Pomponius Mela: DE CHOROGRAPHIA

[1] Asiae in Nostrum mare Tanainque vergentis quem dixi finis ac situs est, ac per eundem amnem in Maeotida remeantibus ad dexteram Europa est, modo sinistro latere innavigantium adposita. In ea Riphaeis montibus proxuma, - et huc enim pertinent - , cadentes adsidue nives adeo invia efficiunt, ut ultra ne visum quidem intendentium admittant. Deinde est regio ditis admodum soli, inhabitabilis tamen, quia grypi, saevum et pertinax ferarum genus, aurum terra penitus egestum mire amant mireque custodiunt, et sunt infesti attingentibus.

[1] Of Asia, sloping toward Our Sea and the Tanais, as I have said, this is the boundary and the situation; and for those returning by the same river into the Maeotis, Europe is on the right, just now placed on the left side of those sailing inward. In it, the tracts nearest to the Riphaean mountains, - for they reach hither - , the continually falling snows make so pathless that they admit not even the sight of those straining their gaze beyond. Then there is a region of soil exceedingly wealthy, yet uninhabitable, because the gryphons, a savage and stubborn kind of beasts, wondrously love the gold dug out from the earth and wondrously guard it, and they are hostile to those who touch it.

[2] Hominum primi sunt Scythae Scytharumque quis singuli oculi esse dicuntur Arimaspoe, ab eis Essedones usque ad Maeotida. Huius flexum Buces amnis secat. Agathyrsi et Sauromatae ambiunt; quia pro sedibus plaustra habent dicti Amaxobioe.

[2] The first of men are the Scythians, and among the Scythians the Arimaspi, of whom it is said that each has a single eye; from them, the Essedones, up to the Maeotis. The bend of this the river Buces cuts. The Agathyrsi and the Sauromatae surround it; because they have wagons for dwellings, they are called the Amaxobioe.

Obliqua tunc ad Bosphorum plaga excurrens Ponto ac Maeotide includit<ur>.

Then the oblique tract running out toward the Bosporus is enclosed by the Pontus and the Maeotis.

[3] In Paludem vergentia Satarchae tenent, in Bosphorum Cimmerica oppida Murmecion, Panticapaeon, Theodosia, Hermisium, in Euxinum mare Taurici. Super eos sinus portuosus et ideo Calos limen appellatus promunturiis duobus includitur. Alterum Criu metopon vocant, Carambico quod in Asia diximus par et adversum, Parthenion alterum.

[3] The Satarchae hold the lands sloping into the Marsh, toward the Bosporus the Cimmerian towns Murmecion, Panticapaeon, Theodosia, Hermisium, toward the Euxine sea the Taurici. Above them a harborous bay, and therefore called Calos limen, is enclosed by two promontories. One they call Criu metopon, equal and opposite to Carambis, which we said is in Asia, the other, Parthenion.

Oppidum adiacet Cherrone<sus>, a Diana, si creditur, conditum, et nymphaeo specu quod in arce eius nymphis sacratum est maxime inlustre.

A town lies adjacent: Cherronesus, founded, if it is believed, by Diana, and most illustrious for the nymphaeum-grotto which in its citadel has been consecrated to the Nymphs.

[4] Subit tum ripam mare, et donec quinque milium passuum spatio absit a Maeotide, refugientia usque subsequens litora, quod Satarchae et Taurici tenent paene insulam reddit. Quod inter Paludem et sinum est Taphrae nominantur, sinus Carcinites. In eo urbs est Carcine, quam duo flumina Gerrhos et Ypacares uno ostio effluentia adtingunt, verum diversis fontibus et aliunde delapsa.

[4] Then the sea comes up to the bank, and, until it is distant from the Maeotis by a space of five miles, continually following the shores as they recede, it makes almost an island of the tract which the Satarchae and the Taurici hold. What lies between the Marsh and the bay is called the Taphrae; the bay, Carcinites. In it there is the city Carcine, which two rivers, the Gerrhos and the Ypacares, flowing out by one mouth, touch—yet from different springs and having descended from elsewhere.

Nam Gerrhos inter Basilidas et Nomadas, <Ypacares per Nomadas> evolvitur.

For the Gerrhos flows between the Basilidae and the Nomads, <the Ypacares through the Nomads>.

[5] Silvae deinde sunt quas maximas hae terrae ferunt, et Panticapes qui Nomadas Georgosque disterminat. Terra tum longe distenta excedens tenui radice litori adnectitur, post spatiosa modice paulatim se ipsa fastigat, et quasi in mucronem longa colligens latera facie positi ensis adiecta est. Achilles infesta classe mare Ponticum ingressus ibi ludicro certamine celebrasse victoriam, et cum ab armis quies erat se ac suos cursu exercitavisse memoratur.

[5] Then there are forests which these lands report as the greatest, and the Panticapes, which demarcates the Nomads and the Georgi (farmers). The land then, stretched far and projecting, is joined to the shore by a slender root; thereafter, spacious, it little by little modestly tapers itself, and, as if into a point, gathering its flanks in length, it is laid out with the appearance of a sword set down. Achilles, entering the Pontic Sea with a hostile fleet, is remembered to have celebrated his victory there with a ludicrous contest, and, when there was a rest from arms, to have trained himself and his men with running.

Ideo dicta est Dromos Achilleos.

Therefore it is called the Dromos of Achilles.

[6] Tum Borysthenes gentem sui nominis adluit, inter Scythiae amnes amoenissimus turbidis aliis liquidissimus defluit, placidior quam ceteri potarique pulcherrimus. Alit laetissima pabula magnosque pisces, quibus et optimus sapor et nulla ossa sunt. Longe venit ignotisque ortus e fontibus quadraginta dierum iter alveo stringit, tantoque spatio navigabilis secundum Borysthenidam et Olbian, Graeca oppida, egreditur.

[6] Then the Borysthenes bathes the people of its own name; among the rivers of Scythia it flows most delightful, most limpid while the others are turbid, more placid than the rest and most beautiful to drink. It nourishes the lushest pastures and great fishes, which have both the best savor and no bones. It comes from afar and, sprung from unknown fountains, it compresses in its channel a journey of forty days, and for so great a span, being navigable, it goes forth, along Borysthenis and Olbia, Greek towns.

[7] Callippidas Hypanis includit. Ex grandi palude oritur, quam matrem eius accolae appellant, et diu qualis natus est defluit. Tandem non longe a mari ex parvo fonte, cui Exampaeo cognomen est, adeo amaras aquas accipit, ut ipse quoque iam sui dissimilis et non dulcis hinc defluat.

[7] The Hypanis includes the Callippidae. It rises from a large marsh, which the inhabitants call its mother, and for a long time it flows such as it was born. At length, not far from the sea, from a small spring, to which the cognomen Exampaeum belongs, it receives waters so bitter that it too, now unlike itself and not sweet, flows down thence.

Asiaces proximus inter Callippidas Asiacasque descendit. Hos ab Histricis Tyra separat; surgit in Neuris, qua exit sui nominis oppidum adtingit.

The Asiaces, next, descends between the Callippidae and the Asiacans. The Tyra separates these from the Histrici; it rises among the Neuri, and where it exits it attains a town of its own name.

[8] At ille qui Scythiae populos a sequentibus dirimit, apertis in Germania fontibus, alio quam desinit nomine exoritur. Nam per immania magnarum gentium diu Danuvius est, deinde aliter eum adpellantibus accolis fit Hister, acceptisque aliquot amnibus, ingens iam et eorum qui in Nostrum mare decidunt tantum Nilo minor, totidem quot ille ostiis, sed tribus tenuibus, reliquis navigabilibus effluit. Ingenia cultusque gentium differunt.

[8] But that river which separates the peoples of Scythia from those that follow, with its springs laid open in Germania, rises under a name other than the one with which it ends. For through the vast expanses of great nations it is for a long course the Danuvius (Danube), then, as the locals call it otherwise, it becomes the Hister; and, after receiving several rivers, now huge and, among those which fall into Our Sea, only smaller than the Nile, it discharges by as many mouths as that one—three slender, the rest navigable. The dispositions and cultures of the peoples differ.

Essedones funera parentium laeti et victimis ac festo coetu familiarium celebrant. Corpora ipsa laniata et caesis pecorum visceribus inmixta epulando consumunt. Capita ubi fabre expolivere, auro vincta pro poculis gerunt.

The Essedones celebrate the funerals of their parents joyfully, with victims and a festal gathering of their kinsfolk. The bodies themselves, lacerated and mixed with the viscera of slaughtered cattle, they consume by banqueting. The heads, when they have skillfully polished them, wreathed with gold, they bear as cups.

Haec sunt apud eos ipsos pietatis ultima officia.

With them, these are the very last offices of piety.

[9] Agathyrsi ora artusque pingunt, ut quique maioribus praestant, ita magis aut minus: ceterum isdem omnes notis et sic ut ablui nequeant. Satarchae auri argentique, maximarum pestium, ignari vice rerum commercia exercent, atque ob saeva hiemis admodum adsiduae, demersis in humum sedibus, specus aut suffossa habitant, totum bracati corpus, et nisi qua vident etiam ora vestiti.

[9] The Agathyrsi paint their faces and limbs, and as each excels in his ancestors, so more or less; but all with the same marks, and in such a way that they cannot be washed off. The Satarchae, ignorant of gold and silver—the greatest plagues—practice commerce by exchange in turn of things; and, on account of a savage winter that is very continual, with their dwellings sunk into the ground, they live in caves or excavations, breeched over the whole body, and their faces too are clothed, save where they see.

[10] Tauri Iphigeniae et Orestis adventu maxime memorati immanes sunt moribus, immanemque famam habent solere pro victimis advenas caedere. Basilidis ab Hercule et Echidna generis principia sunt, mores regii, arma tantum sagittae. Vagi Nomades pecorum pabula secuntur, atque ut illa [pecorum] durant ita diu stata sede agunt.

[10] The Tauri, most renowned by the advent of Iphigenia and Orestes, are monstrous in customs, and they have a monstrous fame for being accustomed to slaughter foreigners as victims. The Basilidae have the beginnings of their lineage from Hercules and Echidna, regal manners, and only arrows for arms. Wandering Nomads follow the fodder of their herds, and as long as those [of the herds] endure, so long they remain in a fixed seat.

Colunt Georgi exercentque agros. Asiacae furari quid sit ignorant, ideoque nec sua custodiunt nec aliena contingunt.

The Georgi cultivate and work the fields. Of what it is to steal in Asiatic fashion they are ignorant, and therefore they neither guard their own nor touch what is another’s.

[11] Interius habitantium ritus asperior et incultior regio est. Bella caedesque amant, mosque est bellantibus cruorem eius quem primum interemerunt ipsis ex vulneribus ebibere. Vt quisque plures interem[er]it, ita apud eos habetur eximius; ceterum expertem esse caedis inter opprobria vel maximum.

[11] The region of those dwelling more inward is harsher in rites and more uncultivated. They love wars and slaughters, and it is the custom for combatants to drink up from the very wounds the blood of him whom they first have slain. As each one has slain more, so he is held among them as exceptional; moreover, to be without share in slaughter is, among opprobriums, even the greatest.

Ne foedera quidem incruenta sunt; sauciant se qui paciscuntur, exemptumque sanguinem ubi permiscuere degustant. Id putant mansurae fidei pignus certissimum.

Not even the treaties are bloodless; those who make a pact wound themselves, and when they have commixed the blood that has been drawn, they taste it. They deem that the surest pledge of a faith that will endure.

[12] Inter epulas quot quisque interfecerit referre laetissima et frequentissima mentio, binisque poculis qui plurimos rettulere perpotant. Is inter iocantis honos praecipuus est. Pocula ut Essedones parentium, ita inimicissimorum capitibus expoliunt.

