Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 1.djvu/325

B. iv. c. vi. 12. THE ALPS. 31 1 though not in such large quantities. The same writer, speak- ing of the extent and height of the Alps, compares with them the largest mountains of Greece, such asTaygetum, 1 Lycaeum, 2 Parnassus, 3 Olympus, 4 Pelion, 5 Ossa, 6 and of Thrace, as the Hoemus, Rhodope, and Dunax, saying that an active person might almost ascend any of these in a single day, and go round them in the same time, whereas five days would not be sufficient to ascend the Alps, while their length along the plains extends 2200 stadia. 7 He only names four passes over the mountains, one through Liguria close to the Tyrrhenian Sea, 8 a second through the country of the Taurini, 9 by which Hannibal passed, a third through the country of the Salassi, 10 and a fourth through that of the Rhreti, 11 all of them precipitous. In these mountains, he says, there are numerous lakes ; three large ones, the first of which is Bena- cus, 12 500 stadia in length and 130 in breadth, the river Mincio flows from it. The second is the Verbanus, 13 400 stadia [in length], and in breadth smaller than the preceding ; 1 A mountain of Laconia. 3 In Arcadia, some suppose it to be the modern Tetragi, others Dia- phorti, and others Mintha. 3 In Phocis, lapara, or Liokura. 4 Olympus is a mountain range of Thessaly, bordering on Macedonia, its summit is thirty miles north of Larissa, in lat. 40o 4' 32" N., long. 22o 25' E. Its estimated height is 9745 feet. 5 Petras or Zagora. 6 Now Kissovo ; it is situated to the east of the river Peneus, imme- diately north of Mount Pelion, and bounds the celebrated vale of Tempe on one side. 7 Gosselin observes, both Polybius and Strabo extended the Alps from the neighbourhood of Marseilles to beyond the Adriatic Gulf, a distance twice 2200 stadia. It appears probable from the words of Polybius himself, (lib. ii. c. 14,) that he merely intended to state the length of the plains situated at the foot of the mountains, which bound Italy on the north ; and in fact the distance in a right line from the foot of the Alps about Rivoli or Pignerol to Rovigo, and the marshes formed at the mouths of the Adige and Po, is 63 leagues, or 2200 stadia of 700 to a degree. 8 This route passes from Tortona, by Vadi, Albinga, Vintimille, and Monaco, where it crosses the maritime Alps, and thence to Nice, Antibes, &c. Gosselin. 9 This route passes by Brian^on, Mont Genevre, the Col de Sestri^re, and the Val Progelas. " 10 The passage by the Val Aouste. " This route, starting from Milan, passed east of the lake of Como by Coire, and then by Bregentz to the Lake of Constance. ia The Lago di Garda. 13 Lago Maggiore.