Geography

​Many men worthy of memory were produced here, both generals and athletes, among whom were also the ancestors of the philosopher Panaetius; and among statesmen and those devoted to literature and philosophy were Panaetius himself, Stratocles, Andronicus the Peripatetic, Leonides the Stoic, and still earlier, Praxiphanes, Hieronymus, and Eudemus. Poseidonius, though he took part in the government and taught in Rhodes, was from Apameia in Syria, just as were Apollonius the Malacus and Molon, who were from Alabanda, pupils of the rhetorician Menecles. Apollonius resided there earlier, and Molon came late, wherefore the former said to him: “late come (opse molon),” using “molon” instead of “elthon” (having come). And Peisander, the poet who wrote the Heracleia, was also a Rhodian, as were Simmias the grammarian, and Aristocles of our own time. Dionysius the Thracian and Apollonius who composed the Argonautica, though Alexandrians, were called Rhodians. Of Rhodes, enough has been said.

​And again, along the Carian coast after Rhodes, starting from Elaeus and Loryma, there is a turn toward the north, and for the rest of the course the voyage is in a straight line as far as the Propontis, making, as it were, a meridian line of about five thousand stadia, or a little less. In this region lies the rest of Caria, and the Ionians, the Aeolians, Troy, and the parts about Cyzicus and Byzantium. After Loryma, then, comes the Cynos-sema (Dog’s Tomb) and the island of Syme.

​Then comes Cnidus, having two harbors, one of which is a closed harbor for triremes and a naval station for twenty ships. In front of it lies an island about seven stadia in circumference, high and theater-shaped, joined by moles to the mainland, and making Cnidus in a way a double city; for a large part of it inhabits the island, which shelters both harbors. Opposite it lies Nisyros in the open sea. Eminent men of Cnidus were, first, Eudoxus the mathematician, one of Plato’s companions; then Agatharchides the Peripatetic, a writer; and in our time, Theopompus, the friend of the deified Caesar, one of the most powerful men, and his son Artemidorus. From here also came Ctesias, who served as physician to Artaxerxes and wrote the Assyrian and Persian histories. Then after Cnidus come Ceramus and Bargasa, small towns above the sea.

​Then Halicarnassus, the royal residence of the rulers of Caria, which was formerly called Zephyria. Here is the tomb of Mausolus, one of the Seven Wonders, a work which Artemisia constructed for her husband; and also the fountain of Salmacis, which has an ill repute, though from what source I know not, for making those who drink from it effeminate. It seems, however, that the luxury of men accuses the climate or the waters; but the causes of luxury are not these, but wealth and intemperance in their ways of life. Halicarnassus has an acropolis, in front of which lies Arconnesus. Its founders were, among others, Anthes with the Troezenians. From this city came Herodotus the historian, whom they later called a Thurian because he shared in the colonization to Thurii; Heraclitus the poet, the companion of Callimachus; and in our time, Dionysius the historian.