τοιούτων δὲ τῶν ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ τόπων ὄντων ὑπέρκειται τούτων τὸ Τρωικὸν πεδίον μέχρι τῆς Ἴδης ἀνῆκον ἐπὶ πολλοὺς σταδίους κατὰ τὸ πρὸς ἕω μέρος. τούτου δʼ ἡ μὲν παρώρειός ἐστι στενή, τῇ μὲν ἐπὶ τὴν μεσημβρίαν τεταμένη μέχρι τῶν κατὰ Σκῆψιν τόπων, τῇ δʼ ἐπὶ τὰς ἄρκτους μέχρι τῶν κατὰ Ζέλειαν Λυκίων. ταύτην δʼ ὁ ποιητὴς ὑπʼ Αἰνείᾳ τάττει καὶ τοῖς Ἀντηνορίδαις, καλεῖ δὲ Δαρδανίαν. ὑπὸ δὲ ταύτῃ Κεβρηνία, πεδιὰς ἡ πλείστη, παράλληλός πως τῇ Δαρδανίᾳ· ἦν δὲ καὶ πόλις ποτὲ Κεβρήνη. ὑπονοεῖ δʼ ὁ Δημήτριος μέχρι δεῦρο διατείνειν τὴν περὶ τὸ Ἴλιον χώραν τὴν ὑπὸ τῷ Ἕκτορι, ἀνήκουσαν ἀπὸ τοῦ ναυστάθμου μέχρι Κεβρηνίας· τάφον τε γὰρ Ἀλεξάνδρου δείκνυσθαί φησιν αὐτόθι καὶ Οἰνώνης, ἣν ἱστοροῦσι γυναῖκα γεγονέναι τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου πρὶν Ἑλένην ἁρπάσαι· λέγειν τε τὸν ποιητήν Κεβριόνην νόθον υἱὸν ἀγακλῆος Πριάμοιο, / ὃν εἰκὸς εἶναι ἐπώνυμον τῆς χώρας ἢ καὶ πόλεως, ὅπερ πιθανώτερον· τὴν δὲ Κεβρηνίαν διήκειν μέχρι τῆς Σκηψίας, ὅριον δʼ εἶναι τὸν Σκάμανδρον μέσον αὐτῶν ῥέοντα· ἔχθραν δʼ ἀεὶ καὶ πόλεμον εἶναι τοῖς τε Κεβρηνοῖς καὶ τοῖς Σκηψίοις, ἕως Ἀντίγονος αὐτοὺς συνῴκισεν εἰς τὴν τότε μὲν Ἀντιγόνειαν νῦν δὲ Ἀλεξάνδρειαν· τοὺς μὲν οὖν Κεβρηνιέας συμμεῖναι τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐν τῇ Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ, τοὺς δὲ Σκηψίους ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπιτρέψαντος Λυσιμάχου.
Such, then, is the nature of the places on the sea-coast. Above them lies the plain of Troy, extending as far as Ida to the east, a distance of many stadia. The part at the foot of the mountain is narrow, extending to the south as far as the places near Scepsis, and towards the north as far as the Lycians about Zeleia. This country Homer places under the command of Aeneas and the Antenoridae, and calls it Dardania. Below it is Cebrenia, which for the most part consists of plains, and lies nearly parallel to Dardania. There was also formerly a city Cybrene. Demetrius (of Scepsis) supposes that the tract about Ilium, subject to Hector, extended to this place, from the Naustathmus (or station for vessels) to Cebrenia, for he says that the sepulchre of Alexander Paris exists there, and of Oenone, who, according to historians, was the wife of Alexander, before the rape of Helen; the poet says, Cebriones, the spurious son of the far-famed Priam, / who, perhaps, received his name from the district, (Cebrenia,) or, more probably, from the city (Cebrene). Cebrenia extends as far as the Scepsian district. The boundary is the Scamander, which runs through the middle of Cebrenia and Scepsia. There was continual enmity and war between the Scepsians and Cebrenians, till Antigonus settled them both together in the city, then called Antigonia, but at present Alexandria. The Cebrenians remained there with the other inhabitants, but the Scepsians, by the permission of Lysimachus, returned to their own country.
ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς κατὰ τοὺς τόπους Ἰδαίας ὀρεινῆς δύο φησὶν ἀγκῶνας ἐκτείνεσθαι πρὸς θάλατταν, τὸν μὲν εὐθὺ Ῥοιτείου τὸν δὲ Σιγείου, ποιοῦντας ἐξ ἀμφοῖν γραμμὴν ἡμικυκλιώδη· τελευτᾶν δʼ ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ, τοσοῦτον ἀπέχοντας τῆς θαλάττης ὅσον τὸ νῦν Ἴλιον. τοῦτο μὲν δὴ μεταξὺ τῆς τελευτῆς τῶν λεχθέντων ἀγκώνων εἶναι, τὸ δὲ παλαιὸν κτίσμα μεταξὺ τῆς ἀρχῆς· ἀπολαμβάνεσθαι δʼ ἐντὸς τό τε Σιμοείσιον πεδίον διʼ οὗ ὁ Σιμόεις φέρεται, καὶ τὸ Σκαμάνδριον διʼ οὗ Σκάμανδρος ῥεῖ. τοῦτο δὲ καὶ ἰδίως Τρωικὸν λέγεται, καὶ τοὺς πλείστους ἀγῶνας ὁ ποιητὴς ἐνταῦθα ἀποδίδωσι· πλατύτερον γάρ ἐστι, καὶ τοὺς ὀνομαζομένους τόπους ἐνταῦθα δεικνυμένους ὁρῶμεν, τὸν ἐρινεόν, τὸν τοῦ Αἰσυήτου τάφον, τὴν Βατίειαν, τὸ τοῦ Ἴλου σῆμα. οἱ δὲ ποταμοὶ ὅ τε Σκάμανδρος καὶ ὁ Σιμόεις, ὁ μὲν τῷ Σιγείῳ πλησιάσας ὁ δὲ τῷ Ῥοιτείῳ, μικρὸν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ νῦν Ἰλίου συμβάλλουσιν, εἶτʼ ἐπὶ τὸ Σίγειον ἐκδιδόασι καὶ ποιοῦσι τὴν στομαλίμνην καλουμένην. διείργει δʼ ἑκάτερον τῶν λεχθέντων πεδίων ἀπὸ θατέρου μέγας τις αὐχὴν τῶν εἰρημένων ἀγκώνων ἐπʼ εὐθείας, ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν Ἰλίου τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχων συμφυὴς αὐτῷ, τεινόμενος δʼ ἕως τῆς Κεβρηνίας καὶ ἀποτελῶν τὸ Ε γράμμα πρὸς τοὺς ἑκατέρωθεν ἀγκῶνας.
From the mountainous tract of Ida near these places, two arms, he says, extend to the sea, one in the direction of Rhoeteium, the other of Sigeium, forming a semicircle, and terminate in the plain at the same distance from the sea as the present Ilium, which is situated between the extremities of the above-mentioned arms, whereas the ancient Ilium was situated at their commencement. This space comprises the Simoïsian plain through which the Simoeis runs and the Scamandrian plain, watered by the Scamander. This latter plain is properly the plain of Troy, and Homer makes it the scene of the greatest part of his battles, for it is the widest of the two; and there we see the places named by him, the Erineos, the tomb of Aesyetes, Batieia, and the tomb of Ilus. With respect to the Scamander and the Simoeis, the former, after approaching Sigeium, and the latter Rhoeteium, unite their streams a little in front of the present Ilium, and then empty themselves near Sigeium, and form as it is called the Stomalimne. Each of the above-mentioned plains is separated from the other by a long ridge which is in a straight line with the above-mentioned arms; the ridge begins at the present Ilium and is united to it; it extends as far as Cebrenia, and completes with the arms on each side the letter 0.
