Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/332

 316 JIEGARA. Spratt further supposes that he has discovered re- mains of thfi ancient causeway. " Between the base of the liill on its north side, and the opposite bank of the dry bed of a former river, there are three platforms of heavy buildings, one of which lies immediately at the foot of the hill, another on the edge of the opposite bank, and the third nearly central ; and as the course of that former river-bed clearly and indisputably passes between them, it is more than probable that the bridge of comnmnica- tion may be recognised in these ruins." He also says, " that distinct remains of an ancient mole are to'be seen extending from the south-eastern end of the liill, and curving to the eastward, so as to have formed a harbour between the hill and those ruins," which is in accordance with the statement of Strabo, that the port of Nisaea was formed by the promon- tory of Minoa. IV. Tekiutohy of JIeg.vra. Megaris occupied the greater part of the large Isthmus, which extends from the foot of Jit. Cithae- ron to the Acrocorinthus, and which connects North- ern Greece with the Peloponnesus. The southern part of tliis Isthmus, including the Isthmus properly so called, belonged to Corinth; but the boundaries of Megaris and Corinth differed at an earlier and a later period. Originally Megaris extended as far as Crom.myon on the Saronic, and Thermae on the Corinthian, gulfs, and a pillar was set up near the Isthmus proper, marking the boundaries between Peloponnesus and Ionia; but subsequently this pillar was removed, and the territory of Corinth reached as tar as the Scirunian rocks and the other passes of the Geraneian mountains. (Strab. ix. pp. 392, 393.) Towards the X., Megaris was separated from Boeotia by Mt. Cithaeron, and towards the E. and NE. from Attica by some high land, which terminates on the west side of the bay of Eleusis in two summits, formerly called Kerat.v or The Horns (to Ke- para), and now KancKli. (Strab. ix. p. 395; Diod. xiii. 65; Pint. Them. 13.) Here there is an im- mense deposit of conchiferous limestone, which Pau- sanias also noticed (i. 44. § 6). The river lapis, v^1lich flowed into the sea a little to the W. of the Horns, was the boundaiy of Jlegaris and Attica. [Attica, p. 323. a.] The extreme breadth of Megaris from Pagae to Nisaea is estimated by Strabo (yiii. p. 334) at 120 stadia; and, according to the calculation of Clinton, the area of the country is 143 .square miles. Megaris is a rugged and mountainous countiy, and contains no plain, except the one in which its capital, Megara, was situated. This plain was called the " White Plain" (to hevKhv ireSi'oi', Sehol. ad Horn. Od. V. 333, ed. Mai ; Etymol. M. s. v. Aeu- K6Q(a), and is the same as Cimolia (KifjioiXla, Diod. xi. 79), which produced the Cix-ta Cimolia or fullers' earth, and which Leake erroneously regards as a place (^Northern Greece, vol. ii. p. 413). The main range of Mt. Cithaeron runs from V. to E., forming the boundary between Boeotia and Attica; but it is also prolonged southwards along the shores of the Corinthian gulf, and gradually rises into a new chain, which stretches across Megaris from AV. to E., parallel to Jit. Cithaeron. This chain is highest on the western side, where it attains the height of 4217 feet (Paris), and gradually sinks down on the eastern side towards the Saronic gulf. On its western side it runs out into the promontory Ar.Cin-LANCTrs (Ai7('7r,a7KToj, Af'^cll. Agarn. MEGAEA. 303, with Schol.), and also into those of Olmiae and Heraeum in the Corinthian territory. [Co- RiNTHUS, p. 685.] On its eastern side the island of Salamis and the surrounding rocks are only a continuation of this chain. The mountains were called Geranei. in antiquity (Pepai/eia, Thuc. i. 105; Paus. i. 40. § 7), and are said to have re- ceived this name because, in the deluge of Deucalion, Megarus, the son of Zeus and a Sithonian nymph, was led by the cries of cranes (yepavoi) to take refuge upon their summit. (Paus. I. c.) Towards the south the Geraneian mountains sink down into the plain of the Isthmus, while to the south of the Isthmus there rises another chain of mountains called the Oneian. Strabo (viii. p. 380) confounds the Geraneia with the Oneia ; and erroneously repre- sents the latter extending as far as Boeotia and Cithaeron. His error has misled many modern wri- ters, who, in consequence, speak of the Geraneia as a portion of the Oneia. (Curtius, Peloponiiesos, vol. i. p. 25.) The Geraneian mountains are almost, if not en- tirely, calcareous. They form the true boundary of Northern Greece, and rise above the Isthmus of Corinth like a vast wall from sea to sea. Three roads lead across these mountains into Peloponnesus. One runs from the western coast of Megaris, across the rocky peninsula of Peralchora, the ancient Pei- raeum of Corinth, down to the Corinthian gulf. It was the road by which armies frequently marclied from Peloponnesus into Northern Greece, but in ordinary intercourse was not much used on account of its length. The second road passes through the centre of the Geraneia, and is called the road of the great Dervenia from the narrow pass (Turk. Der- veni), which leads between two masses of rock, and where guards were stationed in Turkish times. According to Gell the top of this pass was anciently fortified with a wall. The same writer says that, from the top of this pass to Corinth the distance is 8 hours 37 minutes, and to Megara 2 hours 33 minutes. This road is now little used. The third road, which leads along the eastern coast of Megaris, is the shortest way between Jlegara and Corinth, and therefore has been the chief line of communi- cation between Peloponnesus and Northern Greece from the earliest times to the present day. This road, soon after leaving Megara, runs for several miles along a narrow ledge or terrace, cut in the rock half-way up the sides of the cliffs. On his right hand the traveller has the precipitous rock, while on his left it descends perpendicularly to the sea, which is 600 or 700 feet beneath him. The road, which is now narrow and impracticable for carriages, was made wide enough by the emperor Hadrian for two carriages to pass abreast. From the higher level the road descends to the brink of the water by a most rugged and precipitous path cut between walls of rock. This pass is the celebrated Scironian rocks of antiquity, now called Kake-skala, or bad ladder (Ai 'S.Kupuivi^es irtTpai, Strab. ix. p. 391; ai Sfipwj'iSes and al S^ipoSey, Polyb. xvi. 16 ; S/ceipa-foj d/CTai, Eur. Hippol. 1208; the road itself 7} 'S.Kipoivis b^6s, Herod, viii. 71; Scironia saxa, Plin. iv. 7. s. 11). According to a Megarian tradition, these rocks derived their name from Sei- ron, a polemarch of the IMegarians, who was the first to make a footpath along the rocks (Paus. i. 44. § 6); but, according to the more common tr.a- dition, they were so called from the robber Sciron. Near the soutJiern end of the pass, where the road