Chapter 18

“Dardanus, the son of cloud-compelling Jupiter, founded Dardania:”1381

at present there is not a vestige of a city.

25. Plato conjectures that, after the deluges, three kinds of communities were established; the first on the heights of the mountains, consisting of a simple and savage race, who had taken refuge there through dread of the waters, which overflowed the plains; the second, at the foot of the mountains, who regained courage by degrees, as the plains began to dry; the third, in the plains. But a fourth, and perhaps a fifth, or more communities might be supposed to be formed, the last of which might be on the sea-coast, and in the islands, after all fear of deluge was dissipated. For as men approached the sea with a greater or less degree of courage, we should have greater variety in forms of government, diversity also in manners and habits, accordingas a simple and savage people assumed the milder character of the second kind of community. There is, however, a distinction to be observed even among these, as of rustic, half rustic, and of civilized people. Among these finally arose a gradual change, and an assumption of names, applied to polished and high character, the result of an improved moral condition produced by a change of situation and mode of life. Plato says that the poet describes these differences, alleging as an example of the first form of society the mode of life among the Cyclops, who subsisted on the fruits of the earth growing spontaneously, and who occupied certain caves in the heights of mountains;

“all things grow there,” he says, “without sowing seed, and without the plough.

But they have no assemblies for consulting together, nor administration of laws, but live on the heights of lofty mountains, in deep caves, and each gives laws to his wife and children.”1382

As an example of the second form of society, he alleges the mode of life under Dardanus;

“he founded Dardania; for sacred Ilium was not yet a city in the plain with inhabitants, but they still dwelt at the foot of Ida abounding with streams.”1383

An example of the third state of society is taken from that in the time of Ilus, when the people inhabited the plains. He is said to have been the founder of Ilium, from whom the city had its name. It is probable that for this reason he was buried in the middle of the plain, because he first ventured to make a settlement in it,

“they rushed through the middle of the plain by the wild fig-tree near the tomb of ancient Ilus, the son of Dardanus.”1384

He did not, however, place entire confidence in the situation, for he did not build the city where it stands at present, but nearly thirty stadia higher to the east, towards Ida, and Dardania, near the present village of the Ilienses. The present Ilienses are ambitious of having it supposed that theirs is the ancient city, and have furnished a subject of discussion to those who form their conjectures from the poetry of Homer; but it does not seem to be the city meant by the poet. Other writers also relate, that the city had frequently changed its place, but at last about the time of Crœsus it became stationary.Such changes, which then took place, from higher to lower situations, mark the differences, I conceive, which followed in the forms of government and modes of life. But we must examine this subject elsewhere.

26. The present city of Ilium was once, it is said, a village, containing a small and plain temple of Minerva; that Alexander, after1385his victory at the Granicus, came up, and decorated the temple with offerings, gave it the title of city, and ordered those who had the management of such things to improve it with new buildings; he declared it free and exempt from tribute. Afterwards, when he had destroyed the Persian empire, he sent a letter, expressed in kind terms, in which he promised the Ilienses to make theirs a great city, to build a temple of great magnificence, and to institute sacred games.

After the death of Alexander, it was Lysimachus who took the greatest interest in the welfare of the place; built a temple, and surrounded the city with a wall of about 40 stadia in extent. He settled here the inhabitants of the ancient cities around, which were in a dilapidated state. It was at this time that he directed his attention to Alexandreia, founded by Antigonus, and surnamed Antigonia, which was altered (into Alexandreia). For it appeared to be an act of pious duty in the successors of Alexander first to found cities which should bear his name, and afterwards those which should be called after their own. Alexandreia continued to exist, and became a large place; at present it has received a Roman colony, and is reckoned among celebrated cities.

