5. But as far as we are able to conjecture, we may place Mysia between Bithynia and the mouth of the Æsepus, contiguous to the sea, and nearly along the whole of Olympus. Around it, in the interior, is the Epictetus, nowhere reaching the sea, and extending as far as the eastern parts of the Ascanian lake and district, for both bear the same name. Part of this territory was Phrygian, and part Mysian; the Phrygian was further distant from Troy; and so we must understand the words of the poet[1217], when he says,
“Phorcys, and the godlike Ascanius, were the leaders of the Phryges far from Ascania,”
that is, the Phrygian Ascania; for the other, the Mysian Ascania, was nearer to the present Nicæa, which he mentions, when he says,
“Palmys, Ascanius, and Morys, sons of Hippotion, the leader of the Mysi, fighting in close combat, who came from the fertile soil of Ascania, as auxiliaries.”[1218]
It is not then surprising that he should speak of an Ascanius, a leader of the Phrygians, who came from Ascania, and of an Ascanius, a leader of the Mysians, coming also from Ascania, for there is much repetition of names derived from rivers, lakes, and places.
6. The poet himself assigns the Æsepus as the boundary of the Mysians, for after having described the country above Ilium, and lying along the foot of the mountains subject to Æneas, and which he calls Dardania, he places next towards the north Lycia, which was subject to Pandarus, and where Zeleia[1219] was situated; he says,
“They who inhabited Zeleia, at the very foot of Ida, Aphneii Trojans, who drink of the dark stream of Æsepus;”[1220]
below Zeleia, towards the sea, on this side of Æsepus, lies the plain of Adrasteia, and Tereia, Pitya, and in general the present district of Cyzicene near Priapus,[1221] which he afterwards describes. He then returns again to the parts towards the east, and to those lying above, by which he shows that he considered the country as far as the Æsepus the northern and eastern boundary of the Troad. Next to the Troad are Mysia and Olympus.[1222] Ancient tradition then suggests some such disposition of these nations. But the present changes have produced many differences in consequence of the continual succession of governors of the country, who confounded together people and districts, and separated others. The Phrygians and Mysians were masters of the country after the capture of Troy; afterwards the Lydians; then the Æolians and Ionians; next, the Persians and Macedonians; lastly, the Romans, under whose government most of the tribes have lost even their languages and names, in consequence of a new partition of the country having been made. It will be proper to take this into consideration when we describe its present state, at the same time showing a due regard to antiquity.
7. In the inland parts of Bithynia is Bithynium,[1223] situated above Tieium,[1224] and to which belongs the country about Salon, affording the best pasturage for cattle, whence comes the cheese of Salon. Nicæa,[1225] the capital of Bithynia, is situated on the Ascanian lake. It is surrounded by a very large and very fertile plain, which in the summer is not very healthy. Its first founder was Antigonus, the son of Philip, who called it Antigonia. It was then rebuilt by Lysimachus, who changed its name to that of his wife Nicæa. She was the daughter of Antipater. The city is situated in a plain. Its shape is quadrangular, eleven stadia in circuit. It has four gates. Its streets are divided at right angles, so that the four gates may be seen from a single stone, set up in the middle of the Gymnasium. A little above the Ascanian lake is Otrœa, a small town situated just on the borders of Bithynia towards the east. It is conjectured that Otrœa was so called from Otreus.