Pomponius Mela: DE CHOROGRAPHIA

[1] Orbis situm dicere aggredior, impeditum opus et facundiae minime capax - constat enim fere gentium locorumque nominibus et eorum perplexo satis ordine, quem persequi longa est magis quam benigna materia - verum aspici tamen cognoscique dignissimum, et quod, si non ope ingenii orantis, at ipsa sui contemplatione pretium operae attendentium absolvat.

[1] I undertake to speak of the situation of the world, a hindered task and least fit for eloquence — for it is agreed, in almost the names of peoples and places and their rather perplexed order, which to pursue is a longer task than the matter is indulgent — yet nevertheless most worthy to be looked upon and known, and which, if not by the aid of the speaker’s genius, at least by its own contemplation will repay the labor of those who attend.

[2] Dicam autem alias plura et exactius, nunc ut quaeque erunt clarissima et strictim. Ac primo quidem quae sit forma totius, quae maximae partes, quo singulae modo sint atque habitentur expediam, deinde rursus oras omnium et litora ut intra extraque sunt, atque ut ea subit ac circumluit pelagus, additis quae in natura regionum incolarumque memoranda sunt. Id quo facilius sciri possit atque accipi, paulo altius summa repetetur.

[2] But I will speak further things and more exactly, now so that each matter may be most clear and strictly defined. And first indeed I will set forth what is the form of the whole, what are the chief parts, in what manner the several parts are and are inhabited; then again the coasts of all and the shores as they lie inward and outward, and how the sea approaches and surrounds them, with additions of those things to be noted concerning the nature of the regions and of their inhabitants. That, so that it may be more easily known and received, a brief summary will be repeated a little higher.

[3] Omne igitur hoc, quidquid est cui mundi caelique nomen indidimus, unum id est et uno ambitu se cunctaque amplectitur. Partibus differt; unde sol oritur oriens nuncupatur aut ortus, quo demergitur occidens vel occasus, qua decurrit meridies, ab adversa parte septentrio.

[3] All therefore this, whatever it is to which we have given the name of the world and of heaven, is one, and in one circuit embraces itself and all things. It differs into parts; whence the sun’s rising is called oriens or ortus, whither it sinks is occidens or occasus, where runs the meridies, and from the opposite side is the septentrio.

[4] Huius medio terra sublimis cingitur undique mari, eodemque in duo latera quae hemisphaeria nominant ab oriente divisa ad occasum zonis quinque distinguitur. Mediam aestus infestat, frigus ultimas; reliquae habitabiles paria agunt anni tempora, verum non pariter. Antichthones alteram, nos alteram incolimus.

[4] In the middle of this the elevated land is girded on all sides by the sea, and thence, divided from east to west into two sides which they call hemispheres, it is distinguished by five zones. Heat besets the middle, cold the outermost; the remaining habitable zones keep equal seasons of the year, yet not equally. The Antichthones inhabit one, we inhabit the other.

Illius situs ob ardorem intercedentis plagae incognitus, huius dicendus est.

The site of that place is unknown because of the heat of the intervening region; that of this one must be described.

[5] Haec ergo ab ortu porrecta ad occasum, et quia sic iacet aliquanto quam ubi latissima est longior, ambitur omnis oceano, quattuorque ex eo maria recipit; unum a septentrione, a meridie duo, quartum ab occasu. Suis locis illa referentur.

[5] These therefore, stretched from the east to the west, and because thus it lies somewhat longer than where it is broadest, are girded all around by the ocean, and receive four seas from it: one from the north, two from the south, the fourth from the west. They will be mentioned in their proper places.

[6] Hoc primum angustum nec amplius decem milibus passuum patens terras aperit atque intrat. Tum longe lateque diffusum abigit vaste cedentia litora, iisdemque ex diverso prope coeuntibus adeo in artum agitur, ut minus mille passibus pateat. Inde se rursus sed modice admodum laxat, rursusque etiam quam fuit artius exit in spatium.

[6] This first, narrow and not more than ten thousand paces across, opens and enters the lands. Then it drives back the far‑flung, widely spreading shores, and with those coming together from opposite directions it is so forced into a constriction that it is open less than a thousand paces. Thence it again, but only somewhat, relaxes itself, and again issues into space more narrowly than it was before.

Quo cum est acceptum, ingens iterum et magno et paludi ceterum exiguo ore coniungitur. Id omne qua venit quaque dispergitur uno vocabulo

When it is received there, the vast body is again joined both to a great mouth and to a marsh, the rest to a narrow mouth. All that which comes and which is scattered is designated by one word.

[7] Nostrum mare dicitur. Angustias introitumque venientis nos fretum, Graeci porthmon appellant. Qua diffunditur alia aliis locis cognomina acceptat.

[7] It is called our sea. The narrows and the entry of those coming we call the strait; the Greeks call it porthmon. Where it spreads out, in other places it takes other names.

Vbi primum se artat, Hellespontus vocatur, Propontis ubi expandit, ubi iterum pressit Thracius Bosphorus, ubi iterum effudit Pontus Euxinus, qua paludi committitur Cimmerius Bosphorus, palus ipsa Maeotis.

Where it first narrows, it is called the Hellespont; where it expands, the Propontis; where again it is pressed, the Thracian Bosphorus; where again it pours forth, the Pontus Euxinus; where it is entrusted to a marsh, the Cimmerian Bosphorus, that marsh itself the Maeotis.

[8] Hoc mari et duobus inclutis amnibus, Tanai atque Nilo, in tres partes universa dividitur. Tanais a septentrione ad meridiem vergens in mediam fere Maeotida defluit; et ex diverso Nilus in pelagus. quod terrarum iacet a freto ad ea flumina ab altero latere Africam vocamus, ab altero Europen: ad Nilum Africam, ad Tanain Europen.

[8] This sea, together with two renowned rivers, the Tanais and the Nile, being united, is divided into three parts. The Tanais, running from north to south, pours into the middle of the Maeotian Sea; and on the other side the Nile into the main sea. The land that lies from the strait to those rivers we call Africa on one side and Europe on the other: toward the Nile (is) Africa, toward the Tanais (is) Europe.

Vltra quicquid est, Asia est.

Whatever lies beyond is Asia.

[9] Tribus hanc e partibus tangit oceanus, ita nominibus ut locis differens, Eous ab oriente, a meridie Indicus, a septentrione Scythicus. Ipsa ingenti ac perpetua fronte versa ad orientem tantum ibi se in latitudinem effundit quantum Europe et Africa et quod inter ambas pelagus inmissum est. Inde cum aliquatenus solida processit, ex illo oceano quem Indicum diximus, Arabicum mare et Persicum, ex Scythico Caspium recipit; et ideo qua recipit angustior, rursus expanditur et fit tam lata quam fuerat.

[9] The ocean touches this land from three quarters, differing in names as in places: the Eous from the east, the Indicus from the south, the Scythicus from the north. It itself, with a vast and perpetual front turned toward the east, there alone pours itself out in breadth as far as Europe and Africa and the sea that is thrust in between them. Then, when it has advanced somewhat solidly, from that ocean which we called the Indicus it receives the Arabian Sea and the Persian, from the Scythian it receives the Caspian; and therefore where it receives them more narrowly, it again expands and becomes as wide as it was.

Dein cum iam in suum finem aliarumque terrarum confinia devenit, media nostris aequoribus excipitur, reliqua altero cornu pergit ad Nilum, altero ad Tanain.

Then, when it has now reached its end and the confines of other lands, the middle is met by our seas; the remainder proceeds with one horn to the Nile, with the other to the Tanais.

[10] Ora eius cum alveo Nili amnis ripis descendit in pelagus, et diu sicut illud incedit, ita sua litora porrigit; dein fit venienti obviam, et primum se ingenti ambitu incurvat, post se ingenti fronte ad Hellesponticum fretum extendit; ab eo iterum obliqua ad Bosphorum, iterum iterumque ad Ponticum latus curva, aditum Maeotidos transverso margine adtingit, ipsam gremio ad Tanain usque conplexa fit ripa qua Tanais est.

[10] Its coasts, with the channel of the Nile flowing down by the river’s banks into the sea, and for a long time as it advances thus stretches out its shores; then it meets the coming one, and first bends itself in a vast circuit, afterwards thrusts forth with a great front toward the Hellespontine strait; from there again obliquely to the Bosphorus, and again and again curved to the Pontic side, it reaches the Maeotian approach with a transverse margin, and having embraced the very bosom up to the Tanais becomes the shore where the Tanais is.

[11] In ea primos hominum ab oriente accipimus Indos et Seras et Scythas. Seres media ferme Eoae partis incolunt, Indi ultima: ambo late patentes neque in hoc tantum pelagus effusi. Spectant enim etiam meridiem Indi, oramque Indici maris, nisi quoad aestus inhabitabilem efficiunt, diu continuis gentibus occupant.

[11] In it we first take in peoples from the east: the Indi, the Seres, . The Seres inhabit roughly the middle of the Eoae region, the Indi and the Scythians the farthest parts: both spread out widely and are not poured forth only upon this sea. For the Indi also face southward and the shore of the Indian Sea, and, unless the tides make it uninhabitable, they occupy it for a long time with continuous peoples.

Spectant et septentrionem Scythae, ac litus Scythicum, nisi unde frigoribus arcentur, usque ad Caspium sinum possident.

The Scythians also look to the north, and possess the Scythian shore, except where they are kept from it by cold, as far as the Caspian Gulf.

[12] Indis proxima est Ariane, deinde Aria et Cedrosis et Persis ad sinum Persicum. Hunc populi Persarum ambiunt, illum alterum Arabes. Ab his quod in Africam restat Aethiopum est.

[12] Nearest the Indies is Ariana, then Aria and Cedrosis and the Persians along the Persian Gulf. The peoples of the Persians encompass this one, the other the Arabs. From these, what remains toward Africa belongs to the Ethiopians.

Illic Caspiani Scythis proximi sinum Caspium cingunt. Vltra Amazones ultraque eas Hyperborei esse memorantur. Interiora terrarum multae variaeque gentes habitant, Gandari et Pariani et Bactri, Sugdiani, Pharmacotrophi, Chomarae, Choamani, Propanisadae, Dahae super Scythas Scytharumque deserta, ac super Caspium sinum Comari, Massagetae, Cadusi, Hyrcani, Hiberi, super Amazonas et Hyperboreos Cimmerii, Cissianti, Achaei, Georgili, Moschi, Cercetae, Phoristae, Rimphaces, atque ubi in nostra maria tractus excedit Matiani, Tibarani et notiora iam nomina Medi, Armenii, Commageni, Murrani, Vegeti, Cappadoces, Gallograeci, Lycaones, Phryges, Pisidae, Isauri, Lydi, Syrocilices.