27. The present Ilium was a kind of village-city, when the Romans first came into Asia and expelled Antiochus the Great from the country within the Taurus. Demetrius of Scepsis says that, when a youth, he came, in the course of his travels, to this city, about that time, and saw the houses so neglected that even the roofs were without tiles. Hegesianax1386also relates, that the Galatians, who crossed over from Europe, being in want of some stronghold, went up to the city, but immediately left it, when they saw that it was not fortified with a wall; afterwards it underwent great reparation andimprovement. It was again injured by the Romans under the command of Fimbrias. They took it by siege in the Mithridatic war. Fimbrias was sent as quæstor, with the consul Valerius Flaccus, who was appointed to carry on the war against Mithridates. But having excited a sedition, and put the consul to death in Bithynia, he placed himself at the head of the army and advanced towards Ilium, where the inhabitants refused to admit him into the city, as they regarded him as a robber. He had recourse to force, and took the city on the eleventh day. When he was boasting that he had taken a city on the eleventh day, which Agamemnon had reduced with difficulty in the tenth year of the siege with a fleet of a thousand vessels, and with the aid of the whole of Greece, one of the Ilienses replied, “We had no Hector to defend the city.”

Sylla afterwards came, defeated Fimbrias, and dismissed Mithridates, according to treaty, into his own territory. Sylla conciliated the Ilienses by extensive repairs of their city. In our time divus Cæsar showed them still more favour, in imitation of Alexander. He was inclined to favour them, for the purpose of renewing his family connexion with the Ilienses, and as an admirer of Homer.

There exists a corrected copy of the poems of Homer, called “the casket-copy.” Alexander perused it in company with Callisthenes and Anaxarchus, and having made some marks and observations deposited it in a casket1387of costly workmanship which he found among the Persian treasures. On account then of his admiration of the poet and his descent from the Æacidæ, (who were kings of the Molossi, whose queen they say was Andromache, afterwards the wife of Hector,) Alexander treated the Ilienses with kindness.

But Cæsar, who admired the character of Alexander, and had strong proofs of his affinity to the Ilienses, had the greatest possible desire to be their benefactor. The proofs of his affinity to the Ilienses were strong, first as being a Roman,—for the Romans consider Æneas to be the founder of their race,—next he had the name of Julius, from Iulus, one of hisancestors, a descendant of Æneas. He therefore assigned to them a district, and guaranteed their liberty with exemption from imposts, and they continue at present to enjoy these advantages. They maintain by this evidence that the ancient Ilium, even by Homer’s account, was not situated there. I must however first describe the places which commence from the sea-coast, where I made the digression.

28. Next to Abydos is the promontory Dardanis,1388which we mentioned a little before, and the city Dardanus, distant 70 stadia from Abydos. Between them the river Rhodius discharges itself, opposite to which on the Cherronesus is the Cynossema,1389which is said to be the sepulchre of Hecuba. According to others, the Rhodius empties itself into the Æsepus. It is one of the rivers mentioned by the poet,

“Rhesus, and Heptaporus, Caresus, and Rhodius.”1390

Dardanus is an ancient settlement, but so slightly thought of, that some kings transferred its inhabitants to Abydos, others re-settled them in the ancient dwelling-place. Here Cornelius Sylla, the Roman general, and Mithridates, surnamed Eupator, conferred together, and terminated the war by a treaty.

29. Near Dardanus is Ophrynium, on which is the grove dedicated to Hector in a conspicuous situation, and next is Pteleos, a lake.

30. Then follows Rhœteium, a city on a hill, and continuous to it is a shore on a level with the sea, on which is situated a monument and temple of Ajax, and a statue. Antony took away the latter and carried it to Ægypt, but Augustus Cæsar restored it to the inhabitants of Rhœteium, as he restored otherstatues to other cities. Antony took away the most beautiful offerings from the most celebrated temples to gratify the Ægyptian queen, but Augustus Cæsar restored them to the gods.

31. After Rhœteium is Sigeium,1391a city in ruins, and the naval station, the harbour of the Achæans, the Achæan camp, the Stomalimne, as it is called, and the mouths of the Scamander. The Scamander and the Simoeis, uniting in the plain,1392bring down a great quantity of mud, bank up the sea-coast, and form a blind mouth, salt-water lakes, and marshes.

Opposite the Sigeian promontory on the Cherronesus is the Protesilaeium,1393and Eleussa, of which I have spoken in the description of Thrace.

32. The extent of this sea-coast as we sail in a direct line from Rhœteium to Sigeium, and the monument of Achilles, is 60 stadia. The whole of the coast lies below the present Ilium; the part near the port of the Achæans,1394distant from the present Ilium about 12 stadia, and thirty stadia more fromthe ancient Ilium,1395which is higher up in the part towards Ida.

