Chapter 259

3126Among these is Pomponius Mela, who confounds the river Limia, mentioned in the last chapter, with the Æminius, or Agueda.

3127Now the river Mondego.

3128See B. xxxiii. c. 21.

3129Now Cape St. Vincent.

3130Pliny continues his error here, in taking part of the western side of Spain for the north, and part of the southern coast for the western.

3131B. iii. c.2.

3132With the Vettones, situate in the province of the Alentejo. See B. iii. c.3.

3133In the present province of Algarve.

3134Now Lisbon. Both Strabo, Solinus, and Martianus Capella make mention of a story that Ulysses came to Spain and founded this city.

3135See B. viii. c. 67 of the present work.

3136According to Hardouin, followed by D’Anville and Uckert, this place gives name to Alcazar do Sal, nearly midway between Evora and the sea-shore. Mannert says Setuval, which D’Anville however supposes to be the ancient Cetobriga.

3137On its site stands Santiago de Cacem, nearly midway between Lisbon and Cape St. Vincent.

3138Or the “Wedge,” generally supposed to be Cabo de Santa Maria. Ansart however thinks that it is the Punta de Sagres, near Cape St. Vincent. Pliny’s words indeed seem to imply a closer proximity than that of Capes St. Vincent and Santa Maria.

3139According to Hardouin, the modern Estombar; according to D’Anville, in the vicinity of Faro; but ten leagues from that place, according to Mannert.

3140Hardouin and D’Anville are of opinion that Tavira occupies its site.

3141Now Mertola, on the river Guadiana.

3142Now Merida, on the Guadiana. A colony of veterans (Emeriti) was planted there by Augustus.

3143Now Medellin, in the province of Estremadura.

3144Pax Julia, or Pax Augusta, in the country of the Turduli, or Turdetani; now Beja, in the province of the Alentejo.

3145Now Alcantara, in the province of Estremadura.

3146Now Truxillo, so called from Turris Julia.

3147Now Caceres.

3148Now called Santarem, from Saint Irene, the Virgin.

3149“The Garrison of Julius.”

3150“The Success of Julius.”

3151Evora, between the Guadiana and the Tagus.

3152“The Liberality of Julius.”

3153B. iii. c.3.

3154Hardouin takes Augustobriga to have stood on the site of Villar del Pedroso on the Tagus. Other writers think that it is represented by the present Ponte del Arcobispo.

3155From Ammia, now Portalegre, on the frontier of Portugal. The sites of Arabrica and Balsa do not appear to have been ascertained.

3156Capera stood on the site now called Las Ventas de Capara, between Alcantara and Coria. The site of Cæsarobrica has not been ascertained.

3157Coria, in Estremadura, probably occupies the site of Caura.

3158Hardouin suggests that the modern Tomar occupies the site of Concordia.

3159Mannert is of opinion that the city of Lancia was situate in the north of Lusitania, on the river Durius, or Douro, near the modern Zamora.

3160To distinguish them from the Mirobrigenses, surnamed Turduli, mentioned in B. iii. c.3. Some writers think that this Mirobriga is the present Ciudad Rodrigo; but Ambrose Morales takes it to be the place called Malabriga, in the vicinity of that city.

3161The name of Medubriga was afterwards Aramenha, of which Hardouin says the ruins only were to be seen. They were probably calledPlumbarii, from lead mines in their vicinity.

3162According to Hardouin, Ocelum was in the vicinity of the modern Capara.

3163From Cape de Creuz to the Promontory between the cities of Fontarabia and Saint Sebastian.

3164From the Greekκασσίτερος, “tin.” It is generally supposed that the “Tin Islands” were the Scilly Isles, in the vicinity of Cornwall. At the same time the Greek and Roman geographers, borrowing their knowledge from the accounts probably of the Phœnician merchants, seem to have had a very indistinct notion of their precise locality, and to have thought them to be nearer to Spain than to Britain. Thus we find Strabo, in B. iii., saying, that “the Cassiterides are ten in number, lying near each other in the ocean, towards the northfrom the haven of the Artabri.” From a comparison of the accounts, it would almost appear that the ancient geographers confused the Scilly Islands with the Azores, as those, who enter into any detail, attribute to the Cassiterides the characteristics almost as much of the Azores and the sea in their vicinity, as of the Scilly Islands.

3165Cape Finisterre.

3166Or the “Islands of the Blest.” We cannot do better than quote a portion of the article on this subject in Dr. Smith’s “Dictionary of Ancient Geography.” “‘Fortunatæ Insulæ’ is one of those geographical names whose origin is lost in mythic darkness, but which afterwards came to have a specific application, so closely resembling the old mythical notion, as to make it almost impossible to doubt that that notion was based, in part at least, on some vague knowledge of the regions afterwards discovered. The earliest Greek poetry places the abode of the happy departed spirits far beyond the entrance of the Mediterranean, at the extremity of the earth, and upon the shores of the river Oceanus, or in islands in its midst; and Homer’s poetical description of the place may be applied almost word for word to those islands in the Atlantic, off the west coast of Africa, to which the name was given in the historical period. (Od. iv. l. 563,seq.) ‘There the life of mortals is most easy; there is no snow, nor winter, nor much rain, but Ocean is ever sending up the shrill breathing breezes of Zephyrus to refresh men.’ Their delicious climate, and their supposed identity of situation, marked out the Canary Islands, the Madeira group, and the Azores, as worthy to represent the Islands of the Blest. In the more specific sense, however, the name was applied to the two former groups; while, in its widest application, it may have even included the Cape de Verde Islands, its extension being in fact adapted to that of maritime discovery.” Pliny gives a further description of them in B. vi. c. 37.

3167The strait between the island and the mainland is now called the River of Saint Peter. The circuit of the island, as stated by Pliny, varies in the MSS. from fifteen to twenty-five miles, and this last is probably correct.

3168Julius Cæsar, on his visit to the city of Gades, during the Civil War in Spain,B.C.49, conferred the citizenship of Rome on all the citizens of Gades. Under Augustus it became amunicipium, with the title of ‘Augusta urbs Julia Gaditana.’ The modern city of Cadiz is built upon its site.

3169Or the Island of Venus.

3170From the Greek wordκότινος, “an olive-tree.”

3171If Gades was not the same as Tartessus (probably the Tarshish of Scripture), its exact locality is a question in dispute. Most ancient writers place it at the mouth of the river Bætis, while others identify it, and perhaps with more probability, with the city of Carteia, on Mount Calpe, the Rock of Gibraltar. The whole country west of Gibraltar was called Tartessis. See B. iii. c.3.

3172Or more properly ‘Agadir,’ or ‘Hagadir.’ It probably received this name, meaning a ‘hedge,’ or ‘bulwark,’ from the fact of its being the chief Phœnician colony outside of the Pillars of Hercules.

3173Of Erythræa, or Erytheia. The monster Geryon, or Geryones, fabled to have had three bodies, lived in the fabulous Island of Erytheia, or the “Red Isle,” so called because it lay under the rays of the setting sun in the west. It was originally said to be situate off the coast of Epirus, but was afterwards identified either with Gades or the Balearic islands, and was at all times believed to be in the distant west. Geryon was said to have been the son of Chrysaor, the wealthy king of Iberia.

3174Alluding to B. iii. c.6. From Rhegium to the Alps. Buttherethe reading is 1020.

3175Meaning Gessoriacum, the present Boulogne. He probably calls itBritannicum, from the circumstance that the Romans usually embarked there for the purpose of crossing over to Britain.

3176The present Santen in the Duchy of Cleves.

3177See end ofB. iii.

3178See end ofB. ii.

3179See end ofB. iii.

3180See end ofB. iii.

