ERAE(Ἐραί), a place on the coast of Ionia, mentioned by Thucydides (Thuc. 8.19), in the vicinity of Lebedus and Teos. It was fortified strong enough to keep out the Athenians, who attacked it. (Thuc. 8.20.). Strabo (p. 644) mentions Erae as a small town belonging to Teos; but though the reading Ἔραιhas been received into some texts of Strabo, some of the MSS. are said to have Γέραι, and Casaubon has kept that reading in his text. (See Groskurd, Transl. Strab. vol. 3. p. 23, note.) There seems some confusion about the name Gerae, Gerraidae (Strabo), and the harbour Geraesticus (Liv. 37.27), on which Groskurd's note may be consulted. Palmerius conjectured that the name Erae, which he takes to be the true name of the place, is corrupted into Agra in Scylax (p. 37). Chandler (Asia Minor, 100.26) supposed the modern site of Gerae to be Segigeck(as he writes it), 8 hours from Smyrna. There is a view of the place in the Ionian Antiquities.Chandler describes some remains of antiquity there. Some of the inscriptions found at this place were published by Chishull and some by Chandler. Segigeckis at tile head of a fine bay. There is a good note on Gerae in the French edition of Chandler's Travels (vol. 1. p. 420).
Hamilton ( Researches, &c. vol. 2. p. 11) describes Sighajikas a snug harbour, and he seems to conclude correctly that it is Livy's Geraesticus, which Livy describes as the port of Teos qui ab tergo urbis est,and thus distinguishes it from the harbour, qui ante urbem est.(Liv. 37.29.) The consideration of the inscriptions found at Sighajikbelongs to the article TEOS. If we suppose Gerae to be the true reading in Strabo, we may identify Gerae and Geraesticus; but there is a difficulty about Erae in Thucydides, for his text does not enable us to determine exactly where it is, though it seems to have been not far from Teos. Proper names are not always right in the text of Thucydides, and this is probably one example.
[G.L]