Near the Sigeium is a temple and monument of Achilles, and monuments also of Patroclus and Antilochus.1396The Ilienses perform sacred ceremonies in honour of them all, and even of Ajax. But they do not worship Hercules, alleging as a reason that he ravaged their country. Yet some one might say that he laid it waste in such a manner that he left it to future spoilers in an injured condition indeed, but still in the condition of a city; wherefore the poet expresses himself in this manner,

“He ravaged the city of Ilium, and made its streets desolate,”1397

for desolation implies a deficiency of inhabitants, but not a complete destruction of the place; but those persons destroyed it entirely, whom they think worthy of sacred rites, and worship as gods; unless, perhaps, they should plead that these persons engaged in a just, and Hercules in an unjust, war, on account of the horses of Laomedon. To this is opposed a fabulous tale, that it was not on account of the horses but of the reward for the delivery of Hesione from the sea-monster.Let us, however, dismiss this subject, for the discussion leads to the refutation of fables only, and probably there may be reasons unknown to us which induced the Ilienses to worship some of these persons, and not others. The poet seems, in speaking of Hercules, to represent the city as small, since he ravaged the city

“with six ships only, and a small band of men.”1398

From these words it appears that Priam from a small became a great person, and a king of kings, as we have already said.

A short way from this coast is the Achæïum, situated on the continent opposite Tenedos.

33. Such, then, is the nature of the places on the sea-coast. Above them lies the plain of Troy, extending as far as Ida to the east, a distance of many stadia.1399The part at the foot of the mountain is narrow, extending to the south as far as the places near Scepsis, and towards the north as far as the Lycians about Zeleia. This country Homer places under the command of Æneas and the Antenoridæ, and calls it Dardania. Below it is Cebrenia, which for the most part consists of plains, and lies nearly parallel to Dardania. There was also formerly a city Cybrene. Demetrius (of Scepsis) supposes that the tract about Ilium, subject to Hector, extended to this place, from the Naustathmus (or station for vessels) to Cebrenia, for he says that the sepulchre of Alexander Paris exists there, and of Œnone, who, according to historians, was the wife of Alexander, before the rape of Helen; the poet says,

“Cebriones, the spurious son of the far-famed Priam,”1400

who, perhaps, received his name from the district, (Cebrenia,) or, more probably, from the city (Cebrene1401). Cebrenia extends as far as the Scepsian district. The boundary is the Scamander, which runs through the middle of Cebrenia andScepsia. There was continual enmity and war between the Scepsians and Cebrenians, till Antigonus settled them both together in the city, then called Antigonia, but at present Alexandria. The Cebrenians remained there with the other inhabitants, but the Scepsians, by the permission of Lysimachus, returned to their own country.

34. From the mountainous tract of Ida near these places, two arms, he says, extend to the sea, one in the direction of Rhœteium, the other of Sigeium, forming a semicircle, and terminate in the plain at the same distance from the sea as the present Ilium, which is situated between the extremities of the above-mentioned arms, whereas the ancient Ilium was situated at their commencement. This space comprises the Simoïsian plain through which the Simoeis runs, and the Scamandrian plain, watered by the Scamander. This latter plain is properly the plain of Troy, and Homer makes it the scene of the greatest part of his battles, for it is the widest of the two; and there we see the places named by him, the Erineos, the tomb of Æsyetes,1402Batieia, and the tomb of Ilus. With respect to the Scamander and the Simoeis, the former, after approaching Sigeium, and the latter Rhœteium, unite their streams a little in front of the present Ilium,1403and then empty themselves near Sigeium, and form as it is called the Stomalimne. Each of the above-mentioned plains is separated from the other by a long ridge1404which is in a straight line with the above-mentioned arms;1405the ridge begins at the presentIlium and is united to it; it extends as far as Cebrenia, and completes with the arms on each side the letter θ.

35. A little above this ridge of land is the village of the Ilienses, supposed to be the site of the ancient Ilium, at the distance of 30 stadia from the present city. Ten stadia above the village of the Ilienses is Callicolone, a hill beside which, at the distance of five stadia, runs the Simoeis.