3181See end ofB. iii.

3182See end ofB. ii.

3183See end ofB. iii.

3184See end ofB. iii.

3185See end ofB. iii.

3186See end ofB. ii.

3187See end ofB. iii.

3188See end ofB. iii.

3189Ateius, surnamedPrætextatus, and also Philologus, which last name he assumed to indicate his learning, was born at Athens, and was one of the most celebrated grammarians of Rome, in the latter part of the first centuryB.C.He was originally a freedman of the jurist Ateius Capito, by whom he was described as “a rhetorician among grammarians, and a grammarian among rhetoricians.” He was on terms of intimacy with Sallust the historian, and Asinius Pollio. It is supposed that he assisted Sallust in the compilation of his history; but to what extent is not known. But few of his numerous commentaries were extant even in the time of Suetonius.

3190A native of Megalopolis in Arcadia, born aboutB.C.204. He was trained probably in political knowledge and the military art under Philopœmen, and was sent, as a prisoner to Rome, with others, to answer the charge of not aiding the Romans in their war against Perseus. Here, by great good fortune, he secured the friendship of Scipio Africanus, with whom he was present at the destruction of Carthage. His history is one of the most valuable works that has come down to us from antiquity.

3191Of Miletus, one of the earliest and most distinguished Greek historians and geographers. He lived about the 65th Olympiad, orB.C.520. A few fragments, quoted, are all that are left of his historical and geographical works. There is little doubt that Herodotus extensively availed himself of this writer’s works, though it is equally untrue that he has transcribed whole passages from him, as Porphyrius has ventured to assert.

3192Of Mitylene, supposed to have flourished aboutB.C.450. He appears to have written numerous geographical and historical works, which, with the exception of a considerable number of fragments, are lost.

3193Of Sigæum, a Greek historian, contemporary with Herodotus. He wrote a history of Greece, and several other works, all of which, with a few unimportant exceptions, are lost.

3194See end ofB. ii.

3195See end ofB. ii.

3196A Rhodian by birth. He was admiral of the fleet of Ptolemy Philadelphus, who reigned fromB.C.285 to 247. He wrote a work “On Harbours,” in ten books, which was copied by Eratosthenes, and is frequently quoted by ancient writers. Strabo also says that he composed poetry.

3197See end ofB. ii.

3198Of Cumæ, or Cymæ, in Ionia. He flourished aboutB.C.408. He studied under Isocrates, and gained considerable fame as a historian. Though anxious to disclose the truth, he has been accused of sometimes forcing his authorities to suit his own views. Of his history of Greece, and his essays on various subjects, a few fragments only survive.

3199A grammarian of Mallus, in Cilicia. He lived in the time of Ptolemy Philopater, and resided at Pergamus, under the patronage of Eumenes II. and Attalus II. In his grammatical system he made a strong distinction betweencriticismandgrammar, the latter of which sciences he regarded as quite subordinate to the former. Of his learned commentaries on the Iliad and the Odyssey, only a few fragments have come down to us.

3200See end ofB. ii.

3201Of Cyrene, an Alexandrian grammarian and poet. He flourished at Alexandria, whither Ptolemy Philadelphus had invited him to a place in the Museum. Of his Hymns and Epigrams many are still extant. His Elegies, which were of considerable poetical merit, with the exception of a few fragments, have all perished. Of his numerous other works in prose, not one is extant in an entire state.

3202See end ofB. ii.

3203Probably Apollodorus of Artemita, in Mesopotamia. It is probably to him that a Treatise on Islands and Cities has been ascribed by Tzetzes, as also a History of the Parthians, and a History of Pontus.

3204Probably the author of that name, who wrote the History of Cyzicus, is the person here referred to. He is called by Athenæus both a Babylonian and a Cyzican. His work is entirely lost; but it appears to have been extensively read, and is referred to by Cicero and other ancient writers.

