Solinus: DE MIRABILIBUS MUNDI Mommsen 1st edition (1864)

Cum et aurium clementia et optimarum artium studiis praestare te ceteris sentiam idque oppido expertus de benivolentia tua nihil temere praeceperim, reputavi examen opusculi istius tibi potissimum dare, cuius vel industria promptius suffragium vel benignitas veniam spondebat faciliorem. liber est ad conpendium praeparatus, quantumque ratio passa est ita moderate repressus, ut nec prodiga sit in eo copia nec damnosa concinnitas. cui si animum propius intenderis, velut fermentum cognitionis magis inesse quam bratteas eloquentiae deprehendes.

Since I perceive that you excel others both in the clemency of hearing and in the studies of the best arts, and, having thoroughly experienced this, I would presume nothing rashly concerning your benevolence, I judged it best to give to you in particular the examination of this little work, from whom either industry promised a readier suffrage or benignity an easier pardon. The book is prepared as a compendium, and, so far as reason allowed, is thus moderately restrained, so that neither is the abundance prodigal in it nor the concinnity ruinous. If you fix your mind more closely upon it, you will detect that there is, as it were, a ferment of cognition rather than the tinsel of eloquence.

exquisitis enim aliquot voluminibus studuisse me inpendio fateor, ut et a notioribus referrem pedem et remotis largius inmorarer. locorum commemoratio plurimum tenet, in quam partem ferme inclinatior est universa materies. quorum commeminisse ita visum est, ut inclitos terrarum situs et insignes tractus maris, servata orbis distinctione, suo quaeque ordine redderemus.

for with several volumes carefully sought out, I confess I have applied myself with exceeding zeal, so that I might withdraw my step from the more well-known and dwell more liberally upon the remoter. A commemoration of places holds the greatest part, toward which side almost the entire materia is inclined. It seemed good to remember these in such a way that we might render the renowned sites of the lands and the notable tracts of the sea, the distinction of the orb preserved, each in its own order.

inseruimus et pleraque differenter congruentia, ut si nihil aliud, saltem varietas ipsa legentium fastidio mederetur. inter haec hominum et aliorum animalium naturas expressimus. addita pauca de arboribus exoticis, de extimarum gentium formis, de ritu dissono abditarum nationum, nonnulla etiam digna memoratu, quae praetermittere incuriosum videbatur quorumque auctoritas, quod cum primis industriae tuae insinuatum velim, de scriptoribus manat receptissimis.

we have also inserted a great many things variably congruent, so that, if nothing else, at least variety itself might remedy the readers’ fastidiousness. among these we have expressed the natures of human beings and of other animals. a few items have been added about exotic trees, about the forms of the outermost peoples, about the dissonant rite of hidden nations, and some things too worthy of remembrance, which to pass over seemed incurious; and whose authority—which I would especially have insinuated to your industry—flows from the most received writers.

quid enim proprium nostrum esse possit, cum nihil omiserit antiquitatis diligentia, quod intactum ad hoc usque aevi permaneret? quapropter quaeso, ne de praesenti tempore editionis huius fidem libres, quoniam quidem vestigia monetae veteris persecuti opiniones universas eligere maluimus potius quam innovare. ita si qua ex istis secus quam opto in animum tuum venerint, des velim infantiae meae veniam.

For what could be properly our own, when the diligence of antiquity has left nothing that would remain untouched up to this very age? Wherefore I beg, do not measure the credibility of this edition by the present time, since, having pursued the traces of the old mint, we have preferred to adopt all opinions rather than to innovate. Thus, if any of these should come into your mind otherwise than I desire, I would wish you to grant pardon to my infancy.

constantia veritatis penes eos est quos secuti sumus. sicut ergo qui corporum formas aemulantur, postpositis quae reliqua sunt, ante omnia effigiant modum capitis, nec prius lineas destinant in membra alia, quam ab ipsa ut ita dixerim figurarum arce auspicium faciant inchoandi, nos quoque a capite orbis, id est ab urbe Roma principium capessemus, quamvis nihil super ea doctissimi auctores reliquerint, quod in novum praeconium possit suscitari, ac supervacuum paene sit relegere tramitem decursum tot annalibus. ne tamen prorsus dissimulata sit, originem eius quanta valemus persequemur fide.

The constancy of truth resides with those whom we have followed. Thus, just as those who emulate the forms of bodies, setting aside what remains, before all else fashion the measure of the head, nor do they assign lines to the other limbs before they take, from the very, so to speak, citadel of figures, the auspice for beginning, we too will seize our beginning from the head of the world, that is, from the city of Rome, although the most learned authors have left nothing concerning it that can be roused into a new proclamation, and it is almost superfluous to re-read a course already run through so many annals. Nevertheless, lest it be altogether passed over, we shall pursue its origin with as much fidelity as we are able.

I. Sunt qui videri velint, Romae vocabulum ab Euandro primum datum, cum oppidum ibi offendisset, quod extructum antea Valentiam dixerat inventus Latina, servataque significatione inpositi prius nominis, Romam graece Valentiam nominatam. quam Arcades quoniam habitassent in excelsa parte montis, derivatum deinceps, ut tutissima urbium arces vocarentur. Heraclidi placet, Troia capta quosdam ex Achivis in ea loca ubi nunc Roma est devenisse per Tiberim, deinde suadente Rome nobilissima captivarum quae his comes erat, incensis navibus posuisse sedes, instruxisse moenia et oppidum ab ea Romen vocavisse.

I. There are those who would have it seem that the vocable “Rome” was first given by Evander, when he came upon a town there which, having been constructed earlier, he had called Valentia, found in Latium; and with the signification of the previously imposed name preserved, Rome was named in Greek “Valentia.” Since the Arcadians had inhabited the lofty part of the hill, from them it was thereafter derived, so that the safest citadels of cities were called arces. It pleases Heraclides that, after Troy was taken, certain of the Achaeans came by the Tiber into the places where Rome now is, and then, at the urging of Roma, the most noble of the captive women who was their companion, after the ships were set on fire they established seats, built the walls, and named the town from her “Roma.”

Agathocles scribit, Romen non captivam fuisse, ut supra dictum est, sed Ascanio natam Aeneae neptem appellationis istius causam fuisse. traditur etiam proprium Romae nomen, verum tamen vetitum publicari, quoniam quidem quo minus enuntiaretur caerimoniarum: arcana sanxerunt, ut hoc pacto notitiam eius aboleret fides placitae taciturnitatis, Valerium denique Soranum, quod contra interdictum eloqui id ausus foret, ob meritum profanae vocis neci datum. inter antiquissimas sane religiones sacellum colitur Angeronae, cui sacrificatur ante diem XII k. Ian.: quae diva praesul silentii ipsius praenexo obsignatoque ore simulacrum habet.

Agathocles writes that Rome was not a captive, as said above, but that a granddaughter of Aeneas, born to Ascanius, was the cause of that appellation. It is handed down also that the proper name of Rome was, indeed, forbidden to be made public, since the arcana of the ceremonies sanctioned that it not be enunciated, so that in this way the knowledge of it might be abolished by the good faith of agreed taciturnity; and that Valerius Soranus, because he had dared to utter it contrary to the interdict, was given over to death for the desert of a profane voice. Among the most ancient religions, a little shrine of Angerona is indeed venerated, to whom sacrifice is offered ante diem 12 k. Ian.: which goddess, a prelate of silence itself, has a simulacrum with the mouth tied and sealed.

De temporibus urbis conditae ambiguitatum quaestiones excitavit, quod quaedam ibi multo ante Romulum culta sint. quippe aram Hercules, quam voverat si amissas boves repperisset, punito Caco patri Inventori dicavit. qui Cacus habitavit locum, cui Salinae nomen est: ubi Trigemina nunc porta.

On the times of the city’s founding, questions of ambiguity have been stirred up, because certain things there were worshiped long before Romulus. Indeed Hercules, having punished Cacus, dedicated an altar—which he had vowed, if he should recover the lost cattle—to Father Inventor. This Cacus inhabited the place which has the name Salinae: where the Trigemina Gate now is.

hic, ut Gellius tradit, cum a Tarchone Tyrrheno, ad quem legatus venerat missu Marsyae regis, socio Megale Phryge, custodiae foret datus, frustratus vincula et unde venerat redux, praesidiis amplioribus occupato circa Vulturnum et Campaniam regno, dum attrectare etiam ea audet, quae concesserant in Arcadum iura, duce Hercule qui tunc forte aderat oppressus est. Megalen Sabini receperunt, disciplinam augurandi ab eo docti. suo quoque numini idem Hercules instituit aram, quae maxima apud pontifices habetur, cum se ex Nicostrate, Euandri matre, quae a vaticinio Carmentis dicta est, inmortalem conperisset.

Here, as Gellius relates, when by Tarchon the Tyrrhenian, to whom he had come as an ambassador at the sending of King Marsyas, with his associate Megale the Phrygian, he had been consigned to custody, eluding his bonds and returning to whence he had come, the realm around the Volturnus and Campania having been occupied with stronger garrisons, while he even dared to lay hands on those things which had been granted under the rights of the Arcadians, he was crushed, Hercules being leader, who by chance was present at that time. The Sabines received Megale, having been taught by him the discipline of augury. Hercules also established an altar to his own numen, which is held as the greatest among the pontiffs, when he had learned from Nicostrata, mother of Evander, who from her vaticination is called Carmentis, that he was immortal.

consaeptum etiam, intra quod ritus sacrorum, factis bovicidiis, docuit Potitios, sacellum Herculi in Boario foro est, in quo argumenta et convivii et maiestatis ipsius remanent. nam divinitus neque muscis illo neque canibus ingressus est. etenim cum viscerationem sacricolis daret, Myiagrum deum dicitur inprecatus, clavam vero in aditu reliquisse, cuius olfactu refugerunt canes: id usque nunc durat.

There is also an enclosure, within which, after ox-slaughters had been performed, he taught the Potitii the rites of the sacra; the little shrine of Hercules is in the Forum Boarium, in which evidences both of the banquet and of his majesty remain. For by divine agency neither flies nor dogs have entered there. Indeed, when he was giving the visceration to the sacral attendants, he is said to have invoked the god Myiagrus, and to have left his club at the entrance, at the smell of which the dogs fled: this endures up to now.

aedem etiam, quae Saturni aerarium fertur, comites eius condiderunt in honorem Saturni, quem cultorem regionis illius cognoverant extitisse. iidem et montem Capitolinum Saturnium nominaverunt. castelli quoque quod excitaverunt portam appellaverunt Saturniam, quae postmodum Pandana vocitata est.

They also founded the temple which is said to be Saturn’s treasury, in honor of Saturn, whom they had recognized to have been a cultivator of that region. The same men also named the Capitoline hill Saturnian. Likewise, the gate of the fortress which they raised they called the Saturnian Gate, which afterward was commonly called the Pandana Gate.

pars etiam infima Capitolini montis habitaculum Carmentae fuit, ubi Carmentis nunc fanum est, a qua Carmentali portae nomen datum. Palatium nemo dubitaverit quin Aradas habeat auctores, a quibus primum Pallanteum oppidum conditum: quod aliquamdiu Aborigines habitarunt, propter incommodum vicinae paludis, quam praeterfluens Tiberis fecerat, profecti Reate postmodum reliquerunt. sunt qui velint a balatibus ovium mutata littera, vel a Pale pastorali dea, aut ut Silenus probat a Palantho Hyperborei filia, quam Hercules ibi conpressisse visus est, nomen monti adoptatum.

the lowest part of the Capitoline mount was the habitation of Carmenta, where now there is the shrine of Carmentis, from whom the name of the Carmental Gate was given. As for the Palatine, no one will doubt that it has the Arads as founders, by whom the town Pallanteum was first founded: this the Aborigines inhabited for some time; on account of the inconvenience of the neighboring marsh, which the Tiber flowing past had made, setting out to Reate they afterwards left it. There are those who would have it derived from the bleatings of sheep, with a letter changed, or from Pale, the pastoral goddess, or, as Silenus approves, from Palantho, daughter of Hyperboreus, whom Hercules is seen to have lain with there, the name being adopted for the mountain.

Sed quamquam ista sic congruant, palam est prospero illi augurio deberi gloriam Romani nominis, maxime cum annorum ratio faciat cardinem veritati: nam, ut adfirmat Varro auctor diligentissimus, Romam condidit Romulus, Marte genitus et Rea Silvia, vel ut nonnulli Marte et Ilia: dictaque primum est Roma quadrata, quod ad aequilibrium foret posita. ea incipit a silva quae est in area Apollinis, et ad supercilium scalarum Caci habet terminum, ubi tugurium fuit Faustuli. ibi Romulus mansitavit, qui auspicato murorum fundamenta iecit duodeviginti natus annos, XI k. Mai., hora post secundam ante tertiam plenam, sicut L. Tarruntius prodidit mathematicorum nobilissimus, Iove in piscibus, Saturno Venere Marte Mercurio in scorpione, Sole in tauro, Luna in libra constitutis.

But although these things agree thus, it is plain that to that propitious augury the glory of the Roman name is owed, especially since the reckoning of years makes the hinge for truth: for, as Varro, a most diligent authority, affirms, Romulus, begotten by Mars and Rhea Silvia, or, as some say, by Mars and Ilia, founded Rome; and it was first called Square Rome, because it had been set by the level. It begins from the grove which is in the precinct of Apollo, and has its boundary at the brow of the steps of Cacus, where the hut of Faustulus was. There Romulus dwelt, who, after taking the auspices, laid the foundations of the walls at the age of eighteen years, on April 21, at the hour after the second, before the full third, as L. Tarrutius, most renowned among the mathematicians, has recorded, with Jupiter in Pisces, Saturn, Venus, Mars, and Mercury in Scorpio, the Sun in Taurus, and the Moon in Libra.

et observatum deinceps, ne qua hostia Parilibus caederetur, ut dies iste a sanguine purus esset, cuius significationem de partu Iliae tractam volunt. idem Romulus regnavit annos septem et triginta. de Caeninensibus egit primum triumphum, et Acroni regi eorum detraxit spolia, quae Iovi Feretrio primus suspendit et opima dixit.

and it was observed thereafter that no victim be slain at the Parilia, so that this day might be pure from blood, whose signification they wish to be derived from the childbirth of Ilia. The same Romulus reigned 37 years. He celebrated his first triumph over the Caeninenses, and stripped the spoils from their king Acron, which he was the first to hang up to Jupiter Feretrius and called the opima.

rursum de Antemnatibus triumphavit, de Veientibus tertio. apud Caprae paludem nonis Quintilibus apparere desiit.

again he triumphed over the Antemnates, over the Veientes for the third time. near the Goat Marsh, on the Nones of Quintilis, he ceased to appear.

Ceteri reges quibus locis habitaverunt dicemus. Tatius in arce, ubi nunc aedes est Iunonis Monetae: qui anno quinto quam ingressus urbem fuerat a Laurentibus interemptus est. septima et vicesima olympiade hominem exivit.

The other kings, in what places they dwelt, we shall say. Tatius on the citadel, where now the temple of Juno Moneta is: who in the fifth year after he had entered the city was slain by the Laurentes. In the 27th olympiad he departed this life.

Numa in colle primum Quirinali, deinde propter aedem Vestae in regia quae adhuc ita appellatur: qui regnavit annis tribus et quadraginta: sepultus sub Ianiculo. Tullus Hostilius in Velia, ubi postea deum Penatium. aedes facta est: qui regnavit annos duos et triginta, obiit olympiade quinta et tricesima.

Numa on the Quirinal hill at first, then near the temple of Vesta in the Regia, which is still so called: who reigned forty-three years: buried under the Janiculum. Tullus Hostilius on the Velia, where afterward a temple of the Penates of the gods was built: who reigned thirty-two years, died in the thirty-fifth Olympiad.

Ancus Marcius in summa sacra via, ubi aedes Larum est: qui regnavit annos quattuor et viginti, obiit olympiade prima et quadragesima. Tarquinius Priscus ad Mugoniam portam supra summam novam viam: qui regnavit annos septem et triginta. Servius Tullius Esquilinus supra clivum Urbium: qui regnavit annos duos et quadraginta.

Ancus Marcius on the summit of the Sacra Via, where the temple of the Lares is: who reigned twenty-four years, he died in the 41st Olympiad. Tarquinius Priscus at the Mugonian Gate above the top of the Nova Via: who reigned thirty-seven years. Servius Tullius on the Esquiline above the Slope of the Cities: who reigned forty-two years.

Tarquinius Superbus et ipse Esquilinus supra clivum Pullium ad Fagutalem lacum: qui regnavit annos quinque et viginti.

Tarquinius Superbus likewise on the Esquiline, above the Pullian Slope, at the Fagutal lake: who reigned twenty-five years.

Cincio Romam duodecima olympiade placet conditam: Pictori octava: Nepoti et Lutatio, opiniones Eratosthenis et Apollodori comprobantibus, olympiadis septimae anno secundo: Pomponio Attico et M. Tullio olympiadis sextae anno tertio. conlatis igitur nostris et Graecorum temporibus invenimus incipiente olympiade septima Romam conditam, anno post Illium captum quadringentesimo tricesimo tertio. quippe certamen Olympicum, quod Hercules in honorem atavi materni Pelopis ediderat, intermissum Iphitus Eleus instauravit post excidium Troiae anno quadringentesimo octavo.

Cincius thinks that Rome was founded in the 12th olympiad: the Painter in the 8th: Nepos and Lutatius, with Eratosthenes and Apollodorus corroborating their opinions, in the 2nd year of the 7th olympiad: Pomponius Atticus and M. Tullius in the 3rd year of the 6th olympiad. therefore, with our times and those of the Greeks compared, we find that, at the beginning of the 7th olympiad, Rome was founded, in the 433rd year after Ilium was captured. indeed, the Olympic contest, which Hercules had instituted in honor of his maternal forefather Pelops, after an intermission Iphitus the Eleian restored in the 408th year after the destruction of Troy.

ergo ab isto numeratur olympias prima. ita sex mediis olympiadibus interiectis, quibus singulis anni quaterni inputantur, cum septima coeptante Roma condita sit, inter exortum urbis et Troiam captam iure esse annos quadringentos triginta tres constat. huic argumento illud accedit, quod cum C. Pompeius Gallus et Q. Veranius urbis conditae anno octingentesimo primo fuerint consules, consulatu eorum olympias septima et ducentesima actis publicis annotata est.

therefore from that man the first Olympiad is counted. thus, with six intermediate Olympiads interposed, to each of which four years are imputed, since with the seventh beginning Rome was founded, it is established that by right there are 433 years between the rise of the city and the capture of Troy. to this argument there is added this: that when C. Pompeius Gallus and Q. Veranius were consuls in the 801st year from the founding of the city, in their consulship the 207th Olympiad was recorded in the public acts.

quater ergo multiplicatis sex et ducentis olympiadibus erunt anni octingenti viginti quattuor, quibus de septima olympiade adnectendus primus annus est, ut in solidum colligantur anni octingenti viginti quinque. ex qua summa detractis quattuor et viginti annis olympiadum retro sex, manifeste anni octingenti et unus reliqui fient. quapropter cum octingentesimo primo anno urbis conditae ducentesima septima olympias computetur, par est Romam septimae olympiadis anno primo credi conditam.

