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Title: The Geography of Strabo, Volume 1 (of 3)

Author: Strabo

Translator: W. Falconer
Hans Claude Hamilton

Release date: February 13, 2014 [eBook #44884]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44884

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE
GEOGRAPHY OF STRABO, VOLUME 1 (OF 3) ***

Transcriber's note:

Volumes II and III are available from Project Gutenberg at
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44885 and http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44886
respectively.
In this book many city names are spelled in different ways. When the correct spelling is
obvious these have been corrected for the sake of consistency. See the list of modern names at
the end of volume III.

THE
GEOGRAPHY
OF
STRABO.
LITERALLY TRANSLATED, WITH NOTES.
THE FIRST SIX BOOKS
BY H. C. HAMILTON, ESQ.
THE REMAINDER
BY W. FALCONER, M.A.,
LATE FELLOW OF EXETER COLLEGE, OXFORD.

IN THREE VOLUMES
VOL. I.

LONDON:
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
MDCCCLIV.

JOHN CHILDS AND SON, BUNGAY.

NOTICE.
The present translation of Strabo, the great Geographer of Antiquity, is the
first which has been laid before the English public. It is curious that a
classic of so much renown and intrinsic value should have remained a
comparatively sealed book to this country for so many centuries; yet such is
the fact. It is true that the imperfect state of the Greek text, and the
difficulty of geographical identification, have always been appalling
obstacles; yet, after the acute and valuable labours of Gossellin, Du Theil,
Groskurd, and especially of Gustav Cramer of Berlin, (whose text is
followed in the present volume,) we might fairly have expected that some
English scholar would have ventured to enter the field. But the task, like
many in a similar position, has been reserved for the publisher of the
Classical Library, and he trusts it will be found conscientiously fulfilled.
The translation was, in the first instance, intrusted to Mr. H. C. Hamilton,
whose knowledge of the subject, and familiarity with the various languages
concerned, peculiarly fitted him for the undertaking. His official duties,
however, added to his anxious examination of every thing which tended to
illustrate his author, prevented his proceeding with much speed; and it was
only after the lapse of three years that he had reached the end of the sixth
book. In the mean time it transpired that Mr. W. Falconer, son of the editor
of the Oxford edition of the Greek text, had, after several years of care and
attention, produced a very excellent translation, meaning to publish it.
Under the circumstances it was deemed advisable to amalgamate the rival
undertakings, and it is a source of gratification to the publisher that the
respective translators were each so well satisfied with the labours of the
other, that they assented readily to his proposal of associating their names.
This is all it seems necessary to state here. In the third volume will be given
some account of the life and labours of Strabo, and of the manuscripts and
principal editions; also a complete index of the places mentioned in the text,
accompanied, where possible, by the modern names.
H. G. B.

STRABO’S GEOGRAPHY.

BOOK I.

INTRODUCTION.

SUMMARY.
That geographical investigation is not inconsistent with philosophy.—That Homer gives proof of it
throughout his poems.—That they who first wrote on the science have omitted much, or given
disjointed, defective, false, or inconsistent accounts.—Proofs and demonstrations of the
correctness of this statement, with general heads containing a summary description of the
disposition of the whole habitable earth.—Credit to be attached to the probabilities and evident
proofs that in many regions the land and sea have been shifted, and exchanged places with each
other.

CHAPTER I.

1.1If the scientific investigation of any subject be the proper avocation of
the philosopher, Geography, the science of which we propose to treat, is
certainly entitled to a high place; and this is evident from many
considerations. They who first ventured to handle the matter were
distinguished men, Homer, Anaximander the Milesian, and Hecatæus, (his
fellow-citizen according to Eratosthenes,) Democritus, Eudoxus,
Dicæarchus, Ephorus, with many others, and after these Eratosthenes,
Polybius, and Posidonius, all of them philosophers.
Nor is the great learning, through which alone this subject can be
approached, possessed by any but a person acquainted with both human and
divine things,2 and these attainments constitute what is called philosophy. In
addition to its vast importance in regard to social life, and the art of
government, Geography unfolds to us the celestial phenomena, acquaints us
with the occupants of the land and ocean, and the vegetation, fruits, and
peculiarities of the various quarters of the earth, a knowledge of which
marks him who cultivates it as a man earnest in the great problem of life
and happiness.
2. Admitting this, let us examine more in detail the points we have
advanced.
And first, [we maintain,] that both we and our predecessors, amongst whom
is Hipparchus, do justly regard Homer as the founder of geographical

science, for he not only excelled all, ancient as well as modern, in the
sublimity of his poetry, but also in his experience of social life. Thus it was
that he not only exerted himself to become familiar with as many historic
facts as possible, and transmit them to posterity, but also with the various
regions of the inhabited land and sea, some intimately, others in a more
general manner. For otherwise he would not have reached the utmost limits
of the earth, traversing it in his imagination.
3. First, he stated that the earth was entirely encompassed by the ocean, as
in truth it is; afterwards he described the countries, specifying some by
name, others more generally by various indications, explicitly defining
Libya,3 Ethiopia, the Sidonians, and the Erembi (by which latter are
probably intended the Troglodyte Arabians); and alluding to those farther
east and west as the lands washed by the ocean, for in ocean he believed
both the sun and constellations to rise and set.
“Now from the gently-swelling flood profound
The sun arising, with his earliest rays,
In his ascent to heaven smote on the fields.”4
“And now the radiant sun in ocean sank,
Dragging night after him o’er all the earth.”5

The stars also he describes as bathed in the ocean.6
4. He portrays the happiness of the people of the West, and the salubrity of
their climate, having no doubt heard of the abundance of Iberia,7 which had
attracted the arms of Hercules,8 afterwards of the Phœnicians, who acquired
there an extended rule, and finally of the Romans. There the airs of Zephyr
breathe, there the poet feigned the fields of Elysium, when he tells us
Menelaus was sent thither by the gods:—
“Thee the gods
Have destined to the blest Elysian isles,
Earth’s utmost boundaries. Rhadamanthus there
For ever reigns, and there the human kind
Enjoy the easiest life; no snow is there,
No biting winter, and no drenching shower,
But Zephyr always gently from the sea
Breathes on them, to refresh the happy race.”9

5. The Isles of the Blest10 are on the extreme west of Maurusia,11 near
where its shore runs parallel to the opposite coast of Spain; and it is clear he
considered these regions also Blest, from their contiguity to the Islands.
6. He tells us also, that the Ethiopians are far removed, and bounded by the
ocean: far removed,—
“The Ethiopians, utmost of mankind,
These eastward situate, those toward the west.”12

Nor was he mistaken in calling them separated into two divisions, as we
shall presently show: and next to the ocean,—
“For to the banks of the Oceanus,
Where Ethiopia holds a feast to Jove,
He journey’d yesterday.”13

Speaking of the Bear, he implies that the most northern part of the earth is
bounded by the ocean:
“Only star of those denied
To slake his beams in Ocean’s briny baths.”14

Now, by the “Bear” and the “Wain,” he means the Arctic Circle; otherwise
he would never have said, “It alone is deprived of the baths of the ocean,”
when such an infinity of stars is to be seen continually revolving in that part
of the hemisphere. Let no one any longer blame his ignorance for being
merely acquainted with one Bear, when there are two. It is probable that the
second was not considered a constellation until, on the Phœnicians specially
designating it, and employing it in navigation, it became known as one to
the Greeks.15 Such is the case with the Hair of Berenice, and Canopus,
whose names are but of yesterday; and, as Aratus remarks, there are
numbers which have not yet received any designation. Crates, therefore, is
mistaken when, endeavouring to amend what is correct, he reads the verse
thus:
Οἶος δ’ ἄμμορός ἐστι λοετρῶν,

replacing οἴη by οἶος, with a view to make the adjective agree with the
Arctic Circle, which is masculine; instead of the Arctic Constellation, which
is feminine. The expression of Heraclitus is far more preferable and

Homeric, who thus figuratively describes the Arctic Circle as the Bear,
—“The Bear is the limit of the dawn and of the evening, and from the
region of the Bear we have fine weather.” Now it is not the constellation of
the Bear, but the Arctic Circle, which is the limit of the rising and the
setting stars.
By the Bear, then, which he elsewhere calls the Wain, and describes as
pursuing Orion, Homer means us to understand the Arctic Circle; and by the
ocean, that horizon into which, and out of which, the stars rise and set.
When he says that the Bear turns round and is deprived of the ocean, he was
aware that the Arctic Circle [always] extended to the sign opposite the most
northern point of the horizon. Adapting the words of the poet to this view,
by that part of the earth nearest to the ocean we must understand the
horizon, and by the Arctic Circle that which extends to the signs which
seem to our senses to touch in succession the most northern point of the
horizon. Thus, according to him, this portion of the earth is washed by the
ocean. With the nations of the North he was well acquainted, although he
does not mention them by name, and indeed at the present day there is no
regular title by which they are all distinguished. He informs us of their
mode of life, describing them as “wanderers,” “noble milkers of mares,”
“living on cheese,” and “without wealth.”16
7. In the following speech of Juno, he states that the ocean surrounds the
earth.
“For to the green earth’s utmost bounds I go,
To visit there the parent of the gods,
Oceanus.”17

Does he not here assert that ocean bounds all its extremities, and does it not
surround these extremities? Again, in the Hoplopœia,18 he places the ocean
in a circle round the border of Achilles’ shield. Another proof of the extent
of his knowledge, is his acquaintance with the ebb and flow of the sea,
calling it “the ebbing ocean.”19 Again,
“Each day she thrice disgorges, and again
Thrice drinks, insatiate, the deluge down.”20

The assertion of thrice, instead of twice, is either an error of the author, or a
blunder of the scribe, but the phenomenon is the same, and the expression

soft-flowing,21 has reference to the flood-tide, which has a gentle swell, and
does not flow with a full rush. Posidonius believes that where Homer
describes the rocks as at one time covered with the waves, and at another
left bare, and when he compares the ocean to a river, he alludes to the flow
of the ocean. The first supposition is correct, but for the second there is no
ground; inasmuch as there can be no comparison between the flow, much
less the ebb of the sea, and the current of a river. There is more probability
in the explanation of Crates, that Homer describes the whole ocean as deep-
flowing, ebbing, and also calls it a river, and that he also describes a part of
the ocean as a river, and the flow of a river; and that he is speaking of a
part, and not the whole, when he thus writes:—
“When down the smooth Oceanus impell’d
By prosperous gales, my galley, once again,
Cleaving the billows of the spacious deep,
Had reach’d the Ææan isle.”22

He does not, however, mean the whole, but the flow of the river in the
ocean, which forms but a part of the ocean. Crates says, he speaks of an
estuary or gulf, extending from the winter tropic towards the south pole.23
Now any one quitting this, might still be in the ocean; but for a person to
leave the whole and still to be in the whole, is an impossibility. But Homer
says, that leaving the flow of the river, the ship entered on the waves of the
sea, which is the same as the ocean. If you take it otherwise you make him
say, that departing from the ocean he came to the ocean. But this requires
further discussion.
8. Perception and experience alike inform us, that the earth we inhabit is an
island: since wherever men have approached the termination of the land, the
sea, which we designate ocean, has been met with: and reason assures us of
the similarity of those places which our senses have not been permitted to
survey. For in the east24 the land occupied by the Indians, and in the west
by the Iberians and Maurusians,25 is wholly encompassed [by water], and
so is the greater part on the south26 and north.27 And as to what remains as
yet unexplored by us, because navigators, sailing from opposite points, have
not hitherto fallen in with each other, it is not much, as any one may see
who will compare the distances between those places with which we are
already acquainted. Nor is it likely that the Atlantic Ocean is divided into

two seas by narrow isthmuses so placed as to prevent circumnavigation:
how much more probable that it is confluent and uninterrupted! Those who
have returned from an attempt to circumnavigate the earth, do not say they
have been prevented from continuing their voyage by any opposing
continent, for the sea remained perfectly open, but through want of
resolution, and the scarcity of provision. This theory too accords better with
the ebb and flow of the ocean, for the phenomenon, both in the increase and
diminution, is every where identical, or at all events has but little difference,
as if produced by the agitation of one sea, and resulting from one cause.
9. We must not credit Hipparchus, who combats this opinion, denying that
the ocean is every where similarly affected; or that even if it were, it would
not follow that the Atlantic flowed in a circle, and thus continually returned
into itself. Seleucus, the Babylonian, is his authority for this assertion. For a
further investigation of the ocean and its tides we refer to Posidonius and
Athenodorus, who have fully discussed this subject: we will now only
remark that this view agrees better with the uniformity of the phenomenon;
and that the greater the amount of moisture surrounding the earth, the easier
would the heavenly bodies be supplied with vapours from thence.
10. Homer, besides the boundaries of the earth, which he fully describes,
was likewise well acquainted with the Mediterranean. Starting from the
Pillars,28 this sea is encompassed by Libya, Egypt, and Phœnicia, then by
the coasts opposite Cyprus, the Solymi,29 Lycia, and Caria, and then by the
shore which stretches between Mycale30 and Troas, and the adjacent
islands, every one of which he mentions, as well as those of the Propontis31
and the Euxine, as far as Colchis, and the locality of Jason’s expedition.
Furthermore, he was acquainted with the Cimmerian Bosphorus,32 having
known the Cimmerians,33 and that not merely by name, but as being
familiar with themselves. About his time, or a little before, they had ravaged
the whole country, from the Bosphorus to Ionia. Their climate he
characterizes as dismal, in the following lines:—
“With clouds and darkness veil’d, on whom the sun
Deigns not to look with his beam-darting eye,
* * * * * * *
34
But sad night canopies the woeful race.”

He must also have been acquainted with the Ister,35 since he speaks of the
Mysians, a Thracian race, dwelling on the banks of the Ister. He knew also
the whole Thracian36 coast adjacent thereto, as far as the Peneus,37 for he
mentions individually the Pæonians, Athos, the Axius,38 and the
neighbouring islands. From hence to Thesprotis39 is the Grecian shore, with
the whole of which he was acquainted. He was besides familiar with the
whole of Italy, and speaks of Temese40 and the Sicilians, as well as the
whole of Spain41 and its fertility, as we have said before. If he omits various
intermediate places this must be pardoned, for even the compiler of a
Geography overlooks numerous details. We must forgive him too for
intermingling fabulous narrative with his historical and instructive work.
This should not be complained of; nevertheless, what Eratosthenes says is
false, that the poets aim at amusement, not instruction, since those who
have treated upon the subject most profoundly, regard poesy in the light of a
primitive philosophy. But we shall refute Eratosthenes42 more at length,
when we have occasion again to speak of Homer.
11. What we have already advanced is sufficient to prove that poet the
father of geography. Those who followed in his track are also well known
as great men and true philosophers. The two immediately succeeding
Homer, according to Eratosthenes, were Anaximander, the disciple and
fellow-citizen of Thales, and Hecatæus the Milcsian. Anaximander was the
first to publish a geographical chart. Hecatæus left a work [on the same
subject], which we can identify as his by means of his other writings.
12. Many have testified to the amount of knowledge which this subject
requires, and Hipparchus, in his Strictures on Eratosthenes, well observes,
“that no one can become really proficient in geography, either as a private
individual or as a professor, without an acquaintance with astronomy, and a
knowledge of eclipses. For instance, no one could tell whether Alexandria
in Egypt were north or south of Babylon, nor yet the intervening distance,
without observing the latitudes.43 Again, the only means we possess of
becoming acquainted with the longitudes of different places is afforded by
the eclipses of the sun and moon.” Such are the very words of Hipparchus.
13. Every one who undertakes to give an accurate description of a place,
should be particular to add its astronomical and geometrical relations,

explaining carefully its extent, distance, degrees of latitude, and
“climate.”44 Even a builder before constructing a house, or an architect
before laying out a city, would take these things into consideration; much
more should he who examines the whole earth: for such things in a peculiar
manner belong to him. In small distances a little deviation north or south
does not signify, but when it is the whole circle of the earth, the north
extends to the furthest confines of Scythia,45 or Keltica,46 and the south to
the extremities of Ethiopia: there is a wide difference here. The case is the
same should we inhabit India or Spain, one in the east, the other far west,
and, as we are aware, the antipodes47 to each other.
14. The [motions] of the sun and stars, and the centripetal force meet us on
the very threshold of such subjects, and compel us to the study of
astronomy, and the observation of such phenomena as each of us may
notice; in which too, very considerable differences appear, according to the
various points of observation. How could any one undertake to write
accurately and with propriety on the differences of the various parts of the
earth, who was ignorant of these matters? and although, if the undertaking
were of a popular character, it might not be advisable to enter thoroughly
into detail, still we should endeavour to include every thing which could be
comprehended by the general reader.
15. He who has thus elevated his mind, will he be satisfied with any thing
less than the whole world? If in his anxiety accurately to portray the
inhabited earth, he has dared to survey heaven, and make use thereof for
purposes of instruction, would it not seem childish were he to refrain from
examining the whole earth, of which the inhabited is but a part, its size, its
features, and its position in the universe; whether other portions are
inhabited besides those on which we dwell, and if so, their amount? What is
the extent of the regions not peopled? what their peculiarities, and the cause
of their remaining as they are? Thus it appears that the knowledge of
geography is connected with meteorology48 and geometry, that it unites the
things of earth to the things of heaven, as though they were nearly allied,
and not separated.
“As far as heaven from earth.”49

16. To the various subjects which it embraces let us add natural history, or
the history of the animals, plants, and other different productions of the
earth and sea, whether serviceable or useless, and my original statement
will, I think, carry perfect conviction with it.
That he who should undertake this work would be a benefactor to mankind,
reason and the voice of antiquity agree. The poets feign that they were the
wisest heroes who travelled and wandered most in foreign climes: and to be
familiar with many countries, and the disposition of the inhabitants, is,
according to them, of vast importance. Nestor prides himself on having
associated with the Lapithæ,50 to whom he went, “having been invited
thither from the Apian51 land afar.”
So does Menelaus:—
“Cyprus, Phœnicia, Sidon, and the shores
Of Egypt, roaming without hope I reach’d;
In distant Ethiopia thence arrived,
And Libya, where the lambs their foreheads show
With budding horns defended soon as yean’d.”52

Adding as a peculiarity of the country,
“There thrice within the year the flocks produce.”53

And of Egypt:—“Where the sustaining earth is most prolific.”54 And
Thebes,
“the city with an hundred gates,
Whence twenty thousand chariots rush to war.”55

Such information greatly enlarges our sphere of knowledge, by informing
us of the nature of the country, its botanical and zoological peculiarities. To
these should be added its marine history; for we are in a certain sense
amphibious, not exclusively connected with the land, but with the sea as
well. Hercules, on account of his vast experience and observation, was
described as “skilled in mighty works.”56
All that we have previously stated is confirmed both by the testimony of
antiquity and by reason. One consideration however appears to bear in a
peculiar manner on the case in point; viz. the importance of geography in a

political view. For the sea and the earth in which we dwell furnish theatres
for action; limited, for limited actions; vast, for grander deeds; but that
which contains them all, and is the scene of the greatest undertakings,
constitutes what we term the habitable earth; and they are the greatest
generals who, subduing nations and kingdoms under one sceptre, and one
political administration, have acquired dominion over land and sea. It is
clear then, that geography is essential to all the transactions of the
statesman, informing us, as it does, of the position of the continents, seas,
and oceans of the whole habitable earth. Information of especial interest to
those who are concerned to know the exact truth of such particulars, and
whether the places have been explored or not: for government will certainly
be better administered where the size and position of the country, its own
peculiarities, and those of the surrounding districts, are understood.
Forasmuch as there are many sovereigns who rule in different regions, and
some stretch their dominion over others’ territories, and undertake the
government of different nations and kingdoms, and thus enlarge the extent
of their dominion, it is not possible that either themselves, nor yet writers
on geography, should be equally acquainted with the whole, but to both
there is a great deal more or less known. Indeed, were the whole earth under
one government and one administration, it is hardly possible that we should
be informed of every locality in an equal degree; for even then we should
be most acquainted with the places nearest us: and after all, it is better that
we should have a more perfect description of these, since, on account of
their proximity, there is greater need for it. We see there is no reason to be
surprised that there should be one chorographer57 for the Indians, another
for the Ethiopians, and a third for the Greeks and Romans. What use would
it be to the Indians if a geographer should thus describe Bœotia to them, in
the words of Homer:—
“The dwellers on the rocks
Of Aulis follow’d, with the hardy clans
Of Hyria, Schœnus, Scolus.”58

To us this is of value, while to be acquainted with the Indies and their
various territorial divisions would be useless, as it could lead to no
advantage, which is the only criterion of the worth of such knowledge.
17. Even if we descend to the consideration of such trivial matters as
hunting, the case is still the same; for he will be most successful in the

chase who is acquainted with the size and nature of the wood, and one
familiar with the locality will be the most competent to superintend an
encampment, an ambush, or a march. But it is in great undertakings that the
truth shines out in all its brilliancy, for here, while the success resulting
from knowledge is grand, the consequences of ignorance are disastrous. The
fleet of Agamemnon, for instance, ravaging Mysia, as if it had been the
Trojan territory, was compelled to a shameful retreat. Likewise the Persians
and Libyans,59 supposing certain straits to be impassable, were very near
falling into great perils, and have left behind them memorials of their
ignorance; the former a monument to Salganeus on the Euripus, near
Chalcis, whom the Persians slew, for, as they thought, falsely conducting
their fleet from the Gulf of Malea60 to the Euripus; and the latter to the
memory of Pelorus, who was executed on a like occasion. At the time of the
expedition of Xerxes, the coasts of Greece were covered with wrecks, and
the emigrations from Æolia and Ionia furnish numerous instances of the
same calamity. On the other hand, matters have come to a prosperous
termination, when judiciously directed by a knowledge of the locality. Thus
it was at the pass of Thermopylæ that Ephialtes is reported to have pointed
out to the Persians a pathway over the mountains, and so placed the band of
Leonidas at their mercy, and opened to the Barbarians a passage into Pylæ.
But passing over ancient occurrences, we think that the late expeditions of
the Romans against the Parthians furnish an excellent example, where, as in
those against the Germans and Kelts, the Barbarians, taking advantage of
their situation, [carried on the war] in marshes, woods, and pathless deserts,
deceiving the ignorant enemy as to the position of different places, and
concealing the roads, and the means of obtaining food and necessaries.
18. As we have said, this science has an especial reference to the
occupations and requirements of statesmen, with whom also political and
ethical philosophy is mainly concerned; and here is an evidence. We
distinguish the different kinds of civil government by the office of their
chief men, denominating one government a monarchy, or kingdom, another
an aristocracy, a third a democracy; for so many we consider are the forms
of government, and we designate them by these names, because from them
they derive their primary characteristic. For the laws which emanate from
the sovereign, from the aristocracy, and from the people all are different.
The law is in fact a type of the form of government. It is on this account

that some define right to be the interest of the strongest. If, therefore,
political philosophy is advantageous to the ruler, and geography in the
actual government of the country, this latter seems to possess some little
superiority. This superiority is most observable in real service.
19. But even the theoretical portion of geography is by no means
contemptible. On the one hand, it embraces the arts, mathematics, and
natural science; on the other, history and fable. Not that this latter can have
any distinct advantage: for instance, if any one should relate to us the
wanderings of Ulysses, Menelaus, and Jason, he would not seem to have
added directly to our fund of practical knowledge thereby, (which is the
only thing men of the world are interested in,) unless he should convey
useful examples of what those wanderers were compelled to suffer, and at
the same time afford matter of rational amusement to those who interest
themselves in the places which gave birth to such fables. Practical men
interest themselves in these pursuits, since they are at once commendable,
and afford them pleasure; but yet not to any great extent. In this class, too,
will be found those whose main object in life is pleasure and respectability:
but these by no means constitute the majority of mankind, who naturally
prefer that which holds out some direct advantage. The geographer should
therefore chiefly devote himself to what is practically important. He should
follow the same rule in regard to history and the mathematics, selecting
always that which is most useful, most intelligible, and most authentic.
20. Geometry and astronomy, as we before remarked, seem absolutely
indispensable in this science. This, in fact, is evident, that without some
such assistance, it would be impossible to be accurately acquainted with the
configuration of the earth; its climata,61 dimensions, and the like
information.
As the size of the earth has been demonstrated by other writers, we shall
here take for granted and receive as accurate what they have advanced. We
shall also assume that the earth is spheroidal, that its surface is likewise
spheroidal, and above all, that bodies have a tendency towards its centre,
which latter point is clear to the perception of the most average
understanding. However we may show summarily that the earth is
spheroidal, from the consideration that all things however distant tend to its
centre, and that every body is attracted towards its centre of gravity; this is

more distinctly proved from observations of the sea and sky, for here the
evidence of the senses, and common observation, is alone requisite. The
convexity of the sea is a further proof of this to those who have sailed; for
they cannot perceive lights at a distance when placed at the same level as
their eyes, but if raised on high, they at once become perceptible to vision,
though at the same time further removed. So, when the eye is raised, it sees
what before was utterly imperceptible. Homer speaks of this when he says,
Lifted up on the vast wave he quickly beheld afar.62

Sailors, as they approach their destination, behold the shore continually
raising itself to their view; and objects which had at first seemed low, begin
to elevate themselves. Our gnomons, also, are, among other things,
evidence of the revolution of the heavenly bodies; and common sense at
once shows us, that if the depth of the earth were infinite,63 such a
revolution could not take place.

Every information respecting the climata64 is contained in the “Treatises on
Positions.”65
21. Now there are some facts which we take to be established, viz. those
with which every politician and general should be familiar. For on no
account should they be so uninformed as to the heavens and the position of
the earth,66 that when they are in strange countries, where some of the
heavenly phenomena wear a different aspect to what they have been
accustomed, they should be in a consternation, and exclaim,
“Neither west
Know we, nor east, where rises or where sets
The all-enlightening sun.”67

Still, we do not expect that they should be such thorough masters of the
subject as to know what stars rise and set together for the different quarters
of the earth; those which have the same meridian line, the elevation of the
poles, the signs which are in the zenith, with all the various phenomena
which differ as well in appearance as reality with the variations of the
horizon and arctic circle. With some of these matters, unless as
philosophical pursuits, they should not burden themselves at all; others they
must take for granted without searching into their causes. This must be left

to the care of the philosopher; the statesman can have no leisure, or very
little, for such pursuits. Those who, through carelessness and ignorance, are
not familiar with the globe and the circles traced upon it, some parallel to
each other, some at right angles to the former, others, again, in an oblique
direction; nor yet with the position of the tropics, equator, and zodiac, (that
circle through which the sun travels in his course, and by which we reckon
the changes of season and the winds,) such persons we caution against the
perusal of our work. For if a man is neither properly acquainted with these
things, nor with the variations of the horizon and arctic circle, and such
similar elements of mathematics, how can he comprehend the matters
treated of here? So for one who does not know a right line from a curve, nor
yet a circle, nor a plane or spherical surface, nor the seven stars in the
firmament composing the Great Bear, and such like, our work is entirely
useless, at least for the present. Unless he first acquires such information, he
is utterly incompetent to the study of geography. *So those who have
written the works entitled “On Ports,” and “Voyages Around the World,”
have performed their task imperfectly, since they have omitted to supply the
requisite information from mathematics and astronomy.*68
22. The present undertaking is composed in a lucid style, suitable alike to
the statesman and the general reader, after the fashion of my History.69 By a
statesman we do not intend an illiterate person, but one who has gone
through the course of a liberal and philosophical education. For a man who
has bestowed no attention on virtue or intelligence, nor what constitutes
them, must be incompetent either to blame or praise, still less to decide
what actions are worthy to be placed on record.
23. Having already compiled our Historical Memoirs, which, as we
conceive, are a valuable addition both to political and moral philosophy, we
have now determined to follow it up with the present work, which has been
prepared on the same system as the former, and for the same class of
readers, but more particularly for those who are in high stations of life. And
as our former production contains only the most striking events in the lives
of distinguished men, omitting trifling and unimportant incidents; so here it
will be proper to dismiss small and doubtful particulars, and merely call
attention to great and remarkable transactions, such in fact as are useful,
memorable, and entertaining. In the colossal works of the sculptor we do
not descend into a minute examination of particulars, but look principally

for perfection in the general ensemble. This is the only method of criticism
applicable to the present work. Its proportions, so to speak, are colossal; it
deals in the generalities and main outlines of things, except now and then,
when some minor detail can be selected, calculated to be serviceable to the
seeker after knowledge, or the man of business.
We now think we have demonstrated that our present undertaking is one
that requires great care, and is well worthy of a philosopher.

CHAPTER II.

1. No one can [justly] blame us for having undertaken to write on a subject
already often treated of, unless it appears that we have done nothing more
than copy the works of former writers. In our opinion, though they may
have perfectly treated some subjects, in others they have still left much to
be completed; and we shall be justified in our performance, if we can add to
their information even in a trifling degree. At the present moment the
conquests of the Romans and Parthians have added much to our knowledge,
which (as was well observed by Eratosthenes) had been considerably
increased by the expedition of Alexander. This prince laid open to our view
the greater part of Asia, and the whole north of Europe as far as the Danube.
And the Romans [have discovered to us] the entire west of Europe as far as
the river Elbe, which divides Germany, and the country beyond the Ister to
the river Dniester. The country beyond this to the Mæotis,70 and the coasts
extending along Colchis,71 was brought to light by Mithridates, surnamed
Eupator, and his generals. To the Parthians we are indebted for a better
acquaintance with Hyrcania,72 Bactriana, 73 and the land of the Scythians74
lying beyond, of which before we knew but little. Thus we can add much
information not supplied by former writers, but this will best be seen when
we come to treat on the writers who have preceded us; and this method we
shall pursue, not so much in regard to the primitive geographers, as to
Eratosthenes and those subsequent to him. As these writers far surpassed
the generality in the amount of their knowledge, so naturally it is more
difficult to detect their errors when such occur. If I seem to contradict those
most whom I take chiefly for my guides, I must claim indulgence on the

plea, that it was never intended to criticise the whole body of geographers,
the larger number of whom are not worthy of consideration, but to give an
opinion of those only who are generally found correct. Still, while many are
beneath discussion, such men as Eratosthenes, Posidonius, Hipparchus,
Polybius, and others of their stamp, deserve our highest consideration.
2. Let us first examine Eratosthenes, reviewing at the same time what
Hipparchus has advanced against him. Eratosthenes is much too creditable
an historian for us to believe what Polemon endeavours to charge against
him, that he had not even seen Athens. At the same time he does not merit
that unbounded confidence which some seem to repose in him, although, as
he himself tells us, he passed much of his time with first-rate [characters].
Never, says he, at one period, and in one city, were there so many
philosophers flourishing together as in my time. In their number was
Ariston and Arcesilaus. This, however, it seems is not sufficient, but you
must also be able to choose who are the real guides whom it is your interest
to follow. He considers Arcesilaus and Ariston to be the coryphæi of the
philosophers who flourished in his time, and is ceaseless in his eulogies of
Apelles and Bion, the latter of whom, says he, was the first to deck himself
in the flowers of philosophy, but concerning whom one is often likewise
tempted to exclaim, “How great is Bion in spite of his rags!”75 It is in such
instances as the following that the mediocrity of his genius shows itself.

Although at Athens he became a disciple of Zeno76 of Citium, he makes no
mention of his followers; while those who opposed that philosopher, and of
whose sect not a trace remains, he thinks fit to set down amongst the [great
characters] who flourished in his time. His real character appears in his
Treatise on Moral Philosophy,77 his Meditations, and some similar
productions. He seems to have held a middle course between the man who
devotes himself to philosophy, and the man who cannot make up his mind
to dedicate himself to it: and to have studied the science merely as a relief
from his other pursuits, or as a pleasing and instructive recreation. In his
other writings he is just the same; but let these things pass. We will now
proceed as well as we can to the task of rectifying his geography.
First, then, let us return to the point which we lately deferred.

