| Strabo, Geography (English) (XML Header) [word count] [lemma count] [Str.]. | ||
| <<Str. 14.1.5 | Str. 14.1.9 (GreekEnglish) | >>Str. 14.1.17 |
14.1.7Notable men were born at Miletus: Thales, one of the Seven Wise Men, the first to begin the science of natural philosophy note and mathematics among the Greeks, and his pupil Anaximander, and again the pupil of the latter, Anaximenes, and also Hecataeus, the author of the History
, and, in my time, Aeschines the orator, who remained in exile to the end, since he spoke freely, beyond moderation, before Pompey the Great. But the city was unfortunate, since it shut its gates against Alexander and was taken by force, as was also the case with Halicarnassus; and also, before that time, it was taken by the Persians. And Callisthenes says that Phrynichus the tragic poet was fined a thousand drachmas by the Athenians because he wrote a play entitled The Capture of Miletus by Dareius
. The island Lade lies close in front of Miletus, as do also the isles in the neighborhood of the Tragaeae, which afford anchorage for pirates.
, and, in my time, Aeschines the orator, who remained in exile to the end, since he spoke freely, beyond moderation, before Pompey the Great. But the city was unfortunate, since it shut its gates against Alexander and was taken by force, as was also the case with Halicarnassus; and also, before that time, it was taken by the Persians. And Callisthenes says that Phrynichus the tragic poet was fined a thousand drachmas by the Athenians because he wrote a play entitled The Capture of Miletus by Dareius
. The island Lade lies close in front of Miletus, as do also the isles in the neighborhood of the Tragaeae, which afford anchorage for pirates.
14.1.8Next comes the Latmian Gulf, on which is situated "Heracleia below Latmus," as it is called, a small town that has an anchoring-place. It was at first called Latmus, the same name as the mountain that lies above it, which Hecataeus indicates, in his opinion, to be the same as that which by the poet is called "the mountain of the Phtheires" note (for he says that the mountain of the Phtheires lies above Latmus), though some say that it is Mt. Grium, which is approximately parallel to Latmus and extends inland from Milesia towards the east through Caria to Euromus and Chalcetores. note This mountain lies above Heracleia, and at a high elevation. note At a slight distance away from it, after one has crossed a little river near Latmus, there is to be seen the sepulchre of Endymion, in a cave. Then from Heracleia to Pyrrha, a small town, there is a voyage of about one hundred stadia.
14.1.9But the voyage from Miletus to Heracleia, including the sinuosities of the gulfs, is a little more than one hundred stadia, though that from Miletus to Pyrrha, in a straight course, is only thirty—so much longer is the journey along the coast. But in the case of famous places my reader must needs endure the dry part of such geography as this.
14.1.10The voyage from Pyrrha to the outlet of the Maeander River is fifty stadia, a place which consists of shallows and marshes; and, travelling in rowboats thirty stadia, one comes to the city Myus, one of the twelve Ionian cities, which, on account of its sparse population, has now been incorporated into Miletus. Xerxes is said to have given this city to Themistocles to supply him with fish, Magnesia to supply him with bread, and Lampsacus with wine.
14.1.11Thence, within four stadia, one comes to a village, the Carian Thymbria, near which is Aornum, a sacred cave, which is called Charonium, since it emits deadly vapors. Above it lies Magnesia on the Maeander, a colony of the Magnesians of Thessaly and the Cretans, of which I shall soon speak. note
14.1.12After the outlets of the Maeander comes the shore of Priene, above which lies Priene, and also the mountain Mycale, which is well supplied with wild animals and with trees. This mountain lies above the Samian territory note and forms with it, on the far side of the promontory called Trogilian, a strait about seven stadia in width. Priene is by some writers called Cadme, since Philotas, who founded it, was a Boeotian. Bias, one of the Seven Wise Men, was a native of Priene, of whom Hipponax says
stronger in the pleading of his cases than Bias of Priene.note
14.1.13Off the Trogilian promontory lies an isle of the same name. Thence the nearest passage across to Sunium is one thousand six hundred stadia; on the voyage one has at first Samos and Icaria and Corsia on the right, and the Melantian rocks on the left; and the remainder of the voyage is through the midst of the Cyclades islands. The Trogilian promontory itself is a kind of spur of Mt. Mycale. Close to Mycale lies another mountain, in the Ephesian territory, I mean Mt. Pactyes, in which the Mesogis terminates.
14.1.14The distance from the Trogilian promontory to Samos note is forty stadia. Samos faces the south, both it and its harbor, which latter has a naval station. The greater part of it is on level ground, being washed by the sea, but a part of it reaches up into the mountain that lies above it. Now on the right, as one sails towards the city, is the Poseidium, a promontory which with Mt. Mycale forms the seven-stadia strait; and it has a temple of Poseidon; and in front of it lies an isle called Narthecis; and on the left is the suburb near the Heraeum, and also the Imbrasus River, and the Heraeum, which consists of an ancient temple and a great shrine, which latter is now a repository of tablets. note Apart from the number of the tablets placed there, there are other repositories of votive tablets and some small chapels full of ancient works of art. And the temple, which is open to the sky, is likewise full of most excellent statues. Of these, three of colossal size, the work of Myron, stood upon one base; Antony took these statues away, note but Augustus Caesar restored two of them, those of Athena and Heracles, to the same base, although he transferred the Zeus to the Capitolium, having erected there a small chapel for that statue.
| Strabo, Geography (English) (XML Header) [word count] [lemma count] [Str.]. | ||
| <<Str. 14.1.5 | Str. 14.1.9 (GreekEnglish) | >>Str. 14.1.17 |