There the Caspians, nearest to the Scythians, gird the Caspian Gulf. Beyond are the Amazons, and beyond them the Hyperboreans are reported to be. In the interior of the lands many and diverse peoples dwell: the Gandari and Pariani and Bactri, the Sugdiani, Pharmacotrophi, Chomarae, Choamani, Propanisadae, the Dahae above the Scythians and the deserts of the Scythians, and above the Caspian Gulf the Comari, Massagetae, Cadusi, Hyrcani, Hiberi; above the Amazons and Hyperboreans the Cimmerii, Cissianti, Achaei, Georgili, Moschi, Cercetae, Phoristae, Rimphaces; and where the tract projects into our seas, the Matiani, Tibarani, and the better-known names now, the Medi, Armenii, Commageni, Murrani, Vegeti, Cappadoces, Gallograeci, Lycaones, Phryges, Pisidae, Isauri, Lydi, Syrocilices.

Rursus ex his quae meridiem spectant eaedemque gentes interiora litora tenent usque ad sinum Persicum. Super hunc sunt Parthi et Assyrii, super illum alterum Babylonii, et super Aethiopas Aegyptii. Ripis Nili amnis et mari proxima idem Aegyptii possident.

Again, from those which face the south the same peoples occupy the inner shores as far as the Persian Gulf. Above this are the Parthians and Assyrians, above that the Babylonians, and above the Ethiopians the Egyptians. The Egyptians likewise possess the banks of the Nile river and those parts nearest the sea.

Deinde Arabia angusta fronte sequentia litora adtingit. Ab ea usque ad flexum illum quem supra rettulimus Syria, et in ipso flexu Cilicia, extra autem Lycia et Pamphylia, Caria, Ionia, Aeolis, Troas usque ad Hellespontum. Ab eo Bithyni sunt ad Thracium Bosphorum.

Then narrow Arabia touches the following shores with its front. From it as far as that bend which we have above related is Syria, and in that very bend Cilicia; beyond, however, Lycia and Pamphylia, Caria, Ionia, Aeolis, the Troas as far as the Hellespont. From there the Bithyni lie to the Thracian Bosporus.

Circa Pontum aliquot populi alio alioque fine uno omnes nomine Pontici. Ad lacum Maeotici, ad Tanain Sauromatae.

Around Pontus several peoples, dwelling on one and another shore, all by the one name Pontic. By the Maeotic lake the Maeotici, at the Tanais the Sauromatae.

[13] Europa terminos habet ab oriente Tanain et Maeotida et Pontum, a meridie reliqua Nostri maris, ab occidente Atlanticum, a septentrione Britannicum oceanum. Ora eius forma litorum a Tanai ad Hellespontum, qua ripa est dicti amnis, qua flexum paludis ad Ponticum redigit, qua Propontidi et Hellesponto latere adiacet, contrariis litoribus Asiae non opposita modo verum et similis est.

[13] Europa has as limits on the east the Tanais, the Maeotic Lake, and the Pontus; on the south the rest of our sea (the Mediterranean); on the west the Atlantic; on the north the Britannic Ocean. Its shore-form — from the Tanais to the Hellespont, where lies the bank of that river, where a marshy bend turns back toward the Pontus, where it adjoins the Propontis and the Hellespont at its side — is not merely unopposed to the opposite coasts of Asia but even like them.

[14] Inde ad fretum nunc vaste retracta nunc prominens tres maximos sinus efficit, totidemque se in altum magnis frontibus evehit. Extra fretum ad occidentem inaequalis admodum praecipue media procurrit; ad septentrionem, nisi ubi semel iterumque grandi recessu abducitur, paene ut directo limite extenta est.

[14] Thence the strait, now wildly withdrawn, now projecting forth, forms three very great bays, and raises itself into the deep with as many large headlands. Outside the strait to the west the coast runs very unevenly, especially in the middle projecting forward; to the north, except where it is once and again drawn away by a great recess, it is extended almost as a straight boundary.

[15] Mare quod primo sinu accipit Aegaeum dicitur; quod sequenti in ore Ionium, Hadriaticum interius; quod ultimo nos Tuscum [quem] Grai Tyrrhenicum perhibent.

[15] The sea which it receives in the first sinu is called the Aegean; that which in the following mouth it takes is the Ionian, the Adriatic more inward; that which in the last we call the Tuscan (which the Graeci report Tyrrhenian).

[16] Gentium prima est Scythia, alia quam dicta est ad Tanain, media ferme Pontici lateris, hinc in Aegaei partem pertinens Thracia, huic Macedonia adiungitur. Tum Graecia prominet, Aegaeumque ab Ionio mari dirimit. Hadriatici latus Illyris occupat.

[16] The first of the peoples is Scythia, another called toward the Tanais, roughly the middle of the Pontic coast, thence Thrace extending into the Aegean part, to which Macedonia is joined. Then Greece juts forth, and severs the Aegean from the Ionian Sea. Illyria occupies the side of the Adriatic.

Inter ipsum Hadriaticum et Tuscum Italia procurrit. In Tusco intimo Gallia est, ultra Hispania.

Between the Adriatic itself and the Tuscan, Italy stretches forward. In the inner Tuscan region is Gaul; beyond it, Spain.

[17] Haec in occidentem diuque etiam ad septentrionem diversis frontibus vergit. Deinde rursus Gallia est longe et a nostris litoribus hucusque permissa. Ab ea Germani ad Sarmatas porriguntur, illi ad Asiam.

[17] These regions turn toward the west and for a long while also toward the north on diverse frontiers. Then again there is Gaul, distant and extended from our shores as far as hither. From it the Germans stretch out to the Sarmatians, those on to Asia.

[18] Africa ab orientis parte Nilo terminata, pelago a ceteris, brevior est quidem quam Europe, quia nec usquam Asiae et non totis huius litoribus obtenditur, longior tamen ipsa quam latior, et qua ad fluvium adtingit latissima, utque inde procedit ita media praecipue in iuga exsurgens pergit incurva ad occasum, fastigatque se molliter; et ideo ex spatio paulatim adductior ubi finitur ibi maxime angusta est.

[18] Africa, bounded on its eastern side by the Nile, and on the sea separated from the others, is indeed shorter than Europe, because it does not anywhere extend toward Asia nor spread along all the shores of that continent; yet it is longer than it is broader, and where it reaches the river it is very wide, and as it proceeds thence it goes chiefly rising in mid parts into ridges, bending toward the west and gently crowning itself; and therefore from that extent it is gradually drawn in, so that where it ends it is most narrow.

[19] Quantum incolitur eximie fertilis, verum quod pleraque eius inculta et aut harenis sterilibus obducta aut ob sitim caeli terrarumque deserta sunt aut infestantur multo ac malefico genere animalium, vasta est magis quam frequens. Mare quo cingitur a septentrione Libycum, a meridie Aethiopicum, ab occidente Atlanticum dicimus. In ea parte quae Libyco adiacet proxima Nilo provincia quam Cyrenas vocant; dein cui totius regionis vocabulo cognomen inditum est Africa.

[19] How exceedingly fertile it is in places, but much of it is uncultivated and either covered with barren sands or, by the thirst of sky, the lands are deserts or are infested by many and baneful kinds of animals; it is more vast than populous. The sea which girds it we call Libyan on the north, Aethiopic on the south, and Atlantic on the west. In that part which adjoins the Libyan, nearest the Nile, is the province called Cyrena; then to which the whole region took its name is called Africa.

Cetera Numidae et Mauri tenent, sed Mauri <et> in Atlanticum pelagus expositi. Vltra Nigritae sunt et Pharusii usque ad Aethiopas. Hi et reliqua huius et totum latus quod meridiem spectat usque in Asiae confinia possident.

The rest are occupied by the Numidians and the Moors, but the Moors lie exposed to the Atlantic Sea. Beyond them are the Nigritae and the Pharusii as far as the Ethiopians. These, and the remaining peoples of this region, and the whole side that faces south up to the borders of Asia, they possess.

[20] At super ea quae Libyco mari adluuntur Libyes Aegyptii sunt et Leucoaethiopes et natio frequens multiplexque Gaetuli. Deinde late vacat regio perpetuo tractu inhabitabilis. Tum primos ab oriente Garamantas, post Augilas et Trogodytas, et ultimos ad occasum Atlantas audimus.

[20] Beyond those things washed by the Libyan sea are the Libyans, the Egyptians, the Leuco-Aethiopes, and the populous and manifold nation of the Gaetuli. Next the region lies wide, uninhabitable by reason of its perpetual stretch. Then first from the east we hear of the Garamantes, afterwards the Augilae and the Troglodytes, and lastly toward the west the Atlantes.

Intra, si credere libet, vix iam homines magisque semiferi Aegipanes et Blemyes et Gamphasantes et Satyri sine tectis ac sedibus passim vagi habent potius terras quam habitant.

Moreover, if you will believe it, scarcely any longer men and rather semi‑beasts, the Aegipanes and Blemyes and Gamphasantes and Satyri, without roofs or settled seats and wandering everywhere, possess lands rather than inhabit them.

[21] Haec summa nostri orbis, hae maximae partes, hae formae gentesque partium. Nunc exactius oras situsque dicturo inde est commodissimum incipere unde terras Nostrum pelagus ingreditur, et ab his potissimum quae influenti dextra sunt; deinde stringere litora ordine quo iacent, peragratisque omnibus quae id mare attingunt legere etiam illa quae cingit oceanus; donec cursus incepti operis, intra extraque circumvectus orbem, illuc unde coeperit redeat.

[21] These are the summary of our orb, these the greatest parts, these the shapes and peoples of the parts. Now, to speak more exactly of the coasts and positions, it is most convenient to begin from that point where our sea enters the lands, and above all from those on the right as it flows; then to pass along the shores in the order in which they lie, and, having traversed all those which that sea touches, to reckon also those which gird the Ocean; until the course of the work, begun and having sailed round the orb both within and without, returns to the very place from which it started.

[22] Dictum est Atlanticum esse oceanum qui terras ab occidente contingeret. hinc in Nostrum mare pergentibus laeva Hispania, Mauretania dextra est, primae partes illa Europae, haec Africae. Eius orae finis Mulucha, caput atque exordium est promunturium quod Graeci Ampelusiam, Afri aliter sed idem significante vocabulo appellant.

[22] It is said that the Atlantic is the ocean which touches lands on the west. From here, for those proceeding into our sea, Spain is on the left, Mauretania on the right, the former parts being of Europe, the latter of Africa. The limit of its shore, Mulucha, is the head and beginning — a promontory which the Greeks call Ampelusia, the Africans by a different but equivalent name.

In eo est specus Herculi sacer, et ultra specum Tinge oppidum pervetus et ab Antaeo, ut ferunt, conditum. Exstat rei signum parma elephantino tergori exsecta ingens et ob magnitudinem nulli nunc usuro habilis, quam locorum accolae ab illo gestatam pro vero habent traduntque et inde eximie colunt.

In it is a cave sacred to Hercules, and beyond the cave the town Tinge, very ancient and, as they say, founded by Antaeus. There stands as a token of the matter a parma cut from elephantine hide, huge and on account of its magnitude now fit for no use; which the local inhabitants hold to have been carried by him, hand down as true, and from it they especially honor.