3. Eratosthenes says that the poet directs his whole attention to the
amusement of the mind, and not at all to its instruction. In opposition to his
idea, the ancients define poesy as a primitive philosophy, guiding our life
from infancy, and pleasantly regulating our morals, our tastes, and our
actions. The [Stoics] of our day affirm that the only wise man is the poet.
On this account the earliest lessons which the citizens of Greece convey to
their children are from the poets; certainly not alone for the purpose of
amusing their minds, but for their instruction. Nay, even the professors of
music, who give lessons on the harp, lyre, and pipe, lay claim to our
consideration on the same account, since they say that [the
accomplishments which they teach] are calculated to form and improve the
character. It is not only among the Pythagoreans that one hears this claim
supported, for Aristoxenus is of that opinion, and Homer too regarded the
bards as amongst the wisest of mankind.
Of this number was the guardian of Clytemnestra, “to whom the son of
Atreus, when he set out for Troy, gave earnest charge to preserve his
wife,”78 whom Ægisthus was unable to seduce, until “leading the bard to a
desert island, he left him,”79 and then
“The queen he led, not willing less than he,
To his own mansion.”80

But apart from all such considerations, Eratosthenes contradicts himself; for
a little previously to the sentence which we have quoted, at the
commencement of his Essay on Geography, he says, that “all the ancient
poets took delight in showing their knowledge of such matters. Homer
inserted into his poetry all that he knew about the Ethiopians, Egypt, and
Libya. Of all that related to Greece and the neighbouring places he entered
even too minutely into the details, describing Thisbe as “abounding in
doves,” Haliartus, “grassy,” Anthedon, the “far distant,” Litæa, “situated on
the sources of the Cephissus,”81 and none of his epithets are without their
meaning. But in pursuing this method, what object has he in view, to amuse
[merely], or to instruct? The latter, doubtless. Well, perhaps he has told the
truth in these instances, but in what was beyond his observation both he and
the other writers have indulged in all the marvels of fable. If such be the
case the statement should have been, that the poets relate some things for
mere amusement, others for instruction; but he affirms that they do it

altogether for amusement, without any view to information; and by way of
climax, inquires, What can it add to Homer’s worth to be familiar with
many lands, and skilled in strategy, agriculture, rhetoric, and similar
information, which some persons seem desirous to make him possessed of.
To seek to invest him with all this knowledge is most likely the effect of too
great a zeal for his honour. Hipparchus observes, that to assert he was
acquainted with every art and science, is like saying that an Attic
eiresionè82 bears pears and apples.
As far as this goes, Eratosthenes, you are right enough; not so, however,
when you not only deny that Homer was possessed of these vast
acquirements, but represent poetry in general as a tissue of old wives’
fables, where, to use your own expression, every thing thought likely to
amuse is cooked up. I ask, is it of no value to the auditors83 of the poets to
be made acquainted with [the history of] different countries, with strategy,
agriculture, and rhetoric, and suchlike things, which the lecture generally
contains.
4. One thing is certain, that the poet has bestowed all these gifts upon
Ulysses, whom beyond any of his other [heroes] he loves to adorn with
every virtue. He says of him, that he
“Discover’d various cities, and the mind
And manners learn’d of men in lands remote.”84

That he was
“Of a piercing wit and deeply wise.”85

He is continually described as “the destroyer of cities,” and as having
vanquished Troy, by his counsels, his advice, and his deceptive art.
Diomede says of him,
“Let him attend me, and through fire itself
We shall return; for none is wise as he.”86

He himself on his skill in husbandry, for at the harvest [he says],
“I with my well-bent sickle in my hand,
Thou arm’d with one as keen.”87

And also in tillage,
“Then shouldst thou see
How straight my furrow should be cut and true.”88

And Homer was not singular in his opinion regarding these matters, for all
educated people appeal to him in favour of the idea that such practical
knowledge is one of the chief means of acquiring understanding.
5. That eloquence is regarded as the wisdom of speech, Ulysses manifests
throughout the whole poem, both in the Trial,89 the Petitions,90 and the
Embassy.91 Of him it is said by Antenor,
“But when he spake, forth from his breast did flow
A torrent swift as winter’s feather’d snow.”92

Who can suppose that a poet capable of effectively introducing into his
scenes rhetoricians, generals, and various other characters, each displaying
some peculiar excellence, was nothing more than a droll or juggler, capable
only of cheating or flattering his hearer, and not of instructing him.
Are we not all agreed that the chief merit of a poet consists in his accurate
representation of the affairs of life? Can this be done by a mere driveller,
unacquainted with the world?
The excellence of a poet is not to be measured by the same standard as that
of a mechanic or a blacksmith, where honour and virtue have nothing to do
with our estimate. But the poet and the individual are connected, and he
only can become a good poet, who is in the first instance a worthy man.
6. To deny that our poet possesses the graces of oratory is using us hardly
indeed. What is so befitting an orator, what so poetical as eloquence, and
who so sweetly eloquent as Homer? But, by heaven! you’ll say, there are
other styles of eloquence than those peculiar to poetry. Of course [I admit
this]; in poetry itself there is the tragic and the comic style; in prose, the
historic and the forensic. But is not language a generality, of which poetry
and prose are forms? Yes, language is; but are not the rhetorical, the
eloquent, and the florid styles also? I answer, that flowery prose is nothing
but an imitation of poetry. Ornate poetry was the first to make its
appearance, and was well received. Afterwards it was closely imitated by

writers in the time of Cadmus, Pherecydes, and Hecatæus. The metre was
the only thing dispensed with, every other poetic grace being carefully
preserved. As time advanced, one after another of its beauties was
discarded, till at last it came down from its glory into our common prose. In
the same way we may say that comedy took its rise from tragedy, but
descended from its lofty grandeur into what we now call the common
parlance of daily life. And when [we find] the ancient writers making use of
the expression “to sing,” to designate eloquence of style, this in itself is an
evidence that poetry is the source and origin of all ornamented and
rhetorical language. Poetry in ancient days was on every occasion
accompanied by melody. The song or ode was but a modulated speech,
from whence the words rhapsody, tragedy, comedy,93 are derived; and since
originally eloquence was the term made use of for the poetical effusions
which were always of the nature of a song, it soon happened [that in
speaking of poetry] some said, to sing, others, to be eloquent; and as the one
term was early misapplied to prose compositions, the other also was soon
applied in the same way. Lastly, the very term prose, which is applied to
language not clothed in metre, seems to indicate, as it were, its descent from
an elevation or chariot to the ground.94
7. Homer accurately describes many distant countries, and not only Greece
and the neighbouring places, as Eratosthenes asserts. His romance, too, is in
better style than that of his successors. He does not make up wondrous tales
on every occasion, but to instruct us the better often, and especially in the
Odyssey, adds to the circumstances which have come under his actual
observation, allegories, wise harangues, and enticing narrations. Concerning
which, Eratosthenes is much mistaken when he says that both Homer and
his commentators are a pack of fools. But this subject demands a little more
of our attention.
8. To begin. The poets were by no means the first to avail themselves of
myths. States and lawgivers had taken advantage of them long before,
having observed the constitutional bias of mankind. Man is eager after
knowledge, and the love of legend is but the prelude thereto. This is why
children begin to listen [to fables], and are acquainted with them before any
other kind of knowledge; the cause of this is that the myth introduces them
to a new train of ideas, relating not to every-day occurrences, but something
in addition to these.

A charm hangs round whatever is new and hitherto unknown, inspiring us
with a desire to become acquainted with it, but when the wonderful and the
marvellous are likewise present, our delight is increased until at last it
becomes a philtre of study. To children we are obliged to hold out such
enticements, in order that in riper years, when the mind is powerful, and no
longer needs such stimulants, it may be prepared to enter on the study of
actual realities.
Every illiterate and uninstructed man is yet a child, and takes delight in
fable. With the partially informed it is much the same; reason is not all-
powerful within him, and he still possesses the tastes of a child. But the
marvellous, which is capable of exciting fear as well as pleasure, influences
not childhood only, but age as well. As we relate to children pleasing tales
to incite them [to any course] of action, and frightful ones to deter them,
such as those of Lamia,95 Gorgo,96 Ephialtes,97 and Mormolyca.98 So
numbers of our citizens are incited to deeds of virtue by the beauties of
fable, when they hear the poets in a strain of enthusiasm recording noble
actions, such as the labours of Hercules or Theseus, and the honours
bestowed on them by the gods, or even when they see paintings, sculptures,
or figures bearing their romantic evidence to such events. In the same way
they are restrained from vicious courses, when they think they have
received from the gods by oracles or some other invisible intimations,
threats, menaces, or chastisements, or even if they only believe they have
befallen others. The great mass of women and common people, cannot be
induced by mere force of reason to devote themselves to piety, virtue, and
honesty; superstition must therefore be employed, and even this is
insufficient without the aid of the marvellous and the terrible. For what are
the thunderbolts, the ægis, the trident, the torches, the dragons, the barbed
thyrses, the arms of the gods, and all the paraphernalia of antique theology,
but fables employed by the founders of states, as bugbears to frighten
timorous minds.
Such was mythology; and when our ancestors found it capable of
subserving the purposes of social and political life, and even contributing to
the knowledge of truth, they continued the education of childhood to
maturer years, and maintained that poetry was sufficient to form the
understanding of every age. In course of time history and our present
philosophy were introduced; these, however, suffice but for the chosen few,

and to the present day poetry is the main agent which instructs our people
and crowds our theatres. Homer here stands pre-eminent, but in truth all the
early historians and natural philosophers were mythologists as well.
9. Thus it is that our poet, though he sometimes employs fiction for the
purposes of instruction, always gives the preference to truth; he makes use
of what is false, merely tolerating it in order the more easily to lead and
govern the multitude. As a man
“Binds with a golden verge
Bright silver:”99

so Homer, heightening by fiction actual occurrences, adorns and
embellishes his subject; but his end is always the same as that of the
historian, who relates nothing but facts. In this manner he undertook the
narration of the Trojan war, gilding it with the beauties of fancy and the
wanderings of Ulysses; but we shall never find Homer inventing an empty
fable apart from the inculcation of truth. It is ever the case that a person lies
most successfully, when he intermingles [into the falsehood] a sprinkling of
truth. Such is the remark of Polybius in treating of the wanderings of
Ulysses; such is also the meaning of the verse,
“He fabricated many falsehoods, relating them like truths:”100

not all, but many falsehoods, otherwise it would not have looked like the
truth. Homer’s narrative is founded on history. He tells us that king Æolus
governed the Lipari Islands, that around Mount Ætna and Leontini dwelt
the Cyclopæ, and certain Læstrygonians inhospitable to strangers. That at
that time the districts surrounding the strait were unapproachable; and
Scylla and Charybdis were infested by banditti. In like manner in the
writings of Homer we are informed of other freebooters, who dwelt in
divers regions. Being aware that the Cimmerians dwelt on the Cimmerian
Bosphorus, a dark northern country, he felicitously locates them in a
gloomy region close by Hades, a fit theatre for the scene in the wanderings
of Ulysses. That he was acquainted with these people we may satisfy
ourselves from the chroniclers, who report an incursion made by the
Cimmerians either during his lifetime or just before.
10. Being acquainted with Colchis, and the voyage of Jason to Æa, and also
with the historical and fabulous relations concerning Circe and Medea, their

enchantments and their various other points of resemblance, he feigns there
was a relationship between them, notwithstanding the vast distance by
which they were separated, the one dwelling in an inland creek of the
Euxine, and the other in Italy, and both of them beyond the ocean.
It is possible that Jason himself wandered as far as Italy, for traces of the
Argonautic expedition are pointed out near the Ceraunian101 mountains, by
the Adriatic,102 at the Posidonian103 Gulf and the isles adjacent to
Tyrrhenia.104 The Cyaneæ, called by some the Symplegades,105 or Jostling
Rocks, which render the passage through the Strait of Constantinople so
difficult, also afforded matter to our poet. The actual existence of a place
named Æa, stamped credibility upon his Ææa; so did the Symplegades
upon the Planctæ, (the Jostling Rocks upon the Wandering Rocks,) and the
passage of Jason through the midst of them; in the same way Scylla and
Charybdis accredited the passage [of Ulysses] past those rocks. In his time
people absolutely regarded the Euxine as a kind of second ocean, and
placed those who had crossed it in the same list with navigators who had
passed the Pillars.106 It was looked upon as the largest of our seas, and was
therefore par excellence styled the Sea, in the same way as Homer [is
called] the Poet. In order therefore to be well received, it is probable he
transferred the scenes from the Euxine to the ocean, so as not to stagger the
general belief. And in my opinion those Solymi who possess the highest
ridges of Taurus, lying between Lycia and Pisidia, and those who in their
southern heights stand out most conspicuously to the dwellers on this side
Taurus, and the inhabitants of the Euxine by a figure of speech, he describes
as being beyond the ocean. For narrating the voyage of Ulysses in his ship,
he says,
“But Neptune, traversing in his return
From Ethiopia’s sons, the mountain heights
Of Solymè, descried him from afar.”107

It is probable he took his account of the one-eyed Cyclopæ from Scythian
history, for the Arimaspi, whom Aristæus of Proconnesus describes in his
Tales of the Arimaspi, are said to be distinguished by this peculiarity.
11. Having premised thus much, we must now take into consideration the
reasons of those who assert that Homer makes Ulysses wander to Sicily or
Italy, and also of those who denied this. The truth is, he may be equally

interpreted on this subject either way, according as we take a correct or
incorrect view of the case. Correct, if we understand that he was convinced
of the reality of Ulysses’ wanderings there, and taking this truth as a
foundation, raised thereon a poetical superstructure. And so far this
description of him is right; for not about Italy only, but to the farthest
extremities of Spain, traces of his wanderings and those of similar
adventurers may still be found. Incorrect, if the scene-painting is received
as fact, his Ocean, and Hades, the oxen of the sun, his hospitable reception
by the goddesses, the metamorphoses, the gigantic size of the Cyclopæ and
Læstrygonians, the monstrous appearance of Scylla, the distance of the
voyage, and other similar particulars, all alike manifestly fabulous. It is as
idle to waste words with a person who thus openly maligns our poet, as it
would be with one who should assert as true all the particulars of Ulysses’
return to Ithaca,108 the slaughter of the suitors, and the pitched battle
between him and the Ithacans in the field. But nothing can be said against
the man who understands the words of the poet in a rational way.
12. Eratosthenes, though on no sufficient grounds for so doing, rejects both
these opinions, endeavouring in his attack on the latter, to refute by
lengthened arguments what is manifestly absurd and unworthy of
consideration, and in regard to the former, maintaining a poet to be a mere
gossip, to whose worth an acquaintance with science or geography could
not add in the least degree: since the scenes of certain of Homer’s fables are
cast in actual localities, as Ilium,109 Pelion,110 and Ida;111 others in purely
imaginary regions, such as those of the Gorgons and Geryon. “Of this latter
class,” he says, “are the places mentioned in the wanderings of Ulysses, and
those who pretend that they are not mere fabrications of the poet, but have
an actual existence, are proved to be mistaken by the differences of opinion
existing among themselves: for some of them assert that the Sirenes of
Homer are situated close to Pelorus,112 and others that they are more than
two thousand stadia distant,113 near the Sirenussæ,114 a three-peaked rock
which separates the Gulfs of Cumæa and Posidonium.” Now, in the first
place, this rock is not three-peaked, nor does it form a crest at the summit at
all, but a long and narrow angle reaching from the territory of Surrentum115
to the Strait of Capria,116 having on one side of the mountain the temple of
the Sirens, and on the other side, next the Gulf of Posidonium, three little

rocky and uninhabited islands, named the Sirenes; upon the strait, is
situated the Athenæum, from which the rocky angle itself takes its name.
13. Further, if those who describe the geography of certain places do not
agree in every particular, are we justified in at once rejecting their whole
narration? Frequently this is a reason why it should receive the greater
credit. For example, in the investigation whether the scene of Ulysses’
wanderings were Sicily or Italy, and the proper position of the Sirenes, they
differ in so far that one places them at Pelorus, and the other at Sirenussæ,
but neither of them dissents from the idea that it was some where near
Sicily or Italy. They add thereby strength to this view, inasmuch as though
they are not agreed as to the exact locality, neither of them makes any
question but that it was some where contiguous to Italy or Sicily. If a third
party should add, that the monument of Parthenope, who was one of the
Sirens, is shown at Naples, this only confirms us the more in our belief, for
though a third place is introduced to our notice, still as Naples is situated in
the gulf called by Eratosthenes the Cumæan, and which is formed by the
Sirenussæ, we are more confident still that the position of the Sirenes was
some where close by.
That the poet did not search for accuracy in every minor detail we admit,
but neither ought we to expect this of him; at the same time we are not to
believe that he composed his poem without inquiring into the history of the
Wandering, nor where and how it occurred.
14. Eratosthenes “thinks it probable that Hesiod, having heard of the
wanderings of Ulysses, and of their having taken place near to Sicily and
Italy, embraced this view of the case, and not only describes the places
spoken of by Homer, but also Ætna, the Isle of Ortygia,117 near to Syracuse,
and Tyrrhenia. As for Homer, he was altogether unacquainted with these
places, and further, had no wish to lay the scene of the wanderings in any
well-known locality.” What! are then Ætna and Tyrrhenia such well-known
places, and Scyllæeum, Charybdis, Circæum,118 and the Sirenussæ, so
obscure? Or is Hesiod so correct as never to write nonsense, but always
follow in the wake of received opinions, while Homer blurts out whatever
comes uppermost? Without taking into consideration our remarks on the
character and aptitude of Homer’s myths, a large array of writers who bear
evidence to his statements, and the additional testimony of local tradition,

are sufficient proof that his are not the inventions of poets or contemporary
scribblers, but the record of real actors and real scenes.
15. The conjecture of Polybius in regard to the particulars of the wandering
of Ulysses is excellent. He says that Æolus instructed sailors how to
navigate the strait, a difficult matter on account of the currents occasioned
by the ebb and flow, and was therefore called the dispenser of the winds,
and reputed their king.
In like manner Danaus for pointing out the springs of water that were in
Argos, and Atreus for showing the retrograde movement of the sun in the
heavens, from being mere soothsayers and diviners, were raised to the
dignity of kings. And the priests of the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, and Magi,
distinguished for their wisdom above those around them, obtained from our
predecessors honour and authority; and so it is that in each of the gods, we
worship the discoverer of some useful art.
Having thus introduced his subject, he does not allow us to consider the
account of Æolus, nor yet the rest of the Odyssey, as altogether mythical.
There is a spice of the fabulous here, as well as in the Trojan War,119 but as
respects Sicily, the poet accords entirely with the other historians who have
written on the local traditions of Sicily and Italy. He altogether denies the
justness of Eratosthenes’ dictum, “that we may hope to discover the
whereabout of Ulysses’ wanderings, when we can find the cobbler who
sewed up the winds in the leathern sack.” “And [adds Polybius] his
description of the hunt of the galeotes120 at Scylla,
‘Plunged to her middle in the horrid den
She lurks, protruding from the black abyss
Her heads, with which the ravening monster dives
In quest of dolphins, dog-fish, or of prey
More bulky,’121

accords well with what takes place around Scyllæum: for the thunny-fish,
carried in shoals by Italy, and not being able to reach Sicily, fall into [the
Strait], where they become the prey of larger fish, such as dolphins, dog-
fish, and other cetacea, and it is by this means that the galeotes (which are
also called sword-fish) and dogs fatten themselves. For the same thing
occurs here, and at the rising of the Nile and other rivers, as takes place

when a forest is on fire. Vast crowds of animals, in flying from the fire or
the water, become the prey of beasts more powerful than themselves.”
16. He then goes on to describe the manner in which they catch the sword-
fish at Scyllæum. One look-out directs the whole body of fishers, who are
in a vast number of small boats, each furnished with two oars, and two men
to each boat. One man rows, the other stands on the prow, spear in hand,
while the look-out has to signal the appearance of a sword-fish. (This fish,
when swimming, has about a third of its body above water.) As it passes the
boat, the fisher darts the spear from his hand, and when this is withdrawn, it
leaves the sharp point with which it is furnished sticking in the flesh of the
fish: this point is barbed, and loosely fixed to the spear for the purpose; it
has a long end fastened to it; this they pay out to the wounded fish, till it is
exhausted with its struggling and endeavours at escape. Afterwards they
trail it to the shore, or, unless it is too large and full-grown, haul it into the
boat. If the spear should fall into the sea, it is not lost, for it is jointed of oak
and pine, so that when the oak sinks on account of its weight, it causes the
other end to rise, and thus is easily recovered. It sometimes happens that the
rower is wounded, even through the boat, and such is the size of the sword
with which the galeote is armed, such the strength of the fish, and the
method of the capture, that [in danger] it is not surpassed by the chase of
the wild boar. From these facts (he says) we may conclude that Ulysses’
wanderings were close to Sicily, since Homer describes Scylla122 as
engaging in a pursuit exactly similar to that which is carried on at
Scyllæum. As to Charybdis, he describes just what takes place at the Strait
of Messina:
“Each day she thrice disgorges,”123

instead of twice, being only a mistake, either of the scribe or the historian.

17. The customs of the inhabitants of Meninx124 closely correspond to the
description of the Lotophagi. If any thing does not correspond, it should be
attributed to change, or to misconception, or to poetical licence, which is
made up of history, rhetoric, and fiction. Truth is the aim of the historical
portion, as for instance in the Catalogue of Ships,125 where the poet informs
us of the peculiarities of each place, that one is rocky, another the furthest
city, that this abounds in doves, and that is maritime. A lively interest is the

end of the rhetorical, as when he points to us the combat; and of the fiction,
pleasure and astonishment. A mere fabrication would neither be persuasive
nor Homeric; and we know that his poem is generally considered a
scientific treatise, notwithstanding what Eratosthenes may say, when he
bids us not to judge poems by the standard of intellect, nor yet look to them
for history.
It is most probable that the line
“Nine days by cruel storms thence was I borne
Athwart the fishy deep,”126

should be understood of merely a short distance, (for cruel storms do not
blow in a right course,) and not of being carried beyond the ocean, as if
impelled by favourable winds. “And,” says Polybius, “allowing the distance
from Malea127 to the Pillars to be 22,500 stadia, and supposing the rate of
passage was the same throughout the nine days, the voyage must have been
accomplished at the speed of 2500 stadia per diem: now who has ever
recorded that the passage from Lycia or Rhodes to Alexandria, a distance of
4000 stadia, has been made in two days? To those who demand how it was
that Ulysses, though he journeyed thrice to Sicily, never once navigated the
Strait, we reply that, long after his time, voyagers always sedulously
avoided that route.”
18. Such are the sentiments of Polybius; and in many respects they are
correct enough; but when he discusses the voyage beyond the ocean, and
enters on minute calculations of the proportion borne by the distance to the
number of days, he is greatly mistaken. He alleges perpetually the words of
the poet,
“Nine days by cruel storms thence was I borne;”

but at the same time he takes no notice of this expression, which is his as
well,
“And now borne sea-ward from the river stream
Of the Oceanus;”128

and this,
“In the island of Ogygia, the centre of the sea,”129

and that the daughter of Atlas130 dwells there. And the following concerning
the Phæacians,
“Remote amid the billowy deep, we hold
Our dwelling, utmost of all human kind,
And free from mixture with a foreign race.”131

These passages clearly refer to the Atlantic Ocean,132 but though so plainly
expressed, Polybius slily manages to overlook them. Here he is altogether
wrong, though quite correct about the wandering of Ulysses having taken
place round Sicily and Italy, a fact which Homer establishes himself.
Otherwise, what poet or writer could have persuaded the Neapolitans to
assert that they possessed the tomb of Parthenope133 the Siren, or the
inhabitants of Cumæ, Dicæarchia,134 and Vesuvius [to bear their testimony]
to Pyriphlegethon, the Marsh of Acherusia,135 to the oracle of the dead
which was near Aornus,136 and to Baius and Misenus,137 the companions of
Ulysses. The same is the case with the Sirenussae, and the Strait of
Messina, and Scylla, and Charybdis, and Æolus, all which things should
neither be examined into too rigorously, nor yet [despised] as groundless
and without foundation, alike remote from truth and historic value.
19. Eratosthenes seems to have had something like this view of the case
himself, when he says, “Any one would believe that the poet intended the
western regions as the scene of Ulysses’ wanderings, but that he has
departed from fact, sometimes through want of perfect information, at other
times because he wished to give to scenes a more terrific and marvellous
appearance than they actually possessed.” So far this is true, but his idea of
the object which the poet had in view while composing, is false; real
advantage, not trifling, being his aim. We may justly reprehend his assertion
on this point, as also where he says, that Homer places the scene of his
marvels in distant lands that he may lie the more easily. Remote localities
have not furnished him with near so many wonderful narrations as Greece,
and the countries thereto adjacent; witness the labours of Hercules, and
Theseus, the fables concerning Crete, Sicily, and the other islands; besides
those connected with Cithærum, Helicon,138 Parnassus,139 Pelion,140 and
the whole of Attica and the Peloponnesus. Let us not therefore tax the poets
with ignorance on account of the myths which they employ, and since, so
far from myth being the staple, they for the most part avail themselves of

actual occurrences, (and Homer does this in a remarkable degree,) the
inquirer who will seek how far these ancient writers have wandered into
fiction, ought not to scrutinize to what extent the fiction was carried, but
rather what is the truth concerning those places and persons to which the
fictions have been applied; for instance, whether the wanderings of Ulysses
did actually occur, and where.
20. On the whole, however, it is not proper to place the works of Homer in
the common catalogue of other poets, without challenging for him a
superiority both in respect of his other [excellences] and also for the
geography on which our attention is now engaged.
If any one were to do no more than merely read through the Triptolemus of
Sophocles, or the prologue to the Bacchæ of Euripides, and then compare
them with the care taken by Homer in his geographical descriptions, he
would at once perceive both the difference and superiority of the latter, for
wherever there is necessity for arrangement in the localities he has
immortalized, he is careful to preserve it as well in regard to Greece, as to
foreign countries.
“They
On the Olympian summit thought to fix
Huge Ossa, and on Ossa’s towering head
Pelion with all his forests.”141

“And Juno starting from the Olympian height
O’erflew Pieria and the lovely plains
Of broad Emathia;142 soaring thence she swept
The snow-clad summit of the Thracian hills143
Steed-famed, nor printed, as she pass’d, the soil,
* * * * * * *
From Athos o’er the foaming billows borne.”145
144

In the Catalogue he does not describe his cities in regular order, because
here there was no necessity, but both the people and foreign countries he
arranges correctly. “Having wandered to Cyprus, and Phœnice, and the
Egyptians, I came to the Ethiopians, and Sidonians, and Erembi, and
Libya.”146 Hipparchus has drawn attention to this. But the two tragedians,
where there was great necessity for proper arrangement, one147 where he
introduces Bacchus visiting the nations, the other148 Triptolemus sowing the

earth, have brought in juxta-position places far remote, and separated those
which were near.
“And having left the wealthy lands of the Lydians and Phrygians, and the
sunny plains of the Persians and the Bactrian walls, and having come over
the stormy land of the Medes, and the Happy Arabia.”149 And the
Triptolemus is just as inaccurate.
Further, in respect to the winds and climates, Homer shows the wide extent
of his geographical knowledge, for in his topographical descriptions he not
unfrequently informs us of both these matters. Thus,
“My abode
Is sun-burnt Ithaca.
Flat on the deep she lies, farthest removed
Toward the west, while situate apart,
Her sister islands face the rising day.”150

And,
“It has a two-fold entrance,
One towards the north, the other south.”151

And again,
“Which I alike despise, speed they their course
With right-hand flight towards the ruddy east,
Or leftward down into the shades of eve.”152

Ignorance of such matters he reckons no less than confusion.
“Alas! my friends, for neither west
Know we, nor east; where rises or where sets
The all-enlightening sun.”153

Where the poet has said properly enough,
“As when two adverse winds, blowing from Thrace,
Boreas and Zephyrus,”154

Eratosthenes ill-naturedly misrepresents him as saying in an absolute sense,
that the west wind blows from Thrace; whereas he is not speaking in an
absolute sense at all, but merely of the meeting of contrary winds near the
bay of Melas,155 on the Thracian sea, itself a part of the Ægæan. For where

Thrace forms a kind of promontory, where it borders on Macedonia,156 it
takes a turn to the south-west, and projects into the ocean, and from this
point it seems to the inhabitants of Thasos, Lemnos, Imbros,
Samothracia,157 and the surrounding sea, that the west winds blow.158 So in
regard to Attica, they seem to come from the rocks of Sciros,159 and this is
the reason why all the westerly winds, the north-west more particularly, are
called the Scirones. Of this Eratosthenes was not aware, though he
suspected as much, for it was he who described this bending of the land
[towards the south-west] which we have mentioned. But he interprets our
poet in an absolute sense, and then taxes him with ignorance, because, says
he, “Zephyr blows from the west, and off Spain, and Thrace does not extend
so far.” Does he then think that Homer was not aware that Zephyr came
from the west, notwithstanding the careful manner in which he
distinguishes its position when he writes as follows:
“The east, the south, the heavy-blowing Zephyr,
And the cold north-wind clear.”160

Or was he ignorant that Thrace did not extend beyond the Pæonian and
Thessalian mountains.161 To be sure he was well acquainted with the
position of the countries adjoining Thrace in that direction, and does he not
mention by name both the maritime and inland districts, and tells us of the
Magnetæ,162 the Malians,163 and other Grecian [territories], all in order, as
far as Thesprotis;164 also of the Dolopes165 bordering on Pæonia, and the
Sellæ who inhabit the territory around Dodona166 as far as the [river]
Achelous,167 but he never mentions Thrace, as being beyond these. He has
evidently a predilection for the sea which is nearest to him, and with which
he is most familiar, as where he says,
“Commotion shook
The whole assembly, such as heaves the flood
Of the Icarian deep.”168

21. Some writers tell us there are but two principal winds, the north and
south, and that the other winds are only a slight difference in the direction
of these two. That is, (supposing only two winds, the north and south,) the
south wind from the commencement of the summer quarter blows in a
south-easterly direction; and from the commencement of the winter quarter

from the east. The north wind from the decline of the summer, blows in a
westerly direction, and from the decline of the winter, in a north-westerly
direction.
In support of this opinion of the two winds they adduce Thrasyalces and our
poet himself, forasmuch as he mentions the north-west with the south,
“From the north-west south,”169

and the west with the north,
“As when two adverse winds, blowing from Thrace,
Boreas and Zephyrus.”170

But Posidonius remarks that none of those who are really acquainted with
these subjects, such as Aristotle, Timosthenes, and Bion the astronomer,
entertain so mistaken an opinion in regard to the winds. They say that the
north-east (Cæcias) blows from the commencement of summer, and that the
south-west wind (Libs), which is exactly opposite to this, blows from the
decline of winter. And again, the south-east wind (Eurus), which is opposite
to the north-west wind (Argestes), from the commencement of winter. The
east and west winds being intermediate.
When our poet makes use of the expression “stormy zephyr,” he means the
wind which is now called by us the north-west; and by the “clear-blowing
zephyr” our west wind; our Leuconotus is his Argestes-notus, or clearing
south wind,171 for this wind brings but few clouds, all the other southern
winds bringing clouds and rain,172
“As when whirlwinds of the west
A storm encounter from the clearing south.”173

Here he alludes to the stormy zephyr, which very frequently scatters the
feathery clouds brought up by the Leuconotus, or, as it is called by way of
epithet, the clearing south.
The statements made by Eratosthenes in the first book of his Geography,
require some such correction as this.
22. Persisting in his false views in relation to Homer, he goes on to say, “He
was ignorant that the Nile separated into many mouths, nay, he was not

even acquainted with the name of the river, though Hesiod knew it well, for
he even mentions it.”174 In respect of the name, it is probable that it had not
then been given to the river, and as to the mouths, if they were obscure and
little known, will not every one excuse him for not being aware whether
there were several or merely one? At that time, the river, its rising, and its
mouths were considered, as they are at the present day, amongst the most
remarkable, the most wonderful, and most worthy of recording of all the
peculiarities of Egypt: who can suppose that those who told our poet of the
country and river of Egypt, of Egyptian Thebes, and of Pharos, were
unaware of the many embouchures of the Nile; or that being aware, they
would not have described them, were it not that they were too generally
known? “But is it not inconceivable that Homer should describe Ethiopia,
and the Sidonians, the Erembi, and the Exterior Sea,175—should tell us that
Ethiopia was divided into two parts, and yet nothing about those things
which were nearer and better known?” Certainly not, his not describing
these things is no proof that he was not acquainted with them. He does not
tell us of his own country, nor yet many other things. The most probable
reason is, they were so generally known that they did not appear to him
worth recording.176
23. Again, they are entirely wrong when they allege as a mark of Homer’s
ignorance, that he describes the island of Pharos177 as entirely surrounded
by the sea. On the contrary, it might be taken advantage of as a proof that
our poet was not unacquainted with a single one of the points concerning
Egypt which we have just been speaking of: and thus we demonstrate it:—
Every one is prone to romance a little in narrating his travels, and Menelaus
was no exception to the rule. He had been to Ethiopia,178 and there heard
much discussion concerning the sources of the Nile, and the alluvium which
it deposited, both along its course and also at its mouths, and the large
additions which it had thereby made to the mainland, so as fully to justify
the remark of Herodotus179 that the whole of Egypt was a gift from the
river; or if not the whole, at all events that part of it below the Delta, called
Lower Egypt. He had heard too that Pharos was entirely surrounded by sea,
and therefore misrepresented it as entirely surrounded by the sea, although
it had long ago ceased so to be. Now the author of all this was Homer, and
we therefore infer that he was not ignorant concerning either the sources or
the mouths of the Nile.

24. They are again mistaken when they say that he was not aware of the
isthmus between the sea of Egypt and the Arabian Gulf, and that his
description is false,
“The Ethiopians, utmost of mankind,
These eastward situate, those toward the west.”180

Nevertheless he is correct, and the criticism of the moderns is quite out of
place: indeed, there is so little truth in the assertion that Homer was
ignorant of this isthmus, that I will venture to affirm he was not only
acquainted with it, but has also accurately defined it. But none of the
grammarians, not even the chiefs of their number, Aristarchus and Crates,
have understood the words of our poet on this subject. For they disagree as
to the words which follow this expression of Homer,
“The Ethiopians, utmost of mankind,
These eastward situate, those towards the west,”181

Aristarchus writing,
“These towards the west, and those towards the east,”

and Crates,
“As well in the west as also in the east.”

However, in regard to their hypotheses, it makes no difference whether the
passage were written this way or that. One of them, in fact, takes what he
considers the mathematical view of the case, and says that the torrid zone is
occupied by the ocean,182 and that on each side of this there is a temperate
zone, one inhabited by us and another opposite thereto. And as we call the
Ethiopians, who are situated to the south, and dwell along the shores of the
ocean, the most distant on the face of the inhabited globe; so he supposed
that on the other side of the ocean,183 there were certain Ethiopians
dwelling along the shores, who would in like manner be considered the
most distant184 by the inhabitants of the other temperate zone; and thus that
the Ethiopians were double, separated into two divisions by the ocean. He
adds, “as well in the west as also in the east,” because as the celestial zodiac
always corresponds to the terrestrial, and never exceeds in its obliquity the
space occupied by the two Ethiopias, the sun’s entire course must

necessarily be within this space, and also his rising and setting, as it appears
to different nations according to the sign which he may be in.
He (Crates) adopted this version, because he considered it the more
astronomical. But it would have maintained his opinion of the division of
the Ethiopians into two parts, and at the same time have been much more
simple, had he said that the Ethiopians dwelt on either side of the ocean
from the rising to the setting of the sun. In this case what difference does it
make whether we follow his version, or adopt the reading of Aristarchus,
“These towards the west, and those towards the east?”

which also means, that whether east or west, on either side of the ocean,
Ethiopians dwell. But Aristarchus rejects this hypothesis. He says, “The
Ethiopians with whom we are acquainted, and who are farthest south from
the Greeks, are those described by the poet as being separated into two
divisions. But Ethiopia is not so separated as to form two countries, one
situated towards the west, the other towards the east, but only one, that
which lies south of the Greeks and adjoins Egypt; but of this the poet was
ignorant, as well as of other matters enumerated by Apollodorus, which he
has falsely stated concerning various places in his second book, containing
the catalogue of the ships.”
25. To refute Crates would require a lengthened argument, which here
perhaps may be considered out of place. Aristarchus we commend for
rejecting the hypothesis of Crates, which is open to many objections, and
for referring the expression of the poet to our Ethiopia. But the remainder of
his statement we must discuss. First, his minute examination of the reading
is altogether fruitless, for whichever way it may have been written, his
interpretation is equally applicable to both; for what difference is there
whether you say thus—In our opinion there are two Ethiopias, one towards
the east, the other to the west; or thus—For they are as well towards the east
as the west? Secondly, he makes false assumptions. For admitting that the
poet was ignorant of the isthmus,185 and that he alludes to the Ethiopia
contiguous to Egypt, when he says,
The Ethiopians separated into two divisions;186

what then? Are they not separated into two divisions, and could the poet
have thus expressed himself if he had been in ignorance? Is not Egypt, nay,
are not the Egyptians, separated into two divisions by the Nile from the
Delta to Syene,187
These towards the west, those towards the east?

