After the mouth of the Silaris one comes to Leucania, and to the temple of the Argoan Hera, built by Jason, and near by, within fifty stadia, to Poseidonia . Thence, sailing out past the gulf, one comes to Leucosia , Now Licosa. an island, from which it is only a short voyage across to the continent. The island is named after one of the Sirens, who was cast ashore here after the Sirens had flung themselves, as the myth has it, into the depths of the sea. In front of the island lies that promontory Poseidium, now Punta Della Licosa. which is opposite the Sirenussae and with them forms the Poseidonian Gulf. On doubling this promontory one comes immediately to another gulf, in which there is a city which was called “ Hyele ” by the Phocaeans who founded it, and by others “Ele,” after a certain spring, but is called by the men of today “ Elea .” This is the native city of Parmenides and Zeno, the Pythagorean philosophers. It is my opinion that not only through the influence of these men but also in still earlier times the city was well governed; and it was because of this good government that the people not only held their own against the Leucani and the Poseidoniatae, but even returned victorious, although they were inferior to them both in extent of territory and in population. At any rate, they are compelled, on account of the poverty of their soil, to busy themselves mostly with the sea and to establish factories for the salting of fish, and other such industries. According to Antiochus, Antiochus Syracusanus, the historian. Cp. Hdt. 1.167 after the capture of Phocaea by Harpagus, the general of Cyrus, all the Phocaeans who could do so embarked with their entire families on their light boats and, under the leadership of Creontiades, sailed first to Cyrnus and Massalia , but when they were beaten off from those places founded Elea . Some, however, say that the city took its name from the River Elees. The Latin form is “Hales” (now the Alento). It is about two hundred stadia distant from Poseidonia . After Elea comes the promontory of Palinurus. Off the territory of Elea are two islands, the Oenotrides, which have anchoring-places. After Palinurus comes Pyxus—a cape, harbor, and river, for all three have the same name. Pyxus was peopled with new settlers by Micythus, the ruler of the Messene in Sicily , but all the settlers except a few sailed away again. After Pyxus comes another gulf, and also Laüs—a river and city; it is the last of the Leucanian cities, lying only a short distance above the sea, is a colony of the Sybaritae, and the distance thither from Ele is four hundred stadia. The whole voyage along the coast of Leucania is six hundred and fifty stadia. Near Laüs is the hero-temple of Draco, one of the companions of Odysseus, in regard to which the following oracle was given out to the Italiotes: The Greek inhabitants of Italy were called “Italiotes.” Much people will one day perish about Laïan Draco. There is a word-play here which cannot be brought out in translation: the word for “people” in Greek is “laos.” And the oracle came true, for, deceived by it, the peoples Literally, “laoi.” who made campaigns against Laüs, that is, the Greek inhabitants of Italy , met disaster at the hands of the Leucani. These, then, are the places on the Tyrrhenian seaboard that belong to the Leucani. As for the other sea, The Adriatic. they could not reach it at first; in fact, the Greeks who held the Gulf of Tarentum were in control there. Before the Greeks came, however, the Leucani were as yet not even in existence, and the regions were occupied by the Chones and the Oenotri. But after the Samnitae had grown considerably in power, and had ejected the Chones and the Oenotri, and had settled a colony of Leucani in this portion of Italy , while at the same time the Greeks were holding possession of both seaboards as far as the Strait, the Greeks and the barbarians carried on war with one another for a long time. Then the tyrants of Sicily , and afterwards the Carthaginians, at one time at war with the Romans for the possession of Sicily and at another for the possession of Italy itself, maltreated all the peoples in this part of the world, but especially the Greeks. Later on, beginning from the time of the Trojan war, the Greeks had taken away from the earlier inhabitants much of the interior country also, and indeed had increased in power to such an extent that they called this part of Italy , together with Sicily , Magna Graecia. But today all parts of it, except Taras, The old name of Tarentum . Rhegium , and Neapolis , have become completely barbarized, “Barbarized,” in the sense of “non-Greek” (cp. 5. 4. 4 and 5. 4. 7). and some parts have been taken and are held by the Leucani and the Brettii, and others by the Campani—that is, nominally by the Campani but in truth by the Romans, since the Campani themselves have become Romans. However, the man who busies himself with the description of the earth must needs speak, not only of the facts of the present, but also sometimes of the facts of the past, especially when they are notable. As for the Leucani, I have already spoken of those whose territory borders on the Tyrrhenian Sea , while those who hold the interior are the people who live above the Gulf of Tarentum . But the latter, and the Brettii, and the Samnitae themselves (the progenitors of these peoples) have so utterly deteriorated that it is difficult even to distinguish their several settlements; and the reason is that no common organization longer endures in any one of the separate tribes; and their characteristic differences in language, armor, dress, and