[23] Deinde est mons praealtus, ei quem ex adverso Hispania adtollit obiectus: hunc Abilam, illum Calpen vocant, Columnas Herculis utrumque. Addit fama nominis fabulam, Herculem ipsum iunctos olim perpetuo iugo diremisse colles, atque ita exclusum antea mole montium oceanum ad quae nunc inundat admissum. Hic iam mare latius funditur, submotasque vastius terras magno impetu inflectit.

[23] Next there is a very high mountain, that which Spain opposite raises as an outthrust: they call this Abila, that Calpe, both the Columns of Hercules. Fame adds a tale to the name, that Hercules himself once rent apart the hills formerly joined by an everlasting yoke, and thus, having beforehand shut off the ocean by the mass of the mountains, admitted it to those places into which it now pours in. Here the sea is now spread out more broadly, and, the mountains having been removed, with great impetus it bends the lands more widely.

ceterum regio ignobilis et vix quicquam inlustre sortita parvis oppidis habitatur, parva flumina emittit, solo quam viris melior et segnitia gentis obscura.

furthermore, an ignoble region, and scarcely endowed with anything illustrious, is inhabited by small towns, it sends forth small streams, the soil better than its men and obscured by the sluggishness of the race.

[24] Ex his tamen quae commemorare non piget montes sunt alti qui continenter et quasi de industria in ordinem expositi ob numerum Septem, ob similitudinem Fratres nuncupantur. Tumuada fluvius, et Rusigada et Siga parvae urbes, et portus cui Magno est cognomen ob spatium. Mulucha ille quem diximus amnis est nunc gentium olim regnorum quoque terminus, Bocchi Iugurthaeque.

[24] Of these, however — which it is not wearisome to recount — the mountains are high, continuous and as if set out in order deliberately; on account of the number Seven, and because of their resemblance, they are called the Fratres (the Brothers). The river Tumuada, and Rusigada and Siga, small towns, and a harbor which bears the cognomen Magno on account of its breadth. That Mulucha which we mentioned is now the boundary of peoples, and formerly also of kingdoms, of Bocchus and of Iugurtha.

[25] Ab eo Numidia ad ripas exposita fluminis Ampsaci spatio quidem quam Mauretania angustior est, verum et culta magis et ditior. Vrbium quas habet maximae sunt Cirta procul a mari, nunc Sittianorum colonia, quondam regum domus, et cum Syphacis foret opulentissima, Iol ad mare aliquando ignobilis, nunc quia Iubae regia fuit et quod Caesarea vocitatur inlustris.

[25] From there Numidia, laid out along the banks of the river Ampsaces, is indeed narrower in extent than Mauretania, but more cultivated and richer. The greatest towns it has are Cirta, far from the sea, now a colony of the Sittians, once a kingly house and, when it belonged to the Syphaxi, most opulent; and Iol by the sea, at one time obscure, now illustrious because it was the royal seat of Juba and because it is called Caesarea.

[26] Citra hanc, nam in medio ferme litore sita est, Cartinna et Arsinna sunt oppida et Quiza castellum et Laturus sinus et Sardabale fluvius. Vltra monumentum commune regiae gentis, deinde Icosium Ruthisia urbes, effluentes inter eas Aucus et Nabar aliaque quae taceri nullum rerum famaeve dispendium est.

[26] On this side of it, for situated almost in the middle of the shore, Cartinna and Arsinna are towns, and Quiza a fort, and the Laturus bay and the Sardabale river. Beyond the common monument of the royal people are then the cities Icosium and Ruthisia, Aucus and Nabar flowing between them, and other things which it is no loss to matters or to fame to leave unspoken.

[27] Interius et longe satis a litore, si fidem res capit, mirum ad modum spinae piscium muricum ostrearumque fragmenta saxa adtrita, uti solent, fluctibus et non differentia marinis infixae cautibus anchorae et alia eiusmodi signa atque vestigia effusi olim usque ad ea loca pelagi in campis nihil alentibus esse invenirique narrantur.

[27] Further inland and at a considerable distance from the shore, if one gives credit to the report, in a remarkable way the spines of fish, fragments of murex and oysters, stones worn smooth as they are wont to be, anchors and other such signs and traces driven into the rocks by the waves and not distinguishable from marine ones are said to have once been scattered even as far as those parts of the sea on the plains where nothing that nourishes grows, and to have been found.

[28] Regio quae sequitur a promunturio Metagonio ad Aras Philaenorum proprie nomen Africae usurpat. In ea sunt oppida Hippo Regius et Rusiccade et Thabraca.

[28] The region which extends from the promontory Metagonium to the Altars of the Philaeni properly assumes the name Africa. In it are the towns Hippo Regius and Rusiccade and Thabraca.

[29] Dein tria promunturia Candidum, Apollinis, Mercurii, vaste proiecta in altum, duos grandes sinus efficiunt. Hipponensem vocant proximum ab Hippone Diarryto quod litori eius adpositum est. In altero sunt Castra Dellia, Castra Cornelia, flumen Bagrada; Utica et Carthago ambae inclutae ambae a Phoenicibus conditae, illa fato Catonis insignis, haec suo, nunc populi Romani colonia, olim imperii eius pertinax aemula, iam quidem iterum opulenta, etiam nunc tamen priorum excidio rerum quam ope praesentium clarior.

[29] Then three promontories — Candidum, of Apollō, of Mercurius — thrown far out into the deep, form two great bays. They call the nearer Hipponense, from Hippo, Diarrytus, which lies close to its shore. In the other are Castra Dellia, Castra Cornelia, the river Bagrada; Utica and Carthage, both celebrated, both founded by the Phoenicians, the one made notable by the fate of Cato, the other by its own distinction; now a colony of the Roman people, once a persistent rival of its empire, now indeed again wealthy, yet even now more famed for the overthrow of former times than for the resources of the present.

Hadrumetum, Leptis, Clupea, Habromacte, Phyre, Neapolis hinc ad Syrtim adiacent ut inter ignobilia celeberrimae.

Hadrumetum, Leptis, Clupea, Habromacte, Phyre, Neapolis — from here they lie adjacent to the Syrtis, so that among ignoble places they are the most celebrated.

[30] Syrtis sinus est centum fere milia passuum qua mare accipit patens, trecenta qua cingit; verum inportuosus atque atrox et ob vadorum frequentium brevia, magisque etiam ob alternos motus pelagi affluentis ac refluentis infestus.

[30] Syrtis is a gulf of almost one hundred thousand paces which the sea receives on the open side, and three hundred which it encircles; truly unharbourous and fierce, and because of the shallows of frequent shoals dangerous, and even more so because of the alternating motions of the sea, of flowing and ebbing.

[31] Super hunc ingens palus amnem Tritona recipit, ipsa Tritonis, unde et Minervae cognomen inditum est, ut incolae arbitrantur, ibi genitae; faciuntque ei fabulae aliquam fidem, quod quem natalem eius putant ludicris virginum inter se decertantium celebrant.

[31] Above this a vast marsh receives the river Tritona, itself of Triton, from which, the inhabitants suppose, Minerva’s cognomen was bestowed, she having been born there; and the tales give some credence to it, because they celebrate her natal day with the games of maidens contending among themselves.

[32] Vltra est Oea oppidum et Cinyps fluvius per uberrima arva decidens, tum Leptis altera et Syrtis nomine atque ingenio par priori, ceterum altero fere spatio qua dehiscit quaque flexum agit amplior. Eius promunturium est Borion, ab eoque incipiens ora, quam Lotophagi tenuisse dicuntur, usque ad Phyconta, et id promunturium est, inportuoso litore pertinet.

[32] Beyond lies the town Oea and the river Cinyps flowing down through very fertile fields; then another Leptis, and the Syrtis so named and in character like the former, yet the other is larger for almost the same stretch where it opens and where it makes its bend. Its promontory is Borion, and from it the coast begins, which the Lotophagi are said to have held, extending as far as Phyconta; and that is a promontory, belonging to an inhospitable shore.

[33] Arae ipsae nomen ex Philaenis fratribus traxere, qui contra Cyrenaicos missi Carthagine ad dirimendum condicione bellum diu iam de finibus et cum magnis amborum cladibus gestum, postquam in eo quod convenerat non manebatur, ut ubi legati concurrerent, certo tempore utrimque dimissi, ibi termini statuerentur, pacti de integro ut quidquid citra esset popularibus cederet, mirum et memoria dignissimum facinus, hic se vivos obrui pertulerunt.

[33] The Arae themselves took their name from the Philaeni brothers, who, sent from Carthage against the Cyrenaeans to settle by compromise a war long waged about the frontiers and attended by great defeats on both sides, when the agreement reached was not observed — namely that where the envoys should meet, having been dismissed by each at a fixed time, there the boundary should be fixed, and having agreed anew that whatever lay on this side should yield to the citizens — a marvelous and most memorable deed, these men endured to be buried alive.

[34] Inde ad Catabathmon Cyrenaica provincia est, in eaque sunt Hammonis oraculum fidei inclutae, et fons quem Solis adpellant, et rupes quaedam austro sacra. Haec cum hominum manu attingitur, ille inmodicus exsurgit harenasque quasi maria agens sic saevit ut fluctibus. Fons media nocte fervet, mox et paulatim tepescens fit luce frigidus, tunc ut sol surgit ita subinde frigidior per meridiem maxime riget, sumit dein teporem iterum, et prima nocte calidus, atque ut illa procedit ita caldior rursus cum est media perfervet.

[34] Thence to Catabathmon is the Cyrenaican province, and in it are the oracle of Hammon famed for faith, and a spring which they call the Sun’s, and certain cliffs sacred to the south. When these are touched by the hand of men, the latter rises unchecked and drives the sands as if seas, raging like the waves. The spring boils at midnight; soon, and gradually growing tepid, it becomes cold at dawn; then, as the sun rises, it grows successively colder, stiffest about midday; it then takes warmth again, and is warm in the first part of the night, and as that night advances it grows hotter once more when it is midnight.

[35] In litore promunturia sunt Zephyrion et Naustathmos, portus Paraetonius, urbes Hesperia, Apollonia, Ptolemais, Arsinoe atque unde terris nomen est ipsa Cyrene.

[35] On the shore are the promontories Zephyrion and Naustathmos, the harbor Paraetonius, the cities Hesperia, Apollonia, Ptolemais, Arsinoe, and Cyrene itself, from which the land takes its name.

[36] Catabathmos vallis devexa in Aegyptum finit Africam. Orae sic habitantur ad nostrum maxime ritum moratis cultoribus, nisi quod quidam linguis differunt et cultu deum quos patrios servant ac patrio more venerantur. Proximis nullae quidem urbes stant, tamen domicilia sunt quae mapalia appellantur.

[36] Catabathmus, a valley sloping down into Egypt, bounds Africa. The coasts are thus inhabited, the dwellers living for the most part according to our customary rite, except that some differ in language and in the cult of gods whom they keep as ancestral and venerate in the paternal manner. Indeed no cities stand nearby, yet there are dwellings which are called mapalia.