And what else is Egypt, with the exception of the island formed by the river
and overflowed by its waters; does it not lie on either side of the river both
east and west?
Ethiopia runs in the same direction as Egypt, and resembles it both in its
position with respect to the Nile, and in its other geographical
circumstances. It is narrow, long, and subject to inundation; beyond the
reach of this inundation it is desolate and parched, and unfitted for the
habitation of man; some districts lying to the east and some to the west of
[the river]. How then can we deny that it is separated into two divisions?
Shall the Nile, which is looked upon by some people as the proper
boundary line between Asia and Libya,188 and which extends southward in
length more than 10,000 stadia, embracing in its breadth islands which
contain populations of above ten thousand men, the largest of these being
Meroe, the seat of empire and metropolis of the Ethiopians, be regarded as
too insignificant to divide Ethiopia into two parts? The greatest obstacle
which they who object to the river being made the line of demarcation
between the two continents are able to allege, is, that Egypt and Ethiopia
are by this means divided, one part of each being assigned to Libya, and the
other to Asia, or, if this will not suit, the continents cannot be divided at all,
or at least not by the river.
26. But besides these there is another method of dividing Ethiopia. All those
who have sailed along the coasts of Libya, whether starting from the
Arabian Gulf,189 or the Pillars,190 after proceeding a certain distance, have
been obliged to turn back again on account of a variety of accidents; and
thus originated a general belief that it was divided midway by some
isthmus, although the whole of the Atlantic Ocean is confluent, more
especially towards the south. Besides, all of these navigators called the final
country which they reached, Ethiopia, and described it under that name. Is it
therefore at all incredible, that Homer, misled by such reports, separated

them into two divisions, one towards the east and the other west, not
knowing whether there were any intermediate countries or not? But there is
another ancient tradition related by Ephorus, which Homer had probably
fallen in with. He tells us it is reported by the Tartessians,191 that some of
the Ethiopians, on their arrival in Libya,192 penetrated into the extreme
west, and settled down there, while the rest occupied the greater part of the
sea-coast; and in support of this statement he quotes the passage of Homer,
The Ethiopians, the farthest removed of men, separated into two divisions.

27. These and other more stringent arguments may be urged against
Aristarchus and those of his school, to clear our poet from the charge of
such gross ignorance. I assert that the ancient Greeks, in the same way as
they classed all the northern nations with which they were familiar under
the one name of Scythians, or, according to Homer, Nomades, and
afterwards becoming acquainted with those towards the west, styled them
Kelts and Iberians; sometimes compounding the names into Keltiberians, or
Keltoscythians, thus ignorantly uniting various distinct nations; so I affirm
they designated as Ethiopia the whole of the southern countries towards the
ocean. Of this there is evidence, for Æschylus, in the Prometheus
Loosed,193 thus speaks:
There [is] the sacred wave, and the coralled bed of the Erythræan Sea, and [there] the luxuriant marsh
of the Ethiopians, situated near the ocean, glitters like polished brass; where daily in the soft and
tepid stream, the all-seeing sun bathes his undying self, and refreshes his weary steeds.

And as the ocean holds the same position in respect to the sun, and serves
the same purpose throughout the whole southern region,194 he195 therefore
concludes that the Ethiopians inhabited the whole of the region.

And Euripides in his Phaeton196 says that Clymene was given
“To Merops, sovereign of that land
Which from his four-horsed chariot first
The rising sun strikes with his golden rays;
And which its swarthy neighbours call
The radiant stable of the Morn and Sun.”

Here the poet merely describes them as the common stables of the Morning
and of the Sun; but further on he tells us they were near to the dwellings of
Merops, and in fact the whole plot of the piece has reference to this. This

does not therefore refer alone to the [land] next to Egypt, but rather to the
whole southern country extending along the sea-coast.
28. Ephorus likewise shows us the opinion of the ancients respecting
Ethiopia, in his Treatise on Europe. He says, “If the whole celestial and
terrestrial globe were divided into four parts, the Indians would possess that
towards the east, the Ethiopians towards the south, the Kelts towards the
west, and the Scythians towards the north.” He adds that Ethiopia is larger
than Scythia; for, says he, it appears that the country of the Ethiopians
extends from the rising to the setting of the sun in winter; and Scythia is
opposite to it.
It is evident this was the opinion of Homer, since he places Ithaca
Towards the gloomy region,197

that is, towards the north,198 but the others apart,

Towards the morning and the sun,

by which he means the whole southern hemisphere: and again when he
says,
“speed they their course
With right-hand flight towards the ruddy east,
Or leftward down into the shades of eve.”199

And again,
“Alas! my friends, for neither west
Know we, nor east, where rises or where sets
The all-enlightening sun.”200

Which we shall explain more fully when we come to speak of Ithaca.201
When therefore he says,
“For to the banks of the Oceanus,
Where Ethiopia holds a feast to Jove,
He journey’d yesterday,”202

we should take this in a general sense, and understand by it the whole of the
ocean which washes Ethiopia and the southern region, for to whatever part
of this region you direct your attention, you will there find both the ocean
and Ethiopia. It is in a similar style he says,
“But Neptune, traversing in his return
From Ethiopia’s sons the mountain heights
Of Solymè, descried him from afar.”203

which is equal to saying, “in his return from the southern regions,”204
meaning by the Solymi, as I remarked before, not those of Pisidia, but
certain others merely imaginary, having the same name, and bearing the like
relation to the navigators in [Ulysses’] ship, and the southern inhabitants
there called Ethiopians, as those of Pisidia do in regard to Pontus and the
inhabitants of Egyptian Ethiopia. What he says about the cranes must
likewise be understood in a general sense.

“Such clang is heard
Along the skies, when from incessant showers
Escaping, and from winter’s cold, the cranes
Take wing, and over ocean speed away.
Woe to the land of dwarfs! prepared they fly
For slaughter of the small Pygmæan race.”205

For it is not in Greece alone that the crane is observed to emigrate to more
southern regions, but likewise from Italy and Iberia,206 from [the shores of]
the Caspian, and from Bactriana. But since the ocean extends along the
whole southern coast, and the cranes fly to all parts of it indiscriminately at
the approach of winter, we must likewise believe that the Pygmies207 were
equally considered to inhabit the whole of it.
And if the moderns have confined the term of Ethiopians to those only who
dwell near to Egypt, and have also restricted the Pygmies in like manner,
this must not be allowed to interfere with the meaning of the ancients. We
do not speak of all the people who fought against Troy as merely Achæans
and Argives, though Homer describes the whole under those two names.
Similar to this is my remark concerning the separation of the Ethiopians
into two divisions, that under that designation we should understand the
whole of the nations inhabiting the sea-board from east to west. The
Ethiopians taken in this sense are naturally separated into two parts by the
Arabian Gulf, which occupies a considerable portion of a meridian
circle,208 and resembles a river, being in length nearly 15,000 stadia,209 and
in breadth not above 1000 at the widest point. In addition to the length, the
recess of the Gulf is distant from the sea at Pelusium only three or four
days’ journey across the isthmus. On this account those who are most
felicitous in their division of Asia and Africa, prefer the Gulf210 as a better
boundary line for the two continents than the Nile, since it extends almost
entirely from sea to sea, whereas the Nile is so remote from the ocean that it
does not by any means divide the whole of Asia from Africa. On this
account I believe it was the Gulf which the poet looked upon as dividing
into two portions the whole southern regions of the inhabited earth. Is it
possible, then, that he was unacquainted with the isthmus which separates
this Gulf from the Egyptian Sea?211
29. It is quite irrational to suppose that he could be accurately acquainted
with Egyptian Thebes,212 which is separated from our sea213 by a little less

than 5000214 stadia; and yet ignorant of the recess of the Arabian Gulf, and
of the isthmus there, whose breadth is not more than 1000 stadia. Still more,
would it not be ridiculous to believe that Homer was aware the Nile was
called by the same name as the vast country [of Egypt], and yet
unacquainted with the reason why? especially since the saying of Herodotus
would occur to him, that the country was a gift from the river, and it ought
therefore to bear its name. Further, the best known peculiarities of a country
are those which have something of the nature of a paradox, and are likely to
arrest general attention. Of this kind are the rising of the Nile, and the
alluvial deposition at its mouth. There is nothing in the whole country to
which travellers in Egypt so immediately direct their inquiries, as the
character of the Nile; nor do the inhabitants possess any thing else equally
wonderful and curious, of which to inform foreigners; for in fact, to give
them a description of the river, is to lay open to their view every main
characteristic of the country. It is the question put before every other by
those who have never seen Egypt themselves. To these considerations we
must add Homer’s thirst after knowledge, and his delight in visiting foreign
lands, (tastes which we are assured both by those who have written histories
of his life, and also by innumerable testimonies throughout his own poems,
he possessed in an eminent degree,) and we shall have abundant evidence
both of the extent of his information, and the felicity with which he
described objects he deemed important, and passed over altogether, or with
slight allusion, matters which were generally known.

30. These Egyptians and Syrians215 whom we have been criticising fill one
with amazement. They do not understand [Homer], even when he is
describing their own countries, but accuse him of ignorance where, as our
argument proves, they are open to the charge themselves. Not to mention a
thing is clearly no evidence that a person is not acquainted with it.216
Homer does not tell us of the change in the current of the Euripus, nor of
Thermopylæ, nor of many other remarkable things well known to the
Greeks; but was he therefore unacquainted with them? He describes to us,
although these men, who are obstinately deaf, will not hear: they have
themselves to blame.
Our poet applies to rivers the epithet of “heaven-sent.” And this not only to
mountain torrents, but to all rivers alike, since they are all replenished by

the showers. But even what is general becomes particular when it is
bestowed on any object par excellence. Heaven-sent, when applied to a
mountain torrent, means something else than when it is the epithet of the
ever-flowing river; but the force of the term is doubly felt when attributed
to the Nile. For as there are hyperboles of hyperboles, for instance, to be
“lighter than the shadow of a cork,” “more timid than a Phrygian hare,”217
“to possess an estate shorter than a Lacedæmonian epistle;” so excellence
becomes more excellent, when the title of “heaven-sent” is given to the
Nile. The mountain torrent has a better claim to be called heaven-sent than
other rivers, but the Nile exceeds the mountain torrents, both in its size and
the lengthened period of its overflow. Since, then, the wonders of this river
were known to our poet, as we have shown in this defence, when he applies
this epithet to the Nile, it must only be understood in the way we have
explained. Homer did not think it worth mentioning, especially to those
who were acquainted with the fact, that the Nile had many mouths, since
this is a common feature of numerous other rivers. Alcæus218 does not
mention it, although he tells us he had been in Egypt. One might infer the
fact of its alluvial deposit, both from the rising [of the river] and what
Homer tells us concerning Pharos. For his account, or rather the vulgar
report concerning Pharos, that it was distant from the mainland a whole
day’s voyage, ought not to be looked upon as a downright falsehood.
It is clear that Homer was only acquainted with the rising and deposit of the
river in a general way, and concluding from what he heard that the island
had been further removed in the time of Menelaus from the mainland, than
it was in his own, he magnified the distance, simply that he might heighten
the fiction. Fictions however are not the offspring of ignorance, as is
sufficiently plain from those concerning Proteus, the Pygmies, the efficacy
of charms, and many others similar to these fabricated by the poets. They
narrate these things not through ignorance of the localities, but for the sake
of giving pleasure and enjoyment. But [some one may inquire], how could
he describe [Pharos], which is without water as possessed of that necessary?
“The haven there is good, and many a ship
Finds watering there from rivulets on the coast.”219

[I answer,] It is not impossible that the sources of water may since have
failed. Besides, he does not say that the water was procured from the island,

but that they went thither on account of the safety of the harbour; the water
was probably obtained from the mainland, and by the expression the poet
seems to admit that what he had before said of its being wholly surrounded
by sea was not the actual fact, but a hyperbole or fiction.
31. As his description of the wanderings of Menelaus may seem to
authenticate the charge of ignorance made against him in respect to those
regions, it will perhaps be best to point out the difficulties of the narrative,
and their explanation, and at the same time enter into a fuller defence of our
poet. Menelaus thus addresses Telemachus, who is admiring the splendour
of his palace:
“After numerous toils
And perilous wanderings o’er the stormy deep,
In the eighth year at last I brought them home.
Cyprus, Phœnicia, Sidon, and the shores
Of Egypt, roaming without hope, I reach’d,
In distant Ethiopia thence arrived,
And Libya.”220

It is asked, What Ethiopians could he have met with on his voyage from
Egypt? None are to be found dwelling by our sea,221 and with his vessels222
he could never have reached the cataracts of the Nile. Next, who are the
Sidonians? Certainly not the inhabitants of Phœnicia; for having mentioned
the genus, he would assuredly not particularize the species.223 And then the
Erembi; this is altogether a new name. Our contemporary Aristonicus, the
grammarian, in his [observations] on the wanderings of Menelaus, has
recorded the opinions of numerous writers on each of the heads under
discussion. It will be sufficient for us to refer to them very briefly. They
who assert that Menelaus went by sea to Ethiopia, tell us he directed his
course past Cadiz into the Indian Ocean;224 with which, say they, the long
duration of his wanderings agrees, since he did not arrive there till the
eighth year. Others, that he passed through the isthmus225 which enters the
Arabian Gulf; and others again, through one of the canals. At the same time
the idea of this circumnavigation, which owes its origin to Crates, is not
necessary; we do not mean it was impossible, (for the wanderings of
Ulysses are not impossible,) but neither the mathematical hypothesis, nor
yet the duration of the wandering, require such an explanation; for he was
both retarded against his will by accidents in the voyage, as by [the

tempest] which he narrates five only of his sixty ships survived; and also by
voluntary delays for the sake of amassing wealth. Nestor says [of him],
“Thus he, provision gathering as he went,
And gold abundant, roam’d to distant lands.”226

[And Menelaus himself],
“Cyprus, Phœnicia, and the Egyptians’ land
I wandered through.”227

As to the navigation of the isthmus, or one of the canals, if it had been
related by Homer himself, we should have counted it a myth; but as he does
not relate it, we regard it as entirely extravagant and unworthy of belief. We
say unworthy of belief, because at the time of the Trojan war no canal was
in existence. It is recorded that Sesostris, who had planned the formation of
one, apprehending that the level of the sea was too high to admit of it,
desisted from the undertaking.228
Moreover the isthmus itself was not passable for ships, and Eratosthenes is
unfortunate in his conjecture, for he considers that the strait at the Pillars
was not then formed, so that the Atlantic should by that channel
communicate with the Mediterranean, and that this sea being higher than
the Isthmus [of Suez], covered it; but when the Strait [of Gibraltar] was
formed, the sea subsided considerably; and left the land about Casium229
and Pelusium230 dry as far over as the Red Sea.
But what account have we of the formation of this strait, supposing it were
not in existence prior to the Trojan war? Is it likely that our poet would
make Ulysses sail out through the Strait [of Gibraltar] into the Atlantic
Ocean, as if that strait already existed, and at the same time describe
Menelaus conducting his ships from Egypt to the Red Sea, as if it did not
exist. Further, the poet introduces Proteus as saying to him,
“Thee the gods
Have destined to the blest Elysian Isles,
Earth’s utmost boundaries.”231

And what this place was, namely, some far western region, is evident from
[the mention of] the Zephyr in connexion with it:

“But Zephyr always gently from the sea
Breathes on them.”232

This, however, is very enigmatical.
32. But if our poet speaks of the Isthmus of Suez as ever having been the
strait of confluence between the Mediterranean and the Red Seas, how
much more credit may we attribute to his division of the Ethiopians into
two portions, being thus separated by so grand a strait! And what commerce
could he have carried on with the Ethiopians who dwelt by the shores of the
exterior sea and the ocean? Telemachus and his companions admire the
multitude of ornaments that were in the palace,
“Of gold, electrum, silver, ivory.”233

Now the Ethiopians are possessed of none of these productions in any
abundance, excepting ivory, being for the most part a needy and nomad
race. True, [you say,] but adjoining them is Arabia, and the whole country
as far as India. One of these is distinguished above all other lands by the
title of Felix,234 and the other, though not dignified by that name, is both
generally believed and also said to be pre-eminently Blessed.
But [we reply], Homer was not acquainted with India, or he would have
described it. And though he knew of the Arabia which is now named Felix,
at that time it was by no means wealthy, but a wild country, the inhabitants
of which dwelt for the most part in tents. It is only a small district which
produces the aromatics from which the whole territory afterwards received
its name,235 owing to the rarity of the commodity amongst us, and the value
set upon it. That the Arabians are now flourishing and wealthy is due to
their vast and extended traffic, but formerly it does not appear to have been
considerable. A merchant or camel-driver might attain to opulence by the
sale of these aromatics and similar commodities; but Menelaus could only
become so either by plunder, or presents conferred on him by kings and
nobles, who had the means at their disposal, and wished to gratify one so
distinguished by glory and renown. The Egyptians, it is true, and the
neighbouring Ethiopians and Arabians, were not so entirely destitute of the
luxuries of civilization, nor so unacquainted with the fame of Agamemnon,
especially after the termination of the Trojan war, but that Menelaus might

have expected some benefits from their generosity, even as the breastplate
of Agamemnon is said to be
“The gift
Of Cinyras long since; for rumour loud
Had Cyprus reached.”236

And we are told that the greater part of his wanderings were in Phœnicia,
Syria, Egypt, Africa, around Cyprus, and, in fact, the whole of our coasts
and islands.237 Here, indeed, he might hope to enrich himself both by the
gifts of friendship and by violence, and especially by the plunder of those
who had been the allies of Troy. They however who dwelt on the exterior
ocean, and the distant barbarians, held out no such encouragement: and
when Menelaus is said to have been in Ethiopia, it is because he had
reached the frontiers of that country next Egypt. But perhaps at that time the
frontiers lay more contiguous to Thebes than they do now. At the present
day the nearest are the districts adjacent to Syene and Philæ,238 the former
town being entirely in Egypt, while Philæ is inhabited by a mixed
population of Ethiopians and Egyptians. Supposing therefore he had arrived
at Thebes, and thus reached the boundary-line of Ethiopia, where he
experienced the munificence of the king, we must not be surprised if he is
described as having passed through the country.239 On no better authority
Ulysses declares he has been to the land of the Cyclops, although he merely
left the sea to enter a cavern which he himself tells us was situated on the
very borders of the country: and, in fact, wherever he came to anchor,
whether at Æolia, Læstrygonia, or elsewhere, he is stated to have visited
those places. In the same manner Menelaus is said to have been to Ethiopia
and Libya, because here and there he touched at those places, and the port
near Ardania above Parætonium240 is called after him “the port of
Menelaus.”241
33. When, after mentioning Phœnicia, he talks of Sidon, its metropolis, he
merely employs a common form of expression, for example,
He urged the Trojans and Hector to the ships.242

For the sons of magnanimous Œneus were no more, nor was he himself surviving; moreover, fair-
haired Meleager was dead.243

He came to Ida—and to Gargarus.244

He possessed Eubœa, Chalcis, and Eretria.245

Sappho likewise [says],
Whether Cyprus, or the spacious-harboured Paphos.246

But he had some other cause besides this for mentioning Sidon immediately
after having spoken of the Phœnicians: for had he merely desired to recount
the nations in order, it would have been quite sufficient to say,
Having wandered to Cyprus, Phœnice, and the Egyptians, I came to the Ethiopians.247

But that he might record his sojourn amongst the Sidonians, which was
considerably prolonged, he thought it well to refer to it repeatedly. Thus he
praises their prosperity and skill in the arts, and alludes to the hospitality the
citizens had shown to Helen and Alexander. Thus he tells us of the many
[treasures] of this nature laid up in store by Alexander.248
“There his treasures lay,
Works of Sidonian women, whom her son,
The godlike Paris, when he crossed the seas
With Jove-begotten Helen, brought to Troy.”249

And also by Menelaus, who says to Telemachus,
“I give thee this bright beaker, argent all,
But round encircled with a lip of gold.
It is the work of Vulcan, which to me
The hero Phædimus presented, king
Of the Sidonians, when on my return
Beneath his roof I lodged. I make it thine.”250

Here the expression, “work of Vulcan,” must be looked upon as a
hyperbole: in the same way all elegant productions are said to be the work
of Minerva, of the Graces, or of the Muses. But that the Sidonians were
skilful artists, is clear from the praises bestowed [by Homer] on the bowl
which Euneos gave in exchange for Lycaon:
“Earth
Own’d not its like for elegance of form.
Skilful Sidonian artists had around
Embellish’d it, and o’er the sable deep
Phœnician merchants into Lemnos’ port
Had borne it.”251

34. Many conjectures have been hazarded as to who the Erembi were: they
who suppose the Arabs are intended, seem to deserve the most credit.
Our Zeno reads the passage thus:—
I came to the Ethiopians, the Sidonians, and the Arabians.

But there is no occasion to tamper with the text, which is of great antiquity;
it is a far preferable course to suppose a change in the name itself, which is
of frequent and ordinary occurrence in every nation: and in fact certain
grammarians establish this view by a comparison of the radical letters.
Posidonius seems to me to adopt the better plan after all, in looking for the
etymology of names in nations of one stock and community; thus between
the Armenians, Syrians, and Arabians there is a strong affinity both in
regard to dialect, mode of life, peculiarities of physical conformation, and
above all in the contiguity of the countries. Mesopotamia, which is a motley
of the three nations, is a proof of this; for the similarity amongst these three
is very remarkable. And though in consequence of the various latitudes
there may be some difference between those who dwell in the north252 and
those of the south,253 and again between each of these and the inhabitants of
the middle region,254 still the same characteristics are dominant in all. Also
the Assyrians and Arians have a great affinity both to these people and to
each other. And [Posidonius] believes there is a similarity in the names of
these different nations. Those whom we call Syrians style themselves
Armenians and Arammæans, names greatly like those of the Armenians,
Arabs, and Erembi. Perhaps this [last] term is that by which the Greeks
anciently designated the Arabs; the etymon of the word certainly
strengthens the idea. Many deduce the etymology of the Erembi from ἔραν
ἐμβαίνειν, (to go into the earth,) which [they say] was altered by the people
of a later generation into the more intelligible name of Troglodytes,255 by
which are intended those Arabs who dwell on that side of the Arabian Gulf
next to Egypt and Ethiopia. It is probable then that the poet describes
Menelaus as having visited these people in the same way that he says he
visited the Ethiopians; for they are likewise near to the Thebaid; and he
mentions them not on account of any commerce or gain, (for of these there
was not much,) but probably to enhance the length of the journey and his
meed of praise: for such distant travelling was highly thought of. For
example,—

“Discover’d various cities, and the mind
And manners learn’d of men in lands remote.”256

And again:
“After numerous toils
And perilous wanderings o’er the stormy deep,
In the eighth year at last I brought them home.”257

Hesiod, in his Catalogue,258 writes,
And the daughter of Arabus, whom gracious Hermes and Thronia, descended from king Belus,
brought forth.

Thus, too, says Stesichorus. Whence it seems that at that time the country
was from him named Arabia, though it is not likely this was the case in the
heroic period.259
35. There are many who would make the Erembi a tribe of the Ethiopians,
or of the Cephenes, or again of the Pygmies, and a thousand other fancies.
These ought to be regarded with little trust; since their opinion is not only
incredible, but they evidently labour under a certain confusion as to the
different characters of history and fable. In the same category must be
reckoned those who place the Sidonians and Phœnicians in the Persian
Gulf, or somewhere else in the Ocean, and make the wanderings of
Menelaus to have happened there. Not the least cause for mistrusting these
writers is the manner in which they contradict each other. One half would
have us believe that the Sidonians are a colony from the people whom they
describe as located on the shores of the [Indian] Ocean, and who they say
were called Phœnicians from the colour of the Erythræan Sea, while the
others declare the opposite.260
Some again would transport Ethiopia into our Phœnicia, and make Joppa
the scene of the adventures of Andromeda;261 and this not from any
ignorance of the topography of those places, but by a kind of mythic fiction
similar to those of Hesiod and other writers censured by Apollodorus, who,
however, couples Homer with them, without, as it appears, any cause. He
cites as instances what Homer relates of the Euxine and Egypt, and accuses
him of ignorance for pretending to speak the actual truth, and then
recounting fable, all the while ignorantly mistaking it for fact. Will any one

then accuse Hesiod of ignorance on account of his Hemicynes,262 his
Macrocephali,263 and his Pygmies; or Homer for his like fables, and
amongst others the Pygmies themselves; or Alcman264 for describing the
Steganopodes;265 or Æschylus for his Cynocephali,266 Sternophthalmi,267
and Monommati;268 when amongst prose writers, and in works bearing the
appearance of veritable history, we frequently meet with similar narrations,
and that without any admission of their having inserted such myths. Indeed
it becomes immediately evident that they have woven together a tissue of
myths not through ignorance of the real facts, but merely to amuse by a
deceptive narration of the impossible and marvellous. If they appear to do
this in ignorance, it is because they can romance more frequently and with
greater plausibility on those things which are uncertain and unknown. This
Theopompus plainly confesses in the announcement of his intention to
relate the fables in his history in a better style than Herodotus, Ctesias,
Hellanicus, and those who had written on the affairs of India.
36. Homer has described to us the phenomena of the ocean under the form
of a myth; this [art] is very desirable in a poet; the idea of his Charybdis
was taken from the ebb and flow of the tide, and was by no means a pure
invention of his own, but derived from what he knew concerning the Strait
of Sicily.269 And although he states that the ebb and flow occurred thrice
during the four and twenty hours, instead of twice,
“(Each day she thrice disgorges, and each day
Thrice swallows it,”)270

we must suppose that he said this not through any ignorance of the fact, but
for tragic effect, and to excite the fear which Circe endeavours to infuse into
her arguments to deter Ulysses from departing, even at a little expense of
truth. The following is the language Circe makes use of in her speech to
him:
“Each day she thrice disgorges, and each day
Thrice swallows it. Ah! well-forewarn’d beware
What time she swallows, that thou come not nigh,
For not himself, Neptune, could snatch thee thence.”271

And yet when Ulysses was ingulfed in the eddy he was not lost. He tells us
himself,

“It was the time when she absorb’d profound
The briny flood, but by a wave upborne,
I seized the branches fast of the wild fig,
To which bat-like I clung.”272

And then having waited for the timbers of the wreck he seized hold of them,
and thus saved himself. Circe, therefore, had exaggerated both the peril, and
also the fact of its vomiting forth thrice a day instead of twice. However,
this latter is a hyperbole which every one makes use of; thus we say thrice-
happy and thrice-miserable.
So the poet,
“Thrice-happy Greeks!”273

Again,
“O delightful, thrice-wished for!”274

And again,
“O thrice and four times.”275

Any one, too, might conclude from the passage itself that Homer even here
hinted at the truth, for the long time which the remains of the wreck lay
under water, which Ulysses, who was all the while hanging suspended to
the branches, so anxiously desired to rise, accords much better with the ebb
and flow taking place but twice during the night and day instead of thrice.
“Therefore hard
I clench’d the boughs, till she disgorged again
Both keel and mast. Not undesired by me
They came, though late; for at what hour the judge,
After decision made of numerous strifes
Between young candidates for honour, leaves
The forum, for refreshment’s sake at home,
Then was it that the mast and keel emerged.”276

Every word of this indicates a considerable length of time, especially when
he prolongs it to the evening, not merely saying at that time when the judge
has risen, but having adjudicated on a vast number of cases, and therefore
detained longer than usual. Otherwise his account of the return of the wreck

would not have appeared likely, if he had brought it back again with the
return of the wave, before it had been first carried a long way off.
37. Apollodorus, who agrees with Eratosthenes, throws much blame upon
Callimachus for asserting, in spite of his character as a grammarian, that
Gaudus277 and Corcyra278 were among the scenes of Ulysses’ wandering,
such an opinion being altogether in defiance of Homer’s statement, and his
description of the places as situated in the exterior ocean.279
This criticism is just if we suppose the wandering to have never actually
occurred, and to be merely the result of Homer’s imagination; but if it did
take place, although in other regions, Apollodorus ought plainly to have
stated which they were, and thus set right the mistake of Callimachus.
Since, however, after such evidence as we have produced, we cannot
believe the whole account to be a fiction, and since no other more likely
places have as yet been named, we hold that the grammarian is absolved
from blame.
38. Demetrius of Skepsis is also wrong, and, in fact, the cause of some of
the mistakes of Apollodorus. He eagerly objects to the statement of
Neanthes of Cyzicus, that the Argonauts, when they sailed to the Phasis,280
founded at Cyzicus the temples of the Idæan Mother.281 Though their
voyage is attested both by Homer and other writers, he denies that Homer
had any knowledge whatever of the departure of Jason to the Phasis. In so
doing, he not only contradicts the very words of Homer, but even his own
assertions. The poet informs us that Achilles, having ravaged Lesbos282 and
other districts, spared Lemnos283 and the adjoining islands, on account of
his relationship with Jason and his son Euneos,284 who then had possession
of the island. How should he know of a relationship, identity of race, or
other connexion existing between Achilles and Jason, which, after all, was
nothing else than that they were both Thessalians, one being of Iolcos,285
the other of the Achæan Pthiotis,286 and yet was not aware how it happened
that Jason, who was a Thessalian of Iolcos, should leave no descendants in
the land of his nativity, but establish his son as ruler of Lemnos? Homer
then was familiar with the history of Pelias and the daughters of Pelias, of
Alcestis, who was the most charming of them all, and of her son

“Eumelus, whom Alcestis, praised
For beauty above all her sisters fair,
In Thessaly to king Admetus bore,”287

and was yet ignorant of all that befell Jason, and Argo, and the Argonauts,
matters on the actual occurrence of which all the world is agreed. The tale
then of their voyage in the ocean from Æeta, was a mere fiction, for which
he had no authority in history.
39. If, however, the expedition to the Phasis, fitted out by Pelias, its return,
and the conquest of several islands, have at the bottom any truth whatever,
as all say they have, so also has the account of their wanderings, no less
than those of Ulysses and Menelaus; monuments of the actual occurrence of
which remain to this day elsewhere than in the writings of Homer. The city
of Æa, close by the Phasis, is still pointed out. Æetes is generally believed
to have reigned in Colchis, the name is still common throughout the
country, tales of the sorceress Medea are yet abroad, and the riches of the
country in gold, silver, and iron, proclaim the motive of Jason’s expedition,
as well as of that which Phrixus had formerly undertaken. Traces both of
one and the other still remain. Such is Phrixium,288 midway between
Colchis and Iberia, and the Jasonia, or towns of Jason, which are every
where met with in Armenia, Media, and the surrounding countries. Many
are the witnesses to the reality of the expeditions of Jason and Phrixus at
Sinope289 and its shore, at Propontis, at the Hellespont, and even at
Lemnos. Of Jason and his Colchian followers there are traces even as far as
Crete,290 Italy, and the Adriatic. Callimachus himself alludes to it where he
says,
”[The temple of] Apollo and [the Isle of] Anaphe,291
Near to Laconian Thera.”292

In the verses which commence,
“I sing how the heroes from Cytæan Æeta,
Return’d again to ancient Æmonia.”293

And again concerning the Colchians, who,

“Ceasing to plough with oars the Illyrian Sea,294
Near to the tomb of fair Harmonia,
Who was transform’d into a dragon’s shape,
Founded their city, which a Greek would call
The Town of Fugitives, but in their tongue
Is Pola named.”

Some writers assert that Jason and his companions sailed high up the Ister,
others say he sailed only so far as to be able to gain the Adriatic: the first
statement results altogether from ignorance; the second, which supposes
there is a second Ister having its source from the larger river of the same
name, and discharging its waters into the Adriatic, is neither incredible nor
even improbable.295
40. Starting from these premises, the poet, in conformity both with general
custom and his own practice, narrates some circumstances as they actually
occurred, and paints others in the colours of fiction. He follows history
when he tells us of Æetes and Jason also, when he talks of Argo, and on the
authority of [the actual city of Æa], feigns his city of Ææa, when he settles
Euneos in Lemnos, and makes that island friendly to Achilles, and when, in
imitation of Medea, he makes the sorceress Circe
“Sister by birth of the all-wise Æetes,”296

he adds the fiction of the entrance of the Argonauts into the exterior ocean
as the sequel to their wanderings on their return home. Here, supposing the
previous statements admitted, the truth of the phrase “the renowned
Argo,”297 is evident, since, in that case, the expedition was directed to a
populous and well-known country. But if, as [Demetrius] of Skepsis asserts,
on the authority of Mimnermus, Æetes dwelt by the Ocean, and Jason was
sent thither far east by Pelias, to bring back the fleece, it neither seems
probable that such an expedition would have been undertaken into unknown
and obscure countries after the Fleece, nor could a voyage to lands desert,
uninhabited, and so far remote from us, be considered either glorious or
renowned.
[Here follow the words of Demetrius.]
“Nor as yet had Jason, having accomplished the arduous journey, carried off the splendid fleece from
Æa, fulfilling the dangerous mission of the insolent Pelias, nor had they ploughed the glorious wave
of the ocean.”

And again:
“The city of Æetes, where the rays of the swift sun recline on their golden bed by the shore of the
ocean, which the noble Jason visited.”

CHAPTER III.

