DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9841#0059
XXIII.]
THE SITE OF RHOKKA.
41
near the temple of Artemis Rhokkaea. I think there
is no doubt of this being the site of Methymna.
As to Rhokka, I did not visit the spot where I now
suppose it to have been situated ; for not having had
an opportunity of consulting Pococke's Travels, after
I had determined to spend as many months as might
be requisite in the examination of this island ; and, what
was a much greater misfortune, not having succeeded
in obtaining a copy of Professor Hoeck's valuable work,
this site eluded my researches.
Those alone, who have travelled in Greece or Turkey,
tan duly appreciate the difficulty of discovering unvisited
vestiges of ancient cities. I used to spend, I may safely
say, hours daily, during all my travels in Crete, in
making diligent inquiries for any traces which might
indicate the existence of such remains; and thus I have
but seldom failed to discover them, where I had any
ground for supposing that they ought to exist in the
neighbourhood of places which I visited.
The site of the city Rhokka, which thus escaped
me, was seen by Pococke, on his return from the re-
mains of Polyrrhenia to Khania. He says31, " Another
inland town was Artacina, which might have been at
a place called Rocca, though Ptolemy places it more
to the south ; it is a small high rocky hill, on the top
°f which are the remains of some buildings: there are
about three or four rooms, which the people say belonged
to the ancient Greeks__To the west of this place there
is a river called Tiphlose.—About a league to the north-
east of Rocca is a village called Episcope, where there
is a church still entire, and the bishop of Chisaino thinks
that it is his cathedral.1' That Hyrtakina was further
to the south than the remains visited by Pococke will
be seen hereafter. This site is, I have no doubt, that
°f Rhokka, where, according to Aelian32, there was a
temple of Rhokkaean Artemis, which of course would
Pococke, Tom. n. v. 24/.
Aelian, N. A. xii. 22.
THE SITE OF RHOKKA.
41
near the temple of Artemis Rhokkaea. I think there
is no doubt of this being the site of Methymna.
As to Rhokka, I did not visit the spot where I now
suppose it to have been situated ; for not having had
an opportunity of consulting Pococke's Travels, after
I had determined to spend as many months as might
be requisite in the examination of this island ; and, what
was a much greater misfortune, not having succeeded
in obtaining a copy of Professor Hoeck's valuable work,
this site eluded my researches.
Those alone, who have travelled in Greece or Turkey,
tan duly appreciate the difficulty of discovering unvisited
vestiges of ancient cities. I used to spend, I may safely
say, hours daily, during all my travels in Crete, in
making diligent inquiries for any traces which might
indicate the existence of such remains; and thus I have
but seldom failed to discover them, where I had any
ground for supposing that they ought to exist in the
neighbourhood of places which I visited.
The site of the city Rhokka, which thus escaped
me, was seen by Pococke, on his return from the re-
mains of Polyrrhenia to Khania. He says31, " Another
inland town was Artacina, which might have been at
a place called Rocca, though Ptolemy places it more
to the south ; it is a small high rocky hill, on the top
°f which are the remains of some buildings: there are
about three or four rooms, which the people say belonged
to the ancient Greeks__To the west of this place there
is a river called Tiphlose.—About a league to the north-
east of Rocca is a village called Episcope, where there
is a church still entire, and the bishop of Chisaino thinks
that it is his cathedral.1' That Hyrtakina was further
to the south than the remains visited by Pococke will
be seen hereafter. This site is, I have no doubt, that
°f Rhokka, where, according to Aelian32, there was a
temple of Rhokkaean Artemis, which of course would
Pococke, Tom. n. v. 24/.
Aelian, N. A. xii. 22.