Calpe (Thrace)

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Calpe (κάλπη in Greek) also known "Kirpe Liman" or "Karpe" is a location in Thrace in Asia Minor, on the shore of the Black Sea, that was mentioned in Xenophon's Anabasis.

A river of Bithynia, the Chalpas of Strabo. It lies between the Psilis, from which it is 210 stadia distant, and the Sangarius. There was also a port called the port of Calpe. Xenophon (Anab. vi. 4), who passed through the place on his retreat with the Ten Thousand, describes it as about half way between Byzantium and Heracleia: it is a promontory, and the part which projects into the sea is an abrupt precipice. The neck which connects the promontory with the mainland is only 400 feet wide. The port is under the rock to the west, and has a beach; and close to the sea there is a source of fresh water. The place is minutely described by Xenophon, and is easily identified on the maps, in some of which the port is marked Kirpe Liman. Apollonius (Arg. il. 661) calls the river Calpe "deep flowing".

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by William Smith (1856).