Victus asper et munditiis carens. Primores sagis velantur, vulgus bestiarum pecudumque pellibus. Humi quies epulaeque capiuntur.

Diet harsh and lacking in refinements. The chiefs are veiled with cloaks, the common folk with skins of wild beasts and of flocks. On the ground rest and meals are taken.

Vasa ligno fiunt aut cortice. Potus est lac sucusque bacarum. Cibus est caro plurimum ferina: nam gregibus, quia id solum opimum est, quod potest parcitur.

Vessels are made of wood or of bark. The drink is milk and the juice of berries. Food is meat, mostly wild: for they keep herds, since only that which can be spared is considered profitable.

[37] Interiores incultius etiam secuntur vagi pecora, utque a pabulo ducta sunt ita se ac tuguria sua promovent, atque ubi dies deficit ibi noctem agunt. Quamquam in familias passim et sine lege dispersi nihil in commune consultant, tamen quia singulis aliquot simul coniuges et plures ob id liberi adgnatique sunt nusquam pauci. Ex his qui ultra deserta esse memorantur Atlantes solem exsecrantur et dum oritur et dum occidit ut ipsis agrisque pestiferum.

[37] Into the more uncultivated interior roam wandering flocks follow, and as a are led from the pasture so they advance themselves and their hovels, and where day fails there they pass the night. Although scattered into households everywhere and without law they reckon nothing common, yet because to each there are several wives together and consequently more children and agnates, these are nowhere few. Of those who are said to be beyond the deserts the Atlantes curse the sun both when it rises and when it sets, as pestilential to themselves and to their fields.

Nomina singuli non habent, non vescuntur animalibus, neque illis in quiete qualia ceteris mortalibus visere datur.

Individuals have no names; they do not eat animals, nor in repose are they allowed to behold those things which are granted to other mortals.

[38] Trogodytae nullarum opum domini strident magis quam locuntur, specus subeunt alunturque serpentibus.

[38] The Trogodytae, masters of no wealth, shriek rather than are called; they enter caves and are nourished by serpents.

[39] Apud Garamantas etiam armenta sunt eaque obliqua cervice pascuntur, nam pronis directa in humum cornua officiunt. Nulli certa uxor est. Ex his qui tam confuso parentium coitu passim incertique nascuntur quos pro suis colant formae similitudine agnoscunt.

[39] Among the Garamantas there are also herds, and these graze with oblique necks, for their horns, directed forward and bent down to the ground, serve them. No wife is certain. Of those who are born everywhere, uncertain because of the confused coitus of their parents, they acknowledge as their own those whom they rear by the similitude of form.

Augilae manes tantum deos putant, per eos deierant, eos ut oracula consulunt, precatique quae volunt, ubi tumulis incubuere, pro responsis ferunt somnia. Feminis eorum sollemne est nocte qua nubunt omnium stupro patere qui cum munere advenerint, et tum cum plurimis concubuisse maximum decus, in reliquum pudicitia insignis est. Nudi sunt Gamphasantes armorumque omnium ignari; nec vitare sciunt tela nec iacere, ideoque obvios fugiunt, neque aliorum quam quibus idem ingenii est aut congressus aut conloquia patiuntur.

The Augilae reckon only the manes to be gods; by them they swear, to them they consult as oracles, and having prayed for what they desire, when they have lain upon the tumuli they take dreams as responses. For their women it is a solemn rite on the night they marry that all who have come with a gift be allowed to lie with her, and then to have lain with the greatest number is the highest honour; thereafter she is marked by chastity. The Gamphasantes are naked and ignorant of all arms; they know neither how to avoid missiles nor how to hurl them, and therefore they flee from those who meet them, nor do they endure encounters or converse with any but those of the same temperament.

[40] Blemyis capita absunt, vultus in pectore est. Satyris praeter effigiem nihil humani. Aegipanum quae celebratur ea forma est.

[40] The Blemyis lack heads; the visage is on the chest. In the Satyrs, apart from appearance, there is nothing human. The Aegipanum, as celebrated, is of that form.

Haec de Africa.

These things about Africa.

[41] Asiae prima pars Aegyptus inter Catabathmon et Arabas; ab hoc litore penitus immissa donec Aethiopiam dorso contingat ad meridiem refugit. Terra expers imbrium mire tamen fertilis et hominum aliorumque animalium perfecunda generatrix. Nilus efficit, amnium in Nostrum mare permeantium maximus.

[41] The first part of Asia is Egypt between Catabathmon and the Arabs; from this shore it is driven inward so far that it, thrown back, reaches to touch Ethiopia on the south by its back. A land without rains, yet wondrously fertile and a fruitful mother of men and other animals. The Nile makes it, the greatest of rivers flowing into our sea.

[42] Hic ex desertis Africae missus nec statim navigari facilis nec statim Nilus est, et cum diu simplex saevusque descendit, circa Meroen late patentem insulam in Aethiopiam diffunditur, alteraque parte Astabores altera Astape dictus est. Vbi rursus coit ibi nomen hoc capit.

[42] This, sent from the deserts of Africa, is neither at once easy to sail nor immediately the Nilus, and when for a long time it descends single and savage, it spreads around Meroon, an island opening widely into Aethiopia, and is called Astabores on one side and Astape on the other. Where it again meets, there it takes this name.

[43] Inde partim asper partim navigia patiens in immanem lacum devenit, ex quo praecipiti impetu egressus et Tachempso alteram insulam amplexus usque ad Elephantinen urbem Aegyptiam atrox adhuc fervensque decurrit. Tum demum placidior et iam bene navigabilis primum iuxta Cercasorum oppidum triplex esse incipit. Deinde iterumque divisus ad Delta et ad Melyn it per omnem Aegyptum vagus atque dispersus, septemque in ora se scindens singulis tamen grandis evolvitur.

[43] Thence partly rough, partly enduring navigation, it comes into a vast lake, from which, issuing with headlong impetus and embracing the other island called Tachempso, it runs down fierce and still seething as far as the Egyptian city Elephantine. Then at last milder and now well navigable it first begins to be triple beside the town of the Cercasii. Deinde iterumque divided, it goes to the Delta and to Melyn roaming and dispersed through all Egypt, and, cleaving itself into seven mouths, is nevertheless great in each.

[44] Non pererrat autem tantum eam sed aestivo sidere exundans etiam irrigat, adeo efficacibus aquis ad generandum alendumque, ut praeter id quod scatet piscibus, quod hippopotamos crocodilosque vastas beluas gignit, glaebis etiam infundat animas, ex ipsaque humo vitalia effingat. Hoc eo manifestum est, quod ubi sedavit diluvia ac se sibi reddidit, per umentes campos quaedam nondum perfecta animalia sed tum primum accipientia spiritum et ex parte iam formata ex parte adhuc terrena visuntur.

[44] It does not only traverse it, but, overflowing at the summer constellation, it also irrigates, with waters so efficacious for generating and nourishing that, besides that which teems with fish — which produces hippopotamuses and crocodiles, vast beasts — it even pours souls into the clods, and from the very soil fashions living things. This is all the more manifest because when it has calmed the floods and restored itself to its course, through the moist fields certain animals, not yet perfected but then for the first time receiving breath, and in part already formed, in part still earthly, are seen.

[45] Crescit porro, sive quod solutae magnis aestibus nives ex inmanibus Aethiopiae iugis largius quam ripis accipi queant defluunt, sive quod sol hieme terris propior et ob id fontem eius minuens tunc altius abit, sinitque integrum et ut est plenissimus surgere, sive quod per ea tempora flantes Etesiae aut actas a septentrione in meridiem nubes super principia eius imbre praecipitant, aut venienti obviae adverso spiritu cursum descendentis impediunt, aut harenis quas cum fluctibus litori adplicant ostia obducunt; fitque maior vel quod nihil ex semet amittit, vel quod plus quam solet accipit, vel quod minus quam debet emittit.

[45] Moreover it grows, either because loosened by great tides the snows from the immense ridges of Ethiopia flow down more lavishly than the banks can receive, or because the sun in winter being nearer and thereby diminishing its source, the water then goes higher and is allowed to rise whole and as fullest, or because at those seasons the blowing Etesiae or northerly winds drive clouds from the north toward the south and precipitate rain upon its origins, or, meeting it head-on, with adverse breath impede the course of the descending water, or by the sands which they press to the shore with the waves they close its mouths; and it becomes greater either because it loses nothing of itself, or because it takes in more than usual, or because it emits less than it ought.

[46] Quod si est alter orbis suntque oppositi nobis a meridie antichthones, ne illud quidem a vero nimium abscesserit, in illis terris ortum amnem, ubi subter maria caeco alveo penetraverit, in nostris rursus emergere, et hac re solstitio adcrescere quod tum hiemps sit unde oritur.

[46] But if there is another orb and antichthones opposite to us in the south, that would not even be far from the truth: a river rising in those lands, where it has penetrated beneath the seas by a hidden channel, would again emerge in our lands, and by this fact increase at the solstice which is then winter where it originates.

[47] Alia quoque in his terris mira sunt. In quodam lacu Chemmis insula lucos silvasque et Apollinis grande sustinens templum natat, et quocumque venti agunt pellitur. Pyramides tricenum pedum lapidibus exstructae, quarum maxima, tres namque sunt, quattuor fere soli iugera qua sedet occupat, totidem in altitudinem erigitur.

[47] Other wonders also are in these lands. In a certain lake called Chemmis an island swims, bearing groves and woods and a great temple of Apollo, and it is driven wherever the winds urge it. Pyramids thirty feet high are built of stones, the largest of which — for there are three — occupies nearly four iugera of the ground on which it sits, and is raised to as many in height.

Moeris, aliquando campus nunc lacus viginti milia passuum in circuitum patens, altior quam ad navigandum magnis onustisque navibus satis est.

Moeris, once a plain, now a lake extending twenty thousand paces in circumference, is deeper than is sufficient for navigation by large, heavily laden ships.

[48] Psammetichi opus labyrinthus, domos mille et regias duodecim perpetuo parietis ambitu amplexus, marmore exstructus ac tectus, unum in se descensum habet, intus paene innumerabiles vias, multis ambagibus huc et illuc remeantibus, sed continuo anfractu et saepe revocatis porticibus ancipites: quibus subinde alium super alios orbem agentibus, et subinde tantum redeunte flexu quantum processerat, magno et explicabili tamen errore perplexus est. Cultores regionum multo aliter a ceteris agunt. Mortuos fimo obliti plangunt: nec cremare aut fodere fas putant, verum arte medicatos intra penetralia conlocant.

[48] The work of Psammetichus, the labyrinth, embracing with the circuit of its wall a thousand houses and twelve royal dwellings perpetually, built and roofed with marble, has one descent into itself; within are almost innumerable ways, returning hither and thither by many windings, but with a continuous anfract and oft-recalled porticoes twofold: to these, as one set of circles is driven above another, and at times only retracing by as much of the bend as it had advanced, he was perplexed in a great yet explicable error. The inhabitants of the regions behave very differently from others. They anoint the dead with dung and lament; nor do they reckon it right to cremate or to bury, but place those embalmed by art within the inner sanctuaries.

