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Strabo · Geography §14.2.29

Distances on the Overland Routes from Western to Eastern Asia Minor

Passage 458 of 577 · Greek

Summary

A detailed description and quotation of the distances (in stadia) along the major routes from the western coast of Asia Minor (Caria, Ionia) to the East (towards the Euphrates), as recorded by Artemidorus.

§14.2.29φησὶ δὲ Ἀρτεμίδωρος ἀπὸ Φύσκου τῆς Ῥοδίων περαίας ἰοῦσιν εἰς Ἔφεσον μέχρι μὲν Λαγίνων ὀκτακοσίους εἶναι καὶ πεντήκοντα σταδίους, ἐντεῦθεν δʼ εἰς Ἀλάβανδα πεντήκοντα ἄλλους καὶ διακοσίους, εἰς δὲ Τράλλεις ἑκατὸν ἑξήκοντα· ἀλλʼ ἡ εἰς Τράλλεις ἐστὶ διαβάντι τὸν Μαίανδρον κατὰ μέσην που τὴν ὁδὸν ὅπου τῆς Καρίας οἱ ὅροι· γίνονται δʼ οἱ πάντες ἀπὸ Φύσκου ἐπὶ τὸν Μαίανδρον κατὰ τὴν εἰς Ἔφεσον ὁδὸν χίλιοι ἑκατὸν ὀγδοήκοντα.
Artemidorus says that for those traveling from Physcus in the Rhodian Peraea to Ephesus, it is eight hundred and fifty stadia as far as Lagina, and from there to Alabanda another two hundred and fifty, and to Tralles one hundred and sixty; but the road to Tralles, for one who has crossed the Maeander, is at about the middle of the route where the boundaries of Caria are; and the total distance from Physcus to the Maeander along the road to Ephesus is one thousand one hundred and eighty stadia.
πάλιν ἀπὸ τοῦ Μαιάνδρου τῆς Ἰωνίας ἐφεξῆς μῆκος ἐπιόντι κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ ποταμοῦ εἰς Τράλλεις ὀγδοήκοντα, εἶτʼ εἰς Μαγνησίαν ἑκατὸν τετταράκοντα, εἰς Ἔφεσον δʼ ἑκατὸν εἴκοσιν, εἰς δὲ Σμύρναν τριακόσιοι εἴκοσιν, εἰς δὲ Φώκαιαν καὶ τοὺς ὅρους τῆς Ἰωνίας ἐλάττους τῶν διακοσίων, ὥστε τὸ ἐπʼ εὐθείας μῆκος τῆς Ἰωνίας εἴη ἂν κατʼ αὐτὸν μικρῷ πλέον τῶν ὀκτακοσίων.
Again, starting from the Maeander, for one who goes along the same road through the length of Ionia which lies next to it, the distance from the river to Tralles is eighty stadia, then to Magnesia one hundred and forty, to Ephesus one hundred and twenty, to Smyrna three hundred and twenty, and to Phocaea and the boundaries of Ionia less than two hundred, so that the straight length of Ionia would be, according to him, a little more than eight hundred stadia.
ἐπεὶ δὲ κοινή τις ὁδὸς τέτριπται ἅπασι τοῖς ἐπὶ τὰς ἀνατολὰς ὁδοιποροῦσιν ἐξ Ἐφέσου, καὶ ταύτην ἔπεισιν.
And since a certain common road is well beaten for all who travel from Ephesus towards the East, he also goes over this.
ἐπὶ μὲν τὰ Κάρουρα τῆς Καρίας ὅριον πρὸς τὴν Φρυγίαν διὰ Μαγνησίας καὶ Τραλλέων Νύσης Ἀντιοχείας ὁδὸς ἑπτακοσίων καὶ τετταράκοντα σταδίων· ἐντεῦθεν δὲ ἡ Φρυγία διὰ Λαοδικείας καὶ Ἀπαμείας καὶ Μητροπόλεως καὶ Χελιδονίων· ἐπὶ μὲν οὖν τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς Παρωρείου, τοὺς Ὅλμους, στάδιοι περὶ ἐνακοσίους καὶ εἴκοσιν ἐκ τῶν Καρούρων· ἐπὶ δὲ τὸ πρὸς τῇ Λυκαονίᾳ πέρας τῆς Παρωρείου τὸ Τυριαῖον διὰ Φιλομηλίου μικρῷ πλείους τῶν πεντακοσίων, εἶθʼ ἡ Λυκαονία μέχρι Κοροπασσοῦ διὰ Λαοδικείας τῆς κατακεκαυμένης ὀκτακόσιοι τετταράκοντα, ἐκ δὲ Κοροπασσοῦ τῆς Λυκαονίας εἰς Γαρσάουρα, πολίχνιον τῆς Καππαδοκίας ἐπὶ τῶν ὅρων αὐτῆς ἱδρυμένον, ἑκατὸν εἴκοσιν· ἐντεῦθεν δʼ εἰς Μάζακα τὴν μητρόπολιν τῶν Καππαδόκων διὰ Σοάνδου καὶ Σαδακόρων ἑξακόσιοι ὀγδοήκοντα· ἐντεῦθεν δʼ ἐπὶ τὸν Εὐφράτην μέχρι Τομίσων χωρίου τῆς Σωφηνῆς διὰ Ἡρφῶν πολίχνης χίλιοι τετρακόσιοι τετταράκοντα.
