Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK II. AN ACCOUNT OF THE WORLD AND THE ELEMENTS., CHAP. 89. (87.)—WHAT ISLANDS HAVE BEEN FORMED, AND AT WHAT PERIODS.

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CHAP. 89. (87.)—WHAT ISLANDS HAVE BEEN FORMED, AND AT WHAT PERIODS.

Delos and Rhodes¹, islands which have now been long famous, are recorded to have risen up in this way. More lately there have been some smaller islands formed; Anapha, which is beyond Melos; Nea, between Lemnos and the Hellespont; Halone, between Lebedos and Teos; Thera² and Therasia, among the Cyclades, in the fourth year of the 135th Olympiad³. And among the same islands, 130 years afterwards, Hiera, also called Automate⁴, made its appearance; also Thia, at the distance of two stadia from the former, 110 years afterwards, in our own times, when M. Junius Silanus and L. Balbus were consuls, on the 8th of the ides of July⁵.

(88.) Opposite to us, and near to Italy, among the Æolian isles, an island emerged from the sea; and likewise one near Crete, 2500 paces in extent, and with warm springs in it; another made its appearance in the third year of the 163rd Olympiad⁶, in the Tuscan gulf, burning with a violent explosion. There is a tradition too that a great number of fishes were floating about the spot, and that those who employed them for food immediately expired. It is said that the Pithecusan isles rose up, in the same way, in the bay of Campania, and that, shortly afterwards, the mountain Epopos, from which flame had suddenly burst forth, was reduced to the level of the neighbouring plain. In the same island, it is said, that a town was sunk in the sea; that in consequence of another shock, a lake burst out, and that, by a third, Prochytas was formed into an island, the neighbouring mountains being rolled away from it.

1 It may be remarked, that the accounts of modern travellers and geologists tend to confirm the opinion of the volcanic origin of many of the islands of the Archipelago.

2 Brotier remarks, that, according to the account of Herodotus, this island existed previous to the date here assigned to it; Lemaire, i. 412, 413: it is probable, however, that the same name was applied to two islands, one at least of which was of volcanic origin.

3 U.C. 517, A.C. 237; and U.C. 617, A.C. 107; respectively.

4 Hiera, Automata; ab ἱερὰ, sacer, et αὐτομάτη, sponte nascens. Respecting the origin of these islands there would appear to be some confusion in the dates, which it is difficult to reconcile with each other; it is, I conceive, impossible to decide whether this depends upon an error of our author himself, or of his transcribers.

5 July 25th, U.C. 771; A.C. 19.

6 U.C. 628; A.C. 125.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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Cross-references to this page (2):
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ANTISSA
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), DROMISCUS
Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (13):
- LSJ, ἀκοντ-ίας
- LSJ, ξι^φ-ίας
- Lewis & Short, ăcontĭas
- Lewis & Short, cŏmētes
- Lewis & Short, crīnis
- Lewis & Short, discĕus
- Lewis & Short, fastīgo
- Lewis & Short, jŭba
- Lewis & Short, nĭtor
- Lewis & Short, pallĭdus
- Lewis & Short, pōgōnĭas
- Lewis & Short, prō-mitto
- Lewis & Short, xĭphĭas

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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 89. (87.)—WHAT ISLANDS HAVE BEEN FORMED, AND AT WHAT PERIODS.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 89. (87.)—WHAT ISLANDS HAVE BEEN FORMED, AND AT WHAT PERIODS.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.