περιωδευκόσι δὲ τὴν Πελοπόννησον, ἣν πρώτην ἔφαμεν καὶ ἐλαχίστην τῶν συντιθεισῶν τὴν Ἑλλάδα χερρονήσων, ἐφεξῆς ἂν εἴη τὰς συνεχεῖς ἐπελθεῖν. ἦν δὲ δευτέρα μὲν ἡ προστιθεῖσα τῇ Πελοποννήσῳ τὴν Μεγαρίδα, ὥστε τὸν Κρομμυῶνα Μεγαρέων εἶναι καὶ μὴ Κορινθίων· τρίτη δὲ ἡ πρὸς ταύτῃ προσλαμβάνουσα τὴν Ἀττικὴν καὶ τὴν Βοιωτίαν καὶ τῆς Φωκίδος τι μέρος καὶ τῶν Ἐπικνημιδίων Λοκρῶν. περὶ τούτων οὖν . φησὶ δʼ Εὔδοξος, εἴ τις νοήσειεν ἀπὸ τῶν Κεραυνίων ὀρῶν ἐπὶ Σούνιον τὸ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἄκρον ἐπὶ τὰ πρὸς ἕω μέρη τεταμένην εὐθεῖαν, ἐν δεξιᾷ μὲν ἀπολείψειν τὴν Πελοπόννησον ὅλην πρὸς νότον, ἐν ἀριστερᾷ δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἄρκτον τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν Κεραυνίων ὀρῶν συνεχῆ παραλίαν μέχρι τοῦ Κρισαίου κόλπου καὶ τῆς Μεγαρίδος καὶ συμπάσης τῆς Ἀττικῆς· νομίζει δʼ οὐδʼ ἂν κ τὴν ᾐόνα τὴν ἀπὸ Σουνίου μέχρι ἔχειν ἐπιστροφήν, εἰ μὴ προσῆν τῇ τὰ συνεχῆ τῷ Ἰσθμῷ χωρία τὰ Ἑρμιονικὸν καὶ τὴν Ἀκτήν· ὡς δʼ αὕίων ἐπὶ τὸν Κορινθιακὸν κόλπον ἔχειν τινὰ τοσαύφὴν ὥστε κοιλαίνεσθαι κολποειδῶς καθʼ αὑ Ῥίον καὶ τὸ Ἀντίρριον συναγόμενα εἰς στενὸν ἔμφασιν ταύτην· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὰ περι τὸν μυχόν, εἰς ἃ καταλήγειν συμβαίνει τὴν θάλατταν.
HAVING completed the description of Peloponnesus, which we said was the first and least of the peninsulas of which Greece consists, we must next proceed to those which are continuous with it.
We described the second to be that which joins Megaris to the Peloponnesus [so that Crommyon belongs to Megaris, and not to the Corinthians]; the third to be that which is situated near the former, comprising Attica and Boeotia, some part of Phocis, and of the Locri Epicnemidii. Of these we are now to speak.
Eudoxus says, that if we imagine a straight line to be drawn towards the east from the Ceraunian Mountains to Sunium, the promontory of Attica, it would leave, on the right hand, to the south, the whole of Peloponnesus, and on the left, to the north, the continuous coast from the Ceraunian Mountains to the Crisaean Gulf, and the whole of Megaris and Attica. He is of opinion that the shore which extends from Sunium to the Isthmus, would not have so great a curvature, nor have so great a bend, if, to this shore, were not added the parts continuous with the Isthmus and extending to the Hermionic Bay and Acté; that in the same manner the shore, from the Ceraunian Mountains to the Gulf of Corinth, has a similar bend, so as to make a curvature, forming within it a sort of gulf, where Rhium and Antirrhium contracting together give it this figure. The same is the case with the shore about Crissa and the recess, where the Crissaean Sea terminates.
