Page:The geography of Strabo (1854) Volume 2.djvu/74

 66 STRABO. CASATJB. 382. rugged, whence all writers describe Corinth as full of brows of hills, and apply the proverb, " Corinth rises with brows of hills, and sinks into hollows." 24. Orneae has the same name as the river which flows be- side it. At present it is deserted ; formerly, it was well in- habited, and contained a temple of Priapus, held in veneration. It is from this place that Euphronius, (Euphorius ?) the author of a poem, the Priapeia, applies the epithet Orneates to the god. It was situated above the plain of the Sicyonians, but the Argives were masters of the country. Anethyrea 1 is now called Phliasia. It had a city of the same name as the country near the mountain Celossa. They afterwards removed thence and built a city at the distance of 30 stadia, which they called Phlius. 2 Part of the mountain Celossa is the Carneates, whence the Asopus takes its rise, which flows by Sicyon, 3 and forms the Asopian district, which is a part of Sicyonia. There is also an Asopus, which flows by Thebes, and Plataea, and Tanagra. There is another also in Heracleia Trachinia, which flows beside a village, called Parasopii, and a fourth at Paros. Phlius is situated in the middle of a circle formed by Sicy- onia, Argeia, Cleona3, and Stymphalus. At Phlius and at Sicyon the temple of Dia, a name given to Hebe, is held in veneration. 25. Sicyon was formerly called Mecone, and at a still earlier period, JEgiali. It was rebuilt high up in the country about 20, others say, about 12, stadia from the sea, upon an eminence naturally strong, which is sacred to Ceres. The buildings anciently consisted of a naval arsenal and a harbour. Sicyonia is separated by the river Nemea from the Corinth- ian territory. It was formerly governed for a very long pe- riod by tyrants, but they were always persons of mild and moderate disposition. Of these, the most illustrious was Aratus, who made the city free, and was the chief of the Achasans, who voluntarily conferred upon him that power ; 1 II. ii. 571. 2 The ruins are situated below the monastery Kesra. 3 Vasilika.