Therefore, with 206 olympiads multiplied by four, there will be 824 years, to which the first year from the seventh olympiad must be annexed, so that in total 825 years are gathered. From this sum, with 24 years subtracted for the six olympiads back, manifestly 801 years will remain. Wherefore, since in the 801st year from the founding of the City the 207th olympiad is computed, it is proper to believe that Rome was founded in the first year of the seventh olympiad.

In qua regnatum est annis ducentis quadraginta uno. decemviri creati anno trecentesimo secundo. primum Punicum bellum anno quadringentesimo octogesimo nono, secundum quingentesimo tricesimo quinto, tertium sexcentesimo quarto, sociale sexcentesimo sexagesimo secundo.

In which there was rule for 241 years. the decemvirs were created in year 302. the first Punic war in year 489, the second in 535, the third in 604, the social war in 662.

ad A. Hirtium et C. Pansam consules anni septingenti decem: quorum consulatu Caesar Augustus est consul creatus, octavum decimum annum agens: qui principatum ita ingressus est, ut vigilantia illius non modo securum, verum etiam tutum imperium esset. quod tempus ferme solum repertum est, quo plurimum et arma cessaverint et ingenia floruerint, scilicet ne inerti iustitio langueret virtutis opera, bellis quiescentibus.

to A. Hirtius and C. Pansa, consuls, the year seven hundred ten: in whose consulship Caesar Augustus was created consul, being in his eighteenth year: who entered upon the Principate in such a way that by his vigilance the empire was not only secure but even safe. This time has been found almost the only one in which for the most part both arms have ceased and ingenia have flourished, namely, lest the works of virtue should languish in inert cessation, with wars being at rest.

Tunc ergo primum cursus anni perspecta ratio, quae a rerum origine profanda caligine tegebatur. nam ante Augustum Caesarem incerto modo annum conputabant, qui apud Aegyptios quattuor mensibus terminabatur, apud Arcadas tribus, apud Acarnanas sex, in Italia apud Lavinios tredecim, quorum annus trecentis septuaginta quattuor diebus ferebatur. Romani initio annum decem mensibus computaverunt a Martio auspicantes, adeo ut eius die prima de aris Vestalibus ignes accenderent, mutarent veteribus virides laureas, senatus et populus comitia agerent, matronae servis suis cenas ponerent, sicuti Saturnalibus domini: illae, ut honore promptius obsequium provocarent, hi quasi gratiam repensarent perfecti laboris: maximeque hunc mensem principem testatur fuisse, quod qui ab hoc quintas erat Quintilis dictus est; deinde numero decurrente December sollemnem circuitum finiebat intra diem trecentesimum quartum: tunc enim iste numerus explebat annum, ita ut sex menses tricenum dierum essent, quattuor reliqui tricenis et singulis expedirentur.

Then therefore for the first time the reckoning of the course of the year was seen through, which from the origin of things had been covered in deep obscurity. For before Augustus Caesar they computed the year in an uncertain way: among the Egyptians it was terminated by four months, among the Arcadians by three, among the Acarnanians by six, in Italy among the Lavinians by thirteen, whose year came to 374 days. The Romans at the beginning computed the year by ten months, taking auspices from March, to such a degree that on its first day they kindled fires from the altars of the Vestals, they changed the green laurels for the old ones, the senate and people held comitia, the matrons set dinners for their slaves, just as masters on the Saturnalia: the former, in order by honor to provoke obedience more readily; the latter, as if they were repaying the favor for completed labor. And it most clearly bears witness that this month was the chief one, because the one which was the fifth from this was called Quintilis; then, the number running down, December used to finish its solemn circuit within the 304th day: for then that number filled out the year, so that six months were of thirty days, the remaining four were arranged with thirty-one each.

sed quoniam ratio illa ante Numam a lunae cursu discreparet, lunari computatione annum peraequarunt, quinquaginta et uno die auctis. ut ergo perficerent duodecim menses, de sex mensibus superioribus detraxerunt dies singulos, eosque quinquaginta istis et uno diebus adnexuerunt, factique quinquaginta septem divisi sunt in duos menses, quorum alter viginti novem, alter viginti octo dies detinebant. sic annus habere quinque atque quinquaginta et trecentos dies coepit.

But since that reckoning before Numa was discrepant from the course of the moon, they equalized the year by lunar computation, augmented by 51 days. And so, in order to complete twelve months, they subtracted single days from the six earlier months, and annexed those to these 51 days; and the 57 thus made were divided into two months, of which one contained 29 days, the other 28. Thus the year began to have 355 days.

Postmodum eum perspicerent temere annum clausum intra dies quos supra diximus, quandoquidem appareret solis meatum non ante trecentesimum sexagesimum quintum diem, abundante insuper quadrantis particula, zodiacum conficere decursum, quadrantem illum et decem dies addiderunt, ut ad liquidum annus diebus trecentis sexaginta quinque et quadrante constaret, hortante observatione imparis numeri, quem Pythagoras monuit praeponi in omnibus oportere. unde propter dies impares diis superis et Ianuarius dicatur et Martius: propter pares Februarius quasi ominosus diis inferis deputatur. cum itaque haec definitio toto orbe placuisset, custodiendi quadrantis gratia a diversis gentibus varie intercalabatur, nec umquam tamen ad liquidum fiebat temporum peraequatio.

Afterwards, when they perceived that the year had been heedlessly closed within the days which we said above, since it appeared that the sun’s course does not complete its circuit of the zodiac before the three hundred sixty-fifth day, with, in addition, the fraction of a quarter abounding, they added that quarter and ten days, so that the year might consist exactly of three hundred sixty-five days and a quarter, the observation of the odd number urging it on, which Pythagoras warned ought to be preferred in all things. Whence, on account of the odd days, both January and March are said to belong to the gods above; on account of the even (days) February, as if ill-omened, is assigned to the gods below. When therefore this definition had pleased the whole world, for the sake of preserving the quarter it was variously intercalated by different peoples; yet the equalization of the times was never brought to exact clarity.

Graeci ergo singulis annis undecim dies et quadrantem detrahebant, eosque octies multiplicatos in annum nonum reservabant, ut contractus nonagenarius numerus in tres menses per tricenos dies scinderetur: qui anno nono restituti efficiebant dies quadringentos quadraginta quatuor, quos embolismos vel hyperballontas nominabant. quod eum initio Romani probassent, contemplatione numeri parilis offensi neglectum brevi perdiderunt, translata in sacerdotes intercalandi potestate: qui plerumque gratificantes rationibus publicanorum pro libidine sua subtrahebant tempora vel augebant. eum haec sic forent constituta, modusque intercalandi interdum cumulatior, interdum fieret imminutior, vel omnino dissimulatus praeteriretur, nonnumquam accidebat, ut menses qui fuerant transacti hieme, modo aestivum modo autumnale tempus inciderent.

The Greeks therefore subtracted eleven days and a quarter each year, and these, multiplied eight times, they reserved for the ninth year, so that the contracted nonagenary number might be split into three months of thirty days each: which, restored in the ninth year, made up 444 days, which they named embolismoi or hyperballontes. Although the Romans at the beginning approved this, offended by the contemplation of an even number, they shortly neglected and lost it, the power of intercalation having been transferred to the priests: who for the most part, gratifying the accounts of the publicans, subtracted times or increased them according to their own licentious will. And while these things were thus established, and the method of intercalating was sometimes made more cumulative, sometimes diminished, or altogether, being dissembled, was passed over, it sometimes happened that the months which had been spent in winter fell now into the summer, now into the autumnal season.

Itaque Caesar universam hane inconstantiam, incisa temporum turbatione, composuit, et ut statum certum praeteritus error acciperet, dies viginti unum et quadrantem simul intercalavit: quo pacto regradati menses de cetero statuta ordinis sui tempora detinerent. ille ergo annus solus trecentos quadraginta

And so Caesar set in order this whole inconstancy, with the disturbance of the times cut away, and so that the past error might receive a fixed standing, he intercalated at once twenty-one days and a quarter: by which arrangement the months that had regressed would thereafter retain the appointed times of their order. therefore that year alone three hundred forty

quattuor dies habuit: alii deinceps trecentenos sexagenos quinos et quadrantem. et tunc quoque vitium admissum est per sacerdotes. nam cum praeceptum esset, anno quarto ut intercalarent unum diem, et oporteret confecto quarto anno id observari, antequam quintus auspicaretur, illi incipiente quarto intercalarunt, non desinente.

had 344 days: the others thereafter 365 and a quarter. and then too a fault was admitted by the priests. for although it had been prescribed that in the 4th year they should intercalate one day, and it ought, with the 4th year completed, to be observed before the 5th was inaugurated, they intercalated with the 4th beginning, not ending.

sic per annos sex et triginta cum novem dies tantummodo sufficere debuissent, duodecim sunt intercalati. quod reprehensum Augustus reformavit, iussitque annos duodecim sine intercalatione decurrere, ut tres illi dies, qui ultra novem necessarios temere fuerant intercalati, hoc modo possent repensari. ex qua disciplina omnium postea temporum fundata ratio est.

thus over 36 years, when only 9 days ought to have sufficed, 12 were intercalated. This, having been reproved, Augustus reformed, and he ordered 12 years to run without intercalation, so that those 3 days, which had been rashly intercalated beyond the 9 necessary, might in this way be compensated. From this discipline the reckoning of all subsequent times was founded.

Verum cum et hoc et multa alia Augusti temporibus debeantur, qui paene sine exemplo rerum potitus est, tanta et tot in vita eius inveniuntur adversa, ut non sit facile discernere, calamitosior an beatior fuerit. primum quod apud avunculum in petitione magisterii equitum praelatus est ei Lepidus tribunus, cum quadam auspicantium coeptorium nota: mox triumviratus collegium praegravi potestate Antonii: Philippensis, inde proscriptionis invidia: abdicatio Postumi Agrippae post adoptionem, deinde desiderio eius insignis paenitentia: naufragia Sicula: turpis ibi in spelunca occultatio: seditiones militum plurimae: Perusina cura: detectum filiae adulterium et voluntas parricidalis: nec minore dedecore neptis infamia: incusatae mortes filiorum et amissis liberis non solus orbitatis dolor: urbis pestilentia, fames Italiae, bello Hillyrico angustiae rei militaris, corpus morbidum, contumeliosa dissensio privigni Neronis, uxoris etiam Tiberii cogitationes parum fidae, atque in hunc modum plura.

But since both this and many other things are owed to the times of Augustus, who obtained control of affairs almost without example, so great and so many adversities are found in his life that it is not easy to discern whether he was more calamitous or more blessed. First, that at his uncle’s, in his candidacy for the Mastership of the Horse, Lepidus the tribune was preferred to him, with a certain note from the augur-takers at the commencement of the proceedings; soon, in the college of the triumvirate, the over-heavy power of Antony; the Philippan war, then the odium of the proscription; the disowning of Agrippa Postumus after adoption, then a conspicuous repentance marked by longing for him; shipwrecks off Sicily; a shameful concealment there in a cave; very many mutinies of the soldiers; the Perusine anxiety; his daughter’s adultery detected and a parricidal intent; with no less disgrace, the infamy of his granddaughter; the deaths of his sons laid to his charge, and, with his children lost, not the sorrow of childlessness alone; the city’s pestilence, Italy’s famine, in the Illyrian war straits of the military situation; a morbid body, the contumelious dissension of his stepson Nero, the designs of Tiberius’s wife too of little fidelity, and many more in this mode.

Huius tamen suprema quasi lugeret saeculum, penuria insecuta est frugum omnium: ac ne fortuitum quod acciderat videretur, imminentia mala non dubiis signis apparuerunt: nam Fausta quaedam ex plebe partu uno edidit quattuor geminos, mares duos, feminas totidem, monstruosa fecunditate portendens futurae calamitatis indicium: quamlibet Trogus auctor adfirmet, in Aegypto septenos uno utero simul gigni: quod ibi minus mirum, eum fetifero potu Nilus non tantum terrarum sed etiam hominum fecundet arva. legimus Cn. Pompeium Eutychidem feminam Asia exhibitam, quam constabat tricies enixam, cum viginti eius liberis in theatro suo publicasse.

However, as though the age were mourning his last moments, a scarcity of all crops ensued; and, lest what had happened seem fortuitous, impending evils appeared by no doubtful signs: for a certain Fausta from the plebs in one delivery bore quadruplets, two males and just as many females, by a monstrous fecundity portending a token of future calamity; although the author Trogus affirms that in Egypt seven are begotten at once from a single womb—which is less marvelous there, since with its offspring-bearing draught the Nile makes fecund the fields not only of the lands but also of human beings. We read that Gnaeus Pompeius exhibited a woman named Eutychis from Asia, who was agreed to have given birth thirty times, and that he made public in his own theater twenty of her children.

Unde competens hoc loco duco super hominis generatione tractare. etenim cum de animalibus quae ligna dictu videbuntur, prout patria cuiusque admonebit simus notaturi, iure ab eo potissimum ordiemur, quod rerum natura sensus iudicio et rationis capacitate praeposuit omnibus.

Whence I deem it fitting in this place to treat concerning the generation of man. For indeed, since, about the animals which will seem worthy to be said, as the homeland of each will admonish, we are going to take note, rightly we shall begin above all from that which the nature of things has set before all, by the judgment of sense and by the capacity for reason.

Itaque ut Democritus physicus ostendit, mulier solum animal menstruale est, cuius profluvia non parvis spectata documentis inter monstrifica merito numerantur. contactae his fruges non germinabunt, acescent musta, morientur herbae, amittent arbores fetus, ferrum robigo corripiet, nigrescent aera, si quid canes inde ederint in rabiem efferabuntur, nocituri morsibus quibus, lymphaticos faciunt. parva haec sunt.

Therefore, as Democritus the physicist showed, woman is the only menstrual animal, whose effluvia, observed by no small proofs, are deservedly numbered among monstrous things. Grains touched by these will not germinate, musts will turn acetous, plants will die, trees will lose their fruit, rust will seize iron, bronzes will blacken; if dogs eat anything from it they will be driven into rabies, becoming feral, and with their bites—by which they harm—they make people hydrophobic. These are small things.

bitumen in Iudaea quod Asphaltites gignit lacus adeo lentum mollitie glutinosa, ut a se nequeat separari, enimvero si abrumpere partem velis, universitas sequetur scindique non potest, quoniam in quantum ducatur extenditur. sed ubi admota fuerint cruore illo polluta fila, sponte dispergitur, et adplicita tabe diducitur paulo ante corpus unum, fitque de tenacitate conexa contagione partitio repentina. habet plane illud in se solum salutare, quod avertit sidus Helenae perniciosissimum navigantibus.

bitumen in Judaea, which the lake Asphaltites produces, is so slow with a glutinous softness that it cannot be separated from itself; indeed, if you should wish to break off a part, the whole will follow, nor can it be cleft, since it is extended in proportion as it is drawn. but when threads polluted by that blood have been brought near, it disperses of its own accord, and, the taint having been applied, that which a little before was one body is drawn apart; and from a tenacity-knit cohesion there arises, through contagion, a sudden partition. it plainly has this alone in itself as salutary: that it averts the star of Helen, most pernicious to those sailing.

ceterum ipsae feminae, quibus munus est necessitatis huius, quamdiu sint in sua lege, non innocentibus oculis contuentur: aspectu specula vitiant, ita ut hebetetur visu fulgor offensus, et solitam aemulationem vultus extinctus splendor amittat, faciesque obtunsi nitoris quadam caligine nubiletur.

but the women themselves, to whom is the function of this necessity, so long as they are in their own law, do not look with innocent eyes: by their gaze they vitiate mirrors, such that the luster, offended by the sight, is dulled, and the accustomed emulation of the face loses its extinguished splendor, and the countenance, of blunted sheen, is clouded with a certain gloom.

Mulierum aliae in aeternum steriles sunt, aliae mutatis coniugiis exuunt sterilitatem, nonnullae tantum semel pariunt, quaedam aut feminas aut mares semper. post annum quinquagesimum fecunditas omnium conquiescit: nam in annum octogesimum viri generant, sicuti Masinissa rex Mathumannum filium septuagesimum et sextum annum agens genuit, Cato octogesimo exacto ex filia Salonis clientis sui avum Uticensis Catonis procreavit. compertum et illud est, quod inter duos conceptus cum intercessit paululum temporis, uterque residet, sicut in Hercule et Iphicle apparuit fratre eius, qui gestati eodem onere, intervallis tamen quibus concepti fuerant nati videntur: et de Proconnesi ancilla, quae e duplici adulterio geminos edidit, utrumque patri suo similem.

Some women are sterile in perpetuity; others, with marriages changed, cast off sterility; some bear only once; certain women always either females or males. After the fiftieth year the fecundity of all comes to rest; for men beget into the eightieth year, as King Masinissa begot his son Mathumannus while in his seventy-sixth year, and Cato, his eightieth completed, from the daughter of Salonius, his client, begot the grandfather of Cato of Utica. It has also been ascertained that, when a little time has intervened between two conceptions, both persist, as appeared in Hercules and his brother Iphicles, who, carried in the same burden, nevertheless seem to have been born at the intervals at which they had been conceived; and about the maidservant of Proconnesus, who from a double adultery bore twins, each like to his own father.

hic Iphicles Iolaum creat, qui Sardiniam ingressus, palantes incolarum animos ad concordiam eblanditus, Olbiam atque alia Graeca oppida extruxit. Iolenses ab eo dicti sepulcro eius templum addiderunt, quod imitatus virtutem patrui malis plurimis Sardiniam liberasset.

This Iphicles begat Iolaus, who, having entered Sardinia, by blandishment coaxed the wandering minds of the inhabitants to concord, and constructed Olbia and other Greek towns. The Iolenses, named from him, added a temple to his sepulchre, because, having imitated the virtue of his paternal uncle, he had liberated Sardinia from very many evils.

Ante omnia subolem cogitantibus sternutatio post coitus cavenda, ne prius semen excutiat inpulsus repentinus, quam penetralibus se matris insinuet umor paternus. quod si naturalis materia haeserit, decimus a conceptu dies dolore gravidas admonebit. iam inde incipiet et capitis inquietudo, et caligine visus hebetabitur: ciborum quoque fastidiis stomachi claudetur cupido.

