Opposite Canastrum, The same as “Canastraeum” (Fr. 25 and 31). a cape of Pallene, is Derrhis, a headland near Cophus Harbor; and these two mark off the limits of the Toronaean Gulf. And towards the east, again, lies the cape of Athos, which marks off the limit of the Singitic Gulf. And so the gulfs of the Aegaean Sea lie in order, though at some distance from one another, towards the north, as follows: the Maliac, the Pagasitic, the Thermaean, the Toronaean, the Singitic, the Strymonic. The capes are, first, Poseidium, the one between the Maliac and the Pegasitic; secondly, the next one towards the north, Sepias; then the one on Pallene, Canastrum; then Derrhis; then come Nymphaeum, on Athos on the Singitic Gulf, and Acrathos, the cape that is on the Strymonic Gulf (Mt. Athos is between these two capes, and Lemnos is to the east of Mt. Athos); on the north, however, the limit of the Strymonic Gulf is marked by Neapolis. Now Kavala. Acanthus, a city on the Singitic Gulf, is on the coast near the canal of Xerxes. Athos has five cities, Dium, Cleonae, Thyssus, Olophyxis, Acrothol; and Acrothol is near the crest of Athos. Mt. Athos is breast-shaped, has a very sharp crest, and is very high, since those who live on the crest see the sun rise three hours before it rises on the seaboard. And the distance by sea around the peninsula from the city Acanthus as far as Stageirus, Now in ruins near Nizvoro. the city of Aristotle, is four hundred stadia. On this coast is a harbor, Caprus by name, and also an isle with the same name as the harbor. Then come the outlets of the Strymon; then Phagres, Galepsus, Apollonia, all cities; then the month of the Nestus, Now Mesta. which is the boundary between Macedonia and Thrace as fixed by Philip and his son Alexander in their times. There is also another set of cities about the Strymonic Gulf, as, for instance, Myrcinus, Argilus, Drabescus, and Datum. See footnote on “Datum,” Frag. 36. The last named has not only excellent and fruitful soil but also dock-yards and gold mines; and hence the proverb, “a Datum of good things,” like that other proverb, “spools of good things.” There are very many gold mines in Crenides, where the city Philippi Now Filibedjik (see footnote on “Datum,” Frag. 36. now is situated, near Mt. Pangaeum. Now Pirnari. And Mt. Pangaeum as well has gold and silver mines, as also the country across, and the country this side, the Strymon River as far as Paeonia. And it is further said that the people who plough the Paeonian land find nuggets of gold. Mt. Athos is high and breast-shaped; so high that on its crests the sun is up and the people are weary of ploughing by the time cock-crow The third watch of the night. begins among the people who live on the shore. It was on this shore that Phamyris the Thracian reigned, who was a man of the same pursuits as Orpheus. See Frag. 18. Here, too, is to be seen a canal, in the neighborhood of Acanthus, where Xerxes dug a canal across Athos, it is said, and, by admitting the sea into the canal, brought his fleet across from the Strymonic Gulf through the isthmus. Demetrius of Scepsis, however, does not believe that this canal was navigable, for, he says, although as far as ten stadia the ground is deep-soiled and can be dug, and in fact a canal one plethrum in width has been dug, yet after that it is a flat rock, almost a stadium in length, which is too high and broad to admit of being quarried out through the whole of the distance as far as the sea; but even if it were dug thus far, certainly it could not be dug deep enough to make a navigable passage; this, he adds, is where Alexarchus, the son of Antipater, One of the foremost Macedonian generals (b. 497-d. 319 B.C.); also the father of Cassander. laid the foundation of Uranopolis, with its circuit of thirty stadia. Some of the Pelasgi from Lemnos took up their abode on this peninsula, and they were divided into five cities, Cleonae, Olophyxis, Acrothoï, Dium, Thyssus. After Athos comes the Strymonic Gulf extending as far as the Nestus, the river which marks off the boundary of Macedonia as fixed by Philip and Alexander; to be accurate, however, there is a cape which with Athos forms the Strymonic Gulf, I