Book 9
4.15
Now at that time these places were at the height of their fame when they held the mastery over the keys of the Narrows, and when there were struggles for the primacy between the peoples outside the Narrows and those inside them; for instance, Philip used to call Chalcis and Corinth “the fetters of Greece,” having Macedonia in view as his base of operations;i.e., by holding these places he could control Greece even from distant Macedonia. and the men of later times called, not only these, but also the city Demetrias “shackles,” for Demetrias commanded the passes round Tempe, since it held both Pelion and Ossa. But later, now that all peoples have been brought into subjection to a single power, everything is free from toll and open to all mankind.
4.16
It was at these Narrows that Leonidas and his men, with a few who came from the neighborhood thereof, held out against all those forces of the Persians, until the barbarians, coming around the mountains through by-paths, cut them down. And today their PolyandriumSee 9. 4. 2 and footnote. is to be seen, and pillars, and the oft-quoted inscription on the pillar of the Lacedaemonians, which is as follows: “Stranger, report to the Lacedaemonians that we lie here in obedience to their laws.”
4.17
There is also a large harbor here, and a temple of Demeter, in which at the time of every Pylaean assembly the Amphictyons performed sacrificial rites. From the harbor to Heracleian Trachin the distance on foot is forty stadia, and by boat to Cenaeum seventy stadia. The Spercheius empties immediately outside Pylae. The distance to Pylae from the Euripus is five hundred and thirty stadia. And whereas Locris ends at Pylae, the parts outside Pylae towards the east and the Maliac Gulf belong to the Thessalians, and the parts towards the west belong to the Aetolians and the Acarnanians. As for the Athamanians, they are now extinct.
