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Strabo · Geography §14.1.34-14.1.37

Geography of Chios, Clazomenae, and Smyrna

Passage 446 of 577 · Greek

Summary

The text describes the famous figures from Erythrae such as the Sibyl, the geography of Chios along with its prominent literary figures like Ion and the Homeridae, and the historical reconstruction and beautiful yet drainage-deficient urban structures of Clazomenae and Smyrna.

§14.1.34ἐκ δʼ Ἐρυθρῶν Σίβυλλά ἐστιν, ἔνθους καὶ μαντικὴ γυνὴ τῶν ἀρχαίων τις· κατʼ Ἀλέξανδρον δὲ ἄλλη ἦν τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον μαντική, καλουμένη Ἀθηναΐς, ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως· καὶ καθʼ ἡμᾶς Ἡρακλείδης Ἡροφίλειος ἰατρὸς συσχολαστὴς Ἀπολλωνίου τοῦ Μυός.
From Erythrae came the Sibyl, an inspired and prophetic woman of ancient times; and in the time of Alexander there was another woman prophetic in the same manner, called Athenaïs, from the same city; and in our own time Heracleides, the physician of the school of Herophilus, a fellow-student of Apollonius Mys.
§14.1.35ἡ δὲ Χίος τὸν μὲν περίπλουν ἐστὶ σταδίων ἐνακοσίων παρὰ γῆν φερομένῳ, πόλιν δʼ ἔχει εὐλίμενον καὶ ναύσταθμον ναυσὶν ὀγδοήκοντα.
As for Chios, its circumnavigation is nine hundred stadia for one who sails along the coast; it has a city with a good harbor and a naval station for eighty ships.
ἐν δὲ τῷ περίπλῳ δεξιὰν τὴν νῆσον ἔχοντι ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως πρῶτον μέν ἐστι τὸ Ποσείδιον, εἶτα Φάναι λιμὴν βαθύς, καὶ νεὼς Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ ἄλσος φοινίκων· εἶτα Νότιον ὕφορμος αἰγιαλός· εἶτα Λαΐους, καὶ οὗτος ὕφορμος αἰγιαλός, ὅθεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἑξήκοντα σταδίων ἰσθμός· περίπλους δὲ τριακοσίων ἑξήκοντα ὃν ἐπήλθομεν.
In making the circumnavigation, keeping the island on the right, as one starts from the city, first there is the Poseidium; then Phanai, a deep harbor, and a temple of Apollo and a grove of palm trees; then Notion, an anchorage beach; then Laius, this too being an anchorage beach, whence there is an isthmus of sixty stadia to the city, but the circumnavigation, which we traversed, is three hundred and sixty stadia.
εἶτα Μέλαινα ἄκρα, καθʼ ἣν τὰ Ψύρα νῆσος ἀπὸ πεντήκοντα σταδίων τῆς ἄκρας, ὑψηλή, πόλιν ὁμώνυμον ἔχουσα· κύκλος δὲ τῆς νήσου τετταράκοντα στάδιοι.
Then comes Cape Melaena, opposite to which is the island of Psyra, fifty stadia from the cape, high and having a city of the same name; the circumference of the island is forty stadia.
εἶθʼ ἡ Ἀριουσία χώρα τραχεῖα καὶ ἀλίμενος σταδίων ὅσον τριάκοντα, οἶνον ἄριστον φέρουσα τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν.
Then comes the Ariousian country, rugged and without harbors, extending about thirty stadia, producing the best of Greek wines.
εἶτα τὸ Πελιναῖον ὄρος ὑψηλότατον τῶν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ.
Then Mount Pelinaeon, the highest of those in the island.
ἔχει δʼ ἡ νῆσος καὶ λατόμιον μαρμάρου λίθου.
The island also has a quarry of marble stone.
ἄνδρες δὲ Χῖοι γεγόνασιν ἐλλόγιμοι Ἴων τε ὁ τραγικὸς καὶ Θεόπομπος ὁ συγγραφεὺς καὶ Θεόκριτος ὁ σοφιστής· οὗτοι δὲ καὶ ἀντεπολιτεύσαντο ἀλλήλοις.
Distinguished Chian men have been Ion the tragic poet, Theopompos the historian, and Theocritus the sophist; these latter two also opposed each other in politics.
ἀμφισβητοῦσι δὲ καὶ Ὁμήρου Χῖοι, μαρτύριον μέγα τοὺς Ὁμηρίδας καλουμένους ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐκείνου γένους προχειριζόμενοι, ὧν καὶ Πίνδαρος μέμνηται " ὅθεν περ καὶ Ὁμηρίδαι ῥαπτῶν ἐπέων τὰ πόλλʼ ἀοιδοί " ἐκέκτηντο δὲ καὶ ναυτικόν ποτε Χῖοι, καὶ ἀνθήπτοντο τῆς κατὰ θάλατταν ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐλευθερίας.
