326 PLINY' S KATUEAL HISTOET. [Book IV. 



CHAP. 24. THE HELLESPONT. — THE LAKE UJEOTIS. 



The fourth great Gulf of Europe begins at the Hellespoi*fc 

 and ends at the entrance of the Maeotis'. But in order 

 that the several portions of the Euxine and its coasts may 

 be the better known, we must briefly embrace the form 

 of it in one general view. This vast sea, lying in front of 

 Asia, is shut out from Europe by the projection of the shores 

 of the Chersonesus, and ejffects an entrance into those coun- 

 tries by a narrow channel only, of the width, as already 

 mentioned, of seven stadia, thus separating Europe from 

 Asia. The entrance of these Straits is called the Hel- 

 lespont ; over it Xerxes, the king of the Persians, con- 

 structed a bridge of boats, across which he led his army. 

 A narrow channel extends thence a distance of eighty-six 

 miles, as far as Priapus', a city of Asia, at which Alexander 

 the Great passed over. At this point the sea becomes 

 wider, and after some distance again ^akes the form of a 

 narrow strait. The wider part is known as the Propontis', 

 the Straits as the Thracian Bosporus*, being only half-a- 

 mile in width, at the place where Darius, the father of 

 Xerxes, led his troops across by a bridge. The extremity of 

 this is distant from the Hellespont 239 miles. 



We then come to the vast sea called the Euxine, which 

 invades the land as it retreats afar, and the name of which 

 was formerly Axenus®. As the shores bend inwards, this 

 sea with a vast sweep stretches far away, curving on both 

 sides after the manner of a pair of horns, so much so that in' 

 shape it bears a distinct resemblance to a Scythian bow^. 



1 Now generally known as the Palus Meeotis or Sea of Azof. 



2 The modem Caraboa, according to Brotier, stands on its site. Pri- 

 apus was the tutelary divinity of Lampsacus in tliis vicinity. 



3 Or " entrance of Pontus " ; now the Sea of Marmora. 



* " Ox Ford," or " passage of the cow," lo being said to have crossed 

 it in that form : now called the " Straits of Constantinople." 



5 Said to have been called a^evos or " inhospitable," from its frequent 

 storms and the savage state of the people Uving on its shores. In later 

 times, on the principle of Euphemism, or abstaining from words of ill 

 omen, its name was changed to evKeivos, " hospitable." 



6 This was a favourite comparison of the ancients ; the north coast, 

 between the Thracian Bosporus and the Phasis, formed the bow, and the 

 southern shores the string. The Scythian bow somewhat resembled in 

 form the figure 2, the capital Sigma of the Greeks. 



