Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/79

 AETOLIA. kHwled|:e of the historj or phenomena of the moan- taia. (LocreC. tL 640 — 703; LuciL Aetma, 92, et m.; Joadn, ir. 1 ; Seneca, EpisL 79; CUudian, L c. 1(9—175.) The oonnectioa of these volcanic phe- MDoa vitfa the earthquakes by which the island was frnpentlj agitated, was too obvious to esoipe Dodce, and was indeed implied in the popular tra- ction. Some writers also asserted that there was a fobtenanean oonmnmicatioa between Aetna and the Aeofian islands, and that the ernptians of the former vtre ohserred to ahemate with those of Hiera and Strongyle, (Diod. v. 7.) The same of Aetna was evidently derived from its krj character, and has the same root as ai9w, to koiL Bat in later times a mjthdogical origin was ^Dond for it, and the nnmntain was supposed to have nccsted its name from a nymph, Aetna, the daughter <i Uniras and Gaea, or, according to others, of Briaieos. (SchoL ad Theocr. Id, L 65.) The moun- tun itself is spoken of by Pindar (Pj^. i. 57) as eonsecrated to Zens; bat at a later period Solinus dBs it sacred to Ynlcan ; and we learn that there disted on it a temple of that deity. This was not, bowrer, as sappoeed by scone writers, near the sum- mit of the mountain, but in the middle or forest region, as we are told that it was surrounded by a ftrf^ of sacred trees. (Solin. 5. § 9 ; Aelian, ff. A, xL 3.) [E. H. B.] AETOXIA (AiTMXia: Eth. AlruMs, Aetolua), a district of Greece, the boundaries of which 'aricd at diffoent periods. In the time of Strabo it was bounded on the W. by Acamania, from which it was ceparated by the river Achelous, on the N. by the sioontuiUMis coontry inhabited by the Athamanes, Dolapes, and Dryopes, on the NE. by Doris and KaHs, on the SE. by Locris, and on the S. by the cntnace to the Corinthian gulf. It contained about 1165 square miles. It was divided into two dis- tricts, oJIed Old Aetolia (ri ipxaia Airwf«), and Artcdia Epictetos (^ hriimiTOfjy or the Acquired. The former extended along the coast from the Achekos to the Evenus, and inland as far as Ther- Bram, oppoate the Acamanian town of Stratus : the ktter inchidcd the northera and more mountainous part of the province, and also the country on the coast betw ee n the Evenus and Locris. When this £vifaaa was introduced is unknown; but it cannot hare been foonded upon conquest, for the inland AftoGans were never subdued. The country between the AchdoBs and the Evenus appears in tradition aft the cniginal abode of the Aetolians; and the term Epictetus probably only indicates the subse- qiunt extension of their name to the remainder of the eoontry. Strabo makes the promontory An- nrrinmn the boundary between Aetolia and Locris, but MBK of the towns between this promontory and the Evenus belonged originally to the Ozolian Lo- criana. (Strab. pp. 336, 450, 459.) The country on the coast between the Achelous and the Evenns is a fertile plain, called Parache- Vjlti8 (ni^MixcAoMrts), after the former river. This pbaa is bounded en the north by a range of hills caQed Aiacynthos, north of which and of the lakes fijria and Trichonis there again opens out another cxteaave plain oppceite the town of Stratus. Tliese are the only two plains in Aetolia of any extent. The remainder of the country is traversed in every directaaD by rugged mountains, covered with forests, and foil of dangerous ravines. These mountains are a loath- westerly continuation of Mt. Pindus, and hare neper been croiised by any road, either in ancient AETOLLt 63 or modem times. The following mountains aro mentioned by special names by the ancient writers: — I.Tymphrestus (Tv/Lit^oTor), on the northern frontier, was a southeriy continuation of Mt. Pindus, and more properly belongs to Dryopis. [Dhyopis.] 2. BoMi (Bwftoi), on the north-eastern frontier, was the most westerly part of Mt. Oeta, inhabited by the Bomienses. In it were the sources of the Evenus. (Strab. X. p. 451; Thuc iii» 96; Steph. B. s. v, Boofioi.) 3. CoRAX (K6pai)j also on the north- eastern frontier, was a south-westerly continuation of Oeta, and is described by Strabo as the greatest mountain in Aetolia. There was a pass through it leading to Thermopyhie, which the consul Adlius Ghibrio crossed with great difficulty and the loss of many beasts of burthen m his passage, when he marched from Thermopylae to Naupactus in b. c. 191. Leake remarks that the route of Ghibrio was probably by the vale of the Vittritza into that of the Kokkino, over the ridges which connect Velukhi with Vardhwij but very near the latter mountain, which is thus identified with Corax. Corax is de- scribed on that occasion by Livy as a very liigh mountain, lying between Callipolis and Nanpactus. (Strab. X. p. 450; Liv. xxxvi. 30; Steph. B. s.v.; Leake, Northern Greece^ vol. iL p. 624.) 4. Ta- PHIASSUS (Ta<pta(T(r6s: Kaki-^kaid), a southerly continuation of Corax, extended down to the Co- rinthian gulf, where it terminated in a lofty moun- tain near the town of Mocynia. In this mountain Nessus and the other Centaurs were said to Imve been buried, and from their corpses arose the stinking waters which flowed into the sea, and from which the western Locrians are said to have derived the name of Ozolae, or the Stinking. Modem travellers have found at the base c£ Mt. Taphiassus a number of springs of fetid water. Taphiassus derives its modem name of Kaki-skala, or " Bad-Udder," from the dangerous road, which runs along the face of a predpitous cliflf overhanging the sea, half way up the mountain- (Strab, pp. 427, 451, 460; Antig. Caryst. 129; Plin. iv. 2; Leake, vol. i. p. Ill; Mure, Tour in Greece, voL I p. 135; Cell, Itiner. p. 292.) 5. Chalcis or Chalceia (X(iKir I) XoAicIa: Vardssova), an offshoot of Taphiassus, running down to the Corinthian gulf, between the mouth of the Evenus and Taphiassus. At its foot was a town of the same name. Taphiassus and Chalcis are the ancient names of the two great mountains mnning close down to the sca-cooiit, a little west of the promontory Antirrhium, and sepa- rated from each other by some low ground. Each of these mountains rises from the sea in one dark gloomy mass. (Strab. pp. 451, 460; Horn. IL ii. 640; Leake, Ic; Mure, vol. i. p. 171.) 6. Ara- CTNTHUS (^ApdKwOos: Zygo8)y a range of moun- tains running in a south-easterly direction from the Achelous to the Evenus, and separating the lower plain of Aetolia near the sea from the upper plain above the lakes Hyria and Trichonis. (Strab. x. p. 450.) [Aracykthus.] 7. Pakaktolium ( Viena)j a mountain NE. rf Thermum, in which city the Aetolians held the meetings of their league. (Plin. iv. 2; Pol. v. 8; Leake, vol. i. p. 131.) 8. Myenus (rh ipos Mvrjvoi', Plut. de Fluviisy p. 44), between the rivers Evenus and Hylaetbus. 9. Macyuium, mentioned only by Pliny (/. c), must, from its name, have been near the town of Macynia on the coast, and consequently a pert of Mt. Taphiassus. 10. Curium (Kovfuoy), a moun- tain between Pleuron and lake Trichonis, lh)m which