The Chians also claim Homer as theirs, producing as a major testimony the so-called Homeridae descended from his family, whom Pindar also mentions: "ὅθεν περ καὶ Ὁμηρίδαι ῥαπτῶν ἐπέων τὰ πόλλʼ ἀοιδοί "The Chians also once possessed a navy, and aspired to maritime empire and freedom.
ἐκ Χίου δʼ εἰς Λέσβον νότῳ τετρακόσιοί που στάδιοι.
From Chios to Lesbos, with a south wind, it is about four hundred stadia.
§14.1.36ἐκ δὲ τοῦ Ὑποκρήμνου Χύτριόν ἐστι τόπος, ὅπου πρότερον ἵδρυντο Κλαζομεναί· εἶθʼ ἡ νῦν πόλις νησία ἔχουσα προκείμενα ὀκτὼ γεωργούμενα· Κλαζομένιος δʼ ἦν ἀνὴρ ἐπιφανὴς Ἀναξαγόρας ὁ φυσικός, Ἀναξιμένους ὁμιλητὴς τοῦ Μιλησίου· διήκουσαν δὲ τούτου Ἀρχέλαος ὁ φυσικὸς καὶ Εὐριπίδης ὁ ποιητής.
After Hypocremnus comes Chytrium, a place where Clazomenae was formerly situated; then the present city, having eight cultivated small islands lying in front of it; a distinguished Clazomenian man was Anaxagoras the natural philosopher, a disciple of Anaximenes of Miletus; and Archelaus the natural philosopher and Euripides the poet were pupils of his.
εἶθʼ ἱερὸν Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ θερμὰ ὕδατα καὶ ὁ Σμυρναίων κόλπος καὶ ἡ πόλις.
Then there is a temple of Apollo and hot springs, and the Gulf of Smyrna and the city.
§14.1.37ἑξῆς δὲ ἄλλος κόλπος, ἐν ᾧ ἡ παλαιὰ Σμύρνα ἀπὸ εἴκοσι σταδίων τῆς νῦν.
Next comes another gulf, in which is Old Smyrna, twenty stadia distant from the present city.
Λυδῶν δὲ κατασπασάντων τὴν Σμύρναν περὶ τετρακόσια ἔτη διετέλεσεν οἰκουμένη κωμηδόν· εἶτα ἀνήγειρεν αὐτὴν Ἀντίγονος, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Λυσίμαχος, καὶ νῦν ἐστι καλλίστη τῶν πασῶν, μέρος μέν τι ἔχουσα ἐπʼ ὄρει τετειχισμένον, τὸ δὲ πλέον ἐν πεδίῳ πρὸς τῷ λιμένι καὶ πρὸς τῷ μητρῴῳ καὶ πρὸς γυμνασίῳ.
After the Lydians destroyed Smyrna, for about four hundred years it continued to be inhabited in villages; then Antigonus rebuilt it, and after him Lysimachus, and now it is the most beautiful of all, having a certain part fortified on a mountain, but the greater part on the plain near the harbor, the Metroum, and the gymnasium.
ἔστι δʼ ἡ ῥυμοτομία διάφορος ἐπʼ εὐθειῶν εἰς δύναμιν καὶ αἱ ὁδοὶ λιθόστρωτοι στοαί τε μεγάλαι τετράγωνοι, ἐπίπεδοί τε καὶ ὑπερῷοι·
The division of the streets is excellent, being straight as far as possible, and the roads are paved with stone, and there are great rectangular porticoes, both on the ground level and upstairs.
ἔστι δὲ καὶ βιβλιοθήκη καὶ τὸ Ὁμήρειον, στοὰ τετράγωνος, ἔχουσα νεὼν Ὁμήρου καὶ ξόανον· μεταποιοῦνται γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι διαφερόντως τοῦ ποιητοῦ, καὶ δὴ καὶ νόμισμά τι χαλκοῦν παρʼ αὐτοῖς Ὁμήρειον λέγεται.
There is also a library and the Homereium, a rectangular portico having a temple of Homer and a wooden statue; for they also claim the poet with special insistence, and indeed a certain bronze coin among them is called Homereium.
ῥεῖ δὲ πλησίον τοῦ τείχους ὁ Μέλης ποταμός.
The river Meles flows near the wall.
ἔστι δὲ πρὸς τῇ ἄλλῃ κατασκευῇ τῆς πόλεως καὶ λιμὴν κλειστός.
In addition to the other construction of the city, there is also a closed harbor.
ἓν δʼ ἐλάττωμα τῶν ἀρχιτεκτόνων οὐ μικρόν, ὅτι τὰς ὁδοὺς στορνύντες ὑπορρύσεις οὐκ ἔδωκαν αὐταῖς, ἀλλʼ ἐπιπολάζει τὰ σκύβαλα καὶ μάλιστα ἐν τοῖς ὄμβροις ἐπαφιεμένων τῶν ἀποσκευῶν.
But there is one not small defect of the architects, that when paving the streets they did not give them underground drainage, so that refuse floats on the surface, and especially during rains, when the waste is discharged.
ἐνταῦθα Δολοβέλλας Τρεβώνιον ἐκπολιορκήσας ἀνεῖλεν, ἕνα τῶν δολοφονησάντων Καίσαρα τὸν θεόν, καὶ τῆς πόλεως παρέλυσε πολλὰ μέρη.
Here Dolabella, having besieged and captured Trebonius, killed him, who was one of those who assassinated the divine Caesar, and he destroyed many parts of the city.