[12] During the banquets the happiest and most frequent mention is to recount how many each has slain, and those who have reported the most drain two goblets. This is the preeminent honor among the jesting. They polish drinking-cups, as the Essedones do, from the heads (skulls) of their parents, and likewise from those of their bitterest enemies.

[13] Apud Anthropophagos ipsae etiam epulae visceribus humanis apparantur. Geloni hostium cutibus equos seque velant, illos reliqui corporis, se capitum. Melanchlaenis atra vestis et ex ea nomen, Neuris statum singulis tempus est, quo si velint in lupos, iterumque in eos qui fuere mutentur.

[13] Among the Anthropophagi, the banquets themselves are prepared with human viscera. The Geloni veil their horses and themselves with the skins of enemies, the former with those of the rest of the body, themselves with those of the heads. For the Melanchlaeni, a black garment, and from it the name, among the Neuri there is a fixed time for each, at which, if they wish, they are changed into wolves, and again into those whom they had been.

[14] Mars omnium deus; ei pro simulacris enses et cinctoria dedicant, hominesque pro victumis feriunt. Terrae late patent, et ob excedentia ripas suas plerumque flumina nusquam non ad pabula fertiles, alicubi usque eo steriles ad cetera, ut qui habitant lignorum egentes ignes ossibus alant.

[14] Mars, the god of all; to him in place of simulacra they dedicate swords and cinctures, and they strike human beings as victims. The lands lie open wide, and, because the rivers for the most part exceed their banks, they are nowhere not fertile for pasture; elsewhere they are to such a degree sterile for other things that those who dwell there, lacking wood, feed their fires with bones.

[15] His Thracia proxima est, eaque a Pontici lateris fronte usque in Illyrios penitus inmissa, qua latera agit Histro pelagoque contingitur. Regio nec caelo laeta nec solo, et nisi qua mari propior est, infecunda, frigida, eorumque quae seruntur maligne admodum patiens, raro usquam pomiferam arborem, vitem frequentius tolerat: sed nec eius quidem fructus maturat ac mitigat, nisi ubi frigora obiectu frondium cultores arcuere. Viros benignius alit, non ad speciem tamen, nam et illis asper atque indecens corporum habitus est, ceterum ad ferociam et numerum, ut multi immitesque sunt maxime ferax.

[15] Next to these lies Thrace, and it is thrust deep from the front of the Pontic side all the way into the Illyrians, whose flanks the Hister washes and it is touched by the sea. A region neither cheerful in climate nor in soil, and, except where it is nearer to the sea, infecund, frigid, and very grudgingly tolerant of the things that are sown, it rarely anywhere endures a fruit-bearing tree; it more frequently tolerates the vine: but it neither ripens nor mitigates even its fruit, unless where the cultivators have warded off the cold by the interposition of foliage. It nourishes men more benignly, not as to appearance, however, for they too have a rough and indecent habit of body; but for ferocity and for number, in that they are many and savage, it is most fecund.

[16] Paucos amnis qui in pelagus evadunt, verum celeberrimos Hebrum et Neston Strymona emittit. Montes interior adtollit Haemon et Rhodopen et Orbelon, sacris Liberi patris et coetu Maenadum, Orpheo primum initiante, celebratos. E quis Haemos in tantum altitudinis abit, ut Euxinum et Hadrian ex summo vertice ostendat.

[16] It sends out few rivers that escape into the sea, but very celebrated ones: the Hebrus, the Nestus, and the Strymon. The interior lifts up the mountains Haemus, Rhodope, and Orbelus, celebrated for the rites of Father Liber and the concourse of Maenads, Orpheus being the first initiator. Of these, Haemus ascends to such a height that from its topmost summit it shows the Euxine and the Adriatic.

[17] Vna gens Thraces habitant, aliis aliisque praediti et nominibus et moribus. Quidam feri sunt et paratissimi ad mortem, Getae utique. Id varia opinio perficit; alii redituras putant animas obeuntium, alii etsi non redeant non extingui tamen, sed ad beatiora transire, alii emori quidem, sed id melius esse quam vivere.

[17] One nation, the Thracians, dwell there, endowed with various names and mores. Some are fierce and most prepared for death, especially the Getae. A diversity of opinion brings this about: some think the souls of the dying will return; others, even if they do not return, think that they are not extinguished, but pass over to more blessed states; others say they do indeed die, but that this is better than living.

Itaque lugentur apud quosdam puerperia natique deflentur, funera contra festa sunt, et veluti sacra cantu lusuque celebrantur. ne feminis quidem segnis animus est. Super mortuorum virorum corpora interfici simulque sepeliri votum eximium habent, et quia plures simul singulis nuptae sunt, cuius id sit decus apud iudicaturos magno certamine adfectant.

Therefore among some, childbirths are mourned and the newborn are bewailed; funerals, by contrast, are festivals, and are celebrated, as if sacred rites, with song and play. Nor indeed is the spirit sluggish in the women. Over the bodies of their dead husbands they hold as a distinguished vow to be slain and to be buried together; and because several are married at once to a single man, they strive in great contest—before those who are going to judge—as to which of them this honor shall be.

Moribus datur estque maxime laetum, cum in hoc contenditur vincere.

By custom it is granted, and it is most joyous, when in this it is contended to conquer.

[18] Maerent aliae vocibus, et cum acerbissimis planctibus efferunt. At quibus consolari eas animus est, arma opesque ad rogos deferunt, paratique, ut dictitant, cum fato iacentis, si detur in manus, vel pacisci vel decernere, ubi nec pugnae nec pecuniae locus sit, manentque dominas proci.

[18] Others mourn with outcries, and they carry them out with the most bitter lamentations. But those whose spirit is to console them bring arms and wealth to the pyres, and, prepared, as they keep saying, with the fate of the one lying there, if it be given into their hands, either to make terms or to decide—where there is room neither for battle nor for money—and the suitors wait for their ladies.

[19] Nupturae virgines non a parentibus viris traduntur, sed publice aut locantur ducendae aut veneunt. Vtrum fiat ex specie et moribus causa est. Probae formosaeque in pretio sunt, ceteras qui habeant mercede quaeruntur.

[19] Brides-to-be are not handed over to husbands by their parents, but publicly they are either let out to be led as wives or are sold. Which occurs depends on appearance and morals. The upright and beautiful are at a premium; for the others, men who will have them are sought with a fee.

Vini usus quibusdam ignotus est: epulantibus tamen ubi super ignes quos circumsident quaedam semina ingesta sunt, similis ebrietati hilaritas ex nidore contingit.

The use of wine is unknown to some: yet, for those banqueting, when certain seeds have been cast upon the fires which they sit around, a hilarity similar to ebriety comes about from the savor.

[20] In litoribus Histro est proxima Histropolis, deinde Milesiis deducta Callatis, tum Tomoe et portus Caria et Tiristis promunturium, quod praetervectos alter Ponti angulus accipit, adversus Phasiaco et nisi amplior foret similis. Fuit hic Bizone, motu terrae intercidit. Est portus Crunos, urbes Dionysopolis, Odessos, Messembria, Anchialos, et intimo in sinu, atque ubi Pontus alterum sui flexum angulo finit, magna Apollonia.

[20] On the shores of the Ister the nearest is Histropolis, then Callatis, a colony led out by the Milesians, then Tomoe and the harbor Caria and the promontory Tiristis, which, once you have sailed past, the other angle of the Pontus receives you, opposite the Phasiac one and, unless it were broader, similar. Here was Bizone; it perished by a movement of the earth. There is the port Crunos, the cities Dionysopolis, Odessos, Messembria, Anchialos, and, in the inmost bay, and where the Pontus finishes the other bend of itself at the angle, great Apollonia.

[21] Recta dehinc ora, nisi quod media ferme in promunturium quod Thynian vocant exit, et incurvis contra se litoribus obtenditur, urbesque sustinet Halmydeson et Philias et Phinopolim. Hactenus Pontus. deinde est Bosphorus et Propontis, in Bosphoro Byzantion, in Propontide Selymbria, Perinthos, Bytinis; amnesque qui interfluunt Erginos et Atyras.

[21] Thence the coast is straight, except that about the middle it runs out into a promontory which they call Thynian, and is faced by shores curving toward one another, and it sustains the cities Halmydesos and Philias and Phinopolis. Thus far the Pontus. Then there is the Bosporus and the Propontis: in the Bosporus, Byzantion; in the Propontis, Selymbria, Perinthos, Bytinis; and the rivers which flow between, the Erginos and the Atyras.

Tum Rhesso regnata quondam pars Thraciae, et Bisanthe Samiorum, et ingens aliquando Cypsela. Post locus quem Grai Macron tichos adpellant, et in radice magnae paene insulae sedens Lysimachia.

Then the part of Thrace once ruled by Rhesus, and Bisanthe of the Samians, and Cypsela once immense. After that, the place which the Greeks call Macron Tichos, and Lysimachia sitting at the root of a great almost-island.

[22] Terra quae sequitur nusquam lata atque hic artissima inter Hellespontum Aegaeumque procurrit. Angustias Isthmon, frontem eius Mastusiam, totam Chersonessum adpellant ob multa memorabilem.

[22] The land which follows is nowhere broad and here most narrow, and it projects between the Hellespont and the Aegean. They call the narrows the Isthmus, its front the Mastusia, the whole the Chersonese, memorable on account of many things.

[23] Est in ea flumen Aegos, naufragio classis Atticae insigne; est et Abydo obiacens Sestos, Leandri amore pernobile; est et regio in qua Persarum exercitus divisas spatio pelagoque terras ausus pontibus iungere, mirum atque ingens facinus, ex Asia in Graeciam pedes et non navigata maria transgressus est; sunt Protesilai ossa consecrata delubro; est et portus Coelos, Atheniensibus et Lacedaemoniis navali acie decernentibus Laconicae classis signatus excidio; est Cynos sema, tumulus Hecubae, sive ex figura canis in quam conversa traditur, sive ex fortuna in quam deciderat, humili nomine accepto; est Madytos, est Eleus quae finit Hellespontum.

[23] In it there is the river Aegos, distinguished by the shipwreck of the Attic fleet; there is also Sestos, lying opposite Abydos, most-renowned for the love of Leander; there is also the region in which the army of the Persians, daring to join by bridges lands divided by distance and by the sea—a wondrous and vast deed—crossed on foot from Asia into Greece, and seas not sailed; there are the bones of Protesilaus consecrated in a shrine; there is also the harbor Coelos, marked by the destruction of the Laconian (Spartan) fleet, as the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians were deciding by a naval battle; there is Cynos sema, the tumulus of Hecuba, whether from the figure of a dog into which she is said to have been turned, or from the fortune into which she had fallen, a humble name having been received; there is Madytus, there is Eleus which bounds the Hellespont.

[24] Aegaeum statim pelagus vaste longum litus inpellit, summotasque terras hinc ad promunturium quod Sunium vocatur magno ambitu mollique circumagit. Eius tractum legentibus praevectisque Mastusiam sinus intrandus est qui alterum Chersonesi latus adluens iugo facie vallis includitur, et ex fluvio quem accipit Melas dictus duas urbes amplectitur, Alopeconnesum et in altero Isthmi litore sitam Cardiam.

[24] The Aegean sea straightway drives upon an immensely long shore, and the lands set back here it rounds with great sweep and gentle turn up to the promontory which is called Sunium. For those coasting along its tract and having sailed past Mastusia, a gulf must be entered which, washing the other side of the Chersonese, is enclosed by a ridge, in the aspect of a valley; and, called Melas from the river which it receives, it embraces two cities, Alopeconnesus and Cardia, the latter situated on the other shore of the Isthmus.

