μετὰ δὲ Λάμψακον ἔστιν Ἄβυδος καὶ τὰ μεταξὺ χωρία, περὶ ὧν οὕτως εἴρηκε συλλαβὼν ὁ ποιητὴς καὶ τὴν Λαμψακηνὴν καὶ τῆς Παριανῆς τινα (οὔπω γὰρ ἦσαν αὗται αἱ πόλεις κατὰ τὰ Τρωικά) οἳ δʼ ἄρα Περκώτην καὶ Πράκτιον ἀμφενέμοντο, / καὶ Σηστὸν καὶ Ἄβυδον ἔχον καὶ δῖαν Ἀρίσβην· / τῶν αὖθʼ Ὑρτακίδης ἦρχʼ Ἄσιος / φησίν ὃν Ἀρίσβηθεν φέρον ἵπποι / αἴθωνες μεγάλοι ποταμοῦ ἄπο Σελλήεντος. / οὕτω δʼ εἰπὼν ἔοικε τὸ βασίλειον ἀποφαίνειν τοῦ Ἀσίου τὴν Ἀρίσβην, ὅθεν ἥκειν αὐτόν φησιν ὃν Ἀρίσβηθεν φέρον ἵπποι ποταμοῦ / ἄπο Σελλήεντος. / οὕτω δʼ ἀφανῆ τὰ χωρία ταῦτά ἐστιν ὥστε οὐδʼ ὁμολογοῦσι περὶ αὐτῶν οἱ ἱστοροῦντες, πλὴν ὅτι περὶ Ἄβυδον καὶ Λάμψακόν ἐστι καὶ Πάριον, καὶ ὅτι ἡ πάλαι Περκώτη μετωνομάσθη ὁ τόπος.
Next to Lampsacus is Abydos, and the intervening places, of which the poet speaks in such a manner as to comprehend both Lampsacene and some parts of Pariane, for, in the Trojan times, the above cities were not yet in existence: those who inhabited Percote, Practius, Sestos, Abydos, and the famed Arisbe, were led by Asius, the son of Hyrtacus, who, he says, came from Arisbe, from the river Selleïs in a chariot drawn by large and furious coursers; implying by these words that Arisbe was the royal seat of Asius, whence, he says, he came, drawn by coursers from the river Selleis. / But these places are so little known, that writers do not agree among themselves about their situation, except that they are near Abydos, Lampsacus, and Parium, and that the name of the last place was changed from Percope to Percote.
τῶν δὲ ποταμῶν τὸν μὲν Σελλήεντά φησιν ὁ ποιητὴς πρὸς τῇ Ἀρίσβῃ ῥεῖν, εἴπερ ὁ Ἄσιος Ἀρίσβηθέν τε ἧκε καὶ ποταμοῦ ἄπο Σελλήεντος· ὁ δὲ Πράκτιος ποταμὸς μὲν ἔστι, πόλις δʼ οὐχ εὑρίσκεται, ὥς τινες ἐνόμισαν· ῥεῖ δὲ καὶ οὗτος μεταξὺ Ἀβύδου καὶ Λαμψάκου· τὸ οὖν καὶ Πράκτιον ἀμφενέμοντο / οὕτω δεκτέον ὡς περὶ ποταμοῦ, καθάπερ κἀκεῖνα οἵ τʼ ἄρα πὰρ ποταμὸν Κηφισὸν δῖον ἔναιον, / καὶ ἀμφί τε Παρθένιον ποταμὸν κλυτὰ ἔργʼ ἐνέμοντο. / ἦν δὲ καὶ ἐν Λέσβῳ πόλις Ἀρίσβα, ἧς τὴν χώραν ἔχουσι Μηθυμναῖοι· ἔστι δὲ καὶ ποταμὸς Ἄρισβος ἐν Θρᾴκῃ, ὥσπερ εἴρηται, καὶ τούτου πλησίον οἱ Κεβρήνιοι Θρᾷκες. πολλαὶ δʼ ὁμωνυμίαι Θρᾳξὶ καὶ Τρωσίν, οἷον Σκαιοὶ Θρᾷκές τινες καὶ Σκαιὸς ποταμὸς καὶ Σκαιὸν τεῖχος καὶ ἐν Τροίᾳ Σκαιαὶ πύλαι· Ξάνθιοι Θρᾷκες, Ξάνθος ποταμὸς ἐν Τροίᾳ· Ἄρισβος ὁ ἐμβάλλων εἰς τὸν Ἕβρον, Ἀρίσβη ἐν Τροίᾳ· Ῥῆσος ποταμὸς ἐν Τροίᾳ, Ῥῆσος δὲ καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Θρᾳκῶν. ἔστι δὲ καὶ τῷ Ἀσίῳ ὁμώνυμος ἕτερος παρὰ τῷ ποιητῇ Ἄσιος ὃς μήτρως ἦν Ἕκτορος ἱπποδάμοιο, / αὐτοκασίγνητος Ἑκάβης, υἱὸς δὲ Δύμαντος, / ὃς Φρυγίην ναίεσκε ῥοῇς ἐπὶ Σαγγαρίοιο. /
With respect to the rivers, the poet says that the Selleis flows near Arisbe, for Asius came from Arisbe and the river Selleis. Practius is a river, but no city of that name, as some have thought, is to be found. This river runs between Abydos and Lampsacus; the words, therefore, and dwelt near Practius, / must be understood of the river, as these expressions of the poet, they dwelt near the sacred waters of Cephisus, / and they occupied the fertile land about the river Parthenius. / There was also in Lesbos a city called Arisba, the territory belonging to which was possessed by the Methymnaeans. There is a river Arisbus in Thrace, as we have said before, near which are situated the Cabrenii Thracians. There are many names common to Thracians and Trojans, as Scei, a Thracian tribe, a river Sceus, a Scaen wall, and in Troy, Scaean gates. There are Thracians called Xanthii, and a river Xanthus in Troja; an Arisbus which discharges itself into the Hebrus, and an Arisbe in Troja; a river Rhesus in Troja, and Rhesus, a king of the Thracians. The poet mentions also another Asius, besides the Asius of Arisbe, who was the maternal uncle of the hero Hector, own brother of Hecuba, and son of Dymas who lived in Phrygia on the banks of the Sangarius.
