RUINS OF A CASTLE ABOVE THE PASS.

73

dotted with villages, adorned with trees, and improved by cultivation. It is intersected by the Asopos, and the Spercheios, that pursue their devious course, through the Trachinian rocks, which environ the plain. The town of Zetoun, the ancient Lamia, is conspicuously situated on an eminence at the northern extremity of the plain. I know not what place these ruins represent, unless it be the fortress of Tichious.

Herakleia, according to Herodotus, was situated to the north of the Asopos; which river issues from a narrow glen, in a mountain now called Katabathron, about four miles north of Thermopyla. On its northern bank, just above the glen from which it emerges, is a pointed hill, forming part of the great Trachinian rocks. On this hill are the ruins of an acropolis; and, lower down, the traces of the city.

2

Thucydides1 says, that Herakleia was surrounded with a wall by the three Lacedæmonians, Leon, Alcidas, and Damagon; and that it was 40 stadia from Thermopyla, and 20 from the sea. Diodorus asserts, that the Lacedæmonians sent a colony to Trachis, and built a town upon its ruins, changing its name to Herakleia. It contained 10,000 inhabitants, and was colonised in the 6th year of the Peloponnesian war. Jason of Pherai, finding this place too strong to be taken by open force, had recourse to treachery. He afterwards caused it to be demolished, and gave the land to the Oetaans. It was evidently restored after its destruction by Jason, as it is mentioned long afterwards by Livy,' and other authors, as a place of strength and importance. Strabo asserts, that the ancient Trachis was six stadia from Herakleia.

Oeta' is one of the most lofty and extensive mountains in Greece, though it appears not so high as the neighbouring Parnassos, and

Sita est Heraclea in radicibus Oetæ montis; ipsa in campo, arcem imminentem loco alto et undique præcipiti habet. B. 36. c. 22.

5 Oily.

still less so than Pindos,' Olympos, Taygeton, and Cyllene; but it ranks next to these. It forms a long ridge, branching out towards the north-west, till it joins Pindos; which unites with the Acroceraunian mountains, that terminate in the Adriatic. On the other side, towards the south-east, it unites with the range of Knemis; which is subdivided into smaller hills, intersected by glens and valleys. Livy compares Oeta to the Apennines of Italy; as the former causes a geographical division in Greece, similar to what the latter occasion in Italy. It appears from Livy and Strabo,' that the highest part of Oeta was above Thermopyla, and was named Kallidromos. According to Appian, the two summits of Kallidromos and Tichious were above the pass.

3

Mount Oeta is broken into massy precipices, crowned with magnificent forests of oaks, firs, and platani, and with every other tree and shrub which grow in these latitudes. It is watered by innumerable springs; and every thing flourishes in the utmost luxuriance. The heat of the summer is mitigated by the abundant shade and the exuberant verdure which are objects of so much regret in other parts of Greece.

There were formerly two roads which led from Melis into Doris over Mount Oeta. The plain forms a considerable recess, to the north-west of the thermal springs. Here the Asopos issues from a winding glen, up which was one of the roads called Anopaia,' that passed under the walls of Herakleia; but this way was narrow and difficult. The easier route passed through the territory of the Ænianes; and this was taken by the Persians, and afterwards by the Gauls, under Brennus. This road was probably between the Asopos and the Spercheios. Another road leads over Oeta, going close to the ruins which are above the pass; it is very narrow and difficult:

· The modern name of Pindos is Μειζοβον τα βουνα.

2

Strabo, b. 9. p. 428.

Id jugum sicut Apennini dorso Italia dividitur, ita mediam Græciam dirimit. B. 36. c. 15. ♦ Ibid. • De bellis Syr. p. 97. Pausan, b. 10. ç. 22. 2 Ibid.

'B. 9. p. 428.

7 Herodot. b. 7. c. 216.

MOUNT OETA.

2

75

I shall give a description of it on my return from Thessaly, when we passed over it into Doris. The great plain of Melis, with its mountainous boundary, which once formed a conspicuous part of the kingdom of Achilles,' appears to have been afterwards parcelled out into the different territories of the Malienses, Ænianes, Oetæans, Trachinii, or Herakleotai, and the Lamienses. The names of these districts underwent such changes as have been productive of confusion in the demarcation of their reciprocal situations and divisions. The Ænianes, or Enves, as they are denominated by Homer, were situated on that division of Oeta from which the Spercheios flows,3 and about Mount Tymphrestos, which, according to Strabo,* gave birth to that river. Tymphrestos joined Mount Othrys. Both Strabo and Heliodorus assert, that the Ænianes inhabited Oeta, and it would appear that they had a capital named Ainea: I had the good fortune to find a small copper coin of that town at Thermopylæ; on one side of which is the head of Jupiter, to whom Mount Oeta was sacred, and on the reverse the head of a lance, and jaw-bone of a boar, and AΙΝΙΑ ΕΠΙΚΡΑΤΙΝΩΝ.

