Rhithymna or Rithymna (Ancient Greek: Ῥίθυμνα) or Rhithymnia (Ῥιθυμνία), was a town of ancient Crete, Greece, which is mentioned by Ptolemy[1] and Pliny the Elder[2] as the first town on the north coast to the east of Amphimalla, and is spoken of as a Cretan city by Stephanus of Byzantium, in whose text its name is written Rhithymnia; Stephanus gives the city's ethnonyms as Ῥιθυμνιάτης and Ῥιθύμνιος.[3] It is also alluded to by Lycophron (76). Modern Rethymno retains the name of the ancient city, upon whose site it stands. Rhithymna minted coins in antiquity; maritime emblems are found on them.[4] It is believed that Arsinoe is the same town as Rhithymna.[5][6]
- ^ Ptolemy. The Geography. Vol. 3.17.7.
- ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia. Vol. 4.20.
- ^ Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. Vol. s.v.
- ^ Eckhel, Numi Vet. Anecdoti, p. 155; Rasche, vol. iv. pt. i. p. 1024; Robert Pashley, Crete, vol. i. p. 101.
- ^ Richard Talbert, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 60, and directory notes accompanying. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9.
- ^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.