog lies to the west of that river.
2693 Gossellin identifies this island with the modern Berezan.
2694 Now the Dnieper.
2695 Olbia, or Olbiopolis, would, according to this measure, be about the junction of the Bog and Dnieper.
2696 Mannert has attempted to read Γεωργοί, because Herodotus, book iv. chap. 18, has so termed those Scythians who cultivated their fields. Is it not possible that the Latin Regii was the word Strabo had in his mind?
2697 Piczina.
2698 Some MSS. read this name Ῥωξανοί, others Ῥοξανοί, and others Ῥωξοανοί, but whether there is any distinction to be drawn between these and the Ῥωξαλανοί of book ii. chap. v. § 7, is not to be ascertained.
2699 The Tanais.
2700 The Sea of Zabache.
2701 The Borysthenes.
2702 The Gulf of Perecop, called also Olou-Degniz. Gossellin.
2703 The Isthmus of Perecop, which connects the Peninsula of Crimea, the ancient Taurica Chersonesus.
2704 The Strait of Zabache, or Iéni-Kalé.
2705 Panticapæum, now Kertsch or Wospor in Europe.
2706 Phanagoria was on the Asiatic coast of the Bosphorus.
2707 We entirely agree with Kramer in favouring Coray’s emendation of πλοῦν for πηλόν, the reading of MSS.
2708 Herodotus, book iv. chap. 53, says this fishing was carried on in the Dnieper. Ælian, de Natur. Animal. book xiv. chap. 26, refers it to the Danube.
2709 Strabo has before alluded to this fact, book ii. chap. i. § 16, p. 114.
2710 Lucian, in Macrob. § 10, spells his name Anteas, and relates that he was killed in this war when upwards of 90 years of age.
2711 Father of Alexander the Great.
2712 The Island of Berezan.
2713 M. Gossellin identifies this as Cape Czile.
2714 190 toises.
2715 63½ toises.
2716 The Dromos Achillis is pretty well laid down in D’Anville’s Orbis Romani Pars Orientalis, 1764, but at present it presents a very different appearance.
2717 There is a note by Gossellin in the French translation to the following effect. The western part of this strip of land is known as the Island of Tendra, because it is separated by a cut. The eastern part of the strip is called Djarilgatch. The entire length of the tongue of land is 800 Olympic stadia, the two extremities are a little farther from the mainland than Strabo says, and the isthmus is about 50 Olympic stadia broad. D’Anville has run this isthmus through the tongue of land, and jutting out into the sea, so as to form a cape, which he also calls Tendra, and which would answer to the Tamyraca of Strabo. In the most recent maps there is no trace of this cape, but we see the port of which Strabo speaks. As these tongues of land are composed of a shifting sand, they may experience alterations of form and variations of extent.
2718 Gossellin observes that the direction of the Gulf Carcinites, or Gulf of Perecop, is from west to east, with a slight inclination towards the north, on arriving from the south. Its northern shore commences at the isthmus of the Course of Achilles, and would measure about 1000 Olympic stadia if we were to follow all the sinuosities.
2719 Perekop. The isthmus is about 5½ miles across, according to M. Huot’s map, which accompanies Prince Demidoff’s Travels in Russia.
2720 The Crimea.
2721 The Sivash, or Putrid Lake. It communicates at the present day, not by a large opening, but by the narrow strait of Yenitche, or Tonka, with the Sea of Azof, (the Palus Mæotis,) from which it is separated by the Tonka, or Tongue of Arabat.
2722 ῥαπτοῖς πλοίοις. Boats probably composed of frame-work covered with hides.
2723 Casaubon suggests, and Gossellin adopts, the reading καλὸς λιμὴν, Fair Haven, for ἄλλος λιμὴν, another harbour. Whatever harbour was meant, its situation is uncertain.
2724 Tereklias.
2725 The ancient Tyras.
2726 In speaking of the Virgin as “some goddess,” it may be doubted whether Diana is here meant, or some Scythian or Eastern divinity. Parthenium, a village, is mentioned, c. 4, 5. The scene of the Iphigenia in Tauris of Euripides is laid some where on these shores.
