Map of the Roman Empire - Tagus River
Tagus River
B-5 on the Map
Ancient Tagus River. One of the major rivers of Spain which flowed through Spain west into the Atlantic Ocean. In ancient times the Tagus was famous for its gold and precious stones.
Tagus (Spanish Tajo, Portuguese Tejo, English Tagus). One of the chief rivers in Spain, rising in the land of the Celtiberians, between the mountains Orospeda and Idubeda, and, after flowing in a westerly direction, falling into the Atlantic. At its mouth stood Olisipo (Lisbon) (Pliny , Pliny H. N. iv. 115). - Harry Thurston Peck. Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers.
The Tagus (Spanish Tajo, Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtaxo]; Portuguese Tejo, Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈtɛʒu]; Latin Tagus; Ancient Greek Τάγος Tagos) is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It is 1,038 kilometers long, 716 km in Spain, 47 km along the border between Portugal and Spain and 275 km in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon. - Wikipedia
Tagus, Phsenic. " fish," I. a r. of Spain, rising in Idubedam., towards Urbiaca, and falling into the Atlantic at Olisipo. It once abounded with gold and precious stones. Teja ; Tajo; Tagus. II. m., m.of the Lusitani, on the coast, x. of the Tagus. - Classical Gazetteer
Tagus River
TAGUS (Τάγος, Ptol. 2.5.4), one of the principal rivers of Spain, being
considerably larger than the Anas and having its sources between Mounts Orospeda
and Idubeda, in the country of the Celtiberi. (Strab. iii. pp. 139, 152, 162.)
After a tolerably straight course of upwards of 300 miles in a westerly
direction, it falls into the Atlantic ocean below Olisippo, where it is 20
stadia broad, and capable of bearing the largest ships. It was navigable as far
up as Moron for smaller vessels. According to Strabo, at flood tides it
overflowed the country at its mouth for a circumference of 150 stadia. It was
celebrated for its fish and oysters (Strab. ib.; Mart. 10.78), and likewise for
its gold sand (Plin. Nat. 4.22. s. 35; Mela, 3.1; Catull. 20.30; Ov. Met. 2.251,
&c.); of which last, however, so little is now to be found that it hardly repays
the amphibious paupers who earn a precarious living by seeking for it. (Ford's
Handbook of Spain, p. 487; Dillon, i. p. 257.) The Tagonius alone, is named as a
tributary. The Tagus is still called Tajo in Spain, Tejo in Portugal. (Cf. Liv.
21.5, 27.19; Plin. Nat. 3.3. s. 4, 8.42. s. 67; Sen. Thyest. 352, &c.)
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman
Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed.