§7.fragments.23ὅτι τὴν Πέλλαν οὖσαν μικρὰν πρότερον Φίλιππος εἰς μῆκος ηὔξησε τραφεὶς ἐν αὐτῇ· ἔχει δὲ λίμνην πρὸ αὑτῆς, ἐξ ἧς ὁ Λουδίας ποταμὸς ῥεῖ· τὴν δὲ λίμνην πληροῖ τοῦ Ἀξιοῦ τι ποταμοῦ ἀπόσπασμα.
Philip, having been reared in Pella, which was formerly small, increased it in size; and it has a lake before it, from which the Lydias river flows; and a certain branch of the Axius river fills this lake.
εἶτα ὁ Ἀξιὸς διαιρῶν τήν τε Βοττιαίαν καὶ τὴν Ἀμφαξῖτιν γῆν, καὶ παραλαβὼν τὸν Ἐρίγωνα ποταμὸν ἐξίησι μεταξὺ Χαλάστρας καὶ Θέρμης· ἐπίκειται δὲ τῷ Ἀξιῷ ποταμῷ χωρίον, ὅπερ Ὅμηρος Ἀμυδῶνα καλεῖ, καί φησι τοὺς Παίονας ἐντεῦθεν εἰς Τροίαν ἐπικούρους ἐλθεῖν
"
τηλόθεν ἐξ Ἀμυδῶνος ἀπʼ Ἀξιοῦ εὐρυρέοντος.
Next, the Axius, dividing Bottiaea and the land of Amphaxitis, and having received the Erigon river, empties between Chalastra and Therme; and upon the Axius river lies a place which Homer calls Amydon, and says that the Paeonians came from there to Troy as allies: "From afar out of Amydon, from wide-flowing Axius.
"
ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ ὁ μὲν Ἀξιὸς θολερός ἐστι, κρήνη δέ τις ἐξ Ἀμυδῶνος ἀνίσχουσα καὶ ἐπιμιγνυμένη αὐτῷ καλλίστου ὕδατος, διὰ τοῦτο τὸν ἑξῆς στίχον
"
Ἀξιοῦ, οὗ κάλλιστον ὕδωρ ἐπικίδναται Αἶαν
"
μεταγράφουσιν οὕτως
"
Ἀξιοῦ, ᾧ κάλλιστον ὕδωρ ἐπικίδναται Αἴης.
"But since the Axius is turbid, whereas a certain spring rising from Amydon and mixing with it has water of the fairest quality, for this reason they rewrite the following verse: "Of Axius, whose fairest water is spread over Aia, "in this way: "Of Axius, to which the fairest water of Aie is spread.
"
οὐ γὰρ τὸ τοῦ Ἀξιοῦ ὕδωρ κάλλιστον τῇ πηγῇ ἐπικίδναται, ἀλλὰ τὸ τῆς πηγῆς τῷ Ἀξιῷ.
"For it is not the water of the Axius that is spread, as being the fairest, over the spring, but that of the spring over the Axius.
Epit.
Epitome.
§7.fragments.23aἐν δὲ τῷ ἐπικίδναται αἴῃ ἢ αἶαν (διττῶς γὰρ ἡ γραφή) αἶαν τινὲς οὐ τὴν γῆν ἐνόησαν, ἀλλά τινα πηγήν, ὡς δῆλον ἐξ ὧν ὁ γεωγράφος φησί, λέγων ὅτι ἡ παρʼ Ὁμήρῳ Ἀμυδὼν Ἀβυδὼν ὕστερον ἐκλήθη, κατεσκάφη δέ.
In the phrase "is spread over aia" or "Aian" (for the reading is twofold), some understood "Aian" not as the land, but as a certain spring, as is clear from what the geographer says, stating that the Amydon in Homer was later called Abydon, and was razed to the ground.
πηγὴ δὲ πλησίον Ἀμυδῶνος Αἶα καλουμένη καθαρώτατον ὕδωρ ἐκδιδοῦσα εἰς τὸν Ἄξιον, ὃς ἐκ πολλῶν πληρούμενος ποταμῶν θολερὸς ῥέει.
And near Amydon is a spring called Aia, which discharges very pure water into the Axius, which, being filled from many rivers, flows turbid.
φαύλη οὖν, φησίν, ἡ φερομένη γραφὴ Ἀξίου κάλλιστον ὕδωρ ἐπικίδναται αἴῃ, ὡς δηλαδὴ οὐ τοῦ Ἀξίου ἐπικιδνάντος τὸ ὕδωρ τῇ πηγῇ, ἀλλʼ ἀνάπαλιν· εἶτα ὑποδυσκόλως αἰτιώμενος ὁ γεωγράφος καὶ τὸ νοῆσαι τὴν αἶαν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἔοικε παντελῶς ἐθέλειν ἐκβαλεῖν τοῦ Ὁμηρικοῦ ἔπους τὴν τοιαύτην λέξιν.
Therefore, he says, the current reading, "the fairest water of Axius is spread over aia," is corrupt, as it is obviously not the Axius that spreads its water over the spring, but the reverse; and then the geographer, finding fault with it with some difficulty, seems also to wish to reject entirely the interpretation of "aia" as the land, and to cast such a word out of the Homeric epic.
