The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3): Literally Translated, with NotesStrabo
History
The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3): Literally Translated, with Notes
Strabo
Geography -- Early works to 1800
The poets, however, particularly the tragic poets, confound nations
together; for instance, Trojans, Mysians, and Lydians, whom they call
Phrygians, and give the name of Lycians to Carians.
4. After Dædala is a Lycian mountain, and near it is Telmessus,[196] a
small town of the Lycians, and Telmessis, a promontory with a harbour.
Eumenes took this place from the Romans in the war with Antiochus, but
after the dissolution of the kingdom of Pergamus, the Lycians recovered
it again.
5. Then follows Anticragus, a precipitous mountain, on which is
Carmylessus,[197] a fortress situated in a gorge; next is Mount Cragus,
with eight peaks,[198] and a city of the same name. The neighbourhood of
these mountains is the scene of the fable of the Chimæra; and at no
great distance is Chimæra, a sort of ravine, extending upwards from the
shore. Below the Cragus in the interior is Pinara, which is one of the
largest cities of Lycia. Here Pandarus is worshipped, of the same name
perhaps as the Trojan Pandarus;
“thus the pale nightingale, daughter of Pandarus;”[199]
for this Pandarus, it is said, came from Lycia.
6. Next is the river Xanthus, formerly called Sirbis.[200] In sailing up
it in vessels which ply as tenders, to the distance of 10 stadia, we
come to the Letoum, and proceeding 60 stadia beyond the temple, we find
the city of the Xanthians, the largest in Lycia. After the Xanthus
follows Patara, which is also a large city with a harbour, and
containing a temple of Apollo. Its founder was Patarus. When Ptolemy
Philadelphus repaired it, he called it the Lycian Arsinoë, but the old
name prevailed.
7. Next is Myra, at the distance of 20 stadia from the sea, situated
upon a lofty hill; then the mouth of the river Limyrus, and on ascending
from it by land 20 stadia, we come to the small town Limyra. In the
intervening distance along the coast above mentioned are many small
islands and harbours. The most considerable of the islands is Cisthene,
on which is a city of the same name.[201] In the interior are the
strongholds Phellus, Antiphellus, and Chimæra, which I mentioned above.
8. Then follow the Sacred Promontory[202] and the Chelidoniæ, three
rocky islands, equal in size, and distant from each other about 5, and
from the land 6 stadia. One of them has an anchorage for vessels.
According to the opinion of many writers, the Taurus begins here,
because the summit is lofty, and extends from the Pisidian mountains
situated above Pamphylia, and because the islands lying in front exhibit
a [CAS. 666] remarkable figure in the sea, like a skirt of a mountain.
But in fact the mountainous chain is continued from the country opposite
Rhodes to the parts near Pisidia, and this range of mountains is called
Taurus.
The Chelidoniæ islands seem to be situated in a manner opposite to
Canopus,[203] and the passage across is said to be 4000 stadia.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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