οὕτω δʼ εἰρηκότος Εὐδόξου, μαθηματικοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ σχημάτων ἐμπείρου καὶ κλιμάτων καὶ τοὺς τόπους τούτους εἰδότος, δεῖ νοεῖν τήνδε τὴν πλευρὰν τῆς Ἀττικῆς σὺν τῇ Μεγαρίδι τὴν ἀπὸ Σουνίου μέχρι Ἰσθμοῦ κοίλην μὲν ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ μικρόν. ἐνταῦθα δʼ ἐστὶ κατὰ μέσην που τὴν λεχθεῖσαν γραμμὴν ὁ Πειραιεὺς τὸ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν ἐπίνειον. διέχει γὰρ τοῦ μὲν Σχοινοῦντος τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Ἰσθμὸν περὶ τριακοσίους πεντήκοντα σταδίους, τοῦ δὲ Σουνίου τριάκοντα καὶ τριακοσίους· ον πώς ἐστι διάστημα καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ Πηγὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ Πει, ὅσονπερ καὶ ἐπὶ Σχοινοῦντα· δέκα δʼ ὅμως στα πλεονάζειν φασί. κάμψαντι δὲ τὸ Σούνιον πρὸς ἄρκτον μὲν ὁ πλοῦς, ἐκκλίνων πρὸς δύσιν.
As this is the description given by Eudoxus, a mathematician, skilled in the delineations of figures and the inclinations of places, acquainted also with the places themselves, we must consider the sides of Attica and Megaris, extending from Sunium as far as the Isthmus, to be curved, although slightly so. About the middle of the above-mentioned line is the Piraeus, the naval arsenal of the Athenians. It is distant from Schoenus, at the Isthmus, about 350 stadia; from Sunium 330. The distance from the Piraeus to Pagae and from the Piraeus to Schoenus is nearly the same, yet the former is said to exceed the latter by 10 stadia. After having doubled Sunium, the navigation along the coast is to the north with a declination to the west.
ἀκτὴ δʼ ἐστὶν ἀμφιθάλαττος, στενὴ τὸ πρῶτον, εἶτʼ εἰς τὴν μεσόγαιαν πλατύνεται, μηνοειδῆ δʼ οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐπιστροφὴν λαμβάνει πρὸς Ὠρωπὸν τῆς Βοιωτίας τὸ κυρτὸν ἔχουσαν πρὸς θαλάττῃ· τοῦτο δʼ ἐστὶ τὸ δεύτερον πλευρὸν ἑῷον τῆς Ἀττικῆς. τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν ἤδη τὸ προσάρκτιόν ἐστι πλευρὸν ἀπὸ τῆς Ὠρωπίας ἐπὶ δύσιν παρατεῖνον μέχρι τῆς Μεγαρίδος, ἡ Ἀττικὴ ὀρεινή, πολυώνυμός τις, διείργουσα τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀττικῆς· ὥσθʼ, ὅπερ εἶπον ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν, ἰσθμὸν γίνεσθαι τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἀμφιθάλαττον οὖσαν τῆς τρίτης χερρονήσου τῆς λεχθείσης, ἀπολαμβάνοντα ἐντὸς τὰ πρὸς τῇ Πελοποννήσῳ τήν τε Μεγαρίδα καὶ τὴν Ἀττικήν. διὰ δὲ τοῦτο καὶ Ἀκτήν φασι λεχθῆναι τὸ παλαιὸν καὶ Ἀκτικὴν τὴν νῦν Ἀττικὴν παρονομασθεῖσαν, ὅτι τοῖς ὄρεσιν ὑποπέπτωκε τὸ πλεῖστον μέρος αὐτῆς ἁλιτενὲς καὶ στενόν, μήκει δʼ ἀξιολόγῳ κεχρημένον, προπεπτωκὸς μέχρι Σουνίου. ταύτας οὖν διέξιμεν ἀναλααραλίας ἀφʼ ἧσπερ ἀπελίπομεν.
Acte (Attica) is washed by two seas; it is at first narrow, then it widens towards the middle, yet it, nevertheless, takes a lunated bend towards Oropus in Boeotia, having the convex side towards the sea. This is the second, the eastern side of Attica.
The remaining side is that to the north, extending from the territory of Oropus towards the west, as far as Megaris, and consists of the mountainous tract of Attica, having a variety of names, and dividing Boeotia from Attica; so that, as I have before remarked, Boeotia, by being connected with two seas, becomes the Isthmus of the third peninsula, which we have mentioned before, and this Isthmus includes within it the Peloponnesus, Megaris, and Attica. For this reason therefore the present Attica was called by a play upon the words Acta and Actica, because the greatest part of it lies under the mountains, and borders on the sea; it is narrow, and stretches forwards a considerable length as far as Sunium. We shall therefore resume the description of these sides, beginning from the sea-coast, at the point where we left off.