1. Eratosthenes is guilty of another fault in so frequently referring to the
works of men beneath his notice, sometimes for the purpose of refuting
them; at others, when he agrees with them, in order to cite them as
authorities. I allude to Damastes, and such as him, who even when they
speak the truth, are utterly unworthy of being appealed to as authorities, or
vouchers for the credibility of a statement. For such purposes the writings
of trustworthy men should only be employed, who have accurately
described much; and though perhaps they may have omitted many points
altogether, and barely touched on others, are yet never guilty of wilfully
falsifying their statements. To cite Damastes as an authority is little better
than to quote the Bergæan,298 or Euemerus the Messenian, and those other
scribblers whom Eratosthenes himself sneers at for their absurdities. Why,
he even points out as one of the follies of this Damastes, his observation
that the Arabian Gulf was a lake;299 likewise the statement that Diotimus,
the son of Strombicus and chief of the Athenian legation, sailed through
Cilicia up the Cydnus300 into the river Choaspes,301 which flows by
Susa,302 and so arrived at that capital after forty days’ journey. This
particular he professes to state on the authority of Diotimus himself, and
then expresses his wonder whether the Cydnus could actually cross the
Euphrates and Tigris in order to disgorge itself into the Choaspes.303
2. However, this is not all we have to say against him. Of many places he
tells us that nothing is known, when in fact they have every one been
accurately described. Then he warns us to be very cautious in believing
what we are told on such matters, and endeavours by long and tedious
arguments to show the value of his advice; swallowing at the same time the
most ridiculous absurdities himself concerning the Euxine and Adriatic.
Thus he believed the Bay of Issus304 to be the most easterly point of the

Mediterranean, though Dioscurias,305 which is nearly at the bottom of the
Pontus Euxinus, is, according to his own calculations, farther east by a
distance of 3000 stadia.306 In describing the northern and farther parts of the
Adriatic he cannot refrain from similar romancing, and gives credit to many
strange narrations concerning what lies beyond the Pillars of Hercules,
informing us of an Isle of Kerne there, and other places now nowhere to be
found, which we shall speak of presently.
Having remarked that the ancients, whether out on piratical excursions, or
for the purposes of commerce, never ventured into the high seas, but crept
along the coast, and instancing Jason, who leaving his vessels at Colchis
penetrated into Armenia and Media on foot, he proceeds to tell us that
formerly no one dared to navigate either the Euxine or the seas by Libya,
Syria, and Cilicia. If by formerly he means periods so long past that we
possess no record of them, it is of little consequence to us whether they
navigated those seas or not, but if [he speaks] of times of which we know
any thing, and if we are to place any trust in the accounts which have come
down to us, every one will admit that the ancients appear to have made
longer journeys both by sea and land than their successors; witness
Bacchus, Hercules, nay Jason himself, and again Ulysses and Menelaus, of
whom Homer tells us. It seems most probable that Theseus and Pirithous
are indebted to some long voyages for the credit they afterwards obtained of
having visited the infernal regions; and in like manner the Dioscuri307
gained the appellation of guardians of the sea, and the deliverers of
sailors.308 The sovereignty of the seas exercised by Minos, and the
navigation carried on by the Phœnicians, is well known. A little after the
period of the Trojan war they had penetrated beyond the Pillars of Hercules,
and founded cities as well there as to the midst of the African coast.309 Is it
not correct to number amongst the ancients Æneas,310 Antenor,311 the
Heneti, and all the crowd of warriors, who, after the destruction of Troy,
wandered over the face of the whole earth? For at the conclusion of the war
both the Greeks and Barbarians found themselves deprived, the one of their
livelihood at home, the other of the fruits of their expedition; so that when
Troy was overthrown, the victors, and still more the vanquished, who had
survived the conflict, were compelled by want to a life of piracy; and we
learn that they became the founders of many cities along the sea-coast
beyond Greece,312 besides several inland settlements.313

3. Again, having discoursed on the advance of knowledge respecting the
Geography of the inhabited earth, between the time of Alexander and the
period when he was writing, Eratosthenes goes into a description of the
figure of the earth; not merely of the habitable earth, an account of which
would have been very suitable, but of the whole earth, which should
certainly have been given too, but not in this disorderly manner. He
proceeds to tell us that the earth is spheroidal, not however perfectly so,
inasmuch as it has certain irregularities, he then enlarges on the successive
changes of its form, occasioned by water, fire, earthquakes, eruptions, and
the like; all of which is entirely out of place, for the spheroidal form of the
whole earth is the result of the system of the universe, and the phenomena
which he mentions do not in the least change its general form; such little
matters being entirely lost in the great mass of the earth. Still they cause
various peculiarities in different parts of our globe, and result from a variety
of causes.
4. He points out as a most interesting subject for disquisition the fact of our
finding, often quite inland, two or three thousand stadia from the sea, vast
numbers of muscle, oyster, and scallop-shells, and salt-water lakes.314 He
gives as an instance, that about the temple of Ammon,315 and along the road
to it for the space of 3000 stadia, there are yet found a vast amount of oyster
shells, many salt-beds, and salt springs bubbling up, besides which are
pointed out numerous fragments of wreck which they say have been cast up
through some opening, and dolphins placed on pedestals with the
inscription, Of the delegates from Cyrene. Herein he agrees with the
opinion of Strato the natural philosopher, and Xanthus of Lydia. Xanthus
mentioned that in the reign of Artaxerxes there was so great a drought, that
every river, lake, and well was dried up: and that in many places he had
seen a long way from the sea fossil shells, some like cockles, others
resembling scallop shells, also salt lakes in Armenia, Matiana,316 and Lower
Phrygia, which induced him to believe that sea had formerly been where the
land now was. Strato, who went more deeply into the causes of these
phenomena, was of opinion that formerly there was no exit to the Euxine as
now at Byzantium, but that the rivers running into it had forced a way
through, and thus let the waters escape into the Propontis, and thence to the
Hellespont.317 And that a like change had occurred in the Mediterranean.
For the sea being overflowed by the rivers, had opened for itself a passage

by the Pillars of Hercules, and thus, much that was formerly covered by
water, had been left dry.318 He gives as the cause of this, that anciently the
levels of the Mediterranean and Atlantic were not the same, and states that a
bank of earth, the remains of the ancient separation of the two seas, is still
stretched under water from Europe to Africa. He adds, that the Euxine is the
most shallow, and the seas of Crete, Sicily, and Sardinia much deeper,
which is occasioned by the number of large rivers flowing into the Euxine
both from the north and east, and so filling it up with mud, whilst the others
preserve their depth. This is the cause of the remarkable sweetness of the
Euxine Sea, and of the currents which regularly set towards the deepest
part. He gives it as his opinion, that should the rivers continue to flow in the
same direction, the Euxine will in time be filled up [by the deposits], since
already the left side of the sea is little else than shallows, as also
Salmydessus,319 and the shoals at the mouth of the Ister, and the desert of
Scythia,320 which the sailors call the Breasts. Probably too the temple of
Ammon was originally close to the sea, though now, by the continual
deposit of the waters, it is quite inland: and he conjectures that it was owing
to its being so near the sea that it became so celebrated and illustrious, and
that it never would have enjoyed the credit it now possesses had it always
been equally remote from the sea. Egypt too [he says] was formerly covered
by sea as far as the marshes near Pelusium,321 Mount Casius,322 and the
Lake Sirbonis.323 Even at the present time, when salt is being dug in Egypt,
the beds are found under layers of sand and mingled with fossil shells, as if
this district had formerly been under water, and as if the whole region about
Casium and Gerrha324 had been shallows reaching to the Arabian Gulf. The
sea afterwards receding left the land uncovered, and the Lake Sirbonis
remained, which having afterwards forced itself a passage, became a marsh.
In like manner the borders of the Lake Mœris resemble a sea-beach rather
than the banks of a river. Every one will admit that formerly at various
periods a great portion of the mainland has been covered and again left bare
by the sea. Likewise that the land now covered by the sea is not all on the
same level, any more than that whereon we dwell; which is now uncovered
and has experienced so many changes, as Eratosthenes has observed.
Consequently in the reasoning of Xanthus there does not appear to be any
thing out of place.

5. In regard to Strato, however, we must remark that, leaving out of the
question the many arguments he has properly stated, some of those which
he has brought forward are quite inadmissible. For first he is inaccurate in
stating that the beds of the interior and the exterior seas have not the same
level, and that the depth of those two seas is different: whereas the cause
why the sea is at one time raised, at another depressed, that it inundates
certain places and again retreats, is not that the beds have different levels,
some higher and some lower, but simply this, that the same beds are at one
time raised, at another depressed, causing the sea to rise or subside with
them; for having risen they cause an inundation, and when they subside the
waters return to their former places. For if it is so, an inundation will of
course accompany every sudden increase of the waters of the sea, [as in the
spring-tides,] or the periodical swelling of rivers, in the one instance the
waters being brought together from distant parts of the ocean, in the other,
their volume being increased. But the risings of rivers are not violent and
sudden, nor do the tides continue any length of time, nor occur irregularly;
nor yet along the coasts of our sea do they cause inundations, nor any where
else. Consequently we must seek for an explanation of the cause either in
the stratum composing the bed of the sea, or in that which is overflowed;
we prefer to look for it in the former, since by reason of its humidity it is
more liable to shiftings and sudden changes of position, and we shall find
that in these matters the wind is the great agent after all. But, I repeat it, the
immediate cause of these phenomena, is not in the fact of one part of the
bed of the ocean being higher or lower than another, but in the upheaving or
depression of the strata on which the waters rest. Strato’s hypothesis
evidently originated in the belief that that which occurs in rivers is also the
case in regard to the sea; viz. that there is a flow of water from the higher
places. Otherwise he would not have attempted to account for the current he
observed at the Strait of Byzantium in the manner he does, attributing it to
the bed of the Euxine being higher than that of the Propontis and adjoining
ocean, and even attempting to explain the cause thereof: viz. that the bed of
the Euxine is filled up and choked by the deposit of the rivers which flow
into it; and its waters in consequence driven out into the neighbouring sea.
The same theory he would apply in respect to the Mediterranean and
Atlantic, alleging that the bed of the former is higher than that of the latter
in consequence of the number of rivers which flow into it, and the alluvium
they carry along with them. In that case there ought to be a like influx at the

Pillars and Calpe,325 as there is at Byzantium. But I waive this objection, as
it might be asserted that the influx was the same in both places, but owing
to the interference of the ebb and flow of the sea, became imperceptible.
6. I rather make this inquiry:—If there were any reason why, before the
outlet was opened at Byzantium, the bed of the Euxine (being deeper than
either that of the Propontis326 or of the adjoining sea327) should not
gradually have become more shallow by the deposit of the rivers which
flow into it, allowing it formerly either to have been a sea, or merely a vast
lake greater than the Palus Mæotis? This proposition being conceded, I
would next ask, whether before this the bed of the Euxine would not have
been brought to the same level as the Propontis, and in that case, the
pressure being counter-poised, the overflowing of the water have been thus
avoided; and if after the Euxine had been filled up, the superfluous waters
would not naturally have forced a passage and flowed off, and by their
commingling and power have caused the Euxine and Propontis to flow into
each other, and thus become one sea? no matter, as I said above, whether
formerly it were a sea or a lake, though latterly certainly a sea. This also
being conceded, they must allow that the present efflux depends neither
upon the elevation nor the inclination of the bed, as Strato’s theory would
have us consider it.
7. We would apply the same arguments to the whole of the Mediterranean
and Atlantic, and account for the efflux of the former, not by any [supposed]
difference between the elevation and inclination of its bed and of that of the
Atlantic, but attribute it to the number of rivers which empty themselves
into it. Since, according to this supposition, it is not incredible that had the
whole of the Mediterranean Sea in times past been but a lake filled by the
rivers, and having overflowed, it might have broken through the Strait at the
Pillars, as through a cataract; and still continuing to swell more and more,
the Atlantic in course of time would have become confluent by that channel,
and have run into one level, the Mediterranean thus becoming a sea. In fine,
the Physician did wrong in comparing the sea to rivers, for the latter are
borne down as a descending stream, but the sea always maintains its level.
The currents of straits depend upon other causes, not upon the accumulation
of earth formed by the alluvial deposit from rivers, filling up the bed of the
sea. This accumulation only goes on at the mouths of rivers. Such are what

are called the Stethe or Breasts at the mouth of the Ister,328 the desert of the
Scythians, and Salmydessus, which are partially occasioned by other
winter-torrents as well; witness the sandy, low, and even coast of
Colchis,329 at the mouth of the Phasis,330 the whole of the coast of
Themiscyra,331 named the plain of the Amazons, near the mouths of the
Thermodon332 and Iris,333 and the greater part of Sidene.334 It is the same
with other rivers, they all resemble the Nile in forming an alluvial deposit at
their mouths, some more, some less than others. Those rivers which carry
but little soil with them deposit least, while others, which traverse an
extended and soft country, and receive many torrents in their course, deposit
the greatest quantity. Such for example is the river Pyramus,335 by which
Cilicia has been considerably augmented, and concerning which an oracle
has declared, “This shall occur when the wide waters of the Pyramus have
enlarged their banks as far as sacred Cyprus.”336 This river becomes
navigable from the middle of the plains of Cataonia, and entering Cilicia337
by the defiles of the Taurus, discharges itself into the sea which flows
between that country and the island of Cyprus.
8. These river deposits are prevented from advancing further into the sea by
the regularity of the ebb and flow, which continually drive them back. For
after the manner of living creatures, which go on inhaling and exhaling their
breath continually, so the sea in a like way keeps up a constant motion in
and out of itself. Any one may observe who stands on the sea-shore when
the waves are in motion, the regularity with which they cover, then leave
bare, and then again cover up his feet. This agitation of the sea produces a
continual movement on its surface, which even when it is most tranquil has
considerable force, and so throws all extraneous matters on to the land, and
“Flings forth the salt weed on the shore.”338

This effect is certainly most considerable when the wind is on the water, but
it continues when all is hushed, and even when it blows from land the swell
is still carried to the shore against the wind, as if by a peculiar motion of the
sea itself. To this the verses refer—
“O’er the rocks that breast the flood
Borne turgid, scatter far the showery spray,”339

and,
“Loud sounds the roar of waves ejected wide.”340

9. The wave, as it advances, possesses a kind of power, which some call the
purging of the sea, to eject all foreign substances. It is by this force that
dead bodies and wrecks are cast on shore. But on retiring it does not possess
sufficient power to carry back into the sea either dead bodies, wood, or even
the lightest substances, such as cork, which may have been cast out by the
waves. And by this means when places next the sea fall down, being
undermined by the wave, the earth and the water charged with it are cast
back again; and the weight [of the mud] working at the same time in
conjunction with the force of the advancing tide, it is the sooner brought to
settle at the bottom, instead of being carried out far into the sea. The force
of the river current ceases at a very little distance beyond its mouth.
Otherwise, supposing the rivers had an uninterrupted flow, by degrees the
whole ocean would be filled in, from the beach onwards, by the alluvial
deposits. And this would be inevitable even were the Euxine deeper than the
sea of Sardinia, than which a deeper sea has never been sounded,
measuring, as it does, according to Posidonius, about 1000 fathoms.341
10. Some, however, may be disinclined to admit this explanation, and
would rather have proof from things more manifest to the senses, and which
seem to meet us at every turn. Now deluges, earthquakes, eruptions of
wind, and risings in the bed of the sea, these things cause the rising of the
ocean, as sinking of the bottom causes it to become lower. It is not the case
that small volcanic or other islands can be raised up from the sea, and not
large ones, nor that all islands can, but not continents, since extensive
sinkings of the land no less than small ones have been known; witness the
yawning of those chasms which have ingulfed whole districts no less than
their cities, as is said to have happened to Bura,342 Bizone,343 and many
other towns at the time of earthquakes: and there is no more reason why one
should rather think Sicily to have been disjoined from the mainland of Italy
than cast up from the bottom of the sea by the fires of Ætna, as the Lipari
and Pithecussan344 Isles have been.
11. However, so nice a fellow is Eratosthenes, that though he professes
himself a mathematician,345 he rejects entirely the dictum of Archimedes,

who, in his work “On Bodies in Suspension,” says that all liquids when left
at rest assume a spherical form, having a centre of gravity similar to that of
the earth. A dictum which is acknowledged by all who have the slightest
pretensions to mathematical sagacity. He says that the Mediterranean,
which, according to his own description, is one entire sea has not the same
level even at points quite close to each other; and offers us the authority of
engineers for this piece of folly, notwithstanding the affirmation of
mathematicians that engineering is itself only one division of the
mathematics. He tells us that Demetrius346 intended to cut through the
Isthmus of Corinth, to open a passage for his fleet, but was prevented by his
engineers, who, having taken measurements, reported that the level of the
sea at the Gulf of Corinth was higher than at Cenchrea,347 so that if he cut
through the isthmus, not only the coasts near Ægina, but even Ægina itself,
with the neighbouring islands, would be laid completely under water, while
the passage would prove of little value. According to Eratosthenes, it is this
which occasions the current in straits, especially the current in the Strait of
Sicily,348 where effects similar to the flow and ebb of the tide are remarked.
The current there changes twice in the course of a day and night, like as in
that period the tides of the sea flow and ebb twice. In the Tyrrhenian sea349
the current which is called descendent, and which runs towards the sea of
Sicily, as if it followed an inclined plane, corresponds to the flow of the tide
in the ocean. We may remark, that this current corresponds to the flow both
in the time of its commencement and cessation. For it commences at the
rising and setting of the moon, and recedes when that satellite attains its
meridian, whether above [in the zenith] or below the earth [in the nadir]. In
the same way occurs the opposite or ascending current, as it is called. It
corresponds to the ebb of the ocean, and commences as soon as the moon
has reached either zenith or nadir, and ceases the moment she reaches the
point of her rising or setting. [So far Eratosthenes.]
12. The nature of the ebb and flow has been sufficiently treated of by
Posidonius and Athenodorus. Concerning the flux and reflux of the
currents, which also may be explained by physics, it will suffice our present
purpose to observe, that in the various straits these do not resemble each
other, but each strait has its own peculiar current. Were they to resemble
each other, the current at the Strait of Sicily350 would not change merely
twice during the day, (as Eratosthenes himself tells us it does,) and at

Chalcis seven times;351 nor again that of Constantinople, which does not
change at all, but runs always in one direction from the Euxine to the
Propontis, and, as Hipparchus tells us, sometimes ceases altogether.
However, if they did all depend on one cause, it would not be that which
Eratosthenes has assigned, namely, that the various seas have different
levels. The kind of inequality he supposes would not even be found in rivers
only for the cataracts; and where these cataracts occur, they occasion no
ebbing, but have one continued downward flow, which is caused by the
inclination both of the flow and the surface; and therefore though they have
no flux or reflux they do not remain still, on account of a principle of
flowing which is inherent in them; at the same time they cannot be on the
same level, but one must be higher and one lower than another. But who
ever imagined the surface of the ocean to be on a slope, especially those
who follow a system which supposes the four bodies we call elementary, to
be spherical.352 For water is not like the earth, which being of a solid nature
is capable of permanent depressions and risings, but by its force of gravity
spreads equally over the earth, and assumes that kind of level which
Archimedes has assigned it.
13. To what we cited before concerning the temple of Ammon and Egypt,
Eratosthenes adds, that to judge from appearances, Mount Casius353 was
formerly covered by sea, and the whole district now known as Gerra lay
under shoal water touching the bay of the Erythræan Sea,354 but was left
dry on the union355 of the [Mediterranean] Sea [with the ocean]. A certain
amphibology lurks here under this description of the district lying under
shoal water and touching the bay of the Erythræan Sea; for to touch356 both
means to be close to, and also to be in actual contact with, so that when
applied to water it would signify that one flows into the other. I understand
him to mean, that so long as the strait by the Pillars of Hercules remained
closed, these marshes covered with shoal-water extended as far as the
Arabian Gulf, but on that passage being forced open, the Mediterranean,
discharging itself by the strait, became lower, and the land was left dry.
On the other hand, Hipparchus understands by the term touching, that the
Mediterranean, being over-full, flowed into the Erythræan Sea, and he
inquires how it could happen, that as the Mediterranean flowed out by this
new vent at the Pillars of Hercules, the Erythræan Sea, which was all one

with it, did not flow away too, and thus become lower, but has always
retained the same level? and since Eratosthenes supposes the whole exterior
sea to be confluent, it follows that the Western Ocean357 and the Erythræan
Sea are all one; and thus [remarks Hipparchus] as a necessary consequence,
the sea beyond the Pillars of Hercules, the Erythræan Sea, and that also
which is confluent with it,358 have all the same level.
14. But, Eratosthenes would reply, I never said that, in consequence of the
repletion of the Mediterranean, it actually flowed into the Erythræan Sea,
but only that it approached very near thereto: besides, it does not follow,
that in one and the self-same sea, the level of its surface must be all the
same; to instance the Mediterranean itself, no one, surely, will say it is of
the same height at Lechæum359 and at Cenchrea.360 This answer
Hipparchus anticipated in his Critique; and being aware of the opinion of
Eratosthenes, was justified in attacking his arguments. But he ought not to
have taken it for granted, that when Eratosthenes said the exterior sea was
all one, he necessarily implied that its level was every where the same.
15. Hipparchus rejects as false the [account] of the inscription on the
dolphins “by the delegates from Cyrene,” but the reason he assigns for this
is insufficient, viz. that though Cyrene was built in times of which we have
record, no one mentions the oracle,361 as being situated on the sea-shore.
But what matters is that no historian has recorded this, when amongst the
other proofs from which we infer that this place was formerly on the sea-
shore, we number this of the dolphins which were set up, and the
inscription, “by the delegates from Cyrene?”362 Hipparchus agrees that if
the bottom of the sea were raised up, it would lift the water with it, and
might therefore overflow the land as far as the locality of the oracle, or
more than 3000 stadia from the shore; but he will not allow that the rising
would be sufficient to overflow the Island of Pharos and the major portion
of Egypt, since [he says] the elevation would not be sufficient to submerge
these. He alleges that if before the opening of the passage at the Pillars of
Hercules, the Mediterranean had been swollen to such an extent as
Eratosthenes affirms, the whole of Libya, and the greater part of Europe and
Asia, must long ago have been buried beneath its waves. Besides, he adds,
in this case the Euxine would in certain places have been connected with
the Adriatic, since in the vicinity of the Euxine, [near to its source,]363 the

Ister is divided in its course, and flows into either sea, owing to the
peculiarities of the ground.364 To this we object, that the Ister does not take
its rise at all in the vicinity of the Euxine, but, on the contrary, beyond the
mountains of the Adriatic; neither does it flow into both the seas, but into
the Euxine alone, and only becomes divided just above its mouths. This
latter, however, was an error into which he fell in common with many of his
predecessors. They supposed that there was another river in addition to the
former Ister, bearing the same name, which emptied itself into the Adriatic,
and from which the country of Istria, through which it flowed, gained that
appellation. It was by this river they believed Jason returned on his voyage
from Colchis.
16. In order to lessen surprise at such changes as we have mentioned as
causes of the inundations and other similar phenomena which are supposed
to have produced Sicily, the islands of Æolus,365 and the Pithecussæ, it may
be as well to compare with these others of a similar nature, which either
now are, or else have been observed in other localities. A large array of such
facts placed at once before the eye would serve to allay our astonishment;
while that which is uncommon startles our perception, and manifests our
general ignorance of the occurrences which take place in nature and
physical existence. For instance, supposing any one should narrate the
circumstances concerning Thera and the Therasian Islands, situated in the
strait between Crete and the Cyrenaic,366 Thera being itself the metropolis
of Cyrene; or those [in connexion with] Egypt, and many parts of Greece.
For midway between Thera and Therasia flames rushed forth from the sea
for the space of four days; causing the whole of it to boil and be all on fire;
and after a little an island twelve stadia in circumference, composed of the
burning mass, was thrown up, as if raised by machinery. After the cessation
of this phenomenon, the Rhodians, then masters of the sea, were the first
who dared to sail to the place, and they built there on the island a temple to
the Asphalian367 Neptune. Posidonius remarks, that during an earthquake
which occurred in Phœnicia, a city situated above Sidon was swallowed up,
and that nearly two-thirds of Sidon also fell, but not suddenly, and therefore
with no great loss of life. That the same occurred, though in a lighter form,
throughout nearly the whole of Syria, and was felt even in some of the
Cyclades and the Island of Eubœa,368 so that the fountains of Arethusa, a
spring in Chalcis, were completely obstructed, and after some time forced

for themselves another opening, and the whole island ceased not to
experience shocks until a chasm was rent open in the earth in the plain of
Lelanto,369 from which poured a river of burning mud.
17. Many writers have recorded similar occurrences, but it will suffice us to
narrate those which have been collected by Demetrius of Skepsis.
Apropos of that passage of Homer:—
“And now they reach’d the running rivulets clear,
Where from Scamander’s dizzy flood arise
Two fountains, tepid one, from which a smoke
Issues voluminous as from a fire,
The other, even in summer heats, like hail
For cold, or snow, or crystal stream frost-bound:”370

this writer tells us we must not be surprised, that although the cold spring
still remains, the hot cannot be discovered; and says we must reckon the
failing of the hot spring as the cause. He goes on to relate certain
catastrophes recorded by Democles, how formerly in the reign of
Tantalus371 there were great earthquakes in Lydia and Ionia as far as the
Troad,372 which swallowed up whole villages and overturned Mount
Sipylus;373 marshes then became lakes, and the city of Troy was covered by
the waters.374 Pharos, near Egypt, which anciently was an island, may now
be called a peninsula, and the same may be said of Tyre and Clazomenæ.375
During my stay at Alexandria in Egypt the sea rose so high near
Pelusium376 and Mount Casius377 as to overflow the land, and convert the
mountain into an island, so that a journey from Casius into Phœnicia might
have been undertaken by water. We should not be surprised therefore if in
time to come the isthmus378 which separates the Egyptian sea379 from the
Erythræan,380 should part asunder or subside, and becoming a strait,
connect the outer and inner seas,381 similarly to what has taken place at the
strait of the Pillars.
At the commencement of this work will be found some other narrations of a
similar kind, which should be considered at the same time, and which will
greatly tend to strengthen our belief both in these works of nature and also
in its other changes.

18. The Piræus having been formerly an island, and lying πέραν, or off the
shore, is said to have thus received its name. Leucas,382 on the contrary, has
been made an island by the Corinthians, who cut through the isthmus which
connected it with the shore [of the mainland]. It is concerning this place that
Laertes is made to say,
“Oh that I possess’d
Such vigour now as when in arms I took
Nericus, continental city fair.”383

Here man devoted his labour to make a separation, in other instances to the
construction of moles and bridges. Such is that which connects the island
opposite to Syracuse384 with the mainland. This junction is now effected by
means of a bridge, but formerly, according to Ibycus, by a pier of picked
stones, which he calls elect. Of Bura385 and Helice,386 one has been
swallowed by an earthquake, the other covered by the waves. Near to
Methone,387 which is on the Hermionic Gulf,388 a mountain seven stadia in
height was cast up during a fiery eruption; during the day it could not be
approached on account of the heat and sulphureous smell; at night it emitted
an agreeable odour, appeared brilliant at a distance, and was so hot that the
sea boiled all around it to a distance of five stadia, and appeared in a state of
agitation for twenty stadia, the heap being formed of fragments of rock as
large as towers. Both Arne and Mideia389 have been buried in the waters of
Lake Copaïs.390 These towns the poet in his Catalogue391 thus speaks of;
“Arne claims
A record next for her illustrious sons,
Vine-bearing Arne. Thou wast also there
Mideia.”392

It seems that several Thracian cities have been submerged by the Lake
Bistonis,393 and that now called Aphnitis.394 Some also affirm that certain
cities of Trerus were also overwhelmed, in the neighbourhood of Thrace.
Artemita, formerly one of the Echinades,395 is now part of the mainland; the
same has happened to some other of the islets near the Achelous,
occasioned, it is said, in the same way, by the alluvium carried into the sea
by that river, and Hesiod396 assures us that a like fate awaits them all. Some
of the Ætolian promontories were formerly islands. Asteria,397 called by
Homer Asteris, is no longer what it was.

“There is a rocky isle
In the mid-sea, Samos the rude between
And Ithaca, not large, named Asteris.
It hath commodious havens, into which
A passage clear opens on either side.”398

There is no good anchorage there now. Neither is there in Ithaca the cavern,
nor yet the temple of the nymphs described to us by Homer. It seems more
correct to attribute this to change having come over the places, than either
to the ignorance or the romancing of the poet. This however, being
uncertain, must be left to every man’s opinion.

19. Myrsilus tells us that Antissa399 was formerly an island, and so called
because it was opposite to Lesbos,400 then named Issa. Now, however, it
forms one of the towns of Lesbos.401 Some have believed that Lesbos itself
has been disjoined from Mount Ida in the same way as Prochytas402 and
Pithecussa403 from Misenum,404 Capreæ405 from the Athenæum, Sicily
from Rhegium,406 and Ossa from Olympus.407 Many changes similar to
these have occurred elsewhere. The river Ladon in Arcadia ceased for some
time its flow. Duris informs us that the Rhagæ408 in Media gained that
appellation from chasms made in the ground near the Gates of the
Caspian409 by earthquakes, in which many cities and villages were
destroyed, and the rivers underwent various changes. Ion, in his satirical
composition of Omphale, has said of Eubœa,
“The light wave of the Euripus has divided the land of Eubœa from Bœotia; separating the projecting
land by a strait.”

20. Demetrius of Callatis, speaking of the earthquakes which formerly
occurred throughout the whole of Greece, states that a great portion of the
Lichadian Islands and of Kenæum410 were submerged; that the hot springs
of Ædepsus411 and Thermopylæ were suppressed for three days, and that
when they commenced to run again those of Ædepsus gushed from new
fountains. That at Oreus412 on the sea-coast the wall and nearly seven
hundred houses fell at once. That the greater part of Echinus,413 Phalara,414
and Heraclæa of Trachis415 were thrown down, Phalara being overturned
from its very foundations. That almost the same misfortune occurred to the
Lamians416 and inhabitants of Larissa; that Scarpheia417 was overthrown

from its foundations, not less than one thousand seven hundred persons
being swallowed up, and at Thronium418 more than half that number. That a
torrent of water gushed forth taking three directions, one to Scarphe and
Thronium, another to Thermopylæ, and a third to the plains of Daphnus in
Phocis. That the springs of [many] rivers were for several days dried up;
that the course of the Sperchius419 was changed, thus rendering navigable
what formerly were highways; that the Boagrius420 flowed through another
channel; that many parts of Alope, Cynus, and Opus were injured,421 and
the castle of Œum, which commands the latter city, entirely overturned.
That part of the wall of Elateia422 was thrown down; and that at Alponus,423
during the celebration of the games in honour of Ceres, twenty-five
maidens, who had mounted a tower to enjoy the show exhibited in the port,
were precipitated into the sea by the falling of the tower. They also record
that a large fissure was made [by the water] through the midst of the island
of Atalanta,424 opposite Eubœa,425 sufficient for ships to sail in; that the
course of the channel was in places as broad as twenty stadia between the
plains; and that a trireme being raised [thereby] out of the docks, was
carried over the walls.
21. Those who desire to instil into us that more perfect freedom from
[ignorant] wonder, which Democritus and all other philosophers so highly
extol, should add the changes which have been produced by the migrations
of various tribes: we should thus be inspired with courage, steadiness, and
composure. For instance, the Western Iberians,426 removed to the regions
beyond the Euxine and Colchis, being separated from Armenia, according
to Apollodorus, by the Araxes,427 but rather by the Cyrus428 and Moschican
mountains.429 The expedition of the Egyptians into Ethiopia430 and Colchis.
The migration of the Heneti,431 who passed from Paphlagonia into the
country bordering on the Adriatic Gulf. Similar emigrations were also
undertaken by the nations of Greece, the Ionians, Dorians, Achaians, and
Æolians; and the Ænians,432 now next neighbours to the Ætolians, formerly
dwelt near Dotium433 and Ossa, beyond the Perrhæbi;434 the Perrhæbi too
are but wanderers here themselves. Our present work furnishes numerous
instances of the same kind. Some of these are familiar to most readers, but
the migrations of the Carians, the Treres, the Teucrians, and the Galatæ or
Gauls,435 are not so generally known. Nor yet for the most part are the

expeditions of their chiefs, for instance, Madys the Scythian, Tearko the
Ethiopian, Cobus of Trerus, Sesostris and Psammeticus the Egyptians; nor
are those of the Persians from Cyrus to Xerxes familiar to every one. The
Kimmerians, or a separate tribe of them, called the Treres, have frequently
overrun the countries to the right of the Euxine and those adjacent to them,
bursting now into Paphlagonia, now into Phrygia, as they did when,
according to report, Midas436 came to his death by drinking bull’s blood.
Lygdamis led his followers into Lydia, passed through Ionia, took Sardis,
but was slain in Cilicia. The Kimmerians and Treres frequently made
similar incursions, until at last, as it is reported, these latter, together with
[their chief] Cobus, were driven out by Madys, king of the “Scythians.”437
But enough has been said in this place on the general history of the earth, as
each country will have a particular account.
22. We must now return to the point whence we digressed. Herodotus
having observed that there could be no such people as Hyperboreans,
inasmuch as there were no Hypernotii,438 Eratosthenes calls this argument
ridiculous, and compares it to the sophism, that there are no
epichærekaki,439 inasmuch as there are no epichæragathi;440 [adding]
perhaps there are Hypernotii; since at all events in Ethiopia Notus does not
blow, although lower down it does.
It would indeed be strange, since winds blow under every latitude, and
especially the southern wind called Notus, if any region could be found
where this latter was not felt. On the contrary, not only does Ethiopia
experience our Notus, but also the whole country which lies above as far as
the equator.441
If Herodotus must be blamed at all, it is for supposing that the
Hyperboreans were so named in consequence of Boreas, or the north wind,
not blowing upon them. The poets are allowed much licence in their modes
of expression; but their commentators, who endeavour always to give us the
correct view, tell us that the people who dwelt in the extreme north, were
styled Hyperboreans. The pole is the boundary of the northern winds, and
the equator of the southern; these winds have no other limit.
23. Eratosthenes next finds fault with the writers who fill their narrative
with stories evidently feigned and impossible; some as mere fable, but

others as history, which did not deserve mention. In the discussion of a
subject like his, he should not have wasted his time about such trifles. Such
is the way in which this writer completes the First Book of his Memoirs.

CHAPTER IV.

1. In his Second Book Eratosthenes endeavours to correct some errors in
geography, and offers his own views on the subject, any mistakes in which
we shall endeavour in our turn to set right. He is correct in saying that the
inductions of mathematics and natural philosophy should be employed, and
that if the earth is spheroidal like the universe, it is inhabited in all parts;
together with some other things of this nature. Later writers do not agree
with him as to the size of the earth,442 nor admit his measurement. However
Hipparchus, when noting the celestial appearances for each particular
locality, adopts his admeasurements, saying that those taken for the
meridian of Meroe,443 Alexandria, and the Dnieper, differ but very slightly
from the truth. Eratosthenes then enters into a long discussion concerning
the figure of the globe, proving that the form of the earth together with the
water is spheroidal, as also the heavens. This however we imagine was
foreign to his purpose, and should have been disposed of in the compass of
a few words.
2. After this he proceeds to determine the breadth of the habitable earth: he
tells us, that measuring from the meridian of Meroe444 to Alexandria, there
are 10,000 stadia.