The description of the poet is probable. First what he says of Mars,

“but on the other side Mars arose, like a black tempest, one while with a shrill voice calling upon the Trojans from the summit of the citadel, at another time running along Callicolone beside the Simoeis;”1406

for since the battle was fought on the Scamandrian plain, Mars might, according to probability, encourage the men, one while from the citadel, at another time from the neighbouring places, the Simoeis and the Callicolone, to which the battle might extend. But since Callicolone is distant from the present Ilium 40 stadia, where was the utility of changing places at so great a distance, where the array of the troops did not extend? and the words

“The Lycii obtained by lot the station near Thymbra,”1407

which agree better with the ancient city, for the plain Thymbra,1408is near, and the river Thymbrius, which runs through it, discharges itself into the Scamander, near the temple of Apollo Thymbræus, but is distant 50 stadia from the present Ilium. The Erineos,1409a rugged spot abounding with wild fig-trees, lies below the ancient city, so that Andromache might say in conformity with such a situation,

“but place your bands near Erineos, where the city is most accessible to the enemy, and where they can mount the wall,”1410

but it is very far distant from the present city. The beech-tree was a little lower than the Erineos; of the former Achilles says,

“When I fought with the Achæans Hector was not disposed to urge the fight away from the wall, but advanced only as far as the Scæan gates, and the beech-tree.”1411

36. Besides, the Naustathmus, which retains its name at present, is so near the present city that any person may justly be surprised at the imprudence of the Greeks, and the want of spirit in the Trojans;—imprudence on the part of the Greeks, that they should have left the place for so long a time unfortified with a wall, in the neighbourhood of so large a city, and so great a body of men, both inhabitants and auxiliaries; for the wall, Homer says, was constructed at a late period; or perhaps no wall was built and the erection and destruction of it, as Aristotle says, are due to the invention of the poet;—a want of spirit on the part of the Trojans, who, after the wall was built, attacked that, and the Naustathmus, and the vessels themselves, but had not the courage before there was a wall to approach and besiege this station, although the distance was not great, for the Naustathmus is near Sigeium. The Scamander discharges itelf near this place at the distance of 20 stadia from Ilium.1412If any one shall say that the Naustathmus is the present harbour of the Achæans, he must mean a place still nearer, distant about twelve stadia from the sea,which is the extent of the plain in front of the city to the sea; but he will be in error if he include (in the ancient) the present plain, which is all alluvial soil brought down by the rivers,1413so that if the interval is 12 stadia at present, it must have been at that period less in extent by one half. The story framed by Ulysses, which he tells Eumæus, implies a great distance from the Naustathmus to the city;

“when we lay in ambush below Troy,”1414

and he adds afterwards,

“for we had advanced too far from the ships.”1415

Scouts are despatched to learn whether the Trojans will remain near the ships when drawn away far from their own walls, or whether

“they will return back to the city.”1416

Polydamas also says,

“Consider well, my friends, what is to be done, for my advice is to return now to the city, for we are far from the walls.”1417

Demetrius (of Scepsis) adds the testimony of Hestiæa1418of Alexandreia, who composed a work on the Iliad of Homer, and discusses the question whether the scene of the war was about the present city, and what was the Trojan plain which the poet mentions as situated between the city and the sea, for the plain seen in front of the present city is an accumulation of earth brought down by the rivers, and formed at a later period.

37. Polites also,

“who was the scout of the Trojans, trusting to his swiftness of foot, and who was on the summit of the tomb of the old Æsyetes,”1419

was acting absurdly. For although he was seated

“on the summit of the tomb,”

yet he might have observed from the much greater height of the citadel, situated nearly at the same distance, nor would his swiftness of foot have been required for the purpose of security, for the tomb of Æsyetes, which exists at present on the road to Alexandreia, is distant five stadia from the citadel.

Nor is the course of Hector round the city at all a probable circumstance, for the present city will not admit of a circuit round it on account of the continuous ridge of hill, but the ancient city did allow such a course round it.1420

