"The valley watered by the was a narrow district, enclosed between the Kambounian and ranges on the south and west, and Mounts and on the north and east. Although it was not remarkable for fertility, possession of this valley was yet a matter of importance to the . At its northern end there was a remarkable gorge, cleaving the mountains from east to west, the only rent in the great mass of Skardos for more than 200 miles, through which a tributary of the Apsos flows from its source in Mount Barnos on its way to the . The Roman road of later days () was carried over a pass some thirty miles to the north ; but before the , this gorge of the must have formed the main line of communication between and Macedon, whether for commerce or invasion, and lent therefore an exceptional importance to the upper valley of the Haliakmon."