μετὰ δὴ Κρομμυῶνα ὑπέρκεινται τῆς Ἀττικῆς αἱ Σκιρωνίδες πέτραι πάροδον οὐκ ἀπολείπουσαι πρὸς θαλάττῃ· ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν δʼ ἐστὶν ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ ἐπὶ Μεγάρων καὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰσθμοῦ· οὕτω δὲ σφόδρα πλησιάζει ταῖς πέτραις ἡ ὁδὸς ὥστε πολλαχοῦ καὶ παράκρημνός ἐστι διὰ τὸ ὑπερκείμενον ὄρος δύσβατόν τε καὶ ὑψηλὸν ὄν· ἐνταῦθα δὲ μυθεύεται τὰ περὶ τοῦ Σκείρωνος καὶ τοῦ Πιτυοκάμπτου τῶν λῃζομένων τὴν λεχθεῖσαν ὀρεινήν, οὓς καθεῖλε Θησεύς. ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἄκρων τούτων καταιγίζοντα σκαιὸν τὸν ἀργέστην σκίρωνα προσηγορεύκασιν Ἀθηναῖοι. μετὰ δὲ τὰς Σκιρωνίδας πέτρας ἄκρα πρόκειται Μινῴα ποιοῦσα τὸν ἐν τῇ Νισαίᾳ λιμένα. ἡ δὲ Νίσαια ἐπίνειόν ἐστιν τῶν Μεγάρων δεκαοκτὼ σταδίους τῆς πόλεως διέχον, σκέλεσιν ἑκατέρωθεν συναπτόμενον πρὸς αὐτήν· ἐκαλεῖτο δὲ καὶ τοῦτο Μινῴα.
After Crommyon, rising above Attica, are the rocks called Scironides, which afford no passage along the sea-side. Over them, however, is a road which leads to Megara and Attica from the Isthmus. The road approaches so near the rocks that in many places it runs along the edge of precipices, for the overhanging mountain is of great height, and impassable.
Here is laid the scene of the fable of Sciron, and the Pityocamptes, or the pine-breaker, one of those who infested with their robberies the above-mentioned mountainous tract. They were slain by Theseus.
The wind Argestes, which blows from the left with violence, from these summits is called by the Athenians Sciron.
After the rocks Scironides there projects the promontory Minoa, forming the harbour of Nisaea. Nisaea is the arsenal of Megara, and distant 18 stadia from the city; it is joined to it by walls on each side. This also had the name of Minoa.
τὸ παλαιὸν μὲν οὖν Ἴωνες εἶχον τὴν χώραν ταύτην οἵπερ καὶ τὴν Ἀττικήν, οὔπω τῶν Μεγάρων ἐκτισμένων· διόπερ οὐδʼ ὁ ποιητὴς μέμνηται τῶν τόπων τούτων ἰδίως, ἀλλʼ Ἀθηναίους καλῶν τοὺς ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ πάντας συμπεριείληφε καὶ τούτους τῷ κοινῷ ὀνόματι Ἀθηναίους νομίζων, ὡς ὅταν φῇ ἐν τῷ καταλόγῳ οἳ δʼ ἄρʼ Ἀθήνας εἶχον, ἐυκτίμενον πτολίεθρον / δέχεσθαι δεῖ καὶ τοὺς νῦν Μεγαρέας, ὡς καὶ τούτους μετασχόντας τῆς στρατείας. σημεῖον δέ· ἡ γὰρ Ἀττικὴ τὸ παλαιὸν Ἰωνία καὶ Ἰὰς ἐκαλεῖτο, καὶ ὁ ποιητὴς ὅταν φῇ ἔνθα δὲ Βοιωτοὶ καὶ Ἰάονες / τοὺς Ἀθηναίους λέγει· ταύτης δʼ ἦν μερὶς καὶ ἡ Μεγαρίς.
In former times the Ionians occupied this country, and were also in possession of Attica, before the time of the building of Megara, wherefore the poet does not mention these places by any appropriate name, but when he calls all those dwelling in Attica, Athenians, he comprehends these also in the common appellation, regarding them as Athenians; so when, in the Catalogue of the Ships, he says, And they who occupied Athens, a well-built city, / we must understand the present Megarenses also, as having taken a part in the expedition. The proof of this is, that Attica was, in former times, called Ionia, and Ias, and when the poet says, There the Boeoti, and Iaones, / he means the Athenians. But of this Ionia Megaris was a part.
