548 



ON THE SYRINX OF STRABO, 



mentions next after the port of Gersestus the promontory of 

 Caphareus, and then the Coela of Euboea. The other is Livy, 

 who after describing the capture of Oreus by Attalus and the Romans, 

 observes, " that as the autumnal equinox was drawing near, and as 

 that bay of Euboea, which they call Coela, was by sailors reputed 

 dangerous, it was judged expedient to return without delay to the 

 Piraeus." * By the context it appears that at this time Chalcis was 

 in the possession of their enemies, their fleet therefore could not pass 

 through the Euripus, and as no other course remained towards the 

 Piraeus, but along the eastern coast of Euboea, it is there, and there 

 only, that we must look for the bay denominated Coela. 



The near connection of the Coela with the promontory of Caphareus, 

 has been already proved by a series of quotations, for which I am 

 indebted to Larcher ; but I am sorry to differ as to the meaning 

 which he has assigned to the term Ta clxpa. tv}? 'EvQetzs ; instead of 

 designating the rocks near the promontory of Caphareus, the words 

 more probably refer to the heights of Euboea. 



Having now explained what I conceive to have been the main 

 object of the fortification of the Euripus, I shall produce some 

 further proofs of its importance. 



We learn from history, with what vigilance the Athenians for a 

 long series of years maintained their sovereign influence over the 

 vassal states of Euboea ; and of what importance they regarded this 

 connection, we have two most convincing proofs in the popular feeling 

 at Athens, excited at two different periods by the news of its rupture. 

 The first happened upon the occasion already mentioned, or rather 

 just before it, when, after the destruction of the Athenian fleet at 

 Eretria, the Lacedaemonians caused all the cities of Euboea to 

 revolt, f Thucydides informs us that the consternation produced at 



* Jam autumnalc aequinoctium instabat ; et est sinus Euboicus quem Coela vocant, 

 suspcctus nautis ; itaque ante hyemalcs motus evadcre inde cupientes, Pirseum, unde profecti 

 ad bellum erant, repetunt. — Liv. lib. xxxi. c. 47- 



+ In the twenty-first year of the war, the departure of the Lacedaemonian force exposed 

 the cities of Eubcea to the vengeance of the Athenians, and suggested the immediate ne- 

 cessity of fortifying the Euripus. 