[25] Eximia est Aenos ab Aenea profugo condita. Circa Hebrum Cicones, trans eundem Doriscos, ubi Xerxen copias suas quia numero non poterat spatio mensum ferunt. Dein promunturium Serrhion, et quo canentem Orphea secuta narrantur etiam nemora Zone.

[25] Aenos is exceptional, founded by Aeneas the exile. Around the Hebrus are the Cicones; across the same, Doriscus, where they report that Xerxes, because he could not by number, had his forces measured by space. Then the promontory Serrhium, and Zone, where the groves are said even to have followed Orpheus singing.

Tum Sthenos fluvius, et ripis eius adiacens Maronia. Regio ulterior Diomeden tulit, inmanibus equis mandendos solitum obiectare advenas et iisdem ab Hercule obiectum. Turris quam Diomedis vocant signum fabulae remanet, et urbs quam soror eius suo nomine nominavit Abdere; sed ea magis id memorandum habet, quod Democritum physicum tulit, quam quod ita condita est.

Then the Sthenos river, and Maroneia adjacent to its banks. The farther region brought forth Diomedes, accustomed to throw strangers to be chewed by monstrous horses, and he himself was thrown to those same by Hercules. The tower which they call Diomedes’ remains as a token of the fable, and the city which his sister named with her own name, Abdera; but it has this rather to be remembered, that it brought forth Democritus the physicus (natural philosopher), than that it was thus founded.

[26] Vltra Nestos fluit, interque eum et Strymona urbes sunt Philippi, Apollonia, Amphipolis; inter Strymona et Athon turris Calarnaea et portus Capru limen, urbs Acanthos et Echinia; inter Athon et Pallenen Cleona et Olynthos. Strymon, sicut diximus, amnis est longeque ortus et tenuis. Alienis subinde aquis fit amplior, et ubi non longe a mari lacum fecit, maiore quam venerat alveo erumpit.

[26] Further on the Nestos flows, and between it and the Strymon are the cities Philippi, Apollonia, Amphipolis; between the Strymon and Athos, the Calarnaean tower and Caprus Harbor, the city Acanthos and Echinia; between Athos and Pallene, Cleona and Olynthos. The Strymon, as we have said, is a river rising far away and slender. By foreign waters it from time to time becomes fuller, and when, not far from the sea, it has made a lake, it bursts forth with a channel larger than that with which it had come.

[27] Atho mons adeo altus est, ut credatur altius etiam quam unde imbres cadunt surgere. Capit opinio fidem, quia de aris quas in vertice sustinet non abluitur cinis, sed quo relinquitur aggere manet. Ceterum non promunturio ut alii, verum totus et toto longoque dorso procedit in pelagus.

[27] Mount Athos is so high that it is believed to rise even higher than the level whence rains fall. The opinion gains credence, because the ash on the altars which it supports on its summit is not washed off, but remains where it is left in a heaped mound. Moreover, not by a promontory as others, but as a whole, and with its whole long back, it advances into the sea.

[28] Qua continenti adhaeret a Xerxe in Graios tendente perfossus transnavigatusque est - adhuc freto navigabili pervius. Ima eius tenent parvae Pelasgorum coloniae. In summo fuit oppidum Acrothoon, in quo, ut ferunt, dimidio longior quam in aliis terris aetas habitantium erat.

[28] Where it adheres to the continent, it was dug through and sailed across by Xerxes as he was advancing against the Greeks - still passable by a navigable strait. Its lowest parts are held by small colonies of the Pelasgians. At the summit there was the town Acrothoon, in which, as they say, the lifespan of the inhabitants was by a half longer than in other lands.

[29] Pallene soli tam patentis, ut quinque urbium sedes sit atque ager, tota in altum abit, angusta satis unde incipit. Ibi est Potidaea, at ubi latius patet, Mende Scioneque referendae, illa ab Eretriis, haec ab Achivis capto Ilio remeantibus posita.

[29] Pallene, with soil so expansive that it is the seat and territory of five cities, goes wholly out into the deep, quite narrow where it begins. There is Potidaea; but where it spreads more broadly, Mende and Scione are to be mentioned—the former planted by the Eretrians, the latter by Achaeans returning with Ilium captured.

[30] Tum Macedonum populi quot urbes habitant, quarum Pelle est maxime inlustris. Alumni efficiunt, Philippus Graeciae domitor, Alexander etiam Asiae. In litore flexus Megybernaeus, inter promunturia Derim et Canastraeum et portum qui Cophos dicitur urbes Toronen et Myscellam atque unde ipsi nomen est Megybernam incingit.

[30] Then the peoples of the Macedonians dwell in several cities, of which Pella is most illustrious. Its alumni are Philip, tamer of Greece, and Alexander, of Asia as well. On the shore the Megybernaean bend, between the promontories Derim and Canastraeum and the port which is called Cophos, girds the cities Torone and Myscella and Megyberna, whence it itself has the name.

[31] Canastraeo promunturio Sane proxima est, Megybernaeus in medio, qua terra dat gremium, modice in litora ingreditur. Ceterum longis et in altum inmissis lateribus ingens inde Thermaicus sinus est. In eum Axius per Macedonas, et iam per Thessalos Peneus excurrit.

[31] At the Canastraeum promontory Sane is nearest; the Megybernaean, in the middle, where the land gives a bosom, enters the shores moderately. Moreover, from there the Thermaic gulf is vast, with long sides sent into the deep. Into it the Axius runs through the Macedonians, and now the Peneus through the Thessalians issues forth.

Ante Axium Thessalonice est, inter utrumque Cassandria, Cydna, Aloros, Itharis. A Peneo ad Sepiada Corynthya, Meliboea, Castanaea pares ad famam nisi quod Philoctetes alumnus Meliboean inluminat.

Before the Axius is Thessalonica; between the two are Cassandria, Cydna, Aloros, Itharis. From the Peneus to Sepiada, Corynthya, Meliboea, and Castanaea are equal in fame, except that Philoctetes, an alumnus, illuminates Meliboea.

[32] Terrae interiores claris locorum nominibus insignes paene nihil ignobile ferunt. Hinc non longe est Olympus, hic Pelion hic Ossa, montes gigantum fabula belloque memorati; hic Musarum parens domusque Pieria; hic novissime calcatum Graio Herculi solum, saltus Oetaeus; hic sacro nemore nobilia Tempe; hic Libethra carminum fontes.

[32] The interior lands, distinguished by famous names of places, bear almost nothing ignoble. From here not far is Olympus, here Pelion, here Ossa, mountains commemorated in the fable of the Giants and in war; here the parent and house of the Muses, Pieria; here the ground most recently trodden by the Graian Hercules, the Oetaean woodland-pass; here Tempe, notable for its sacred grove; here Libethra, fountains of songs.

[33] [Obiacet] tum iam vaste et multum prominens Graecia, et dum Myrtoum pelagus adtingat ab septentrione in meridiem vecta, qua sol oritur Aegaeis, qua occidit Ioniis fluctibus obiacet. Ac proxime spatiosa et Hellas nomine grandi fronte procedit, mox mari utroque et Ionio magis latera eius intrante, donec quattuor milia passuum pateat, media ferme prope inciditur.

[33] [It lies opposite] then now Greece, vast and very projecting; and, while it reaches the Myrtoan sea, borne from the north into the south, where the sun rises it faces the Aegean, where it sets the Ionian waves. And next, spacious, Hellas by name, it advances with a large front, then, with both seas—and more with the Ionian—entering its flanks, until it lies open for 4 miles, it is almost cut through near the middle.

[34] Deinde rursum terris huc se et illuc, verum in Ionium mare magis expandentibus progressisque in altum, non tam lata quam coeperat, ingens tamen iterum et quasi paene insula extenditur, vocaturque Peloponnesos, ob sinus et promunturia, quis ut fibris litora eius incisa sunt, simul quod tenui tramite in latius effunditur, platani folio simillima. a Macedonia prima est Thessalia, deinde Magnesia, Phthiotis, Doris, Locris, Phocis, Boeotis, Atthis, Megaris, sed omnium Atthis clarissima; in Peloponneso Argolis, Laconice, Messenia, Achaia, Elis, Arcadia; ultra Aetolia, Acarnania et Epiros usque in Hadrian.

[34] Then again, with the lands spreading themselves here and there, but more into the Ionian Sea and pushing out into the deep, not so broad as it had begun, yet vast again and as if almost an island, it stretches forth and is called the Peloponnesus, on account of the bays and promontories by which, as by fibers, its shores are incised, and also because from a slender isthmus it spreads out more widely, very like to the leaf of the plane tree. from Macedonia the first is Thessaly, then Magnesia, Phthiotis, Doris, Locris, Phocis, Boeotia, Attica, Megaris, but of them all Attica is the most renowned; in the Peloponnesus, Argolis, Laconia, Messenia, Achaea, Elis, Arcadia; beyond, Aetolia, Acarnania and Epirus as far as the Adriatic.

[35] De locis atque urbibus quae mare non adluit haec maxime memoranda sunt: in Thessalia nunc Larissa aliquando Iolcos, in Magnesia Antronia, in Phthiotide Phthia, in Locride Cynos et Calliaros, in Phocide Delphi et mons Parnassos et Apollinis fanum atque oraculum, in Boeotia Thebae et Cithaeron, fabulis carminibusque celebratus;

[35] Regarding the places and cities which the sea does not wash, these are most of all to be remembered: in Thessaly now Larissa, at one time Iolcus, in Magnesia Antronia, in Phthiotis Phthia, in Locris Cynos and Calliaros, in Phocis Delphi and Mount Parnassus and the shrine and oracle of Apollo, in Boeotia Thebes and Cithaeron, celebrated in fables and songs;

[36] in Atthide Eleusin Cereri consecrata, et clariores quam ut indicari egeant Athenae, in Megaride unde regioni nomen est Megara, ut in Argolide Argos et Mycenae et templum Iunonis vetustate et religione percelebre, in Laconide Therapnae, Lacedaemon, Amyclae, mons Taygetus, in Messenia Messene et Methone; in Achaia atque Elide quondam Pisae Oenomai, Elis etiamnum, delubrumque Olympii Iovis, certamine quidem gymnico et singulari sanctitate, ipso tamen simulacro quod Phidiae opus est maxime nobile.

[36] in Attica, Eleusis consecrated to Ceres, and Athens too renowned to need to be pointed out; in Megaris, whence the region has its name, Megara; as in Argolis, Argos and Mycenae and the temple of Juno, most celebrated for antiquity and religion; in Laconia, Therapnae, Lacedaemon, Amyclae, Mount Taygetus, in Messenia, Messene and Methone; in Achaia and in Elis, formerly Pisa of Oenomaus, Elis still, and the shrine of Olympian Jove, distinguished indeed by the gymnic contest and by singular sanctity, yet most noble for the statue itself, which is a work of Phidias.

[37] Arcadiam Peloponnesiacae gentes undique incingunt. In ea sunt urbes Psophis, Tegea, Orchomenos, montes Pholoe, Cyllenius, Parthenius, Maenalus, flumina Erymanthus et Ladon, in Aetolia Naupactos, in Acarnania Stratos oppida, in Epiro Dodonaei Iovis templum, et fons ideo sacer, quod cum sit frigidus et inmersas faces sicut ceteri extinguat, ubi sine igne procul admoventur adcendit.

[37] Arcadia is girdled on every side by the Peloponnesian peoples. In it are the cities Psophis, Tegea, Orchomenus; the mountains Pholoe, Cyllene, Parthenius, Maenalus; the rivers Erymanthus and Ladon; the towns Naupactus in Aetolia, Stratus in Acarnania; in Epirus the temple of Dodonaean Jove, and a spring sacred for this reason: although it is cold and, like the others, quenches torches plunged into it, yet when they are brought near without fire, from a distance it kindles them.