Before all else, for those contemplating offspring, sternutation after coitus must be avoided, lest a sudden impulse shake out the seed before the paternal humor insinuates itself into the mother’s inner chambers. But if the natural matter has adhered, the tenth day from conception will admonish the pregnant by pain. From then there will also begin a restlessness of the head, and the sight will be dulled by a caliginous dimness; the desire of the stomach, too, will be shut by fastidiousness toward foods.

convenit inter omnes, corda primum ex universa formari carne, eaque in diem quintum et sexagesimum crescere, dein minui: at ex ossibus spinas: ea propter capitate, si pars alterutra noceatur. plane si corpusculum in marem figuretur, melior est color gravidis et pronior partitudo uteri, denique a quadragesimo die motus. alter sexus nonagesimo primum die palpitat et concepta femina gestantis vultum pallore inficit, crura quoque praepedit languida tarditate.

it is agreed among all that the hearts are first formed out of the universal flesh, and that they grow up to the 65th day, then diminish; but out of the bones, the spines: for that reason it is a capital (deadly) matter if either part be harmed. clearly, if the little body be fashioned into a male, the color is better for the pregnant and the partition of the uterus is readier; finally, from the 40th day there is movement. the other sex first palpitates on the 90th day, and a conceived female dyes the face of the bearer with pallor, and likewise hobbles the legs with languid slowness.

in utroque sexu cum capilli germinant, incommodum maius est: fitque pleniluniis auctior aegritudo, quod tempus etiam editis semper nocet. cum salsiores escas edit gravida, unguiculis caret partus. at cum prope ad uterum liberandum venerint momenta maturitatis, enitenti spiritum retinere plurimum congruit, quoniam quidem letali mora oscitatio suspendit puerperia.

in both sexes, when the hair germinates, the inconvenience is greater; and at full moons the sickness becomes more augmented, which time also always harms those already born. when the pregnant woman eats saltier viands, the offspring lacks little nails. but when the moments of maturity have come near to the freeing of the womb, it is most fitting for the woman in labor to retain her breath, since indeed yawning, by a lethal delay, suspends childbirth.

Contra naturam est in pedes procedere nascentes, quapropter velut aegre parti appellantur Agrippae. ita editi minus prospere vivunt et de vita aevo brevi cedunt. denique in uno M. Agrippa felicitatis exemplum est, nec tamen usque eo inoffensae, ut non plura adversa pertulerit quam secunda: namque misera pedum valitudine et aperto coniugis adulterio et aliquot infelicitatis notis praeposteri ortus omen luit.

It is against nature for those being born to come forth feet-first, wherefore, as if hardly delivered, they are called Agrippae. Those thus brought forth live less prosperously and yield from life at a brief age. Finally, in the single M. Agrippa there is an example of felicity, yet not to such an extent unoffended that he did not endure more adversities than prosperous outcomes: for by the wretched infirmity of his feet and the open adultery of his wife and several marks of ill-fortune he paid the omen of his preposterous birth.

feminis perinde est infausta nativitas, si concretum virginal fuerit, quo pacto genitalia fuere Corneliae, quae editis Gracchis ostentum hoc piavit sinistro exitu liberorum. Rursum necatis matribus natus est auspicatior: sicut Scipio Africanus prior, qui defuncta parente, quod excisus utero in diem venerat, primus Romanorum Caesar dictus est. e geminis, si remanente altero alter abortivo fluxu, exciderit, alter qui legitime natus est, Vopiscus nominatur.

For women it is likewise an ill‑omened nativity, if the virginal membrane has been congealed, in which manner the genitals of Cornelia were, who, after bearing the Gracchi, expiated this portent by the sinister outcome of her children. Conversely, a birth is more auspicious when the mother has been slain: as with Scipio Africanus the earlier, who, his parent being deceased—because he had come into the day cut from the womb—was the first among the Romans to be called “Caesar.” Of twins, if, one remaining, the other has fallen out by an abortive flux, the one who is lawfully born is named Vopiscus.

quidam et cum dentibus procreantur, ut Cn. Papirius Carbo et M'. Curius, Dentatus ob id cognominatus. quidam vice dentium continui ossis armantur soliditate, qualem filium Bithynorum rex Prusias habuit. ipsum dentium numerum discernit qualitas sexus, cum in viris plures sint, in feminis pauciores.

Some are even procreated with teeth, as Gnaeus Papirius Carbo and Manius Curius, surnamed Dentatus on that account. Some are equipped, in place of teeth, with the solidity of a continuous bone, such a one as King Prusias of the Bithynians had for a son. The very number of the teeth is determined by the quality of sex, since in men they are more, in women fewer.

quos cynodontas vocant, quibus gemini procedunt ab dextera parte, fortunae blandimenta promittunt: quibus ab laeva, versa vice.

those whom they call cynodonts, for whom twin teeth proceed from the right side, promise the blandishments of fortune: for whom from the left, the turn is reversed.

Nascentium vox prima vagitus est: laetitiae enim sensus differtur in quadragesimum diem. itaque unum novimus eadem hora risisse qua erat natus, scilicet Zoroastren, mox optimarum artium peritissimum. At Crassus, avus eius quem rapuerunt bella Parthica, quod numquam riserit Agelastus cognominabatur.

The first voice of those being born is a wail: for the sense of joy is deferred to the fortieth day. And so we know of one who laughed in the same hour in which he had been born, namely Zoroaster, soon afterward most expert in the best arts. But Crassus, the grandfather of him whom the Parthian wars snatched away, was surnamed Agelastus because he never laughed.

inter alia Socratis magna praeclarum illud est, quod in eodem vultus tenore etiam adversis interpellantibus perstitit. Heraclius et Diogenes Cynicus nihil umquam de rigore animi remiserunt, calcatisque turbinibus fortuitorum adversus omnem dolorem vel misericordiam uniformi duravere proposito. Pomponium poetam consularem virum numquam ructuasse habetur inter exempla: Antoniam Drusi non spuisse percelebre est.

Among other things of Socrates, that illustrious one is great: that he persisted in the same tenor of countenance even with adversities interrupting. Heraclitus and Diogenes the Cynic never relaxed anything of the rigor of mind, and, the whirlwinds of the fortuitous trampled underfoot, they endured with a uniform purpose against all pain or compassion. It is held among exempla that Pomponius, the poet, a consular man, never belched; it is very celebrated that Antonia, of Drusus, did not spit.

nonnullos nasci accepimus concretis ossibus, eosque neque sudare consuesse neque sitire, qualis Syracusanus Lygdamis fertur, qui tertia et tricesima olympiade primus ex Olympico certamine pancratii coronam reportavit; cuiusque ossa deprehensa sunt medullas non habere.

We have heard that some are born with concreted bones, and that they are neither accustomed to sweat nor to thirst, such as Lygdamis the Syracusan is reported to have been, who in the 33rd Olympiad was the first to bring back from the Olympic contest the crown of the pankration; and whose bones were discovered to have no marrow.

Maximam virium substantiam nervos facere certissimum est, quantoque fuerint densiores, tanto propensius augescere firmitatem. Varro in relatione prodigiosae fortitudinis adnotavit, Tritannum gladiatorem natura Samnitem fuisse, qui et rectis et transversis nervis non modo crate pectoris, sed et manibus cancellatis et brachiis omnes adversarios levi tactu ac paene securis congressionibus vicerit. eius filium, militem Cn. Pompeii, pari modo natum, ita sprevisse hostem provocantem, ut inermi eum dextera et superaret et captum digito uno in castra imperatoris sui reportaret.

It is most certain that the sinews make the greatest substance of strength, and the denser they are, the more readily firmness augments. Varro, in his relation of prodigious fortitude, noted that Tritannus, a gladiator, was by nature a Samnite, who, with sinews both straight and transverse, not only by the lattice of the chest but also with interlaced hands and arms, overcame all adversaries with a light touch and with encounters almost carefree. His son, a soldier of Gnaeus Pompeius, born in like manner, so despised a challenger that with his unarmed right hand he both overpowered him and, once captured, carried him back into his general’s camp with a single finger.

Milonem quoque Crotoniensem egisse omnia supra quam homo valet: etiam hoc proditur quod ictu nudae manus taurum fecit victimam eumque solidum qua mactaverat die absumpsit solus non gravatim. super hoc nihil dubium: nam factum elogium extat. victor ille omnium certaminum obiit.

Milo of Croton too accomplished everything beyond what a man is able: it is also handed down that with a blow of his bare hand he made a bull a victim, and he consumed it entire, on the day on which he had slaughtered it, alone and without difficulty. On this point nothing is doubtful: for an inscription (elogium) of the deed exists. That victor of all contests died.

sane alectoria usus traditur, qui lapis specie crystallina, fabae modo, in gallinaceorum ventriculis invenitur, aptus ut dicunt proeliantibus. Milon porro Tarquinii Prisci temporibus emicuit.

indeed, the use of the alectoria is handed down: a stone of crystalline appearance, bean-sized, found in the gizzards of cockerels, suitable, as they say, for combatants. Milo, moreover, shone in the times of Tarquinius Priscus.

Iam vero qui deflexum animum referat ad similitudinum causas, quantum artificis naturae ingenium deprehendet! interdum enim ad genus spectant, et per subolem in familias transitus faciunt: sicut plerumque parvuli modo naevos modo cicatrices modo qualescumque originis suae notas ferunt: ut in Lepidis, quorum tres intervulsa tamen serie ex eadem domo obducto membrana oculo similes geniti reperiuntur. vel in Byzantio nobili pycta, qui cum matrem haberet adulterio ex Aethiope conceptam, quae nihil patri comparandum reddidisset, ipse in Aethiopem avum regeneravit.

Moreover indeed, whoever should turn his deflected mind back to the causes of similitudes, how much the genius of nature the artificer will he detect! for sometimes they look to the stock, and through the offspring make transitions into families: just as very often little children bear now birthmarks, now cicatrices, now whatever marks of their origin; as in the Lepidi, of whom three—though with the sequence broken—are found to have been born alike from the same house, with an eye overdrawn by a membrane. Or in Byzantium, a famous painter, who, though he had a mother conceived in adultery by an Aethiopian, and who had rendered nothing comparable to her father, he himself reproduced his Aethiopian grandsire.

Sed hoc minus mirum, si respiciamus ad ea, quae spectata sunt inter externos. regem Antiochum Artemon quidam e plebe Syriatica sic facie aemula mentiebatur, ut postmodum Laodice uxor regia, obiecto populare isto, tamdiu dissimulaverit defunctum maritum, quoad ex arbitratu eius regni successor ordinaretur. inter Cn. Pompeium et C. Vibium humili loco natum tantus error extitit de paribus lineamentis, ut Romani Vibium Pompeii nomine, Pompeium Vibii vocabulo cognominarent.

But this is less a marvel, if we look back to the things that have been observed among foreigners. regem Antiochus was so counterfeited by an Artemon, a certain man of the Syrian plebs, with a rivaling face, that afterward Laodice, the royal wife, with that plebeian put forward as a pretext, concealed her husband’s death for so long as until, by her arbitration, a successor to the kingdom should be appointed. inter Cn. Pompeius and C. Vibius, born of humble station, so great a confusion arose on account of equal lineaments, that the Romans surnamed Vibius by the name of Pompeius, and Pompeius by the appellation of Vibius.

oratorem L. Plancum Rubrius histrio sic implevit, ut et ipse Plancus a populo vocaretur. Armentarius murmillo et Cassius Severus orator ita se mutuo reddiderunt, ut si quando pariter viderentur, dinosci non possent, nisi discrepantiam habitus indicaret. M. Messalla censorius et Menogenes e faece vulgari hoc fuerunt uterque quod singuli, nec alium Messallam quam Menogenem nec Menogenem alium quam Messallam putaverunt.

Rubrius the histrion so impersonated the orator L. Plancus that he himself too was called Plancus by the people. Armentarius the murmillo and Cassius Severus the orator rendered themselves so mutually alike that, if ever they were seen together, they could not be distinguished, unless a discrepancy of dress pointed it out. M. Messalla the Censor and Menogenes from the vulgar dregs were each that which they were singly; people thought Messalla to be no other than Menogenes, and Menogenes to be no other than Messalla.

piscator ex Sicilia proconsuli Surae praeter alia etiam rictu oris comparabatur: ita in eadem vocis inpedimenta et tardatae sonum linguae naturalibus offendiculis congruebant.

A fisherman from Sicily was compared to the proconsul Sura, among other things even by the gape of his mouth: thus they agreed in the same impediments of voice and in the sound of a tardied tongue, by natural little hindrances.

Interdum non modo inter externos, sed etiam inter deductos ex diversissima parte orbis miraculo indiscreti vultus fuere. denique cum Autonio iam triumviro Toranius quidam eximios forma pueros velut geminos trecentis sestertiis vendidisset, quorum alterum de Transalpina Gallia, alterum ex Asia comparaverat, adeoque una res viderentur, nisi solus sermo fidem panderet, atque ideo inrisum se Antonius gravaretur, non infacete Toranius id vel praecipue quod emptor criminabatur pretiosius probavit: neque enim mirum si forent pares gemini: illud nullis posse taxationibus aestimari, quod tantis spatiis diversitas separata plus quam geminos attulisset. quo responso adeo Antonius mitigatus est, ut deinceps nihil se habere carius in substantia sua iactitaret.

At times there were, by a marvel, indistinguishable faces not only among foreigners, but even among those brought down from the most diverse parts of the world. Finally, when a certain Toranius had sold to Antonius, already a triumvir, for 300 sesterces, boys exceptional in beauty as if twins—of whom he had procured one from Transalpine Gaul, the other from Asia—and they seemed so much one and the same thing, unless only their speech laid bare the truth, and for that reason Antonius took it ill as though he were being mocked, Toranius, not without wit, proved the very point which the buyer was arraigning to be more precious: for it would not be a wonder if twins were alike; but that difference, separated by such great distances, had brought something more than twins—that could be assessed by no taxations. By this reply Antonius was so mollified that thereafter he boasted he had nothing dearer in his estate.

Nunc si de ipsis hominum formis requiramus, liquido manifestabitur nihil de se antiquitatem mendaciter praedicasse, sed corruptam degeneri successione subolem nostri temporis per nascentium detrimenta decus veteris pulchritudinis perdidisse. licet ergo plerique definiant nullum posse excedere longitudinem pedum septem, quod intra mensuram istam Hercules fuerit, deprehensum tamen est Romanis temporibus sub divo Augusto, Pusionem et Secundillam denos pedes et amplius habuisse proceritatis, quorum reliquiae adhuc in conditorio Sallustianorum videntur: postmodum divo Claudio principe Gabbaram nomine ex Arabia advectum novem pedum et totidem unciarum. sed ante Augustum annis mille ferme non apparuit forma huiusmodi, sicut nec post Claudium visa est.

Now, if we inquire about the very forms of men, it will be clearly manifest that antiquity has vaunted nothing mendaciously about itself, but that the offspring of our time, corrupted by a degenerate succession, has through the detriments of the newborn lost the glory of ancient beauty. Therefore, although many define that no one can exceed a length of seven feet, since Hercules was within this measure, yet it was discovered, in Roman times under the deified Augustus, that Pusio and Secundilla had ten feet and more of height, whose remains are still seen in the sepulchral vault of the Sallustians; afterwards, under the deified Claudius as princeps, a man named Gabbaras, brought from Arabia, was of nine feet and the same number of inches. But for almost a thousand years before Augustus a form of this kind did not appear, just as it has not been seen after Claudius.

quis enim iam aevo isto non minor parentibus suis nascitur? priscorum autem testantur molem etiam Orestis suprema, cuius ossa, olympiade quinquagesima et octava Tegeae inventa a Spartanis oraculo monitis, discimus implesse longitudinem cubitorum septem. scripta quoque quae ex antiquitate memorias accersunt in fidem veri hoc etiam receperunt, quod bello Cretico, cum elata flumina plus quam vi amnica terras rupissent, post discessum fluctuum interplura hu mi discidia humanum corpus repertum sit cubitum trium atque triginta: cuius inspectandi cupidine L. Flaccum legatum, Metellum etiam ipsum inpendio captos miraculo, quod auditu refutaverant, oculis potitos.

for who now in this age is not born smaller than his parents? moreover, the mass of the ancients is attested even by the last rites of Orestes, whose bones, found at Tegea by the Spartans at the admonitions of an oracle in the fifty-eighth Olympiad, we learn filled a length of seven cubits. writings also which summon memorials from antiquity into the credit of truth have received this as well: that in the Cretan war, when the swollen rivers had broken the lands beyond even the amnic force, after the withdrawal of the floods, among several fissures of the ground a human body was found of thirty-three cubits; with the desire of inspecting which, L. Flaccus the legate, and Metellus himself too, were mightily captivated by the marvel, obtaining with their eyes that which, when heard, they had refuted.

non omiserim Salamine Euthymenis filium crevisse in triennio tria cubita sublimitatis, sed incessu tardum, sensu hebetem, robusta voce, pubertate festina, statimque obsessum morbis plurimus inmoderatis aegritudinum suppliciis conpensasse praecipitem incrementi celeritatem.

I would not omit that at Salamis the son of Euthymenes grew, in a three-year period, three cubits of height; but he was slow in gait, dull in sense, with a robust voice, with hasty puberty, and immediately, being beset by very many diseases, he compensated for the headlong swiftness of his growth by the immoderate torments of illnesses.

Mensurae ratio bifariam convenit: nam quantus manibus expansis inter digitos longissimos modus est, tantum constat esse inter calces et verticem: ideoque physici hominem minorem mundum indicaverunt. parti dexterae habilior adscribitur motus, laevae firmitas maior: unde altera gesticulationibus promptior est, altera oneri ferundo accommodatior. pudoris disciplinam etiam inter defuncta corpora natura discrevit: ac si quando cadavera necatorum fluctibus evehuntur, virorum supina, prona fluitant feminarum.

The rationale of measure accords in a twofold way: for as great as the measure is between the longest fingers with the hands outstretched, so much it is agreed to be between the heels and the vertex; and for that reason the natural philosophers have indicated man to be a smaller world. To the right part a more able motion is assigned, to the left a greater firmness: whence the one is more prompt for gesticulations, the other more suited for bearing a burden. Nature has distinguished the discipline of modesty even among the bodies of the dead: and if ever the corpses of those slain are carried out by the waves, the men’s float supine, the women’s prone.

