| Strabo, Geography (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose] [word count] [lemma count] [Str.]. | ||
| <<Str. 7.4.6 | Str. 7.5.1 (Greek English(2)) | >>Str. 7.5.5 |
Besides the places in the Chersonesus already enumerated, there are the fortresses Palacium, and Chabum, and Neapolis, note which Scilurus and his sons constructed, from which they sallied out against the generals of Mithridates.
There was also a fortress called Eupatorium, built by Diophantus, one of the generals of Mithridates. note
There is a promontory, distant about 15 stadia from the wall of Chersonesus, which forms a large bay, which bends towards the city. Above this bay is a sea-lake, where there are salt pits. Here was the harbour Ctenus. The generals of the king, in order to strengthen their means of resistance in case of siege, stationed a garrison on the above-mentioned promontory, which was further protected by a fortification. The mouth of the Gulf was closed by an embankment which extended to the city, and was easily traversed on foot. The garrison and the city were thus united. The Scythians were afterwards easily repulsed. They attacked that part of the wall built across the isthmus which touches upon Ctenus, and filled the ditch with straw. The kind of bridge thus formed by day, was burnt at night by the king's generals, who continued their resistance and defeated the enemy. At present the whole country is subject to whomsoever the Romans may appoint as king of the Bosporus.
7.4.8It is a custom peculiar to all the Scythian and Sarmatian tribes, to castrate their horses, in order to make them more tractable, for although they are small, yet they are spirited, and difficult to manage. Stags and wild boars are hunted in the marshes, and wild asses and roes note in the plains. It is a peculiarity of this country, that no eagles are to be found in it. Among the quadrupeds there is an animal called Colus, in size between a deer and a ram; it is white, and swifter in speed than either of those animals. It draws up water into the head through the nostrils; from this store it can supply itself for several days, and live without inconvenience in places destitute of water.
Such is the nature of the whole of the country beyond the Danube, lying between the Rhine and the Don, and extending as far as the Pontic Sea and the Palus Maeotis.
THERE remains to be described that part of Europe included between the Danube and the sea which surrounds it,
beginning from the inner recess of the Adriatic, and extending to the Sacred mouth of the Danube.
This part contains Greece, Macedonia, Epirus, and the people who live above them, extending to the Danube and to the two seas (the Adriatic and the Euxine Sea) on each side. On the Adriatic are the Illyrians; on the Euxine Sea, as far as the Propontis note and Hellespont, are the Thracians, and the Scythian or Keltic tribes intermixed with them. We must begin from the Danube, and treat of the countries which follow next in order to those already described, that is to say, the parts contiguous to Italy, the Alps, the Germans, the Dacians, and the Getae.
These may be divided into two parts. For the mountains of Illyria, Paeonia, and Thrace, may be considered as forming, as it were, a single line, parallel to the Danube, and extending from the Adriatic to the Euxine. To the north of this line is the country included between the Danube and the mountains. To the south is Greece and the barbarous tract contiguous to these mountains.
Near the Euxine Sea is Mount Haemus, note the largest and the highest of the mountains in that quarter, and divides Thrace nearly in the middle. According to Polybius, both seas may be seen from this mountain; but he is mistaken, for the distance to the Adriatic is considerable, and many things obstruct the view.
Almost the whole of Ardia note lies near the Adriatic, Paeonia is in the middle, and all this country consists of elevated ground. On the side towards Thrace, it is bounded by Rhodope, note a mountain next in height to Haemus; on the other side to the north is Illyria, and the country of the Autariatae, note and Dardania. note
I shall first describe Illyria, which approaches close to the Danube, and to the Alps which lie between Italy and Germany,
taking their commencement from the lake in the territory of the Vindelici, Rhaeti, and Helvetii. note
7.5.2The Daci depopulated a part of this country in their wars with the Boii and Taurisci, Keltic tribes whose chief was Critasirus. The Daci claimed the country, although it was separated from them by the river Parisus, note which flows from the mountains to the Danube, near the Galatae Scordisci, a people who lived intermixed with the Illyrian and the Thracian tribes. The Illyrians were destroyed by the Daci, while the Scordisci were frequently their allies.
The rest of the country as far as Segestica, note and the Danube, towards the north and east, is occupied by Pannonii, but they extend farther in an opposite direction. The city Segestica, belonging to the Pannonii, is situated at the confluence of several rivers, all of which are navigable. It is in a convenient situation for carrying on war against the Daci, for it lies at the foot of the Alps, which extend to the Iapodes, note a mixed Keltic and Illyrian tribe. Thence also flow the rivers by which is conveyed to Segestica a great quantity of merchandise, and among the rest, commodities from Italy. The distance from Aquileia to Nauportus, note a settlement of the Taurisci, across the mountain Ocra, note is 350, or, according to some writers, 500 stadia. Merchandise is transported to Nauportus in waggons. The Ocra is the lowest part of the Alps, which extend from Rhaetica to the Iapodes, where the mountains rise again, and are called Albii. From Tergeste, note a village of the Carni, note there is a pass across and through the Ocra to a marsh called Lugeum. note A river, the Corcoras, flows near Nauportus, and conveys the merchandise from that place. It discharges itself into the Save, and this latter river into the
Drave; the Drave again into the Noarus at Segestica. Here
the Noarus, having received the Colapis note as it descends in its
full stream from the mountain Albius through the Iapodes,
enters the Danube among the Scordisci. The navigation on
the rivers is in general towards the north. The journey from
Tergeste to the Danube is about
| Strabo, Geography (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose] [word count] [lemma count] [Str.]. | ||
| <<Str. 7.4.6 | Str. 7.5.1 (Greek English(2)) | >>Str. 7.5.5 |