[38] At cum litora leguntur, a promunturio Sepiade per Demetrion et Halon et Pteleon et Echinon ad Pagasaeum sinum cursus est. Ille urbem Pagasan amplexus amnem Sperchion accipit, et quia Minyae Colchida petentes inde Argo navem solvere memoratur.

[38] But when the shores are coasted, from the promontory Sepias through Demetrion and Halos and Pteleon and Echinus the course is to the Pagasaean gulf. That, embracing the city Pagasa, receives the river Spercheius; and it is remembered that the Minyae, seeking Colchis, from there set sail the ship Argo.

[39] Ab eo ad Sunium tendentibus illa praenaviganda: Maliacus et Opuntius grandes sinus, et in his caesorum etiam Laconum tropaea Thermopylae, Opoes, Scarpha, Cnemides, Alope, Anthedon, Larumnae, Aulis, Agamemnoniae Graiorumque classis in Troiam coniurantium statio, Marathon magnarum multarumque virtutium testis iam inde a Theseo, Persica maxime clade pernotus;

[39] From there, for those tending toward Sunium, these are to be first sailed past: the Maliac and the Opuntian great bays, and in these the trophies at Thermopylae, where even Laconians were cut down, Opoes, Scarpha, Cnemides, Alope, Anthedon, Larumnae, Aulis, the station of Agamemnon’s and of the Greeks’ fleet conspiring against Troy, Marathon, witness of great and many virtues from Theseus on, most especially well-known for the Persian disaster;

[40] Rhamnus parva, inlustris tamen, quod in ea fanum est Amphiarai et Phidiaca Nemesis; Thoricos et Brauronia olim urbes iam tantum nomina. Sunium promunturium est, finitque id litus Hellados quod spectat orientem.

[40] Rhamnus is small, illustrious nonetheless, because in it there is a temple of Amphiaraus and the Phidian Nemesis; Thoricos and Brauronia, once cities, are now only names. Sunium is a promontory, and it bounds that shore of Hellas which looks toward the east.

[41] Inde ad meridiem terra convertitur usque ad Megaram [atticae] ut modo latere ita nunc fronte pelago adiacens. Ibi est Piraeus, Atheniensium portus, Scironia saxa saevo quondam Scironis hospitio etiam nunc infamia.

[41] Thence the land turns to the south as far as Megara [atticae], so that, as just now with its side, so now with its front it lies adjacent to the sea. There is the Piraeus, the harbor of the Athenians, the Scironian rocks in infamy even now for the savage hospitality once of Sciron.

[42] Megarensium tractus Isthmon adtingit; de illo cognomen est, quia quattuor milium spatio Aegaeum mare ab Ionio submovens angusto tramite Helladi Peloponneson adnectit. In eo est oppidum Cenchreae, fanum Neptuni, ludis quos Isthmicos vocant celebre, Corinthos olim clara opibus, post clade notior, nunc Romana colonia, ex summa arce quam Acrocorinthon adpellant maria utraque contuens.

[42] The tract of the Megarians touches the Isthmus; from it is the cognomen, because, by a span of four miles, removing the Aegean Sea from the Ionian, it connects the Peloponnesus to Hellas by a narrow thoroughfare. In it is the town of Cenchreae, a sanctuary of Neptune, famous for the games which they call the Isthmian; Corinth, once illustrious in resources, later more noted for its disaster, now a Roman colony, from the highest citadel which they call the Acrocorinth, looks out upon both seas.

[43] Peloponnesi oram, sicut diximus, sinus et promunturia lacerant, ab oriente Bucephalos et Chersonessus et Scyllaeon, ad meridiem Malea, Taenaros, Acritas, Ichthys, ad vesperum Chelonates et Araxos. Habitant ab Isthmo ad Scyllaeon Epidaurii, Aesculapi templo incluti, et Troezenii, fide societatis Atticae inlustres.

[43] The shore of the Peloponnese, as we have said, bays and promontories lacerate, on the east Bucephalos and Chersonessus and Scyllaeon, to the south Malea, Taenarus, Acritas, Ichthys, to the west Chelonates and Araxus. There dwell from the Isthmus to Scyllaeon the Epidaurians, renowned for the temple of Aesculapius, and the Troezenians, illustrious for the fidelity of their alliance with Attica.

[44] Portus Saronicus et Schoenitas et Pogonus, oppida autem Epidaurus et Troezene et Hermiona his litoribus adposita sunt. Inter Scyllaeon et Malean et Taenaron Laconicus, inter Taenaron et Acritan Asinaeus, inter Acritan et Ichthyn Cyparissius.

[44] The ports Saronic and Schoenitas and Pogonus, and the towns Epidaurus and Troezen and Hermione are set upon these shores. Between Scyllaeon and Malea and Taenarum the Laconian, between Taenarum and Acritas the Asinaean, between Acritas and Ichthys the Cyparissian.

[45] In Argolico sunt noti amnes Erasinus atque Inachus et notum oppidum Lerne, in Laconico Gythium et Eurotas, in ipso Taenaro Neptuni templum et specus, illi quem in Ponto Acherusium diximus facie et fabula similis, in Asinaeo flumen Pamisum, in Cyparissio Alpheus. Nomen dedit urbs in litore sita, huic Cyparissos, illi Asine.

[45] In the Argolic are the known rivers Erasinus and Inachus and the known town Lerne, in the Laconian Gythium and the Eurotas, on Taenarum itself Neptune’s temple and a cave, similar in appearance and in fable to that Acherusian which we said was in the Pontus, in the Asinaean the river Pamisus, in the Cyparissian the Alpheus. A city situated on the shore gave the name: to this one Cyparissos, to that one Asine.

[46] Messenii Pyliique terras colunt et ipsa pelago Pylos adiacet. Cyllene, Callipolis, Patrae oram illam tenent in quam Chelonates et Araxos excurrunt, sed Cyllene quod Mercurium ibi natum arbitrantur insignis. Rhion deinde, maris id nomen est, anguste et velut freto latus orae sequentis incidens inter Aetolos et Peloponnesiacos usque ad Isthmon inrumpit.

[46] The Messenians and the Pylians cultivate the lands, and Pylos itself adjoins the deep. Cyllene, Callipolis, Patrae hold that shore into which the Chelonates and Araxos run out, but Cyllene is notable because they think Mercury was born there. Then Rhion, that is a sea-name, narrow and as if a strait, cutting into the flank of the following coast, breaks in between the Aetolians and the Peloponnesians up to the Isthmus.

[47] In eo ad septentriones spectare litora incipiunt. In his est Aegion et Aegira et Olyros et Sicyon, at in adversis Pagae, Creusis, Anticyra, Oeanthia, Cirrha et notior aliquanto nomine Calydon et Euenos extra Rhion. In Acarnania maxime clara sunt oppidum Leucas, flumen Achelous.

[47] In that place the shores begin to face toward the north. Among these are Aegion and Aegira and Olyros and Sicyon, but on the opposite coasts Pagae, Creusis, Anticyra, Oeanthia, Cirrha, and Calydon, somewhat more notable by name, and the Evenus beyond Rhion. In Acarnania the most renowned are the town Leucas and the river Achelous.

[48] In Epiro nihil Ambracio sinu nobilius est. Facit sinus qui angustis faucibus et quae minus mille passibus pateant grande pelagus admittit, faciunt urbes quae adsident: Actium, Argi Amphilochii, Ambracia, Aeacidarum regna Pyrrhique. Butroton ultra est, deinde Ceraunii montes, ab his flexus est in Hadrian.

[48] In Epirus nothing is more noble than the Ambracian gulf. Its nobility is made by the bay, which, with narrow jaws and an opening of less than a thousand paces, admits a great sea; it is made by the cities that sit beside it: Actium, Amphilochian Argos, Ambracia, the realms of the Aeacidae and of Pyrrhus. Beyond is Buthrotum, then the Ceraunian mountains, and from these the coastline bends into the Adriatic.

[49] Hoc mare magno recessu litorum acceptum et vaste quidem in latitudinem patens, qua penetrat tamen vastius, Illyricis usque Tergestum, cetera Gallicis Italicisque gentibus cingitur. Partheni et Dasaretae prima eius tenent, sequentia Taulantii, Encheleae, Phaeaces. Dein sunt quos proprie Illyrios vocant, tum Piraei et Liburni et Histri.

[49] This sea, received by a great recess of the shores and, indeed, spreading vastly in breadth, yet where it penetrates, more vastly still, is bordered by Illyrian peoples as far as Tergestum; the rest is girded by Gallic and Italian peoples. The Partheni and the Dasaretae hold its first parts, next the Taulantii, the Encheleae, the Phaeaces. Then come those whom they properly call Illyrians, then the Piraei and the Liburni and the Histri.

Vrbium prima est Oricum, secunda Dyrrachium, Epidamnos ante erat, Romani nomen mutavere, quia velut in damnum ituris omen id visum est.

Of the cities, the first is Oricum, the second Dyrrachium; formerly it was Epidamnos; the Romans changed the name, because that seemed an omen, as though for those bound for loss.

[50] Vltra sunt Apollonia, Salona, Iader, Narona, Tragurium, sinus Polaticus et Pola, quondam a Colchis ut ferunt habitata, in quantum res transeunt! Nunc Romana colonia. Amnes autem Aeas et Nar et Danuvius qui iam dictus est Hister: sed Aeas secundum Apolloniam, Nar inter Piraeos et Liburnos, per Histros Hister emittitur.

[50] Beyond are Apollonia, Salona, Iader, Narona, Tragurium, the Polaticus bay and Pola, once inhabited, as they report, by the Colchians—how far things do pass on! Now a Roman colony. The rivers moreover are the Aeas and the Nar and the Danube, which has already been called the Hister: but the Aeas runs along Apollonia, the Nar between the Piraei and the Liburni, through the Histri the Hister is discharged.

Tergeste intumo in sinu Hadriae situm finit Illyricum.

Tergeste, situated in the innermost gulf of the Adriatic, bounds Illyricum.

[51] De Italia magis quia ordo exigit quam quia monstrari eget, pauca dicentur: nota sunt omnia. Ab Alpibus incipit in altum excedere, atque ut procedit se media perpetuo iugo Appennini montis adtollens, inter Hadriaticum et Tuscum sive, ut aliter eadem adpellantur, inter Superum mare et Inferum excurrit diu solida. Verum ubi longe abiit, in duo cornua finditur, respicitque altero Siculum pelagus, altero Ionium: tota angusta et alicubi multo quam unde coepit angustior.

[51] Of Italy, more because order requires than because it needs to be shown, a few things will be said: all things are known. From the Alps it begins to project out into the deep, and as it advances, lifting itself in the middle along the perpetual ridge of the Apennine mountain, it runs out between the Adriatic and the Tuscan, or, as the same are otherwise called, between the Upper Sea and the Lower, for a long stretch as a solid mass. But when it has gone far, it is split into two horns, and with the one it faces the Sicilian sea, with the other the Ionian: the whole is narrow, and in some places much narrower than where it began.

[52] Interiora eius aliae aliaeque gentes, sinistram partem Carni, et Veneti colunt Togatam Galliam; tum Italici populi Picentes, Frentani, Dauni, Apuli, Calabri, Sallentini. Ad dextram sunt sub Alpibus Ligures, sub Appennino Etruria; post Latium, Volsci, Campania et super Lucaniam Bruttii.

[52] Its inner regions are inhabited by various peoples: on the left side the Carni and the Veneti, Togate Gaul; then Italic peoples—the Picenes, Frentani, Daunians, Apulians, Calabrians, Sallentines. On the right are, under the Alps, the Ligurians; under the Apennine, Etruria; after Latium, the Volsci, Campania, and beyond Lucania the Bruttii.

[53] Vrbium quae procul a mari habitantur opulentissimae sunt ad sinistram Patavium Antenoris, Mutina et Bononia, Romanorum coloniae, ad dextram Capua a Tuscis, et Roma quondam pastoribus condita, nunc si pro materia dicatur alterum opus.