Verum ut ad pernicitatis titulum transeamus, primam palmam velocitatis Ladas quidam adeptus est, qui ita supra cavum pulverem cursitavit, ut in harenis pendentibus nulla indicia relinqueret vestigiorum. Polymestor Milesius puer cum a matre locatus esset ad caprarios pastus, ludicro leporem consecutus est et ob id statim productus a gregis domino olympiade sexta et quadragesima, ut Bocchus auctor est, victor in stadio meruit coronam. Philippides biduo mille ducenta quadraginta stadia ab Athenis Lacedaemonem decucurrit.

But so that we may pass to the title of swiftness, a certain Ladas acquired the first palm of velocity, who ran thus above hollow dust that in the hanging sands he left no traces of footprints. Polymestor the Milesian, a boy, when by his mother he had been placed to the goat-herds’ pastures, in a sport overtook a hare, and on account of this was at once brought forward by the master of the flock; in the forty-sixth Olympiad, as Bocchus is authority, as victor in the stadion he earned the crown. Philippides in two days ran 1,240 stadia from Athens to Lacedaemon.

Anystis Lacon et Philonides, Alexandri Magni cursores, Elin usque Sicyone mille ducenta stadia uno die transierunt. Fonteio Vipsanoque consulibus in Italia octo annos puer natus quinque et LXX milia passuum a meridie transivit ad vesperum.

Anystis the Laconian and Philonides, runners of Alexander the Great, traversed 1,200 stadia from Elis as far as Sicyon in one day. When Fonteius and Vipsanus were consuls, in Italy an eight-year-old boy covered 75 miles from noon to evening.

Visu deinde plurimum potuit Strabo nomine, quem superspexisse per centum triginta quinque milia passuum Varro significat, solitumque exeunte a Carthagine classe Punica numerum navium manifestissime ex Lilybaetana specula notare. Cicero tradit Iliadam omnem ita subtiliter in membranis scriptam, ut testa nucis clauderetur. Callicrates formicas ex ebore sic scalpsit, ut portio earum a ceteris cerni nequiverit.

Then, in eyesight, a man named Strabo excelled exceedingly, whom Varro indicates to have looked across 135 miles, and that he was accustomed, when the Punic fleet was departing from Carthage, most manifestly to note the number of ships from the Lilybaean lookout. Cicero hands down that the whole Iliad was written so subtly on membranes that it could be enclosed in the shell of a nut. Callicrates chiseled ants out of ivory in such a way that any part of them could not be discerned from the rest.

Apollonides perhibet in Scythia feminas nasci quae bitiae vocantur: has in oculis pupillas geminas habere et perimere visu si forte quem iratae aspexerint. hae sunt et in Sardinia.

Apollonides asserts that in Scythia women are born who are called bitiae: that these have twin pupils in their eyes and slay by their look, if perchance, when angry, they should look upon someone. These are also in Sardinia.

Praevaluisse fortitudine apud Romanos L. Sicinium Dentatum titulorum numerus ostendit. tribunus hic plebi fuit non multo post exactos reges, Sp. Tarpeio A. Aterio consulibus. idem ex provocatione octies victor XLV adversas habuit cicatrices, in tergo nullam notam: spolia ex hoste tricies et quater cepit: in phaleris hastis puris armillis coronis cccxii dona meruit: novem imperatores, qui opera eius vicerant, triumphantes prosecutus.

The number of titles shows that L. Sicinius Dentatus prevailed in fortitude among the Romans. This man was tribune of the plebs not long after the kings were expelled, Sp. Tarpeius and A. Aterius being consuls. The same man, in combat by challenge, was eight times victor; he had 45 scars in front, on his back not a single mark: he captured spoils from the enemy 34 times: in phalerae, pure spears, bracelets, crowns, he earned 312 gifts: he escorted nine generals in their triumphs, who had conquered by his efforts.

Post hunc M. Sergius duobus stipendiis primis adverso corpore ter et vicies vulneratus, secundo stipendio in proelio dexteram perdidit: qua de causa postea sibi manum ferream fecit, et cum neutra paene idonea ad proeliandum valeret, una die quater pugnavit et vicit sinistra, duobus equis eo insidente confossis: ab Hannibale bis captus refugit, cum viginti mensibus, quibus captivitatis sortem perferebat, nullo momento sine conpedibus fuerit et catenis: omnibus asperrimis proeliis, quae tempestate illa Romani experti sunt, insignitus donis militaribus, a Trasimenno Trebia Ticinoque coronas civicas rettulit: Cannensi quoque proelio, de quo refugisse eximium opus virtutis fuit, solus accepit coronam: beatus profecto tot suffragiis gloriarum, nisi heres in posteritatis eius successione Catilina tantas adoreas odio damnati nominis obumbrasset.

After him, Marcus Sergius, in his first two campaigns, was wounded twenty-three times in the front of the body; in his second campaign he lost his right hand in battle: for which cause thereafter he made for himself an iron hand, and although with neither hand nearly fit for fighting, in one day he fought four times and won with his left, two horses, while he was mounted, being run through beneath him: twice captured by Hannibal he escaped, though for twenty months, during which he was enduring the lot of captivity, he was at no moment without fetters and chains: in all the most arduous battles which in that period the Romans experienced, he was distinguished with military decorations; from Trasimene, the Trebia, and the Ticinus he brought back civic crowns: in the battle of Cannae also, from which to have escaped was an extraordinary work of valor, he alone received a crown: blest indeed with so many suffrages of glories, unless Catiline, heir in the succession of his posterity, had overshadowed such great victories by the odium of that condemned name.

Quantum inter milites Sicinius aut Sergius, tantum inter duces, immo ut verius dicam inter omnes homines Caesar dictator enituit. huius ductibus undecies centena XC et II milia caesa hostium: nam quantum bellis civilibus fuderit noluit adnotari. signis collatis quinquagies et bis dimicavit, M. Marcellum solus supergressus, qui novies et tricies pari modo fuerat proeliatus.

As much as Sicinius or Sergius among the soldiers, so much among the generals—nay, to speak more truly, among all men—the dictator Caesar shone forth. Under his leadership 1,192,000 of the enemy were slain: for how many he routed in the civil wars he did not wish to have recorded. With standards joined he fought 52 times, surpassing M. Marcellus alone, who had in like manner fought 39 times.

ad haec nullus celerius scripsit, nemo velocius legit: quaternas etiam epistolas perhibetur simul dictasse: benignitate adeo praeditus, ut quos armis subegerat clementia magis vicerit.

in addition to these things, no one wrote more swiftly, no one read more rapidly: he is reported to have dictated four letters at the same time: so endowed with benignity that those whom he had subjugated by arms he conquered more by clemency.

Cyrus memoriae bono inclaruit, qui in exercitu, cui numerosissimo praefuit, nominatim singulos adloquebatur. fecit hoc idem in populo Romano L. Scipio. sed et Cyrum et Scipionem consuetudine credamus profecisse: Cineas Pyrrhi legatus postero die, quam ingressus Romam fuerat, et equestrem ordinem et senatum propriis nominibus salutavit.

Cyrus became renowned for a good memory, who in the army, which he commanded most numerous, addressed individuals by name. L. Scipio did this same among the Roman people. But let us believe that both Cyrus and Scipio improved by practice: Cineas, the legate of Pyrrhus, on the next day after he had entered Rome, greeted both the equestrian order and the senate by their proper names.

rex Ponticus Mithridates duabus et viginti gentibus, quibus imperitabat, sine interprete iura dixit. memoriam et arte fieri palam factum est, sicut Metrodorus philosophus, qui temporibus Diogenis cynici fuit, in tantum se meditatione assidua provexit, ut a multis simul dicta non modo sensuum, sed etiam verborum ordinibus detineret. nihil tamen in homine aut metu aut casu aut morbo facilius intercipi saepe perspectum est.

The Pontic king Mithridates pronounced judgments to twenty-two nations over which he ruled, without an interpreter. It has been made evident that memory is produced also by art, just as the philosopher Metrodorus, who was in the times of Diogenes the Cynic, advanced himself so far by assiduous meditation that he retained, of things spoken by many at once, the orders not only of the meanings but also of the words. Yet it has often been observed that in man nothing is more easily intercepted by fear, by chance, or by disease.

qui lapide ictus fuerat accepimus oblitum litterarum, Messallam certe Corvinum post aegritudinem, quam pertulerat percussum proprii nominis oblivione, quamlibet alias ei sensus vigeret. memoriam metus perimit: invicem vocis interdum est incitamentum, quam non solum acuit, sed etiam si numquam fuerit extorquet. denique cum olympiade octava et quinquagesima victor Cyrus intrasset Sardis Asiae oppidum, ubi tunc Croesus latebat, Atys filius regis, mutus ad id usque temporis, in vocem erupit vi timoris; exclamasse enim dicitur: parce patri meo, Cyre, et hominem te esse vel casibus disce nostris.

we have learned that a man who had been struck by a stone forgot his letters; Messalla Corvinus, at any rate, after the sickness which he had endured, was smitten with oblivion of his own name, although in other respects his senses were vigorous. fear destroys memory: conversely, there is sometimes a provocation of voice, which not only sharpens it, but even forces it out if it has never existed. finally, when in the 58th Olympiad Cyrus, as victor, had entered Sardis, a town of Asia, where Croesus was then in hiding, Atys, the king’s son, mute up to that time, burst into speech by the force of fear; for he is said to have cried out: spare my father, Cyrus, and learn that you are a man even by our misfortunes.

Tractare de moribus superest, quorum excellentia maxime in duobus enituit. Cato princeps Poreiae gentis, senator optimus, orator optimus, optimus imperator, causam tamen quadragies et quater dixit, diversis odiorum simultatibus adpetitus, semper absolutus. unde Scipionis Aemiliani laus propensior, qui praeter bona quibus Cato clarus fuit, etiam publico amore praecessit.

It remains to treat of mores, whose excellence shone forth most in two men. Cato, chief of the Porcian clan, a most excellent senator, a most excellent orator, a most excellent commander, nevertheless pleaded his case forty-four times, assailed by diverse feuds of hatred, yet always acquitted. Whence the praise of Scipio Aemilianus is the more favorable, who, besides the good qualities in which Cato was renowned, also surpassed him in public affection.

vir optimus Nasica Scipio iudicatus est, non privato tantum testimonio, sed totius senatus sacramento: quippe quod inventus dignior non fuit, cui praecipuae religionis crederetur ministerium, cum oraculum moneret arcessi sacra deum matris Pessinunte.

Nasica Scipio was judged a most excellent man, not by private testimony only, but by the sacrament (oath) of the whole senate: for no one was found more worthy, to whom the ministry of a preeminent religious rite might be entrusted, when the oracle advised that the sacred things of the Mother of the gods be summoned from Pessinus.

Plurimi inter Romanos eloquentia floruerunt: sed hoc bonum hereditarium numquam fuit nisi in familia Curionum, in qua tres serie continua oratores fuere. magnum hoc habitum est sane eo saeculo, quo facundiam praecipue et humana et divina mirata sunt. quippe tunc percussores Archilochi poetae Apollo prodidit, et latronum facinus deo coarguente detectum.

Many among the Romans flourished in eloquence: but this good was hereditary never except in the family of the Curiones, in which three orators were in an unbroken series. great this was held indeed in that age, in which both human and divine admired eloquence especially. for then Apollo exposed the assailants of the poet Archilochus, and the crime of brigands was detected, the god convicting.

cumque Lysander Lacedaemonius Athenas obsideret, ubi Sophoclis tragici inhumatum corpus iacebat, identidem Liber pater ducem monuit per quietem, sepeliri delicias suas sineret: nec prius destitit, quam Lysander cognito qui obisset diem et quid a numine posceretur, indutias bello daret, usque dum congruae supremis talibus exequiae ducerentur. Pindarum lyricum e convivii loco cui imminebat ruina, ne cum ceteris interiret, forinsecus Castor et Pollux vocaverunt, inspectantibus universis: quo effectum, ut solus impendens periculum evaderet. numerandus post deos Cn. Pompeius Magnus intraturus Posidonii domum, clarissimi tunc sapientiae professoris, percuti ex more a lictore fores vetuit, summissisque fascibus, quamlibet confecto Mithridatico bello et orientis victor, sententia propria cessit ianuae litterarum.

and when Lysander the Lacedaemonian was besieging Athens, where the unburied body of Sophocles the tragedian lay, Father Liber repeatedly warned the leader in sleep to allow his darling to be buried; nor did he desist before Lysander, having learned who had met his day and what was being required by the divine will, granted a truce in the war until fitting obsequies for such a one were conducted. Pindar the lyric poet, from a banquet-place upon which ruin was impending, so that he might not perish with the rest, was called outside by Castor and Pollux, with all looking on: with the result that he alone escaped the danger that was hanging over him. To be numbered after the gods is Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, who, about to enter the house of Posidonius, then the most renowned professor of wisdom, forbade the doors to be struck by the lictor according to custom, and, the fasces lowered—although the Mithridatic war had been brought to completion and he was victor of the Orient—by his own judgment yielded to the doorway of letters.

Africanus prior Q. Ennii statuam imponi sepulcro suo iussit. Uticensis Cato unum ex tribunatu militum philosophum, alium ex Cypria legatione Romam advexit, professus plurimum se eo facto senatui et populo contulisse, quamlibet proavus eius saepissime censuisset Graecos urbe pellendos. Dionysius tyrannus vittatam navem Platoni obviam misit: ipse cum albis quadrigis egredientem in littore occurrens honoratus est.

Africanus the elder ordered a statue of Quintus Ennius to be set upon his sepulcher. Cato of Utica conveyed to Rome one philosopher from his military tribunate, another from the Cyprian legation, declaring that by this deed he had contributed very greatly to the Senate and the People, although his great-grandfather had very often judged that the Greeks ought to be expelled from the city. Dionysius the tyrant sent a fillet-adorned ship to meet Plato; he himself, with white four-horse chariots, met him as he was disembarking on the shore and did him honor.

perfectam prudentiam soli Socrati, oraculum Delphicum adiudicavit.

the Delphic oracle adjudged perfect prudence to Socrates alone.

Pietatis documentum nobilius quidem in Metellorum domo effulsit, sed eminentissimum in plebeia puerpera reperitur. humilis haec atque ideo famae obscurioris, cum ad patrem, qui supplicii causa claustris poenalibus continebatur, aegre obtinuisset ingressum, exquisita saepius a ianitoribus ne forte parenti cibum sumministraret, alere eum uberibus suis deprehensa est: quae res et locum et factum consecravit: nam qui morti destinabatur, donatus filiae, in memoriam tanti praeconii reservatus est: locus dicatus suo numini Pietatis sacellum est. navis a Phrygia gerula sacrorum, dum sequitur vittas castitatis, contulit Claudiae principatum pudicitiae.

A document of Piety did indeed shine more nobly in the house of the Metelli, but the most eminent is found in a plebeian woman in childbed. this humble one, and therefore of more obscure repute, when she had with difficulty obtained entrance to her father, who was confined in penal bars for the sake of punishment, having been frequently searched by the doorkeepers lest she perchance supply food to her parent, was detected nourishing him with her own breasts: which thing consecrated both the place and the deed: for he who was destined for death, being granted over to his daughter, was preserved in memory of so great a proclamation: the place, dedicated to its own numen, is a little shrine of Pietas. the ship from Phrygia, bearer of the sacred rites, while it followed the fillets of chastity, bestowed upon Claudia the primacy of pudicity.

at Sutpicia Patereuti filia, M. Fulvii Flacci uxor, censura omnium matronarum e centum probatissimis haud temere detecta est, quae simulacrum Veneris, ut Sibyllini libri monebant, dedicaret.

but Sulpicia, daughter of Paterculus, wife of M. Fulvius Flaccus, by the censure of all the matrons, from a hundred most approved, was not rashly selected to dedicate the simulacrum of Venus, as the Sibylline books were admonishing.

Quod attinet ad titulum felicitatis, necdum repertus est, qui felix censeri iure debuerit: namque Cornelius Sulla dictus potius est quam fuit felix. solum certe beatum cortina Aglaum iudicavit, qui in angustissimo Arcadiae angulo pauperis soli dominus numquam egressus paterni cespitis terminos invenitur.

As regards the title of felicity, not yet has there been found one who by right ought to be deemed happy: for Cornelius Sulla was called rather than was happy. Only the cortina surely judged Aglaüs blessed, who, in the most narrow angle of Arcadia, master of a poor soil, is found never to have gone forth beyond the boundaries of his paternal turf.

II. De homine satis dictum habeo. nunc, ut ad destinatum revertamur, ad locorum commemorationem stilus dirigendus est atque adeo principaliter in Italiam, cuius decus iam in urbe contigimus. sed Italia tanta cura ab omnibus dicta, praecipue M. Catone, ut iam inveniri non sit quod non veterum auctoram praesumpserit diligentia, largiter in laudem excellentis terrae materia suppetente, dum scriptores praestantissimi reputant locorum salubritatem, caeli temperiem, ubertatem soli, aprica collium, opaca nemorum, innoxios saltus, vitium olearumque proventus, nobilia pecuaria, tot amnes, lacus tantos, bifera violaria: inter haec Vesubium flagrantis animae spiritu vaporatum, tepentes fontibus Baias, colonias tam frequentes, tam adsiduam novarum urbium gratiam, tam clarum decus veterum oppidorum, quae primum Aborigines Aurunci Pelasgi Arcades Siculi, totius postremo Graeciae advenae et in summa victores Romani condiderunt: ad haec laterum portuosa, orasque patentibus gremiis commercio orbis accommodatas.

2. Of man I have said enough. Now, that we may return to the destined aim, the pen must be directed to a commemoration of places, and indeed principally to Italy, whose glory we have already touched upon in the city. But Italy has been treated with such care by all, especially by M. Cato, that now nothing can be found which the diligence of the ancient authors has not anticipated, material abundantly supplying matter for praise of that excellent land, while the most outstanding writers reckon the healthfulness of the places, the temperateness of the sky, the fertility of the soil, the sunny hillsides, the shaded depths of groves, harmless glades, the yields of vines and olives, noble herds, so many rivers, lakes so great, twice-bearing violet-beds: among these Vesuvius, steamed by the breath of a burning spirit; Baiae warmed by springs; colonies so numerous; so constant a grace of new cities; so bright an adornment of old towns, which first the Aborigines, Aurunci, Pelasgians, Arcadians, Sicels, at last newcomers from all Greece, and, in sum, the conquering Romans founded: to these, coasts with harbors in their flanks, and shores with open bosoms accommodated to the commerce of the world.