καὶ δὴ καὶ τῶν ὁρίων ἀμφισβητοῦντες πολλάκις οἵ τε Πελοποννήσιοι καὶ Ἴωνες, ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ ἡ Κρομμυωνία, συνέβησαν καὶ στήλην ἔστησαν ἐπὶ τοῦ συνομολογηθέντος τόπου περὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Ἰσθμόν, ἐπιγραφὴν ἔχουσαν ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ πρὸς τὴν Πελοπόννησον μέρους τάδʼ ἐστὶ Πελοπόννησος οὐκ Ἰωνία, / ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ πρὸς Μέγαρα τάδʼ οὐχὶ Πελοπόννησος ἀλλʼ Ἰωνία. / οἵ τε δὴ τὴν Ἀτθίδα συγγράψαντες πολλὰ διαφωνοῦντες τοῦτό γε ὁμολογοῦσιν οἵ γε λόγου ἄξιοι, διότι τῶν Πανδιονιδῶν τεττάρων ὄντων, Αἰγέως τε καὶ Λύκου καὶ Πάλλαντος καὶ τετάρτου Νίσου, καὶ τῆς Ἀττικῆς εἰς τέτταρα μέρη διαιρεθείσης, ὁ Νῖσος τὴν Μεγαρίδα λάχοι καὶ κτίσαι τὴν Νίσαιαν. Φιλόχορος μὲν οὖν ἀπὸ Ἰσθμοῦ μέχρι τοῦ Πυθίου διήκειν αὐτοῦ φησι τὴν ἀρχήν, Ἄνδρων δὲ μέχρι Ἐλευσῖνος καὶ τοῦ Θριασίου πεδίου. τὴν δʼ εἰς τέτταρα μέρη διανομὴν ἄλλων ἄλλως εἰρηκότων ἀρκεῖ ταῦτα παρὰ Σοφοκλέους λαβεῖν· φησὶ δʼ ὁ Αἰγεὺς ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ ὥρισεν ἐμοὶ μὲν ἀν εἰς ἀκτὰς τῆσδε γῆς πρεσβεῖα νείμας· α Λύκῳ τὸν ἀντίπλευρον κῆπον Εὐβοίας νέμει, / Νίσῳ δὲ τὴν ὅμαυλον ἐξαιρεῖ χθόνα / Σκείρωνος ἀκτῆς, τῆς δὲ γῆς τὸ πρὸς νότον / ὁ σκληρὸς οὗτος καὶ γίγαντας ἐκτρέφων / εἴληχε Πάλλας. / ὅτι μὲν οὖν ἡ Μεγαρὶς τῆς Ἀττικῆς μέρος ἦν, τούτοις χρῶνται τεκμηρίοις.
Besides, the Peloponnesians and Ionians having had frequent disputes respecting their boundaries, on which Crommyonia also was situated, assembled and agreed upon a spot of the Isthmus itself, on which they erected a pillar having an inscription on the part towards Peloponnesus, THIS IS PELOPONNESUS, NOT IONIA; / and on the side towards Megara, THIS IS NOT PELOPONNESUS, BUT IONIA. / Although those, who wrote on the history of Attica differ in many respects, yet those of any note agree in this, that when there were four Pandionidae, Aegeus, Lycus, Pallas, and Nisus; and when Attica was divided into four portions, Nisus obtained, by lot, Megaris, and founded Nisaea. Philochorus says, that his government extended from the Isthmus to Pythium, but according to Andron, as far as Eleusis and the Thriasian plain.
Since, then, different writers give different accounts of the division of the country into four parts, it is enough to adduce these lines from Sophocles where Aegeus says, My father determined that I should go away to Acte, having assigned to me, as the elder, the best part of the land; to Lycus, the opposite garden of Euboea; for Nisus he selects the irregular tract of the shore of Sciron; and the rugged Pallas, breeder of giants, obtained by lot the part to the south. Such are the proofs which are adduced to show that Megaris was a part of Attica.
