Gell, William: The itinerary of Greece: With a commentary on Pausanias and Strabo and an account of the monuments of antiquity at present existing in that country (London, 1810)

EPIDAURUS. 113

Strabo says, that Epidaurus, which was anciently called Epicarus,
from the colony of Carians, who settled there, is situated in a recess
of the Saronic Gulph, and is fifteen stadia in circumference. It is
open on the east. It is surrounded with high mountains, which rise
from the coast, so that it is well defended by the nature of the
situation. Strabo, Book 8, Chap. 15.

Epidaurus does not seem to have been a place of great conse-
quence. The hill on which the city stood is seen in the centre of the
design, and being a peninsula, united by very low land to the conti-
nent, was probably in ancient times defended by a ditch, which ran
from sea to sea. The commentators on Strabo, have been much per-
plexed with an expression which implies that the city was .surrounded
by water. It is probable, however, that Strabo had no more than a
general idea of the place, which is almost an island by nature.

The walls are yet visible on many parts of the peninsula, founded
on the verge of the precipice. In the most flourishing times, this
constituted the citadel only of Epidaurus. The site is peculiarly
beautiful, but the air is thought unwholesome in the autumn. Fowls
may be purchased here, and the cottagers willingly give up their
houses to strangers for a small reward. There are usually boats at
anchor, or upon the beach, in which it is easy to pass to iEgina or
Athens.

This country is but little visited, and is less inhabited than the
other parts of Argolis, though the whole peninsula has been almost