mean the cape which has had on it a city called Apollonia. The same Apollonia mentioned in Frag. 33. It was razed to the ground by Philip. It must have been somewhere between Neapolis and the mouth of the Nestus. Cp. Frag. 32, where Neapolis is spoken of as marking the northern limit of the gulf. The first city on this gulf after the harbor of the Acanthians is Stageira, the native city of Aristotle, now deserted; this too belongs to the Chalcidians and so do its harbor, Caprus, and an isle Now Kapronisi. bearing the same name as the harbor. Then come the Strymon and the inland voyage of twenty stadia to Amphipolis. Amphipolis was founded by the Athenians and is situated in that place which is called Ennea Hodoi. “Nine Roads.” Then come Galepsus and Apollonia, which were razed to the ground by Philip. From the Peneius, he says, to Pydna is one hundred and twenty stadia. Along the seaboard of the Strymon and the Dateni are, not only the city Neapolis, but also Datum Appian Bellum Civile 4.105 and also Harpocration say the Datum was the earlier name of Philippi and that Crenides was the name of the same place in still earlier times. Leake ( Northern Greece , Vol. III, pp. 223-4), Kiepert ( Alte Geographic 315), Forbiger (Strabo Vol. II, p. 140, footnote, 175), Besnier ( Lexique Geog. Ancienne s.v. “Neapolis”), Lolling ( Hellenische Landeskunde , 220, 230) identify Datum with Neapolis. But Heuzey (quoted by Philippson, Pauly-Wissowa s.v. “Datum”) tries to reconcile these disagreements and the above statement of Strabo by assuming that originally Datum was that territory east of Mt. Pangarum which comprised the Plain of Philippi, the basin of the Angites River (including Drabescus now Drama), and the adjacent coast; and that later Neapolis (now Kavala) was founded on the coast and Datum was founded on the site of Crenides, and still later the city of Datum was named Philippi. itself, with its fruitful plains, lake, rivers, dock-yards, and profitable gold mines; and hence the proverb, “a Datum of good things,” like that other proverb, “spools of good things.” Now the country that is on the far side of the Strymon, I mean that which is near the sea and those places that are in the neighborhood of Datum, is the country of the Odomantes and the Edoni and the Bisaltae, both those who are indigenous and those who crossed over from Macedonia, amongst whom Rhesus reigned. Above Amphipolis, however, and as far as the city Heracleia, Heracleia Sintica (now Zervokhori). is the country of the Bisaltae, with its fruitful valley; this valley is divided into two parts by the Strymon, which has its source in the country of the Agrianes who live round about Rhodope; and alongside this country lies Parorbelia, a district of Macedonia, which has in its interior, along the valley that begins at Eidonene, the cities Callipolis, Orthopolis, Philippopolis, Garescus. If one goes up the Strymon, one comes to Berge; Now Tachyno (Leake, Northern Greece , Vol. III, p. 229). it, too, is situated in the country of the Bisaltae, and is a village about two hundred stadia distant from Amphipolis. And if one goes from Heracleia towards the north and the narrows through which the Strymon flows, keeping the river on the right, one has Paeonia and the region round about Doberus, The site of the city Doberus is uncertain (see Pauly-Wissowa, s.v.), though it appears to have been somewhere near Tauriana. Rhodope, and the Haemus Mountain on the left, whereas on the right one has the region round about the Haemus. The text, which even Meineke retains, is translated as it stands, but Strabo probably wrote as follows: “one has Paeonia and the region round about Doberus on the left, whereas on the right one has the parts round about Rhodope and the Haemus Mountain. This side the Strymon are Scotussa, near the river itself, and Arethusa, near lake Bolbe. Now Beschikgoel. Furthermore, the name Mygdones is applied especially to the people round about the lake. Not only the Axius flows out of the country of the Paeonians, but also the Strymon, for it flows out of the country of the Agrianes through that of the Medi and Sinti and empties into the parts that are between the Bisaltae and the Odomantes.