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the former kings of Bithynia, though whether this was intended to drain the
surrounding fields or to connect the lake with the river I am not sure; it was left
unfinished, and again I cannot say if this was because the king died suddenly or
despaired finishing the work. (B. Radice).
Plin. Ep. 10.42: TRAIAUS PLIIO. Potest nos sollicitare lacus iste, ut committere
illum mari velimus; sed plane explorandum est diligenter, ne si emissus in mare fuerit
totus effluat certe, quantum aquarum et unde accipiat. Poteris a Calpurnio Macro
petere libratorem, et ego hinc aliquem tibi peritum eius modi operum mittam.
Trajan to Pliny. “I may perhaps be tempted to think of connecting this lake of
yours with the sea, but there must be first be an accurate survey to find how much
water the lake contains and from what source it is filled, or else it might be completely
drained once it is given an outlet to the sea. You can apply to Calpurnius Macer for an
engineer, and I will send you out someone who has experience of this sort of work. (B.
Radice).
Plin. H 3.10.95-6: A Locris Italiae frons incipit Magna Graecia appellate, in tris sinus
recedens Ausonii maris, quoniam Ausones tenuere primi. Patet LXXXVI, ut auctor est
Varro; plerique LXXV fecere. In ea ora flumina innumera, sed memoratu dignu a Locris
Sagra et vestigia oppidi Caulonis, Mustiae, Consilinum castrum, Cocynthum quod esse
longissimum Italiae promontorium aliqui existumant, dein sinus et urbs Scolagium,
Scylletium Atheniensibus cum conderent dictum; quem locum occurrens Terinaeus sinus
peninsulam efficit, et in ea portus qui vocatur Castra Hannibalis, nusquam angustiore
Italia: XX p. latitudo est. itaque Dionysius maior intercisam eo loco adicere Siciliae voluit.
Amnes ibi navigabiles Carcinus, Crotalus, Semirus, Arogas, Thagines, oppidum intus
Petilia, mons Clibanus, promunturium Lacinium, cuius ante oram insula X a terra
Dioscoron, altera Calypsus quam Ogygiam appellasse Homerus existimatur, praeterea
Tyris, Eranusa, Meloessa, ipsum a Caulone abesse LXX prodit Agrippa.
At Locri begins the projection of Italy called Magna Graecia, retiring into the three
bays of the Ausonian Sea, so called from the first inhabitants the Ausones. According to
Varro its length is 86 miles, but most authorities have made it 75. On this coast are rivers
beyond count; but the places worthy of mention, beginning at Locri, are the Sagra River
and the ruins of Caulonia’s higher city, then Monasterace, Camp Consilinum, Punta Stilo
(thought by some to be the longest promontory in Italy), then the gulf and city of
Scolacium, called by the Athenians when founded it Skylletion. This part of the country is
made into a peninsula by the Gulf of Santa Eufemia which runs up to it, and on it is the
harbour called Hannibal’s camp. It is the narrowest part of Italy, which is here 20 miles
across, and consequently the elder Dionysius wanted to cut a canal across the peninsula in
this place, and annex it to Sicily. The navigable rivers in this district are the Corace, Alli,
Simari, Crocchio, and Tacina; it contains the inland town of Strongoli, the range of the
Monte Monacello, and the promontory of Lacinium, off the coast of which ten miles out
lies the Island of the Sons of Zeus and another called Calypso’s Island, which is thought to
be Homer’s island of Ogygia, and also Tyris, Eranusa and Meloessa. According to Agrippa
the distance of the promontory of Lacinium from Caulon is 70 miles. (H. Rackham).
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