μετὰ δὲ τὴν τῶν Ἡρακλειδῶν κάθοδον καὶ τὸν τῆς χώρας μερισμὸν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν καὶ τῶν συγκατελθόντων αὐτοῖς Δωριέων ἐκπεσεῖν τῆς οἰκείας συνέβη πολλοὺς εἰς τὴν Ἀττικήν, ὧν ἦν καὶ ὁ τῆς Μεσσήνης βασιλεὺς Μέλανθος· οὗτος δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἐβασίλευσεν ἑκόντων, νικήσας ἐκ μονομαχίας τὸν τῶν Βοιωτῶν βασιλέα Ξάνθον. εὐανδρούσης δὲ τῆς Ἀττικῆς διὰ τοὺς φυγάδας φοβηθέντες οἱ Ἡρακλεῖδαι, παροξυνόντων αὐτοὺς μάλιστα τῶν ἐν Κορίνθῳ καὶ τῶν ἐν Μεσσήνῃ, τῶν μὲν διὰ τὴν γειτνίασιν, τῶν δὲ ὅτι Κόδρος τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐβασίλευε τότε ὁ τοῦ Μελάνθου παῖς, ἐστράτευσαν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀττικήν· ἡττηθέντες δὲ μάχῃ τῆς μὲν ἄλλης ἐξέστησαν γῆς, τὴν Μεγαρικὴν δὲ κατέσχον καὶ τήν τε πόλιν ἔκτισαν τὰ Μέγαρα καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους Δωριέας ἀντὶ Ἰώνων ἐποίησαν· ἠφάνισαν δὲ καὶ τὴν στήλην τὴν ὁρίζουσαν τούς τε Ἴωνας καὶ τοὺς Πελοποννησίους.
After the return of the Heraclidae, and the partition of the country, many of the former possessors were banished from their own land by the Heraclidae, and by the Dorians, who came with them, and migrated to Attica. Among these was Melanthus, the king of Messene. He was voluntarily appointed king of the Athenians, after having overcome in single combat, Xanthus, the king of the Boeotians. When Attica became populous by the accession of fugitives, the Heraclidae were alarmed, and invaded Attica, chiefly at the instigation of the Corinthians and Messenians; the former of whom were influenced by proximity of situation, the latter by the circumstance that Codrus, the son of Melanthus, was at that time king of Attica. They were, however, defeated in battle and relinquished the whole of the country, except the territory of Megara, of which they kept possession, and founded the city Megara, where they introduced as inhabitants Dorians in place of Ionians. They destroyed the pillar also which was the boundary of the country of the Ionians and the Peloponnesians.
πολλαῖς δὲ κέχρηται μεταβολαῖς ἡ τῶν Μεγαρέων πόλις, συμμένει δʼ ὅμως μέχρι νῦν. ἔσχε δέ ποτε καὶ φιλοσόφων διατριβὰς τῶν προσαγορευθέντων Μεγαρικῶν, Εὐκλείδην διαδεξαμένων ἄνδρα Σωκρατικόν, Μεγαρέα τὸ γένος· καθάπερ καὶ Φαίδωνα μὲν τὸν Ἠλεῖον οἱ Ἠλειακοὶ διεδέξαντο, καὶ τοῦτον Σωκρατικόν, ὧν ἦν καὶ Πύρρων, Μενέδημον δὲ τὸν Ἐρετριέα οἱ Ἐρετρικοί. ἔστι δʼ ἡ χώρα τῶν Μεγαρέων παράλυπρος καθάπερ καὶ ἡ Ἀττική, καὶ τὸ πλέον αὐτῆς ἐπέχει τὰ καλούμενα Ὄνεια ὄρη, ῥάχις τις μηκυνομένη μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν Σκιρωνίδων πετρῶν ἐπὶ τὴν Βοιωτίαν καὶ τὸν Κιθαιρῶνα, διείργουσα δὲ τὴν κατὰ Νίσαιαν θάλατταν ἀπὸ τῆς κατ Ἀλκυονίδος προσαγορευομένης.
The city of the Megarenses, after having experienced many changes, still subsists. It once had schools of philosophers, who had the name of the Megaric sect. They succeeded Euclides, the Socratic philosopher, who was by birth a Megarensian, in the same manner as the Eleiaci, among whom was Pyrrhon, who succeeded Phaedon, the Eleian, who was also a Socratic philosopher, and as the Eretriaci succeeded Menedemus the Eretrean.
Megaris, like Attica, is very sterile, and the greater part of it is occupied by what are called the Oneii mountains, a kind of ridge, which, extending from the Scironides rocks to Boeotia and to Cithaeron, separates the sea at Nisaea from that near Page, called the Alcyonian Sea.
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