Suis litteris perverse utuntur. Lutum inter manus, farinam calcibus subigunt. Forum ac negotia feminae, viri pensa ac domus curant; onera illae umeris, hi capitibus accipiunt; parentes cum egent, illis [mulieribus scilicet] necesse est, his liberum est alere.

They make perverse use of their own letters. They knead clay between their hands, they trample flour with their heels. Women attend to the forum and business, men to the distaffs and the house; those women bear burdens on their shoulders, these men take them on their heads; when parents are needy, it is incumbent on those [mulieribus scilicet], while for these it is optional to support them.

Cibos palam et extra tecta sua capiunt, obscena intimis aedium reddunt.

They take food openly and outside their houses, and give obscene things to the innermost parts of their dwellings.

[49] Colunt effigies multorum animalium atque ipsa magis animalia, sed alia alii: adeo ut quaedam eorum etiam per inprudentiam interemisse capitale sit, et ubi morbo aut forte extincta sint sepelire ac lugere sollemne sit. Apis populorum omnium numen est: bos niger certis maculis insignis et cauda linguaque dissimilis aliorum. Raro nascitur nec coitu pecudis, ut aiunt, sed divinitus et caelesti igne conceptus, diesque quo gignitur genti maxime festus est.

[49] They worship images of many animals and the animals themselves even more, but different ones by different peoples: so much so that to have killed some of them even through inadvertence is a capital offence, and when they have perished by disease or by chance it is customary to bury and solemnly mourn them. The bee is the numen of all peoples: a black ox, marked with certain spots and with tail and tongue unlike those of others. It is born rarely and, as they say, not by the coitus of cattle, but conceived by divine and heavenly fire, and the day on which it is born is especially festive for the people.

[50] Ipsi vetustissimi ut praedicant hominum trecentos et triginta reges ante Amasim, et supra tredecim milium annorum aetates certis annalibus referunt mandatumque litteris servant, dum Aegyptii sunt, quater cursus suos vertisse sidera ac solem bis iam occidisse unde nunc oritur.

[50] They themselves, the most ancient, as they declare, relate by certain annals that there were 330 kings of men before Amasis, and record ages of more than 13,000 years in written mandates, while they are Egyptians, that the stars have turned their courses four times and the sun has already twice set from where it now rises.

[51] Viginti urbium Amasi regnante habitarunt et nunc multas habitant. Earum clarissimae procul a mari Sais, Memphis, Syene, Bubastis, Elephantine Thebae utique ut Homero dictum est centum portas sive ut alii aiunt centum aulas habent, totidem olim principum domos, solitasque singulas ubi negotium exegerat dena armatorum milia effundere; in litore Alexandria Africae contermina, Pelusium Arabiae. Ipsas oras secant Canopicum, Bolbiticum, Sebennyticum, Pathmeticum, Mendesium, Cataptystum, Pelusiacum Nili ostia.

[51] Twenty of cities were inhabited during the reign of Amasis and now many are inhabited. The most famous of them, far from the sea, are Sais, Memphis, Syene, Bubastis, Elephantine, and Thebae moreover , as Homer is said to have said, have a hundred gates, or, as others say, a hundred halls, as many once the houses of princes, and each accustomed, when business required, to pour forth ten thousand armed men; on the shore Alexandria borders on Africa, Pelusium on Arabia. Their very coasts are cut by the Nile’s mouths: the Canopic, Bolbitic, Sebennytic, Pathmetic, Mendesium, Cataptystum, Pelusiacum.

[52] Arabia hinc ad Rubrum mare pertinet, sed illic magis laeta et ditior ture atque odoribus abundat, hic nisi qua Casio monte adtollitur plana et sterilis portum admittit Azotum suarum mercium emporium, qua in altum abit adeo edita, ut ex summo vertice a quarta vigilia ortum solis ostendat.

[52] From here Arabia reaches to the Red Sea, but there it is more joyful and richer, abounding in frankincense and odors; here, except where it is uplifted by Mount Casius, it is flat and sterile, and admits Azotum as a harbour and emporium of its wares, which projects so far into the deep, so highly raised, that from its highest summit it shows the sun risen at the fourth watch.

[53] Syria late litora tenet, terrasque etiam latius introrsus, aliis aliisque nuncupata nominibus: nam et Coele dicitur et Mesopotamia et Damascene et Adiabene et Babylonia et Iudaea et Co Sophene.

[53] Syria holds wide shores, and also reaches farther inward, called by various and sundry names: for it is called Coele and Mesopotamia and the Damascene and Adiabene and Babylonia and Judaea and Co Sophene.

[54] Hic Palaestine est qua tangit Arabas, tum Phoenice; et ubi se Ciliciae committit Antiochia, olim ac diu potens, sed cum eam regno Semiramis tenuit longe potentissima. Operibus certe eius insignia multa sunt; duo maxime excellunt; constituta urbs mirae magnitudinis Babylon, ac siccis olim regionibus Euphrates et Tigris immissi.

[54] Here is Palestine, where it touches the Arabs, then Phoenicia; and where it joins Cilicia is Antiochia, formerly and for a long time powerful, but when Semiramis held it in rule she was by far most mighty. Certainly many of her works are notable; two excel most: the city Babylon, founded of wondrous magnitude, and the Euphrates and Tigris, once diverted into regions that had been dry.

[55] Ceterum in Palaestina est ingens et munita admodum Gaza: sic Persae aerarium vocant, et inde nomen est, quod cum Cambyses armis Aegyptum peteret, huc belli et opes et pecuniam intulerat. Est non minor Ascalon; est Iope ante diluvium ut ferunt condita, ubi Cephea regnasse eo signo accolae adfirmant, quod titulum eius fratrisque Phinei veteres quaedam arae cum religione plurima retinent: quin etiam rei celebratae carminibus ac fabulis, servataeque a Perseo Andromedae clarum vestigium marinae beluae ossa immania ostentant.

[55] Moreover, in Palestine there is huge and very well-fortified Gaza: thus the Persians call it the aerarium, and the name comes from that, for when Cambyses with arms sought Egypt he brought here the wealth, spoils, and money of the war. Ascalon is no less; Joppa is said to have been founded before the Flood, where the inhabitants affirm that Cepheus reigned by that sign, because the ancients retain certain altars to him and to his brother Phineus with very great religious observance: nay, they even exhibit in songs and fables the celebrated matter, and display, preserved by Perseus of Andromeda, the famous relic—the immense bones—of the sea‑monster.

[56] Phoenicen inlustravere Phoenices, sollers hominum genus et ad belli pacisque munia eximium: litteras et litterarum operas aliasque etiam artes, maria navibus adire, classe confligere, inperitare gentibus, regnum proeliumque conmenti.

[56] The Phoenicians made Phoenicia illustrious — a skillful race of men, outstanding in the duties of war and of peace: letters and literary works and other arts besides; to traverse the seas with ships, to clash fleets in battle, to rule over nations, and to devise kingdom and battle.

[57] In ea est [et] Tyros aliquando insula, nunc adnexa terris * * * , quod ab inpugnante quondam Alexandro iacta opera. Vici tenent ulteriora et adhuc opulenta Sidon, antequam a Persis caperetur maritimarum urbium maxima.

[57] In it is [also] Tyre once an island, now joined to the lands * * * , which, when besieged long ago by Alexander, had thrown up works . Villages occupy the further parts, and Sidon remains wealthy; before it was taken by the Persians it was the greatest of the maritime cities.

[58] Ab ea ad promunturium Theuprosopon duo sunt oppida Byblos et Botrys: ultra tria fuerunt singulis inter se stadiis distantia; locus ex numero Tripolis dicitur.

[58] From it to the promontory Theuprosopon are two towns, Byblos and Botrys: they were more than three stadia distant from one another; the place is called Tripolis from that number.

[59] Tum Simyra castellum et urbs non obscura Marathos. Inde iam non obliqua pelago sed adversa adiacens Asia grandem sinum inflexo tractu litoris accipit. Populi dites circumsident; situs efficit: quia regio fertilis crebris et navigabilibus alveis fluminum pervia diversas opes maris atque terrarum facili commercio permutat ac miscet.

[59] Then Simyra, a fortress, and the city Marathos, not obscure. Thence, no longer oblique to the sea but facing and adjacent, Asia receives a large bay with its shore bent inward. Wealthy peoples sit around it; its situation makes it so: for the region, fertile and traversable by frequent and navigable river-channels, by easy commerce exchanges and mingles the diverse riches of sea and land.

[60] In eo prima est reliqua pars Syriae cui Antiochiae cognomen additur, et in ora eius urbes Seleucia, Hypatos, Berytos, Laodicea, Rosos, amnesque qui inter eas eunt Lycos et Hypatos et Orontes; tum mons Amanus et ab eo statim Myriandros et Cilices.

[60] In it is first the remaining part of Syria, to which the surname Antiochia is added, and on its shore the cities Seleucia, Hypatos, Berytus, Laodicea, Rhosus, and the rivers that run between them — Lycus and Hypatos and Orontes; then Mount Amanus and immediately from it Myriandrus and the Cilicians.

[61] At in recessu intimo locus est magni aliquando discriminis, fusorum ab Alexandro Persarum fugientisque Darii spectator ac testis, nunc ne minima quidem, tunc ingenti urbe celebris. Issos fuit, et hac re sinus Issicus dicitur. Procul inde Hammodes promunturium inter Pyramum Cydnumque fluvios iacet.

[61] But in the innermost recess there is a place once of great crisis, the spectator and witness of the Persians routed by Alexander and of Darius fleeing, now not even the smallest of note, then celebrated by a huge city. It was Issus, and from this fact the gulf is called the Issic Gulf. Far thence lies the promontory Hammodes, which stands between the rivers Pyramus and Cydnus.

Pyramus Isso propior Mallon praeterfluit, Cydnus ultra per Tarsum exit.

The Pyramus flows past Isso nearer to Mallus, the Cydnus passes onward beyond through Tarsus.

[62] Deinde urbs est olim a Rhodiis Argivisque, post piratis Pompeio adsignante possessa, nunc Pompeiopolis tunc Soloe. Iuxta in parvo tumulo Arati poetae monimentum ideo referendum, quia - ignotum quam ob causam - iacta in id saxa dissiliunt. Non longe hinc Corycos oppidum portu saloque incingitur, angusto tergore continenti adnexum.

[62] Then the city was once of the Rhodians and Argives, later, after the pirates, assigned by Pompey and held — now Pompeiopolis, then Soloe. Nearby on a small tumulus a monument of the poet Aratus is said to have been erected for that reason, because — for some unknown cause — stones cast against it shatter on striking it. Not far from here Corycus, a town, is girded by a harbour and by the salt sea, joined to the mainland by a narrow neck of land.