38. No trace of the ancient city remains. This might be expected, for the cities around were devastated, but not entirely destroyed, whereas when Troy was overthrown from its foundation all the stones were removed for the reparation of the other cities. Archæanax of Mitylene is said to have fortified Sigeium with the stones brought from Troy. Sigeium was taken possession of by the Athenians, who sent Phryno, the victor in the Olympic games, at the time the Lesbians advanced a claim to nearly the whole Troad. They had indeedfounded most of the settlements, some of which exist at present, and others have disappeared. Pittacus of Mitylene, one of the seven wise men, sailed to the Troad against Phryno, the Athenian general, and was defeated in a pitched battle. (It was at this time that the poet Alcæus, as he himself says, when in danger in some battle, threw away his arms and fled. He charged a messenger with injunctions to inform those at home that Alcæus was safe, but that he did not bring away his arms. These were dedicated by the Athenians as an offering in the temple of Minerva Glaucopis.)1421Upon Phryno’s proposal to meet in single combat, Pittacus advanced with his fishing gear,1422enclosed his adversary in a net, pierced him with his three-pronged spear, and despatched him with a short sword. The war however still continuing, Periander was chosen arbitrator by both parties, and put an end to it.

39. Demetrius accuses Timæus of falsehood, for saying that Periander built a wall round the Achilleium out of the stones brought from Ilium as a protection against the attacks of the Athenians, and with a view to assist Pittacus; whereas this place was fortified by the Mitylenæans against Sigeium, but not with stones from Ilium, nor by Periander. For how should they choose an enemy in arms to be arbitrator?

The Achilleium is a place which contains the monument of Achilles, and is a small settlement. It was destroyed, as also Sigeium, by the Ilienses on account of the refractory disposition of its inhabitants. For all the sea-coast as far as Dardanus was afterwards, and is at present, subject to them.

Anciently the greatest part of these places were subject to the Æolians, and hence Ephorus does not hesitate to call all the country from Abydos to Cume by the name of Æolis. But Thucydides1423says that the Mitylenæans were deprived of the Troad in the Peloponnesian war by the Athenians under the command of Paches.

40. The present Ilienses affirm that the city was not entirely demolished when it was taken by the Achæans, nor at any time deserted. The Locrian virgins began to be sentthere, as was the custom every year, a short time afterwards. This however is not told by Homer. Nor was Homer acquainted with the violation of Cassandra,1424but says that she was a virgin about that time:

“He slew Othryoneus, who had lately come to the war from Cabesus, induced by the glory of the contest, and who sought in marriage the most beautiful of the daughters of Priam, Cassandra, without a dower.”1425

He does not mention any force having been used, nor does he attribute the death of Ajax by shipwreck to the wrath of Minerva, nor to any similar cause, but says, in general terms, that he was an object of hatred to Minerva, (for she was incensed against all who had profaned her temple,) and that Ajax died by the agency of Neptune for his boasting speeches.

The Locrian virgins were sent there when the Persians were masters of the country.

41. Such is the account of the Ilienses. But Homer speaks expressly of the demolition of the city:

“The day will come when at length sacred Ilium shall perish,1426After we have destroyed the lofty city of Priam,1427By counsel, by wisdom, and by artifice,The city of Priam was destroyed in the tenth year.”1428

“The day will come when at length sacred Ilium shall perish,1426

After we have destroyed the lofty city of Priam,1427

By counsel, by wisdom, and by artifice,

The city of Priam was destroyed in the tenth year.”1428

Of this they produce evidence of the following kind; the statue of Minerva, which Homer represents as in a sitting posture, is seen at present to be a standing figure, for he orders them

“to place the robe on the knees of Athene,”1429

in the same sense as this verse,

“no son of mine should sit upon her knees,”1430

and it is better to understand it thus, than as some explain it, “by placing the robe at the knees,” and adduce this line,

“she sat upon the hearth in the light of the fire,”1431

for “near the hearth.” For what would the laying the robe at the knees mean? And they who alter the accent, and for γούνασιν read γουνασιν, like θυιάσιν, or in whatever way they understand it,1432come to no conclusion. Many of the ancient statues of Minerva are found in a sitting posture, as those at Phocæa, Massalia, Rome, Chios, and many other cities. But modern writers, among whom is Lycurgus the rhetorician, agree that the city was destroyed, for in mentioning the city of the Ilienses he says, “who has not heard, when it was once razed by the Greeks, that it was uninhabited?”1433

42. It is conjectured that those who afterwards proposed to rebuild it avoided the spot as inauspicious, either on account of its calamities, of which it had been the scene, or whether Agamemnon, according to an ancient custom, had devoted it to destruction with a curse, as Crœsus, when he destroyed Sidene, in which the tyrant Glaucias had taken refuge, uttered a curse against those who should rebuild its walls. They therefore abandoned that spot and built a city elsewhere.

