* At that period more probably the former.
+ That this was so, and that the centurion had authority even over the captain, results from the character of the imperial service (the ship belonged, of course, to one of the imperial corn fleets), in which the military service ranked higher than the naval, and yet was not strictly divided from it. But the cen- turion exercised his authority with the penalty of severe punishment before him, if he mismanaged; and he therefore would necessarily ask advice on the point of where to winter, and in purely nautical matters would bays the captain and the sailing-master free in their own departments. See Ramsay, St.
Paul the Traveller, p. 3241.
PHCENTX
recognized as being the proper plac to winter in, if one of the many ships engaged in that trade had to spend the stormy season on that part of their long voyage (as must have been often the case). On the other hand, Paul dreaded the voyage to Phenix, which therefore must have been some distance away. Winds from the north strike with terrifie force on the sea a little south from Crete (though the waters immediately on the coast are protected by the lofty mountains). The danger, then, would be greatest in crossing the great open- ing of the gulf of Messaria, which begins a few wiles west of Fair Havens. It is obvious, there- fore, that Phcenix is to be looked for somewhere on the other, or western, side of that gulf.
The centurion, as was right and almost obli- gatory in his situation,” took the advice of the experts; and, when the opportunity of a mild south wind was given, they set sail; but in at- tempting to run across the gulf of Messaria, they were caught by a tremendous north-easterly gale, which swoo me down on them from Mount Ida, and narrowly escaped after a terrible voyage of many days across the open sea.
Phenix is described by Strabo (p. 475) as being a settlement (κατοικία, denoting a large flourishing village,t originally a settlement of colonists or κάτοικοι) On an isthmus. The passage is very obscure, owing to a lacuna; but apparently what Strabo describes as the isthmus was a narrow part of the island of Crete, between the northern and the southern sea, with a small town, Amphimalla, on the northern coast, and Phenix on the southern. Apparently he considered Pheenix as a settlement in the territory of Lampa or Lappa, a Cretan city of importance, striking coins (Φοίνικα τὸν Λαμπέων). Now the situation of Lappa is practically certain ; it was situated in the inner country, where Crete is narrow for a space, before it broadens out again to its western end, at a site called Pélis, On the southern coast of this narrower part of Crete, Pheenix must be sought. Nearly due south from Lappa there is a village, Loutré, with a harbour, described as the safest harbour on the south coast of Crete. Captain Sprat, an experienced surveyor and sailor, was fully convinced, after an explora- tion of the south coast, that Loutré must be Pheenix, ‘because it is the only harbour west of Fair Havens in which a vessel of any size} could find any shelter during the winter months.’ James Smith, who defends this view by very convincing arguments, quotes several even stronger assertions of the superiority of Loutré to all other harbours on the south coast. There is some evidence that the tradition of the ancient name remains among the Greeks of the place (Smith’s Voyage and Ship- wreck of St. Paul, ed. 3, p. 250 ff., ire I. and IL.; also p. 86 ff.).
Ptolemy (iii. 17. 3) describes both a harbour Phenikous and a town near the south coast called Phenix. His frequent vagueness and want of accuracy make him an unreliable authority ; but he places the town and harbour evidently in this part of Crete (see further, below).
Pheenice (7.e. Phoenix) is mentioned as a bishop- ric in the earlier Notitie, viii. and ix.;§ and Hierocles gives it in his list of Cretan cities. ΑἹ] three authorities speak of it as beside a place Aradena (or Ariadne, Not. ix.): the phrase Φοίνιξ ἤτοι Apadéva denotes that two distinct places were united as a single bishopric. Now Aradena still retains its ancient name as Aradhena, a place
* See the preceding note.
t See Buresch, Aus Lydien, p. 2f.
{ The ship which is concerned in the question was large, being able to accommodate 268 of a crew and passengers, and a cargo of corn from Alexandria for Rome.
§ In Not. vii., which is the oldest krtown, there is a lacuna of about 200 names, among which were the “retan bishoprics.
απ νι τ Oe, Ν .-
PHENIX
which is not much more than a mile from Loutré. Again, Stephanus Byz. mentions Aradena (’Apadjv) as a city of Crete which is also called Anopolis ; and about two miles north of Loutré there is a village on high ground with ruins which is called still Anapolis. This is ῬΤΟΡΕΝΙΣ to be identified with the Phenix which Ptolemy distinguishes from the harbour, while Aradhena and Loutré foeenee constitute his harbour Phcenikous, and three were united in a single bishopric.
Again, Hierocles (whose order in enumeration is commonly a very good guide) mentions the island of CAUDA or Ganda (he uses the form Κλαῦδος) next to Phenix. Now that island is only a few miles due south of Loutré.