[52] Palescepsis is situated above Cebrene towards the most elevated part of Ida near Polichna. It had the name of Scepsis1 either for some other reason or because it was within view of the places around, if we may be allowed to derive words then in use among Barbarians from the Greek language. Afterwards the inhabitants were transferred to the present Scepsis, 60 stadia lower down, by Scamandrius, the son of Hector, and by Ascanius, the son of Æneas; these two families reigned, it is said, a long time at Scepsis. They changed the form of government to an oligarchy; afterwards the Milesians united with the Scepsians, and formed a democracy.2 The descendants of these families had nevertheless the name of kings, and held certain dignities. Antigonus incorporated the Scepsians with the inhabitants of Alexandreia (Troas); Lysimachus dissolved this union, and they returned to their own country.
1 From σκέπτομαι, (sceptomai,) I see to a distance, from which the compound πεοͅισκέπτομαι, (perisceptomai,) I see to a distance around. Strabo perceived the absurdity of such an etymology. Others derived the name of this place from σκήτομαι, I pretend, whence σκῆψις, (skepsis,) a pretext, because it was on this part of the chain of Ida that Rhea, on the birth of Jupiter, substituted for him a stone clothed as an infant, and presented it to be devoured by Saturn in place of her child. This etymology is conformable to analogy, although founded on a ridi- culous fable.
2 B. xiii. c. i. § 6.
The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes, in three volumes. London. George Bell & Sons. 1903.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.
An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.