3. The valleys beyond the last-mentioned ridge are those of the Strymon and the Angites. As the Axius falls into the sea in a gulf to the west, so does the Strymon join the sea to the east of the Chalcidian peninsula. Not far from its mouth the Strymon forms a lake, into which the Angites runs; a stream of considerable size, its course lying westward of the Strymon. For that the eastern stream is the ancient Strymon (notwithstanding the opinion of most modern geographers) is, in the first place, evident from its size; secondly, from the name Struma, which it now bears; and, thirdly, from the statement of Herodotus,[1887] that the district of Phyllis reached southwards to the Strymon, and westward to the Angites; it lay, therefore, above the confluence [pg 454] of the two rivers and the lake which they formed by their junction. The ridge which lies to the east of the Strymon was called, at least where it widens along the coast, Pangæum.[1888]
Thus much is sufficient to give a general notion of the geographical structure of the region, the ancient inhabitants of which form the subject of the present inquiry.
Ancient names of the several districts.
4. We will now chiefly follow the full and accurate accounts of Herodotus respecting the districts situated near the mouths of the three rivers just mentioned. First, Mygdonia, on the Thermaic bay, and round the ancient city of Therma, extended, according to Herodotus, to the Axius, which divided this district from Bottiaïs;[1889] and it agrees with this statement that the small river Echeidorus (probably the modern Gallico), which fell into the sea at the marshes near the Axius, in the lower part of its course passed through Mygdonia.[1890] To the east this district extended still further; lake Bolbe, beyond Chalcidice, was either in or near Mygdonia.[1891] Thucydides, indeed, makes Mygdonia reach as far as the Strymon;[1892] but this cannot be reconciled with the account of Herodotus (who appears to have possessed a very accurate knowledge of this region), that both the maritime district, west from the Strymon, in which was the Greek city of Argilus, and the land further to the interior, was called Bisaltia.[1893] On the other side, above Mygdonia, was situated (according to Herodotus) the district of Crestonica, from which the river Echeidorus flowed down to the coast.[1894]
5. Beyond the Axius, to the west of the stream, immediately after Mygdonia, came Bottiais, which district was on the other side bounded by the united mouth of the Haliacmon and the Lydias;[1895] and thus towards the sea it terminated in a narrow wedge-shaped strip. On this tongue of land were the cities of Ichnæ and Pella,[1896] the first of which was celebrated for an ancient temple;[1897] while Pella became afterwards the royal residence, situated on the lake of the Lydias, at the distance of 120 stadia from the river's mouth,[1898] and may now be recognised by these marks of its position and some ruins. According to Strabo,[1899] also, the river Axius made the boundary of Bottiæa, and divided it from the district of Amphaxitis, which was the name of the opposite and more elevated side of the Axius.[1900] Thucydides also calls this tract of country Bottiæa;[1901] and distinguishes it from the more recent settlements of the Bottiæans, near Olynthus, in Chalcidice,[1902] which he calls Bottica.[1903]
6. The united mouth of the Lydias and Haliacmon, according to Herodotus,[1904] divided Bottiaïs from Macedonis; for he can only mean this common mouth when he says that “the rivers Lydias and Haliacmon divide the districts [pg 456] of Bottiaïs and Macedonis, uniting their waters in the same channel.” Further on in the interior the Lydias alone must have been the boundary of Bottiaïs, since otherwise this district would not end in a narrow strip of land; Macedonis, therefore, began on the western bank of the Lydias. In this place nothing more can be said as to the meaning of the word Macedonis, before the precise signification of some other names has been determined.