[63] Supra specus est nomine Corycius singulari ingenio, ac supra quam ut describi facile possit eximius. Grandi namque hiatu patens montem litori adpositum et decem stadiorum clivo satis arduum ex summo statim vertice aperit. Tunc alte demissus et quantum demittitur amplior viret lucis pendentibus undique, et totum se nemoroso laterum orbe conplectitur: adeo mirificus ac pulcher, ut mentes accedentium primo aspectu consternat, ubi contemplari duravere non satiet.

[63] Above is a cavern by the name Corycian, of singular ingenuity, and so lofty that it cannot readily be described. For with a great gaping it opens the mountain set near the shore, and immediately from the very highest summit a sufficiently steep slope of ten stadia descends. Then thrown down deep, and as far as it is let down it grows broader with light thriving and with overhanging growths on every side, and it enfolds itself wholly in a wooded ring of its sides: so wondrous and beautiful that it appals the minds of those who approach at first sight, and once they have lingered to gaze they are not satisfied.

[64] Vnus in eum descensus est angustus asper quingentorum et mille passuum per amoenas umbras et opaca silvae quiddam agreste resonantis, rivis hinc atque illinc fluitantibus. Vbi ad ima perventum est, rursum specus alter aperitur ob alia dicendus. Terret ingredientes sonitu cymbalorum divinitus et magno fragore crepitantium.

[64] One narrow, rugged descent of fifteen hundred paces leads into it through pleasant shadows and the gloom of the wood, something rustic resonant, with streams flowing on this side and that. When one has come to the lowest parts, again another cave opens, to be spoken of for other reasons. It frightens those entering with the divinely sounding clash of cymbals and the great din of their clattering.

[65] Deinde aliquamdiu perspicuus, mox et quo magis subitur obscurior, ducit ausos penitus, alteque quasi cuniculo admittit. Ibi ingens amnis ingenti fonte se extollens tantummodo se ostendit, et ubi magnum impetum brevi alveo traxit, iterum demersus absconditur. Intra spatium est magis quam ut progredi quisquam ausit horribile et ideo incognitum.

[65] Then for some time pellucid, soon—and the more one enters it—the darker it becomes; it conducts the bold deep inward, and receives them high up as into a burrow. There a vast stream, lifting itself from a mighty fountain, displays only itself, and when it has drawn a great rush into a short channel, it is again plunged and hidden. Within the space it is more than any one dares to advance, terrible and therefore unknown.

[66] Totus autem augustus et vere sacer, habitarique a diis et dignus et creditus, nihil non venerabile et quasi cum aliquo numine se ostentat.

[66] Entirely august and truly sacred, and held — and believed — to be inhabited by the gods, it manifests itself as nothing unvenerable and as if with some divinity present.

[67] Alius ultra est quem Typhoneum vocant, ore angusto et multum, ut experti tradidere, pressus, et ob id adsidua nocte suffusus neque umquam perspici facilis, sed quia aliquando cubile Typhonis fuit et quia nunc demissa in se confestim exanimat natura fabulaque memorandus.

[67] Further on is another, which they call Typhonean, with a narrow mouth and much, as those who have experienced relate, pressed together, and for that reason suffused with continual night and never easy to be perceived, but because at one time it was the lair of Typhon and because now, having sunk down into itself, nature is straightway struck lifeless and it is to be remembered in legend.

[68] Duo deinde promunturia sunt Sarpedon, finis aliquando regni Sarpedonis, et quod Ciliciam a Pamphylia distinguit Anemurium, interque ea Celenderis et Nagidos Samiorum coloniae; sed Celenderis Sarpedoni propior.

[68] Then there are two promontories, Sarpedon, the boundary at one time of Sarpedon’s realm, and Anemurium, which separates Cilicia from Pamphylia, and between them Celenderis and Nagidos, colonies of the Samians; but Celenderis is nearer to Sarpedon.

[69] In Pamphylia est Melas navigabilis fluvius, oppidum Sida et alter fluvius Eurymedon. Magna apud eum Cimonis Atheniensium ducis adversus Phoenicas et Persas navalis pugna atque victoria fuit. Mare quo pugnatum est ex edito admodum colle prospectat Aspendos, quam Argivi condiderant, possedere finitimi.

[69] In Pamphylia is the Melas, a navigable river, the town of Sida, and another river, the Eurymedon. A great naval battle and victory there was by Cimon, leader of the Athenians, against the Phoenicians and Persians. The sea in which the fighting took place looks out from a fairly lofty hill upon Aspendos, which the Argives had founded; the neighboring people possess it.

[70] Deinde alii duo validissimi Cestros et Cataractes: Cestros navigari facilis, hic quia se praecipitat ita dictus. Inter eos Perga est oppidum, et Dianae quam ab oppido Pergaeam vocant templum. Trans eosdem mons Sardemisos et Phaselis a Mopso condita finis Pamphyliae.

[70] Next are two other very mighty ones, the Cestros and the Cataractes: the Cestros easy to navigate, the latter so called because it plunges headlong. Between them is the town Perga, and the temple of Diana which they call Pergaean from the town. Beyond those same (rivers) is the mountain Sardemisos and Phaselis, founded by Mopsus, the boundary of Pamphylia.

[71] Lycia continuo, cognominata a Lyco rege Pandionis filio, atque, ut ferunt, infestata olim Chimaerae ignibus, Sidae portu et Tauri promunturio grandem sinum claudit.

[71] Lycia next, cognominated from Lyco the king, son of Pandion, and, as they say, once infested by the fires of the Chimaera, closes a great bay with the harbor of Sida and the promontory of Taurus.

[72] Taurus ipse ab Eois litoribus exsurgens vaste satis attollitur, dein dextro latere ad septentrionem, sinistro ad meridiem versus it in occidentem rectus et perpetuo iugo, magnarumque gentium qua dorsum agit terminus, ubi terras diremit, exit in pelagus. Idem autem et totus, ut dictus est, dicitur, etiam qua spectat orientem, deinde Haemodes et Caucasus et Propanisus, tum Caspiae pylae, Niphates, Armeniae pylae, et ubi iam nostra maria contingit Taurus iterum.

[72] The Taurus itself, rising up from the eastern shores, is lifted up sufficiently vast; then on its right flank toward the north, on its left toward the south, it runs straight to the west and continually by a ridge, and, as the boundary that drives the backs of great peoples, where it parts lands it issues into the sea. Moreover the whole, as has been said, is likewise called where it faces the east; then Haemodes and Caucasus and Propanisus, then the Caspian gates, Niphates, the passes of Armenia, and where Taurus again touches our seas.

[73] Post eius promunturium flumen est Limyra et eodem nomine civitas, atque ut multa oppida sic praeter Pataram non inlustria. Illam nobilem facit delubrum Apollinis quondam opibus et oraculi fide Delphico simile. Vltra est Xanthus flumen et Xanthos oppidum, mons Cragus et quae Lyciam finit urbs Telmesos.

[73] Beyond that promontory is the river Limyra and a city of the same name, and, as with many towns, beyond Patara not conspicuous. That city is made noble by the shrine of Apollo, once by its wealth and by the faith of an oracle resembling the Delphic. Beyond it is the river Xanthus and the town Xanthos, Mount Cragus, and the city Telmesos which bounds Lycia.

[74] Caria sequitur. Habitant incertae originis. Alii indigenas, sunt qui Pelasgos, quidam Cretas existimant.

[74] Caria follows. They dwell of uncertain origin. Some regard them as indigenous; there are those who consider them Pelasgian, others Cretan.

Genus usque eo quondam armorum pugnaeque amans, ut aliena etiam bella mercedibus agerent. Hic castella sunt aliquot, dein promunturia duo Pedalion et Crya, et secundum Calbim amnem Caunus oppidum valetudine habitantium infame.

A people once so fond of arms and of battle that they would even wage others’ wars for hire. Here are several forts; then two promontories, Pedalion and Crya; and along the Calbis river the town Caunus, notorious for the ill-health of its inhabitants.

[75] Inde ad Halicarnasson haec iacent: Rhodiorum aliquot coloniae, portus duo, Gelos et cui ex urbe quam amplectitur Thyssanusa cognomen est, inter eos oppidum Larumna et Pandion collis in mare emissus, tum tres ex ordine sinus, Thymnias Schoenus Bubasius; Thymniae promunturium Aphrodisium est, Schoenus ambit Hylam, Bubasius Cyrnon. Tum Cnidus in cornu paene insulae, interque eam et Ceramicum sinum in recessu posita Euthana. Halicarnassos Argivorum colonia est, et cur memoranda sit, praeter conditores, Mausoleum efficit regis Mausoli monimentum, unum de miraculis septem, Artemisiae opus.

[75] From there to Halicarnassus these lie: several colonies of the Rhodians, two ports, Gelos and that which takes the cognomen Thyssanusa from the city it embraces, between them the town Larumna and Pandion, a hill sent forth into the sea, then three bays in order, Thymnias, Schoenus, Bubasius; the promontory of Thymnia is Aphrodisium, Schoenus bounds Hylam, Bubasius Cyrnon. Then Cnidus on the horn almost of an island, and between it and the Ceramicus gulf in a recess is placed Euthana. Halicarnassus is a colony of the Argives, and why it should be remembered, besides its founders, the Mausoleum makes the monument of King Mausolus, one of the seven wonders, the work of Artemisia.

Trans Halicarnasson illa sunt: litus Leuca, urbes Myndos, Caruanda, Neapolis, sinus Iasius et Basilicus. In Iasio est Bargylos.

Across from Halicarnassus these are: the shore Leuca, the towns Myndos, Caruanda, Neapolis, the bays Iasius and Basilicus. On the Iasius is Bargylos.

[76] Post Basilicum Ionia aliquot se ambagibus sinuat, et primum a Posideo promunturio flexum inchoans cingit oraculum Apollinis dictum olim Branchidae, nunc Didymei; Miletum, urbem quondam Ioniae totius belli pacisque artibus principem, patriam Thaletis astrologi et Timothei musici et Anaximandri physici, aliorumque civium inclutis ingeniis merito inclutam, utcumque Ioniam vocant; urbem Hippin, amnis Maeandri exitum, Latmium montem, Endymionis a Luna, ut ferunt, adamati fabula nobilem.

[76] After Basilicus, Ionia winds along in several bends, and beginning the turn from the promontory Posideum it surrounds the oracle of Apollo once called Branchidae, now the Didymei; Miletus, a city formerly the foremost of all Ionia in the arts of war and peace, the homeland of Thales the astrologer and Timotheus the musician and Anaximander the natural philosopher, and rightly renowned for the illustrious talents of its other citizens, Ionian however you call it; the city Hippin, the outlet of the river Maeander, the mountain Latmus, Endymion, beloved by the Moon, as they say, noble in tale.

[77] Dein rursus inflexa cingit urbem Prienen et Gaesi fluminis ostium, moxque ut maiore circuitu ita plura conplectitur. Ibi est Panionium sacra regio, et ob id eo nomine adpellata quod eam communiter Iones colunt.

[77] Then again turning, it girds the city Priene and the mouth of the river Gaesus, and soon, as it makes a larger circuit, so embraces more. There is the sacred region Panionium, and for that reason called by that name because the Ionians worship it in common.