As far as Caroura, the boundary of Caria towards Phrygia, the road through Magnesia, Tralles, Nysa, and Antioch is seven hundred and forty stadia; and from there is Phrygia, through Laodicea, Apameia, Metropolis, and Chelidoniae; now as far as Holmi, the beginning of Paroreius, it is about nine hundred and twenty stadia from Caroura; and to Tyriaeum, the end of Paroreius towards Lycaonia, through Philomelium, a little more than five hundred; then Lycaonia as far as Coropassus through Laodicea Combusta is eight hundred and forty; and from Coropassus of Lycaonia to Garsaoura, a small town of Cappadocia situated on its borders, one hundred and twenty; and from there to Mazaca, the metropolis of the Cappadocians, through Soandus and Sadacora, six hundred and eighty; and from there to the Euphrates as far as Tomisa, a place in Sophene, through the small town of Herphae, one thousand four hundred and forty.
τὰ δʼ ἐπʼ εὐθείας τούτοις μέχρι τῆς Ἰνδικῆς τὰ αὐτὰ κεῖται καὶ παρὰ τῷ Ἀρτεμιδώρῳ ἅπερ καὶ παρὰ τῷ Ἐρατοσθένει.
The distances in a straight line from these places as far as India are laid down in the same way in Artemidorus as in Eratosthenes.
λέγει δὲ καὶ Πολύβιος περὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ μάλιστα δεῖν πιστεύειν ἐκείνῳ.
Polybius also says that regarding the regions there one ought to believe him most of all.
ἄρχεται δὲ ἀπὸ Σαμοσάτων τῆς Κομμαγηνῆς, ἣ πρὸς τῇ διαβάσει καὶ τῷ Ζεύγματι κεῖται· εἰς δὲ Σαμόσατα ἀπὸ τῶν ὅρων τῆς Καππαδοκίας τῶν περὶ Τόμισα ὑπερθέντι τὸν Ταῦρον σταδίους εἴρηκε τετρακοσίους καὶ πεντήκοντα.
This road begins at Samosata in Commagene, which lies near the crossing and Zeugma; and to Samosata from the boundaries of Cappadocia near Tomisa, for one who has crossed the Taurus, he says the distance is four hundred and fifty stadia.

Notes

  1. 14.2.29ἰοῦσιν — Dative plural of the present participle ἰών. In this context of describing routes and distances, it functions as a dative of reference indicating the hypothetical traveler ("for those traveling"). The subsequent participles "διαβάντι", "ἐπιόντι", and "ὑπερθέντι" are likewise dative singulars representing the subject moving along the path.
  2. 14.2.29λέγει δὲ καὶ Πολύβιος περὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ μάλιστα δεῖν πιστεύειν ἐκείνῳ — An indirect discourse (accusative with infinitive construction) where a governing verb of speaking (such as φησίν) is implied. The infinitive δεῖν (from the impersonal verb δεῖ) governs the infinitive πιστεύειν ("ought to believe"). The dative pronoun ἐκείνῳ is the object of πιστεύειν and refers in this context to Artemidorus.

Cite this passage

Strabo, Geography §14.2.29. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0099.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:14.2.29

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