[28] Next to Abydos is the promontory Dardanis,1 which we mentioned a little before, and the city Dardanus, distant 70 stadia from Abydos. Between them the river Rhodius discharges itself, opposite to which on the Cherronesus is the Cynos-sema,2 which is said to be the sepulchre of Hecuba. According to others, the Rhodius empties itself into the Æsepus. It is one of the rivers mentioned by the poet, “ Rhesus, and Heptaporus, Caresus, and Rhodius.3
” Dardanus is an ancient settlement, but so slightly thought of, that some kings transferred its inhabitants to Abydos, others re-settled them in the ancient dwelling-place. Here Cornelius Sylla, the Roman general, and Mithridates, surnamed Eurptor, conferred together, and terminated the war by a treaty.
1 Called above, § 22, Cape Dardanium (Cape Barber). Pliny gives the name Dardanium to the town which Herodotus and Strabo call Dardanus, and places it at an equal distance from Rhœteium and Abydos. The modern name Dardanelles is derived from it.
2 The name was given, it is said, in consequence of the imprecations of Hecuba on her captors. Others say that Hecuba was transformed into a bitch. The tomb occupied the site of the present castle in Europe called by the Turks Kilid-bahr.
3 Pliny states that in his time there were no traces of the Rhodius, nor of the other rivers mentioned by Strabo in following Homer. According to others, the Rhodius is the torrent which passes by the castle of the Dardanelles in Asia, called by the Turks Sultan-kalessi, and therefore cannot unite with the Æsepus.
The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes, in three volumes. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
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