Verum ne prorsus intacta videatur, in ea quae minus trita sunt animum intendere haud absurdum videtur et parcius depasta levibus vestigiis inviare. nam quis ignorat vel dicta vel condita a Iano Ianiculum, a Saturno Latium atque Saturniam, a Danae Ardeam, a comitibus Herculis Polyclen, ab ipso in Campania Pompeios, qua victor ex Hispania pompam boum duxerat? in Liguria quoque lapidarios campos, quod Iovi eo dimicante creduntur pluvisse saxa: regionem Ionicam ab Ione Aulochi filia, quam procaciter insidentem vias Hercules ut ferunt interemit: Archippen a Marsya rege Lydorum, quod hiatu terrae haustum dissolutum est in lacum Fucinum: ab Iasone templum Iunonis Argivae.

But lest it seem entirely untouched, it does not appear absurd to direct the mind to those things which are less trite and to make one’s way, with lighter footprints, into paths more sparingly grazed. For who is unaware that either named or founded were: by Janus the Janiculum, by Saturn Latium and Saturnia, by Danaë Ardea, by the companions of Hercules Polyclen, by Hercules himself in Campania Pompeii, where, a victor from Spain, he had led a pomp of oxen? In Liguria too the stony fields, because while Jupiter was fighting there stones are believed to have rained down: the Ionian region from Ione, daughter of Aulochus, whom, as they relate, Hercules slew as she was insolently sitting upon the roads; Archippe from Marsyas, king of the Lydians, because, swallowed by a yawning of the earth, it was dissolved into Lake Fucinus; the temple of Argive Juno from Jason.

a Pelopidis Pisas: a Cleolao Minois filio Daunios: Iapygas ab Iapyge Daedali filio: Tyrrhenos a Tyrrheno Lydiae rege: Coram a Dardano: Agyllam a Pelasgis, qui primi in Latium litteras intulerunt: ab Haleso Argivo Faliscam: a Falerio Argivo Falerios: Fescenninum quoque ab Argivis: portum Parthenium a Phocaensibus: Tibur, sicut Cato facit testimonium, a Catillo Arcade praefecto classis Euandri; sicut Sextius, ab Argiva iuventute. Catillus enim Amphiarai filius, post prodigialem patris apud Thebas interitum, Oeclei avi iussu cum omni fetu ver sacrum missus tres liberos in Italia procreavit, Tiburtum Coram Catillum, qui depulsis ex oppido Siciliae veteribus Sicanis a nomine Tiburti fratris natu maximi urbem vocaverunt. mox in Bruttiis ab Ulixe.

Pisa from the Pelopids: the Daunians from Cleolaus, son of Minos: the Iapygians from Iapyx, son of Daedalus: the Tyrrhenians from Tyrrhenus, king of Lydia: Cora from Dardanus: Agylla from the Pelasgians, who first brought letters into Latium: Falisca from Halesus the Argive: Falerii from Falerus the Argive: Fescennium too from the Argives: the port Parthenium from the Phocaeans: Tibur, as Cato offers testimony, from Catillus the Arcadian, prefect of Evander’s fleet; as Sextius [says], from Argive youth. For Catillus, son of Amphiaraus, after the portentous death of his father at Thebes, by order of his grandfather Oecles, having been sent with all the brood as part of the ver sacrum, begot three children in Italy, Tiburtus, Cora, Catillus, who, after driving the ancient Sicani from the town Sicilia, named the city from the name of Tiburtus, the eldest brother. Presently in the Bruttii from Ulysses.

extructum templum Minervae. insula Ligea appellata ab eiecto ibi corpore Sirenis ita nominatae: Parthenope a Parthenopae Sirenis sepulcro, quam Augustus postea Neapolim esse maluit: Praeneste, ut Zenodotus, a Praeneste Ulixis nepote Latini filio; ut Praenestini sonant libri, a Caeculo, quem iuxta ignes fortuitos invenerunt, ut fama est, Digoidiorum sorores. Notum est a Philoctete Petiliam constitutam, Arpos et Beneventum a Diomede, Patavium ab Antenore, Metapontum a Pyliis, Scylaceum ab Atheniensibus, Sybarim a Troezeniis et a Sagari Aiacis Locrii filio, Sallentinos a Lyctiis, Anconam a Siculis, Gabios a Galatio et Bio Siculis fratribus, ab Heraclidis Tarentum, insulam Tempsam ab Ionibus, Paestum a Dorensibus, a Myscello, Achaeo Crotonam, Regium ab Chalcidensibus, Cauloniam et Terinam a Crotoniensibus, a Nariciis Locros, Heretum a Graecis in honorem Herae (sic enim Iunonem Graeci vocant), Ariciam ab Archilocho Siculo, unde et nomen, ut Heminae placet, tractum.

a temple of Minerva constructed. the island appellated Ligea from the body of the Siren cast up there, so named: Parthenope from the tomb of the Siren Parthenope, which Augustus later preferred to be Naples: Praeneste, as Zenodotus (says), from Praenestes, grandson of Ulysses, son of Latinus; as the Prenestine books declare, from Caeculus, whom, near fortuitous fires, as report has it, the sisters of the Digoidii found. It is known Petilia was constituted by Philoctetes, Arpos and Beneventum by Diomedes, Patavium by Antenor, Metapontum by the Pylians, Scylaceum by the Athenians, Sybaris by the Troezenians and by Sagarus, son of Ajax the Locrian, the Sallentines by the Lyctians, Ancona by the Sicels, Gabii by Galatius and Bion, Sicilian brothers, Tarentum by the Heraclids, the island Tempsa by the Ionians, Paestum by the Dorians, Croton by Myscellus, an Achaean, Rhegium by the Chalcidians, Caulonia and Terina by the Crotoniates, Locri by the Narycians, Heretum by the Greeks in honor of Hera (for thus the Greeks call Juno), Aricia from Archilochus the Sicilian, whence also the name, as Hemina is pleased to think, is derived.

hoc in loco Orestes oraculo monitus simulacrum Scythicae Dianae, quod de Taurica extulerat, prius quam Argos peteret consecravit. a Zanclensibus Metaurum locatum, a Locrensibus Metapontum quod nunc Vibo dicitur, Bocchus absolvit. Gallorum veterum propaginem Umbros esse M. Antonius refert; hos eosdem, quod tempore aquosae cladis imbribus superfuerint, Umbrios graece nominatos.

in this place Orestes, admonished by an oracle, consecrated the effigy of Scythian Diana, which he had carried out of Taurica, before he sought Argos. by the Zancleans the Metaurus was located; by the Locrians Metapontum, which is now called Vibo—Bocchus has set forth. M. Antonius reports that the offshoot of the ancient Gauls are the Umbri; these same, because at the time of the watery disaster they survived the rains, were called in Greek “Ombrii.”

Liciniano placet a Messapo Graeco Messapiae datam originem, versam postmodum in nomen Calabriae, quam in exordio Oenotri frater Peucetius Peucetiam nominaverat. a gubernatore Aeneae appellatum Palinurum, a tubicine Misenum, a consobrina Leucosiam insulam inter omnes perspicue convenit; a nutrice Caietam, ab uxore Lavinium quod post Troiae excidium, sicuti Cosconius perhibet, quarto anno extructum est.

It pleases Licinianus to hold that Messapia received its origin from Messapus the Greek, later turned into the name Calabria, which at the beginning Peucetius, brother of Oenotrus, had named Peucetia. It is plainly agreed among all that Palinurus was named from Aeneas’s helmsman, Misenum from the trumpeter, the island Leucosia from the cousin; from the nurse Caieta, from the wife Lavinium, which, after the destruction of Troy, as Cosconius affirms, was built in the fourth year.

Nec omissum sit Aenean aestate ab Ilio capto secunda Italicis litoribus adpulsum, ut Hemina tradit, sociis non amplius sexcentis, in agro Laurenti posuisse castra: ubi dum simulacrum, quod secum ex Sicilia advexerat, dedicat Veneri matri quae Frutis dicitur, a Diomede Palladium suscepit, tribusque mox annis cum Latino regnat socia potestate, quingentis iugeribus ab eo acceptis: quo defuncto summam biennio adeptus apud Numicium parere desiit anno septimo. patris Indigetis ei nomen datum. deinde constituta ab Ascanio, longa Alba, Fidenae, Aricia; Nola a Tyriis, ab Euboensibus Cumae.

Nor should it be omitted that Aeneas, in the second summer after Ilium was taken, was driven to the Italian shores, as Hemina hands down, with companions no more than six hundred, and pitched camp in the Laurentine territory: where, while he dedicates to mother Venus, who is called Frutis, the simulacrum which he had conveyed with him from Sicily, he received the Palladium from Diomedes, and soon for three years he reigns with Latinus with joint power, having received from him five hundred iugera: when he (Latinus) had died, having obtained the supremacy for two years, he ceased to appear by the Numicius in the seventh year. The name Father Indiges was given to him. Then, established by Ascanius, Alba Longa, Fidenae, Aricia; Nola by the Tyrians, Cumae by the Euboeans.

ibidem Sibyllae sacellum est, sed eius quae rebus Romanis quinquagesima olympiade interfuit cuiusque librum ad Cornelium usque Sullam pontifices nostri consulebant: tunc enim una cum Capitolio igni absumptus est. nam priores duo, Tarquinio Superbo parcius pretium offerente quam postulabatur, ipsa exusserat. huius sepulcrum in Sicilia adhuc manet.

in the same place there is a little shrine of the Sibyl, but of the one who took part in Roman affairs in the 50th Olympiad, and whose book our pontiffs consulted down to Cornelius Sulla; for then it was consumed by fire together with the Capitol. for the earlier two, with Tarquinius Superbus offering the price more sparingly than was demanded, she herself had burned. her sepulcher still remains in Sicily.

Delphicam autem Sibyllam ante Troiana bella vaticinatam Bocchus autumat, cuius plurimos versus operi suo Homerum inseruisse manifestat. hanc Herophilen Erythraea annis aliquot intercedentibus insecuta est Sibyllaque appellata est de scientiae parilitate, quae inter alia magnifica Lesbios amissuros imperium maris multo ante praemonuit quam id accideret. ita Cumanam tertio fuisse post has loco ipsa aevi series probat.

But Bocchus asserts that the Delphic Sibyl prophesied before the Trojan wars, and he makes clear that Homer inserted very many verses of hers into his own work. Herophile of Erythrae, with several years interceding, followed her, and was called “Sibyl” as well on account of parity of knowledge; she, among other magnificent things, forewarned that the Lesbians would lose their dominion of the sea long before it happened. Thus the very sequence of the ages proves that the Cumaean was third in place after these.

Ergo Italia, in qua, Latium antiquum antea a Tiberinis ostiis ad usque Lirim amnem pertinebat, universa consurgit a iugis Alpium, porrecta ad Reginum verticem et litora Bruttiorum, quo in maria meridiem versus protenditur. inde procedens paulatim se Appennini montis dorso attollit, extenta inter Tuscum et Adriaticum, id est inter supernum mare et inferum, similis querneo folio, scilicet proceritate amplior quam latitudine. ubi longius abiit, in cornua duo scinditur, quorum alterum Ionium respectat aequor, alterum Siculum: inter quas prominentias non uno margine accessum insinuati freti recipit, sed linguis proiectis saepius ac procurrentibus distinctum promunturiis pelagus accipit.

Therefore Italy, in which Latium of old formerly extended from the Tiberine mouths up to the river Liris, as a whole rises from the ridges of the Alps, stretched out toward the Regian headland and the shores of the Bruttii, where into the seas it is extended toward the south. Thence proceeding it gradually lifts itself upon the back of the Apennine mountain, stretched between the Tuscan and the Adriatic, that is, between the upper sea and the lower, like to an oak leaf—namely, greater in length than in breadth. Where it has gone farther, it is split into two horns, of which the one looks toward the Ionian expanse, the other toward the Sicilian; between which projections it receives the approach of the insinuated strait not along a single margin, but admits a sea distinguished by tongues often thrust out and by promontories running forward.

ibi, ut obvia passim notemus, arces Tarentinae, Scyllacea regio cum Scyllaeo oppido et Crateide flumine Scyllae matre, ut vetustas fabulata est, Regini saltus, Paestanae valles, Sirenum saxa, amoenissimus Campaniae tractus, Phlegraei campi, Circae domus Tarracina insula ante circumflua inmenso mari, nunc aevo nectente addita continenti diversamque fortunam a Reginis experta, quos fretum medium a Siculis vi abscidit, Formiae etiam Laestrygonibus habitatae, multa praeterea pollentissimis ingeniis edissertata, quae praeterire quam inferius exequi tutius duximus.

there, to note in passing what meets us everywhere, the Tarentine citadels, the Scyllaean region with the Scyllaean town and the river Crataeis, mother of Scylla, as antiquity has fabulized, the Rhegian passes, the Paestan valleys, the rocks of the Sirens, the most delightful tract of Campania, the Phlegraean fields, the house of Circe, Tarracina, once an island encircled by the immense sea, now, with the age knitting, added to the mainland and having experienced a different fortune from the Rhegians, whom the strait between tore by force away from the Sicilians, Formiae too inhabited by the Laestrygonians, many things besides elaborated by the most puissant wits, which we have judged safer to pass by than to set forth below.

Verum Italiae longitudo, quae ab Augusta Praetoria per urbem Capuamque porrigitur usque ad oppidum Regium, decies centena et viginti milia passuum colligit, latitudo ubi plurimum quadringenta decem, ubi minimum centum triginta sex; artissima est ad portum quem Hannibalis castra dicunt, neque enim excedit quadraginta milia; umbilicum ut Varro tradit in agro Reatino habet. at in solidum spatium circuitus universi vicies centena quadraginta novem sunt. in quo ambitu adversa Loerensium fronte ortus a Gadibus finitur Europae sinus primus; nam secundus a Lacinio auspicatus in Acroceraunio metas habet.

Truly the length of Italy, which from Augusta Praetoria, through the City and Capua, is extended as far as the town of Regium, amounts to 1,020 miles; the breadth where it is greatest is 410, where it is least 136; it is narrowest at the harbor which they call Hannibal’s Camp, for it does not exceed 40 miles; it has its navel, as Varro hands down, in the Reatine countryside. But as to the solid expanse, the circuit of the whole is 2,049. Within which compass, opposite the front of the Loerenses, the first bay of Europe, arisen from Gades, is bounded; for the second, taking its inception from Lacinia, has its limits at the Acroceraunian promontory.

Ad haec Italia Pado clara est, quem mons Vesulus superantissimus inter iuga Alpium gremio sugo fundit, visendo fonte in Ligurum finibus, unde se, primum Padus proruit submersusque cuniculo rursus in agro Vibonensi extollitur, nulli amnium inferior claritate, a Graecis dictus Eridanus. intumescit ex ortu canis tabefactis nivibus et liquentibus brumae pruinis auctusque aquarum accessione triginta flumina in Hadriaticum defert mare.

Moreover, Italy is renowned for the Po, which Mount Vesulus, the most towering among the ridges of the Alps, pours forth from its own bosom, its spring visible within the borders of the Ligurians; whence, at first, the Po rushes out, and, submerged in a tunnel, is raised again in the Vibonensian territory, inferior to none of the rivers in renown, called Eridanus by the Greeks. it swells at the rising of the Dog-star, as the snows waste away and the hoar-frosts of winter melt, and, increased by the accession of waters, it bears thirty rivers into the Adriatic Sea.

E memorabilibus inclutum et insigniter per omnium vulgatum ora, quod perpaucae familiae sunt in agro Faliscorum quos Hirpos vocant. hi sacrificium annuum ad Soractis montem Apollini faciunt: ad operantes gesticulationibus religiosis impune exultant ardentibus lignorum struibus, in honorem divinae rei flammis parentibus. cuius devotionis mysterium munificentia senatus honorata Hirpis perpetuo consulto omnium munerum vacationem dedit.

Among the memorable things, illustrious and signally spread on the lips of all, is that there are very few families in the land of the Falisci, whom they call Hirpos. These perform an annual sacrifice to Apollo at Mount Soracte: while performing, with religious gesticulations they exult with impunity upon burning heaps of wood, in honor of the divine affair, the flames obeying. The mystery of this devotion, honored by the munificence of the senate, by a perpetual decree gave to the Hirpi exemption from all public burdens.

Gentem Marsorum serpentibus inlaesam esse nihil mirum: a Circae filio genus ducunt et de avita potentia deberi sibi sciunt servitium venenorum: ideo venena contemnunt. C. Coelius Aeetae tres filias dicit Angitiam Medeam Circen: Circen Circeios insedisse montes, carminum maleficiis varias imaginum facies mentientem: Angitiam vicina Fucino occupavisse ibique salubri scientia adversus morbos resistentem, cum dedisset homines vivere, deam habitam: Medeam ab Iasone Buthroti sepultam filiumque eius Marsis imperasse.

That the race of the Marsi is unharmed by serpents is nothing marvelous: they draw their lineage from the son of Circe, and from ancestral potentia they know that the servitude of venoms is owed to them; therefore they contemn poisons. C. Coelius says that Aeëtes had three daughters, Angitia, Medea, Circe: that Circe settled the Circaean mountains, by the malefices of incantations feigning various appearances of images; that Angitia occupied the region near Lake Fucinus and there, with salubri scientia, resisted diseases, and, since she had granted men to live, was held a goddess; that Medea was buried by Jason at Buthrotum, and that her son commanded the Marsi.

Sed quamvis Italia habeat hoc praesidium familiare, a serpentibus non penitus libera est. denique Amunclas, quas Amyclas ante Graeci condiderant, serpentes fugavere. illic frequens vipera insanabili morsu: brevior haec ceteris quas in aliis advertimus orbis partibus ac propterea, dum despectui est, facilius nocet.

But although Italy has this familiar protection, it is not altogether free from serpents. Finally, the Amunclas, which the Greeks had formerly founded as Amyclae, drove the serpents away. There the viper is frequent, with an incurable bite: this one is shorter than the others which we have observed in other parts of the world, and therefore, while it is held in contempt, it harms more easily.

Calabria chersydris frequentissima et boas gignit, quem anguem ad inmensam molem ferunt convalescere. captat primo greges bubulos et quae plurimo lacte rigua bos est, eius se uberibus innectit, suctuque continuo saginata longo in saeculo ita fellebri satietate ultimo extuberatur, ut obsistere magnitudini eius nulla vis queat: et postremo depopulatis animantibus regiones quas obsederit cogit ad vastitatem. Divo Claudio principe, ubi Vaticanus ager est, in alvo occisae boae spectatus est solidus infans.

Calabria is most abundant in chersydris and produces the boa, a snake which they report grows to an immense mass. At first it preys upon bovine herds, and upon the cow that is irrigated with very much milk it fastens itself to her udders; and, fattened by continuous sucking over a long span, at last it is so puffed up with a bilious surfeit that no force can withstand its magnitude; and finally, with the living creatures laid waste, it drives the regions which it has besieged into desolation. In the time of the deified Claudius, where the Vatican field is, a whole infant was seen in the belly of a slain boa.