[53] Of the cities which are inhabited far from the sea, the most opulent are to the left: Patavium of Antenor; Mutina and Bononia, colonies of the Romans; to the right, Capua by the Tuscans, and Rome, once founded by shepherds, now, if it be said according to the material, a second work.

[54] At in oris proxima est a Tergeste Concordia. Interfluit Timavus novem capitibus exsurgens, uno ostio emissus; dein Natiso non longe a mari ditem adtingit Aquileiam.

[54] But on the shores the nearest to Tergeste is Concordia. Between flows the Timavus, rising from nine heads, discharged by a single mouth; then the Natiso, not far from the sea, reaches wealthy Aquileia.

[55] Vltra est Altinum. Superiora late occupat litora Padus. Namque ab imis radicibus Vesuli montis exortus parvis se primum e fontibus colligit, et aliquatenus exilis ac macer, mox aliis amnibus adeo augescit atque alitur, ut se per septem ad postremum ostia effundat.

[55] Beyond is Altinum. The Po widely occupies the upper shores. For, having arisen from the lowest roots of Mount Vesulus, it at first gathers itself from small springs, and, somewhat slender and lean, soon so increases and is nourished by other rivers that at the end it pours itself out through seven mouths.

Vnum de eis magnum Padum adpellant.

They call one of them the Great Padus.

[56] Inde tam citus prosilit, ut discussis fluctibus diu qualem emisit undam agat, suumque etiam in mari alveum servet, donec eum ex adverso litore Histriae eodem impetu profluens Hister amnis excipiat. Hac re per ea loca navigantibus, qua utrimque amnes eunt, inter marinas aquas dulcium haustus est.

[56] Thence it leaps forth so swift that, the billows having been dashed aside, for a long time it drives the same kind of wave as it sent out, and even in the sea it preserves its own channel, until the Hister river, flowing forth with the same impetus from the opposite littoral of Histria, receives it. For this reason, for those navigating through those places, where on both sides the rivers go, amidst the marine waters there is a draught of sweet water.

[57] A Pado ad Anconam transitur Ravenna, Ariminum, Pisaurum, Fanestris colonia, flumen Metaurus atque Aesis. Et illa in angusto illorum duorum promunturiorum ex diverso coeuntium inflexi cubiti imagine sedens, et ideo a Grais dicta Ancon, inter Gallicas Italicasque gentes quasi terminus interest.

[57] From the Padus to Ancona one passes by Ravenna, Ariminum, Pisaurum, the colony Fanestris, the river Metaurus and also the Aesis. And that city, sitting in the narrow place in the likeness of a bent elbow, formed by those two promontories coming together from opposite sides, and therefore called by the Greeks Ancon, lies between the Gallic and the Italian peoples as a kind of boundary.

[58] Haec enim praegressos Piceni litora excipiunt: in quibus Numana, Potentia, Cluana, Cupra urbes, castella autem Firmum, Hadria, Truentinum; id et fluvio qui praeterit nomen est. Ab eo Frentani illa maritima habent, Aterni fluminis ostia, urbes Bucam et Histonium; Dauni autem Trifernum amnem, Cliterniam, Larinum, Teanum oppida, montemque Garganum.

[58] For these, indeed, receive those who have gone past the shores of Picenum: among them the cities Numana, Potentia, Cluana, Cupra; but the strongholds Firmum, Hadria, Truentinum— and that is also the name of the river that passes by. From there the Frentani possess those maritime parts, the mouths of the river Aternus, the cities Buca and Histonium; the Dauni, however, the river Trifernus, the towns Cliternia, Larinum, Teanum, and Mount Garganus.

[59] Sinus est continuo Apulo litore incinctus nomine Urias, modicus spatio pleraque asper accessu, extra Sipontum aut ut Grai dixere Sipuntem, et flumen quod Canusium adtingens Aufidum adpellant, post Barium et Gnatia et Ennio cive nobiles Rudiae, et iam in Calabria Brundisium, Valetium, Lupiae, Hydrus mons, tum Sallentini campi et Sallentina litora et urbs Graia Callipolis.

[59] There is a bay girdled along the continuous Apulian littoral by the name Urias, moderate in extent, for the most part rough in approach, beyond Sipontum, or, as the Greeks said, Sipuntem, and the river which, touching Canusium, they call the Aufidus, after Barium and Gnatia and Rudiae, renowned for the citizen Ennius, and now in Calabria Brundisium, Valetium, Lupiae, Mount Hydrus, then the Sallentine fields and the Sallentine shores and the Greek city Callipolis.

[60] Hucusque Hadria, hucusque Italiae latus alterum pertinet. Frons eius in duo quidem se cornua, sicut supra diximus, scindit: ceterum mare quod inter utraque admisit tenuibus promunturiis semel iterumque distinguens non uno margine circumit, nec diffusum patensque sed per sinus recipit.

[60] Thus far the Adriatic, thus far extends the other side of Italy. Its front, as we said above, cleaves into two horns; but the sea which has been admitted between the two, distinguishing it once and again with slender promontories, does not encompass it with a single margin, nor receive it as diffuse and open, but takes it in through bays.

[61] Primus Tarentinus dicitur inter promunturia Sallentinum et Lacinium, in eoque sunt Tarentus, Metapontum, Heraclea, Croto, Thurium: secundus Scyllaceus inter promunturia Lacinium et Zephyrium, in quo est Petelia, Carcinus, Scyllaceum, Mystiae: tertius inter Zephyrium et Bruttium Consentiam, Cauloniam, Locrosque circumdat. In Bruttio sunt Columna Rhegia, Rhegium, Scylla, Taurianum et Metaurum.

[61] The first, the Tarentine, is said to be between the promontories Sallentinum and Lacinium, and in it are Tarentus, Metapontum, Heraclea, Croto, Thurium: the second, the Scylacean, between the promontories Lacinium and Zephyrium, in which are Petelia, Carcinus, Scylaceum, Mystiae: the third, between Zephyrium and Bruttium, encompasses Consentia, Caulonia, and the Locri. In Bruttium are the Column of Rhegium, Rhegium, Scylla, Taurianum, and Metaurum.

[62] Hinc in Tuscum mare flexus est et eiusdem terrae latus alterum, Maticana, Hipponium Vibove, Temesa, Clampetia, Blanda, Buxentum, Velia, Palinurus olim Phrygii gubernatoris nunc loci nomen, Paestanus sinus, Paestum oppidum, Silerus amnis, Picentia, Petrae quas Sirenes habitarunt, Minervae promunturium, omnia Lucaniae loca;

[62] From here the bend is into the Tuscan Sea and the other side of the same land, Maticana, Hipponium or Vibo, Temesa, Clampetia, Blanda, Buxentum, Velia, Palinurus, once the name of the Phrygian helmsman, now the name of the place, the Paestan gulf, the town of Paestum, the river Silerus, Picentia, the Rocks which the Sirens inhabited, the Promontory of Minerva—all places of Lucania;

[63] sinus Puteolanus, Syrrentum, Herculaneum, Vesuvii montis adspectus, Pompei, Neapolis, Puteoli, lacus Lucrinus et Avernus, Baiae, Misenum, id nunc loci aliquando Phrygii militis nomen, Cumae, Liternum, Volturnus amnis, Volturnum oppidum, amoena Campaniae litora;

[63] the Puteolan bay, Surrentum, Herculaneum, the aspect of Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii, Neapolis, Puteoli, the Lucrine and Avernian lakes, Baiae, Misenum, which now is a name of the place, once the name of a Phrygian soldier, Cumae, Liternum, the river Volturnus, the town Volturnum, the pleasant shores of Campania;

[64] Sinoessa, Liris, Minturnae, Formiae, Fundi, Tarracina, Circes domus aliquando Circeia, Antium, Aphrodisium, Ardea, Laurentum, Ostia citra Tiberim in hoc latere sunt.

[64] Sinoessa, the Liris, Minturnae, Formiae, Fundi, Tarracina, Circe’s house, at one time Circeia, Antium, Aphrodisium, Ardea, Laurentum, Ostia on this side of the Tiber, are on this side.

[65] Vltra Pyrgi, Minio, Castrum novum, Graviscae, Cosa, Telamon, Populonia, Caecina, Pisae, Etrusca et loca et flumina; deinde Luna Ligurum et Tigulia et Genua et Sabatia et Albingaunum; tum Paulo et Varum flumina utraque ab Alpibus delapsa, sed Varum quia Italiam finit aliquanto notius.

[65] Beyond Pyrgi, Minio, Castrum Novum, Graviscae, Cosa, Telamon, Populonia, Caecina, Pisae—Etruscan both places and rivers; then Luna of the Ligurians and Tigulia and Genua and Sabatia and Albingaunum; then the Paulo and the Varus, rivers both having descended from the Alps, but the Varus, because it bounds Italy, is somewhat the better known.

[66] Alpes ipsae ab his litoribus longe lateque diffusae, primo ad septentrionem magno gradu excurrunt, deinde ubi Germaniam adtigerunt, verso impetu in orientem abeunt, diremptisque populis immanibus, usque in Thraciam penetrant.

[66] The Alps themselves, spread far and wide from these shores, at first run out toward the north with a great stride, then, when they have touched Germany, with their impetus turned they go away into the east, and, sundering monstrous peoples, they penetrate as far as Thrace.

[67] Gallia Lemanno lacu et Cebennicis montibus in duo latera divisa, atque altero Tuscum pelagus adtingens altero oceanum, hic a Varo illic a Rheno ad Pyrenaeum usque permittitur. Pars Nostro mari adposita fuit aliquando Bracata nunc Narbonensis - est magis culta et magis consita ideoque etiam laetior.

[67] Gaul, divided into two sides by Lake Leman (Lemmanus) and the Cebenna mountains, and with the one side touching the Tuscan sea, the other the Ocean, is here bounded by the Varus, there by the Rhine, all the way to the Pyrenees. The part set beside Our Sea was formerly Bracata, now Narbonensis — it is more cultivated and more planted, and therefore also more lush.

[68] Vrbium quas habet opulentissimae sunt Vasio Vocontiorum, Vienna Allobrogum, Avennio Cavarum, Arecomicorum Nemausus, Tolosa Tectosagum, Secundanorum Arausio, Sextanorum Arelate, Septimanorum Beterrae. Sed antestat omnis Atacinorum Decimanorumque colonia, unde olim his terris auxilium fuit, nunc et nomen et decus est Martius Narbo.

[68] Of the cities which it has, the most opulent are Vasio of the Vocontii, Vienna of the Allobroges, Avennio of the Cavares, Nemausus of the Arecomici, Tolosa of the Tectosages, Arausio of the Secundani, Arelate of the Sextani, Beterrae of the Septimani. But surpassing all stands the colony of the Atacini and Decimani, whence once there was aid for these lands; now the name and the ornament is Narbo Martius.

[69] In litoribus aliquot sunt cum aliquis nominibus loca: ceterum rarae urbes quia rari portus, et omnis plaga austro atque africo exposita est. Nicaea tangit Alpes, tangit oppidum Deciatum, tangit Antipolis.

[69] On the shores there are several places with certain names: but the cities are few because the harbors are few, and the whole tract is exposed to the south wind and to the Africus. Nicaea touches the Alps, touches the Deciate town, touches Antipolis.

[70] Deinde est Forum Iuli, Octavanorum colonia, tum post Athenopolim et Olbiam et Tauroin et Citharisten est Lacydon, Massiliensium portus, et in eo ipsa Massilia. Haec a Phocaeis oriunda et olim inter asperas posita, nunc ut pacatis ita dissimillimis tamen vicina gentibus, mirum quam facile et tunc sedem alienam ceperit et adhuc morem suum teneat.