3205Of Neapolis. He wrote a History of Hannibal, and to him has been ascribed a Description of the Universe, of which a fragment still survives.

3206Of Tauromenium, in Sicily; a celebrated historian, who flourished about the yearB.C.300. He was banished from Sicily by Agathocles, and passed his exile at Athens. He composed a History of Sicily, from the earliest times to the yearB.C.264. The value of his history has been gravely attacked by Polybius; but there is little doubt that it possessed very considerable merit. Of this, and other works of Timæus, only a few fragments survive.

3207A Greek historian; a native of Lesbos. When he lived is unknown. Dionysius, of Halicarnassus, has borrowed from him a portion of his account of the Pelasgians. He is said to have been the author of the notion that the Tyrrhenians, in consequence of their wanderings after they left their original settlement, got the name ofπελαργοὶ, or “storks.” He is supposed to have written a History of Lesbos, as also a work called “Historical Paradoxes.”

3208See end ofB. iii.

3209See end ofB. iii.

3210Of this author nothing whatever seems to be known.

3211Of Miletus, bornB.C.610. One of the earliest philosophers of the Ionian school, and said to be a pupil of Thales. Unless Pherecydes of Scyros be an exception, he was the first author of a philosophical treatise in Greek prose. Other writings are ascribed to him by Suidas; but, no doubt, on insufficient grounds. Of his treatise, which seems to have contained summary statements of his opinions, no remains exist.

3212Of this writer nothing whatever is known, beyond the fact that, from his name, he seems to have been a native of Mallus, in Cilicia.

3213It seems impossible to say which, out of the vast number of the authors who bore this name, is the one here referred to. It is not improbable that Dionysius of Chalcis, a Greek historian who lived before the Christian era, is meant. He wrote a work on the Foundation of Towns, in five books, which is frequently referred to by the ancients. It is not probable that the author of the Periegesis, or “Description of the World,” is referred to, as that book bears internal marks of having been compiled in the third or fourth century of the Christian era.

3214Of Miletus. He was the author of the “Milesiaca,” a romance of licentious character, which was translated into Latin by L. Cornelius Sisenna. He is looked upon as the inventor of the Greek romance, and the title of his work is supposed to have given rise to the termMilesian, as applied to works of fiction.

3215A Greek author, of whom nothing is known, except that Pliny, and after him Solinus, refer to him as the authority for the statement that Eubœa was originally called Chalcis, from the fact of (χαλκὸς) copper being first discovered there.

3216Probably Menæchmus of Sicyon, who wrote a book on Actors, a History of Alexander the Great, and a book on Sicyon. Suidas says that he flourished in the time of the successors of Alexander.

3217When he flourished is unknown. He is said by Hyginus to have written a History of the Island of Naxos.

3218He lived after the time of Alexander the Great; but his age is unknown. He wrote a book,περὶ νόστων, on the returns of the Greeks from their various expeditions, an account of Delos, a History of Alexander the Great, and other works, all of which have perished.

3219Of Heraclæa, in Pontus. He was a pupil of Plato, and, after him, of Aristotle. His works upon philosophy, history, mathematics, and other subjects, were very numerous; but, unfortunately, they are nearly all of them lost. He wrote a Treatise upon Islands, and another upon the Origin of Cities.

3220A geographical writer, of whom nothing further is known.

3221The Greek historian, the disciple of Socrates, deservedly styled the “Attic Bee.” His principal works are the Anabasis, or the History of the Expedition of the younger Cyrus and the Retreat of the Ten Thousand; the Hellenica, or History of Greece, from the time when that of Thucydides ends to the battle of Mantinea,B.C.362; and the Cyropædia, or Education of Cyrus. The greater portion of his works is now lost.

3222See end ofB. ii.

3223See end ofB. ii.

3224There were two physicians of this name, one of Catana, in Sicily, the other of Dyrrhachium, in Illyricum, who, like his namesake, was the author of numerous works. It is doubtful, however, whether Pliny here refers to either of those authors.