Italia lupos habet; quod cum ceteris simile non sit, homo quem prius viderit conticescit, et anticipatus obtutu nocentis, licet clamandi votum habeat, non habet vocis ministerium. sciens de lupis praetereo multa: spectatissimum illud est. caudae animalis huius villus amatorius inest perexiguus, quem spontivo damno abicit cum capi metuit: nec habet potentiam nisi viventi detrahatur.

Italy has wolves; which, in this respect unlike the rest, the man whom it has seen first falls silent, and, anticipated by the noxious one’s gaze, although he has the wish to shout, he does not have the ministry of his voice. Knowing, I pass over many things about wolves: this is the most well-attested. In the tail of this animal there is a very tiny amatorial hair, which it casts off by spontaneous loss when it fears being captured; nor does it have potency unless it be pulled from a living one.

coeunt lupi toto anno non amplius dies duodecim. vescuntur in fame terram. at hi quos cervarios dicimus, quamvis post longa ieiunia repertas aegre carnes mandere coeperint, ubi quid casu respiciant obliviscuntur, et inmemores praesentis copiae eunt quaesitum quam reliquerant satietatem.

Wolves mate in the whole year for no more than 12 days. When famished they feed on earth. But those whom we call deer-wolves, although after long fasts they have begun with difficulty to chew the meat they have found, as soon as they by chance look back at something they forget, and, unmindful of the present supply, they go to seek the satiety which they had left behind.

In hoc animalium genere numerantur et lynces, quarum urinas coire in duritiem pretiosi calculi fatentur qui naturas lapidum exquisitius sunt persecuti. istud etiam ipsas lynces persentiscere hoc documento probatur, quod egestum liquorem ilico harenarum cumulis quantum valent contegunt, invidia scilicet ne talis egeries transeat in nostrum usum, ut Theophrastus perhibet. lapidi isti ad sucinum color est, pariter spiritu adtrahit propinquantia, dolores renum placat, medetur regio morbo, lyncurium Graece dicitur.

In this kind of animals are also numbered lynxes, whose urine, those who have most exquisitely pursued the natures of stones confess, coalesces into the hardness of a precious calculus. This too—that the lynxes themselves are aware of it—is proved by the following evidence: that the discharged liquid they immediately cover, as much as they can, with heaps of sand, out of envy, namely, lest such an egestion should pass into our use, as Theophrastus attests. This stone has a color like amber, and likewise by its spirit it attracts things that come near; it soothes pains of the kidneys, it heals the royal disease; in Greek it is called lyncurium.

Cicadae apud Reginos mutae, nec usquam alibi: quod silentium miraculo est, nec inmerito, cum vicinae quae sunt Locrensium ultra ceteras sonent. causas Granius tradit, cum obmurmurarent illic Herculi quiescenti, deum iussisse ne streperent: itaque ex eo coeptum silentium permanere.

The cicadas among the people of Rhegium are mute, and nowhere else: this silence is a marvel, and not without reason, since the neighboring ones, those of the Locrians, sound beyond the rest. Granius relates the causes: when they were murmuring there to Hercules as he was resting, the god ordered that they not clatter; and thus the silence that began from that time endures.

Ligusticum mare frutices procreat, qui quantisper fuerint in aquarum profundis, fluxi sunt tactu prope carnulento: deinde ubi in supera tolluntur natalibus derogati saxis lapides fiunt: nec solum qualitas illis sed et color vertitur: nam puniceo protinus erubescunt. ramuli sunt, quales arboris visimus, ad semipedem frequentius longi; rarum est pedaneos deprehendi. excluduntur ex illis multa gestamina.

The Ligurian sea procreates shrubs, which, so long as they are in the depths of the waters, are pliant to the touch, almost fleshy; then, when they are lifted into the upper regions, deprived of their natal conditions, they become stones of rock; and not only is the quality in them changed, but the color as well: for they at once blush a puniceous red. They are little branches, such as we have seen on a tree, more frequently up to half a foot long; it is rare to find ones a foot long. From them many ornaments to be worn are fashioned.

habet enim, ut Zoroastres ait, materia haec quandam potestatem, ac propterea quidquid inde sit ducitur inter salutaria. curallium alias dicunt: nam Metrodorus gorgiam nominat. idem quod resistat typhonibus et fulminibus adfirmat.

for it has, as Zoroaster says, a certain power in this material, and therefore whatever may be from it is counted among salutary things. They also call it curallium; for Metrodorus names it gorgia. The same man affirms that it resists typhoons and thunderbolts.

eruitur gemma in parte Lucaniae facie adeo iucunda, ut languentes intrinsecus stellas et subnubilo renidentes perfundat color croceus. ea quoniam in litore Syrtium inventa primum est Syrtitis vocatur. est et Veientana a loco dicta, cui nigricolor facies propria, quam ad gratiam varietatis limites albi intersecant notis candicantibus.

A gem is dug up in a part of Lucania with an appearance so pleasing that a crocus-colored hue bathes the faint stars within and makes them gleam beneath a slight cloudiness. Since it was first found on the shore of the Syrtes, it is called Syrtitis. There is also the Veientine, named from the place, whose characteristic face is blackish, which, for the grace of variety, white boundary-lines intersect with gleaming marks.

Insula quae Apuliae oram videt tumulo ac delubro Diomedis insignis est et Diomedeas aves sola nutrit: nam hoc genus alitis praeterquam ibi nusquam gentium est, idque solum poterat memorabile iudicari, nisi accederent non omittenda. forma illis paene quae fulicis, color candidus, ignei oculi, ora dentata: congreges volitant nec sine ratione pergendi: duces duo sunt, qui regunt cursum: alter agmen anteit alter insequitur: ille ut ductu. certum iter dirigat, hic ut instantia urgeat tarditatem.

The island which looks upon the shore of Apulia is distinguished by the tumulus and shrine of Diomedes and alone nourishes the Diomedean birds: for this kind of fowl, apart from there, is nowhere in the world, and this alone could be judged memorable, did there not accrue further things not to be omitted. Their form is almost that of the coot, their color candid, their eyes fiery, their beaks toothed: they fly in flocks, and not without a rationale of proceeding: there are two leaders who govern the course; one goes before the column, the other follows: the former, that by his leading he may direct a sure route, the latter, that by pressing urgency he may drive on slowness.

haec in meantibus disciplina est. cum fetificum adest tempus, rostro scrobes excavant, deinde surculis inversum superpositis imitantur texta cratium: sic contegunt subtercavata et ne operimenta si desint, forte lignorum cassa venti auferant, hanc struicem premunt terra quam egesserant cum puteos excitarent. sic nidos moliuntur bifori accessu, nec fortuitu, adeo ut ad plagas caeli metentur exitus vel ingressus: aditus qui dimittit, ad pastus in ortum destinatur, qui excipit revertentes versus occasui est: ut lux et morantes excitet et receptui non denegetur.

This is the discipline among them as they go. When the fœtific (breeding) time is at hand, they excavate pits with the beak; then, with little shoots laid crosswise on top, they imitate the woven work of hurdles: thus they cover what they have hollowed beneath; and lest, if coverings are lacking, the winds perchance carry off the hollow wooden casings, they press this heap with the earth which they had thrown out when they stirred up the wells. Thus they labor at nests with a two-doored access, and not by chance, to such a degree that the exits and the entrance are measured out toward the quarters of the sky: the entry that lets them out, for feeding, is destined toward the east, the one that receives them returning is toward the west, so that light both rouses the lingerers and is not denied for the recall.

levaturae alvum adversis flatibus subvolant, quibus proluvies longius auferatur. iudicant inter advenas: qui Graecus est propius accedunt et quantum intellegi datur ut civem blandius adulantur, si quis erit gentis alterius involant et impugnant. aedem sacram omni die celebrant studio eiusmodi: aquis imbuunt plumas alisque impendio madefactis confluunt rorulentae: ita aedem excusso umore purificant: tunc pinnulis superplaudunt: inde disceditur quasi peracta religione.

when they are about to relieve the belly, they fly up into adverse blasts, so that the discharge may be carried farther away. they render judgment among newcomers: whoever is Greek they approach more closely and, so far as can be understood, adulate more blandishingly as a fellow-citizen; if anyone be of another nation, they swoop in and assail. they celebrate the sacred shrine every day with zeal of this kind: they soak their feathers with waters, and, their wings exceedingly drenched, they come together dewy; thus they purify the shrine by shaking off the moisture; then they beat above it with their little pinions; thereafter they depart as though the rite were completed.

ob hoc ferunt Diomedis socios aves factos. sane ante adventum Aetoli ducis nomen Diomedeae non habebant, inde sic dictae.

on account of this they report that the companions of Diomedes were made into birds. indeed, before the arrival of the Aetolian leader they did not have the name Diomedeae; from then they were thus called.

Italicus excursus per Liburnos, quae gens Asiatica est, procedit in Dalmatiae pedem, Dalmatia in limitem Illyricum, in quo sinu Dardani sedes habent, homines ex Troiana prosapia in mores barbaros efferati. at ex altera parte per Ligurum oram in Narbonensem provinciam pergit, in qua, Phocaenses quondam fugati Persarum adventu Massiliam urbem olympiade quadragesima quinta condiderunt. et C. Marius bello Cimbrico factis manu fossis invitavit mare, perniciosamque ferventis Rhodani navigationem temperavit: qui amnis praecipitatus Alpibus primo per Helvetios ruit, occursantium aquarum agmina secum trahens, auctuque magno ipso quod invadit freto turbulentior, nisi quod fretum ventis excitatur, Rhodanus saevit et cum serenum est: atque ideo inter tres Europae maximos fluvios et hunc computant.

The Italic excursion along the Liburni, which nation is Asiatic, advances into the foot of Dalmatia, Dalmatia into the Illyrian frontier, in whose bend the Dardani have their seats, men from Trojan progeny brutalized into barbarian mores. But on the other side it goes along the coast of the Ligurians into the Narbonensian province, in which the Phocaeans, once driven out by the arrival of the Persians, founded the city of Massilia in the 45th Olympiad. And Gaius Marius, in the Cimbrian war, by ditches made by hand invited the sea, and tempered the pernicious navigation of the seething Rhone: which river, hurled headlong from the Alps, at first rushes through the Helvetians, dragging with it hosts of oncoming waters, and, with great augmentation, more turbulent than the very strait which it invades—save that a strait is stirred by winds—the Rhone rages even when it is calm; and therefore they reckon this too among the three greatest rivers of Europe.

Aquae quoque Sextiae illic obclaruerunt, quondam hiberna consulis, postea excultae moenibus: quarum calor olim acrior exalatus per teporem evaporavit nec iam par est famae prioris.

The Aquae Sextiae too there became illustrious, once the winter-quarters of a consul, afterward cultivated and furnished with walls: whose heat, formerly harsher, having been exhaled has evaporated into mere tepidity, and is now not equal to its earlier renown.

Si Graecias cogitemus praestat respicere litus Tarentinum: unde a promunturio, quod Acran Iapygian vocant, Achaiam destinantibus citissima navigatio est.

If we consider the Grecian lands, it is best to look toward the Tarentine shore: whence, from the promontory which they call the Iapygian Acra, the swiftest navigation is found for those bound to Achaia.

III. Flectendus hinc stilus est: terrarum vocant aliae, et longum est, ut moratim insularum omnium oras legamus, quascumque promunturia Italica prospectant: quamvis sparsae recessibus amoenissimis et quodam naturae quasi spectaculo expositae non erant omittendae: sed quantum residendum est, si dilatis quae praecipua sunt per quandam desidiam, aut Pandateriam aut Prochytam dicamus, aut ferri Ilvam feracem, aut Caprariam quam Graeci Aegilon dicunt, aut Planasiam de facie supinati sic vocatam, vel Columbariam avium hoc nominis matrem, vel Ithacesiam Ulixis speculam, vel Aenariam, Inarimen Homero nominatam, aliasque laetas non secus. inter quas Corsicam plurimi in dicendo latius circumvecti plenissima narrandi absolverunt diligentia, nihilque omissum quod retractanti non sit supervacuum. ut exordium incolis Ligures dederint, ut oppida extructa sint, ut colonias ibi deduxerint Marius et Sulla, ut ipsam Ligustici sinus aequor adluat.

3. From here the pen must be bent: some call them “lands,” and it is a long task to coast by stages along the shores of all the islands on which the Italian promontories look out; although scattered in most delightful recesses and set forth as by a kind of spectacle of nature, they ought not to be omitted: but how long would we have to linger, if, deferring the chief ones through a kind of indolence, we should speak of Pandateria or Prochyta, or Ilva fertile in iron, or Capraria which the Greeks call Aegilon, or Planasia so named from the aspect of flatness, or Columbaria, mother of the name from the birds, or Ithacesia, the lookout of Ulysses, or Aenaria, called Inarime by Homer, and other gladsome ones likewise. Among these Corsica many, ranging more broadly in their discourse, have completed with the fullest diligence of narration, and nothing has been left out which would not be superfluous for a re-telling: how the Ligurians gave the beginning with inhabitants, how towns were built, how Marius and Sulla led colonies there, how the very sea of the Ligurian gulf washes it.

sed haec facessant.

But away with these things.

Verum ager Corsicanus, quod in eo agro unicum est, solus edit quem catochiten vocant lapidem fatu dignissimum. maior est ceteris qui ad ornatum destinantur nec tam gemma quam cautes. idem impositas manus detinet, ita se iunctis corporibus adnectens ut cum ipso haereant quibus tangitur; sic ei inest [vellus] velut de glutino lentiore nescio quid par atque gummi.

But the Corsican land, which in that land is unique, alone produces the stone they call catochites, most worthy of a fool. It is larger than the others destined for ornament, and not so much a gem as a crag. This same stone detains hands laid upon it, so attaching itself to bodies in contact that those who touch it cling fast with it; thus there is in it a [fleece], as it were, something like a more viscous glue and akin to gum.

accipimus Democritum Abderiten ostentatione scrupuli huius frequenter usum ad probandam occultam naturae potentiam in certaminibus quae contra magos habuit.

We learn that Democritus of Abdera frequently employed the ostentation of this pebble to prove the occult potency of nature, in the contests which he waged against the magi.

IV. Sardinia quoque, quam apud Timaeum Sandaliotin legimus, Ichnusam apud Crispum, in quo mari sita sit, quos incolarum auctores habeat, satis celebre est. nihil ergo attinet dicere [ut] Sardus Hercule, Norax Mercurio procreati cum alter a Libya, alter ab usque Tartesso Hispaniae in hosce fines permeavissent, a Sardo terrae, a Norace Norae oppido nomen datum, mox Aristaeum regnando his proximum in urbe Caralis, quam condiderat ipse coniuncto populo utriusque sanguinis, seiuges usque ad se gentes ad unum morem coniugasse, imperium ex insolentia nihil aspernatas.

4. Sardinia also, which we read as Sandaliotis in Timaeus, as Ichnusa in Crispus, in which sea it is situated, and who the authors of its inhabitants are, is quite celebrated. There is therefore no need to say that Sardus, procreated by Hercules, and Norax, procreated by Mercury—when the one from Libya, the other from as far as Tartessus in Spain, had penetrated into these borders—the land took its name from Sardus, and the town Nora from Norax; soon Aristaeus, nearest to them in rule, in the city of Caralis, which he himself had founded, with a people conjoined of both bloods, had yoked the peoples, sundered down to his time, into a single custom, the peoples not spurning authority out of insolence.

Sed ut haec et Iolaum, qui ad id locorum agros ibi insedit, praeterea et Ilienses et Locrenses transeamus, Sardinia est quidem absque serpentibus. sed quod aliis locis serpens, hoc solifuga Sardis agris, animal perexiguum aranei forma, solifuga dicta quod diem fugiat. in metallis argentariis plurima est, nam solum illud argenti dives est: occultim reptat et per imprudentiam supersedentibus pestem facit.

But so that we may pass over these matters and Iolaus, who up to that point settled fields there, and besides also the Ilienses and the Locrenses, Sardinia is indeed without serpents. sed what in other places the serpent is, this the solifuge is in the Sards’ fields, a very tiny animal in the form of a spider, called solifuge because it flees the day. in the silver mines it is very abundant, for that soil is rich in silver: it creeps secretly and through imprudence brings ruin to those who sit down upon it.

huic incommodo accedit et herba Sardonia, quae in defluviis fontaneis provenit iusto largius. ea si edulio fuerit nescientibus, nervos contrahit, diducit rictu ora, ut qui mortem oppetunt intereant facie ridentium.

To this inconvenience there is added also the Sardonian herb, which in the runoffs of spring-waters grows more abundantly than is proper. If it has been taken as a food by the unknowing, it contracts the nerves, draws the mouths apart in a rictus, so that those who meet death perish with the face of people laughing.

Contra quidquid aquarum est varie commodis servit. stagna pisculentissima. hibernae pluviae in aestivam penuriam reservantur, nam homo Sardus opem plurimam de imbrido caelo habet: hoc collectaneum depascitur, ut sufficiat usui ubi defecerint scaturrigines.

By contrast, whatever water there is serves various conveniences. The ponds are most teeming with fish. The winter rains are reserved for the summer scarcity, for the Sardinian man has very great aid from the rainy sky: this collected supply he consumes, so that it may suffice for use when the springs have failed.

fontes calidi et salubres aliquot locis effervescunt, qui medelas adferunt aut solidant ossa fracta aut abolent a solifugis insertum venenum aut etiam ocularias dissipant aegritudines. sed qui oculis medentur, et coarguendis valent furibus: nam quisquis sacramento raptum negat, lumina aquis attrectat: ubi periurium non est, cernit clarius, si perfidia abnuit, detegitur facinus caecitate, et captus oculis admissum fatetur.

hot and healthful springs effervesce in several places, which bring remedies, either knit broken bones, or abolish the venom inserted by solifuges, or even dissipate ocular illnesses. But those which heal the eyes are also strong for convicting thieves: for whoever denies by an oath the robbery, touches his lights with the waters: where there is no perjury, he sees more clearly; if perfidy says no, the crime is uncovered by blindness, and, his eyes seized, he confesses the offense he committed.

V. Si respiciamus ad ordinem temporum vel locorum, post Sardiniam res vocant Siculae. primo quod utraque insula in Romanum arbitratum redacta iisdem temporibus facta provincia est, cum eodem anno Sardiniam M. Valerius, alteram C. Flaminius praetor sortiti sint. adde quod freto Siculo excipitur nomen Sardi maris.

5. If we look back to the order of times or of places, after Sardinia our subject calls for the Sicilian [affairs]. First, because each island, having been brought under Roman authority, was made a province at the same time, since in the same year M. Valerius drew Sardinia by lot, and C. Flaminius, as praetor, the other. Add that, beyond the Sicilian strait, the name of the Sardinian Sea is taken up.