From thence to the Hellespont445 about 8100. Again; from thence to the
Dnieper, 5000; and thence to the parallel of Thule,446 which Pytheas says is
six days’ sail north from Britain, and near the Frozen Sea, other 11,500. To
which if we add 3400 stadia above Meroe in order to include the Island of
the Egyptians,447 the Cinnamon country, and Taprobane,448 there will be in
all 38,000 stadia.
3. We will let pass the rest of his distances, since they are something near,—
but that the Dnieper is under the same parallel as Thule, what man in his

senses could ever agree to this? Pytheas, who has given us the history of
Thule, is known to be a man upon whom no reliance can be placed, and
other writers who have seen Britain and Ierne,449 although they tell us of
many small islands round Britain, make no mention whatever of Thule. The
length of Britain itself is nearly the same as that of Keltica,450 opposite to
which it extends. Altogether it is not more than 5000 stadia in length, its
outermost points corresponding to those of the opposite continent. In fact
the extreme points of the two countries lie opposite to each other, the
eastern extremity to the eastern, and the western to the western: the eastern
points are situated so close as to be within sight of each other, both at Kent
and at the mouths of the Rhine. But Pytheas tells us that the island [of
Britain] is more than 20,000 stadia in length, and that Kent is some days’
sail from France. With regard to the locality of the Ostimii, and the
countries beyond the Rhine,451 as far as Scythia, he is altogether mistaken.
The veracity of a writer who has been thus false in describing countries
with which we are well acquainted, should not be too much trusted in
regard to unknown places.
4. Further, Hipparchus and many others are of opinion that the parallel of
latitude of the Dnieper does not differ from that of Britain; since that of
Byzantium and Marseilles are the same. The degree of shadow from the
gnomon which Pytheas states he observed at Marseilles being exactly equal
to that which Hipparchus says he found at Byzantium; the periods of
observation being in both cases similar.452 Now from Marseilles to the
centre of Britain is not more than 5000 stadia; and if from the centre of
Britain we advance north not more than 4000 stadia, we arrive at a
temperature in which it is scarcely possible to exist. Such indeed is that of
Ierne.453 Consequently the far region in which Eratosthenes places Thule
must be totally uninhabitable. By what guess-work he arrived at the
conclusion that between the latitude of Thule and the Dnieper there was a
distance of 11,500 stadia I am unable to divine.
5. Eratosthenes being mistaken as to the breadth [of the habitable earth], is
necessarily wrong as to its length. The most accurate observers, both
ancient and modern, agree that the known length of the habitable earth is
more than twice its breadth. Its length I take to be from the [eastern]
extremity of India454 to the [westernmost] point of Spain;455 and its breadth

from [the south of] Ethiopia to the latitude of Ierne. Eratosthenes, as we
have said, reckoning its breadth from the extremity of Ethiopia to Thule,
was forced to extend its length beyond the true limits, that he might make it
more than twice as long as the breadth he had assigned to it. He says that
India, measured where it is narrowest,456 is 16,000 stadia to the river Indus.
If measured from its most prominent capes it extends 3000 more.457 Thence
to the Caspian Gates, 14,000. From the Caspian Gates to the Euphrates,458
10,000. From the Euphrates to the Nile, 5000.459 Thence to the Canopic460
mouth, 1300. From the Canopic mouth to Carthage, 13,500. From thence to
the Pillars at least 8000. Which make in all 70,800 stadia. To these [he says]
should be added the curvature of Europe beyond the Pillars of Hercules,
fronting the Iberians, and inclining west, not less than 3000 stadia, and the
headlands, including that of the Ostimii, named Cabæum,461 and the
adjoining islands, the last of which, named Uxisama,462 is distant,
according to Pytheas, a three days’ sail. But he added nothing to its length
by enumerating these last, viz. the headlands, including that of the Ostimii,
the island of Uxisama, and the rest; they are not situated so as affect the
length of the earth, for they all lie to the north, and belong to Keltica, not to
Iberia; indeed it seems but an invention of Pytheas. Lastly, to fall in with
the general opinion that the breadth ought not463 to exceed half the length,
he adds to the stated measure of its length 2000 stadia west, and as many
east.
6. Further, endeavouring to support the opinion that it is in accordance with
natural philosophy to reckon the greatest dimension of the habitable earth
from east to west, he says that, according to the laws of natural philosophy,
the habitable earth ought to occupy a greater length from east to west, than
its breadth from north to south. The temperate zone, which we have already
designated as the longest zone, is that which the mathematicians
denominate a continuous circle returning upon itself. So that if the extent of
the Atlantic Ocean were not an obstacle, we might easily pass by sea from
Iberia to India,464 still keeping in the same parallel; the remaining portion of
which parallel, measured as above in stadia, occupies more than a third of
the whole circle: since the parallel drawn through Athens,465 on which we
have taken the distances from India to Iberia, does not contain in the whole
200,000 stadia.

Here too his reasoning is incorrect. For this speculation respecting the
temperate zone which we inhabit, and whereof the habitable earth is a part,
devolves properly on those who make mathematics their study. But it is not
equally the province of one treating of the habitable earth. For by this term
we mean only that portion of the temperate zone where we dwell, and with
which we are acquainted. But it is quite possible that in the temperate zone
there may be two or even more habitable earths, especially near the circle of
latitude which is drawn through Athens and the Atlantic Ocean. After this
he returns to the form of the earth, which he again declares to be spheroidal.
Here he exhibits the same churlishness we have previously pointed out, and
goes on abusing Homer in his old style. He proceeds:
7. “There has been much argument respecting the continents. Some,
considering them to be divided by the rivers Nile and Tanais,466 have
described them as islands; while others suppose them to be peninsulas
connected by the isthmuses between the Caspian and the Euxine Seas, and
between the Erythræan Sea467 and Ecregma.”468 He adds, that this question
does not appear to him to be of any practical importance, but rather, as
Democritus observed, a bone of contention for angry litigants. Where there
are no precise boundary marks, columns, or walls, as at Colyttus and
Melitè,469 it is easy for us to say such a place is Colyttus, and such another
Melitè; but not so easy to show the exact limits: thus disputes have
frequently arisen concerning certain districts; that, for instance, between the
Argives and Lacedæmonians concerning [the possession of] Thyrea,470 and
that between the Athenians and Bœotians relative to Oropus.471 Further, in
giving names to the three continents, the Greeks did not take into
consideration the whole habitable earth, but merely their own country and
the land exactly opposite, namely, Caria, which is now inhabited by the
Ionians and other neighbouring tribes. In course of time, as they advanced
further and daily became acquainted with new countries, this their division
came to be general.”
I take this last part first, and (to use Eratosthenes’ own words, not those of
Democritus) willing to pick my bone of contention, inquire, whether they
who first made the division of the three continents were the same persons as
those who first desired to distinguish their own land from that of the
Carians opposite, or whether they were only acquainted with Greece, Caria,

and some few other adjoining countries, and not with Europe, Asia, or
Africa; but that others who followed them, and were able to write a
description of the habitable earth, were the real authors of the division into
three continents. How did he know that these were not the men who made
this division of the habitable earth? And he who divided the earth into three
parts, giving to each portion the name of “continent,” could he not form in
his mind a just idea of that taken as a whole, which he had so parcelled out.
But if indeed he were not acquainted with the whole habitable earth, but
merely made a division of some part thereof, pray what portion of that part
did he denominate Asia, or Europe, or simply continent? Such talk is
altogether nonsense.
8. The reasoning of Eratosthenes, however, is still more absurd, when he
declares that he sees no advantage in being acquainted with the exact
boundaries of countries, and then cites the example of Colyttus and Melitè,
which prove just the contrary of his assertion. Surely if a want of certainty
respecting the boundaries of Thyrea and Oropus gave rise to war, a
knowledge of the limits of different districts must be of practical
importance. Will he tell us that the boundaries of districts, or the limits of
kingdoms, may be of some service, but when applied to continents it is
carrying the matter too far. We reply, it is of equal consequence here.
Suppose a dispute between two powerful princes, one claiming the
possession of Asia and the other of Africa, to which of these should Egypt, I
mean the country called Lower Egypt, appertain. Will any one pass over
such cases on account of their rarity? By no means. It is acknowledged by
every one that the limits of each continent ought to be defined by some
notable boundary, indicated by the configuration of the whole habitable
earth. In following out this principle, we should not be very particular if
they who determine boundaries by the rivers leave some districts undefined,
since the rivers do not reach from sea to sea, nor leave the continents
altogether as islands.
9. At the close of the book Eratosthenes blames the system of those who
would divide all mankind into Greeks and Barbarians, and likewise those
who recommended Alexander to treat the Greeks as friends, but the
Barbarians as enemies.472 He suggests, as a better course, to distinguish
them according to their virtues and their vices, “since amongst the Greeks
there are many worthless characters, and many highly civilized are to be

found amongst the Barbarians; witness the Indians and Ariani,473 or still
better the Romans and Carthaginians, whose political system is so
beautifully perfect. Alexander, considering this, disregarded the advice
which had been offered him, and patronized without distinction any man he
considered to be deserving.” But we would inquire whether those men who
thus divided the human race, abandoning one portion to contempt, and
exalting to dignity the other, were not actuated to this because they found
that on one side justice, knowledge, and the force of reason reigned
supreme, but their contraries on the other. Alexander did not disregard the
advice tendered him, but gladly embraced and followed it, respecting the
wisdom of those who gave it; and so far from taking the opposite course, he
closely pursued that which they pointed out.

BOOK II.

SUMMARY.
In the Second Book, having proposed for discussion the [opinions] of Eratosthenes, he examines and
refutes whatever that writer may have incorrectly said, determined, or laid down. He likewise
brings forward many statements of Hipparchus, which he disproves, and finishes with a short
exposition or synopsis of the whole subject, namely, geographical knowledge.

CHAPTER I.

1. In the Third Book of his Geography Eratosthenes furnishes us with a
chart of the habitable earth. This he divides into two portions, by a line
running from east to west parallel to the equator. He makes the Pillars of
Hercules the boundary of this line to the west, and to the east the farthest
ridges of those mountains which bound India on the north. From the Pillars
he draws the line through the Strait of Sicily,474 and the southern
extremities of Peloponnesus and Attica, to Rhodes and the Gulf of Issus.475
He says, “Through the whole of this distance the line mentioned is drawn
across the sea476 and adjacent continents; the whole length of the
Mediterranean as far as Cilicia extending in that direction. Thence it runs
nearly in a straight line along the whole chain of the Taurus to India. The
Taurus continuing in a straight line from the Pillars divides Asia through its
whole length into two halves, north and south. So that both the Taurus and
the sea from the Pillars hither477 lie under the parallel of Athens.”
2. He then declares that the ancient geographical chart wants revision; that
in it the eastern portion of the Taurus is made to run too far north, India
itself being also too much drawn in the same direction. One proof which he
offers in support of this is, that the most southern extremities of India are
under the same latitude as Meroe, as attested by many, both from
astronomical observations and the temperature of the climate. From thence
to the most northerly point by the mountains of the Caucasus,478 there are

15,000 stadia, according to Patrocles, a writer whom we are bound to
believe, both on account of his worth, and the vast amount of his
geographical attainments. Now since the distance from Meroe to the
parallel of Athens is nearly the same, the most northerly points of India next
to the Caucasian mountains ought to be under the same degree of latitude.
3. But there is another method (says Eratosthenes) of proving this. The
distance from the Gulf of Issus to the Euxine, proceeding in a northerly
direction towards Amisus479 and Sinope,480 is about 3000 stadia, which is
as much as the supposed extent of the mountains [of the Taurus].481 The
traveller who directs his course from Amisus due east,482 arrives first at
Colchis, then at the high lands by the Hyrcanian Sea,483 afterwards at the
road leading to Bactra,484 and beyond to the Scythians; having the
mountains always on the right. The same line drawn through Amisus
westward, crosses the Propontis and Hellespont. From Meroe to the
Hellespont there are not more than 18,000 stadia.485 The distance is just the
same from the southern extremity of India to the land of Bactria, if we add
to the 15,000 stadia of that country the 3000 which its mountains occupy in
breadth.
4. Hipparchus tries to invalidate this view of Eratosthenes, by sneering at
the proofs on which it rests. Patrocles, he says, merits little credit, being
contradicted by the two writers Deimachus and Megasthenes, who say that
the distance486 taken from the southern ocean, is in some places 20,000, in
others 30,000 stadia; that in this assertion they are supported by the ancient
charts, and he considers it absurd to require us to put implicit faith in
Patrocles alone, when there is so much testimony against him; or that the
ancient charts should be corrected; but rather that they should be left as they
are until we have something more certain on the subject.
5. This argument, I think, is in many instances unfounded. Eratosthenes
availed himself of the statements of many writers, although Hipparchus
alleges he was solely led by Patrocles. Who then are the authors of the
statement that the southern extremity of India is under the same parallel as
Meroe; and who are they who estimate487 the distance from Meroe to the
parallel passing through Athens? Or who, again, were those who asserted
that the whole breadth occupied by the mountains488 was equal to the

distance from Cilicia to Amisus? Or who made known that, travelling from
Amisus, the course lay in a straight line due east through Colchis, the [sea
of] Hyrcania, so on to Bactria, and beyond this to the eastern ocean,489 the
mountains being always on the right hand; and that this same line carried
west in a straight line, traverses the Propontis and the Hellespont? These
things Eratosthenes advances on the testimony of men who had been on the
spot, and from the study of those numerous memoirs which he had for
reference in that noble library490 which Hipparchus himself acknowledges
to be gigantic.
6. Besides, the credibility of Patrocles can be proved by a variety of
evidence—the princes491 who confided to him so important trusts—the
authors who follow his statements—and those, too, who criticise them,
whose names Hipparchus has recorded. Since whenever these are refuted,
the credit of Patrocles is by so much advanced. Nor does Patrocles appear
to state any thing improbable when he says that the army of Alexander took
but a very hasty view of every thing [in India], but Alexander himself a
more exact one, causing the whole country to be described by men well
acquainted with it. Which description he says was afterwards put into his
hands by Xenocles the treasurer.
7. Again, in the second volume of his Commentaries, Hipparchus accuses
Eratosthenes of himself throwing discredit on the statement of Patrocles, on
account of his differing with Megasthenes, as to the length of India on its
northern side;492 Megasthenes stating the length at 16,000 stadia, and
Patrocles at 1000 less. Being biased by a certain Itinerary, Eratosthenes was
led to reject them both on account of this discrepancy, and to follow the
Itinerary. If then merely the difference of 1000 stadia is sufficient to cause
the authority of Patrocles to be rejected, how much more should this be the
case when we find a difference of 8000 stadia between his statement and
that of two writers who agree perfectly in theirs, that the breadth of India is
20,000 stadia, while he gives only 12,000!
8. We reply, that [Eratosthenes] did not object [to the statement of
Patrocles] merely because it differed [from that of Megasthenes], but
because the statement of this latter as to the stadia was confirmed by the
Itinerary, an authority of no mean importance. There is nothing wonderful
in this, that though a certain statement may be credible, another may be

more credible; and that while in some instances we follow the former, in
others we may dissent from it on finding a more trustworthy guide. It is
ridiculous to say that the greater the difference of one writer from others,
the less he should be trusted. On the contrary, such a rule would be more
applicable in regard to small differences; for in little particulars the ordinary
observer and the man of great ability are equally liable to err. On the other
hand, in great matters, the ordinary run of men are more like to be deceived
than the man of superior talent, to whom consequently in such cases greater
deference is paid.
9. Generally speaking, the men who hitherto have written on the affairs of
India, were a set of liars. Deimachus holds the first place in the list,
Megasthenes comes next, while Onesicritus and Nearchus, with others of
the same class, manage to stammer out a few words [of truth]. Of this we
became the more convinced whilst writing the history of Alexander. No
faith whatever can be placed in Deimachus and Megasthenes. They coined
the fables concerning men with ears large enough to sleep in, men without
any mouths, without noses, with only one eye, with spider-legs, and with
fingers bent backward. They renewed Homer’s fable concerning the battles
of the Cranes and Pygmies, and asserted the latter to be three spans high.
They told of ants digging for gold, of Pans with wedge-shaped heads, of
serpents swallowing down oxen and stags, horns and all; meantime, as
Eratosthenes has observed, reciprocally accusing each other of falsehood.
Both of these men were sent ambassadors to Palimbothra,493—Megasthenes
to Sandrocottus, Deimachus to Allitrochades his son; and such are the notes
of their residence abroad, which, I know not why, they thought fit to leave.
Patrocles certainly does not resemble them; nor do any other of the
authorities consulted by Eratosthenes contain such absurdities.

10. 494If the meridian of Rhodes and Byzantium has been rightly
determined to be the same, then that of Cilicia and Amisus has likewise
been rightly determined; many observations having proved that the lines are
parallel, and that they never impinge on each other.
11. In like manner, that the voyage from Amisus to Colchis, and the route to
the Caspian, and thence on to Bactra, are both due east, is proved by the
winds, the seasons, the fruits, and even the sun-risings. Frequently evidence
such as this, and general agreement, are more to be relied on than the

measurement taken by means of instruments. Hipparchus himself was not
wholly indebted to instruments and geometrical calculations for his
statement that the Pillars and Cilicia lie in a direct line due east. For that
part of it included between the Pillars and the Strait of Sicily he rests
entirely on the assertion of sailors. It is therefore incorrect to say that,
because we cannot exactly determine the duration of the longest and
shortest days, nor the degree of shadow of the gnomon throughout the
mountainous region between Cilicia and India, that therefore we are unable
to decide whether the line traced obliquely on the ancient charts should or
should not be parallel, and consequently must leave it unreformed, keeping
it oblique as the ancient charts have it. For in the first place, not to
determine any thing is to leave it undetermined; and to leave a thing
undetermined, is neither to take one view of the matter nor the other: but to
agree to leave it as the ancients have, that is to take a view of the case. It
would have been more consistent with his reasoning, if he had told us to
leave Geography alone altogether, since we are similarly unable to
determine the position of the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the mountains of
Thrace,495 Illyria,496 and Germany. Wherefore should we give more credit
to the ancient writers than to the modern, when we call to mind the
numerous errors of their charts which have been pointed out by
Eratosthenes, and which Hipparchus has not attempted to defend.
12. But the system of Hipparchus altogether teems with difficulties. Reflect
for an instant on the following absurdity; after admitting that the southern
extremity of India is under the same degree of latitude as Meroe, and that
the distance from Meroe to the Strait of Byzantium is about 18,000497
stadia, he then makes the distance from the southern extremity of India to
the mountains 30,000 stadia. Since Byzantium and Marseilles are under the
same parallel of latitude, as Hipparchus tells us they are, on the authority of
Pytheas, and since Byzantium and the Dnieper498 have also the same
meridian, as Hipparchus equally assures us, if we take his assertion that
there is a distance of 3700499 stadia between Byzantium and the Dnieper,
there will of course be a like difference between the latitude of Marseilles
and the Dnieper. This would make the latitude of the Dnieper identical with
that of Keltica next the Ocean; for on proceeding 3700 stadia [north of
Marseilles], we reach the ocean.500

13. Again, we know that the Cinnamon Country is the most southerly point
of the habitable earth. According to Hipparchus’s own statement, the
latitude of this country, which marks the commencement of the temperate
zone, and likewise of the habitable earth, is distant from the equator about
8800 stadia.501 And since he likewise says that from the equator to the
parallel of the Dnieper there are 34,000 stadia, there will remain a distance
of 25,200 stadia between the parallel of the Dnieper (which is the same as
that which passes over the side of Keltica next the Ocean) to that which
separates the torrid from the temperate zone. It is said that the farthest
voyages now made north of Keltica are to Ierne,502 which lies beyond
Britain, and, on account of its extreme cold, barely sustains life; beyond this
it is thought to be uninhabitable. Now the distance between Keltica and
Ierne is estimated at not more than 5000 stadia; so that on this view they
must have estimated the whole breadth of the habitable earth at 30,000
stadia, or just above.
14. Let us then transport ourselves to the land opposite the Cinnamon
Country, and lying to the east under the same parallel of latitude; we shall
there find the country named Taprobane.503 This Taprobane is universally
believed to be a large island situated in the high seas, and lying to the south
opposite India. Its length in the direction of Ethiopia is above 5000 stadia,
as they say. There are brought from thence to the Indian markets, ivory,
tortoise-shells, and other wares in large quantities. Now if this island is
broad in proportion to its length, we cannot suppose that the whole
distance,504 inclusive of the space which separates it from India, is less than
3000 stadia, which is equal to the distance of the [southern] extremity of the
habitable earth from Meroe, since the [southern] extremities of India and
Meroe are under the same parallel. It is likely there are more than 3000
stadia,505 but taking this number, if we add thereto the 30,000 stadia, which
Deimachus states there are between [the southern extremity of India] and
the country of the Bactrians and Sogdians, we shall find both of these
nations lie beyond the temperate zone and habitable earth.506 Who will
venture to affirm such to be the case, hearing, as they must, the statement
made both by ancients and moderns of the genial climate and fertility of
northern India, Hyrcania, Aria, Margiana,507 and Bactriana also? These
countries are all equally close to the northern side of the Taurus, Bactriana

being contiguous to that part of the chain508 which forms the boundary of
India. A country blessed with such advantages must be very far from
uninhabitable. It is said that in Hyrcania each vine produces a metrete509 of
wine, and each fig tree 60 medimni510 of fruit. That the grains of wheat
which fall from the husk on to the earth spring up the year following; that
bee-hives are in the trees, and the leaves flow with honey. The same may be
met with in the part of Media called Matiana,511 and also in Sacasena and
Araxena, countries of Armenia. In these three it is not so much to be
wondered at, since they lie more to the south than Hyrcania, and surpass the
rest of the country in the beauty of their climate; but in Hyrcania it is more
remarkable. It is said that in Margiana you may frequently meet with a vine
whose stock would require two men with outstretched arms to clasp it, and
clusters of grapes two cubits long. Aria is described as similarly fertile, the
wine being still richer, and keeping perfectly for three generations in
unpitched casks. Bactriana, which adjoins Aria, abounds in the same
productions, if we except olives.
15. That there are cold regions in the high and mountainous parts of these
countries is not to be wondered at; since in the [more] southern climates the
mountains, and even the tablelands, are cold. The districts next the Euxine,
in Cappadocia, are much farther north than those adjoining the Taurus.
Bagadania, a vast plain, situated between the mountains of Argæus512 and
Taurus, hardly produces any fruit trees, although south of the Euxine Sea by
3000 stadia; while the territory round Sinope,513 Amisus,514 and Phanarœa
abounds in olives.

The Oxus,515 which divides Bactriana from Sogdiana, is said to be of such
easy navigation that the wares of India are brought up it into the sea of
Hyrcania,516 and thence successively by various other rivers to the districts
near the Euxine.517
16. Can one find any fertility to compare with this near to the Dnieper, or
that part of Keltica next the ocean,518 where the vine either does not grow at
all, or attains no maturity.519 However, in the more southerly portions of
these districts,520 close to the sea, and those next the Bosphorus,521 the vine
brings its fruit to maturity, although the grapes are exceedingly small, and
the vines are covered up all the winter. And in the parts near the mouth of

the Palus Mæotis, the frost is so strong that a general of Mithridates
defeated the barbarians here in a cavalry engagement during the winter, and
on the very same spot in a naval fight in summer, when the ice was thawed.
Eratosthenes furnishes us with the following inscription, which he found in
the temple of Æsculapius at Panticapæeon,522 on a brazen vase which had
been broken by the frost:—
“If any one doubts the intensity of our winter’s cold, let him believe when
he sees this vase. The priest Stratius placed it here, not because he
considered it a worthy offering to the god, but as a proof of the severity of
our winter.”
Since therefore the provinces we have just enumerated [are so superior in
climate, that they] cannot be compared with the countries surrounding the
Bosphorus, nor even the regions of Amisus and Sinope, (for every one will
admit that they are much superior to these latter,) it would be idle to
compare them with the districts near the Borysthenes and the north of
Keltica; for we have shown that their temperature is not so low as Amisus,
Sinope, Byzantium, and Marseilles, which are universally acknowledged to
be 3700 stadia south of the Dnieper and Keltica.
17. If the followers of Deimachus add to the 30,000 stadia the distance to
Taprobane and the boundaries of the torrid zone, which cannot be reckoned
less than 4000 stadia,523 they will then remove Bactria and Aria from their
actual localities and place them 34,000 stadia from the torrid zone, a
distance equal to that which Hipparchus states to be between the equator
and [the mouth of] the Dnieper, and the two countries will therefore be
removed 8800 stadia north of [the mouth of] the Dnieper and Keltica; for
there are reckoned to be 8800 stadia from the equator to the parallel of
latitude which separates the temperate from the torrid zone and which
crosses the Cinnamon Country.524 We have proved that the regions not
more than 5000 stadia north of Keltica, as far as Ierne,525 are scarcely
habitable, but their reasoning leads to the conclusion that there is another
circle fitted for the habitation of man, although 3800 stadia north of
Ierne.526 And that Bactra is still farther north than the mouth of the Caspian
or Hyrcanian Sea, which is distant about 6000 stadia from the recess of the
Caspian and the mountains of Armenia and Media, and which appears to be
the most northerly point of the whole coast as far as India, with a sea

navigable to India all the way, as Patrocles, who had the government of
these regions, affirms. Now Bactriana stretches 1000 stadia farther north.
Beyond this the Scythians occupy a much larger territory, bounded by the
Northern Ocean: here they dwell, though to be sure theirs is a nomade life.
But we ask how they could exist here at all, supposing even Bactra to be
beyond the limits of the habitable globe. The distance from the Caucasus to
the Northern Sea through Bactra would be rather more than 4000 stadia.527
This being added to the number528 of stadia north of Ierne529 above-
mentioned, will give us the whole amount of uninhabitable land from Ierne
northward 7800 stadia, and even omitting the 4000 stadia altogether, those
parts of Bactriana next the Caucasus will still be 3800 stadia farther north
than Ierne, and 8800 farther north than Keltica,530 and [the mouth] of the
Dnieper.
18. Hipparchus narrates that at the Dnieper and [the north of] Keltica,
during the whole of the summer nights there is one continued twilight from
sunset to sunrise, but at the winter solstice the sun never rises more than
nine cubits above the horizon.531 He adds that this phenomenon is yet more
remarkable in regions 6300532 stadia north of Marseilles, (these regions he
supposes to be peopled by Kelts, but I believe are inhabited by Britons, and
2500 stadia north of Keltica,) where the sun at the winter solstice533 rises
only six cubits above the horizon. That at 9100534 stadia north of Marseilles
it only rises four cubits, and not so much as three in the countries beyond,
and which I consider much farther north than Ierne.535 However,
Hipparchus, on the authority of Pytheas, places them south of Britain, and
says that the longest day there consists only of 19 hours;536 while in
countries where the sun rises but four cubits above the horizon, and which
are situated 9100537 stadia north of Marseilles, the day has 18 hours.
Consequently [according to his hypothesis] the most southerly parts of
Britain must be north of these regions. They must therefore be under the
same parallel, or almost the same, as the parts of Bactriana next to the
Caucasus, which I have shown are, according to the followers of
Deimachus, 3800 stadia farther north than Ierne.538 Now if we add this to
the number between Marseilles and Ierne, we shall get 12,500 stadia. But
who ever made known to us that, in those parts, I mean, in the vicinity of
Bactra, this was the duration of the longest day, or the height which the sun

attains in the meridian at the winter solstice? All these things are patent to
the eyes of every man, and require no mathematical investigation; therefore
they certainly would have been mentioned by numerous writers both
amongst the ancients who have left us histories of Persia, and by the later
writers too, who have carried them down to our own time. How, too, would
their fertility, which I have described above, harmonize with such a
latitude? The facts here advanced are sufficient to give an idea of the
learned manner in which Hipparchus attempts to controvert the reasoning of
Eratosthenes by mere petitiones principii.
19. Again, Eratosthenes wished to show the ignorance of Deimachus, and
his want of information concerning such matters, as proved by his assertion
that India lies between the autumnal equinox539 and winter tropic.540 Also
in his blaming Megasthenes, where he says that in the southern parts of
India the Greater and Lesser Bear are seen to set, and the shadows to fall
both ways; assuring us that such is not the case in India.541 These
assertions, says Eratosthenes, arise from the ignorance of Deimachus. For it
is nothing else than ignorance to suppose that the autumnal equinox is not
equally distant from the tropics with the vernal; since in both equinoxes the
sun rises at the same point, and performs a similar revolution. Further, [he
continues,] the distance from the terrestrial tropic to the equator, between
which, according to Deimachus himself, India is situated, has been proved
by measurement to be much less than 20,000 stadia, consequently his own
statements prove that my assertion is correct, and not his. For supposing
India to be twenty or thirty thousand stadia [in breadth] it could not be
contained in the given space, but if my estimate be taken it is simple
enough. It is another evidence of his want of information, to say that the
two Bears are not seen to set, or the shadows to fall both ways, in any part
of India, since 5000 stadia south of Alexandria542 both of these phenomena
are observable. Thus reasons Eratosthenes; whom Hipparchus again
criticises in the same mistaken way. First he substitutes [in the text of
Deimachus] the summer in place of the winter tropic; then he says that the
evidence of a man ignorant of astronomy ought not to be received in a
mathematical question; as if Eratosthenes in the main had actually been
guided by the authority of Deimachus. Could he not see that Eratosthenes
had followed the general custom in regard to idle reasoners, one means of

refuting whom is to show that their arguments, whatever they may be, go
only to confirm our views.
20. It is by assuming as a fact that the southern extremity of India is under
the same parallel as Meroe, a thing affirmed and believed by most writers,
that we shall be best able to show the absurdities of the system of
Hipparchus. In the first book of his Commentaries he does not object to this
hypothesis, but in the second book he no longer admits it; we must examine
his reasons for this. He says, “when two countries are situated under the
same parallel, but separated by a great distance, you cannot be certain that
they are exactly under the same parallel, unless the climata543 of both the
places are found to be similar. Now Philo, in his account of a voyage by sea
to Ethiopia, has given us the clima of Meroe. He says that at that place the
sun is vertical forty-five days before the summer solstice,544 he also informs
us of the proportion of shadow thrown by the gnomon both at the equinoxes
and solstices. Eratosthenes agrees almost exactly with Philo. But not a
single writer, not even Eratosthenes, has informed us of the clima of India;
but if it is the case, as many are inclined to believe on the authority of
Nearchus,545 that the two Bears are seen to set in that country, then certainly
Meroe and the southern extremity of India cannot be under the same
parallel.”546 [Such is the reasoning of Hipparchus, but we reply,] If
Eratosthenes confirms the statement of those authors who tell us that in
India the two Bears are observed to set, how can it be said that not a single
person, not even Eratosthenes, has informed us of any thing concerning the
clima of India? This is itself information on that point. If, however, he has
not confirmed this statement, let him be exonerated from the error. Certain
it is he never did confirm the statement. Only when Deimachus affirmed
that there was no place in India from which the two Bears might be seen to
set, or the shadows fall both ways, as Megasthenes had asserted,
Eratosthenes thereupon taxed him with ignorance, regarding as absolutely
false this two-fold assertion, one half of which, namely, that concerning the
shadows not falling both ways, Hipparchus himself acknowledged to be
false; for if the southern extremity of India were not under the same parallel
as Meroe, still Hipparchus appears to have considered it south of Syene.
21. In the instances which follow, Hipparchus, treating of these subjects,
either asserts things similar to those which we have already refuted, or takes

for granted matters which are not so, or draws improper sequences. For
instance, from the computation [of Eratosthenes] that the distance from
Babylon to Thapsacus547 is 4800 stadia, and thence northward to the
mountains of Armenia548 2100 stadia more, it does not follow that, starting
from the meridian of that city, the distance to the northern mountains is
above 6000 stadia. Besides, Eratosthenes never says that the distance from
Thapsacus to these mountains is 2100 stadia, but that a part thereof has
never yet been measured; so that this argument [of Hipparchus], founded on
a false hypothesis, amounts to nothing. Nor did Eratosthenes ever assert that
Thapsacus lies more than 4500 stadia north of Babylon.
22. Again, Hipparchus, ever anxious to defend the [accuracy of the] ancient
charts, instead of fairly stating the words of Eratosthenes concerning his
third section of the habitable earth, wilfully makes him the author of an
assertion easy of disproof. For Eratosthenes, following the opinion we
before mentioned, that a line drawn from the Pillars of Hercules across the
Mediterranean, and the length of the Taurus, would run due west and
east,549 divides, by means of this line, the habitable earth into two portions,
which he calls the northern and southern divisions; each of these he again
essays to subdivide into as many smaller partitions as practicable, which he
denominates sections.550 He makes India the first section of the southern
part, and Ariana551 the second; these two countries possessing a good
outline, he has been able not only to give us an accurate statement of their
length and breadth, but an almost geometrically exact description of their
figure. He tells us that the form of India is rhomboidal, being washed on
two of its sides by the southern and eastern oceans [respectively], which do
not deeply indent its shores. The two remaining sides are contained by its
mountains and the river [Indus], so that it presents a kind of rectilinear
figure.552 As to Ariana, he considered three of its sides well fitted to form a
parallelogram; but of the western side he could give no regular definition,
as it was inhabited by various nations; nevertheless he attempts an idea of it
by a line drawn from the Caspian Gates553 to the limits of Carmania, which
border on the Persian Gulf. This side he calls western, and that next the
Indus eastern, but he does not tell us they are parallel to each other; neither
does he say this of the other sides, one bounded by the mountains, and the
other by the sea; he simply calls them north and south.