2727 The New Chersonesus, Cape Cherson, and the three small harbours near Khut.
2728 The Heracleotic Chersonese was comprehended in the triangle formed by Ctenus, (Inkerman,) Parthenium, (Cape Cherson,) and Symbolon Limen (Baluklava). The Gulf of Ctenus is now the Gulf of Sebastopol, a name substituted for that of Akhtiar in the time of Catherine II. of Russia. On the first small bay to the west of the town of Sebastopol, was situated the New city Chersonesus, flourishing in the time of Strabo; the Old Chersonesus, described as in ruins, was situated on the small peninsula, the extreme western point of which is Cape Cherson. Both here and in various parts of the Crimea were very interesting remains of antiquity, but Dr. Clarke complains of their wanton destruction. Ctenus is probably derived from κτενώδης, “like a comb,” descriptive of the indented nature of the gulf. Both Gossellin and D’Anville have mistaken the true position of the Heracleotic Chersonese.
2729 So named after the wife or sister of Leucon. C. Now Kaffa.
2730 Cape Aia and Cape Keremp.
2731 The opposite coasts are not visible from the middle passage.
2732 The engraving in Pallas shows it to be, as the name implies, a table mountain, now Tchadir-Dagh, or Tent Mountain.
2733 Trebizond.
2734 The name seems to be preserved in that of one of the districts near the mountains, Eski-Krim. G. In Prince Demidoff’s map it is called Staröi-Krime.
2735 Kertch.
2736 The Sea of Azof.
2737 Caffa.
2738 i. e. from Kertch to Taman, or from Yeni-kaleh near Kertch to Taman. Prince Gleb, son of Vladimir, A. D. 1065, measured this latter distance on the ice, and found it to be 30,057 Russian fathoms, or nearly 12 miles. Here the battle was fought on the ice. See chap. iii. § 18.
2739 The Tanais.
2740 According to modern maps, the Don separates into two branches, and there again into several others, which form the mouths of the river. The extreme branches are at a considerable distance from each other.
2741 Azof.
2742 Yeni-kaleh.
2743 Kazandib.
2744 The amount is enormous, if it refers to the quantity of corn shipped in a single year. Neither manuscripts nor translations afford any various reading. The abbreviator, however, instead of 2,100,000, (μυριάδας μεδίμνων διακοσίας καὶ δέκα,) gives 150,000 (μεδίμνους ΜΥΡΙΑΔΑΣ ΙΕ). But instead of correcting Strabo by his abbreviator, it is more probable that the text of the latter should be changed to 2,100,000, or even to 2,150,000 (ΜΥΡΙΑΔΑΣ ΣΙΕ). Brequigny, by an oversight, or because he thought proper to change the ΜΥΡΙΑΔΑΣ of the text to ΧΙΛΙΑΔΑΣ, translates 210,000 medimni. However it may be, we know from Demosthenes, that this same prince of the Bosporus mentioned by Strabo, sent annually to Athens 400,000 medimni of corn, a quantity far below that mentioned in the text. To reconcile these authors, Mr. Wolf supposes that we ought to understand by 2,100,000 medimni of corn, the shipment made in the year of the great famine, which occurred in the 105th Olympiad, (about 360 B. C.,) and of which Demosthenes speaks in a manner to give us to understand, that the quantity sent that year by Leucon greatly exceeded that of former years. A very probable conjecture. F. T. The medimnus was about 1½ bushel.
2745 ὄψημα.
2746 ἀβίους.
2747 I have adopted the reading suggested by the F. T., Πύργους καθ’ ἕκαστα στάδια δέκα. The wall of Ansander may still be traced. Pallas.
2748 Places to me unknown. G. Pallas erroneously supposes Palacium to be the modern Balaklava.
2749 Named after Mithridates Eupator. Koslof, now again Eupatoria.
2750 δορκάδες.
