BOOK IV. xii. 57-59 



distant from Piraeus, the port of Athens; its name 

 used to be Oenone. Offthe promontory of Spiraeum 

 lie Eleusa, Adendros, the tvvo Craugiae, the two 

 Caeciae and Selacosa ; and Aspis 7 miles from 

 Cenchreae and Methurides in the Bay of Megara 

 4 miles ; while Aegila is 15 miles from Cythera and 

 25 from the Cretan town of Phalasarna. 



Crete itself stretches east and west with one side Crete. 

 facing south and the othcr north ; it is celebrated for 

 the rcnown of its 100 cities. Dosiades held the view 

 that it took its name from the nymph Crete, daughter 

 of Hesperis, Anaximander that it was named from 

 the king of the Curetes, PhiHstidcs of Mallos and 

 Crates that it was first called Aeria and then subse- 

 quently Curetis ; its Greek appellation, ' the Island 

 of the Blest,' is thought by some to be due to 

 the mildness of its cHmate. Its breadth nowhere 

 exceeds 50 miles, its widcst part being about the 

 middle ; its length is fully 270 miles and its circum- 

 ference 589 miles ; its longest side forms a curve 

 towards the Cretan Sea which takes its name from it, 

 its easternmost projection, Cape Samonium," point 

 ing towards Rhodes and its westcrnmost, the Ram's 

 Forehead,'' towards Cyrene. 



The important cities of Crete are Phalasarna, Elaea, 

 Cisaraon, Pcrgamum, Cydonia,*" Minoium, Apteron, 

 Pantomatrium, Amphomala, Rhithymna, Panhormum, 

 Cytaeum, ApoUonia, Matium,'' Heraclea, Miletos, 

 Ampclos, Hierapytna, Lcbcna and HicrapoUs ; and 

 in the interior Gortyna, Phaestus, Cnossus, 

 Polyrrhenum, Myrina, Lycastos, Rhamnus, Lyctus, 

 Dium, Asium, Pyloros, Rhytion, Elatos, Pherae, 

 Holopyxos, Lasos, Eleuthcrnae, Therapnae, Mara- 

 thu-sa, Gytisos, and about 60 other towns of which 



i6i 



