Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1112

 1088 TANAGRA. on their return defeated the Tanagraeans and Boeo- tians. (T!iuc. iii. 91.) Dicaearchus, wlio visited Tanai^ra in the time of Cassander, says that the city stands on a ragged and lofty height, and has a white chalky appearance. The houses are adorned with liandsonie porticoes and encaustic paintings. The surrounding country does not grow much corn, but ]>roduces the best wine in Boeotia. Dicaearchus adds that the inhabitants are wealthy but frugal, being for t lie most part landholders, not manufacturers; and lie praises them for their justice, good faith, and hos- pitality. (De Statu Graec. p. 12.) In the time of Augustus, Tanagra and Thespiae were the two most ))n)sperous cities in Boeotia. (Strab. ix. p. 403.) Tanagra is called by Pliny (iv. 7. s. 12) a free .state; it is mentioned by Ptolemy (iii. 15. § 20); and it continued to flourish in the sixth century. (Hierocl. p. 645.) Its public buildings are described at some length by Pausanias (ix. 20. § 3, seq.). 'I'he principal temple was that of Dionysus, which contained a celebrated statue of Parian marble, by Calamis, and a remarkable Triton. Near it were temples of Themis, Aphrodite and Apollo, and two of Hermes, in one of which he was worshipped as Criophorus, and in the other as Promachus. Near the latter was the theatre, and probably at no great distance the gymnasium, which contained a picture of Corinna, who was a native of Tanagra. There was also a monument of this poetess in a conspicuous part of the city. Pausanias remarks as a peculiarity in Tanagra, that all their sacred buildings were placed by themselves, apart from the houses of the town (ix. 22. § 2.) He likewise notices (ix. 22. § 4) that Tanagra was famous for its breed of fight- ing-cocks, a circumstance which is mentioned by other writers. (Varr. de Re Rust. iii. 9. § 6 ; Hesych. s. V. Kooipv^ • Suidas, s. v. Tavaypatoi aXeKro- piaicoi.) Tanagra possessed a considerable territory; and Strabo (ix. p. 405) mentions four villages be- longing to it, Eleon or Heleon, Harma, Mycalessus, and Pliarae. (Plierae, Plin iv. 7. s. 12). The ruins of Tanagra are situated at an unin- habited spot, called Grtnuidha or Grimdla, situated 3 miles south of the village of Skimdtari. The site is a large hill nearly circular, rising from the ii.irth bank of the Asopus. The upper part of the nite is rocky and abrupt, looking down upon the town beneath; and it was probably upon this upper height that the sacre<l edifices stood apart from the other buildings of the town. The walls of the city which embraced a circuit of about two miles, may still be traced, but they are a mere lieap of ruins. About 100 yards below the height already described are the remains of the theatre, hollowed out of the slope. On the terrace below the theatre to the NE. are the foundations of a public building, formed of marble of M very dark colour with a green cast. The ground is thickly strewn in every direction with remains of earthenware, betokening the existence of a numerous jiopulation in former times. (Leake, J^'ortheiti COIN OF TANAC;r,A. TANAIS. Greece, vol. ii. p. 454, seq.; Wordsworth, Athens and A ttica, p. 1 4, seq. ; com p. K. 0. lliiller, Orchomenos p. 20.) TA'NAIS {TavaCs, Ptol. iii. 5. § 14, v. 9. §§ 1, 2, &c.), a famous river, which in the course of time was universally assumed as the boundary between Europe and Asia. (Strab. vii. 310, xi. 490; Mela, i. 3; Scyl. p. 30, &c.) The older writers of an- tiquity thought that it rose from a large lake (He- rod, iv. 57; Ephor. ap. Anon. Per. P. Eux. p. 4), which is really the case, its source being in the luki- Ivan Ozero, in the government of Toula; whilst lalcr writers held that it had its sources either in ilic Caucasus (Strab. xi. 493; Amniian. xxii. 8), or in the Phipaean mountains. (Mela, i. 19; Lucaii, iii. 272; Procop. .B. G. iv. 6, &c.) The last ..i these liypotheses was most generally accepted ; but there was likewise a fourth which made it a branch of the Ister (Strab. I. c). Whilst Strabo, however, adduces these different opinions, he himself holds that its source was entirely unknown (ii. 107). It is represented as flowing in so rapid a stream that it never froze. (Mela, I. c. cf. Nonnus, Dionys. xxiii. 85.) It flows first in a SE. and then in a SW. direction; and after receiving the Hyrgis (or Syrgis) as a tributary, empties itself into the Palus Maeotis {Sea of Azof) by two moutlis. (Herod. iv. 100.) These mouths, which are at the most northern point of the Palus Maeotis, Strabo places at the distance of 60 stadia from one another (vii. 310), whilst Artemidorus (ap. Eustath. ad Dion. 14) makes them only 7 stadia distant. At present, however, the Don has 13 mouths. (Clarke, Trav. i. p. 423.) The etymology of the name is discussed by Plutarch {de Flum. 14) and Eustalhius {I. c.) but its true derivation is from the Scythian wmd Don or Dan, signifying ivater, which occurs in the names of other rivers, as Danubius, Eridanus, &c. (P'orbiger, Handb. des Alt. Geogr. p. 325, n. 16.) The Tanais is frequently alluded to by the Latin poets. (Hor. Od. iii. 10. 1 ; Virg. G. iv. 517 ; Ov. Ex. Pont. iv. 10, 55, &c.) Claike {TraveU. i. pp. 339, 448, note) would identify it with the Danaetz, from the similarity of the name, an hypo- thesis also accepted by Lindner {Sctjthien, p. 66) ; but there can scarcely be a doubt that it should be identified with the Don. [T. H. D.] TA'NAIS {Tavais, Ptol. iii. 5.§ 26, viii. 18. § 5), a town of Asiatic Sarmatia, lying on the more south- ern month and between both mouths of the river of the same name. It may also be described as situated at the northernmost point of the Palus Maeotis, and not far from the sea. It was a flourishing colony of the Milesians, enjoying an extensive commerce, and being the principal market of the surrounding tribes, both of Europe and Asia, who here bartered slaves and skins for the wine, apparel, and other articles of more civilised nations. (Strab. xi. p. 493.) The in- habitants soon reduced a considerable part of the neighbouring coasts to subjection, but were in turn themselves subdued by the kings of the Bosporus (Id. vii. p. 310, xi. p. 495). An attempt to regain their independence only ended in the destruction of their city by Polemon I. (Id. p. 493), a little before the time when Strabo wrote. Pliny (vi. 7. s. 7) speaks of Tanais as no longer existing in his time ; but it appears to have been subsequently restored (Ptol. //. CO.; Steph. B. p. 633), though it never recovered its former prosperity. Clarke (i. p. 415) could dis- cover no trace of it, nor even a probable site ; but its ruins are said to exist near the modern Nedt-igoska