[78] Ibi a fugitivis, ut aiunt, condita - nomen famae adnuit - Phygela. Ibi Ephesus et Dianae clarissimum templum, quod Amazones Asia potitae consecrasse traduntur; ibi Caystros amnis; ibi Lebedos Clariique Apollinis fanum, quod Manto Tiresiae filia fugiens victores Thebanorum Epigonos, et Colophon, quam Mopsus eiusdem Mantus filius statuit.

[78] There Phygela was founded by fugitives, as they say — the name nods to its fame —. There Ephesus and the most famous temple of Diana, which the Amazons, having gotten possession of Asia, are said to have consecrated; there the river Cayster; there Lebedos and the shrine of Clarus Apollo, which Manto, daughter of Tiresias, fleeing, (is said to have) consecrated to the victors of Thebes, the Epigoni; and Colophon, which Mopsus, son of the same Manto, founded.

[79] At promunturium quo sinus clauditur, quia altera parte alium quem Smyrnaeum vocant efficit, angustisque cervicibus reliqua extendit in latius, abit in paene insulae faciem. Super angustias hinc Teos illinc Clazomenae, qua terga agunt confinio adnexae

[79] But at the promontory where the bay is closed — for on the other side it forms another which they call the Smyrnaeum — and with narrow necks it extends the remainder into a broader space, it recedes into the appearance of an almost island. Above the narrows are Teos on this side and Clazomenae on that, to which they turn their backs, joined by a common boundary.

[mari] diversis frontibus diversa maria prospectant. in ipsa paene insula est Coryna. In sinu Smyrnaeo est Hermus amnis et urbs Leuca, extra Phocaea Ioniae ultima.

[mari] with diverse fronts they look out upon different seas. In it, almost an island, is Coryna. In the Smyrnaean gulf is the river Hermus and the city Leuca, beyond Phocaea the last of Ionia.

[80] Proxima regio, ex quo ab Aeolis incoli coepit Aeolis facta, ante Mysia, et qua Hellespontum adtingit, Troianis possidentibus Troas fuit. Primam urbium a Myrino conditore Myrinam vocant, sequentem Pelops statuit, victo Oenomao reversus ex Graecia; Cymen nominavit pulsis qui habitaverant dux Amazonum Cyme. Supra Caicus inter Elaean decurrit et Pitanen, illam quae Arcesilan tulit, nihil adfirmantis Academiae clarissimum antistitem.

[80] The next region, from which it began to be inhabited by Aeolians and so became called Aeolis, lying before Mysia and reaching to the Hellespont, was the Troas when possessed by the Trojans. They call the first of the cities Myrina from its founder Myrinus; the next Pelops founded, having returned from Greece after defeating Oenomaus; he named Cyme for those expelled who had dwelt there, and the leader of the Amazons was called Cyme. Above (north of) the Caicus the river runs between Elaea and Pitanen — the latter held by Arcesilaus, who affirmed nothing, the most famous head (antistes) of the Academy.

[81] Tum in promunturio est Cyna oppidum, quod praetervectos sinus excipit non parvos sed longe ac molliter flexus, retrahensque paulatim oras usque ad ima montis Idae. Is primo parvis urbibus aspersus est, quarum clarissima est Cistena. Gremio interiore campus Thebe nomine; Adrymetion, Asturam, Chrysam oppida eodem quo dicta sunt ordine adiacentia continet, in altero latere Antandrum.

[81] Then on the promontory is the town Cyna, which receives bays sailed past, not small but long and gently curved, and drawing its shores back little by little even to the lowest slopes of Mount Ida. It was at first dotted with small towns, of which the most famous is Cistena. Between them an inner gulf called Thebe; Adrymetion, Astura, Chrysa are towns lying adjacent in the same order as they are named, and on the other side Antandrus.

[82] Duplex causa nominis iactatur. Alii Ascanium Aeneae filium cum ibi regnaret captum a Pelasgis ea se redemisse commemorant, alii ab his putant conditam quos ex Andro insula vis et seditio exegerat. Hi Antandrum quasi pro Andro, illi quasi pro viro accipi volunt.

[82] A double cause of the name is alleged. Some relate that Ascanius, son of Aeneas, when he reigned there, having been captured by the Pelasgians, redeemed himself; others think it was founded by those whom force and sedition had driven out from the island of Andros. The one group would take Antandrum as for Andro, the other as for a man.

Sequens tractus tangit Gargara et Asson Aeolorum colonias. Tum sinus alter Achaeon limen non longe ab Ilio litora incurvat, urbe bello excidioque clarissima. Hic Sigeum fuit oppidum, hic Achivorum fuit bellantium statio.

The following stretch touches Gargara and Assos, colonies of the Aeolians. Then another bay of the Achaeans’ shore bends its coasts not far from Ilion, a city most famous for war and destruction. Here was the town Sigeum, here was the station of the Achaeans engaged in fighting.

Huc ab Idaeo monte demissus Scamander exit et Simois, fama quam natura maiora flumina.

Hither Scamander, sent down from Idaean Mount, and Simois flow forth, rivers greater in fame than in nature.

[83] Ipse mons, vetere divarum certamine et iudicio Paridis memoratus, orientem solem aliter quam in aliis terris solet aspici ostentat. Namque ex summo vertice eius speculantibus paene a media nocte sparsi ignes passim micare, et ut lux adpropinquat ita coire ac se coniungere videntur, donec magis magisque collecti pauciores subinde et una ad postremum flamma ardeant.

[83] The mountain itself, famed in the ancient contest of the goddesses and in the judgment of Paris, displays the rising sun otherwise than it is wont to be seen in other lands. For to those watching from its highest summit fires, scattered, sparkle everywhere almost from midnight, and as the light draws near so they seem to come together and join themselves, until, more and more gathered, fewer and fewer in turn and at last they burn as one flame.

[84] Ea cum diu clara et incendio similis effulsit, cogit se ac rotundat et fit ingens globus. Diu is quoque grandis et terris adnexus adparet, dein paulatim decrescens et quanto decrescit eo clarior fugat novissime noctem, et cum die iam sol factus attollitur.

[84] When it for a long time shines bright, like a conflagration, it gathers itself and rounds and becomes a huge globe. For a long while that also appears great and joined to the lands, then gradually diminishing, and the more it diminishes the more clearly it at last drives away the night; and when it has now become day it rises up as the sun.

[85] Extra sinum sunt Rhoetea litora, Rhoeteo et Dardania claris urbibus, Aiacis tamen sepulcro maxime inlustria. Ab his fit artius mare, nec iam adluit terras, sed rursus dividens angusto Hellesponti freto litus obvium findit, facitque ut iterum terrae qua fluit latera sint.

[85] Outside the bay are the Rhoetean shores, famous for Rhoeteus and the Dardanian cities, yet most illustrious for the tomb of Ajax. From these the sea grows narrower, no longer washing the lands, but again, dividing the shore with a narrow Hellespontine strait, it cleaves the opposing coast and causes the lands to be once more those along whose flanks the water runs.

[86] Interius Bithyni sunt et Mariandyni, in ora Graiae urbes Abydos et Lampsacum et Parion et Priapos. Abydos magni quondam amoris commercio insignis est. Lampsacum Phocaeis appellantibus nomen ex eo traxit, quod consulentibus in quasnam terras potissimum tenderent responsum erat, ubi primum fulsisset, ibi sedem capessere.

[86] Further inland are the Bithyni and the Mariandyni, on the coast of Graiae the cities Abydos and Lampsacum and Parion and Priapos. Abydos was once noted for the commerce of great love. Lampsacum, the name given by the Phocaeans, drew its name from this: when they were asking to which lands they should primarily steer, the answer was that wherever it first shone, there they should take up a seat, capessere.

[87] Tum rursus fit apertius mare Propontis. In id Granicus effunditur, pugna quae primum inter Persas et Alexandrum fuit nobilis. Trans amnem sedet in cervice paene insulae Cyzicum; nomen Cyzicus indidit, quem a Minyis inprudentibus, cum Colchos peterent, fusum acie caesumque accepimus.

[87] Then again the sea of the Propontis becomes more open. Into it pours the Granicus, the battle which was the first renowned between the Persians and Alexander. On the far side of the river upon the neck almost an island sits Cyzicus; the name Cyzicus gave it from him whom we learned was routed and cut down in the line by the unwary Minyans, when they were making for Colchis.

Post Placia et Scylace parvae Pelasgorum coloniae, quibus a tergo imminet mons Olympus, ut incolae vocant Mysius.

After Placia and Scylace are the small colonies of the Pelasgi, behind which the mountain Olympus, which the inhabitants call Mysius, overhangs.

[88] Flumen Ryndacos in quae secuntur emittit. Circa angues nascuntur immanes, neque ob magnitudinem modo sed ob id etiam mirabiles, quod ubi in alveum eius aestus solemque fugerunt, emergunt atque hiant, supervolantesque aves quamvis alte et perniciter ferantur absorbent. trans Ryndacum est Dascylos et quam Colophonii conlocavere Myrlea.

[88] The river Ryndacos, into which currents are discharged. Around it monstrous serpents are born, remarkable not only for their size but also because, when they have fled into its channel from the tide and the sun, they emerge and gape, and even birds flying high and swiftly are swallowed by them. Across the Ryndacus is Dascylos and Myrlea, which the Colophonians settled.

[89] Duo sunt inde modici sinus. Alter Cianos nomine Cion amplectitur, Phrygiae haud longe iacentis opportunissimum emporium, alter Olbianos in promunturio fert Neptuni fanum, in gremio Astacon a Megarensibus conditam.

[89] From there are two modest bays. One embraces Cianus called Cion, the most convenient emporium of Phrygia lying not far off; the other bears the Olbians to a promontory where Neptune’s shrine, founded in the bosom of Astacus by the Megarians, stands.

[90] Dein propiores terrae iterum iacent, exiturique in Pontum pelagi canalis angustior Europam ab Asia stadiis quinque disterminat, Thracius, ut dictum est, Bosphorus. Ipsis in faucibus oppidum, in ore templum est: oppidi nomen Calchedon, auctor Archias Megarensium princeps, templi numen Iuppiter, conditor Iaso.

[90] Then nearer lands lie again, and a narrower channel that issues into the Pontus of the sea separates Europe from Asia by five stadia, the Thracian, as has been said, the Bosphorus. At its very jaws is a town, at the mouth a temple: the town’s name Calchedon, founder Archias, prince of the Megarensians, the temple’s deity Jupiter, the establisher Iaso.

[91] Hic iam sese ingens Pontus aperit, nisi qua promunturia sunt, huc atque illuc longo rectoque limite extentus, sinuatus cetera, sed quia contra minus quam ad laevam et dextram abscessit, mollibusque fastigiis donec angustos utrimque angulos faciat inflectitur, ad formam Scythici arcus maxime incurvos. Brevis, atrox, nebulosus, raris stationibus, non molli neque harenoso circumdatus litore, vicinus aquilonibus, et quia non profundus est fluctuosus atque fervens, olim ex colentium saevo admodum ingenio Axenus, post commercio aliarum gentium mollitis aliquantum moribus dictus Euxinus.