7. Proceeding along the coast, Pieria borders upon Macedonis, the district under Mount Olympus,[1905] which ridge, where it approaches this coast, splits into two branches, the one stretching towards the mouth of the Peneus, the other towards those of the three rivers. Herodotus cannot make Pieria reach as far as the Haliacmon,[1906] as they are here separated by Macedonis Proper;[1907] he probably supposes it to begin just at the rise of mount Olympus, and divides the narrow plain on the sea-coast from the tracts to the interior. The southern boundary of Pieria is stated by Strabo[1908] and Livy[1909] to have been the district of Dium;[1910] so that these writers leave a narrow and mountainous strip of land, stretching towards Tempe, which belonged neither to Pieria nor Thessaly. The chief place in Pieria was Pydna, also called Cydna (according to Stephanus Byz.), and in later times Citron (according to the epitomizer of Strabo),[1911] which name still remains in the same place.
8. Now that we proceed from the divisions of the coast to the interior, we are deserted, indeed, by the excellent account of Herodotus; but there are nevertheless statements [pg 457] sufficiently accurate to determine the ancient name of each district. The high and mountainous valley of the Haliacmon was, according to Livy,[1912] called Elimeia; the inhabitants Elimiots, who are included by Thucydides[1913] among the Macedonians: the district is also called after their name Elimiotis.[1914] From thence proceeds the road to Thessaly over the Cambunian mountains;[1915] and another almost impracticable road to Ætolia over the mountainous country to the south of Elimeia.[1916] To Elimeia succeeded Parauæa, a fertile district, near the sources of the river called Aous, Æas, or Auus;[1917] and to the south again lay Paroræa, which was crossed by the river Arachthus at the beginning of its course from under mount Stympha:[1918] the country near this mountain was called Stymphæa (or Tymphæa), extending to the sources of the Peneus and the land of the Æthicians.[1919] The Atintanians reached beyond the country of the Parauæans, and within that of the Chaonians as far as Illyria.[1920] All these districts are indeed divided from Elimeia by the great chain of Pindus; but, from their connexion with that region, some account of them in this place was indispensable.
9. A small valley in the district of Elimeia, which lay to [pg 458] the north towards the Illyrian Dassaretians,[1921] was inhabited by the Orestian Macedonians,[1922] who doubtless were so called from the mountains (ὄρη) in which they dwelt, and not from Orestes, the son of Agamemnon. The valley of Orestis[1923] contained a lake, in which was the town Celetrum, situated on a peninsula.[1924] Its position coincides with that of the modern Castoria;[1925] and it cannot be doubted that the wild mountain-valley near the source of the Haliacmon was the ancient Orestis. Another valley in Elimeia was called Almopia, or Almonia, an ancient settlement of the Minyans, situated on the confines of Macedonia and Thessaly, apparently not far from Pieria.[1926]
10. Elimeia, together with the surrounding highlands, was cold and rugged, and difficult of cultivation.[1927] The same was the case with the neighbouring district of Lyncestis, the country of the Lyncestæ, who had received their name, according to a Macedonian inflexion,[1928] from Lyncus.[1929] Lyncus was the name of the whole district, and not of any one city, as in early times there were only unfortified villages [pg 459] in this part.[1930] It was surrounded on all sides by mountains; a narrow pass between two heights being the chief road to the coast.[1931] The position of Lyncus is accurately determined by the course of the Egnatian Roman road from Dyrrachium, which, after crossing the Illyrian mountains at Pylon (or the gateway), led by Heraclea Lyncestis, and through the country of the Lyncestæ and Eordians, to Edessa and Pella;[1932] as well as by the fact that the mons Bora of Livy, i.e. the Bermius, lay to the south of it.[1933] Consequently the Lyncestæ must have inhabited the mountains south of the Erigon, and a part of the valley in which that river flowed; which is confirmed by other accounts of ancient writers.[1934] The country of the Eordians is also determined by the direction of the Egnatian way; viz., to the east of Lyncus and west of Edessa, and therefore in the valley of the Lydias, to the north of Elimea[1935] and the Bermius.[1936] In order to go from the valley of the Erigon to Thessaly, the way passed first through Eordæa and then through Elimiotis.[1937]