the like, have completely disappeared; and, besides, their settlements, severally and in detail, are wholly without repute. Accordingly, without making distinctions between them, I shall only tell in a general way what I have learned about the peoples who live in the interior, I mean the Leucani and such of the Samnitae as are their next neighbors. Petelia, then, is regarded as the metropolis of the Chones, and has been rather populous down to the present day. It was founded by Philoctetes after he, as the result of a political quarrel, had fled from Meliboea . It has so strong a position by nature that the Samnitae once fortified it against the Thurii . And the old Crimissa, which is near the same regions, was also founded by Philoctetes. Apollodorus, in his work On Ships , That is, his work entitled “On the (Homeric) Catalogue of Ships” (cp. 1. 2. 24). in mentioning Philoctetes, says that, according to some, when Philoctetes arrived at the territory of Croton , he colonized the promontory Crimissa, and, in the interior above it, the city Chone, from which the Chonians of that district took their name, and that some of his companions whom he had sent forth with Aegestes the Trojan to the region of Eryx in Sicily fortified Aegesta. Also spelled Segesta and Egesta . Moreover, Grumentum and Vertinae are in the interior, and so are Calasarna and some other small settlements, until we arrive at Venusia , a notable city; but I think that this city and those that follow in order after it as one goes towards Campania are Samnite cities. Beyond Thurii lies also the country that is called Tauriana. The Leucani are Samnite in race, but upon mastering the Poseidoniatae and their allies in war they took possession of their cities. At all other times, it is true, their government was democratic, but in times of war they were wont to choose a king from those who held magisterial offices. But now they are Romans. The seaboard that comes next after Leucania, as far as the Sicilian Strait and for a distance of thirteen hundred and fifty stadia, is occupied by the Brettii. According to Antiochus, in his treatise On Italy , this territory (and this is the territory which he says he is describing) was once called Italy , although in earlier times it was called Oenotria. And he designates as its boundaries, first, on the Tyrrhenian Sea , the same boundary that I have assigned to the country of the Brettii—the River Laüs; and secondly, on the Sicilian Sea, Metapontium. But as for the country of the Tarantini, which borders on Metapontium, he names it as outside of Italy , and calls its inhabitants Iapyges. And at a time more remote, according to him, the names “Italians” and “Oenotrians” were applied only to the people who lived this side the isthmus in the country that slopes toward the Sicilian Strait. The isthmus itself, one hundred and sixty stadia in width, lies between two gulfs—the Hipponiate (which Antiochus has called Napetine) and the Scylletic. The coasting-voyage round the country comprised between the isthmus and the Strait is two thousand stadia. But after that, he says, the name of “ Italy ” and that of the “Oenotrians” was further extended as far as the territory of Metapontium and that of Seiris, for, he adds, the Chones, a well-regulated Oenotrian tribe, had taken up their abode in these regions and had called the land Chone. Now Antiochus had spoken only in a rather simple and antiquated way, without making any distinctions between the Leucani and the Brettii. In the first place, Leucania lies between the Tyrrhenian and Sicilian coastlines, Between the coastlines on the Tyrrhenian and Sicilian Seas. the former coastline from the River Silaris as far as Laüs, and the latter, from Metapontium as far as Thurii ; in the second place, on the mainland, from the country of the Samnitae as far as the isthmus which extends from Thurii to Cerilli (a city near Laüs), the isthmus is three hundred stadia in width. But the Brettii are situated beyond the Leucani; they live on a peninsula, but this peninsula includes another peninsula which has the isthmus that extends from Scylletium to the Hipponiate Gulf. The name of the tribe was given to it by the Leucani, for the Leucani call all revolters “brettii.” The Brettii revolted, so it is said (at first they merely tended flocks for the Leucani, and then, by reason of the indulgence of their masters, began to act as free men), at the time when Rio made his expedition against Dionysius and aroused all peoples against all others. So much, then, for my general description of the Leucani and the Brettii. The next city after Laüs belongs to Brettium, and is named Temesa, though the men of today call it Tempsa; it was founded by the Ausones, but later on was settled also by the Aetolians under the leadership of Thoas; but the Aetolians were ejected by the Brettii, and then the Brettii were crushed by Hannibal and by the Romans. Near Temesa, and thickly shaded with wild olive trees, is the hero-temple of Polites, one of the companions of Odysseus, who was treacherously slain by the barbarians, and for that reason became so exceedingly wroth against the country that, in accordance with an oracle, the people of the neighborhood collected tribute According to Paus. 6.6.2 the oracle bade the people annually to give the hero to wife the fairest maiden in Temesa. for him; and hence, also, the popular saying applied to those who are merciless, “Merciless” is an emendation. Some read “disagreeable.” According to Aelian Var. Hist. 8.18 , the popular saying was applied to those who in pursuit of profit overreached themselves (so Plutarch