Ἄβυδος δὲ Μιλησίων ἐστὶ κτίσμα ἐπιτρέψαντος Γύγου τοῦ Λυδῶν βασιλέως· ἦν γὰρ ἐπʼ ἐκείνῳ τὰ χωρία καὶ ἡ Τρῳὰς ἅπασα, ὀνομάζεται δὲ καὶ ἀκρωτήριόν τι πρὸς Δαρδάνῳ Γύγας· ἐπίκειται δὲ τῷ στόματι τῆς Προποντίδος καὶ τοῦ Ἑλλησπόντου, διέχει δὲ τὸ ἴσον Λαμψάκου καὶ Ἰλίου, σταδίους περὶ ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ ἑκατόν. ἐνταῦθα δʼ ἔστι τὸ ἑπταστάδιον ὅπερ ἔζευξε Ξέρξης, τὸ διορίζον τὴν Εὐρώπην καὶ τὴν Ἀσίαν. καλεῖται δʼ ἡ ἄκρα τῆς Εὐρώπης Χερρόνησος διὰ τὸ σχῆμα, ἡ ποιοῦσα τὰ στενὰ τὰ κατὰ τὸ ζεῦγμα· ἀντίκειται δὲ τὸ ζεῦγμα τῇ Ἀβύδῳ. Σηστὸς δὲ ἀρίστη τῶν ἐν Χερρονήσῳ πόλεων· διὰ δὲ τὴν γειτοσύνην ὑπὸ τῷ αὐτῷ ἡγεμόνι καὶ αὕτη ἐτέτακτο, οὔπω ταῖς ἠπείροις διοριζόντων τῶν τότε τὰς ἡγεμονίας. ἡ μὲν οὖν Ἄβυδος καὶ ἡ Σηστὸς διέχουσιν ἀλλήλων τριάκοντά που σταδίους ἐκ λιμένος εἰς λιμένα, τὸ δὲ ζεῦγμά ἐστι μικρὸν ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων παραλλάξαντι ἐξ Ἀβύδου μὲν ὡς ἐπὶ τὴν Προποντίδα, ἐκ δὲ Σηστοῦ εἰς τοὐναντίον· ὀνομάζεται δὲ πρὸς τῇ Σηστῷ τόπος Ἀποβάθρα, καθʼ ὃν ἐζεύγνυτο ἡ σχεδία. ἔστι δὲ ἡ Σηστὸς ἐνδοτέρω κατὰ τὴν Προποντίδα ὑπερδέξιος τοῦ ῥοῦ τοῦ ἐξ αὐτῆς· διὸ καὶ εὐπετέστερον ἐκ τῆς Σηστοῦ διαίρουσι παραλεξάμενοι μικρὸν ἐπὶ τὸν τῆς Ἡροῦς πύργον, κἀκεῖθεν ἀφιέντες τὰ πλοῖα συμπράττοντος τοῦ ῥοῦ πρὸς τὴν περαίωσιν· τοῖς δʼ ἐξ Ἀβύδου περαιουμένοις παραλεκτέον ἐστὶν εἰς τἀναντία ὀκτώ που σταδίους ἐπὶ πύργον τινὰ κατʼ ἀντικρὺ τῆς Σηστοῦ, ἔπειτα διαίρειν πλάγιον καὶ μὴ τελέως ἐναντίον ἔχουσι τὸν ῥοῦν. ᾤκουν δὲ τὴν Ἄβυδον μετὰ τὰ Τρωικὰ Θρᾷκες, εἶτα Μιλήσιοι. τῶν δὲ πόλεων ἐμπρησθεισῶν ὑπὸ Δαρείου τοῦ Ξέρξου πατρὸς τῶν κατὰ τὴν Προποντίδα, ἐκοινώνησε καὶ ἡ Ἄβυδος τῆς αὐτῆς συμφορᾶς· ἐνέπρησε δὲ πυθόμενος μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν Σκυθῶν ἐπάνοδον τοὺς νομάδας παρασκευάζεσθαι διαβαίνειν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν κατὰ τιμωρίαν ὧν ἔπαθον, δεδιὼς μὴ αἱ πόλεις πορθμεῖα παράσχοιεν τῇ στρατιᾷ. συνέβη δὲ πρὸς ταῖς ἄλλαις μεταβολαῖς καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ καὶ τοῦτο αἴτιον τῆς συγχύσεως τῶν τόπων. περὶ δὲ Σηστοῦ καὶ τῆς ὅλης Χερρονήσου προείπομεν ἐν τοῖς περὶ τῆς Θρᾴκης τόποις. φησὶ δὲ τὴν Σηστὸν Θεόπομπος βραχεῖαν μὲν εὐερκῆ δέ, καὶ σκέλει διπλέθρῳ συνάπτειν πρὸς τὸν λιμένα, καὶ διὰ ταῦτʼ οὖν καὶ διὰ τὸν ῥοῦν κυρίαν εἶναι τῶν παρόδων.
Abydos was founded by Milesians by permission of Gyges, king of Lydia; for those places and the whole of the Troad were under his sway. There is a promontory near Dardanus called Gyges. Abydos is situated upon the mouth of the Propontis and the Hellespont, and is at an equal distance from Lampsacus and Ilium, about 170 stadia. At Abydos is the Hepta Stadium, (or strait of seven stadia,) the shores of which Xerxes united by a bridge. It separates Europe from Asia. The extremity of Europe is called Cherronesus, from its figure; it forms the straits at the Zeugma (or Junction) which is opposite to Abydos.