3225A Greek historian, quoted by Dionysius of Halicarnassus. If the same person as the father of the historian Nymphis, he must have lived in the early part of the second centuryB.C.He wrote a work on Islands, and another entitledΧρόνοι, or Chronicles.

3226A Greek geographer, who seems to have written an account of Cyprus.

3227He is quoted by Strabo, Athenæus, and the Scholiasts; but all that is known of him is, that he wrote a work on Thessaly, Æolia, Attica, and Arcadia.

3228He wrote a work relative to Miletus; but nothing further is known of him.

3229See end ofB. ii.

3230Probably a writer on geography, of whom no particulars are known.

3231See end ofB. ii.

3232Not reckoning under that appellation the country of Egypt, which was more generally looked upon as forming part of Asia. Josephus informs us that Africa received its name from Ophir, great-grandson of Abraham and his second wife, Keturah.

3233‘Castella,’ fortified places, erected for the purpose of defence; not towns formed for the reception of social communities.

3234The Emperor Caligula, who, in the year 41A.D., reduced the two Mauritanias to Roman provinces, and had King Ptolemy, the son of Juba, put to death.

3235Now Cape Spartel. By Scylax it is called Hermæum, and by Ptolemy and Strabo Cote, or Coteis. Pliny means “extreme,” with reference to the sea-line of the Mediterranean, in a direction due west.

3236Mentioned again by Pliny in B. xxxii. c. 6. Lissa was so called, according to Bochart, from the Hebrew or Phœnician wordliss, ‘a lion.’ At the present day there is in this vicinity a headland called the ‘Cape of the Lion.’ Bochart thinks that the name ‘Cotta,’ or ‘Cotte,’ was derived from the Hebrewquothef, a ‘vine-dresser.’

3237The modern Tangier occupies its site. It was said to have derived its name from Tinge, the wife of Antæus, the giant, who was slain by Hercules. His tomb, which formed a hill, in the shape of a man stretched out at full length, was shown near the town of Tingis to a late period. It was also believed, that whenever a portion of the earth covering the body was taken away, it rained until the hole was filled up again. Sertorius is said to have dug away a portion of the hill; but, on discovering a skeleton sixty cubits in length, he was struck with horror, and had it immediately covered again. Procopius says, that the fortress of this place was built by the Canaanites, who were driven by the Jews out of Palestine.

3238It has been supposed by Salmasius and others of the learned, that Pliny by mistake here attributes to Claudius the formation of a colony which was really established by either Julius Cæsar or Augustus. It is more probable, however, that Claudius, at a later period, ordered it to be called “Traducta Julia,” or “the removed Colony of Julia,” in remembrance of a colony having proceeded thence to Spain in the time of Julius Cæsar. Claudius himself, as stated in the text, established a colony here.

3239Its ruins are to be seen at Belonia, or Bolonia, three Spanish miles west of the modern Tarifa.

3240At this point Pliny begins his description of the western side of Africa.

3241Now Arzilla, in the territory of Fez. Ptolemy places it at the mouth of the river Zileia. It is also mentioned by Strabo and Antoninus.

3242Now El Araiche, or Larache, on the river Lucos.

3243Mentioned again in B. ix. c. 4 and c.5of the present Book, where Pliny speaks of them as situate elsewhere. The story of Antæus is further enlarged upon by Solinus, B. xxiv.; Lucan, B. iv. l. 589,et seq.; and Martianus Capella, B. vi.

3244Now the Lucos.

3245Hardouin is of opinion, that he here has a hit at Gabinius, a Roman author, who, in his Annals of Mauritania, as we learn from Strabo (B. xvii.), inserted numerous marvellous and incredible stories.

3246When we find Pliny accusing other writers of credulity, we are strongly reminded of the proverb, ‘Clodius accusat mœchos.’

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