Prov. 31 ). But Eustathius (note on Iliad 1.185 ) quotes “the geographer” (i.e., Strabo; see note 1, p. 320) as making the saying apply to “those who are unduly wroth, or very severe when they should not be.” that they are “beset by the hero of Temesa.” But when the Epizephyrian Locrians captured the city, Euthymus, the pugilist, so the story goes, entered the lists against Polites, defeated him in the fight and forced him to release the natives from the tribute. People say that Homer has in mind this Temesa, not the Tamassus in Cyprus (the name is spelled both ways), when he says “to Temesa, in quest of copper.” Hom. Od. 1.184 And in fact copper mines are to be seen in the neighborhood, although now they have been abandoned. Near Temesa is Terina , which Hannibal destroyed, because he was unable to guard it, at the time when he had taken refuge in Brettium itself. Then comes Consentia , the metropolis of the Brettii; and a little above this city is Pandosia , a strong fortress, near which Alexander the Molossian Cp. 6. 3. 4 and footnote. was killed. He, too, was deceived by the oracle The oracle, quoted by Casaubon from some source unknown to subsequent editors was: Αἰακίδη, προφύλαξο μολεῖν Ἀχερούσιον ὕδωρ Πανδοσίην δ’ ὅθι τοι θάνατος πεπρωμένος ἐστί Source unknown. “Son of Aeacus, beware to go to the Acherusian water and Pandosia , where it is fated you will die.” at Dodona , which bade him be on his guard against Acheron and Pandosia ; for places which bore these names were pointed out to him in Thesprotia , but he came to his end here in Brettium. Now the fortress has three summits, and the River Acheron flows past it. And there was another oracle that helped to deceive him: Three-hilled Pandosia , much people shalt thou kill one day; for he thought that the oracle clearly meant the destruction of the enemy, not of his own people. It is said that Pandosia was once the capital of the Oenotrian Kings. After Consentia comes Hipponium , which was founded by the Locrians. Later on, the Brettii were in possession of Hipponium , but the Romans took it away from them and changed its name to Vibo Valentia . And because the country round about Hipponium has luxuriant meadows abounding in flowers, people have believed that Core i.e., Persephone. used to come hither from Sicily to gather flowers; and consequently it has become the custom among the women of Hipponium to gather flowers and to weave them into garlands, so that on festival days it is disgraceful to wear bought garlands. Hipponium has also a naval station, which was built long ago by Agathocles, the tyrant of the Siciliotes, The “Siciliotes” were Sicilian Greeks, as distinguished from native Sicilians. when he made himself master of the city. Thence one sails to the Harbor of Heracles, Now Tropea . But in fact the turn towards the west begins immediately after Hipponium . which is the point where the headlands of Italy near the Strait begin to turn towards the west. And on this voyage one passes Medma , a city of the same Locrians aforementioned, which has the same name as a great fountain there, and possesses a naval station near by, called Emporium. Near it is also the Metaurus River, and a mooring-place bearing the same name. Off this coast lie the islands of the Liparaei, at a distance of two hundred stadia from the Strait. According to some, they are the islands of Aeolus, of whom the Poet makes mention in the Odyssey. Hom. Od. 10.2ff They are seven in number and are all within view both from Sicily and from the continent near Medma . But I shall tell about them when I discuss Sicily . After the Metaurus River comes a second Metaurus. Strabo’s “Metaurus” and “second Metaurus” are confusing. Kramer, Meineke, and others wish to emend the text so as to make the “second” river refer to Crataeis or some other river. But we should have expected Strabo to mention first the Medma (now the Mesima ), which was much closer to Medma than the Metaurus (now the Marro), and to which he does not refer at all. Possibly he thought both rivers were called Metaurus (cp. Müller, Ind. Var. Lectionis , p. 975), in which case “the second Metaurus” is the Metaurus proper. The present translator, however, believes that Strabo, when he says “second Metaurus,” alludes to the Umbrian Metaurus (5. 2. 10) as the first, and that the copyist, unaware of this fact, deliberately changed “ Medma ” to “Metaurus” in the two previous instances. Next after this river comes Scyllaeum, a lofty rock which forms a peninsula, its isthmus being low and affording access to ships on both sides. This isthmus Anaxilaüs, the tyrant of the Rhegini, fortified against the Tyrrheni, building a naval station there, and thus deprived the pirates of their passage through the strait. For Caenys, Now Cape Cavallo. too, is near by, being two hundred and fifty stadia distant from Medma ; it is the last cape, and with the cape on the Sicilian side, Pelorias, forms the narrows of the Strait. Cape Pelorias is one of the three capes that make the island triangular, and it bends towards the summer sunrise, North-east (cp. 1. 2. 21). just as Caenys bends towards the west, each one thus turning away from the other in the opposite direction. Now the length of the narrow passage of the Strait from Caenys as far as the Poseidonium, Altar or temple of Poseidon. or the Columna Rheginorum, is about six stadia, while the shortest passage across is slightly more; and the distance is one hundred stadia from the Columna to Rhegium , where the Strait begins to widen out, as one proceeds towards the east, towards the outer sea, the sea which is called the Sicilian Sea.