[1104] But the immortals will send you to the Elysian plain, and the boundaries of the earth, where is auburn-haired Rhadamanthus; there of a truth is the most easy life for men. There is nor snow nor long winter, nor ever a shower, but ever does the ocean send forth the gently blowing breezes of the west wind to refresh men. Odyssey iv. 563.
[1105] There then I beheld Minos, the illustrious son of Jove, having a golden sceptre, giving laws to the dead. Odyssey xi. 567. Bohn’s edition.
[1106] The Canary Islands.
[1107] Hamilcar, the father of Hannibal.
[1108] We have preferred, in common with the French translation, and the manuscript cited by Xylander, to read φιάλαις, instead of φάτναις, thinking it probable that Strabo referred in the first instance to the drinking vessels, and afterwards to the wine barrels, as being made of silver.
[1109] Herodotus, who wrote about a century after the time of Anacreon, expressly tells us that Arganthonius reigned during eighty years, and lived one hundred and twenty (l. i. c. 163). Cicero, Valerius Maximus, and Pliny report the same, apparently on the testimony of Herodotus. Lucian, Phlegon, and Appian however state the life of Arganthonius at one hundred and fifty years; and what is remarkable, the two former, Lucian and Phlegon, cite as their authority Anacreon and Herodotus. Pliny, citing Anacreon, has taken the reign of one hundred and fifty years, mentioned by the poet, as a life of that duration. The passage of Strabo is evidently changed from its original form.
[1110] Of the number are Pomponius Mela and Pliny.
[1111] Bætis.
[1112] That is, been admitted to all the privileges of Roman citizenship. Pliny tells us that in Bætica alone there were thirty cities enjoying this distinction.
[1113] Beja in Alentejo: others, with less show of probability, say Badajoz the capital of Estremadura.