Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/745

 CTNUBIA. Mween the Argoia ind Laoonk in the time cf Eari- pides, who aa»rdinglj re pron c nte (^c.) it as tlie htmaduj between the two states in the heroic age. Hie straam, which waters the sontheni extremity of the plain, is smaller than the Tanos ; it also xises in Ht Panion, and falls into the sea near St, Andrew, It is now soroetimes called the river of Kan% from tme of the smnmits of Pamon; sometimes, the river of Sl Andrew : it appears in ancient times to have borne the name of Charadms, which is described by Statins (Tkeib, iv. 46), as flowing in a hag valley near Neris. Between these two rivers, at the nar- rowest part of the plain, is a salt marsh called Jfiia- td9f fnmed by some salt-springs rising at the foot of the calcaieoos mountains. The bay between the two rivers was called the Thyraatic gulf (6 ^tftdnis k6Xtos, Pans. iL 38. § 7> Besides Thyrea and Anthena or Athena, men- tioned by Thucydides, two other place in the Thy- featis are noticed by Pansanias (ii. 38. § 5, seq.)^ namely, Kbris (Nfypis) and Eva (E0a). Pansanias entered the Thyrertis by the pass of the Anigraea; and after ibUowing the road along the coast, turned upwards into the interior, and came to Thyrea (Urn vw wp^ tV ^9ip9¥ 6vp^ X^'P^ iffTiif)y where he saw tiie sepulchres of the 300 Aigive, and 800 Spartan champions. On leaving these, he came first to Anthaia, next to Neris, and kstly to Eva, which he describes as the htigest of the three villages, oontaining a sanctnaiy of Polemocntes, son of Ha- chaon, who was honoured here as a god or hero of the healing art Above these villages was the range of Mt Parnon, where, not fiu* from the sonroes of the Tanaos, the boundaries of the Laoedaemontons, Argives, and Tegeatae Joined, and were marked by atone Hermae. Neris is also mentioned by Statins (Theb, iv. 46), who describes it as situated in a long valley : drum Neris." Eva, in the Thyraatis, is probably also meant by Stephanus B., though he calls it a dtj of Arcadia. The identification of these places has given rise to modi dispute, and cannot be eatisfiictorily deter- mined; fbr althouj^ there are several ancient re- mains in the Thyreatis, no inscriptions have been Ibond, containing the names of phoes, and none of the ruins are in such positions as at once to identify them with the ancient towns. There are two roads in the Thyreatis; one along the coast leading from the pass of the Anigrsas, imd the other across the moontains. Upon the coast-road we find ancient remains at three places. (1.) Aetroe is now the chief place in the dutrict, where persons land com- ing from Nauplia by sea. The present town, how- ever, Is of recent date, having been built during the War of IndepeiideDoe,and has become of importance m ooosequsDoe of the second natiooal assemUy of the QteAB having met here in 1823. It is situated on tiie aouthem side of a promontoiy, which projects aome distance into the sea, abent 10 minutes south ef the month of the Taans. Although the town is ef modem origin, it is supposed that the place has jetained its name from antiquity, and that it is the Astrum f Airrpor) of Ptolemy, in whose list it eocors as the frontier town of Aigofis, between the Lacedaemonian Ptowae and the months of the Ina- ehas. (PtoLiiL 16. $ 11.) On the Umd side of the promontoiy towards the river,ars considerable xe- QMins of an ancient wall, built of laige nnheini blocks CTNUBIA. 727 of stone, the faiterstioes between which are filled up with smaller stones, like the well known walls of Tiiyns. On the other sides of the hill there are no traces of walls, nor are there any other remains of an ancient town. (2.) About half an hour S. of Astaros, to the right httid of the road, there were formerly Hellenic remains, which have now entirely disap- peared. (3.) Further south, at SL Andrew, on the coast, and immediately south of the river of JTaiit, at the very edge of the plam, are the remains <tf an ancient town. The foundations of the walls, about 9 feet m breadtii, may still be traced, ss well as the foundations of towers. Within the walls the highest point, on which the church of St. Andrew now stands, was the acropolis. Upon the road across the mountaine there are likewise remains of three ancient places. (1.) In crossing Mount Zdvitea, we find upon the descent on the southern side the ruins of a fortress, which com- manded the road from the Axgeia to. the Thyreatis. (2.) Further on, at the foot of ZdvUta, dose to the river Tanns and the monastery of X«ihi, considerable remains of andent art have been discovered. The Museum of Athens poesesses a fine Caryatid figure, and two striking bos-reliefo, brought from this place. The andent remains at Luku are far more consio derable than any other which have been discovered in the Thyreatis. (3.) From the monastery of JaiIm the road goes towards Mt. Pamon, over the heights uriuch extend between the two riven of the Thyreatis. To the left of this road are the ruins of an ancient fortress, situated upon a lofty rock, and known in the country by the name of HeUenihd, The great di£Bcul^ is to identify Thyrea with any of these sites. Leake and Boss suppose tiiat the wall at Aetroe is the one commenced by the Aegi- netans, in the eighth year of the Pdoponnesian war, and which they were prevented from finishing by the arrival of the Athenians. They further bdieve that the ruins at ImJm are those of Thyrea; though, in- stead of being only 10 stadia finomtiie sea, as Thucy- dides states, they an more than three times tboit distance. Gurtius, on the other hand, thinks that the remains at SL Andrew represent Thyrea, and that Pansanias came to this point before he turned into the interior. He observes that the vraO at Aetree belongs to a much more andent period than the time of & Pdoponnesiaii war, and tnat the re- mains at Lnbn do not exhibit traces of a town, and are more characteristic of a Boman villa than of an Hdlenic dty. But to the hypothesis of Gurtius the words of Thucydides andPansanias seem &tal,— the farmer describing Thyrea as the upper dty at the distance of 10 stadia from the sea; and the latter, as situated in the interior of the countiy. Supposing Lnku to represent Thyrea, the ruins at SL Andrew moBt be those of a dty not mentioned by any andent writer. It is evident from the route ii Pansanias, that they cannot represent dther Anthena, Neris, or Eva. Leake, indeed, supposes them to be those of the Lacedaemonian Brasiae or Prasiae, chiefly on the ground of the order of names in Ptdemy; but the dty at SL Andrew, being in the pbin of the Thyreatis, must clearly have bdonged to the latter district; and Praaias ought probably to be phced ftuther south at T)fr6. [PuIsiax.] The position of Thyrea being so mioertam, it would Im usdess to endeavour to fix the dte of the other andent phices in the Thyreatis. On the heights of Mt Pamon, in the north-eastern extremity of the andent I<BCODia, is a district now 3a4
 * ^ Qnaeqne pavet loQga spomantem valle Chara-