23. Having in this manner but imperfectly traced the outlines of his second
section, the third section, for various reasons, is still less exact. The first
cause has been already explained, viz. that the line from the Caspian Gates
to Carmania is not clearly defined, as the side of the section is common
both to the third and second sections. Secondly, on account of the Persian
Gulf interrupting the continuity of the southern side, as he himself tells us,
he has been obliged to take the measured road running through Susa and
Persepolis to the boundaries of Carmania and Persia, and suppose it
straight.554 This road, which he calls the southern side, is a little more than
9000 stadia. He does not, however, tell us, that it runs parallel to the
northern side. It is also clear that the Euphrates, which he makes the
western boundary, is any thing but a straight line. On leaving the mountains
it flows south, but soon shifts its course to the east; it then again pursues a
southerly direction till it reaches the sea. In fact, Eratosthenes himself
acknowledges the indirect course of this river, when he compares the shape
of Mesopotamia, which is formed by the junction of the Tigris and
Euphrates, to the cushion on a rower’s bench. The western side bounded by
the Euphrates is not entirely measured; for he tells us that he does not know
the extent of the portion between Armenia and the northern mountains,555
as it has not been measured. By reason of these hinderances he states that he
has been only able to give a very superficial view of the third section, and
that his estimate of the distances is borrowed from various Itineraries, some
of them, according to his own description, anonymous. Hipparchus
therefore must be considered guilty of unfairness, for criticising with
geometrical precision a work of this general nature. We ought rather to be
grateful to a person who gives us any description at all of the character of
such [unknown] places. But when he urges his geometrical objections not
against any real statement of Eratosthenes, but merely against imaginary
hypotheses of his own creation, he shows too plainly the contradictory bent
of his mind.
24. It is in this general kind of description of the third section that
Eratosthenes supposes 10,000 stadia from the Caspian Gates to the
Euphrates. This he again divides according to former admeasurements
which he found preserved. Starting from the point where the Euphrates
passes near to Thapsacus, he computes from thence to the place where
Alexander crossed the Tigris 2400 stadia. The route thence through

Gaugamela,556 the Lycus,557 Arbela,558 and Ecbatana,559 whither Darius
fled from Gaugamela to the Caspian Gates, makes up the 10,000 stadia,
which is only 300 stadia too much. Such is the measure of the northern side
given by Eratosthenes, which he could not have supposed to be parallel to
the mountains, nor yet to the line drawn from the Pillars of Hercules
through Athens and Rhodes. For Thapsacus is far removed from the
mountains, and the route from Thapsacus to the Caspian Gates only falls in
with the mountains at that point.560 Such is the boundary on the northern
side.
25. Thus, says Eratosthenes, we have given you a description of the
northern side; as for the southern, we cannot take its measure along the sea,
on account of the Persian Gulf, which intercepts [its continuity], but from
Babylon through Susa and Persepolis to the confines of Persia and
Carmania there are 9200 stadia. This he calls the southern side, but he does
not say it is parallel to the northern. The difference of length between the
northern and southern sides is caused, he tells us, by the Euphrates, which
after running south some distance shifts its course almost due east.
26. Of the two remaining sides, he describes the western first, but whether
we are to regard it as one single straight line, or two, seems to be
undecided. He says,—From Thapsacus to Babylon, following the course of
the Euphrates, there are 4800 stadia; from thence to the mouth of the
Euphrates561 and the city of Teredon, 3000562 more; from Thapsacus
northward to the Gates of Armenia, having been measured, is stated to be
1100 stadia, but the distance through Gordyæa and Armenia, not having yet
been measured, is not given. The eastern side, which stretches lengthwise
through Persia from the Red Sea towards Media and the north, does not
appear to be less than 8000 stadia, and measured from certain headlands
above 9000, the rest of the distance through Parætacena and Media to the
Caspian Gates being 3000 stadia. The rivers Tigris and Euphrates flowing
from Armenia towards the south, after having passed the Gordyæan
mountains, and having formed a great circle which embraces the vast
country of Mesopotamia, turn towards the rising of the sun in winter and
the south, particularly the Euphrates, which, continually approaching nearer
and nearer to the Tigris, passes by the rampart of Semiramis,563 and at
about 200 stadia from the village of Opis,564 thence it flows through

Babylon, and so discharges itself into the Persian Gulf. Thus the figure of
Mesopotamia and Babylon resembles the cushion of a rower’s bench.—
Such are the words of Eratosthenes.
27. In the Third Section it is true he does make some mistakes, which we
shall take into consideration; but they are nothing like the amount which
Hipparchus attributes to him. However, we will examine his objections. [In
the first place,] he would have the ancient charts left just as they are, and by
no means India brought more to the south, as Eratosthenes thinks proper.
Indeed, he asserts that the very arguments adduced by that writer only
confirm him the more in his opinion. He says, “According to Eratosthenes,
the northern side of the third section is bounded by a line of 10,000 stadia
drawn from the Caspian Gates to the Euphrates, the southern side from
Babylon to the confines of Carmania is a little more than 9000 stadia. On
the western side, following the course of the Euphrates, from Thapsacus to
Babylon there are 4800 stadia, and thence to the outlets of the river 3000
stadia more. Northward from Thapsacus [to the Gates of Armenia] is
reckoned 1100 stadia; the rest has not been measured. Now since
Eratosthenes says that the northern side of this Third Section is about
10,000 stadia, and that the right line parallel thereto drawn from Babylon to
the eastern side is computed at just above 9000 stadia, it follows that
Babylon is not much more than 1000 stadia east of the passage of [the
Euphrates] near Thapsacus.”
28. We answer, that if the Caspian Gates and the boundary line of Carmania
and Persia were exactly under the same meridian, and if right lines drawn in
the direction of Thapsacus and Babylon would intersect such meridian at
right angles, the inference would be just.565 For then the line [from the
common frontier of Carmania and Persia] to Babylon, if produced to the
meridian of Thapsacus, would appear to the eye equal, or nearly equal, to
that from the Caspian Gates to Thapsacus. Consequently, Babylon would
only be east of Thapsacus in the same proportion as the line drawn from the
Caspian Gates to Thapsacus exceeds the line drawn from the frontier of
Carmania to Babylon.566 Eratosthenes, however, does not tell us that the
line which bounds the western coast of Ariana follows the direction of the
meridian; nor yet that a line drawn from the Caspian Gates to Thapsacus
would form right angles with the meridian of the Caspian Gates. But rather,
that the line which would form right angles with the meridian, would be one

which should follow the course of the Taurus, and with which the line
drawn from the Caspian Gates to Thapsacus would form an acute angle.
Nor, again, does he ever say that a line drawn from Carmania to Babylon
would be parallel to that drawn [from the Caspian Gates] to Thapsacus; and
even if it were parallel, this would prove nothing for the argument of
Hipparchus, since it does not form right angles with the meridian of the
Caspian Gates.
29. But taking this for granted, and proving, as he imagines, that, according
to Eratosthenes, Babylon is east of Thapsacus rather more than 1000 stadia,
he draws from this false hypothesis a new argument, which he uses to the
following purpose; and says, If we suppose a right line drawn from
Thapsacus towards the south, and another from Babylon perpendicular
thereto, a right-angled triangle would be the result; whose sides should be,
1. A line drawn from Thapsacus to Babylon; 2. A perpendicular drawn from
Babylon to the meridian of Thapsacus; 3. The meridian line of Thapsacus.
The hypotenuse of this triangle would be a right line drawn from Thapsacus
to Babylon, which he estimates at 4800 stadia. The perpendicular drawn
from Babylon to the meridian of Thapsacus is scarcely more than 1000
stadia, the same amount by which the line drawn [from the Caspian Gates]
to Thapsacus exceeds that [from the common frontier of Carmania and
Persia] to Babylon. The two sides [of the triangle] being given, Hipparchus
proceeds to find the third, which is much greater than the perpendicular567
aforesaid. To this he adds the line drawn from Thapsacus northwards to the
mountains of Armenia, one part of which, according to Eratosthenes, was
measured, and found to be 1100 stadia; the other, or part unmeasured by
Eratosthenes, Hipparchus estimates to be 1000 stadia at the least: so that the
two together amount to 2100 stadia. Adding this to the [length of the] side
upon which falls the perpendicular drawn from Babylon, Hipparchus
estimated a distance of many thousand stadia from the mountains of
Armenia and the parallel of Athens to this perpendicular, which falls on the
parallel of Babylon.568 From the parallel of Athens569 to that of Babylon he
shows that there cannot be a greater distance than 2400 stadia, even
admitting the estimate supplied by Eratosthenes himself of the number of
stadia which the entire meridian contains;570 and that if this be so, the
mountains of Armenia and the Taurus cannot be under the same parallel of
latitude as Athens, (which is the opinion of Eratosthenes,) but many

thousand stadia to the north, as the data supplied by that writer himself
prove.
But here, for the formation of his right-angled triangle, Hipparchus not only
makes use of propositions already overturned, but assumes what was never
granted, namely, that the hypotenuse subtending his right angle, which is
the straight line from Thapsacus to Babylon, is 4800 stadia in length. What
Eratosthenes says is, that this route follows the course of the Euphrates, and
adds, that Mesopotamia and Babylon are encompassed as it were by a great
circle formed by the Euphrates and Tigris, but principally by the former of
these rivers. So that a straight line from Thapsacus to Babylon would
neither follow the course of the Euphrates, nor yet be near so many stadia in
length. Thus the argument [of Hipparchus] is overturned. We have stated
before, that supposing two lines drawn from the Caspian Gates, one to
Thapsacus, and the other to the mountains of Armenia opposite Thapsacus,
and distant therefrom, according to Hipparchus’s own estimate, 2100 stadia
at the very least, neither of them would be parallel to each other, nor yet to
that line which, passing through Babylon, is styled by Eratosthenes the
southern side [of the third section]. As he could not inform us of the exact
length of the route by the mountains, Eratosthenes tells us the distance
between Thapsacus and the Caspian Gates; in fact, to speak in a general
way, he puts this distance in place of the other; besides, as he merely
wanted to give the length of the territory between Ariana and the Euphrates,
he was not particular to have the exact measure of either route. To pretend
that he considered the lines to be parallel to each other, is evidently to
accuse the man of more than childish ignorance, and we dismiss the
insinuation as nonsense forthwith.
30. There, however, are some instances in which one may justly accuse
Eratosthenes. There is a difference in dissecting limb by limb, or merely
cutting off portions [indiscriminately], (for in the former you may only
separate parts having a natural outline, and distinguished by a regular form;
this the poet alludes to in the expression,

“Cutting them limb from limb;”571

whereas in regard to the latter this is not the case,) and we may adopt with
propriety either one or other of these plans according to the time and
necessity. So in Geography, if you enter into every detail, you may
sometimes be compelled to divide your territories into portions, so to speak,
but it is a more preferable way to separate them into limbs, than into such
chance pieces; for thus only you can define accurately particular points and
boundaries, a thing so necessary to the geographer. When it can be done,
the best way to define a country is by the rivers, mountains, or sea; also,
where possible, by the nation or nations [who inhabit it], and by its size and
configuration. However, in default of a geometrical definition, a simple and
general description may be said always to answer the purpose. In regard to
size, it is sufficient to state the greatest length and breadth; for example, that
the habitable earth is 70,000 stadia long, and that its breadth is scarcely half
its length.572 And as to form, to compare a country to any geometrical or
other well-known figure. For example, Sicily to a triangle, Spain to an ox-
hide, or the Peloponnesus to a plane-leaf.573 The larger the territory to be
divided, the more general also ought its divisions to be.
31. [In the system of Eratosthenes], the habitable earth has been admirably
divided into two parts by the Taurus and the Mediterranean Sea, which
reaches to the Pillars. On the southern side, the limits of India have been
described by a variety of methods; by its mountains,574 its river,575 its
seas,576 and its name,577 which seems to indicate that it is inhabited only by
one people.578 It is with justice too that he attributes to it the form of a
quadrilateral or rhomboid. Ariana is not so accurately described, on account
of its western side being interwoven with the adjacent land. Still it is pretty
well distinguished by its three other sides, which are formed by three nearly
straight lines, and also by its name, which shows it to be only one nation.579
As to the Third Section of Eratosthenes, it cannot be considered to be
defined or circumscribed at all; for that side of it which is common to
Ariana is but ill defined, as before remarked. The southern side, too, is most
negligently taken: it is, in fact, no boundary to the section at all, for it
passes right through its centre, leaving entirely outside of it many of the
southern portions. Nor yet does it represent the greatest length of the
section, for the northern side is the longest.580 Nor, lastly, can the Euphrates

be its western boundary, not even if it flowed in a right line, since its two
extremes581 do not lie under the same meridian. How then is it the western
rather than the southern boundary? Apart from this, the distance to the Seas
of Cilicia and Syria is so inconsiderable, that there can be no reason why he
should not have enlarged the third section, so as to include the kingdoms of
Semiramis and Ninus, who are both of them known as Syrian monarchs; the
first built Babylon, which he made his royal residence; the second Ninus,582
the capital of Syria;583 and the same dialect still exists on both sides of the
Euphrates. The idea of thus dismembering so renowned a nation, and
allotting its portions to strange nations with which it had no connexion, is as
peculiarly unfortunate. Eratosthenes cannot plead that he was compelled to
do this on account of its size, for had it extended as far as the sea and the
frontiers of Arabia Felix and Egypt, even then it would not have been as
large as India, or even Ariana. It would have therefore been much better to
have enlarged the third section, making it comprehend the whole space as
far as the Sea of Syria; but if this were done, the southern side would not be
as he represents it, nor yet in a straight line, but starting from Carmania
would follow the right side of the sea-shore from the Persian Gulf to the
mouth of the Euphrates; it would then approach the limits of Mesene584 and
Babylon, where the Isthmus commences which separates Arabia Felix from
the rest of the continent. Traversing the Isthmus, it would continue its
course to the recess of the Arabian Gulf and Pelusium,585 thence to the
mouth of the Nile at Canopus.586 Such would be the southern side. The west
would be traced by the sea-shore from the [river’s] mouth at Canopus to
Cilicia.587
32. The fourth section would consist of Arabia Felix, the Arabian Gulf, and
the whole of Egypt and Ethiopia. Its length bounded by two meridians, one
drawn through its most western point, the other through its most eastern;
and its breadth by two parallels through its most northern and southern
points. For this is the best way to describe the extent of irregular figures,
whose length and breadth cannot be determined by their sides.
In general it is to be observed, that length and breadth are to be understood
in different ways, according as you speak of the whole or a part. Of a
whole, the greater distance is called its length, and the lesser its breadth; of
a part, that is to be considered the length which is parallel to the length of

the whole, without any regard whether it, or that which is left for the
breadth, be the greater distance. The length of the whole habitable earth is
measured from east to west by a line drawn parallel to the equator, and its
breadth from north to south in the direction of the meridian; consequently,
the length of any of the parts ought to be portions of a line drawn parallel to
the length of the whole, and their breadth to the breadth of the whole. For,
in the first place, by this means the size of the whole habitable earth will be
best described; and secondly, the disposition and configuration of its parts,
and the manner in which one may be said to be greater or less than another,
will be made manifest by thus comparing them.
33. Eratosthenes, however, measures the length of the habitable earth by a
line which he considers straight, drawn from the Pillars of Hercules, in the
direction of the Caspian Gates and the Caucasus. The length of the third
section, by a line drawn from the Caspian Gates to Thapsacus, and of the
fourth, by one running from Thapsacus through Heroopolis to the country
surrounded by the Nile: this must necessarily be deflected to Canopus and
Alexandria, for there is the last mouth of the Nile, which goes by the name
of the Canopic588 or Heracleotic mouth. Whether therefore these two
lengths be considered to form one straight line, or to make an angle with
Thapsacus, certain it is that neither of them is parallel to the length of the
habitable earth; this is evident from what Eratosthenes has himself said
concerning them. According to him the length of the habitable earth is
described by a right line running through the Taurus to the Pillars of
Hercules, in the direction of the Caucasus, Rhodes, and Athens. From
Rhodes to Alexandria, following the meridian of the two cities, he says
there cannot be much less than 4000 stadia,589 consequently there must be
the same difference between the latitudes of Rhodes and Alexandria. Now
the latitude of Heroopolis is about the same as Alexandria, or rather more
south. So that a line, whether straight or broken, which intersects the
parallel of Heroopolis, Rhodes, or the Gates of the Caspian, cannot be
parallel to either of these. These lengths therefore are not properly
indicated, nor are the northern sections any better.
34. We will now return at once to Hipparchus, and see what comes next.
Continuing to palm assumptions of his own [upon Eratosthenes], he goes on
to refute, with geometrical accuracy, statements which that author had made
in a mere general way. “Eratosthenes,” he says, “estimates that there are

6700 stadia between Babylon and the Caspian Gates, and from Babylon to
the frontiers of Carmania and Persia above 9000 stadia; this he supposes to
lie in a direct line towards the equinoctial rising,590 and perpendicular to the
common side of his second and third sections. Thus, according to his plan,
we should have a right-angled triangle, with the right angle next to the
frontiers of Carmania, and its hypotenuse less than one of the sides about
the right angle! Consequently Persia should be included in the second
section.”591
To this we reply, that the line drawn from Babylon to Carmania was never
intended as a parallel, nor yet that which divides the two sections as a
meridian, and that therefore nothing has been laid to his charge, at all events
with any just foundation. In fact, Eratosthenes having stated the number of
stadia from the Caspian Gates to Babylon as above given,592 [from the
Caspian Gates] to Susa 4900 stadia, and from Babylon [to Susa] 3400
stadia, Hipparchus runs away from his former hypothesis, and says that [by
drawing lines from] the Caspian Gates, Susa, and Babylon, an obtuse-
angled triangle would be the result, whose sides should be of the length laid
down, and of which Susa would form the obtuse angle. He then argues, that
“according to these premises, the meridian drawn from the Gates of the
Caspian will intersect the parallel of Babylon and Susa 4400 stadia more to
the west, than would a straight line drawn from the Caspian to the confines
of Carmania and Persia; and that this last line, forming with the meridian of
the Caspian Gates half a right angle, would lie exactly in a direction
midway between the south and the equinoctial rising. Now as the course of
the Indus is parallel to this line, it cannot flow south on its descent from the
mountains, as Eratosthenes asserts, but in a direction lying between the
south and the equinoctial rising, as laid down in the ancient charts.” But
who is there who will admit this to be an obtuse-angled triangle, without
also admitting that it contains a right angle? Who will agree that the line
from Babylon to Susa, which forms one side of this obtuse-angled triangle,
lies parallel, without admitting the same of the whole line as far as
Carmania? or that the line drawn from the Caspian Gates to the frontiers of
Carmania is parallel to the Indus? Nevertheless, without this the reasoning
[of Hipparchus] is worth nothing.

“Eratosthenes himself also states,” [continues Hipparchus,593] “that the
form of India is rhomboidal; and since the whole eastern border of that
country has a decided tendency towards the east, but more particularly the
extremest cape,594 which lies more to the south than any other part of the
coast, the side next the Indus must be the same.”
35. These arguments may be very geometrical, but they are not convincing.
After having himself invented these various difficulties, he dismisses them,
saying, “Had [Eratosthenes] been chargeable for small distances only, he
might have been excused; but since his mistakes involve thousands of
stadia, we cannot pardon him, more especially since he has laid it down that
at a mere distance of 400 stadia,595 such as that between the parallels of
Athens and Rhodes, there is a sensible variation [of latitude].” But these
sensible variations are not all of the same kind, the distance [involved
therein] being in some instances greater, in others less; greater, when for our
estimate of the climata we trust merely to the eye, or are guided by the
vegetable productions and the temperature of the air; less, when we employ
gnomons and dioptric instruments. Nothing is more likely than that if you
measure the parallel of Athens, or that of Rhodes and Caria, by means of a
gnomon, the difference resulting from so many stadia596 will be sensible.
But when a geographer, in order to trace a line from west to east, 3000
stadia broad, makes use of a chain of mountains 40,000 stadia long, and
also of a sea which extends still farther 30,000 stadia, and farther wishing to
point out the situation of the different parts of the habitable earth relative to
this line, calls some southern, others northern, and finally lays out what he
calls the sections, each section consisting of divers countries, then we ought
carefully to examine in what acceptation he uses his terms; in what sense he
says that such a side [of any section] is the north side, and what other is the
south, or east, or west side. If he does not take pains to avoid great errors,
he deserves to be blamed, but should he be guilty merely of trifling
inaccuracies, he should be forgiven. But here nothing shows thoroughly that
Eratosthenes has committed either serious or slight errors, for on one hand
what he may have said concerning such great distances, can never be
verified by a geometrical test, and on the other, his accuser, while
endeavouring to reason like a geometrician, does not found his arguments
on any real data, but on gratuitous suppositions.

36. The fourth section Hipparchus certainly manages better, though he still
maintains the same censorious tone, and obstinacy in sticking to his first
hypotheses, or others similar. He properly objects to Eratosthenes giving as
the length of this section a line drawn from Thapsacus to Egypt, as being
similar to the case of a man who should tell us that the diagonal of a
parallelogram was its length. For Thapsacus and the coasts of Egypt are by
no means under the same parallel of latitude, but under parallels
considerably distant from each other,597 and a line drawn from Thapsacus to
Egypt would lie in a kind of diagonal or oblique direction between them.
But he is wrong when he expresses his surprise that Eratosthenes should
dare to state the distance between Pelusium and Thapsacus at 6000 stadia,
when he says there are above 8000. In proof of this he advances that the
parallel of Pelusium is south of that of Babylon by more than 2500 stadia,
and that according to Eratosthenes (as he supposes) the latitude of
Thapsacus is above 4800 stadia north of that of Babylon; from which
Hipparchus tells us it results that [between Thapsacus and Pelusium] there
are more than 8000 stadia. But I would inquire how he can prove that
Eratosthenes supposed so great a distance between the parallels of Babylon
and Thapsacus? He says, indeed, that such is the distance from Thapsacus
to Babylon, but not that there is this distance between their parallels, nor yet
that Thapsacus and Babylon are under the same meridian. So much the
contrary, that Hipparchus has himself pointed out, that, according to
Eratosthenes, Babylon ought to be east of Thapsacus more than 2000 stadia.
We have before cited the statement of Eratosthenes, that Mesopotamia and
Babylon are encircled by the Tigris and Euphrates, and that the greater
portion of the Circle is formed by this latter river, which flowing north and
south takes a turn to the east, and then, returning to a southerly direction,
discharges itself [into the sea]. So long as it flows from north to south, it
may be said to follow a southerly direction; but the turning towards the east
and Babylon is a decided deviation from the southerly direction, and it
never recovers a straight course, but forms the circuit we have mentioned
above. When he tells us that the journey from Babylon to Thapsacus is 4800
stadia, he adds, following the course of the Euphrates, as if on purpose lest
any one should understand such to be the distance in a direct line, or
between the two parallels. If this be not granted, it is altogether a vain
attempt to show that if a right-angled triangle were constructed by lines
drawn from Pelusium and Thapsacus to the point where the parallel of

Thapsacus intercepts the meridian of Pelusium, that one of the lines which
form the right angle, and is in the direction of the meridian, would be longer
than that forming the hypotenuse drawn from Thapsacus to Pelusium.598
Worthless, too, is the argument in connexion with this, being the inference
from a proposition not admitted; for Eratosthenes never asserts that from
Babylon to the meridian of the Caspian Gates is a distance of 4800 stadia.
We have shown that Hipparchus deduces this from data not admitted by
Eratosthenes; but desirous to controvert every thing advanced by that writer,
he assumes that from Babylon to the line drawn from the Caspian Gates to
the mountains of Carmania, according to Eratosthenes’ description, there
are above 9000 stadia, and from thence draws his conclusions.

37. Eratosthenes599 cannot, therefore, be found fault with on these grounds;
what may be objected against him is as follows. When you wish to give a
general outline of size and configuration, you should devise for yourself
some rule which may be adhered to more or less. After having laid down
that the breadth of the space occupied by the mountains which run in a
direction due east, as well as by the sea which reaches to the Pillars of
Hercules, is 3000 stadia, would you pretend to estimate different lines,
which you may draw within the breadth of that space, as one and the same
line? We should be more willing to grant you the power of doing so with
respect to the lines which run parallel to that space than with those which
fall upon it; and among these latter, rather with respect to those which fall
within it than to those which extend without it; and also rather for those
which, in regard to the shortness of their extent, would not pass out of the
said space than for those which would. And again, rather for lines of some
considerable length than for any thing very short, for the inequality of
lengths is less perceptible in great extents than the difference of
configuration. For example, if you give 3000 stadia for the breadth at the
Taurus, as well as for the sea which extends to the Pillars of Hercules, you
will form a parallelogram entirely enclosing both the mountains of the
Taurus and the sea; if you divide it in its length into several other
parallelograms, and draw first the diagonal of the great parallelogram, and
next that of each smaller parallelogram, surely the diagonal of the great
parallelogram will be regarded as a line more nearly parallel and equal to
the side forming the length of that figure than the diagonal of any of the
smaller parallelograms: and the more your lesser parallelograms should be

multiplied, the more will this become evident. Certainly, it is in great
figures that the obliquity of the diagonal and its difference from the side
forming the length are the less perceptible, so that you would have but little
scruple in taking the diagonal as the length of the figure. But if you draw
the diagonal more inclined, so that it falls beyond both sides, or at least
beyond one of the sides, then will this no longer be the case; and this is the
sense in which we have observed, that when you attempted to draw even in
a very general way the extents of the figures, you ought to adopt some rule.
But Eratosthenes takes a line from the Caspian Gates along the mountains,
running as it were in the same parallel as far as the Pillars, and then a
second line, starting directly from the mountains to touch Thapsacus; and
again a third line from Thapsacus to the frontiers of Egypt, occupying so
great a breadth. If then in proceeding you give the length of the two last
lines [taken together] as the measure of the length of the district, you will
appear to measure the length of one of your parallelograms by its diagonal.
And if, farther, this diagonal should consist of a broken line, as that would
be which stretches from the Caspian Gates to the embouchure of the Nile,
passing by Thapsacus, your error will appear much greater. This is the sum
of what may be alleged against Eratosthenes.
38. In another respect also we have to complain of Hipparchus, because, as
he had given a category of the statements of Eratosthenes, he ought to have
corrected his mistakes, in the same way that we have done; but whenever he
has any thing particular to remark, he tells us to follow the ancient charts,
which, to say the least, need correction infinitely more than the map of
Eratosthenes.
The argument which follows is equally objectionable, being founded on the
consequences of a proposition which, as we have shown, is inadmissible,
namely, that Babylon was not more than 1000 stadia east of Thapsacus;
when it was quite clear, from Eratosthenes’ own words, that Babylon was
above 2400 stadia east of that place; since from Thapsacus to the passage of
the Euphrates where it was crossed by Alexander, the shortest route is 2400
stadia, and the Tigris and Euphrates, having encompassed Mesopotamia,
flow towards the east, and afterwards take a southerly direction and
approach nearer to each other and to Babylon at the same time: nothing
appears absurd in this statement of Eratosthenes.

39. The next objection of Hipparchus is likewise false. He attempts to prove
that Eratosthenes, in his statement that the route from Thapsacus to the
Caspian Gates is 10,000 stadia, gives this as the distance taken in a straight
line; such not being the case, as in that instance the distance would be much
shorter. His mode of reasoning is after this fashion. He says, “According to
Eratosthenes, the mouth of the Nile at Canopus,600 and the Cyaneæ,601 are
under the same meridian, which is distant from that of Thapsacus 6300
stadia. Now from the Cyaneæ to Mount Caspius, which is situated close to
the defile602 leading from Colchis to the Caspian Sea, there are 6600
stadia,603 so that, with the exception of about 300 stadia, the distance from
the meridian of the Cyaneæ to that of Thapsacus, or to that of Mount
Caspius, is the same: and both Thapsacus and Mount Caspius are, so to
speak, under the same meridian.604 It follows from this that the Caspian
Gates are about equi-distant between Thapsacus and Mount Caspius, but
that the distance between them and Thapsacus is much less than the 10,000
stadia mentioned by Eratosthenes. Consequently, as the distance in a right
line is much less than 10,000 stadia, this route, which he considered to be in
a straight course from the Caspian Gates to Thapsacus, must have been a
circumbendibus.”
To this we reply, that Eratosthenes, as is usual in Geography, speaks of right
lines, meridians, and parallels to the equator, with considerable latitude,
whereas Hipparchus criticizes him with geometrical nicety, as if every line
had been measured with rule and compass. Hipparchus at the same time
himself frequently deciding as to right lines and parallels, not by actual
measurement, but mere conjecture. Such is the first error of this writer. A
second is, that he never lays down the distances as Eratosthenes has given
them, nor yet reasons on the data furnished by that writer, but from mere
assumptions of his own coinage. Thus, where Eratosthenes states that the
distance from the mouth of the [Thracian Bosphorus] to the Phasis is 8000
stadia, from thence to Dioscurias 600 stadia,605 and from Dioscurias to
Caspius five days’ journey, (which Hipparchus estimates at 1000 stadia,) the
sum of these, as stated by Eratosthenes, would amount to 9600 stadia. This
Hipparchus abridges in the following manner. From the Cyaneæ to the
Phasis are 5600 stadia, and from the Phasis to the Caspius 1000 more.606
Therefore it is no statement of Eratosthenes that the Caspius and Thapsacus
are under the same meridian, but of Hipparchus himself. However,

supposing Eratosthenes says so, does it follow that the distance from the
Caspius to the Caspian Gates, and that from Thapsacus to the same point,
are equal.607
40. In the second book of his Commentaries, Hipparchus, having again
mooted the question concerning the mountains of the Taurus, of which we
have spoken sufficiently, proceeds with the northern parts of the habitable
earth. He then notices the statement of Eratosthenes concerning the
countries situated west of the Euxine,608 namely, that the three [principal]
headlands [of this continent], the first the Peloponnesian, the second the
Italian, the third the Ligurian, run from north [to south], enclosing the
Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Gulfs.609 After this general exposition, Hipparchus
proceeds to criticise each point in detail, but rather on geometrical than
geographical grounds; on these subjects, however, the number of
Eratosthenes’ errors is so overwhelming, as also of Timosthenes the author
of the Treatise on the Ports, (whom Eratosthenes prefers above every other
writer, though he often decides even against him,) that it does not seem to
be worth my time to review their faulty productions, nor even what
Hipparchus has to say about them; since he neither enumerates all their
blunders, nor yet sets them right, but only points out how they falsify and
contradict each other. Still any one might certainly object to the saying of
Eratosthenes, that Europe has but three headlands, and considering as one
that which terminates by the Peloponnesus, notwithstanding it is broken up
into so many divisions. In fact, Sunium610 is as much a promontory as
Laconia, and not very much less south than Malea,611 forming a
considerable bay,612 and the Thracian Chersonesus613 and Sunium614 form
the Gulf of Melas,615 and likewise those of Macedonia.616 Added to this, it
is manifest that the majority of the distances are falsely stated, thus arguing
an ignorance of geography scarcely credible, and so far from requiring
geometrical demonstration that it stands out prominent on the very face of
the statements. For example, the distance from Epidamnus617 to the
Thermaic Gulf618 is above 2000 stadia; Eratosthenes gives it at 900. So too
he states the distance from Alexandria to Carthage at 13,000619 stadia; it is
not more than 9000, that is, if, as he himself tells us, Caria and Rhodes are
under the same meridian as Alexandria,620 and the Strait of Messina under

the same as Carthage,621 for every one is agreed that the voyage from Caria
to the Strait of Sicily does not exceed 9000 stadia.
It is doubtless permissible in very great distances to consider as under one
and the same meridian places which are not more east and west of each
other than Carthage is west of the Strait;622 but an error of 3000 stadia is too
much; and when he places Rome under the same meridian as Carthage,
notwithstanding its being so far west of that city, it is but the crowning
proof of his extreme ignorance both of these places, and likewise of the
other countries farther west as far as the Pillars of Hercules.
41. Since Hipparchus does not furnish a Geography of his own, but merely
reviews what is said in that of Eratosthenes, he ought to have gone farther,
and corrected the whole of that writer’s mistakes. As for ourselves, it is only
in those particulars where Eratosthenes is correct (and we acknowledge that
he frequently errs) that we have thought it our duty to quote his own words,
in order to reinstate them in their position, and to defend him when he could
be acquitted of the charges of Hipparchus; never failing to break a lance
with the latter writer whenever his objections seemed to be the result of a
mere propensity to find fault. But when Eratosthenes is grossly mistaken,
and the animadversions of Hipparchus are just, we have thought it sufficient
in our Geography to set him (Eratosthenes) right by merely stating facts as
they are. As the mistakes were so continual and numerous, it was better not
to mention them except in a sparse and general manner. This principle in the
details we shall strive to carry out. In the present instance we shall only
remark, that Timosthenes, Eratosthenes, and those who preceded them,
were but ill acquainted with Iberia and Keltica,623 and a thousand times less
with Germany, Britain, and the land of the Getæ and Bastarnæ.624 Their
want of knowledge is also great in regard to Italy, the Adriatic, the Euxine,
and the countries north of these. Possibly this last remark may be regarded
as captious, since Eratosthenes states, that as to distant countries, he has
merely given the admeasurements as he finds them supplied by others,
without vouching for their accuracy, although he sometimes adds whether
the route indicated is more or less in a right line. We should not therefore
subject to a too rigorous examination distances as to which no one is
agreed, after the manner Hipparchus does, both in regard to the places
already mentioned, and also to those of which Eratosthenes has given the

distance from Hyrcania to Bactria and the countries beyond, and those from
Colchis to the Sea of Hyrcania. These are points where we should not
scrutinize him so narrowly as [when he describes] places situated in the
heart of our continent,625 or others equally well known; and even these
should be regarded from a geographical rather than a geometrical point of
view. Hipparchus, at the end of the second book of his Commentaries on the
Geography of Eratosthenes, having found fault with certain statements
relative to Ethiopia, tells us at the commencement of the third, that his
strictures, though to a certain point geographical, will be mathematical for
the most part. As for myself, I cannot find any geography there. To me it
seems entirely mathematical; but Eratosthenes himself set the example; for
he frequently runs into scientific speculations, having little to do with the
subject in hand, and which result in vague and inexact conclusions. Thus he
is a mathematician in geography, and in mathematics a geographer; and so
lies open to the attacks of both parties. In this third book, both he and
Timosthenes get such severe justice, that there seems nothing left for us to
do; Hipparchus is quite enough.

CHAPTER II.

1. We will now proceed to examine the statements made by Posidonius in
his Treatise on the Ocean. This Treatise contains much geographical
information, sometimes given in a manner conformable to the subject, at
others too mathematical. It will not, therefore, be amiss to look into some of
his statements, both now and afterwards, as opportunity occurs, taking care
to confine ourselves within bounds. He deals simply with geography, when
he tells us that the earth is spheroidal and the universe too, and admits the
necessary consequences of this hypothesis, one of which is, that the earth
contains five zones.
2. Posidonius informs us that Parmenides was the first to make this division
of the earth into five zones, but that he almost doubled the size of the torrid
zone, which is situated between the tropics, by bringing it beyond these into
the temperate zones.626 But according to Aristotle the torrid zone is
contained between the tropics, the temperate zones occupying the whole

space between the tropics and the arctic circles.627 Both of these divisions
Posidonius justly condemns, for the torrid zone is properly the space
rendered uninhabitable by the heat. Whereas more than half of the space
between the tropics is inhabited, as we may judge by the Ethiopians who
dwell above Egypt. The equator divides the whole of this space into two
equal parts. Now from Syene, which is the limit of the summer tropic, to
Meroe, there are 5000 stadia, and thence to the parallel of the Cinnamon
region, where the torrid zone commences, 3000 stadia. The whole of this
distance has been measured, and it may be gone over either by sea or land;
the remaining portion to the equator is, if we adopt the measure of the earth
supplied by Eratosthenes, 8800 stadia. Therefore, as 16,800 is to 8800, so is
the space comprised between the tropics to the breadth of the torrid zone.
If of the more recent measurements we prefer those which diminish the size
of the earth, such as that adopted by Posidonius, which is about 180,000
stadia,628 the torrid zone will still only occupy half, or rather more than
half, of the space comprised between the tropics; but never an equal space.
[Respecting the system of Aristotle, Posidonius farther says,] “Since it is
not every latitude which has Arctic Circles,629 and even those which do
possess them have not the same, how can any one determine by them the
bounds of the temperate zones, which are immutable?” Nothing however is
proved [against Aristotle] from the fact that there are not Arctic Circles for
every latitude, since they exist for all the inhabitants of the temperate zone,
on whose account alone the zone receives its name of temperate. But the
objection that the Arctic Circles do not remain the same for every latitude,
but shift their places, is excellent.630
3. Posidonius, who himself divides the earth into zones, tells us that “five is
the number best suited for the explanation of the celestial appearances, two
of these are periscii,631 which reach from the poles to the point where the
tropics serve for Arctic Circles; two more are heteroscii,632 which extend
from the former to the inhabitants of the tropics, and one between the
tropics, which is called amphiscius,633 but for matters relative to the earth, it
is convenient to suppose two other narrow zones placed under the tropics,
and divided by them into two halves, over which [every year] for the space
of a fortnight, the sun is vertical.”634 These zones are remarkable for being
extremely arid and sandy, producing no vegetation with the exception of

silphium,635 and a parched grain somewhat resembling wheat. This is
caused by there being no mountains to attract the clouds and produce rain,
nor any rivers flowing636 through the country. The consequence is that the
various species637 are born with woolly hair, crumpled horns, protruding
lips, and wide nostrils; their extremities being as it were gnarled. Within
these zones also dwell the Ichthyophagi.638 He further remarks, that these
peculiarities are quite sufficient to distinguish the zones in question: those
which are farther south having a more salubrious atmosphere, and being
more fruitful and better supplied with water.