ὑπὲρ δὲ τούτου μικρὸν ἡ τῶν Ἰλιέων κώμη ἐστίν, ἐν ᾗ νομίζεται τὸ παλαιὸν Ἴλιον ἱδρῦσθαι πρότερον, τριάκοντα σταδίους διέχον ἀπὸ τῆς νῦν πόλεως. ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς Ἰλιέων κώμης δέκα σταδίοις ἐστὶν ἡ Καλλικολώνη, λόφος τις, παρʼ ὃν ὁ Σιμόεις ῥεῖ πενταστάδιον διέχων· γίνεται οὖν εὔλογον πρῶτον μὲν τὸ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἄρεος ὦρτο δʼ Ἄρης ἑτέρωθεν ἐρεμνῇ λαίλαπι ἶσος, / ὀξὺ κατʼ ἀκροτάτης πόλιος Τρώεσσι κελεύων, / ἄλλοτε πὰρ Σιμόεντι θέων ἐπὶ Καλλικολώνῃ. / τῆς γὰρ μάχης ἐπὶ τῷ Σκαμανδρίῳ πεδίῳ συντελουμένης πιθανῶς ἂν ὁ Ἄρης ἄλλοτε μὲν τὴν ἐγκέλευσιν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ποιοῖτο, ἄλλοτε δʼ ἐκ τῶν πλησίον τόπων τοῦ τε Σιμόεντος καὶ τῆς Καλλικολώνης, μέχρι οὗ εἰκὸς καὶ τὴν μάχην παρατετάσθαι· τετταράκοντα δὲ σταδίους διεχούσης τῆς Καλλικολώνης ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν Ἰλίου, τί χρήσιμον ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον μεταλαμβάνεσθαι τοὺς τόπους ἐφʼ ὅσον ἡ διάταξις οὐ διέτεινε; τό τε πρὸς Θύμβρης δʼ ἔλαχον Λύκιοι / οἰκειότερόν ἐστι τῷ παλαιῷ κτίσματι· πλησίον γάρ ἐστι τὸ πεδίον ἡ Θύμβρα καὶ ὁ διʼ αὐτοῦ ῥέων ποταμὸς Θύμβριος, ἐμβάλλων εἰς τὸν Σκάμανδρον κατὰ τὸ Θυμβραίου Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερόν, τοῦ δὲ νῦν Ἰλίου καὶ πεντήκοντα σταδίους διέχει. ὅ τε ἐρινεός, τραχύς τις τόπος καὶ ἐρινεώδης, τῷ μὲν ἀρχαίῳ κτίσματι ὑποπέπτωκεν, ὥστε τὸ λαὸν δὲ στῆσον παρʼ ἐρινεόν, ἔνθα μάλιστα / ἀμβατός ἐστι πόλις καὶ ἐπίδρομον ἔπλετο τεῖχος / οἰκείως ἂν λέγοι ἡ Ἀνδρομάχη· τῆς δὲ νῦν πόλεως πάμπολυ ἀφέστηκε· καὶ ὁ φηγὸς δὲ μικρὸν κατωτέρω ἐστὶ τοῦ ἐρινεοῦ, ἐφʼ οὗ φησιν ὁ Ἀχιλλεύς ὄφρα δʼ ἐγὼ μετʼ Ἀχαιοῖσιν πολέμιζον, / οὐκ ἐθέλεσκε μάχην ἀπὸ τείχεος ὀρνύμεν Ἕκτωρ, / ἀλλʼ ὅσον ἐς Σκαιάς τε πύλας καὶ φηγὸν ἵκανεν. /
A little above this ridge of land is the village of the Ilienses, supposed to be the site of the ancient Ilium, at the distance of 30 stadia from the present city. Ten stadia above the village of the Ilienses is Callicolone, a hill beside which, at the distance of five stadia, runs the Simoeis.
The description of the poet is probable. First what he says of Mars, but on the other side Mars arose, like a black tempest, one while with a shrill voice calling upon the Trojans from the summit of the citadel, at another time running along Callicolone beside the Simoeis; for since the battle was fought on the Scamandrian plain, Mars might, according to probability, encourage the men, one while from the citadel, at another time from the neighbouring places, the Simoeis and the Callicolone, to which the battle might extend. But since Callicolone is distant from the present Ilium 40 stadia, where was the utility of changing places at so great a distance, where the array of the troops did not extend? and the words The Lycii obtained by lot the station near Thymbra, / which agree better with the ancient city, for the plain Thymra, is near, and the river Thymbrius, which runs through it, discharges itself into the Scamander, near the temple of Apollo Thymbraeus, but is distant 50 stadia from the present Ilium. The Erineos, a rugged spot abounding with wild fig-trees, lies below the ancient city, so that Andromache might say in conformity with such a situation, but place your bands near Erineos, where the city is most accessible to the enemy, and where they can mount the wall, but it is very far distant from the present city. The beech-tree was a little lower than the Erineos; of the former Achilles says, When I fought with the Achaeans Hector was not disposed to urge the fight away from the wall, but advanced only as far as the Scaean gates, and the beech-tree.