[91] Here Pontus already opens itself vast, save where promontories are, stretched hither and thither with a long and straight boundary, the rest sinuated, but because it recedes less to the left and right and, with柔 peaks until it makes narrow angles on both sides, is bent to the form of a Scythian bow most curved. Short, fierce, foggy, with sparse stations, not surrounded by a soft nor sandy shore, neighboring the northerly winds, and because it is not deep but wave-tossed and seething, formerly from the savage character of its dwellers called Axenus, afterwards, by the commerce of other peoples having somewhat softened manners, called Euxinus.

[92] In eo primum Mariandyni urbem habitant ab Argivo, ut ferunt, Hercule datam. Heraclea vocitatur, id famae fidem adicit. Iuxta specus est Acherusia ad manes, ut aiunt, pervius, atque inde [unde] extractum Cerberum existimant.

[92] In that place first the Mariandyni dwell, a city said to have been given by an Argive, namely Hercules. It is called Heraclea, which lends credence to the report. Nearby is a cave, Acherusia, passable to the manes, as they say, and thence [whence] they suppose Cerberus to have been brought up.

[93] Tum Tios oppidum, Milesiorum quidem colonia, sed iam soli gentisque Paphlagonum; quorum in litoribus paene mediis promunturium est Carambis, citra Parthenius amnis, urbes Sesamus et Cromnos et a Cytisoro Phrixi filio posita Cytoros; tum Cinolis et Collyris et quae Paphlagoniam finit Armene.

[93] Then the town Tios, indeed a colony of the Milesians, but now of the soil and of the people of the Paphlagonians; on whose shores, almost in the middle, is the promontory Carambis, this side of the river Parthenius, the towns Sesamus and Cromnos and Cytoros, placed by Cytisorus, son of Phrixus; then Cinolis and Collyris and Armene, which bounds Paphlagonia.

[94] Chalybes proximi clarissimas habent Amison et Sinopen, Cynici Diogenis patriam, amnium Halyn et Thermodonta. Secundum Halyn urbs est Lycasto, ad Thermodonta campus. In eo fuit Themiscurum oppidum, fuere et Amazonum castra, ideo Amazonium vocant.

[94] The Chalybes next hold the very famous Amisus and Sinope, the homeland of the Cynic Diogenes, and the rivers Halys and Thermodon. Along the Halys is the city Lycastus, and at the Thermodon a plain. In that region was the town Themiscurum; there were also the camps of the Amazons, hence they call it Amazonium.

[95] Tabereni Chalybas adtingunt, quibus in lusu risuque summum bonum est. Vltra [Carambim] Mossyni turres ligneas subeunt, notis corpus omne persignant, propatulo vescuntur, promisce concumbunt et palam, reges suffragio deligunt, vinculisque et artissima custodia tenent, atque ubi culpam prave quid imperando meruere, inedia diei totius adficiunt, ceterum asperi inculti pernoxii adpulsis.

[95] The Tabereni touch the Chalybes, among whom the highest good is play and laughter. Beyond Carambis the Mossyni inhabit wooden towers, they anoint/sprinkle their whole bodies with known (ointments), they eat in the open, lie together promiscuously and openly, elect kings by suffrage, and hold them with chains and the closest custody; and when by wicked command they have deserved blame for anything, they afflict them with starvation for the whole day, otherwise harsh, uncultivated, and nocturnally harmful when set upon.

[96] Dein minus feri, verum et hi inconditis moribus, Macrocephali, Bechiri, Buxeri. Rarae urbes: Cerasunta et Trapezos maxime inlustres.

[96] Then less savage, yet these also of unrefined manners: the Macrocephali, the Bechiri, the Buxeri. Few towns: Cerasunta and Trapezos most illustrious.

[97] Inde is locus est ubi finem ductus a Bosphoro tractus accipit, atque inde se in sinu adversi litoris flexus adtollens angustissimum Ponti facit angulum. Hic sunt Colchi, huc Phasis erumpit, hic eodem nomine quo amnis est a Themistagora Milesio deductum oppidum, hic Phrixi templum et lucus, fabula vetere pellis aureae nobilis.

[97] From there is the place where the tract drawn from the Bosphorus takes its end, and thence lifting itself in a bay of the opposite shore and bending, it makes the narrowest angle of the Pontus. Here are the Colchi, hither the Phasis bursts forth; here a town of the same name as the river, founded by Themistagoras the Milesian; here the temple and grove of Phrixus, renowned in the ancient tale of the Golden Fleece.

[98] Hinc orti montes longo se iugo et donec Riphaeis coniungantur exporrigunt; qui altera parte in Euxinum et Maeotida et Tanain, altera in Caspium pelagus obversi, Cerauni dicuntur, idem aliubi Taurici Moschi Amazonici Caspii Coraxici Caucasii, ut aliis aliisve adpositi gentibus ita aliis aliisque dicti nominibus.

[98] From here the mountains rising stretch out in a long ridge and extend until they are joined to the Riphaei; which, turned on one side toward the Euxine and the Maeotian and the Tanais, and on the other toward the Caspian sea, are called Cerauni, the same elsewhere being called Tauric, Moschian, Amazonian, Caspian, Coraxian, Caucasian, for, as they lie next to some peoples or others, so they are called by one name or another.

[99] At in primo flexu iam curvi litoris oppidum est quod Graeci mercatores constituisse, et quia cum caeca tempestate agerentur, ignaris qua terra esset cycni vox notam dederat, Cycnum adpellasse dicuntur. Reliqua eius ferae incultaeque gentes vasto mari adsidentes tenent, Melanchlaena, Toretica, sex Colicae, Coraxici, Phthirophagi, Heniochi, Achaei, Cercetici, et iam in confinio Maeotidis Sindones.

[99] But at the first bend of the curved shore there is a town which Greek merchants are said to have founded; and because they had been driven by a blind storm, the cry of a swan had given a sign to them ignorant of what land it was, and they are said to have called it Cycnus. The rest of its wild and uncultivated peoples occupy the shores abutting on the vast sea: Melanchlaena, Toretica, the six Colicae, Coraxici, Phthirophagi, Heniochi, Achaei, Cercetici, and already on the frontier of the Maeotis the Sindones.

[100] In Heniochorum finibus Dioscorias a Castore et Polluce Pontum cum Iasone ingressis, Sindos in Sindonum ab ipsis terrarum cultoribus condita est.

[100] On the borders of the Heniochi, Dioscurias; and when Castor and Pollux with Jason had entered the Pontus, Sindos in Sindonum was founded by those very tillers of the soil.

[101] Obliqua tunc regio et in latum modice patens inter Pontum Paludemque ad Bosphorum excurrit; quam duobus alveis in lacum et in mare profluens Coracanda paene insulam reddit. Quattuor urbes ibi sunt Hermonassa, Cepoe, Phanagorea, et in ipso ore Cimmerium.

[101] Then the region runs off obliquely and opening moderately broad between the Pontus and the Marsh to the Bosphorus; which, with two channels flowing into a lake and into the sea, renders Coracanda almost an island. Four towns are there: Hermonassa, Cepoe, Phanagorea, and at the very mouth Cimmerium.

[102] Hac ingressos lacus accipit longe lateque diffusus, qua terras tangit incurvo circumdatus litore, qua mari propior est, nisi ubi aperitur, quasi margine obductus, citra magnitudinem prope Ponto similis.

[102] This lake, which one enters here, receives them, spread far and wide; where it touches the lands it is girded by a curved shore, and where it is nearer the sea, except where it opens, it is, as if overlaid by a margin, in breadth somewhat less than the sea, almost like the Pontus.

[103] Oram quae a Bosphoro ad Tanain usque deflectitur Maeotici incolunt, Thatae, Sirachi, Phicores et ostio fluminis proximi Ixamatae. Apud eos easdem artes feminae quas viri exercent, adeo ut ne militia quidem vacent. Viri pedibus merent sagittisque depugnant, illae equestre proelium ineunt nec ferro dimicant, sed quos laqueis intercepere trahendo conficiunt.

[103] The shore which bends from the Bosphorus as far as the Tanais is inhabited by the Maeotici, the Thatae, the Sirachi, the Phicores, and at the mouth of the nearest river the Ixamatae. Among them women practise the same arts as the men, so much so that they are not free even from military service. The men earn their pay on foot and fight with arrows, the women enter into cavalry battle and do not fight with iron, but they dispatch those they ensnare by lassoes by dragging them off.

Nubunt tamen, verum ut nubiles habeantur non in aetate modus est; nisi quae hostem interemere virgines manent.

Nubunt tamen, verum ut nubiles habeantur non in aetate modus est; nisi quae hostem interemere virgines manent. → They do marry, however; but there is no fixed age at which they are reckoned marriageable; except that those maidens who have slain an enemy remain virgins.

[104] Ipse Tanais ex Riphaeo monte deiectus adeo praeceps ruit, ut cum vicina flumina, tum Maeotis et Bosphorus tum Ponti aliqua brumali rigore durentur, solus aestus hiememque iuxta ferens idem semper et sui similis incitatusque decurrat.

[104] The Tanais itself, cast down from Mount Riphaeus, rushes so headlong that, while neighboring rivers, the Maeotis and the Bosporus and parts of the Pontus are hardened by wintry rigor, it alone brings tide and winter together nearby, ever the same and like unto itself, urged on and running down.

[105] Ripas eius Sauromatae et ripis haerentia possident, una gens aliquot populi et aliquot nomina. Primi Maeotidae Gynaecocratumenoe regna Amazonum, fecundos pabulo ad alia steriles nudosque campos tenent. Budini Gelonion urbem ligneam habitant.

[105] Its banks are possessed by the Sauromatae and those clinging to the banks, one people with several tribes and several names. First the Maeotidae hold the gynaecratic realm of the Amazons, keeping fertile pasture and elsewhere sterile, naked fields. The Budini inhabit the wooden city Gelonion.

Iuxta Thyssagetae Turcaeque vastas silvas occupant alunturque venando.

Beside them the Thyssagetae and the Turks occupy the vast forests and are fed by hunting.

[106] Tum continuis rupibus late aspera et deserta regio ad Aremphaeos usque permittitur. His iustissimi mores, nemora pro domibus, alimenta bacae, et feminis et maribus nuda sunt capita. Sacri itaque habentur, adeoque ipsos nemo de tam feris gentibus violat, ut aliis quoque ad eos confugisse pro asylo sit.

[106] Then a region, rugged and deserted far and wide with continuous cliffs, extends as far as the Aremphaeoi. These have the most just mores: groves instead of houses, berries for aliment, and both women and men bare-headed. They are therefore held sacred, and so no one of such savage peoples violates them, to such an extent that others have also fled to them for asylum.

Vltra surgit mons Riphaeus ultraque eum iacet ora quae spectat oceanum.

Beyond rises the Riphaean mountain, and beyond it lies the shore which looks toward the ocean.