CHAPTER III.

1. Polybius supposes six zones: two situated between the poles and the
arctic circles; two between the arctic circles and the tropics; and two
between the tropics which are divided by the equator. However, it appears
to me that the division into five zones accords best both with the order of
external nature and geography. With external nature, as respects the celestial
phenomena, and the temperature of the atmosphere. With respect to the
celestial phenomena, as the Periscii and Amphiscii are thereby divided in
the best possible manner, and it also forms an excellent line of separation in
regard to those who behold the stars from an opposite point of view.639
With respect to the temperature of the atmosphere, inasmuch as looked at in
connexion with the sun, there are three main divisions, which influence in a
remarkable degree both plants, animals, and every other animated thing,
existing either in the air, or exposed to it, namely, excess of heat, want of
heat, and a moderate supply of heat. In the division into [five] zones, each
of these is correctly distinguished. The two frigid zones indicate the want of
heat, being alike in the temperature of their atmosphere; the temperate
zones possess a moderate heat, and the remaining, or torrid zone, is
remarkable for its excess of heat.
The propriety of this division in regard to geography is equally apparent;
the object of this science being to determine the limits of that one of the
temperate zones which we inhabit. To the east and west, it is true, the

boundaries are formed by the sea, but to the north and south they are
indicated by the atmosphere; which in the middle is of a grateful
temperature both to animals and plants, but on either side is rendered
intemperate either through excess or defect of heat. To manifest this
threefold difference, the division of the globe into five zones becomes
necessary. In fact, the division of the globe, by means of the equator, into
two hemispheres, the one northern, wherein we dwell, and the other
southern, points to this threefold division, for the regions next the equator
and torrid zone are uninhabitable on account of the heat, those next the
poles on account of the cold, but those in the middle are mild, and fitted for
the habitation of man.
Posidonius, in placing two zones under the tropics, pays no regard to the
reasons which influenced the division into five zones, nor is his division
equally appropriate. It is no more than if he were to form his division into
zones merely according to the [countries inhabited] by different nations,
calling one the Ethiopian, another the Scythian and Keltic,640 and a third the
Intermediate zone.
2. Polybius, indeed, is wrong in bounding certain of his zones by the arctic
circles,641 namely, the two which lie under them, and the two between these
and the tropics. The impropriety of using shifting points to mark the limits
of those which are fixed has been remarked before; and we have likewise
objected to the plan of making the tropics the boundary of the torrid zone.
However, in dividing the torrid zone into two parts [Polybius] seems to
have been influenced by no inconsiderable reason, the same which led us to
regard the whole earth as properly divided by the equator into two
hemispheres, north and south. We at once see that by means of this division
the torrid zone is divided into two parts, thus establishing a kind of
uniformity; each hemisphere consisting of three entire zones, respectively
similar to each other. Thus this partition642 will admit of a division into six
zones, but the other does not allow of it at all. Supposing you cut the earth
into two portions by a line drawn through the poles, you can find no
sufficient cause for dividing the eastern and western hemispheres into six
zones; on the other hand, five would be preferable. For since both the
portions of the torrid zone, divided by the equator, are similar and
contiguous to each other, it would seem out of place and superfluous to

separate them; whereas the temperate and frigid zones respectively
resemble each other, although lying apart. Wherefore, supposing the whole
earth to consist of these two hemispheres, it is sufficient to divide them into
five zones. If there be a temperate region under the equator, as Eratosthenes
asserts, and is admitted by Polybius, (who adds, that it is the most elevated
part of the earth,643 and consequently subject to the drenching rains
occasioned by the monsoons bringing up from the north innumerable
clouds, which discharge themselves on the highest lands,) it would be better
to suppose this a third narrow temperate zone, than to extend the two
temperate zones within the circles of the tropics. This supposition is
supported by the statements of Posidonius, that the course of the sun,
whether in the ecliptic, or from east to west, appears most rapid in the
region [of which we are speaking], because the rotations of that luminary
are performed with a speed increased in proportion to the greater size of the
circle.644
3. Posidonius blames Polybius for asserting that the region of the earth,
situated under the equator, is the highest, since a spherical body being equal
all round, no part can be described as high; and as to mountainous districts,
there are none under the equator, it is on the contrary a flat country, about
the same level as the sea; as for the rains which swell the Nile, they descend
from the mountains of Ethiopia. Although advancing this, he afterwards
seems to adopt the other opinion, for he says that he fancies there may be
mountains under the equator, around which the clouds assembling from
both of the temperate zones, produce violent rains. Here is one manifest
contradiction; again, in stating that the land under the equator is
mountainous, another contradiction appears. For they say that the ocean is
confluent, how then can they place mountains in the midst of it? unless they
mean to say that there are islands. However, whether such be the fact does
not lie within the province of geography to determine, the inquiry would
better be left to him who makes the ocean in particular his study.
4. Posidonius, in speaking of those who have sailed round Africa, tells us
that Herodotus was of opinion that some of those sent out by Darius
actually performed this enterprise;645 and that Heraclides of Pontus, in a
certain dialogue, introduces one of the Magi presenting himself to Gelon,646
and declaring that he had performed this voyage; but he remarks that this

wants proof. He also narrates how a certain Eudoxus of Cyzicus,647 sent
with sacrifices and oblations to the Corean games,648 travelled into Egypt in
the reign of Euergetes II.;649 and being a learned man, and much interested
in the peculiarities of different countries, he made interest with the king and
his ministers on the subject, but especially for exploring the Nile. It chanced
that a certain Indian was brought to the king by the [coast]-guard of the
Arabian Gulf. They reported that they had found him in a ship, alone, and
half dead: but that they neither knew who he was, nor where he came from,
as he spoke a language they could not understand. He was placed in the
hands of preceptors appointed to teach him the Greek language. On
acquiring which, he related how he had started from the coasts of India, but
lost his course, and reached Egypt alone, all his companions having
perished with hunger; but that if he were restored to his country he would
point out to those sent with him by the king, the route by sea to India.
Eudoxus was of the number thus sent. He set sail with a good supply of
presents, and brought back with him in exchange aromatics and precious
stones, some of which the Indians collect from amongst the pebbles of the
rivers, others they dig out of the earth, where they have been formed by the
moisture, as crystals are formed with us.650
[He fancied that he had made his fortune], however, he was greatly
deceived, for Euergetes took possession of the whole treasure. On the death
of that prince, his widow, Cleopatra,651 assumed the reins of government,
and Eudoxus was again despatched with a richer cargo than before. On his
journey back, he was carried by the winds above Ethiopia, and being
thrown on certain [unknown] regions, he conciliated the inhabitants by
presents of grain, wine, and cakes of pressed figs, articles which they were
without; receiving in exchange a supply of water, and guides for the
journey. He also wrote down several words of their language, and having
found the end of a prow, with a horse carved on it, which he was told
formed part of the wreck of a vessel coming from the west, he took it with
him, and proceeded on his homeward course. He arrived safely in Egypt,
where no longer Cleopatra, but her son,652 ruled; but he was again stripped
of every thing on the accusation of having appropriated to his own uses a
large portion of the merchandise sent out.

However, he carried the prow into the market-place, and exhibited it to the
pilots, who recognised it as being come from Gades.653 The merchants [of
that place] employing large vessels, but the lesser traders small ships, which
they style horses, from the figures of that animal borne on the prow, and in
which they go out fishing around Maurusia,654 as far as the Lixus.655 Some
of the pilots professed to recognise the prow as that of a vessel which had
sailed beyond the river Lixus, but had not returned.656
From this Eudoxus drew the conclusion, that it was possible to
circumnavigate Libya; he therefore returned home, and having collected
together the whole of his substance, set out on his travels. First he visited
Dicæarchia,657 and then Marseilles, and afterwards traversed the whole
coast as far as Gades. Declaring his enterprise everywhere as he journeyed,
he gathered money sufficient to equip a great ship, and two boats,
resembling those used by pirates. On board these he placed singing girls,
physicians, and artisans of various kinds, and launching into open sea, was
carried towards India by steady westerly winds.658 However, they who
accompanied him becoming wearied with the voyage, steered their course
towards land, but much against his will, as he dreaded the force of the ebb
and flow. What he feared actually occurred. The ship grounded, but gently,
so that it did not break up at once, but fell to pieces gradually, the goods and
much of the timber of the ship being saved. With these he built a third
vessel, closely resembling a ship of fifty oars, and continuing his voyage,
came amongst a people who spoke the same language as that some words of
which he had on a former occasion committed to writing. He further
discovered, that they were men of the same stock as those other Ethiopians,
and also resembled those of the kingdom of Bogus.659 However, he
abandoned his [intended] voyage to India, and returned home. On his
voyage back he observed an uninhabited island, well watered and wooded,
and carefully noted its position. Having reached Maurusia in safety, he
disposed of his vessels, and travelled by land to the court of Bogus. He
recommended that sovereign to undertake an expedition thither.
This, however, was prevented on account of the fear of the [king’s]
advisers, lest the district should chance to expose them to treachery, by
making known a route by which foreigners might come to attack them.
Eudoxus, however, became aware, that although it was given out that he

was himself to be sent on this proposed expedition, the real intent was to
abandon him on some desert island. He therefore fled to the Roman
territory, and passed thence into Iberia. Again, he equipped two vessels, one
round and the other long, furnished with fifty oars, the latter framed for
voyaging in the high seas, the other for coasting along the shores. He placed
on board agricultural implements, seed, and builders, and hastened on the
same voyage, determined, if it should prove too long, to winter on the
island he had before observed, sow his seed, and having reaped the harvest,
complete the expedition he had intended from the beginning.
5. “Thus far,” says Posidonius, “I have followed the history of Eudoxus.
What happened afterwards is probably known to the people of Gades and
Iberia;” “but,” says he, “all these things only demonstrate more clearly the
fact, that the inhabited earth is entirely surrounded by the ocean.”
“By no continent fettered in,
But boundless in its flow, and free from soil.”

Posidonius is certainly a most strange writer; he considers that the voyage
of the Magus,660 related by Heraclides, wants sufficient evidence, and also
the account given by Herodotus of those sent out [to explore] by Darius.
But this Bergæan661 nonsense, either the coinage of his own brain, or of
some other story-teller, in whom he trusts, he pretends to be worthy of our
belief. But in the first place, what is there credible in this tale of the Indian
missing his way? The Arabian Gulf, which resembles a river, is narrow, and
in length is from 5000 to 10,000 stadia up to its mouth, where it is
narrowest of all. It is not likely that the Indians in their voyage out would
have entered this Gulf by mistake. The extreme narrowness of the mouth
must have warned them of their error. And if they entered it voluntarily,
then there was no excuse for introducing the pretext of mistake and
uncertain winds. And how did they suffer all of themselves but one to perish
through hunger? And how was it that this surviver was able to manage the
ship, which could not have been a small one either, fitted as it was for
traversing such vast seas? What must have been his aptitude in learning the
language of the country, and thus being able to persuade the king of his
competence, as leader of the expedition? And how came it that Euergetes
was in want of such guides, so many being already acquainted with this
sea? How was it that he who was sent by the inhabitants of Cyzicus to carry

libations and sacrifices, should forsake his city and sail for India? How was
it that so great an affair was intrusted to him? And how came it that on his
return, after being deprived of every thing contrary to expectation, and
disgraced, a yet larger cargo of goods was intrusted to him? And when he
had again returned into Ethiopia, what cause induced him to write down the
words, or to inquire whence came the portion of the prow of the boat? For
to learn that it was a ship of some sailing from the west, would have been
no information to him, as he himself would have to sail from the west on
his voyage back. When, on his return to Alexandria, he was detected in
having appropriated to himself much of the merchandise, how came it that
he was not punished, but allowed to go about interrogating the pilots, and
exhibiting his bit of prow? And that one of these fellows actually
recognised the relic, is it not delicious! Eudoxus too believed it, this is still
richer; and inspired by the hope, hastens home, and then starts on a voyage
beyond the Pillars of Hercules! But he could never have left Alexandria
without a passport, still less after having stolen the royal property. To set
sail on the sly was impossible, as the port and every other exit was kept by a
numerous guard, which still exists, as we very well know who have lived in
Alexandria for a long time, although it is not so strict since the Romans
have had possession, but under the kings the guards were infinitely more
alert. But allowing that he reached Gades, that he there constructed ships,
and sailed thence with quite a royal fleet, when his vessel was shattered, by
what means was he able to construct a third boat in a desert land? And
when, being again on his voyage, he found that the Ethiopians of the West
spoke the same language as those of the East, how came it that he, so proud
of his travelling propensities, forgot the completion of his voyage, when he
must have had so good an expectation that there was but little now left
unexplored, but relinquishing these prospects, set his mind on the
expedition being undertaken by Bogus? How did he become acquainted
with the snare spread for him by that king? And what advantage would have
accrued to Bogus by making away with the man, rather than by dismissing
him? When Eudoxus learned the plot against himself, what means had he to
escape to safer quarters? It is true that not one of these situations was
actually impossible, but still they were difficult circumstances, such as one
rarely escapes from by any prosperous fortune. How ever, he always came
off with good luck, notwithstanding he was never out of danger. Besides
this, how did it happen, that having escaped from Bogus, he was not afraid

to sail round Africa a second time, with all the requisites for taking up his
abode on the island? All this too closely resembles the falsehoods of
Pytheas, Euhemerus, and Antiphanes. They however may be pardoned; for
their only aim was that of the juggler. But who can forgive a demonstrator
and philosopher, and one too striving to be at the head of their order? it is
really too bad!
6. However, he is right in attributing to earthquakes and other similar
causes, which we also have enumerated, the risings, slips, and changes
which at various periods come over the earth. He did well, too, in citing the
opinion of Plato, “that the tradition concerning the Island of Atlantis might
be received as something more than a mere fiction, it having been related
by Solon on the authority of the Egyptian priests, that this island, almost as
large as a continent, was formerly in existence, although now it had
disappeared.” Posidonius thinks it better to quote this than to say, “He who
brought it into existence can also cause it to disappear, as the poet did the
wall of the Achivi.”662 He (Posidonius) is also of opinion that the
emigration of the Cimbrians and other kindred races from their native
territory, was gradual, and occasioned by the inundation of the sea, and by
no means a sudden movement.663 He supposes that the length of the
inhabited earth is about 70,000 stadia, being the half of the whole circle on
which it is taken; so that, says he, starting from the west, one might, aided
by a continual east wind, reach India in so many thousand stadia.
7. Next he undertakes to find fault with those who gave to the continents
their present division, instead of marking them out by lines drawn parallel
to the equator, by which means the different animals, plants, and
temperatures would have been distinguished, according as they approached
the frigid or the torrid zones; so that each continent would have formed a
kind of zone. Afterwards, however, he overturns and gives up altogether
this view, bestowing every commendation on the existing system, and thus
making his argument altogether worthless and of no avail. In fact, the
various arrangements [of a country] are not the result of premeditation, any
more than the diversities of nations or languages; they all depend on
circumstances and chance. Arts, forms of government, and modes of life,
arising from certain [internal] springs, flourish under whatever climate they
may be situated; climate, however, has its influence, and therefore while
some peculiarities are due to the nature of the country, others are the result

of institutions and education. It is not owing to the nature of the country, but
rather to their education, that the Athenians cultivate eloquence, while the
Lacedæmonians do not; nor yet the Thebans, who are nearer still. Neither
are the Babylonians and Egyptians philosophers by nature, but by reason of
their institutions and education. In like manner the excellence of horses,
oxen, and other animals, results not alone from the places where they dwell,
but also from their breeding. Posidonius confounds all these distinctions.
In praising the division of the continents as it now stands, he advances as an
argument the difference between the Indians and the Ethiopians of Libya,
the former being more robust, and less dried by the heat of the climate. It is
on this account that Homer, who includes them all under the title of
Ethiopians, describes them as being separated into two divisions,
“These eastward situate, those toward the west.”664

[Crates], to support his hypothesis, supposes another inhabited earth, of
which Homer certainly knew nothing; and says that the passage ought to be
read thus, “towards the descending sun,” viz. when having passed the
meridian, it begins to decline.
8. First, then, the Ethiopians next Egypt are actually separated into two
divisions; one part being in Asia, the other in Libya, otherwise there is no
distinction between them. But it was not on this account that Homer divided
the Ethiopians, nor yet because he was acquainted with the physical
superiority of the Indians, (for it is not probable that Homer had the
slightest idea of the Indians, since, according to the assertion of Eudoxus,
Euergetes was both ignorant of India, and of the voyage thither,) but his
division rather resulted from the cause we formerly mentioned. We have
shown that as for the alteration of Crates, it makes no difference whether it
be read so or not. Posidonius, however, says that it does make a difference,
and would be better altered into “towards the descending [sun].” But in
what can this be said to differ from “towards the west,” since the whole
section of the hemisphere west of the meridian is styled “the west,” not only
the mere semicircle of the horizon. This is manifested by the following
expression of Aratus,
“Where the extremities of the west and east blend together.”665

However, if the reading of Posidonius be preferable to that of Crates, any
one may likewise claim for it a superiority over that of Aristarchus. So
much for Posidonius. There are, however, many particulars relating to
Geography, which we shall bring under discussion; others relating to
Physics, which must be examined elsewhere, or altogether disregarded; for
he is much too fond of imitating Aristotle’s propensity for diving into
causes, a subject which we [Stoics] scrupulously avoid, simply because of
the extreme darkness in which all causes are enveloped.

CHAPTER IV.

1. Polybius, in his Chorography of Europe, tells us that it is not his intention
to examine the writings of the ancient geographers, but the statements of
those who have criticised them, such as Dicæarchus, Eratosthenes, (who
was the last of those who [in his time] had laboured on geography,) and
Pytheas, by whom many have been deceived. It is this last writer who states
that he travelled all over Britain on foot, and that the island is above 40,000
stadia in circumference. It is likewise he who describes Thule and other
neighbouring places, where, according to him, neither earth, water, nor air
exist, separately, but a sort of concretion of all these, resembling marine
sponge, in which the earth, the sea, and all things were suspended, thus
forming, as it were, a link to unite the whole together. It can neither be
travelled over nor sailed through. As for the substance, he affirms that he
has beheld it with his own eyes; the rest, he reports on the authority of
others. So much for the statements of Pytheas, who tells us, besides, that
after he had returned thence, he traversed the whole coasts of Europe from
Gades to the Don.
2. Polybius asks, “How is it possible that a private individual, and one too
in narrow circumstances, could ever have performed such vast expeditions
by sea and land? And how could Eratosthenes, who hesitates whether he
may rely on his statements in general, place such entire confidence in what
that writer narrates concerning Britain, Gades, and Iberia?” says he, “it
would have been better had Eratosthenes trusted to the Messenian666 rather
than to this writer. The former merely pretends to have sailed into one

[unknown] country, viz. Panchæa, but the latter, that he has visited the
whole of the north of Europe as far as the ends of the earth; which
statement, even had it been made by Mercury, we should not have believed.
Nevertheless Eratosthenes, who terms Euhemerus a Bergæan, gives credit
to Pytheas, although even Dicæarchus would not believe him.”
This argument, “although even Dicæarchus would not believe him,” is
ridiculous, just as if Eratosthenes ought to take for his standard a writer
whom Polybius is himself for ever complaining of.667
The ignorance of Eratosthenes respecting the western and northern portions
of Europe, we have before remarked. But both he and Dicæarchus must be
pardoned for this, as neither of them were personally familiar with those
localities. But how can one excuse Polybius and Posidonius? especially
Polybius, who treats as mere hearsay what Eratosthenes and Dicæarchus
report concerning the distances of various places; and many other matters,
about which, though he blames them, he is not himself free from error.
Dicæarchus states that there are 10,000 stadia from the Peloponnesus to the
Pillars, and something above this number from the Peloponnesus to the
recess of the Adriatic.668 He supposes 3000 stadia between the
Peloponnesus and the Strait of Sicily; thus there would remain 7000
between the Strait of Sicily and the Pillars.669
“I will not inquire,” says Polybius, “whether the statement concerning the
3000 stadia is correct or not, but 7000 stadia is not the correct measure
[from the Strait of Messina to the Pillars of Hercules], whether taken along
the sea-shore, or right across the sea. The coast closely resembles an obtuse
angle, one side reaching to the Strait of Sicily, the other to the Pillars, the
vertex being Narbonne. Now let a triangle be constructed, having for its
base a right line drawn through the sea, and its sides forming the
aforementioned angle. The side reaching from the Strait of Sicily to
Narbonne is above 11,200 stadia, while the other is below 8000. Now the
greatest distance from Europe to Libya, across the Tyrrhenian Sea,670 is not
above 3000 stadia, and across the Sea of Sardinia671 it is less still. But
supposing that it too is 3000 stadia, add to this 2000 stadia, the depth of the
bay at Narbonne, as a perpendicular from the vertex to the base of the
obtuse-angled triangle. It will, then, be clear even to the geometrical powers
of a child, that the entire coast from the Strait of Sicily to the Pillars, does

not exceed by more than 500 stadia the right line drawn across the sea;
adding to these the 3000 stadia from the Peloponnesus to the Strait of
Sicily, the whole taken together will give a straight line672 above double the
length assigned by Dicæarchus; and, according to his system, you must add
in addition to these the stadia at the recess of the Adriatic.”
3. True, dear Polybius, (one might say,) this error [of Dicæarchus] is
manifested by the proof which you yourself have given when you inform us
that from the Peloponnesus to Leucas673 there are 700 stadia; from thence
to Corcyra674 the same number; and the same number again from Corcyra
to the Ceraunian Mountains;675 and from the Ceraunian Mountains to
Iapygia,676 following the coast of Illyria on the right, 6150 stadia.677 But
the statement of Dicæarchus, that the distance from the Strait of Sicily to
the Pillars is 7000 stadia, and also your view of the matter, are both of them
equally incorrect. For almost every one is agreed that the distance measured
straight across the sea is 12,000 stadia, and this coincides with the received
calculation of the length of the inhabited earth, which is estimated at above
70,000 stadia; the western portion of this from the Gulf of Issus678 to the
extreme western point of Iberia is little less than 30,000 stadia, and is thus
calculated: from the Gulf of Issus to Rhodes 5000 stadia; from thence to
Cape Salmonium,679 which forms the eastern extremity of Crete, 1000; the
length of Crete to Criu-metopon680 above 2000; thence to Cape
Pachynus681 in Sicily 4500, and from Pachynus to the Strait of Sicily above
1000 stadia; the run from the Strait to the Pillars 12,000; and lastly, from
the Pillars to the extremity of the said promontory682 of Iberia, about 3000
stadia.683
In addition to this, the perpendicular684 is not correct, supposing it true that
Narbonne lies under almost the same parallel as Marseilles, and that this
latter place is under the same parallel as Byzantium; which is the opinion of
Hipparchus. Now the line drawn across the sea lies under the same parallel
as the Strait [of the Pillars] and Rhodes; and the distance from Rhodes to
Byzantium, which both lie under the same meridian, is estimated at about
5000 stadia; to which the above-mentioned perpendicular ought to be equal.
But since they say that from the recess of the Galatic Gulf, the greatest
distance across the sea from Europe to Libya is 5000 stadia, it seems to me

that either there is some error in this statement, or that at this point Libya
must incline very much to the north, and so come under the same parallel as
the Pillars. Polybius is likewise mistaken in telling us that this said
perpendicular terminates close to Sardinia; for instead of being close to
Sardinia, it is far west thereof, having almost the whole of the sea of
Liguria685 between it and that island. Besides this he makes the length of
the sea-coast too great; but this [error] is not so considerable [as the two
preceding].
4. After this Polybius proceeds to set right the mistakes of Eratosthenes. In
this he is sometimes successful; at others his corrections are for the worse.
For example, Eratosthenes gives 300 stadia from Ithaca to Corcyra;
Polybius makes it above 900. From Epidamnus to Thessalonica
Eratosthenes allows 900 stadia; Polybius says above 2000. In these
instances he is correct. But where Eratosthenes states that from Marseilles
to the Pillars there are 7000 stadia, and from the Pyrenees [to the same
place] 6000, and Polybius alters this to more than 9000 from Marseilles,
and little less than 8000 from the Pyrenees,686 he is quite mistaken, and not
so near to the truth as Eratosthenes. For all are now agreed that, barring the
indirectness of the roads, the whole length of Iberia is not more than 6000
stadia687 from the Pyrenees to its western limits; notwithstanding Polybius
gives 8000 stadia for the length of the river Tagus, from its source to its
outlets, and this in a straight line without any reference to its sinuosities,
which in fact never enter into the geographical estimate, although the
sources of the Tagus are above 1000 stadia from the Pyrenees. His remark is
quite correct, that Eratosthenes knew little about Iberia, and on this account
sometimes makes conflicting statements concerning it. He tells us, for
example, that the portion of this country situated on the sea-coast as far as
Gades is inhabited by Galatæ,688 who possess western Europe as far as
Gades; nevertheless, in his account of Iberia he seems quite to have
forgotten this, and makes no mention of these Galatæ whatever.
5. Again, however, Polybius makes an incorrect assertion, in stating that the
whole length of Europe is unequal to that of Africa and Asia taken together.
He tells us “that the entrance at the Pillars corresponds in direction to the
equinoctial west, and that the Don flows from the summer rising,
consequently the length of Europe is less than that of Asia and Africa taken

together by the space between the summer rising689 and the equinoctial
rising,690 since Asia occupies the eastern portion of the northern semicircle.
Now, in addition to the obscurity which Polybius throws over subjects
which might have been simply stated, it is false that the river Don flows
from the summer rising. For all who are acquainted with these localities
inform us that this river flows from the north into the Mæotis, so that the
mouth of the river lies under the same meridian as that of the Mæotis; and
so in fact does the whole river as far as is known.691
6. Equally unworthy of credit is the statement of those who tell us, that the
Don rises in the vicinity of the Danube, and flows from the west; they do
not remember that between these are the Dniester, the Dnieper, and the Bog,
all great rivers, which flow [into the Euxine Sea]; one runs parallel to the
Danube, the other two to the Don. Now if at the present day we are ignorant
of the sources both of the Dniester, and also of the Dnieper and Bog, the
regions farther north must certainly be still less known. It is therefore a
fictitious and idle assertion, that the Don crosses these rivers, and then turns
northward on its way to discharge itself into the Mæotis, it being well
known that the outlets to this river are in the most northern and eastern
portions of the lake.692
No less idle is the statement which has also been advanced, that the Don,
after crossing the Caucasus, flows northward, and then turns towards the
Mæotis.693 No one, however, [with the exception of Polybius,] made this
river flow from the east. If such were its course, our best geographers would
never have told us that its direction was contrary to that of the Nile, and, so
to speak, diametrically opposite thereto, as if the course of both rivers lay
under the same meridian.
7. Further, the length of the inhabited earth is measured on a line parallel
with the equator, as it is in this direction that its greatest length lies: in the
same way with respect to each of the continents, we must take their length
as it lies between two meridians. The measure of these lengths consists of a
certain number of stadia, which we obtain either by going over the places
themselves, or roads or ways parallel thereto. Polybius abandons this
method, and adopts the new way of taking the segment of the northern
semicircle comprised between the summer rising and the equinoctial rising.
But no one ought to calculate by variable rules or measures in determining

the length of fixed distances: nor yet should he make use of the phenomena
of the heavens, which appear different when observed from different points,
for distances which have their length determined by themselves and remain
unchanged. The length of a country never varies, but depends upon itself;
whereas, the equinoctial rising and setting, and the summer and winter
rising and setting, depend not on themselves, but on our position [with
respect to them]. As we shift from place to place, the equinoctial rising and
setting, and the winter and summer rising and setting, shift with us; but the
length of a continent always remains the same. To make the Don and the
Nile the bounds of these continents, is nothing out of the way, but it is
something strange to employ for this purpose the equinoctial rising and the
summer rising.
8. Of the many promontories formed by Europe, a better description is
given by Polybius than by Eratosthenes; but even his is not sufficient.
Eratosthenes only names three; one at the Pillars of Hercules, where Iberia
is situated; a second at the Strait of Sicily, and containing Italy; the third
terminated by the Cape of Malea,694 comprising all the countries situated
between the Adriatic, the Euxine, and the Don. The two former of these
Polybius describes in the same manner as Eratosthenes, but the third, which
is equally terminated by the Cape of Malea695 and Cape Sunium,696 [he
makes to] comprehend the whole of Greece, Illyria, and some portion of
Thrace. [He supposes] a fourth, containing the Thracian Chersonesus and
the countries contiguous to the Strait,697 betwixt Sestos and Abydos. This is
occupied by the Thracians. Also a fifth, about the Kimmerian Bosphorus
and the mouth of the Mæotis. Let us allow [to Polybius] his two former
[promontories], they are clearly distinguished by unmistakeable bays; the
first by the bay between Calpé698 and the Sacred Promontory699 where
Gades700 is situated, as also by the sea between the Pillars and Sicily; the
second701 by the latter sea and the Adriatic,702 although it may be objected
that the extremity of Iapygia,703 being a promontory in itself, causes Italy to
have a double cape. But as for the remaining [promontories of Polybius],
they are plainly much more irregular, and composed of many parts, and
require some other division. So likewise his plan of dividing [Europe] into
six parts, similar to that of the promontories, is liable to objection.

However, we will set to rights each of these errors separately, as we meet
with them, as well as the other blunders into which he has fallen in his
description of Europe, and the journey round Africa. For the present we
think that we have sufficiently dwelt on those of our predecessors whom we
have thought proper to introduce as testimonies in our behalf, that both in
the matter of correction and addition we had ample cause to undertake the
present work.

CHAPTER V.

1. After these criticisms on the writers who have preceded us, we must
now confine our attention to the fulfilment of our promise. We start with a
maxim we laid down at the commencement, that whoever undertakes to
write a Chorography, should receive as axioms certain physical and
mathematical propositions, and frame the rest of his work in accordance
with, and in full reliance on, these principles. We have already stated [our
opinion], that neither builder nor architect could build house or city
properly and as it ought to be, unless acquainted with the clima of the place,
its position in respect to celestial appearances, its shape, magnitude, degree
of heat and cold, and similar facts; much less should he [be without such
information] who undertakes to describe the situation of the various regions
of the inhabited earth.
Represent to the mind on one and the same plane-surface Iberia and India
with the intermediate countries, and define likewise the west, the east, and
the south, which are common to every country. To a man already acquainted
with the arrangement and motions of the heavens, and aware that in reality
the surface of the earth is spherical, although here for the sake of illustration
represented as a plane, this will give a sufficiently exact idea of the
geographical [position of the various countries], but not to one who is
unacquainted with those matters. The tourist travelling over vast plains like
those of Babylon, or journeying by sea, may fancy that the whole country
stretched before, behind, and on either side of him is a plane-surface; he
may be unacquainted with the counter-indications of the celestial
phenomena, and with the motions and appearance of the sun and stars, in

respect to us. But such facts as these should ever be present to the mind of
those who compose Geographies. The traveller, whether by sea or land, is
directed by certain common appearances, which answer equally for the
direction both of the unlearned and of the man of the world. Ignorant of
astronomy, and unacquainted with the varied aspect of the heavens, he
beholds the sun rise and set, and attain the meridian, but without
considering how this takes place. Such knowledge could not aid the object
he has in view, any more than to know whether the country he chances to be
in may be under the same latitude as his own or not. Even should he bestow
a slight attention to the subject, on all mathematical points he will adopt the
opinions of the place; and every country has certain mistaken views of these
matters. But it is not for any particular nation, nor for the man of the world
who cares nothing for abstract mathematics, still less is it for the reaper or
ditcher, that the geographer labours; but it is for him who is convinced that
the earth is such as mathematicians declare it to be, and who admits every
other fact resulting from this hypothesis. He requests that those who
approach him shall have already settled this in their minds as a fact, that
they may be able to lend their whole attention to other points. He will
advance nothing which is not a consequence of these primary facts;
therefore those who hear him, if they have a knowledge of mathematics,
will readily be able to turn his instructions to account; for those who are
destitute of this information he does not pretend to expound Geography.
2. Those who write on the science of Geography should trust entirely for the
arrangement of the subject they are engaged on to the geometers, who have
measured the whole earth; they in their turn to astronomers; and these again
to natural philosophers. Now natural philosophy is one of the perfect
sciences.704
The “perfect sciences” they define as those which, depending on no
external hypothesis, have their origin, and the evidence of their
propositions, in themselves. Here are a few of the facts established by
natural philosophers.705
The earth and heavens are spheroidal.
The tendency of all bodies having weight, is to a centre.

