Volume 1
The geography of Strabo / Literally translated, with notes. The first six books by H. C .Hamilton, esq., the remainder by W. Falconer.
- Strabo
- Date:
- 1854-1857
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The geography of Strabo / Literally translated, with notes. The first six books by H. C .Hamilton, esq., the remainder by W. Falconer. Source: Wellcome Collection.
422/542 page 408
![the first of the barbarians that are considered to have been settlers in Sicily. It seems probable that Morgantium * was founded by the Morgetes. Formerly it was a city, but now it is not. When the Cartliaginians^ endeavoured to gain possession of the island they continually harassed both the Greeks and the barbarians, but the Syracusans withstood them; at a later period the Romans expelled the Carthagi- nians and took Syracuse after a long siege.® And [Sextus] Pompeius, having destroyed Syracuse in the same way as he had done by the other cities,' Augustus Caesar in our own times sent thither a colony, and to a great e.xtent restored it to its former importance, for anciently it consisted of five towns® enclosed by a wall of 180® stadia, but there being no great need that it should fill this extensive circle, he thought it expedient to fortify in a better way the thickly inhabited portion lying next the island of Ortygia, the circumference of Avhich by itself equals that of an important city. Ortygia is connected to the mainland by a bridge, and [boasts of] the fountain Arethusa, Avhich springs in such abundance as to form a river at once, and flows into the sea. They say that it is the river Alpheus which rises in the Peloponnesus, and that it flows througli the land beneath the sea® to the place ' It is probable that Morgantium was situated on the right bank of the Giaretta, below its confluence with the Dattaino, but at some little distance from the sea; at least such is the opinion of Cluverius. in opposition to the views of Sicilian topographers. Sic. .\nt. book ii. cap. 7, pp. 325 and 335. - The flrst settlement of the Carthaginians in Sicily was about 560 b. c. ^ 212 years b. c. * 42 years n. c. * They were called Nesos, [the island Ortygia,] .\chradina, Tycha, Neapolis, and Epipolaj. .\usonius applies the epithet fourfold, “ Quis Catiiiam silcat ? quis quadrupliccs SjTacusas ?” Dionysius however fortified Epipol® with a wall, and joined it to the city. ° Twenty-two miles four perches English. Swinburne spent two dtiys in examining the extent of the ruins, and was satisfied as to the accuracy of Str.abo’s statement. ’ A river of Elis. ” Virgil thus deals with the subject: “ .Sicanio pratenla siuu jacct insula contra IMcinmyriuui undosum : nomen dixere priorcs Ortvgiam. Alpheum fama cst hue, Elidis amneni, Occultas egissc vias subter marc ; qui nunc Ore, Arethusa, tuo Siculis confundiiur undis.” -Eii. iii. 692.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24872556_0001_0422.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
