Strabo, Geography

In the dale of the Aesepus, on the left of the stream, one comes first to Polichna, a place enclosed by walls; and then to Palaescepsis; and then to Alizonium (this last name having been fabricated¹ to support the hypothesis about the Halizones, whom I have already discussed);² and then to Caresus, which is deserted, and Caresene, and the river of the same name,³ which also forms a notable dale, though smaller than that of the Aesepus; and next follow the plains and plateaux of Zeleia, which are beautifully cultivated. On the right of the Aesepus, between Polichna and Palaescepsis, one comes to Nea⁴ Come and Argyria,⁵ and this again is a name fabricated to support the same hypothesis, in order to save the words,“where is the birthplace of silver.
”⁶Now where is Alybe, or Alope, or however they wish to alter the spelling of the name?⁷ For having once made their bold venture, they should have rubbed their faces⁸ and fabricated this name too, instead of leaving it lame and readily subject to detection. Now these things are open to objections of this kind, but, in the case of the others, or at least most of them, I take it for granted that we must give heed to him⁹ as a man who was acquainted with the region and a native of it, who gave enough thought to this subject to write thirty books of commentary on a little more than sixty lines of Homer, that is, on the Catalogue of the Trojans.¹⁰ He says, at any rate, that Palaescepsis is fifty stadia distant from Aenea and thirty from the Aesepus River, and that from this Palaescepsis¹¹ the same name was extended to several other sites. But I shall return to the coast at the point where I left off.