8

I have seen a silver coin of this people, on which is the head of Jupiter, and on the reverse a naked figure hurling a dart, and AINIANON. As the country inhabited by the Enianes bordered on Ætolia,' the Calydonian emblems are represented on their coins. Other neighbouring towns have the same type: as Oeta and Amphissa.

The Oetæans probably inhabited that part of the mountain between the Trachinii and the Hypoknemidii. Their capital seems

to have had the same name as the mountain,' and was founded, according to Antoninus Liberalis, by Amphissor son of Apollo and the nymph Dryope.

5

I found a small copper coins of this town also; one side is filled with a lion's head; on the reverse is a long spear and the jaw-bone of a boar, and OITANN. I have also seen silver drachmas of the same place with the following types,-lion's head; reverse, bow and quiver, OITA:-lion's head; reverse, a naked figure holding a sword, OITANN. The Trachinii, or Heracleotai, occupied a part of the Meliensian territory, and the intermediate tract between the Oetæans and the nienses. The territory of the latter was probably contiguous to that of the Lamienses, whose capital was Lamia, situated at the northern extremity of the plain. The Malienses or Melienses probably occupied the plain as far as the foot of Mount Othrys.' I found some coins of the Lamienses and Malienses, but they are not common. The types seen on those of Lamia are the caduceus, diota, bunch of grapes, the head of Minerva and of Bacchus, and Hercules with his bow and arrow killing the Stymphalides, with the inscription AAMIENN: on the latter is the head of Minerva; reverse, a diota and MAAIEON. One similar to this is published by Eckhel.

8

1

Towns which had the same name as the mountains on which they were situated, were termed porous, homonomous, Ezechiel. Spanhem. observat. in Callimach. Hymnum in Dianam, v. 99.

2 Metam. c. 32.

3 See Eckhel Numi veteres Anecdoti.-Pars. 1. tab. 6. p. 89.

In the collection of Mr. Burgon.

Thucyd. b. 3. c. 92.

7

s In the collection of Colonel Leake. Antoninus Liberalis Metam. c. 22.

8 The following coins of Oeta of second brass, are published by Mionnet,-head of Apollo; reverse, OITAION, a lance, bunch of grapes, and jaw-bone of a boar:—an arrow, quiver, and jaw-bone; reverse, two shields and two lances:-head of a lion, and head of a lance; reverse, OITAION, Hercules erect with his club. Dr. Clarke found a silver coin of this town at Delphi,-lion's head with an arrow in his mouth; reverse, figure of Hercules with radiated head, holding his club. The inscription is from right to left NQIATIO. It is in the collection of R. P. Knight, Esq. and there are others of the same type in the British Museum.-See Dr. Clarke's Travels in Greece, vol. 4. c. 6. p. 197.

CHAPTER III.

To Zetoun, remains of Lamia-Ruins of a city-Village Stilidi-Ruins of Echinos-Villages of Rakes and Karditza-Ruins of a city-Villages of Makala and Pteleo-Ruins of a cityVillage of Surbis-Ruins of a city-Town of Armiro-Village of Staikes-Ruins of a city -Remains of Pagasai and Demetrias-Castle and town of Bolo-Mount Pelion, and the Gulf of Pagasai-Ruins of Iolkos-Town of Belestina and ruins of Pherai-Hyperian fountain-Villages of Tolelere and Mouimos-Larissa-Singular conduct of the archbishop -Insolence of the Turks-River Peneios-Camels-Mount Olympos-Villages of Baba and Ampelachia-Vale of Tempe-Proconsular inscription.

TO ZETOUN, LAMIA.

On the 26th, we quitted the khan, and proceeded on our journey through Thessaly; we crossed two artificial canals, the currents of which are supplied by the Spercheios, and irrigate the extensive rice grounds, which tend to vitiate the air in the vicinity. The road is paved, which is a necessary precaution, as great part of the plain is a complete marsh. In two hours we arrived at Zetoun,' the ancient Lamia, which was in the territory of Melis, and, according to Strabo,' was only thirty stadia from the Spercheios, though the distance appears more considerable. This town contains at present about 3000 inhabitants, the greater part of whom are Greeks. It is the head of a province, and the Voivode commands sixty villages.' The Greeks have a bishop, suffragan of the metropolitan of Larissa. The ports are Stilĭdi and Agia Marina, on the Maliac Gulf. The chief

It is written Zylour by Leonicus Chalcocondyla and I. Curopalata; it is a Turkish word signifying olives. It is however sometimes called Izdin by the Turks.

1 B. 9. p. 433.

› See the Appendix.-The distances from Zetoun to the following places are,―to Athens forty hours, to Joannina forty-eight, to Libadea twelve, to Larissa sixteen.