Ergo Sicilia, quod cum primis adsignandum est, diffusis prominentibus triquetra specie figuratur. Pachynus aspectus in Peloponnesum et meridianam plagam dirigit, Pelorias adversa vespero Italiam videt, Lilybaeum in Africam extenditur. inter quae Pelorias praestat laudata unico soli temperamento, quod neque humido in lutum madefiat neque fatiscat in pulverem siccitate.

Therefore Sicily, which is to be noted first of all, is figured in a triquetra shape, with its promontories spread out. Pachynus directs its outlook toward the Peloponnese and the southern quarter; Pelorias, facing the west, looks toward Italy; Lilybaeum stretches out toward Africa. Among these, Pelorias excels, praised for a unique temperament of the soil, in that it is neither by moisture made sodden into mud nor by dryness crumbled into powder.

ea ubi introrsum recedit et in latitudinem panditur, tres lacus obtinet, quorum unus quod piscium copiosus est non equidem ad miraculum duxerim. sed quod ei proximans condensus arbustis inter virgultorum opaca feras nutriat et admissis venantibus per terrenos tramites, quibus pedestres accessus excipit, duplicem piscandi venandique praebeat voluptatem, numeratur inter eximia. tertium ara sacrum adprobat, quae in medio sita brevia dividit a profundis.

where it draws back inward and is spread out in breadth, it contains three lakes, of which one, because it is copious in fish, I would not, to be sure, reckon as a miracle. But the fact that, adjoining it, a growth dense with shrubs, in the shadowy coverts of the brush, nourishes wild beasts, and, when huntsmen are admitted along earthy tracks—by which it affords pedestrian access—offers a twofold delight of fishing and hunting, causes it to be numbered among the choice things. A sacred altar attests the third, which, set in the middle, divides the shallows from the depths.

qua ad eam pergitur, aqua crurum tenus pervenit: quod ultra est, nec explorari licet nec attingi et si fiat, qui id ausus sit malo plectitur quantamque sui partem gurgiti intimaverit, tantam perditum it. ferunt quendam in haec alta quam longissimam poterat iecisse lineam, eam ut recuperaret dum merso brachio nisum adiuvat, cadaver manum factam.

where one goes to it, the water reaches up to the shins; what lies beyond may neither be explored nor touched, and if it be done, whoever has dared it is punished with an evil, and however great a part of himself he has inserted into the gulf, so much goes to perdition. They report that a certain man cast into these depths as long a line as he could, and that, as he was aiding the effort to recover it with his arm plunged in, his hand was made a corpse.

Peloritana ora habitatur colonia Tauromenia, quam prisci Naxum vocabant, oppido Messana Italiae Regio opposita, quod Regium a dehiscendi argumento ['P~ytov-Greek] Graeci dictitabant. Pachyno multa thynnorum inest copia ac propterea semper captura larga. Lilybitano Lilybaeum oppidum decus est Sibyllae sepulcro.

The Peloritanean shore is inhabited by the colony Tauromenium, which the ancients called Naxos, with the town of Messana opposite to Rhegium of Italy, which Rhegium, from the indication of a splitting-open, the Greeks used to call ['P~ytov-Greek]. At Pachynus there is a great abundance of tunnies, and therefore the catch is always ample. At Lilybaeum, the ornament of the town Lilybaeum is the Sibyl’s tomb.

Sicaniae diu ante Troiana bella Sicanus rex nomen dedit, advectus cum amplissima Hiberorum manu: post Siculus Neptuni filius. in hanc plurimi Corinthiorum Argivorum Iliensium Doriensium Cretensium confluxerunt: inter quos et Daedalus fabricae artis magister. principem urbium Syracusas habet, in qua etiam cum hiberno conduntur serena, nullo non die sol est.

Sicily long before the Trojan wars received its name from King Sicanus, conveyed with a very ample band of Iberians; afterward by Sicelus, son of Neptune. Into this there converged very many of the Corinthians, Argives, Ilians (Trojans), Dorians, Cretans—among whom also Daedalus, master of the art of craftsmanship. It has Syracuse as chief of cities, in which, even when fair skies are put away by winter, there is not a single day without sun.

adde quod Arethusa fons in hac urbe est.

add moreover that the fountain Arethusa is in this city.

Eminet montibus Aetna et Eryce. Vulcano Aetna sacer est, Eryx Veneri. in Aetnae vertice hiatus duo sunt, crateres nominati, per quos eructatus erumpit vapor, praemisso prius fremitu, qui per aestuantes cavernarum latebras longo mugitu intra terrae viscera divolvitur, nec ante se flammarum globi attollunt quam interni strepitus antecedant.

Among the mountains Aetna and Eryx are prominent. Aetna is sacred to Vulcan, Eryx to Venus. on the summit of Aetna there are two gaping openings, called craters, through which, belched up, vapor bursts forth, a roar first having been sent ahead, which, through the seething hiding-places of the caverns, with a long bellowing rolls down within the bowels of the earth; nor do globes of flames lift themselves up before the internal crashings have gone before.

mirum hoc est: nec illud minus quod in illa ferventis naturae pervicacia mixtas ignibus nives praefert, et licet vastis exundet incendiis, apicis canitie perpetua brumalem detinet faciem. ita invicta in utroque violentia nec calor frigore mitigatur nec frigus calore dissolvitur. laudant alios montes duos Nebroden et Neptunium.

this is marvelous: nor is that less, that in that pervicacity of a fervent nature it presents snows mingled with fires; and although it overflows with vast incendia, by the perpetual hoar of its summit it holds a brumal aspect. thus, the violence unconquered on both sides, neither is heat mitigated by cold nor is cold dissolved by heat. they praise two other mountains, Nebroden and Neptunium.

e Neptunio specula est in pelagus Tuscum et Hadriaticum. Nebroden dammae et hinnulei gregatim pervagantur: inde Nebrodes.

from Neptunium there is a lookout over the Tuscan sea and the Adriatic. On Nebroden, fallow-deer and fawns roam in herds: hence “Nebrodes.”

Quidquid Sicilia gignit, sive soli sive hominis ingenio proximum est his quae optima iudicantur, nisi quod fetu terrae Centuripino croco vincitur. hic primum inventa comoedia: hic et cavillatio mimica in scaena stetit: hinc domo Archimedes qui iuxta siderum disciplinam machinarius commentor fuit: hinc Lais illa quae eligere patriam maluit quam fateri. gentem Cyclopum testantur vasti specus: Laestrygonum sedes adhuc sic vocantur.

Whatever Sicily produces, whether by the soil or by the ingenuity of man, is next to those things which are judged the best, except that in the produce of the earth it is surpassed by the Centuripan saffron. Here comedy was first invented: here also mimic cavillation stood upon the stage: hence by home was Archimedes, who, in accordance with the discipline of the stars, was a machinist-contriver: hence that Lais who preferred to choose a fatherland rather than to confess it. Vast caves attest the nation of the Cyclopes: the seats of the Laestrygones are still called so.

Ceres inde magistra sationis fructuariae. hic ibidem campus Hennensis in floribus semper et omni vernus die: quem propter est demersum foramen, qua Ditem patrem ad raptus Liberae exeuntem fama est lucem hausum. inter Catinam et Syracusas certamen est de inlustrium fratrum memoria, quorum nomina sibi diversae partes adoptant: si Catinenses audiamus, Anapius fuit et Amphinomus: si quod malunt Syracusae, Emantiam putabimus et Critonem: Catinensis tamen regio causam dedit facto.

Thence Ceres, the instructress of fruit-bearing sowing. Here in the same place, the Hennaean plain, always in blossom and vernal on every day: on account of which there is a sunken aperture, where Father Dis, going out to the abduction of Libera, is said to have drunk in the light. Between Catina and Syracuse there is a contest over the memory of illustrious brothers, whose names the different sides adopt for themselves: if we listen to the Catinians, it was Anapius and Amphinomus; if we take what Syracuse prefers, we shall think it Emantias and Criton; nevertheless the Catinian region gave the occasion for the deed.

in quam se cum Aetnae incendia protulissent, iuvenes duo sublatos parentes evexerunt inter flammas inlaesi ignibus. horum memoriam ita posteritas munerata est, ut sepulcri locus nominaretur campus piorum.

into which, when Aetna’s conflagrations had advanced, two youths, having taken up their parents, bore them out amid the flames, unharmed by the fires. The memory of these was thus rewarded by posterity, so that the place of the sepulchre was named the Field of the Pious.

De Arethusa et Alpheo verum est hactenus quod conveniunt fons et amnis. fluminum miracula abunde varia sunt. Dianam qui ad Camerinam fluit si habitus inpudice hauserit, non coibunt in corpus unum latex vineus et latex aquae.

Concerning Arethusa and Alpheus, thus far it is true that the fountain and the river meet. the miracles of rivers are abundantly various. the Diana which flows to Camarina—if the garb of the one drawing it has been immodest—then the vinous liquid and the aqueous liquid will not coalesce into one body.

apud Segestanos Helbesus in medio flumine subita exaestuatione fervet. Acidem, quamvis dimissum Aetna, nullus frigore antevertit. Himeraeum caelestes mutant plagae: amarus denique est dum in aquilonem fluit, dulcis ubi ad meridiem flectitur.

among the Segestans the Helbesus in mid-stream boils with a sudden seething. The Acis, although discharged by Aetna, none surpasses in cold. The celestial quarters change the Himeraean: bitter, in fine, it is while it flows toward the north, sweet where it bends toward the south.

Quanta in aquis tanta novitas in salinis. salem Agrigentinum si igni iunxeris dissolvitur ustione: cui si liquor aquae proximaverit crepitat veluti torreatur. purpureum Aetna mittit, in Pachyno translucidus invenitur.

As much novelty in waters, so much in the salt-pans. Agrigentine salt, if you join it to fire, is dissolved by scorching: to which, if the liquor of water approaches, it crackles as though it were being roasted. purpureous salt Etna sends forth, at Pachynus a translucid one is found.

cetera salinarum metalla, quae sunt aut Agrigento aut Centuripis proximantia, funguntur cautium ministerio: nam illinc excuduntur signa ad facies hominum vel deorum. Thermitanis locis insula est harundinum ferax, quae accommodatissimae sunt in omnem sonum tibiarum, seu praecentorias facias, quarum locus est ad pulvinaria praecinendi, sive vascas quae foraminum numeris praecentorias antecedunt, seu puellatorias quibus a sono clariore vocamen datur, sive gingrinas quae breviores licet subtilioribus tamen modis insonant, aut milvinas quae in accentus exeunt acutissimos, aut Lydias quas et turarias dicunt, vel Corinthias vel Aegyptias aliasve a musicis per diversas officiorum et nominum species separatas.

the other workings of the salt-works, which are near either Agrigentum or Centuripi, serve the function of crags: for from them images are hammered out to the likenesses of men or of gods. In the Thermitan places there is an island rich in reeds, which are most well-suited for every sound of the tibiae (pipes), whether you make praecentoriae, whose place is for leading the chant before the pulvinaria, or vascae, which surpass the praecentoriae in the numbers of their holes, or puellatoriae, to which a name is given from their clearer sound, or gingrinae, which, though shorter, nevertheless resound with more subtle modes, or milvinae, which pass into the sharpest accents, or Lydian ones, which they also call turariae, or Corinthian or Egyptian, and others, separated by musicians according to the diverse kinds of functions and of names.

In Halesina regione fons alias quietus et tranquillus cum siletur, si insonent tibiae exultabundus ad cantus elevatur, et quasi miretur vocis dulcedinem ultra margines intumescit. Gelonium stagnum taetro odore abigit proximantes. ibi et fontes duo, alter de quo si sterilis sumpserit fecunda fiet: alter quem si fecunda hauserit vertitur in sterilitatem.

In the Halesine region a spring, otherwise quiet and tranquil when there is silence, if flutes sound, is lifted up exultant at the songs, and as if it marveled at the sweetness of the voice it swells beyond its margins. The Gelonium pool drives away those approaching by a foul odor. There also are two springs: one, from which if a barren woman should draw she will become fertile; the other, which if a fertile woman should draw, she is turned into sterility.

stagnum Petrensium serpentibus noxium est, homini salutare. in lacu Agrigentino oleum supernatat: hoc pingue haeret harundinum comis de adsiduo volutabro, e quarum capillamentis legitur unguentum medicum contra armentarios morbos.

the pool of the Petrenses is noxious to serpents, salutary to man. in the Agrigentine lake oil floats on top: this grease clings to the tresses of the reeds from continual rolling about, and from whose filaments a medicinal unguent is gathered against the diseases of the herds.

nec longe inde collis Vulcanius, in quo qui divinae rei operantur ligna vitea super aras struunt nec ignis adponitur in hanc congeriem: cum prosicias intulerunt, si adest deus, si sacrum probatur, sarmenta licet viridia sponte concipiunt et nullo inflagrante halitu ab ipso numine fit accendium. ibi epulantes adludit flamma, quae flexuosis excessibus vagabunda quem contigerit non adurit nec aliud est quam imago nuntia perfecti rite voti. idem ager Agrigentinus eructat limosas scaturrigines et ut venae fontium sufficiunt rivis subministrandis, ita in hac Siciliae parte solo numquam deficiente aeterna reiectatione terram terra evomit.

and not far from there the Vulcanian hill, on which those who perform the divine rite pile vine-wood upon the altars and no fire is applied to this heap: when they have brought in the sacrificial portions, if the god is present, if the sacred is approved, the brushwood, though green, spontaneously catches, and with no inflaming breath the ignition is made by the numen itself. there the flame plays upon the feasters, which, wandering with sinuous excursions, does not scorch whom it has touched, and is nothing other than a heralding image of a vow duly perfected. the same Agrigentine land belches forth muddy gushings, and just as the veins of springs suffice for supplying rills, so in this part of Sicily, the soil never failing, with eternal eructation the earth spews out earth.

Achaten lapidem Sicilia primum dedit in Achatae fluminis ripis repertum, non vilem, cum ibi tantum inveniretur, quippe interscribentes eum venae naturalibus sic notant formis, ut cum optimus est varias praeferat rerum imagines. unde anulus Pyrrhi regis qui adversus Romanos bella gessit non ignobilis famae fuit, cuius gemma achates erat, in quo novem Musae cum insignibus suis singulae et Apollo tenens citharam videbantur, non inpressis figuris sed ingenitis. nunc diversis locis paret.

Sicily first supplied the agate stone, found on the banks of the river Achates, not a cheap one, since it used to be found only there; for the veins that intersect it mark it with natural forms in such a way that, when it is at its best, it displays various images of things. Whence the ring of King Pyrrhus, who waged wars against the Romans, was of no ignoble fame, whose gem was agate, in which the nine Muses, each with her own insignia, and Apollo holding the cithara, were seen—not figures impressed, but ingenerate. Now it appears in diverse places.

dat Creta quem curalliachaten vocant curallio similem, sed inlitum guttis auro micantibus et scorpionum ictibus resistentem. dat India reddentem nunc nemorum nunc animalium facies, quem vidisse oculis favet quique intra os receptus sedat sitim. sunt et qui usti redolent myrrhae odorem: haemachates sanguineis maculis inrubescit: sed qui maxime probantur vitream habent perspicuitatem ut Cyprius: nam qui sunt facie cerea abundantes trivialiter negleguntur.

Crete gives one which they call curalli-achates, similar to coral, but besmeared with drops of glittering gold and resisting scorpions’ stings. India gives one rendering now the faces of groves, now of animals, which it benefits the eyes to have seen, and which, when taken into the mouth, allays thirst. There are also some which, when burned, exhale the odor of myrrh: haema-chates reddens with blood-like spots; but those most approved have a vitreous perspicuity, like the Cyprian; for those which have a waxen aspect, being abundantly commonplace, are negligently regarded.

omnis ambitus huius insulae clauditur stadiorum tribus milibus.

the entire circumference of this island is 3,000 stadia.

VI. In freto Siculo Hephaestiae insulae viginti quinque milibus passuum ab Italia absunt. Itali Vulcanias vocant, nam et ipsa natura soli ignea: per occulta commercia aut mutuantur Aetnae incendia aut subministrant. hic dicta sedes deo ignium.

6. In the Sicilian strait the Hephaestian islands are twenty-five miles distant from Italy. The Italians call them the Vulcanian, for even the very nature of the soil is igneous: by occult commerce they either borrow Aetna’s fires or supply them. Here is said to be the seat of the god of fires.

numero septem sunt. Liparae nomen rex dedit Liparus qui eam ante Aeolum rexit. alteram Hieran vocaverunt: ea praecipue Vulcano sacrata est et plurimum colle eminentissimo nocte ardet.

They are seven in number. Liparus the king gave the name to Lipara, who ruled it before Aeolus. They called another Hiera: that one is especially consecrated to Vulcan and burns most on the most eminent hill by night.

Strongyle tertia, Aeoli domus, vergitur ad exortus solis minime angulosa, quae flammis liquidioribus differt a ceteris. haec causa efficit quod ex eius fumo potissimum incolae persentiscunt quinam flatus in triduo pertendant: quo factum ut Aeolus rex ventorum crederetur. ceteras Didymen Eriphusam Phoenicusam Euonymon quoniam similes sunt dictas habemus.

Strongyle, the third, the house of Aeolus, faces the risings of the sun, least angular, which differs from the others by more liquid flames. This causes that from its smoke the inhabitants most especially perceive which blasts will prevail within three days; whereby it came about that Aeolus was believed king of the winds. The others—Didyme, Eriphusa, Phoenicosa, Euonymus—since they are similar, we have as named.

Tertius Europae sinus incipit a Cerauniis montibus, desinit in Hellespontum. in eo apud Molossos, ubi Dodonaei Iovis templum, Talarus mons est, circa radices nobilis centum fontibus, ut Theopompo placet. in Epiro fons est sacer, frigidus ultra omnes aquas et spectatae diversitatis, nam ardentem si in eo demergas facem extinguit: si procul ac sine igne admoveas suopte ingenio inflammat.

The third gulf of Europe begins at the Ceraunian Mountains and ends at the Hellespont. In it, among the Molossians, where the temple of Dodonaean Jove is, is Mount Talarus, famous around its roots for a hundred springs, as Theopompus holds. In Epirus there is a sacred spring, colder than all other waters and of well-attested peculiarity: for if you plunge a burning torch into it, it extinguishes; if you bring it near from afar and without fire, by its own nature it inflames it.

Dodone Tmaro celsa est. Delphi Cephiso flumine, Castalio fonte, Parnasi iugis celebres. Acarnania Aracyntho eminet.