[70] Then there is Forum Iuli, a colony of the Octavani; then, after Athenopolis and Olbia and Tauroin and Citharista, there is Lacydon, the harbor of the Massilians, and in it Massilia herself. This city, originating from the Phocaeans and once set among harsh neighbors, now, though adjacent to peoples pacified yet very dissimilar, it is marvelous how easily both then it seized an alien seat and still holds to its own custom.

[71] Inter eum et Rhodanum Maritima Avaticorum stagno adsidet, Fossa Mariana partem eius amnis navigabili alveo effundit. Alioqui litus ignobile est, lapideum ut vocant, in quo Herculem contra Alebiona et Dercynon, Neptuni liberos, dimicantem cum tela defecissent ab invocato Iove adiutum imbre lapidum ferunt. Credas pluvisse, adeo multi passim et late iacent.

[71] Between it and the Rhone, the Maritima Avaticorum sits beside a lagoon; the Fossa Mariana pours off part of that river by a navigable channel. Otherwise the shore is undistinguished, “stony” as they call it, on which they relate that Hercules, fighting against Alebion and Dercynus, Neptune’s offspring, when his missiles had failed, was aided by Jove, invoked, with a shower of stones. You would think it had rained, so many lie scattered everywhere and far and wide.

[72] Rhodanus non longe ab Histri Rhenique fontibus surgit: dein Lemanno lacu acceptus tenet impetum, seque per medium integer agens quantus venit egreditur, et inde contra in occidentem ablatus aliquamdiu Gallias dirimit, post cursu in meridiem abducto hac intrat, accessuque aliorum amnium iam grandis et subinde grandior inter Volcas et Cavaras emittitur.

[72] The Rhone rises not far from the springs of the Ister and the Rhine: then, received by Lake Leman, it restrains its rush, and, carrying itself through the middle undiminished, goes out as great as it came; and from there, instead, borne toward the west, for some while it divides the Gauls; afterward, with its course drawn off to the south, it enters here, and by the accession of other rivers, now large and ever larger, it is discharged between the Volcae and the Cavares.

[73] Vltra sunt stagna Volcarum, Ledum flumen, castellum Latara, Mesua collis incinctus mari paene undique, ac nisi quod angusto aggere continenti adnectitur insula. Tum ex Cebennis demissus Arauris iuxta Agathan, secundum Beterras Orbis fluit.

[73] Beyond are the lagoons of the Volcae, the river Ledus, the castellum Latara, Mesua, a hill girdled by the sea almost on every side, and—except that it is connected to the continent by a narrow embankment—an island. Then, sent down from the Cevennes, the Arauris flows near Agatha; along Beterrae the Orbis flows.

[74] Atax ex Pyrenaeo monte degressus, qua sui fontis aquis venit, exiguus vadusque est, et iam ingentis alioqui alvei tenens nisi ubi Narbonem adtingit nusquam navigabilis, sed cum hibernis intumuit imbribus usque eo solitus insurgere, ut se ipse non capiat. Lacus accipit eum Rubraesus nomine spatiosus admodum, sed qua mare admittit tenuis aditu.

[74] The Atax, having descended from the Pyrenean mountain, where it comes with the waters of its own spring, is exiguous and fordable, and, though holding an otherwise immense channel, is navigable nowhere except where it reaches Narbo; but when it has swelled with the winter rains, it is wont to surge up to such a point that it cannot contain itself. A lake receives it, Rubraesus by name, very spacious, but where it admits the sea, narrow in its inlet.

[75] Vltra est Leucata litoris nomen et Salsulae fons, non dulcibus aquis defluens sed salsioribus etiam quam marinae sunt; iuxta campus minuta harundine gracilique perviridis, ceterum stagno subeunte suspensus. Id manifestat media pars eius quae abscissa proximis velut insula natat, pellique se atque adtrahi patitur.

[75] Beyond is Leucata, the name of a shoreline, and the spring of Salsulae, not flowing with sweet waters but with waters even saltier than the sea’s; nearby is a field, very verdant with minute and slender reed, but suspended, as a pond steals in beneath. This is made manifest by its middle part, which, cut off from the nearest parts, floats like an island, and allows itself to be driven and to be drawn.

[76] Quin et ex his quae ad imum perfossa sunt suffusum mare ostenditur. Vnde Grais nostrisque etiam auctoribus, verine ignorantia an prudentibus etiam mendacii lubidine visum est tradere posteris, in ea regione piscem e terra penitus erui, quod ubi ex alto hucusque penetravit per ea foramina ictu captantium interfectus extrahitur. Inde est ora Sordonum et parva flumina Telis et Ticis, ubi adcrevere persaeva, colonia Ruscino, vicus Eliberrae, magnae quondam urbis et magnarum opum tenue vestigium.

[76] Indeed, even from those places which are perforated down to the bottom, a sea suffused beneath is shown. Whence to Greek and even to our own authors—whether from ignorance of the truth or, though prudent, even from a lust for mendacity—it seemed good to hand down to posterity that in that region a fish is dug out of the earth from deep within; which, when it has penetrated hither from the deep through those holes, is slain by a blow of the captors and is drawn out. Thence is the shore of the Sordones and the small rivers Telis and Ticis, where things most savage have increased, the colony of Ruscino, the village of Eliberra, a slight vestige of a once great city and of great wealth.

Tum inter Pyrenaei promunturia Portus Veneris in sinu salso et Cervaria locus Galliae finis.

Then between the promontories of the Pyrenees, the Port of Venus in a briny bay, and Cervaria, a place—the boundary of Gaul.

[77] Pyrenaeus primo hinc in Britannicum procurrit oceanum; tum in terras fronte conversus Hispaniam inrumpit, et minore parte eius ad dexteram exclusa trahit perpetua latera continuus, donec per omnem provinciam longo limite inmissus in ea litora quae occidenti sunt adversa perveniat.

[77] The Pyrenees first from here run out into the Britannic Ocean; then, turned with its front toward the lands, it bursts into Spain, and, with its smaller part to the right shut out, continuous, it draws its perpetual flanks, until, inserted through the whole province as a long limit, it arrives at those shores which are opposite to the west.

[78] Ipsa Hispania nisi qua Gallias tangit pelago undique incincta, et ubi illis adhaeret maxime angusta paulatim se in Nostrum et oceanum mare extendit, magisque et magis latior ad occidentem abit ac fit ibi latissima, viris equis ferro plumbo aere argento auroque etiam abundans, et adeo fertilis, ut sicubi ob penuriam aquarum effeta ac sui dissimilis est, linum tamen aut spartum alat.

[78] Spain itself, except where it touches the Gauls, is girdled on all sides by the sea; and where it clings to them, being very narrow, it gradually extends into Our Sea and the Ocean, and, going toward the west, becomes broader and broader and there becomes widest—abundant in men, horses, iron, lead, bronze, silver, and even gold—and so fertile that, if anywhere, through scarcity of waters, it is exhausted and unlike itself, yet it nurtures flax or esparto.

[79] Tribus autem est distincta nominibus, parsque eius Tarraconensis, pars Baetica, pars Lusitania vocatur. Tarraconensis altero capite Gallias altero Baeticam Lusitaniamque contingens mari latera obicit Nostro qua meridiem, qua septentrionem spectat oceano. Illas fluvius Anas separat, et ideo Baetica maria utraque prospicit, ad occidentem Atlanticum, ad meridiem Nostrum.

[79] Moreover, it is distinguished by three names, and one part of it is called Tarraconensis, one Baetica, one Lusitania. Tarraconensis, touching the Gauls at one end and at the other Baetica and Lusitania, presents its coasts to Our Sea where it looks toward the south, to the Ocean where it looks toward the north. Those two are separated by the river Anas, and for that reason Baetica looks out upon both seas: to the west the Atlantic, to the south Our Sea.

Lusitania oceano tantummodo obiecta est, sed latere ad septentriones, fronte ad occasum. Vrbium de mediterraneis in Tarraconensi clarissimae fuerunt Palantia et Numantia, nunc est Caesaraugusta; in Lusitania Emerita, in Baetica Hastigi, Hispal, Corduba.

Lusitania is exposed only to the ocean, but with its flank to the north, its front to the west. Of the inland cities, in Tarraconensis the most illustrious were Palantia and Numantia, now there is Caesaraugusta; in Lusitania Emerita, in Baetica Hastigi, Hispal, Corduba.

[80] At si litora legas, a Cervaria proxima est rupes quae in altum Pyrenaeum extrudit, dein Ticis flumen ad Rhodam, Clodianum ad Emporias, tum mons Iovis, cuius partem occidenti adversam, eminentia cautium quae inter exigua spatia ut gradus subinde consurgunt, Scalas Hannibalis adpellant. inde ad Tarraconem parva sunt oppida Blande, Iluro, Baetulo, Barcino, Subur, Tolobi; parva flumina Baetulo iuxta Iovis montem, Rubricatum in Barcinonis litore, inter Subur et Tolobin Maius. Tarraco urbs est in his oris maritimarum opulentissima.

[80] But if you were to follow the shores, from Cervaria the next is a cliff which thrusts up into the lofty Pyrenees; then the river Ticis at Rhoda, the Clodianum at Emporiae, then the Mount of Jove, a part of which facing west, the prominent crags, which, with narrow intervals between, rise up in succession like steps, they call the Stairs of Hannibal. Thence toward Tarraco the small towns are Blande, Iluro, Baetulo, Barcino, Subur, Tolobi; the small rivers are the Baetulo near the Mount of Jove, the Rubricatus on the shore of Barcino, between Subur and Tolobi the Maius. Tarraco is the most opulent city on these maritime coasts.

Tulcis eam modicus amnis, super ingens Hiberus Dertosam adtingit.

Tulcis, a modest stream, bathes it; higher up the mighty Hiberus attains Dertosa.

[81] Inde se in terras pelagus insinuat, et primum magno impetu admissum mox in duos sinus promunturio quod Ferrariam vocant finditur.

[81] From there the sea insinuates itself into the lands, and at first, admitted with great impetus, soon it is split into two bays by the promontory which they call Ferraria.

[82] Prior Sucronensis dicitur, maiorque ac magno satis ore pelagus accipiens, et quo magis penetratur angustior, Sorobin et Turiam et Sucronem non magna excipit flumina, urbes conplexus et alias quidem, sed notissimas Valentiam, et Saguntum illam fide atque aerumnis inclutam. Sequens Ilicitanus Allonem habet et Lucentiam et unde ei nomen est Ilicem. Hic iam terrae magis in altum eunt, latioremque quam fuerat Hispaniam faciunt.

[82] The former is called the Sucronensian, larger and receiving the sea with a sufficiently great mouth, and the more it is penetrated the narrower; it takes in not-great rivers, the Sorobis, the Turia, and the Sucro, embracing cities—others indeed, but the best-known Valencia, and that Saguntum renowned for fidelity and hardships. The following, the Ilicitanian, has Allo, and Lucentia, and Ilice, whence it has its name. Here now the lands go more into the deep, and make Spain broader than it had been.

[83] Verum ab his quae dicta sunt ad principia Baeticae praeter Carthaginem quam dux Poenorum Hasdrubal condidit nihil referendum est. In illius oris ignobilia sunt oppida et quorum mentio tantum ad ordinem pertinet, Urci in sinu quem Urcitanum vocant, extra Abdera, Suel, Ex, Maenoba, Malaca, Salduba, Lacippo, Barbesula.

[83] But from these things which have been said up to the beginnings of Baetica, nothing is to be reported except Carthage, which Hasdrubal, leader of the Carthaginians, founded. On that shore there are inglorious towns, and whose mention pertains only to order, Urci in the bay which they call the Urcitan, beyond Abdera, Suel, Ex, Maenoba, Malaca, Salduba, Lacippo, Barbesula.

