Book 6
1.5
From the Lao the first city is the TemesaThe situation of Temesa has not yet been fully determined. Cluverius fixes it about ten miles south of Amantea, near Torre Loppa. Romanelli observes, however, that Cluverius has not allowed for the difference between the ancient and modern computation of distance. To rectify this oversight, he makes choice of Torre del piano del Casale, nearly two miles north of Torre Loppa, as the locality of this ancient site. The silver coins of Temesa are scarce. They have the Greek epigraph, TEM. of the Bruttii, which at present is called Tempsa. It was founded by the Ausonians; afterwards the Aetolians, under the command of Thoas, gained possession of it. These were expelled by the Bruttii; Hannibal and the Romans have overthrown the Bruttii.After the second Punic war it was colonized by the Romans, who called it Tempsa, B. C. 195. In the vicinity of Temesa is the Heroum of Polites, one of the companions of Ulysses. It is surrounded by a thick grove of wild olives. He was treacherously slain by the barbarians, and became in consequence very wrathful, and his shade so tormented the inhabitants that they submitted to pay him a tribute, according to the direction of a certain oracle. Thus it became a proverb amongst them, Let no one offend the hero of Temesa, for they said that [for a long time heWe concur with Kramer in approving the proposition of Groskurd to understand the words ἐκεῖνον μὲν οὺ͂ν διά πολλοῦ as having been originally written in the text immediately before ἐπικεῖσθαι αὐτοῖς.] had tormented them. But when the Epizephyrian Locrians took the city, they feign that Euthymus the pugilist went out against him, and having overcome him in fight, constrained him to free the inhabitants from tribute.They had been compelled to sacrifice a virgin annually in order to appease his disturbed spirit. They say that the poet intended this Temesa, and not the TamassusBorgo di Tamasso. in Cyprus, (for it is said that the words are suitable to either,These words in parenthesis seem to have been interpolated by the transcribers of our author. Both Temesa and Tamassus were rich in metal, but the spelling of the name in Homer is more in accordance with Temesa than Tamassus, and other poets have alluded to it, as Ovid. Met. xv. 706, Evincitque fretum, Siculique angusta Pelori, Hippotadaeque domos regis, Temesesque metalla. Ovid. Met. xv. 706 And Fast. v. 441, . . . . . Temesaeaque concrepat sera. Fast. v. 441 And Statius, Silv. i. 42, Et cui se toties Temese dedit hausta metallis.Statius, Silv. i. 42) when he sings, in quest of brass To Temesa.Odyssey i. 184.Odyssey i. 184. and certain copper-mines are pointed out near to the place, which are now exhausted. Contiguous to it is Terina,Nocera. which Hannibal destroyed, when he found he could no longer retain it; at the time when he took refuge in the country of the Bruttii.Hannibal took refuge in Calabria about 209 years before the Christian era. Next in order comes Cosentia,Cosenza, near the source of the Crathis, now Crati, represents Cosentia. It was taken by Hannibal after the surrender of Petilia, but towards the end of the war the Romans regained it. the metropolis of the Bruttii. A little above it is Pandosia, which is strongly fortified, before which Alexander the Molossian king was overthrown. This prince was led astray by the oracle of Dodona, which commanded him to avoid Acheron and Pandosia; αἰακίδη, προφύλαξαξο μολεῖν?̓αχερούσιον ὕδωρ πανδοσίην θʼ, ὅθι τοι θάνατος πεπρωμένος ἐστί. Son of Aeacus, beware of approaching the Acherusian water and Pandosia, where death is destined for thee. for places with names like these being pointed out in Thesprotia, caused him to lose his lifeAbout B. C. 330. here. The position has three summits, and the river Acheron flows by it. He was also mistaken in another oracle, O Pandosia, thou three-topp’d hill, Hereafter many people thou shalt kill; for he thought that it foreshowed the destruction of his enemies, and not of his own people. They say that PandosiaCommentators generally agree that this is the Pandosia memorable for the defeat and death of Alexander, king of Epirus. The early Calabrian antiquaries have placed it at Castel Franco. D’Anville, in his map, lays it down near Lao and Cirella. Modern investigators have sought its ruins near Mendocino, between Cosenza and the sea, a hill with three summits having been remarked there, which answers to the fatal height pointed out by the oracle, πανδοσία τρικόλωνε, πολύν ποτε λαὸν ὀλέσσεις· together with a rivulet, Maresanto or Arconti; which last name recalls the Acheron denounced by another prediction, as so inauspicious to the Molossian king. Scylax, in his Periplus, seems to place Pandosia, together with Clampetia and Terina, near the western coast. was formerly the residence of the Oenotrian kings. After Cosentia is Hipponium,Afterwards Vibo Valentia, now Monte-Leone. founded by the Locrians.Surnamed the Epizephyrii. Heyne supposes this took place B. C. 388. The Romans took it