Dodona is lofty on Tmarus. Delphi are celebrated for the Cephisus river, the Castalian fount, and the ridges of Parnassus. Acarnania is eminent by Aracynthus.

hanc ab Aetolia Pindus dividit qui Acheloum parit, cum primis Graeciae amnibus praeditum veteri claritate: nec iniuria, cum inter calculos quibus ripae eius micant inveniatur galactites, qui scrupulus ipse ater si teratur reddit sucum album ad lactis saporem. feminis nutrientibus inligatus fecundat ubera, subnexus parvulis largiusculos haustus facit salivarum. intra os receptus liquescit: cum solvitur tamen memoriae bonum perimit.

This region is divided from Aetolia by Pindus, which gives birth to the Achelous, a river among the foremost of Greece, endowed with ancient renown; nor unjustly, since among the pebbles with which its banks glitter is found the galactites, a little black pebble which, if ground, yields a white juice with the savor of milk. Bound upon nursing women it makes the breasts fruitful; tied beneath for little children it produces somewhat more copious draughts of saliva. Taken within the mouth it melts; when it is dissolved, however, it destroys the good of memory.

quem post Nilum Achelous dat nec alter alius.

which, after the Nile, Achelous gives, and no other.

Propter oppidum Patras Scioessa locus novem collium opacitate umbrosus et radiis solis ferme invius nec aliam ob causam memorabilis. in Laconia spiraculum est Taenaron: est et Taenaron promunturium adversum Africae. in quo fanum Methymnaei Arionis, quem delphine eo advectum imago testis est aerea ad effigiem casus et veri operis expressa: praeterea tempus signatum: olympiade enim undetricesima, qua in certamine Siculo idem Arion victor scribitur, id ipsum gestum probatur.

Near the town of Patras, Scioessa is a place shaded by the opacity of nine hills and almost inaccessible to the rays of the sun, and memorable for no other cause. In Laconia there is a spiracle called Taenarum: and there is also Taenarum, a promontory opposite Africa. On it is a shrine of Arion of Methymna, whom a dolphin carried thither—a bronze image stands as witness, fashioned to the likeness of the event and expressed with faithful workmanship; moreover, the time is marked: for in the 29th Olympiad, in which the same Arion is recorded as victor in a Sicilian contest, that very deed is proven to have been done.

est et oppidum Taenaron nobili vetustate: praeterea aliquot urbes, inter quas Leuctrae non obscurae iam pridem Lacedaemoniorum foedo exitu: Amyclae silentio suo quondam pessum datae: Sparta insignis cum Pollucis et Castoris templo tum etiam Othryadis inlustris viri titulis: Therapne unde primum cultus Dianae: Pitane quam Arcesilaus stoicus inde ortus prudentiae suae merito in lucem extulit: Anthia et Cardamyle. ubi quondam fuere Thyrae, nunc locus dicitur, in quo anno septimo decimo regni Romuli inter Laconas et Argivos memorabile fuit bellum. nam Taygeta mons et flumen Eurotas notiora sunt quam ut stilo egeant.

there is also the town Taenarum, of noble antiquity: furthermore several cities, among which Leuctra, not obscure from the foul outcome of the Lacedaemonians long ago: Amyclae, once ruined by its own silence: Sparta, distinguished both with the temple of Pollux and Castor and also by the inscriptions of the illustrious man Othryades: Therapne, whence the first cult of Diana: Pitane, which Arcesilaus the Stoic, sprung thence, by the merit of his prudence brought into the light: Anthia and Cardamyle. where once were Thyrae, now it is called a locality, in which, in the seventeenth year of the reign of Romulus, there was a memorable war between the Laconians and the Argives. for Mount Taygetus and the river Eurotas are too well known to need the pen.

Inachus Achaiae amnis Argolicum secat tractum, quem rex Inachus a se nominavit, qui exordium Argivae nobilitati primus dedit. Epidauro decus est Aeseulapii sacellum, cui incubantes aegritudinum remedia capessunt de monitis somniorum. Pallanteum Arcadiae quod Palatio nostro per Euandrum Arcada appellationem dederit, sat est admonere.

Inachus, the river of Achaia, cuts through the Argolic tract, which King Inachus named after himself, who first gave the beginning to Argive nobility. At Epidaurus the shrine of Aesculapius is an ornament, to which, by lying in incubation, they undertake remedies for illnesses from the admonitions of dreams. As for Pallanteum of Arcadia—that it gave to our Palatine its Arcadian appellation through Evander—it is enough to remind.

in qua montes Cyllene et Lycaeus, Maenalus etiam diis alumnis inclaruerunt: inter quos nec Erymanthus in obscuro est. inter flumina Erymanthus Erymantho monte demissus et Ladon ille Herculis pugna, hic Pane clara sunt.

in which the mountains Cyllene and Lycaeus, and Maenalus too, have become illustrious for the gods’ alumni: among which neither is Erymanthus in obscurity. among the rivers, the Erymanthus, sent down from Mount Erymanthus, and the Ladon— the former for Hercules’ combat, the latter for Pan—are renowned.

VII. Varro perhibet fontem in Arcadia esse cuius interimat haustus. in eadem parte de avibus hoc solum est non indignum relatu, quod cum aliis locis merula furva sit, circa Cyllenen candidissima est. nec lapidem spreverimus quem Arcadia mittit: asbesto nomen est, ferri colore, qui accensus semel extingui nequitur.

7. Varro asserts that there is a spring in Arcadia whose draught kills. In the same region, concerning birds, this alone is not unworthy of report: that although in other places the blackbird is dusky, around Cyllene it is most white. Nor shall we spurn the stone which Arcadia sends: its name is asbestos, iron-colored, which, once kindled, cannot be extinguished.

In Megarensium sinum Isthmos exit, ludis quinquennalibus et delubro Neptuni inclitus: quos ludos eapropter institutos ferunt, quod sinibus quinque Peloponnesi orae alluuntur, a septentrione Ionio, ab occidente Siculo, a brumali oriente Aegaeo, a solstitiali oriente Myrtoo, a meridie Cretico. hoc spectaculum per Cypselum tyrannum intermissum Corinthii olympiade quadragesima nona sollemnitati pristinae reddiderunt. ceterum Peloponneson a Pelope regnatam nomen indicio est.

Into the Megarian gulf the Isthmus opens, renowned for its quinquennial games and the shrine of Neptune: they say these games were instituted for this reason, that the shores of the Peloponnese are washed by five bays, from the north by the Ionian, from the west by the Sicilian, from the winter sunrise by the Aegean, from the summer sunrise by the Myrtoan, from the south by the Cretan. This spectacle, interrupted by the tyrant Cypselus, the Corinthians restored to its former solemnity in the 49th Olympiad. Moreover, that the Peloponnesus was ruled by Pelops, its name is the proof.

ea ut platani folium recessibus et prominentiis figurata divortium facit inter Ionium et Aegaeum mare, quattuor non amplius milibus dispescens utrumque litus excursu tenui, quem Isthmon dicunt ob angustias.

it, figured like the leaf of a plane-tree with recesses and prominences, makes a division between the Ionian and the Aegean Sea, separating each shore by no more than four miles with a slender projection, which they call the Isthmus on account of its narrowness.

Hinc Hellas incipit, quam proprie veram habent Graeciam. quae nunc Attice, Acte prius dicta: ibi Athenae. cui urbi saxa Scironia propinqua sunt, porrecta sex milibus passuum, ob honorem ultoris Thesei et memoriam nobilis poenae sic nominata.

From here Hellas begins, which they hold as properly the true Greece. Which is now Attica, formerly called Acte: there is Athens. Near to that city are the Scironian rocks, stretching for six miles, so named in honor of Theseus the avenger and in memory of a famous punishment.

ex istis rupibus Ino se cum Palaemone filio in profunda praecipitem iaculata auxit maris numina. nec Atticos montes partitim tacebimus. est Icarius, est et Brilessus, est Lycabettus et Aegialus: sed Hymetto meritissime ac iure tribuitur principatus, quod adprime florulentus eximio mellis sapore et externos omnes et suos vincit.

From those cliffs Ino, having hurled herself headlong with her son Palaemon into the deep, augmented the sea’s numina. Nor shall we keep silent about the Attic mountains severally. There is Icarius, and there is Brilessus, there is Lycabettus and Aegialus: but to Hymettus the primacy is most deservedly and by right attributed, because, being supremely florulent, with the exceptional savor of its honey it surpasses both all foreign and its own.

Callirhoen stupent fontem, nec ideo Cruneson fontem alterum nullae rei numerant. Atheniensibus iudicii locus Arios pagos. Marathon campus factus memorabilis opinione proelii cruentissimi.

They are astonished at the Callirrhoe spring, and not for that reason do they reckon the other spring, Cruneson, as of no account. For the Athenians the place of judgment is the Areopagus. The plain of Marathon has been made memorable by the repute of a most bloodiest battle.

multae quidem insulae obiacent Atticae continenti, sed suburbanae ferme sunt Salamis Sunium Ceos Coos, quae, ut Varro testis est, subtilioris vestis amicula arte lanificae, scientiae prima in ornatum feminarum dedit.

Many indeed are the islands that lie off the Attic mainland, but almost suburban are Salamis Sunium Ceos Coos, which, as Varro is witness, by the wool-working art first gave to the adornment of women the amiculum, a more delicate garment.

Boeotia Thebis enitet. Thebas condidit Amphion, non quod lyra saxa duxerit, neque enim par est ita gestum videri, sed quod adfatus suavitate homines rupium incolas et incultis moribus rudes ad obsequii civilis pellexerit disciplinam. urbs ista numinibus apud se ortis gloriatur, ut perhibent qui sacris carminibus Herculem et Liberum celebrant.

Boeotia shines with Thebes. Amphion founded Thebes, not because he led stones by means of the lyre—for it is not fitting that the deed be thought to have been so—but because, by the suavity of his address, he allured the men, dwellers of the crags and rough with uncultivated manners, into the discipline of civil obedience. that city boasts of divinities arisen in its midst, as those attest who celebrate Hercules and Liber with sacred songs.

apud Thebas Helicon lucus est, Cithaeron saltus, amnis Ismenus, fontes Arethusa Oedipodia Psamathe Dirce, sed ante alios Aganippe et Hippocrene: quos Cadmus litterarum primus repertor quoniam equestri exploratione deprehendisset, dum rimatur quaenam insideret loca, incensa est licentia poetarum ut utrumque pariter disseminaretur, et quod aperti forent alitis equi ungula, et quod poti inspirationem facerent litterariam. Euboea insula laterum obiectu efficit Aulidis portum, saeculis traditum Graiae coniurationis memoria. Boeoti iidem sunt qui Leleges fuerunt: per quos defluens Cephisos amnis se in maria condit.

by Thebes there is the grove Helicon, the woodland Cithaeron, the river Ismenus, the springs Arethusa, Oedipodia, Psamathe, Dirce, but before the others Aganippe and Hippocrene: which Cadmus, the first discoverer of letters, since by an equestrian exploration he had detected while he was searching what places he should occupy, the license of the poets was kindled so that about both alike it might be disseminated, both that they had been opened by the hoof of the winged horse, and that those who had drunk would effect literary inspiration. The island Euboea, by the projection of its flanks, forms the harbor of Aulis, handed down through the ages in the memory of the Greek conjuration. The Boeotians are the same as those who were the Leleges: through whose land the river Cephisos, flowing down, hides itself in the seas.

in hac continentia Opuntius sinus, Larisa oppidum, Delphi, Ramne quoque, in qua Amphiarai fanum et Phidiacae signum Dianae.

on this contiguous mainland are the Opuntian gulf, the town of Larisa, Delphi, and also Ramne, in which are the shrine of Amphiaraus and a Phidian statue of Diana.

Varro opinatur duo in Boeotia esse flumina, natura licet separi, miraculo tamen non discrepante: quorum alterum si ovillum pecus debibat pullum fieri coloris quod induerit, alterius haustu quaecunque vellerum fusca sint in candidum verti. addit videri ibi puteum pestilentem, cuius liquor mors est haurientibus. perdices sane cum ubique liberae sint ut aves universae, in Boeotia non sunt nec cum volant sui iuris, sed in ipso aere quas transire non audeant metas habent: inde ultra notatos iam terminos numquam exeunt nec in Atticum solum transmeant.

Varro is of the opinion that in Boeotia there are two rivers, although distinct in nature, yet not differing in their marvel: of which the one, if a sheep-flock were to drink, becomes blackish in hue, whatever color it had worn; by the draught of the other, whatever of the fleeces are dusky are turned to white. He adds that there is seen there a pestilent well, whose liquid is death to those who imbibe it. Partridges indeed, although everywhere free as all birds, in Boeotia are not, nor when they fly are they sui iuris, but in the very air they have bounds which they do not dare to cross: from there they never go beyond the limits already marked, nor do they pass over into Attic soil.

Hoc Boeotiis proprium: nam quae communia sunt omnibus, generatim persequemur. concinnantur a perdicibus nidi munitione sollerti: spineis enim fruticibus receptus suos vestiunt, ut animalia quae infestant arceantur asperis surculorum. ovis stragulum pulvis est, ad quae clanculo revertuntur, ne indicium loci conversatio frequens faciat.

This is peculiar to the Boeotians; for the things that are common to all we shall pursue by kinds. Nests are constructed by partridges with a skillful fortification: for they clothe their retreats with thorny shrubs, so that the animals which harass them are warded off by the rough shoots. The bedding for the eggs is dust, to which they secretly return, lest frequent coming-and-going make a telltale indication of the place.

plerumque feminae transvehunt partus, ut mares fallant, qui eos saepissime adfligunt inpatientius adulantes. dimicatur circa conubium victosque credunt feminarum vice venerem sustinere: ipsas libido sic agitat, ut si ventus a masculis flaverit fiant praegnantes odore. tunc si quis hominum ubi incubant propinquabit, egressae matres venientibus sese sponte offerunt et simulata debilitate vel pedum vel alarum, quasi statim capi possint, gressus fingunt tardiores.

for the most part the females transport their offspring across, so as to deceive the males, who very often strike them down, courting too impatiently. there is fighting about marriage, and they believe that the defeated sustain Venus in the role of females. lust so agitates the females themselves, that if a wind has blown from the males they become pregnant by the odor. then, if any human approaches where they are brooding, the mothers, having gone out, of their own accord offer themselves to those coming, and with simulated debility either of the feet or of the wings, as though they could be taken immediately, they feign slower steps.

hoc mendacio sollicitant obvios et eludunt, quoad provecti longius a nidis avocentur. nec in pullis studium segnius ad cavendum: cum visos se persentiscunt, resupinati glebulas pedibus attollunt, quarum obtentu tam callide proteguntur ut lateant deprehensi.

with this deceit they excite passers-by and elude them, until, carried farther, they are drawn away from the nests. nor is the zeal for caution any less in the chicks: when they perceive that they have been seen, lying supine they lift little clods with their feet, and by the screen of these they are so cleverly covered that even when detected they lie hidden.

VIII. Thessalia eadem est et Haemonia, quam Homerus Argos Pelasgicon nominat: ubi genitus est Hellen, a quo rege Hellenes nominati. huius a tergo Pieria ad Macedoniam protenditur, quae devicta sub Macedonum venit iugum. multa ibi oppida, multa flumina.

8. Thessaly is the same as Haemonia, which Homer names Pelasgic Argos: where Hellen was born, from which king the Hellenes were named. Behind it Pieria extends toward Macedonia, which, once conquered, came under the yoke of the Macedonians. Many towns there, many rivers.

de oppidis egregia sunt Phthia, Larisa Thessala et Thebae, de amnibus Peneus, qui praeter Ossam Olympumque decurrens collibus dextra laevaque molliter curvis nemorosis convallibus Thessalica facit Tempe, undisque apertior Macedoniam ac Magnesiam interluens in Thermaeum sinum decidit.

among the towns outstanding are Phthia, Thessalian Larisa, and Thebes; among the rivers, the Peneus, which, running past Ossa and Olympus, with hills on the right and left gently curved and with wooded valleys, makes the Thessalian Tempe, and, broader in its waters as it flows between Macedonia and Magnesia, descends into the Thermaic Gulf.

Thessaliae sunt Pharsalici campi, in quibus civilium bellorum detonuerunt procellae. ac ne in montes notos eamus, Pindum et Othryn agitent qui Lapitharum originem persequentur, Ossam quos Centaurorum stabulis immorari iuvat. Pelium autem nuptiale convivium Thetidis atque Pelei in tantum notitiae obtulit, ut taceri de eo magis mirum sit.

There are in Thessaly the Pharsalian fields, on which the tempests of civil wars thundered. And, not to go into the well-known mountains, let Pindus and Othrys be agitated by those who trace the origin of the Lapiths, and Ossa by those whom it pleases to linger over the stables of the Centaurs. But Pelion brought the nuptial banquet of Thetis and Peleus into such notoriety that it is the more surprising to be silent about it.

nam Olympum ab Homero non per audaciam celebratum docent, quae in eo visitantur. primum excellenti vertice tantus attollitur, ut summa eius caelum accolae vocent. ara est in cacumine Iovi dicata, cuius altaribus si qua de extis inferuntur, nec difflantur ventosis spiritibus nec pluviis diluuntur, sed volvente anno cuiusmodi relicta fuerint eiusmodi reperiuntur: et omnibus tempestatibus a corruptelis aurarum vindicatur quidquid ibi semel est deo consecratum.

for the things that are seen there show that Olympus was not celebrated by Homer out of audacity. first, with an eminent summit it is raised so high that the dwellers call its highest parts the heaven. there is an altar on the peak dedicated to Jupiter, upon whose altars, if any offerings are borne from the entrails, they are neither scattered by windy breaths nor washed away by rains, but as the year revolves they are found such as they were left: and from all tempests whatever has once been consecrated there to the god is protected from the corruptions of the airs.

In regione Magnesia Mothona oppidum est, quod cum obsideret Philippus Macedonis Magni pater, damnatus est oculo iactu sagittae, quam iecerat Aster oppidanus inscriptam suo nomine, loco vulneris, nomine quem petebat. populum istum callere arte sagittaria credere possumus vel de Philocteta, quoniam Meliboea in hoc pede conputatur. sed ne transeamus praesidium poetarum.

In the region of Magnesia there is the town Mothone, which, when Philip, the father of the Great Macedonian, was besieging it, was condemned in the eye by the cast of an arrow, which Aster, a townsman, had shot, inscribed with his own name, and with the spot of the wound he was seeking. We can believe that that people are skilled in the archery-art even from Philoctetes, since Meliboea is counted in this district. But let us not pass over the warrant of the poets.

fons Libethrius et ipse Magnesiae est.

The Libethrian spring too is in Magnesia.