The Astypalæans, who were in possession of Rhœteium, were the first persons that founded Polium near the Simoïs, now called Polisma, but not in a secure spot, and hence it was soon in ruins.

The present settlement, and the temple, were built in the time of the Lydian kings; but it was not then a city; a long time afterwards, however, and by degrees, it became, as we have said, a considerable place.

Hellanicus, in order to gratify the Ilienses, as is his custom, maintains that the present and the ancient city are the same. But the district on the extinction of the city was divided by the possessors of Rhœteium and Sigeium, and the other neighbouring people among themselves. Upon the rebuilding of the city, however, they restored it.

43. Ida is thought to be appropriately described by Homer,as abounding with springs on account of the multitude of rivers which issue from it, particularly where Dardania as far as Scepsis lies at its foot, and the places about Ilium.

Demetrius, who was acquainted with these places, (for he was a native,) thus speaks of them: “There is a height of Ida called Cotylus; it is situated about 120 stadia above Scepsis, and from it flow the Scamander, the Granicus, and the Æsepus;1434the two last, being the contributions of many smaller sources, fall into the Propontis, but the Scamander, which has but a single source, flows towards the west. All these sources are in the neighbourhood of each other, and are comprised within a circuit of 20 stadia. The termination of the Æsepus is farthest distant from its commencement, namely, about 500 stadia.”

We may, however, ask why the poet says,

“They came to the fair fountains, whence burst forth two streams of the eddying Scamander, one flowing with water warm,”1435

that is, hot; he proceeds, however,

“around issues vapour as though caused by fire—the other gushes out in the summer, cold like hail, or frozen as snow,”

for no warm springs are now found in that spot, nor is the source of the Scamander there, but in the mountain, and there is one source instead of two.1436It is probable that thewarm spring has failed, but the cold spring flowing from the Scamander along a subterraneous channel emerges at this place; or, because the water was near the Scamander, it was called the source of that river, for there are several springs, which are said to be its sources.

44. The Andirus empties itself into the Scamander; ariver which comes from the district of Caresene, a mountainous country, in which are many villages. It is well cultivated by the husbandmen. It adjoins Dardania, and extends as far as the places about Zeleia and Pityeia. The country, it is said, had its name from the river Caresus, mentioned by the poet,

“the Rhesus, Heptaporus, Caresus, and Rhodius,”1437

but the city of the same name as the river is in ruins.

Demetrius again says, the river Rhesus is now called Rhoeites, unless it is the Rhesus which empties itself into the Granicus.

The Heptaporus, which is called also Polyporus, is crossed seven times in travelling from the places about Cale Peuce (or the beautiful pitch tree) to the village Melænæ and to the Asclepieium, founded by Lysimachus.

Attalus, the first king, gives this account of the beautiful pitch tree; its circumference, he says, was 24 feet; the height of the trunk from the root was 67 feet; it then formed three branches, equally distant from each other; it then contracts into one head, and here it completes the whole height of two plethra, and 15 cubits. It is distant from Adramyttium 180 stadia towards the north.

The Caresus flows from Malus, a place situated between Palæscepsis and Achæïum, in front of the isle of Tenedos, and empties itself into the Æsepus.

The Rhodius flows from Cleandria and Gordus, which are distant 60 stadia from Cale Peuce, and empties itself into the Ænius (Æsepus?).

45. In the valley about the Æsepus, on the left of its course, the first place we meet with is Polichna, a walled stronghold; then Palæscepsis, next Alizonium, a place invented for the supposed existence of the Halizoni whom we have mentioned before.1438Then Caresus, a deserted city, and Caresene, and a river of the same name, (Caresus,) which also forms a considerable valley, but less than that about the Æsepus. Next follow the plains of Zeleia, and the mountain plains, which are well cultivated. On the right of the Æsepus, between Polichna and Palæscepsis is Nea-Come,1439and Argyria,(the silver mines,)1440which are another fiction framed to support the same hypothesis, in order that the words of Homer may be defended,

“where silver is produced.”1441

Where then is Alybe, or Alope, or in whatever way they please to play upon the name? For they ought to have had the impudence to invent this place also, and not to leave their system imperfect and exposed to detection, when they had once ventured so far. This is the contradiction which may be given to Demetrius.

