I have described the city and the environs of the ancient palace nearly in the
words of Solon, and now I must endeavour to represent the nature and
arrangement of the rest of the land. The whole country was said by him to be
very lofty and precipitous on the side of the sea, but the country immediately
about and surrounding the city was a level plain, itself surrounded by
mountains which descended towards the sea; it was smooth and even, and of an
oblong shape, extending in one direction three thousand stadia, but across the
centre inland it was two thousand stadia. This part of the island looked
towards the south, and was sheltered from the north. The surrounding mountains
were celebrated for their number and size and beauty, far beyond any which
still exist, having in them also many wealthy villages of country folk, and
rivers, and lakes, and meadows supplying food enough for every animal, wild or
tame, and much wood of various sorts, abundant for each and every kind of
work.