2751 Sea of Marmora.
2752 The Veliki Balkan.
2753 The southern part of Dalmatia bounded by the Narenta, which takes its source in the Herzogovina.
2754 Called Monte Argentaro by the Italians, Basilissa by the Greeks, Rulla by the Turks. Baudrand. Despoto Dagh.
2755 Occupied the neighbourhood of the river Titius, Kerca, which discharges itself near Siberico.
2756 The mountainous country south of Servia.
2757 The text presents some difficulty; another reading is Tænii. Gossellin supposes the lake to be the Czirknitz-See near Mount Albius, now Alben or Planina.
2758 The Margus? See chap. v. § 12.
2759 At the confluence of the Kulpa and the Save, afterwards Siscia, now Sizsek.
2760 Occupied the coast of Morlacca from the Gulf of Quarnero to Zara.
2761 According to Pliny, the name of this place is derived from the fable of the ship Argo, which was brought up the Danube and the Save, and thence carried on men’s shoulders to the Adriatic. Now Porto Quieto.
2762 To the north of Trieste.
2763 Trieste.
2764 Carniola.
2765 The Czirknitz-See.
2766 The Kulpa.
2767 Gulf of Cataro.
2768 Now celebrated for the remains of a Roman amphitheatre.
2769 Ancona.
2770 The Venetian territory.
2771 I am not acquainted with the sites of these places. G.
2772 Ζειᾷ καὶ κέγχρῳ.
2773 Scardona.
2774 The Kerka.
2775 The modern names of these numerous islands must be matter of conjecture. Issa is Lissa.
2776 Salona.
2777 Inhabitants, probably, of the peninsula Sabioncello.
2778 Curzola.
2779 Varalii, MSS.; but manifestly wrong.
2780 Risano in the Gulf of Cataro.
2781 The river Drin.
2782 Kramer suggests the omission of these words, which render the passage obscure.
2783 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.
2784 The Mædi occupied the mountains which separate Macedonia from Thrace, between the river Strymon and Mount Rhodope. G.
2785 The Gulf of Cataro.
2786 Alesso.
2787 A fortified rock near.
2788 Durazzo.
2789 Ergent, or Beratino.
2790 Lao, or Vousoutza.
2791 Polina. Thucydides calls Apollonia a colony of the Corinthians, and not of the Corinthians and Corcyræans. He states it, however, (b. i. c. 24,) to have been the practice for colonies which in their turn founded other colonies, to unite with them, on these occasions, citizens of the mother city.
2792 One of the peaks of Pindus.
2793 Amphilochian Argos, now Filochia. G.
2794 On the boundary of Cilicia and Syria.
2795 Appear to have been situated on the Gulf of Valona. G.
2796 The name, Ionian Gulf, appears to have extended from the Acroceraunian mountains to the southern part of Dalmatia, near Lissus, now Alessio, to the bottom of the Gulf of Drin. G.
2797 The word Αδρίας is translated Adriatic. In the version of the New Testament it is translated Adria. Acts xxvii. 27.—The Tartaro.
2798 Narenta.
2799 A common opinion among ancient geographers. See b. i. c. ii. § 39.
2800 παρακούσματα λαοδογματικά.
2801 The Agrianæ occupied the neighbourhood of Mount Pangæus on the confines of Thrace and Macedonia. The Triballi, at the time alluded to by Strabo, possessed nearly the whole of the country included between the Adriatic and the Euxine. The Scordisci, who were at first confined to the territory situated between the Drave and the Save, in their turn took possession of all this country. It is not possible, in consequence of the continual wars which existed amongst these people, to determine with exactness the places which they successively occupied. G.
2802 Probably the Save. G.
2803 Mædi.
2804 Cities not identified.
2805 The Dobrudscha.
2806 Mangalia, Tomesvar, the place of Ovid’s exile, Kara-Herman.
2807 Istropolis or Kara-Herman.
2808 Tomesvar.
2809 Mangalia.