Notes

  1. §14.1.34τῶν ἀρχαίων τις — Meaning "someone of the ancients." The indefinite pronoun τις agrees with the feminine singular nominative γυνή ("woman"), but semantically functions to select one individual from the genitive plural τῶν ἀρχαίων ("of the ancients").
  2. §14.1.35τὸν μὲν περίπλουν ἐστὶ σταδίων ἐνακοσίων παρὰ γῆν φερομένῳ — The dative participle φερομένῳ functions as a dative of reference or dative of the person judging ("for one carried along the land"). περίπλουν is an accusative of respect, with the genitive of measure σταδίων ἐνακοσίων acting as a predicate, translating to "Chios is of nine hundred stadia in its circumnavigation."
  3. §14.1.35ἀμφισβητοῦσι δὲ καὶ Ὁμήρου — The verb ἀμφισβητέω (to dispute, claim) regularly takes the genitive of the object of dispute (Ὁμήρου). Here, it denotes that the Chians lay claim to Homer as being their citizen.
  4. §14.1.37ἐπαφιεμένων τῶν ἀποσκευῶν — A genitive absolute construction. The genitive plural noun τῶν ἀποσκευῶν (from ἀποσκευή, here referring to household waste or refuse) acts as the subject of the passive present participle ἐπαφιεμένων (from ἐπαφίημι, to discharge), meaning "when the refuse is discharged."

Cite this passage

Strabo, Geography §14.1.34-14.1.37. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:14.1.34-14.1.37

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