THE GEOGRAPHY OF STRABO

BOOK X

I

1. SINCE Euboea lies parallel to the whole of the coast from Sunium to Thessaly, with the exception of the ends on either side,i.e., the promontories of Thermopylae and Sunium, which lie beyond the corresponding extremities of Euboea—Cenaeum and Geraestus. it would be appropriate to connect my description of the island with that of the parts already described before passing on to Aetolia and Acarnania, which are the remaining parts of Europe to be described.

2. In its length, then, the island extends parallel to the coast for a distance of about one thousand two hundred stadia from Cenaeum to Geraestus, but its breadth is irregular and generally only about one hundred and fifty stadia. Now Cenaeum lies opposite to Thermopylae and, to a slight extent, to the region outside Thermopylae, whereas Geraestus and Petalia lie towards Sunium. Accordingly, the island lies across the strait and opposite Attica, Boeotia, Locris, and the Malians. Because of its narrowness and of the above-mentioned length, it was named Macrisi.e., “Long” Island. by the ancients. It approaches closest to the mainland at Chalcis, where it juts out in a convex curve towards the region of Aulis in Boeotia and forms the...