Volume 1
A dictionary of Greek and Roman geography / by various writers ; edited by William Smith.
- Date:
- 1873
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A dictionary of Greek and Roman geography / by various writers ; edited by William Smith. Source: Wellcome Collection.
85/1140 (page 63)
![knowledge of the history or phenomena of the moim- tain. (Lucret. vi. 640—703; Lucil. Aetna, 92, et seq.; Justin, iv. 1; Seneca, E][nst. 79; Claudian, 1. c. 169—176.) The connection of these volcanic phe- nomena with the earthquakes by which the island was frequently agitated, was too obvious to escape notice, and was indeed implied in the popular tra- dition. Some writers also asserted that there was a subterranean communication between Aetna and the Aeolian islands, and that the eruptions of the former were observed to alternate with those of Hiera and Strongyle. (Diod. v. 7.) The name of Aetna was evidently derived from its fiery character, and has the same root as a^6ca, to bum. But in later times a mythological origin was found for it, and the moimtain was supposed to have received its name from a nymph, Aetna, the daughter of Uranus and Gaea, or, according to others, of Br'areus. (Schol. ad Theocr. Id. i. 65.) The moun- tain itself is spoken of by Pindar (Pyth. i. 57) as consecrated to Zeus; but at a later period Solinus calls it sacred to Vulcan; and we*deam that there existed on it a temple of that deity. This was not, however, as supposed by some writers, near the sum- mit of the mountain, but in the middle or forest region, as we are told that it was surrounded by a grove of sacred trees. (Solin. 5. § 9; Aelian, H. A. xi. 3.) [E. H. B.] AETO'LIA (aItcoXiu: Eth. AItco\6s, Aetolus), a district of Greece, the boundaries of which varied at different periods. In the time of Strabo it was bounded on the W. by Acamania, from which it was separated by the river Achelous, on the N. by the mountainous country inhabited by the Athamanes, Dolopes, and Dryopes, on the NE. by Doris and Malis, on the SE. by Loeris, and on the S. by the entrance to the Corinthian gulf. It contained about 1165 square miles. It was divided into two dis- tricts, called Old Aetolia (j] apxaia AlrooXia), and Aetolia Epictetus (rj eTrtKTTjros), or the Acquired. The former extended along the coast from the Achelous to the Evenus, and inland as far as Ther- mum, opposite the Acamanian town of Stratus: the latter included the northern and more mountainous part of the province, and also the country on the coast between the Evenus and Loeris. When this division was introduced is rmknown; but it cannot have been founded upon conquest, for the inland Aetolians were never subdued. The country between the Achelous and the Evenus appears in tradition as the original abode of the Aetolians; and the term Epictetus probably only indicates the subse- quent extension of their name to the remainder of the country. Strabo makes the promontory An- tirrhium the boundary between Aetolia and Loeris, but some of the towns between this promontory and the Evenus belonged originally to the Ozolian Lo- crians. (Strab. pp. 336, 450, 459.) The country on the coast between the Achelous and the Evenus is a fertile plain, called Parache- loltis (napaxeAwTris), after the former river. This plain is bounded on the north by a range of hills called Aracynthus, north of which and of the lakes Hyria and Trichonis there again opens out another extensive plain opposite the town of Stratus. These are the only two plains in Aetolia of any extent. The remainder of the country is traversed in every direction by rugged mountains, covered with forests, and fall of dangerous ravines. These mountains are a south-westerly epntinuation of Mt. Pindus, and have never been crossed by any road, either in ancient or modem times. The following mountains are mentioned by special names by the ancient writers : — I.Tymphrestus (Tv/j.(ppr](TT6s), on the northern frontier, was a southerly continuation of Mt. Pindus, and more properly belongs to Dryopis. [Dryopis.] 2. Bomi (Bwptoi), on the north-eastern frontier, was the most westerly part of Mt. Oeta, inhabited by the Bomienses. In it were the sources of the Evenus. (Sti'ab. X. p. 451; Thuc, iii. 96; Steph. B. s. v. Ewp-uL) 3. CoRAX (Kdpa|), also on the north- eastern frontier, was a south-westerly continuation of Oeta, and is described by Strabo as the greatest mountain in Aetolia. There was a pass through it leading to Thermopylae, which the consul Acihus Glabrio crossed with great difficulty and the loss of many beasts of burthen in his passage, when he marched from Thermopylae to ISiaupactus in b. c. 191. Leake remarks that the route of Glabrio was probably by the vale of the Vistritza into that of the Kokkino, over the ridges which connect Velukhi with Vardhvsi, but very near the latter mountain, which is thus identified with Corax. Corax is de- scribed on that occasion by Livy as a very high mountain, lying between Callipolis and Naupactus. (Strab. X. p. 450; Liv. xxxvi, 30; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 624.) 4. Ta- PHIASSUS (Ta<pLa(r(r6s\ Kaki-skala), a southerly continuation of Corax, extended down to the Co- rinthian gulf, where it terminated in a lofty moun- tain near the town of Macynia. In this mountain Nessus and the other Centaurs were said to have been buried, and from their corpses arose the stinking waters which flowed into the sea, and from which the western Locrians are said to have derived the name of Ozolae, or the Stinking. Modem travellers have found at the base of Mt. Taphiassus a number of springs of fetid water. Taphiassus derives its modem name of Kaki-skala, or “ Bad-ladder,” rrom the dangerous road, which runs along the face of a precipitous cliff overhanging the sea, half way up the mountain. (Strab. pp. 427, 451, 460; Antig. Caryst. 129; Plin. iv. 2; Leake, vol. i. p. Ill; Mure, Tour in Greece, vol. i. p. 135; Gell, Itiner. p. 292.) 5. Chalcis or Chalceia (XuXkis ^ XaXKia: Varassova), an offshoot of Taphiassus, running down to the Corinthian gulf, between the mouth of the Evenus and Taphiassus. At its foot was a town of the same name. Taphiassus and Chalcis are the ancient names of the two great momitains ranning close down to the sea-coast, a little west of the promontory Antin'hium, and sepa- rated from each other by some low ground. Each of these mountains rises from the sea in one dark gloomy mass. (Strab. pp. 451, 460; Horn. II. ii. 640; Leake, l.c.; Mure, vol. i. p. 171.) 6. Ara- cynthus QApaKvvdos: Zygos), a range of moun- tains mnning in a south-easterly direction from the Achelous to the Evenus, and separating the lower plain of Aetolia near the sea from the upper plain above the lakes Hyria and Trichonis. (Strab. x. p. 450.) [Aracynthus.] 7. Panaetolium Xyiena), a mountain NE. of Thermum, in which city the Aetolians held the meetings of their league. (Plin. iv. 2; Pol. v. 8; Leake, vol. i. p. 131.) 8. Myenus (rb opos hlvriuou. Pint, de Fluviis, p. 44), between the rivers Evenus and Hylaethus. 9. Macynium, mentioned only by Pliny (1. c.), must, from its name, have been near the town of Macynia on the coast, and consequently a part of Mt. Taphiassus. 10. Curium (Kovpiov), a moun- tain between Pleuron and lake Trichonis, from whicJi](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24872441_0001_0085.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