[84] Fit deinde angustissimum pelagus, et proxima inter se Europae atque Africae litora montes efficiunt, ut initio diximus Columnae Herculis, Abila et Calpes, uterque quidem sed Calpes magis et paene totus in mare prominens. Is mirum in modum concavus, ab ea parte qua spectat occasum medium fere latus aperit, atque inde ingressis totus admodum pervius prope quantum patet specus;

[84] Then there is formed a most narrow sea, and the shores of Europe and Africa nearest to one another make mountains—the Columns of Hercules, Abila and Calpe—as we said at the beginning; both indeed, but Calpe more so, and almost entirely projecting into the sea. This, wondrously concave, on the side where it looks toward the setting sun opens almost the middle of its flank, and from there, for those entering, it is altogether quite passable nearly as far as the cavern extends;

[85] et sinus ultra est in eoque Carteia, ut quidam putant aliquando Tartesos, et quam transvecti ex Africa Phoenices habitant atque unde nos sumus Tingentera. Tum Mellaria et Bello et Baesippo usque ad Iunonis promunturium oram freti occupat. illud iam in occidentem et oceanum obliquo iugo excurrens, atque ei quod in Africa Ampelusiam esse dixeramus adversum, qua nostra maria sunt finit Europen.

[85] and there is a bay beyond, and in it Carteia, which, as some suppose, was once Tartessos, and which Phoenicians conveyed across from Africa inhabit, and whence we are, Tingentera. Then the shore of the strait occupies Mellaria and Bello and Baesippo up to the Promontory of Juno. That, now running out toward the west and the Ocean with an oblique ridge, and opposite to that which in Africa we said was Ampelusia, where our seas are, bounds Europe.

[86] Gades insula quae egressis fretum obvia est, admonet ante reliquas dicere quam in oceani litora terrarumque circuitum, ut initio promisimus, oratio excedat. Paucae sunt in Maeotide, inde enim videtur commodissimum incipere; neque omnes tamen incoluntur, nam ne pabula quidem large ferunt. Hac re habitantibus caro magnorum piscium sole siccata et in pollinem usque contusa pro farre est.

[86] The island Gades, which is encountered by those who have gone out of the strait, admonishes us to speak of it before the rest, before our discourse, as we promised at the beginning, goes forth to the shores of the Ocean and the circuit of the lands. There are few in the Maeotis, for from there it seems most convenient to begin; yet not all are inhabited, for they do not even bear fodder in abundance. For this reason, for the inhabitants the flesh of great fishes, dried in the sun and crushed even into powder, is in place of meal.

[87] Paucae et in Ponto, Leuce Borysthenis ostio obiecta, parva admodum, et quod ibi Achilles situs est Achillea cognomine. Non longe a Colchis Aria quae Marti consecrata, ut fabulis traditur, tulit aves cum summa clade advenientium pinnas quasi tela iaculatas. Sex sunt inter Histri ostia: ex his Peuce notissima et maxima.

[87] Few also in the Pontus: Leuce, set opposite the mouth of the Borysthenes, very small indeed, and, because Achilles is laid there, surnamed Achillea. Not far from Colchis is Aria which, consecrated to Mars, as the fables relate, produced birds that, with the utmost slaughter of those arriving, hurled their pinions as if missiles. There are six among the mouths of the Hister: of these Peuce is the best-known and the greatest.

Thynias, Mariandynorum finibus proxuma, urbem habet, quam quia Bithyni incolunt Bithynida adpellant.

Thynias, nearest to the borders of the Mariandyni, has a city, which, because the Bithynians inhabit it, they call Bithynida.

[88] Contra Thracium Bosphorum duae parvae parvoque distantes spatio et aliquando creditae dictaeque concurrere et Cyaneae vocantur et Symplegades. In Propontide tantum Proconnesos habitatur. Extra Hellespontum earum quae Asiaticis regionibus adiacent clarissimae sunt Tenedos Sigeis adversa litoribus, et quo dicentur ordine ad promunturium Tauri montis expositae quas quidam dici putavere Macaron, sive quod fortunati admodum caeli solique sunt, sive quod eas suo suorumque regno Macar occupaverat; in Troade Lesbos et in ea quinque olim oppida Antissa, Pyrrha, Eresos, Methymna, Mitylene, in Ionia Chios et Samos, in Caria Coos, in Lycia Rhodos.

[88] Opposite the Thracian Bosporus are two small (islands), at a small distance apart, and at times believed and said to run together; they are called both the Cyaneae and the Symplegades. In the Propontis only Proconnesus is inhabited. Outside the Hellespont, of those which adjoin the Asiatic regions, the most renowned are Tenedos, lying opposite the Sigean shores; and, in the order in which they will be named, those set out toward the promontory of Mount Taurus, which some have thought to be called the Macaron (“Islands of the Blessed”), either because they are exceedingly fortunate in climate and soil, or because Macar had occupied them with his own and his people’s kingdom. In the Troad, Lesbos, and in it formerly five towns: Antissa, Pyrrha, Eresos, Methymna, Mytilene; in Ionia, Chios and Samos; in Caria, Cos; in Lycia, Rhodes.

In illis singulae sunt isdem nominibus urbes, in Rhodo tres quondam erant Lindos, Camiros, Ialysos.

In those, there are single cities with the same names; on Rhodes there were formerly three: Lindos, Camiros, Ialysos.

[89] Quae contra Tauri promunturium inportune navigantibus obiacent Chelidoniae nominantur. In sinum, quem maximum Asia recepit, prope media Cypros ad ortum occasumque se inmittens recto iugo inter Ciliciam Syriasque porrigitur, ingens, ut quae aliquando novem regna ceperit et nunc aliquot urbes ferat, quarum clarissimae Salamis, Paphos et quo primum ex mari Venerem egressam accolae adfirmant Palaepaphos.

[89] Those which lie opposite the promontory of Taurus, obstructing those who navigate at an inopportune time, are named the Chelidoniae. Into the gulf which Asia has received as the greatest, nearly in the middle, Cyprus, sending herself out toward east and west, is extended in a straight ridge between Cilicia and the Syrias, vast, as one that once embraced nine kingdoms and now carries several cities, of which the most renowned are Salamis, Paphos, and Palaepaphos, where the inhabitants affirm that Venus first went forth from the sea.

[90] Parabos in Phoenice est parva et quantum patet tota oppidum, frequens tamen, quia etiam super aliena tecta sedem ponere licet. Parva et Canopos Nili ostio quod Canopicum vocant obvia est. Menelai gubernator Canopus ibi forte moriens nomen insulae, illa ostio dedit.

[90] Parabos in Phoenicia is small, and, as far as it extends, entirely a town, yet crowded, because it is permitted even to set one’s dwelling upon others’ roofs. Small too is Canopus, encountered at the mouth of the Nile which they call the Canopic. Canopus, the helmsman (gubernator) of Menelaus, dying there by chance, gave his name to the island, to that mouth.

[91] Pharos nunc Alexandriae ponte coniungitur, olim, ut Homerico carmine proditum est, ab eisdem oris cursu diei totius abducta, et si ita res fuit, videri potest consectantibus in tantum mutatae causas Nilum praebuisse, dum limum subinde et praecipue cum exundaret litori adnectens auget terras, spatiumque augescentium in vicina vada promovet.

[91] Pharos is now connected to Alexandria by a bridge, formerly, as is handed down in Homeric song, drawn off from those same shores at the run of a whole day; and, if the matter was thus, it can seem to those who pursue the reasons that the Nile supplied the causes of so great a change, while, continually and especially when it overflowed, attaching silt to the shore it enlarges the lands and advances the extent of the augmenting ground into the neighboring shallows.

[92] In Africa contra maiorem Syrtim Euteletos, contra minoris promunturia Meninx et Cercina, contra Carthaginis sinum Chyarae, Thylae et Aegatae, Romana clade memorabiles. plures Europae litoribus adpositae sunt: in Aegaeo mari prope Thraciam Thasos, Imbros, Samothrace, Scandile, Polyaegos, Sciathos, Halonessos, et quam aliquando omnibus qui mares erant caesis tantum feminae tenuisse dicuntur Atho monti Lemnos adversa. Pagasaeus sinus Scyron prospicit, Cicynethon amplectitur.

[92] In Africa opposite the Greater Syrtis are the Euteletos; opposite the promontories of the Lesser [Syrtis], Meninx and Cercina; opposite the bay of Carthage, the Chyarae, Thylae, and Aegatae, memorable for a Roman calamity. More are set adjacent to the shores of Europe: in the Aegean Sea near Thrace, Thasos, Imbros, Samothrace, Scandile, Polyaegos, Sciathos, Halonessos, and the island which at one time, all who were males having been slain, is said to have been held only by females—Lemnos, opposite Mount Athos. The Pagasaean gulf looks out upon Scyros, and embraces Cicynethus.

[93] Euboea ad meridiem promunturium Geraeston et Capherea, ad septentrionem Cenaeum extrudit, et nusquam lata duum milium spatium habet ubi artissima est, ceterum longa totique Boeotiae adposita angusto freto distat a litore.

[93] Euboea, to the south, thrusts out the promontories Geraeston and Capherea, to the north Cenaeum; and nowhere, in breadth, does it have a span of two miles where it is narrowest; otherwise long, and set alongside the whole of Boeotia, it is separated from the shore by a narrow strait.

[94] Euripon vocant, rapidum mare, et alterno cursu septiens die ac septiens nocte fluctibus invicem versis adeo inmodice fluens, ut ventos etiam ac plena ventis navigia frustretur. Aliquot in ea sunt oppida Styra, Eretria, Pyrrha, Nesos, Oechalia, verum opulentissimae Carystos et Chalcis.

[94] They call it the Euripus, a rapid sea, and, with an alternating course seven times by day and seven times by night, the waves turned in succession one against another, it flows so immoderately that it even frustrates the winds and ships full of winds. Several towns are in it: Styra, Eretria, Pyrrha, Nesos, Oechalia, but the most opulent are Carystos and Chalcis.

[95] In Atthide Helene est nota stupro Helenae, et Salamis excidio classis Persicae notior. Circa Peloponneson etiam nunc in Aegaeo Pitynussa et Aegina Epidaurico litori proxima, Troezenio Calauria inter ignobiles alias leto Demosthenis nobilis;

[95] In Attica Helene is noted for the rape of Helen, and Salamis is more famous for the destruction of the Persian fleet. Around the Peloponnesus, even now in the Aegean, are Pitynussa and Aegina, nearest to the Epidaurian shore; near Troezen, Calauria, among otherwise ignoble ones, is notable for the death of Demosthenes;

[96] in Myrtoo Cythera contra Malean, Oenussa et Theganusa contra Acritan; in Ionio Prote, Asteria, Cephallania, Neritos, Same, Zacynthos, Dulichium et inter non ignobiles Ulixis nomine Ithaca maxime inlustris; in Epiro Echinades et olim Plotae nunc Strophades; contra Ambracium sinum Leucadia, et vicina Hadriatico mari Corcyra. Hae Thracum Graiorumque terris obiacent.

[96] in the Myrtoan (Sea), Cythera opposite Cape Malea; Oenussa and Theganusa opposite Cape Acritas; in the Ionian (Sea), Prote, Asteria, Cephallania, Neritos, Same, Zacynthos, Dulichium, and—among the not obscure—the Ithaca, by the name of Ulysses, most illustrious; in Epirus, the Echinades, and the islands once called Plotae, now the Strophades; over against the Ambracian gulf, Leucadia, and, neighboring the Hadriatic Sea, Corcyra. These lie off the lands of the Thracians and the Greeks.