Sestos is the finest city in the Cherronesus, and from its proximity to Abydos was placed under the command of the same governor, at a time when the same limits were not assigned to the governments and to the continents. Sestos and Abydos are distant from each other, from harbour to harbour, about 30 stadia. The Zeugma is a little beyond the cities; on the side of the Propontis, beyond Abydos, and on the opposite side, beyond Sestos. There is a place near Sestos, called Apobathra, where the raft was fastened. Sestos lies nearer the Propontis, and above the current which issues from it; whence the passage is more easy from Sestos by deviating a little towards the tower of Hero, when, letting the vessel go at liberty, the stream assists in effecting the crossing to the other side. In crossing from Abydos to the other side persons must sail out in the contrary direction, to the distance of about eight stadia towards a tower which is opposite Sestos; they must then take an oblique course, and the current will not be entirely against them.
After the Trojan war, Abydos was inhabited by Thracians, then by Milesians. When the cities on the Propontis were burnt by Dareius, father of Xerxes, Abydos shared in the calamity. Being informed, after his return from Scythia, that the Nomades were preparing to cross over to attack him, in revenge for the treatment which they had experienced, he set fire to these cities, apprehending that they would assist in transporting the Scythian army across the strait.
In addition to other changes of this kind, those occasioned by time are a cause of confusion among places.
We spoke before of Sestos, and of the whole of the Cherronesus, when we described Thrace. Theopompus says that Sestos is a small but well-fortified place, and is connected with the harbour by a wall of two plethra in extent, and for this reason, and by its situation above the current, it commands the passage of the strait.
ὑπέρκειται δὲ τῆς τῶν Ἀβυδηνῶν χώρας ἐν τῇ Τρῳάδι τὰ Ἄστυρα, ἃ νῦν μὲν Ἀβυδηνῶν ἔστι, κατεσκαμμένη πόλις, πρότερον δὲ ἦν καθʼ αὑτά, χρυσεῖα ἔχοντα ἃ νῦν σπάνιά ἐστιν, ἐξαναλωμένα, καθάπερ τὰ ἐν τῷ Τμώλῳ τὰ περὶ τὸν Πακτωλόν. ἀπὸ Ἀβύδου δʼ ἐπὶ Αἴσηπον περὶ ἑπτακοσίους φασὶ σταδίους, εὐθυπλοίᾳ δὲ ἐλάττους.
In the Troad, above the territory of Abydos is Astyra, which now belongs to the Abydeni,—a city in ruins, but it was formerly an independent place, and had gold-mines, which are now nearly exhausted, like those in Mount Tmolus near the Pactolus.
From Abydos to the Aesepus are, it is said, about 700 stadia, but not so much in sailing in a direct line.
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