As to the rest, we ought at least in the greatest number of instances to attend to a man of experience, and a native of the country, who also had bestowed so much thought and time on this subject as to write thirty books to interpret little more than 60 lines of the catalogue of the Trojan forces.

Palæscepsis, according to Demetrius, is distant from Ænea 50, and from the river Æsepus 30, stadia, and the name of Palæscepsis is applied to many other places.1442

We return to the sea-coast, from which we have digressed.

46. After the Sigeian promontory, and the Achilleium, is the coast opposite to Tenedos, the Achæïum, and Tenedos itself, distant not more than 40 stadia from the continent. It is about 80 stadia in circumference. It contains an Æolian city, and has two harbours, and a temple of Apollo Smintheus, as the poet testifies;

“Smintheus, thou that reignest over Tenedos.”1443

There are several small islands around it, and two in particular, called Calydnæ,1444situated in the course of the voyage to Lectum. There are some writers who call Tenedos Calydna,and others Leucophrys.1445There are other small islands around it besides these. They lay near the scene of the fable about Tennes, from whom the island has its name, and of the story of Cycnus, a Thracian by descent, and father, according to some writers, of Tennes, and king of Colonæ.

47. Continuous with the Achæium are Larisa and Colonæ, formerly belonging to the people of Tenedos, who occupied the opposite coast; and the present Chrysa, situated upon a rocky height above the sea, and Hamaxitus lying below, and close to Lectum. But at present Alexandreia is continuous with the Achæium; the inhabitants of those small towns, and of many other strongholds, were embodied in Alexandreia. Among the latter were Cebrene and Neandria. The territory is in the possession of the Alexandrini, and the spot in which Alexandreia is now situated was called Sigia.

48. The temple of Apollo Smintheus is in this Chrysa, and the symbol, a mouse, which shows the etymology of the epithet Smintheus, lying under the foot of the statue.1446They are the workmanship of Scopas of Paros. They reconcile the history, and the fable about the mice, in this following manner.

The Teucri, who came from Crete, (of whom Callinus, the elegiac poet, gave the first history, and he was followed by many others,) were directed by an oracle to settle wherever the earth-born inhabitants should attack them, which, it is said, occurred to them near Hamaxitus, for in the night-time great multitudes of field-mice came out and devoured all arms or utensils which were made of leather; the colony therefore settled there. These people also called the mountain Ida, after the name of the mountain in Crete.

But Heracleides of Pontus says, that the mice, which swarmed near the temple, were considered as sacred, and the statue is represented as standing upon a mouse.

Others say, that a certain Teucer came from Attica, who belonged to the Demus of Troes, which is now called Xypeteon, but that no Teucri came from Crete. They adduce as a proof of the intermixture of Trojans with Athenians, that an Ericthonius was a founder of both people.

This is the account of modern writers. But the traces which now exist in the plain of Thebe, and at Chrysa situated there, coincide better with the description of Homer; and of these we shall speak immediately.1447

The name of Smintheus is to be found in many places, for near Hamaxitus itself, besides the Sminthian Apollo at the temple, there are two places called Sminthia, and others in the neighbouring district of Larissa. In the district also of Pariane is a place called Sminthia; others in Rhodes,1448Lindus, and in many places besides. The temple is now called Sminthium.

Separate from the other is the Halesian plain near Lectum, which is not extensive, and the Tragasæan salt-pan near Hamaxitus,1449where the salt spontaneously concretes on the blowing of the Etesian winds. On Lectum stands an altar dedicated to the Twelve Gods, erected, it is said, by Agamemnon.

These places are in sight of Ilium, at the distance of a little more than 200 stadia. On the other side the parts about Abydos are visible, although Abydos is somewhat nearer.

49. After doubling Lectum, there follow the most considerable cities of the Æolians, the bay of Adramyttium, on which Homer seems to have placed the greater part of the Leleges, and the Cilicians, divided into two tribes. There also is the coast of the Mitylenæans with some villages of the Mitylenæans on the continent. The bay has the name of the Idæan bay, for the ridge extending from Lectum to Ida overhangsthe commencement of the bay, where, according to the poet,1450the Leleges were first settled.

50. I have spoken before of the Leleges, and I shall now add that the poet speaks of a Pedasus, a city of theirs which was subject to Altes;

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