καὶ μὴν τό γε ναύσταθμον τὸ νῦν ἔτι λεγόμενον πλησίον οὕτως ἐστὶ τῆς νῦν πόλεως, ὥστε θαυμάζειν εἰκότως ἄν τινα τῶν μὲν τῆς ἀπονοίας τῶν δὲ τοὐναντίον τῆς ἀψυχίας· ἀπονοίας μέν, εἰ τοσοῦτον χρόνον ἀτείχιστον αὐτὸ εἶχον, πλησίον οὔσης τῆς πόλεως καὶ τοσούτου πλήθους τοῦ τʼ ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ τοῦ ἐπικουρικοῦ· νεωστὶ γὰρ γεγονέναι φησὶ τὸ τεῖχος (ἢ οὐδʼ ἐγένετο, ὁ δὲ πλάσας ποιητὴς ἠφάνισεν, ὡς Ἀριστοτέλης φησίν)· ἀψυχίας δέ, εἰ γενομένου τοῦ τείχους ἐτειχομάχουν καὶ εἰσέπεσον εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ ναύσταθμον καὶ προσεμάχοντο ταῖς ναυσίν, ἀτείχιστον δὲ ἔχοντες οὐκ ἐθάρρουν προσιόντες πολιορκεῖν μικροῦ τοῦ διαστήματος ὄντος· ἔστι γὰρ τὸ ναύσταθμον πρὸς Σιγείῳ, πλησίον δὲ καὶ ὁ Σκάμανδρος ἐκδίδωσι διέχων τοῦ Ἰλίου σταδίους εἴκοσιν. εἰ δὲ φήσει τις τὸν νῦν λεγόμενον Ἀχαιῶν λιμένα εἶναι τὸ ναύσταθμον, ἐγγυτέρω τινὰ λέξει τόπον ὅσον δώδεκα σταδίους διεστῶτα τῆς πόλεως, ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ πεδίον συμπροστιθείς […] διότι τοῦτο πᾶν πρόχωμα τῶν ποταμῶν ἐστι τὸ πρὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ πεδίον, ὥστε εἰ δωδεκαστάδιόν ἐστι νῦν τὸ μεταξύ, τότε καὶ τῷ ἡμίσει ἔλαττον ὑπῆρχε. καὶ ἡ διήγησις δʼ ἡ πρὸς τὸν Εὔμαιον ὑπὸ τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως διασκευασθεῖσα μέγα ἐμφαίνει τὸ διάστημα τὸ μέχρι τῆς πόλεως ἀπὸ τοῦ ναυστάθμου ὡς ὅθʼ ὑπὸ Τροίῃ λόχον ἤγομεν. / φησὶ γὰρ ὑποβάς λίην γὰρ νηῶν ἑκὰς ἤλθομεν. / ἐπί τε τὴν κατασκοπὴν πέμπονται γνωσόμενοι, πότερον μενοῦσι παρὰ νηυσὶν ἀπόπροθεν πολὺ ἀπεσπασμένοι τοῦ οἰκείου τείχους ἠὲ πόλινδε / ἂψ ἀναχωρήσουσι. / καὶ ὁ Πολυδάμας ἀμφὶ μάλα φράζεσθε, φίλοι· κέλομαι γὰρ ἔγωγε ἄστυδε νῦν ἰέναι / φησίν ἑκὰς δʼ ἀπὸ τείχεός εἰμεν. / παρατίθησι δʼ ὁ Δημήτριος καὶ τὴν Ἀλεξανδρίνην Ἑστίαιαν μάρτυρα, τὴν συγγράψασαν περὶ τῆς Ὁμήρου Ἰλιάδος, πυνθανομένην εἰ περὶ τὴν νῦν πόλιν ὁ πόλεμος συνέστη, καὶ […] τὸ Τρωικὸν πεδίον, ὃ μεταξὺ τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῆς θαλάττης ὁ ποιητὴς φράζει· τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρὸ τῆς νῦν πόλεως ὁρώμενον πρόχωμα εἶναι τῶν ποταμῶν ὕστερον γεγονός.