from the Bruttii, who were in possession of it at a subsequent period, and changed the name into Vibo-Valentia.B. C. 193. And because the meadows in its vicinity are luxuriant and full of flowers, it is supposed that Proserpine came over from Sicily to gather them, and from thence the custom among women of this city, to gather flowers and plait garlands, prevailed to such an extent, that they now think it shameful to wear purchased garlands at the festivals.There was a temple erected to Proserpine in these meadows, and a building called Amalthea’s horn, raised by Gelon of Syracuse. It also possesses a harbourThe present harbour of Bivona. made by Agathocles,He reigned from B. C. 317 to B. C. 289. the tyrant of Sicily, when he was in possession of the town. On sailing hence to the Portus Herculis,Now Le Formicole. The promontory named Capo Vaticano seems to have been anciently known under the same appellation. we come to the point where the headlands of Italy, as they stretch towards the Strait [of Sicily], begin to turn westward. In this voyage we pass Medma,Medma, or Mesma, was situated on the right bank of the river Mesima, which seems to retain traces of the name of the ancient city. Antiquaries report that its ruins are seen between Nicotera and the river Mesima. The epigraph on the coins of this city is generally μεσμα, Or μεσμαιων, and in a single instance μεδαμα. a city of the same Locrians,That is, the Epizephyrian Locrians. which bears the name of a copious fountain, and possessing at a short distance a naval station, called Emporium.Cluverius considers this to be the modern Bagnara. Very nigh is the river Metauro,The ancient river Metaurus is now also called Marro, and sometimes Petrace. It was noted for the excellence of the thunny fish caught at its mouth. as also a naval station bearing the same name.Metaurum. The site of this place is supposed to accord with that of the town of Gioja. The Lipari Isles lie off this coast; they are distant 200 stadia from the strait. They say that they are the islands of Aeolus, of whom the poet makes mention in the Odyssey.Homer, Odyssey, lib. x. They are seven in number, and are all easily distinguished both from Sicily and the coast of the continent about Medma. We will speak of them in particular when we describe Sicily. After the river Metaurus, there is another Metaurus.There have been many suggestions for the correction of this passage. Kramer thinks that Cluverius was happy in proposing ποταμὸς instead of μέτανοͅος, and that then the Cratais, now Solano, or Fiume de’ Pesci, would be the river which Strabo intended. Next in order is Scyllaeum, an elevated cliff nearly surrounded by the sea. But connected with the main-land by a low isthmus easily accessible on either side, which Anaxilaus, the tyrant of Rhegium, fortified against the Tyrrheni, and formed a commodious haven, and thus prevented the pirates from passing through the strait. Next to the Scyllaean promontory was that of Caenys, distant from Medma 250 stadia. It is the last headland, and forms the narrowest part of the Strait [of Sicily], being opposite to Cape Pelorus on the Sicilian side, which is one of the three points which give to that island the form of a triangle. Its aspect is towards the rising of the sun in summer, whilst that of Caenys looks towards the west. Indeed they both seem to have diverged from the general line of coast in order to stand out opposite each other.According to Pliny, these two promontories were separated by an interval of twelve stadia, or a mile and a half, which accords with the statement of Polybius. Thucydides, however, allows about two miles and a half, which he considers to be the utmost possible distance. Topographers are divided as to the exact point of the Italian coast which answers to Cape Caenys. The Calabrian geographers say the Punta del Pezzo, called also Coda del Volpe, in which opinion Cluverius and D’Anville coincide, but Holstenius contends for the Torre del Cavallo, which the French translators seem to favour. In fact, that may be the narrowest point, still it does not answer so well to Strabo’s description of the figure and bearing of Cape Caenys as the Punta del Pezzo. From Caenys to the PosidoniumThe temple or altar of Neptune. [and] the Columna Rheginorum,The Columna Rhegina, as remarked by Cramer, (vol. ii. p. 427,) was probably a pillar set up to mark the consular road leading to the south of Italy. Strabo speaks of it as a small tower (book iii. c. v. § 5, p 265). In the Itinerary of Antoninus it is simply termed Columna, but In the inscription relative to the Via Aquilia, it is called Statua. The situation of this tower is generally identified with the site of La Catona. the narrow part of the strait stretches as much as 6 stadia, the shortest passage across the strait is a little more. From the Columna [Rheginorum] to Rhegium, where the strait begins to widen, is a hundred [stadia] as you advance in a direction towards the exterior and eastern sea, which is called the sea of Sicily.