Eustathius ad Iliad 2. 850
Eustathius on Iliad 2.850.
§7.fragments.24ὅτι μετὰ τὸν Ἀξιὸν ποταμὸν ἡ Θεσσαλονίκη ἐστὶ πόλις, ἣ πρότερον Θέρμη ἐκαλεῖτο· κτίσμα δʼ ἐστὶ Κασσάνδρου, ὃς ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τῆς ἑαυτοῦ γυναικός, παιδὸς δὲ Φιλίππου τοῦ Ἀμύντου, ὠνόμασε· μετῴκισε δὲ τὰ πέριξ πολίχνια εἰς αὐτήν, οἷον Χαλάστραν Αἴνειαν Κισσὸν καί τινα καὶ ἄλλα.
After the river Axius is the city of Thessalonike, which was formerly called Therme; and it is a foundation of Cassander, who named it after his own wife, the child of Philip son of Amyntas; and he relocated the surrounding small towns into it, such as Chalastra, Aeneia, Cissus, and some others.
ἐκ δὲ τοῦ Κισσοῦ τούτου ὑπονοήσειεν ἄν τις γενέσθαι καὶ τὸν παρʼ Ὁμήρῳ Ἰφιδάμαντα, οὗ ὁ πάππος Κισσεὺς ἔθρεψεν αὐτὸν (φησὶν) ἐν Θρῄκῃ, ἣ νῦν Μακεδονία καλεῖται.
And from this Cissus, one might suspect that the Iphidamas in Homer also came, whose grandfather Cisses, he says, reared him in Thrace, which is now called Macedonia.
Epit.
Epitome.
§7.fragments.25ὅτι αὐτοῦ που καὶ τὸ Βέρμιον ὄρος, ὃ πρότερον κατεῖχον Βρίγες Θρᾳκῶν ἔθνος, ὧν τινες διαβάντες εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν Φρύγες μετωνομάσθησαν·
Somewhere around there is also Mount Bermion, which was formerly occupied by the Briges, a Thracian tribe, some of whom crossed over into Asia and were renamed Phrygians.
μετὰ δὲ Θεσσαλονίκειάν ἐστι τὰ λοιπὰ τοῦ Θερμαίου κόλπου μέχρι τοῦ Καναστραίου.
After Thessalonikeia is the remainder of the Thermaic Gulf as far as Canastraeon.
τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶν ἄκρα χερρονησίζουσα, ἀνταίρουσα τῇ Μαγνήτιδι· ὄνομα δὲ τῇ χερρονήσῳ Παλλήνη· πενταστάδιον δʼ ἔχει τὸν ἰσθμὸν διορωρυγμένον· κεῖται δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ πόλις ἡ πρότερον μὲν Ποτίδαια, Κορινθίων κτίσμα, ὕστερον δὲ Κασάνδρεια ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτοῦ βασιλέως Κασάνδρου ἀναλαβόντος αὐτὴν ἀνατετραμμένην· ὁ περίπλους ταύτης τῆς χερρονήσου πεντακοσίων καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα.
This is a cape forming a peninsula, rising opposite the Magnesian land; and the name of the peninsula is Pallene; and it has an isthmus of five stadia which has been dug through; and upon it lies a city which was formerly Potidaea, a foundation of the Corinthians, but later Cassandreia, named after the same king Cassander, who restored it after it had been overthrown; the voyage around this peninsula is five hundred and seventy stadia.
ἔτι δὲ πρότερον τοὺς Γίγαντας ἐνταῦθα γενέσθαι φασὶ καὶ τὴν χώραν ὀνομάζεσθαι Φλέγραν οἱ μὲν μυθολογοῦντες οἱ δὲ πιθανώτερον ἔθνος τι βάρβαρον καὶ ἀσεβὲς ἀποφαίνοντες τὸ κατέχον τὸν τόπον, καταλυθὲν δʼ ὑπὸ Ἡρακλέους, ἡνίκα τὴν Τροίαν ἑλὼν ἀνέπλει εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν.
And still earlier, they say that the Giants were born here, and those who tell myths call the country Phlegra, while those who speak more plausibly declare that a certain barbarian and impious tribe occupied the place, which was destroyed by Heracles when, having captured Troy, he sailed back to his own land.
κἀνταῦθα δὲ τῆς λύμης αἱ Τρῳάδες αἴτιαι λέγονται, ἐμπρήσασαι τὰς ναῦς, ἵνα μὴ ταῖς γυναιξὶ τῶν ἑλόντων αὐτὰς δουλεύοιεν.
And here too, the Trojan women are said to have been the cause of the ruin, by setting fire to the ships so that they might not be slaves to the wives of those who had captured them.
E.
Vatican Epitome.
§7.fragments.26ὅτι ἡ Βέροια πόλις ἐν ταῖς ὑπωρείαις κεῖται τοῦ Βερμίου ὄρους.
The city of Beroea lies at the foot of Mount Bermion.
Epit.
Epitome.