[97] At interius Melos, Olearos, Aegilia, Cothon, Ius, Thia, Thera, Gyaros, Hippuris, Donysa, Cythnos, Chalcis, Icaria, Cinara, Nisyros, Lebinthos, Calymnia, Syme. Hae quia dispersae sunt Sporades, at Ceos, Sicinos, Siphnos, Seriphos, Rhenea, Paros, Myconos, Syros, Tenos, Naxos, Delos, Andros quia in orbem iacent Cyclades dictae.

[97] But more inward: Melos, Olearos, Aegilia, Cothon, Ius, Thia, Thera, Gyaros, Hippuris, Donysa, Cythnos, Chalcis, Icaria, Cinara, Nisyros, Lebinthos, Calymnia, Syme. These, because they are dispersed, are called the Sporades; but Ceos, Sicinos, Siphnos, Seriphos, Rhenea, Paros, Myconos, Syros, Tenos, Naxos, Delos, Andros, because they lie in a circle, are called the Cyclades.

[98] Super eas iam in medio mari ingens et centum quondam urbibus habitata Crete ad orientem promunturium Samonium, ad occidentem Criu metopon inmittit, nisi maior esset, Cypri similis, multis famigerata fabulis, adventu Europae, Pasiphaae et Ariadnae amoribus, Minotauri feritate fatoque, Daedali operibus et fuga, Tali statione atque morte, maxime tamen eo quod ibi sepulti Iovis paene clarum vestigium, sepulcrum cui nomen eius insculptum est adcolae ostendunt.

[98] Above them, now in the middle of the sea, lies huge Crete, once inhabited with a hundred cities; toward the east it sends forth the promontory Samonium, toward the west Criumetopon; similar to Cyprus, were it not larger, famed by many fables—the arrival of Europa, the loves of Pasiphaë and Ariadne, the ferocity and fate of the Minotaur, the works and flight of Daedalus, the station and death of Talos—but most of all for this: that there an almost clear vestige of buried Jove—the tomb on which his name is inscribed—the inhabitants display.

[99] Vrbium notissimae Cnossos, Gortyna, Lyctos, Lycastos, Olopyxos, Therapnae, Cydonea, Moratusa, Dictynna. Inter colles quod ibi nutritum Iovem accepimus fama Idaei montis excellit.

[99] Of the cities, the most well-known are Cnossos, Gortyna, Lyctos, Lycastos, Olopyxos, Therapnae, Cydonea, Moratusa, Dictynna. Among the hills, the fame of Mount Ida excels, because we have received by report that Jove was nurtured there.

[100] Iuxta est Astypalaea, Naumachos, Zephyre, Chryse, Caudos et quas Musagorus numero tres uno tamen vocabulo adpellant, atque unde Carpathio mari cognomen est Carpathos. In Hadria Apsoros, Dyscelados, Absyrtis, Issa, Titana, Hydria, Electrides, nigra Corcyra, Linguarum, Diomedia, Aestria, Asine, atque ut Alexandriae ita Brundisio adiacens Pharos. Sicilia, aliquando ut ferunt continens et agro Bruttio adnexa, post freto maris Siculi abscissa est.

[100] Nearby are Astypalaea, Naumachos, Zephyre, Chryse, Caudos, and those which Musagorus numbers as three, yet they call by a single vocable; and Carpathos, whence the Carpathian Sea has its cognomen. In the Adriatic, Apsoros, Dyscelados, Absyrtis, Issa, Titana, Hydria, the Electrides, black Corcyra, the Linguarum, Diomedia, Aestria, Asine, and, as at Alexandria, a Pharos adjoining Brundisium. Sicily, at one time, as they say, continuous and joined to the Bruttian land, was afterwards cut off by the strait of the Sicilian Sea.

Id angustum et anceps alterno cursu modo in Tuscum modo in Ionium pelagus perfluit, atrox saevum et Scyllae Charybdisque saevis nominibus inclutum. Scylla saxum est, Charybdis mare, utrumque noxium adpulsis. Ipsa ingens et tribus promunturiis in diversa procurrens Graecae litterae imaginem quae Delta dicitur efficit.

That narrow and two-edged strait, with an alternating current, now flows into the Tuscan, now into the Ionian sea, grim, savage, and illustrious for the savage names of Scylla and Charybdis. Scylla is a rock, Charybdis a sea, each harmful to those driven against them. The island itself, vast, and projecting in different directions with three promontories, fashions the image of the Greek letter which is called Delta.

[101] Pachynum vocatur quod Graeciam spectat, Lilybaeum quod in Africam, Pelorias quod in Italiam vergens Scyllae adversum est. Causa nominis Pelorus gubernator ab Hannibale ibi conditus, quem idem vir profugus ex Africa, et per ea loca Syriam petens, quia procul intuenti videbantur continua esse litora et non pervium pelagus, proditum se arbitratus occiderat.

[101] The one that looks toward Greece is called Pachynum; the one toward Africa, Lilybaeum; and Pelorias is the one that, inclining toward Italy, is opposite Scylla. The cause of the name: Pelorus, a helmsman, was interred there by Hannibal—whom that same man, a fugitive from Africa and seeking Syria by those parts, because to one looking from afar the shores seemed continuous and the sea not passable, had killed, supposing himself betrayed.

[102] Ab eo ad Pachynum ora quae extenditur Ionium mare adtingens haec fert inlustria: Messanam, Tauromenium, Catinam, Megarida, Syracusas et in his mirabilem Arethusam. Fons est in quo visuntur iacta in Alpheum amnem ut diximus Peloponnesiaco litori infusum: unde ille creditur non se consociare pelago, sed subter maria terrasque depressus huc agere alveum atque hic se rursus extollere.

[102] From there to Pachynum the shore, which extends touching the Ionian Sea, displays these illustrious places: Messana, Tauromenium, Catina, Megarida, Syracuse, and among these the marvelous Arethusa. It is a fountain in which things thrown into the river Alpheus are seen, as we have said, discharged upon the Peloponnesian littoral: whence that stream is believed not to consociate itself with the deep, but, sunk beneath the seas and lands, to drive its channel hither and here to raise itself again.

[103] Inter Pachynum et Lilybaeum Acragas est et Heraclea et Thermae; inter Lilybaeum et Pelorida Panhormus et Himera, interius vero Leontini et Centuripinum et Hybla aliaeque conplures; famam habet ob Cereris templum Henna praecipuam.

[103] Between Pachynum and Lilybaeum are Acragas and Heraclea and Thermae; between Lilybaeum and the Pelorias, Panhormus and Himera; inland indeed, Leontini and Centuripinum and Hybla and many others; Henna has preeminent fame on account of the temple of Ceres.

[104] Montium Eryx maxime memoratur ob delubrum Veneris ab Aenea conditum, et Aetna quod Cyclopas olim tulit, nunc adsiduis ignibus flagrat. De amnibus Himera referendus, quia in media admodum ortus in diversa decurrit, scindensque eam utrimque alio ore in Libycum alio in Tuscum mare devenit.

[104] Of the mountains, Eryx is most commemorated on account of the shrine of Venus founded by Aeneas, and Etna, because it once harbored the Cyclopes, now blazes with incessant fires. About the rivers, the Himera is to be reported, because, arising quite in the middle, it runs down in different directions, and splitting it on both sides, with one mouth it comes into the Libyan sea, with another into the Tuscan sea.

[105] Circa Siciliam in Siculo freto est Aeaee, quam Calypso habitasse dicitur, Africam versus Gaulos, Melita, Cossura, propius Italiam Galata, et illae septem quas Aeoli adpellant Osteodes, Lipara, Heraclea, Didyma, Phoenicusa, ac sicut Aetna perpetuo flagrat igne Hiera et Strongyle.

[105] Around Sicily in the Sicilian strait is Aeaea, which Calypso is said to have inhabited; Africa-wards Gaulos, Melita, Cossura, nearer to Italy Galata, and those seven which the Aeolians call the Osteodes, Lipara, Heraclea, Didyma, Phoenicusa, and, just as Aetna burns with perpetual fire, Hiera and Strongyle.

[106] Sed Pithecusa, Leucothea, Aenaria, Sidonia, Capreae, Prochyta, Pontiae, Pandateria, Sinonia, Palmaria Italico lateri citra Tiberina ostia iacent.

[106] But Pithecusa, Leucothea, Aenaria, Sidonia, Capreae, Prochyta, Pontiae, Pandateria, Sinonia, Palmaria lie adjacent to the Italian side on this side of the Tiberine mouths.

[107] Vltra aliquot sunt parvae Dianium, Igilium, Carbania, Urgo, Ilva, Capraria, duae grandes fretoque divisae, quarum Corsica Etrusco litori propior, inter latera tenuis et longa, praeterquam ubi Aleria et Mariana coloniae sunt a barbaris colitur:

[107] Beyond, there are several small ones, Dianium, Igilium, Carbania, Urgo, Ilva, Capraria; and two large and divided by a strait, of which Corsica is nearer to the Etruscan shore, narrow between its sides and long, and, except where the colonies Aleria and Mariana are, it is inhabited by barbarians:

[108] Sardinia Africum pelagus adtingens, nisi quod in occidentem quam in orientem angustius spectat, par et quadrata undique et nusquam non aliquanto spatiosior quam ubi longissima est Corsica, ceterum fertilis et soli quam caeli melioris, atque ut fecunda ita paene pestilens. In ea populorum antiquissimi sunt Ilienses, urbium antiquissimae Caralis et Sulci.

[108] Sardinia, touching the Afric sea, except that it looks narrower toward the west than toward the east, is equal and quadrate on all sides, and everywhere somewhat more spacious than where Corsica is longest; moreover, it is fertile and of better soil than sky, and, as it is fecund, so it is almost pestilential. In it the most ancient of the peoples are the Ilienses; of the cities the most ancient are Caralis and Sulci.

[109] At in Gallia quas referre conveniat solae sunt Stoechades ab ora Ligurum ad Massiliam usque dispersae. Baliares in Hispania contra Tarraconensia litora sitae non longe inter se distant, et ex spatio sui cognominibus acceptis maiores minoresque perhibentur. Castella sunt in minoribus Iamno et Mago, in maioribus Palma et Pollentia coloniae.

[109] But in Gaul the only ones which it is fitting to recount are the Stoechades, dispersed from the shore of the Ligurians up to Massilia. The Balearics in Spain, situated opposite the Tarraconensian shores, are not far distant from one another, and, having received bynames from their own span, they are accounted the Greater and the Lesser. On the smaller there are forts Iamno and Mago; on the larger, Palma and Pollentia are colonies.

Ebusos e regione promunturii quod in Sucronensi sinu Ferrariam vocant eodem nomine urbem habet, frumentis tantum non fecunda ad alia largior, et omnium animalium quae nocent adeo expers, ut ne ea quidem quae de agrestibus mitia sunt aut generet aut si invecta sunt sustineat. Contra est Colubraria, cuius meminisse succurrit, quod cum scateat multo ac malefico genere serpentium et sit ideo inhabitabilis, tamen ingressis eam intra id spatium, quod Ebusitana humo circumsignaverunt, sine pernicie et tuta est, isdem illis serpentibus, qui alioqui solent obvios adpetere, adspectum eius pulveris aliquod velut virus procul et cum pavore fugientibus.

Ebusus, over against the promontory which in the Sucronensian bay they call Ferraria, has a city of the same name; scarcely fertile in grains, more bounteous for other things, and so devoid of all animals that harm, that not even those which are gentle from wild stock does it either generate, or, if they are brought in, does it sustain. By contrast there is Colubraria—of which it comes to mind to make mention—for although it teems with a great and malefic kind of serpents and is therefore uninhabitable, nevertheless for those who enter it, within that space which they have circumscribed with Ebusitan soil, it is without danger and safe, the very same serpents, who otherwise are wont to attack those they meet, at the mere aspect of that powder fleeing far away with fear, as though it were some venom.