Besides, the Naustathmus which retains its name at present, is so near the present city that any person may justly be surprised at the imprudence of the Greeks, and the want of spirit in the Trojans;—imprudence on the part of the Greeks, that they should have left the place for so long a time unfortified with a wall, in the neighbourhood of so large a city, and so great a body of men, both inhabitants and auxiliaries; for the wall, Homer says, was constructed at a late period; or perhaps no wall was built and the erection and destruction of it, as Aristotle says, are due to the invention of the poet;—a want of spirit on the part of the Trojans, who, after the wall was built, attacked that, and the Naustathmus, and the vessels themselves, but had not the courage before there was a wall to approach and besiege this station, although the distance was not great, for the Naustathmus is near Sigeium. The Scamander discharges itelf near this place at the distance of 20 stadia from Ilium. If any one shall say that the Naustathmus is the present harbour of the Achaeans, he must mean a place still nearer, distant about twelve stadia from the sea, which is the extent of the plain in front of the city to the sea; but he will be in error if he include (in the ancient) the present plain, which is all alluvial soil brought down by the rivers, so that if the interval is 12 stadia at present, it must have been at that period less in extent by one half. The story framed by Ulysses, which he tells Eumaeus, implies a great distance from the Naustathmus to the city; when we lay in ambush below Troy, / and he adds afterwards, for we had advanced too far from the ships. / Scouts are despatched to learn whether the Trojans will remain near the ships when drawn away far from their own walls, or whether they will return back to the city. /
Polydamas also says, Consider well, my friends, what is to be done, for my advice is to return now to the city, for we are far from the walls.
Demetrius (of Scepsis) adds the testimony of Hestiaea of Alexandreia, who composed a work on the Iliad of Homer, and discusses the question whether the scene of the war was about the present city, and what was the Trojan plain which the poet mentions as situated between the city and the sea, for the plain seen in front of the present city is an accumulation of earth brought down by the rivers, and formed at a later period.
ὅ τε Πολίτης ὃς Τρώων σκοπὸς ἷζε ποδωκείῃσι πεποιθώς, / τύμβῳ ἐπʼ ἀκροτάτῳ Αἰσυήταο γέροντος, / μάταιος ἦν. καὶ γὰρ εἰ ἐπʼ ἀκροτάτῳ, ὅμως πολὺ ἂν μείζονος ὕψους τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ἐσκόπευεν ἐξ ἴσου σχεδόν τι διαστήματος, μὴ δεόμενος μηδὲν τῆς ποδωκείας τοῦ ἀσφαλοῦς χάριν· πέντε γὰρ διέχει σταδίους ὁ νῦν δεικνύμενος τοῦ Αἰσυήτου τάφος κατὰ τὴν εἰς Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ὁδόν. οὐδʼ ἡ τοῦ Ἕκτορος δὲ περιδρομὴ ἡ περὶ τὴν πόλιν ἔχει τι εὔλογον· οὐ γάρ ἐστι περίδρομος ἡ νῦν διὰ τὴν συνεχῆ ῥάχιν· ἡ δὲ παλαιὰ ἔχει περιδρομήν.
Polites also, who was the scout of the Trojans, trusting to his swiftness of foot, and who was on the summit of the tomb of the old Aesyetes, was acting absurdly. For although he was seated on the summit of the tomb, / yet he might have observed from the much greater height of the citadel, situated nearly at the same distance, nor would his swiftness of foot have been required for the purpose of security, for the tomb of Aesyetes, which exists at present on the road to Alexandreia, is distant five stadia from the citadel.
Nor is the course of Hector round the city at all a probable circumstance, for the present city will not admit of a circuit round it on account of the continuous ridge of hill, but the ancient city did allow such a course round it.
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