Further, the earth being spheroidal, and having the same centre as the
heavens, is motionless, as well as the axis which passes through both it and
the heavens. The heavens turn round both the earth and its axis, from east to
west. The fixed stars turn round with it, at the same rate as the whole.706
These fixed stars follow in their course parallel circles; the principal of
which are, the equator, the two tropics, and the arctic circles. While the
planets, the sun, and the moon, describe certain oblique circles
comprehended within the zodiac. Admitting these points in whole or in part,
astronomers proceed to treat of other matters, [such as] the motions [of the
stars], their revolutions, eclipses, size, relative distance, and a thousand
similar particulars. On their side, geometers, when measuring the size of the
entire earth, avail themselves of the data furnished by the natural
philosopher and astronomer; and the geographer on his part makes use of
those of the geometer.
3. The heavens and the earth must be supposed to be divided each into five
zones, and the celestial zones to possess the same names as those below.
The motives for such a division into zones we have already detailed. These
zones may be distinguished by circles drawn parallel to the equator, on
either side of it. Two of these will separate the torrid from the temperate
zones, and the remaining two, the temperate from the frigid. To each
celestial circle there shall be one corresponding on earth, and bearing the
same name, and likewise zone for zone. The [two] zones capable of being
inhabited, are styled temperate. The remaining [three] are uninhabitable,
one on account of the heat, the others because of the extreme cold. The
same is the case with regard to the tropical, and also to the arctic circles, in
respect of those countries for which arctic circles can be said to exist.
Circles on the earth are supposed, corresponding to those in the heavens,
and bearing the same name, one for one.
As the whole heaven is separated into two parts by its equator, it follows
that the earth must, by its equator, be similarly divided. The two
hemispheres, both celestial and terrestrial, are distinguished into north and
south. Likewise the torrid zone, which is divided into two halves by the
equator, is distinguished as having a northern and southern side. Hence it is
evident that of the two temperate zones, one should be called northern, the
other southern, according to the hemisphere to which it belongs. The
northern hemisphere is that containing the temperate zone, in which looking

from east to west, you will have the pole on your right hand, and the
equator on the left, or, in which, looking south, the west will be on the right
hand, and the east on the left. The southern hemisphere is exactly the
contrary to this.
It is clear that we are in one or other of these hemispheres, namely, the
north; we cannot be in both:
“Broad rivers roll, and awful floods between,
But chief the ocean.”707

And next is the torrid zone. But neither is there any ocean in the midst of
the earth wherein we dwell, dividing the whole thereof, nor yet have we any
torrid region. Nor is there any portion of it to be found in which the climata
are opposite to those which have been described as characterizing the
northern temperate zone.
4. Assuming these data, and availing himself likewise of astronomical
observations, by which the position of every place is properly determined,
whether with respect to the circles parallel to the equator, or to those which
cut these latter at right angles, in the direction of the poles, the geometer
measures the region in which he dwells, and [judges of the extent of] others
by comparing the distance [between the corresponding celestial signs]. By
this means he discovers the distance from the equator to the pole, which is a
quarter of the largest circle of the earth; having obtained this, he has only to
multiply by four, the result is the [measure of the] perimeter of the globe.
In the same manner as he who takes the measures of the earth, borrows the
foundation of his calculations from the astronomer, who himself is indebted
to the natural philosopher, so in like manner the geographer adopts certain
facts laid down as established by the geometer, before setting forth his
description of the earth we inhabit; its size, form, nature, and the proportion
it bears to the whole earth. These latter points are the peculiar business of
the geographer. He will next enter on a particular description of every thing
deserving notice, whether on land or sea; he will likewise point out
whatever has been improperly stated by those who have preceded him,
especially by those who are regarded as chief authorities in these matters.708

5. Let it be supposed that the earth and sea together form a spheroidal body,
and preserve one and the same level in all the seas. For though some
portions of the earth may be higher, yet this bears so small a relation to the
size of the whole mass, as need not be noticed. The spheroid in
consequence is not so minutely exact as one might be made by the aid of a
turner’s instrument, or as would answer the definition of a geometer, still in
general appearance, and looked at roughly, it is a spheroid. Let the earth be
supposed to consist of five zones, with (1.) the equatorial circle described
round it, (2.) another parallel to this,709 and defining the frigid zone of the
northern hemisphere, and (3.) a circle passing through the poles, and cutting
the two preceding circles at right angles. The northern hemisphere contains
two quarters of the earth, which are bounded by the equator and the circle
passing through the poles.
Each of these [quarters] should be supposed to contain a four-sided district,
its northern side being composed of one half of the parallel next the pole; its
southern, by the half of the equator; and its remaining sides, by [two]
segments of the circle drawn through the poles, opposite to each other, and
equal in length. In one of these quadrilaterals (which of them is of no
consequence) the earth that we inhabit is situated, surrounded by sea, and
similar to an island. This, as we said before, is evident both to our senses
and to our reason. But should any one doubt thereof, it makes no difference
so far as Geography is concerned, whether you suppose the portion of the
earth we inhabit to be an island, or only admit what we know from
experience, viz. that whether you start from the east or west, you may sail
all round it. Certain intermediate spaces may have been left [unexplored],
but these are as likely to be occupied by sea, as uninhabited lands. The
object of the geographer is to describe known countries; those which are
unknown he passes over equally with those beyond the limits of the
inhabited earth. It will therefore be sufficient for describing the contour of
the island we have been speaking of, if we join by a right line the utmost
points which, up to this time, have been explored by voyagers along the
coast on either side.
6. Let it be supposed that this island is contained in one of the above
quadrilaterals; we must obtain its apparent magnitude by subtracting our
hemisphere from the whole extent of the earth, from this take the half, and
from this again the quadrilateral, in which we state our earth to be situated.

We may judge also by analogy of the figure of the whole earth, by
supposing that it accords with those parts with which we are acquainted.
Now as the portion of the northern hemisphere, between the equator and the
parallel next the [north] pole, resembles a vertebre or joint of the back-bone
in shape, and as the circle which passes through the pole divides at the same
time the hemisphere and the vertebre into two halves, thus forming the
quadrilateral; it is clear that this quadrilateral to which the Atlantic is
adjacent, is but the half of the vertebre; while at the same time the inhabited
earth, which is an island in this, and shaped like a chlamys or soldier’s
cloak, occupies less than the half of the quadrilateral. This is evident from
geometry, also710 from the extent of the surrounding sea, which covers the
extremities of the continents on either side, compressing them into a smaller
figure, and thirdly, by the greatest length and breadth [of the earth itself].
The length being 70,000 stadia, enclosed almost entirely by a sea,
impossible to navigate owing to its wildness and vast extent, and the
breadth 30,000 stadia, bounded by regions rendered uninhabitable on
account either of their intense heat or cold. That portion of the quadrilateral
which is unfitted for habitation on account of the heat, contains in breadth
8800 stadia, and in its greatest length 126,000 stadia, which is equal to one
half of the equator, and larger than one half the inhabited earth; and what is
left is still more.
7. These calculations are nearly synonymous with those furnished by
Hipparchus, who tells us, that supposing the size of the globe as stated by
Eratosthenes to be correct, we can then subtract from it the extent of the
inhabited earth, since in noting the celestial appearances [as they are seen]
in different countries, it is not of much importance whether we make use of
this measure, or that furnished by later writers. Now as the whole circle of
the equator according to Eratosthenes contains 252,000 stadia, the quarter
of this would be 63,000, that is, the space from the equator to the pole
contains fifteen of the sixty divisions711 into which the equator itself is
divided. There are four [divisions] between the equator and the summer
tropic or parallel passing through Syene. The distances for each locality are
calculated by the astronomical observations.
It is evident that Syene is under the tropic, from the fact that during the
summer solstice the gnomon at mid-day casts no shadow there. As for the
meridian of Syene, it follows very nearly the course of the Nile from Meroe

to Alexandria, a distance of about 10,000 stadia. Syene itself is situated
about midway between these places, consequently from thence to Meroe is
a distance of 5000 stadia. Advancing 3000 stadia southward in a right line,
we come to lands unfitted for habitation on account of the heat.
Consequently the parallel which bounds these places, and which is the same
as that of the Cinnamon Country, is to be regarded as the boundary and
commencement of the habitable earth on the south. If, then, 3000 stadia be
added to the 5000 between Syene and Meroe, there will be altogether 8000
stadia [from Syene] to the [southern] extremity of the habitable earth. But
from Syene to the equator there are 16,800 stadia, (for such is the amount of
the four-sixtieths, each sixtieth being equivalent to 4200 stadia,) and
consequently from the [southern] boundaries of the habitable earth to the
equator there are 8800 stadia, and from Alexandria 21,800.712 Again, every
one is agreed that the voyage from Alexandria to Rhodes, and thence by
Caria and Ionia to the Troad, Byzantium, and the Dnieper, is in a straight
line with the course of the Nile.713
Taking therefore these distances, which have been ascertained by voyages,
we have only to find out how far beyond the Dnieper the land is habitable,
(being careful always to continue in the same straight line,) and we shall
arrive at a knowledge of the northern boundaries of our earth.

Beyond the Dnieper dwell the Roxolani,714 the last of the Scythians with
which we are acquainted; they are nevertheless more south than the farthest
nations715 we know of beyond Britain. Beyond these Roxolani the country
is uninhabitable on account of the severity of the climate. The
Sauromatæ716 who live around the Mæotis, and the other Scythians717 as far
as the Scythians of the East, dwell farther south.
8. It is true that Pytheas of Marseilles affirms that the farthest country north
of the British islands is Thule; for which place he says the summer tropic
and the arctic circle is all one. But he records no other particulars
concerning it; [he does not say] whether Thule is an island, or whether it
continues habitable up to the point where the summer tropic becomes one
with the arctic circle.718 For myself, I fancy that the northern boundaries of
the habitable earth are greatly south of this. Modern writers tell us of
nothing beyond Ierne, which lies just north of Britain, where the people live

miserably and like savages on account of the severity of the cold. It is here
in my opinion the bounds of the habitable earth ought to be fixed.
If on the one hand the parallels of Byzantium and Marseilles are the same,
as Hipparchus asserts on the faith of Pytheas, (for he719 says that at
Byzantium the gnomon indicates the same amount of shadow as Pytheas
gives for Marseilles,) and at the same time the parallel of the Dnieper is
distant from Byzantium about 3800 stadia, it follows, if we take into
consideration the distance between Marseilles and Britain, that the circle
which passes over the Dnieper traverses Britain as well.720 But the truth is
that Pytheas, who so frequently misleads people, deceives in this instance
too.
It is generally admitted that a line drawn from the Pillars of Hercules, and
passing over the Strait [of Messina], Athens, and Rhodes, would lie under
the same parallel of latitude.721 It is likewise admitted, that the line in
passing from the Pillars to the Strait of Sicily divides the Mediterranean
through the midst.722 Navigators tell us that the greatest distance from
Keltica to Libya, starting from the bottom of the Galatic Bay, is 5000 stadia,
and that this is likewise the greatest breadth of the Mediterranean.
Consequently from the said line to the bottom of the bay is 2500 stadia; but
to Marseilles the distance is rather less, in consequence of that city being
more to the south than the bottom of the bay.723 But since from Rhodes to
Byzantium is about 4900724 stadia, it follows that Byzantium must be far
north of Marseilles.725 The distance from this latter city to Britain is about
the same as from Byzantium to the Dnieper.726 How far it may be from
Britain to the island of Ierne is not known. As to whether beyond it there
may still be habitable lands, it is not our business to inquire, as we stated
before. It is sufficient for our science to determine this in the same manner
that we did the southern boundaries. We there fixed the bounds of the
habitable earth at 3000 stadia south of Meroe (not that these were its exact
limits, but because they were sufficiently near); so in this instance they
should be placed about the same number of stadia north of Britain, certainly
not more than 4000.727
It would not serve any political purpose to be well acquainted with these
distant places and the people who inhabit them; especially if they are

islands whose inhabitants can neither injure us, nor yet benefit us by their
commerce. The Romans might easily have conquered Britain, but they did
not care to do so, as they perceived there was nothing to fear from the
inhabitants, (they not being powerful enough to attack us,) and that they
would gain nothing by occupying the land. Even now it appears that we
gain more by the customs they pay, than we could raise by tribute, after
deducting the wages of the soldiers necessary for guarding the island and
exacting the taxes. And the other islands adjacent to this would be still more
unproductive.
9. If, then, to the distance between Rhodes and the Dnieper be added four
thousand stadia north of the latter place, the whole would come to 12,700
stadia; and since from Rhodes to the southern limit of the habitable earth
there are 16,600 stadia, its total breadth from north to south would be under
30,000 stadia.728 Its length from west to east is stated at 70,000 stadia, the
distance being measured from the extremities of Iberia to those of India,
partly over the land and partly across the sea. That this length is contained
within the quadrilateral aforesaid, is proved by the proportion borne by
these parallels to the equator. Thus the length of the habitable earth is above
twice its breadth. It has been compared in figure to a chlamys, or soldier’s
cloak, because if every part be carefully examined, it will be found that its
breadth is greatly diminished towards the extremities, especially in the
west.
10. We have now been tracing upon a spherical surface the region which we
state to be occupied by the habitable earth; and whoever would represent
the real earth as near as possible by artificial means, should make a globe
like that of Crates, and upon this describe the quadrilateral within which his
chart of geography is to be placed. For this purpose, however, a large globe
is necessary, since the section mentioned, though but a very small portion of
the entire sphere, must be capable of properly containing all the regions of
the habitable earth, and presenting an accurate view of them to all those
who wish to consult it. Any one who is able will certainly do well to obtain
such a globe. But it should have a diameter of not less than ten feet: those
who cannot obtain a globe of this size, or one nearly as large, had better
draw their chart on a plane-surface, of not less than seven feet. Draw
straight lines, some parallel, for the parallels [of latitude], and others at right
angles to these; we may easily imagine how the eye can transfer the figure

and extent [of these lines] from a plane-surface to one that is spherical.
What we have just observed of the circles in general, may be said with
equal truth touching the oblique circles. On the globe it is true that the
meridians of each country passing the pole have a tendency to unite in a
single point, nevertheless on the plane-surface of the map, there would be
no advantage if the right lines alone which should represent the meridians
were drawn slightly to converge. The necessity for such a proceeding would
scarcely ever be really felt. Even on our globe itself729 the tendency of
those meridians (which are transferred to the map as right lines) to converge
is not much, nor any thing near so obvious as their circular tendency.
11. In what follows we shall suppose the chart drawn on a plane-surface;
and our descriptions shall consist of what we ourselves have observed in
our travels by land and sea, and of what we conceive to be credible in the
statements and writings of others. For ourselves, in a westerly direction we
have travelled from Armenia to that part of Tyrrhenia730 which is over
against Sardinia; and southward, from the Euxine to the frontiers of
Ethiopia.731 Of all the writers on Geography, not one can be mentioned who
has travelled over a wider extent of the countries described than we have.
Some may have gone farther to the west, but then they have never been so
far east as we have; again, others may have been farther east, but not so far
west; and the same with respect to north and south. However, in the main,
both we and they have availed ourselves of the reports of others, from
which to describe the form, the size, and the other peculiarities of the
country, what they are and how many, in the same way that the mind forms
its conceptions from the information of the senses. The figure, colour, and
size of an apple, its scent, feel to the touch, and its flavour, are particulars
communicated by the senses, from which the mind forms its conception of
an apple. So in large figures, the senses observe the various parts, while the
mind combines into one conception what is thus seen. And in like manner,
men eager after knowledge, trusting to those who have been to various
places, and to [the descriptions of] travellers in this or that country, gather
into one sketch a view of the whole habitable earth.
In the same way, the generals perform every thing, nevertheless, they are
not present every where, but most of their success depends on others, since
they are obliged to trust to messengers, and issue their commands in

accordance with the reports of others. To pretend that those only can know
who have themselves seen, is to deprive hearing of all confidence, which,
after all, is a better servant of knowledge than sight itself.
12. Writers of the present day can describe with more certainty [than
formerly] the Britons, the Germans, and the dwellers on either side of the
Danube, the Getæ,732 the Tyrigetæ, the Bastarnæ,733 the tribes dwelling by
the Caucasus, such as the Albanians and Iberians.734 We are besides
possessed of a description of Hyrcania735 and Bactriana in the Histories of
Parthia written by such men as Apollodorus of Artemita,736 who have
detailed the boundaries [of those countries] with greater accuracy than other
geographers.
The entrance of a Roman army into Arabia Felix under the command of my
friend and companion Ælius Gallus,737 and the traffic of the Alexandrian
merchants whose vessels pass up the Nile and Arabian Gulf738 to India,
have rendered us much better acquainted with these countries than our
predecessors were. I was with Gallus at the time he was prefect of Egypt,
and accompanied him as far as Syene and the frontiers of Ethiopia, and I
found that about one hundred and twenty ships sail from Myos-hormos739
to India, although, in the time of the Ptolemies, scarcely any one would
venture on this voyage and the commerce with the Indies.

13. Our first and most imperative duty740 then, both in respect to science
and to the necessities of the man of business, is to undertake to lay down
the projection of the different countries on the chart in as clear a style as
possible, and to signify at the same time the relation and proportion they
bear to the whole earth. For such is the geographer’s peculiar province. It
belongs to another science to give an exact description of the whole earth,
and of the entire vertebre of either zone, and as to whether the vertebre in
the opposite quarter of the earth is inhabited. That such is the case is most
probable, but not that it is inhabited by the same race of men as dwell with
us. And it must therefore be regarded as another habitable earth. We
however have only to describe our own.
14. In its figure the habitable earth resembles a chlamys, or soldier’s cloak,
the greatest breadth of which would be indicated by a line drawn in the
direction of the Nile, commencing from the parallel of the Cinnamon

Country, and the Island of the Egyptian Exiles, and terminating at the
parallel of Ierna; and its length by a line drawn from the west at right angles
to the former, passing by the Pillars of Hercules and the Strait of Sicily to
Rhodes and the Gulf of Issus,741 then proceeding along the chain of the
Taurus, which divides Asia, and terminating in the Eastern Ocean,742
between India and the Scythians dwelling beyond Bactriana.
We must therefore fancy to ourselves a parallelogram, and within it a
chlamys-shaped figure, described in such a manner that the length of the
one figure may correspond to the length and size of the other, and likewise
breadth to breadth. The habitable earth will therefore be represented by this
kind of chlamys. We have before said that its breadth is marked out by
parallels bounding its sides, and separating on either side the portions that
are habitable from those that are not. On the north [these parallels] pass
over Ierna,743 and on the side of the torrid zone over the Cinnamon Country.
These lines being produced east and west to the opposite extremities of the
habitable earth, form, when joined by the perpendiculars falling from their
extremities, a kind of parallelogram. That within this the habitable earth is
contained is evident, since neither its greatest breadth nor length project
beyond. That in configuration it resembles a chlamys is also clear, from the
fact that at either end of its length, the extremities taper to a point.744 Owing
to the encroachments of the sea, it also loses something in breadth. This we
know from those who have sailed round its eastern and western points.
They inform us that the island called Taprobana745 is much to the south of
India, but that it is nevertheless inhabited, and is situated opposite to the
island of the Egyptians and the Cinnamon Country, as the temperature of
their atmospheres is similar. On the other side the country about the
embouchure of the Hyrcanian Sea746 is farther north than the farthest
Scythians who dwell beyond India, and Ierna still more so. It is likewise
stated of the country beyond the Pillars of Hercules, that the most western
point of the habitable earth is the promontory of the Iberians named the
Sacred Promontory.747 It lies nearly in a line with Gades, the Pillars of
Hercules, the Strait of Sicily, and Rhodes;748 for they say that the horologes
accord, as also the periodical winds, and the duration of the longest nights
and days, which consist of fourteen and a half equinoctial hours. From the
coast of Gades and Iberia ... is said to have been formerly observed.749

Posidonius relates, that from the top of a high house in a town about 400
stadia distant from the places mentioned, he perceived a star which he
believed to be Canopus, both in consequence of the testimony of those who
having proceeded a little to the south of Iberia affirmed that they could
perceive it, and also of the tradition preserved at Cnidus; for the observatory
of Eudoxus, from whence he is reported to have viewed Canopus, is not
much higher than these houses; and Cnidus is under the same parallel as
Rhodes, which is likewise that of Gades and its sea-coast.
15. Sailing thence, Libya lies to the south. Its most western portions project
a little beyond Gades; it afterwards forms a narrow promontory receding
towards the east and south, and becoming slightly broader, till it touches
upon the western Ethiopians, who are the last750 of the nations situated
below Carthage, and adjoin the parallel of the Cinnamon Country. They, on
the contrary, who sail from the Sacred Promontory,751 towards the
Artabri,752 journey northwards, having Lusitania753 on the right hand. The
remaining portion forms an obtuse angle towards the east as far as the
extremities of the Pyrenees which terminate at the ocean. Northward and
opposite to this are the western coasts of Britain. Northward and opposite to
the Artabri are the islands denominated Cassiterides,754 situated in the high
seas, but under nearly the same latitude as Britain. From this it appears to
what a degree the extremities of the habitable earth are narrowed by the
surrounding sea.
16. Such being the configuration of the whole earth, it will be convenient to
take two straight lines, cutting each other at right angles, and running the
one through its greatest length, and the other through its breadth. The
former of these lines will represent one of the parallels, and the latter one of
the meridians.755 Afterwards we must imagine other lines parallel to either
of these respectively, and dividing both the land and sea with which we are
acquainted. By this means the form of the habitable earth will appear more
clearly to be such as we have described it; likewise the extent of the various
lines, whether traced through its length or breadth, and the latitudes [of
places], will also be more clearly distinguished, whether north or south, as
also [the longitudes] whether east or west. However, these right lines should
be drawn through places that are known. Two have already been thus fixed
upon, I mean the two middle [lines] running through its length and breadth,

which have been already explained, and by means of these the others may
easily be determined. These lines will serve us as marks to distinguish
countries situated under the same parallel, and otherwise to determine
different positions both in respect to the other portions of the earth, and also
of the celestial appearances.
17. The ocean it is which principally divides the earth into various
countries, and moulds its form. It creates bays, seas, straits, isthmuses,
peninsulas, and capes; while rivers and mountains serve to the same
purpose. It is by these means that continents, nations, and the position of
cities are capable of being clearly distinguished, together with those various
other details of which a chorographical chart is full. Amongst these latter
are the multitude of islands scattered throughout the seas, and along every
coast; each of them distinguished by some good or bad quality, by certain
advantages or disadvantages, due either to nature or to art.
The natural advantages [of a place] should always be mentioned, since they
are permanent. Advantages which are adventitious are liable to change,
although the majority of those which have continued for any length of time
should not be passed over, nor even those which, although but recent, have
yet acquired some note and celebrity. For those which continue, come to be
regarded by posterity not as works of art, but as the natural advantages of
the place; these therefore it is evident we must notice. True it is, that to
many a city we may apply the reflection of Demosthenes756 on Olynthus
and its neighbouring towns: “So completely have they vanished, that no one
who should now visit their sites could say that they had ever been
inhabited!”
Still we are gratified by visiting these and similar localities, being desirous
of beholding the traces of such celebrated places, and the tombs of famous
men. In like manner we should record laws and forms of government no
longer in existence, since these are serviceable to have in mind, equally
with the remembrance of actions, whether for the sake of imitating or
avoiding the like.
18. Continuing our former sketch, we now state that the earth which we
inhabit contains numerous gulfs, formed by the exterior sea or ocean which
surrounds it. Of these there are four principal. The northern, called the

Caspian, by others designated the Hyrcanian Sea, the Persian and Arabian
Gulfs, formed by the [Southern] Sea, the one being nearly opposite to the
Caspian, the other to the Euxine; the fourth, which in size is much more
considerable than the others, is called the Internal and Our Sea.757 It
commences in the west at the Strait of the Pillars of Hercules, and continues
in an easterly direction, but with varying breadth. Farther in, it becomes
divided, and terminates in two gulfs; that on the left being called the Euxine
Sea, while the other consists of the seas of Egypt, Pamphylia, and Issus. All
these gulfs formed by the exterior sea, have a narrow entrance; those of the
Arabian Gulf, however, and the Pillars of Hercules are smaller than the
rest.758 The land which surrounds these, as before remarked, consists of
three divisions. Of these, the configuration of Europe is the most irregular.
Libya, on the contrary, is the most regular; while Asia holds a middle place
between the two. In all of these continents, the regularity or irregularity of
form relates merely to the interior coasts; the exterior, with the exception of
the gulfs before mentioned, is unindented, and, as I have stated, resembles a
chlamys in its form; any slight differences being of course overlooked, as in
large matters what is insignificant passes for nothing. Since in geographical
descriptions we not only aim at portraying the configuration and extent of
various places, but also their common boundaries, we will remark here, as
we have done before, that the coasts of the Internal Sea759 present a greater
variety in their appearance than those of the Exterior [Ocean]; the former is
also much better known, its climate is more temperate, and more civilized
cities and nations are here than there. We are also anxious to be informed
where the form of government, the arts, and whatever else ministers to
intelligence, produce the greatest results. Interest will always lead us to
where the relations of commerce and society are most easily established,
and these are advantages to be found where government is administered, or
rather where it is well administered. In each of these particulars, as before
remarked, Our Sea760 possesses great advantages, and here therefore we
will begin our description.

19. This gulf,761 as before stated, commences at the Strait of the Pillars; this
at its narrowest part is said to be 70 stadia. Having sailed down a distance
of 120 stadia, the shores widen considerably, especially to the left, and you
behold a vast sea, bounded on the right by the shore of Libya as far as
Carthage, and on the opposite side by those of Iberia and Keltica as far as

Narbonne and Marseilles, thence by the Ligurian,762 and finally by the
Italian coast to the Strait of Sicily. The eastern side of this sea is formed by
Sicily and the straits on either side of it. That next Italy being 7 stadia [in
breadth], and that next Carthage 1500 stadia. The line drawn from the
Pillars to the lesser strait of 7 stadia, forms part of the line to Rhodes and
the Taurus, and intersects the sea under discussion about its middle; this line
is said to be 12,000 stadia, which is accordingly the length of the sea. Its
greatest breadth is about 5000 stadia, and extends from the Galatic Gulf,
between Marseilles and Narbonne, to the opposite coast of Libya.
The portion of the sea which washes Libya is called the Libyan Sea; that
surrounding the land opposite is designated by the respective names of the
Iberian, the Ligurian,763 and the Sardinian Seas, while the remaining
portion as far as Sicily is named the Tyrrhenian Sea.764 All along the coast
between the Tyrrhenian and Ligurian Seas, there are numerous islands, the
largest of which are Sardinia and Cyrnus,765 always excepting Sicily, which
is larger and more fertile than any of our islands. The remainder are much
smaller. Of this number are, in the high sea, Pandataria766 and Pontia,767
and close to the shore Æthalia,768 Planasia,769 Pithecussa,770 Prochyta,771
Capriæ,772 Leucosia,773 and many others. On the other774 side of the
Ligurian shore, and along the rest of the coast as far as the Pillars, there are
but few islands; the Gymnasiæ775 and Ebusus776 are of this number. There
are likewise but few islands along the coasts of Libya and Sicily. We may
mention however Cossura,777 Ægimurus,778 and the Lipari Islands, likewise
called the Islands of Æolus.

20. After Sicily and the straits on either side of it,779 there are other seas, for
instance, that opposite the Syrtes and the Cyrenaic,780 the Syrtes
themselves, and the sea formerly called the Ausonian, but which, as it flows
into and forms part of the Sea of Sicily, is now included under the latter
name. The sea opposite to the Syrtes and the Cyrenaic is called the Libyan
Sea; it extends as far as the Sea of Egypt.

The Lesser Syrtes781 is about 1600 stadia in circumference. On either side
of its mouth lie the islands of Meninx782 and Kerkina.783 The Greater
Syrtes784 is (according to Eratosthenes) 5000 stadia in circuit, and in depth

1800, from the Hesperides 785 to Automala,786 and the frontier which
separates the Cyrenaic from the rest of Libya. According to others, its
circumference is only 4000 stadia, its depth 1500 stadia, and the breadth at
its mouth the same.

The Sea of Sicily washes Italy, from the Strait of Rhegium787 to Locris,788
and also the eastern coast of Sicily from Messene789 to Syracuse790 and
Pachynus.791 On the eastern side it reaches to the promontories of Crete,
surrounds the greater part of Peloponnesus, and fills the Gulf of Corinth.792
On the north it advances to the Iapygian Promontory,793 the mouth of the
Ionian Gulf,794 the southern parts of Epirus,795 as far as the Ambracic
Gulf,796 and the continuation of the coast which forms the Corinthian Gulf,
near the Peloponnesus.

The Ionian Gulf forms part of what we now call the Adriatic.797 Illyria
forms its right side, and Italy as far as the recess where Aquileia is situated,
the left.
The Adriatic stretches north and west; it is long and narrow, being in length
about 6000 stadia, and its greatest breadth 1200. There are many islands
situated here opposite the coasts of Illyria, such as the Absyrtides,798
Cyrictica,799 and the Libyrnides,800 also Issa,801 Tragurium,802 the Black
Corcyra,803 and Pharos.804 Opposite to Italy are the Islands of Diomede.805
The Sea of Sicily is said to be 4500 stadia from Pachynus to Crete, and the
same distance to Tænarus in Laconia.806 From the extremities of Iapygia to
the bottom of the Gulf of Corinth the distance is less than 3000 stadia, while
from Iapygia to Libya it is more than 4000. In this sea are the Islands of
Corcyra807 and Sybota,808 opposite the coasts of Epirus; and beyond these,
opposite the Gulf of Corinth, Cephallenia,809 Ithaca, Zacynth,810 and the
Echinades.811

21. Next to the Sea of Sicily, are the Cretan, Saronic,812 and Myrtoan Seas,
comprised between Crete, Argia,813 and Attica.814 Their greatest breadth,
measured from Attica, is 1200 stadia, and their length not quite double the
distance. Within are included the Islands of Cythera,815 Calauria,816
Ægina,817 Salamis,818 and certain of the Cyclades.819 Adjacent to these are

the Ægæan Sea,820 the Gulf of Melas,821 the Hellespont,822 the Icarian and
Carpathian Seas,823 as far as Rhodes, Crete, Cnidus, and the
commencement of Asia. [In these seas] are the Cyclades, the Sporades, and
the islands opposite Caria, Ionia, and Æolia, as far as the Troad, namely,
Cos,824 Samos,825 Chios,826 Lesbos,827 and Tenedos;828 likewise on the
Grecian side as far as Macedonia and the borders of Thrace, Eubœa,829
Scyros,830 Peparethus,831 Lemnos,832 Thasos,833 Imbros,834 Samothracia,835
and numerous others, of which it is our intention to speak in detail. The
length of this sea is about 4000 stadia, or rather more,836 its breadth about
2000.837 It is surrounded by the coast of Asia above mentioned, and by
those of Greece from Sunium838 northwards to the Thermaic Gulf839 and
the Gulfs of Macedonia,840 and as far as the Thracian Chersonesus.841

22. Here too is the strait, seven stadia in length, which is between Sestos842
and Abydos,843 and through which the Ægæan and Hellespont communicate
with another sea to the north, named the Propontis,844 and this again with
another called the Euxine. This latter is, so to speak, a double sea, for
towards its middle are two projecting promontories, one to the north, on the
side of Europe, and the other opposite from the coast of Asia, which leave
only a narrow passage between them, and thus form two great seas. The
European promontory is named Criu-metopon;845 that of Asia, Carambis.846
They are distant from each other about 2500 stadia.847 The length of the
western portion of this sea848 from Byzantium to the outlets of the Dnieper
is 3800 stadia, its breadth 2000. Here is situated the Island of Leuca.849 The
eastern portion is oblong and terminates in the narrow recess in which
Dioscurias is situated. In length it is 5000 stadia, or rather more, and in
breadth about 3000. The entire circumference of the Euxine is about 25,000
stadia. Some have compared the shape of its circumference to a Scythian
bow when bent, the string representing the southern portions of the Euxine,
(viz. the coast, from its mouth to the recess in which Dioscurias is situated;
for, with the exception of Carambis, the sinuosities of the shore are but
trifling, so that it may be justly compared to a straight line,) and the
remainder [of the circumference representing] the wood of the bow with its
double curve, the uppermost very much rounded, the lower more in a
straight line. So this sea forms two gulfs, the western much more rounded
than the other.

23. To the north of the eastern Gulf of the Pontus, is the Lake Mæotis,
whose perimeter is 9000 stadia or rather more. It communicates with the
Euxine by means of the Cimmerian Bosphorus,850 and the Euxine with the
Propontis851 by the Thracian Bosphorus, for such is the name given to the
Strait of Byzantium, which is four stadia in breadth. The length of the
Propontis from the Troad to Byzantium is stated to be 1500 stadia. Its
breadth is about the same. It is in this sea that the Island of the Cyziceni852
is situated, with the other islands around it.

24. Such and so great is the extent of the Ægæan Sea towards the north.853
Again, starting from Rhodes, the [Mediterranean] forms the seas of Egypt,
Pamphylia, and Issus, extending in an easterly direction from Cilicia to
Issus, a distance of 5000 stadia, along the coasts of Lycia, Pamphylia, and
the whole of Cilicia. From thence Syria, Phœnicia, and Egypt surround the
sea to the south and west as far as Alexandria. The Island of Cyprus is
situated in the Gulfs of Issus and Pamphylia, close to the Sea of Egypt. The
passage between Rhodes and Alexandria from north [to south] is about
4000 stadia;854 sailing round the coasts it is double this distance.
Eratosthenes informs us that, although the above is the distance according
to some mariners, others avow distinctly that it amounts to 5000 stadia;
while he himself, from observations of the shadows indicated by the
gnomon, calculates it at 3750.
That part of the Mediterranean Sea which washes the coasts of Cilicia and
Pamphylia together with the right side of the Euxine, the Propontis, and the
sea-coast beyond this as far as Pamphylia, form a kind of extensive
Chersonesus, the isthmus of which is also large, and reaches from the sea
near Tarsus855 to the city of Amisus,856 and thence to the Themiscyran857
plain of the Amazons. In fact the whole region within this line as far as
Caria and Ionia, and the nations dwelling on this side the Halys,858 is
entirely surrounded by the Ægæan and the aforementioned parts of the
Mediterranean and Euxine Seas.859 This is what we call Asia properly,860
although the whole continent bears the same name.
25. To speak shortly, the southernmost point of Our Sea is the recess of the
Greater Syrtes;861 next to this Alexandria in Egypt, and the mouths of the
Nile; while the most northerly is the mouth of the Dnieper, or if the Mæotis

be considered to belong to the Euxine, (and it certainly does appear to form
a part of it,) the mouth of the Don. The Strait at the Pillars is the most
westerly point, and the most easterly is the said recess, in which
Dioscurias862 is situated; and not, as Eratosthenes falsely states, the Gulf of
Issus,863 which is under the same meridian as Amisus864 and Themiscyra,
and, if you will have it so, Sidene as far as Pharnacia.865 Proceeding thence
in an easterly direction to Dioscurias, the distance by sea is above 3000
stadia, as will be seen more plainly in my detailed account of those
countries. Such then is the Mediterranean.
26. We must now describe the countries which surround it; and here we will
begin from the same point, whence we commenced our description of the
sea itself.
Entering the Strait at the Pillars, Libya, as far as the river Nile, is on the
right hand, and to the left, on the other side of the Strait, is Europe, as far as
the Don. Asia bounds both these continents. We will commence with
Europe, both because its figure is more varied, and also because it is the
quarter most favourable to the mental and social ennoblement of man, and
produces a greater portion of comforts than the other continents.
Now the whole of Europe is habitable with the exception of a small part,
which cannot be dwelt in, on account of the severity of the cold, and which
borders on the Hamaxœci,866 who dwell by the Don, Mæotis, and Dnieper.
The wintry and mountainous parts of the habitable earth would seem to
afford by nature but a miserable means of existence; nevertheless, by good
management, places scarcely inhabited by any but robbers, may be got into
condition. Thus the Greeks, though dwelling amidst rocks and mountains,
live in comfort, owing to their economy in government and the arts, and all
the other appliances of life. Thus too the Romans, after subduing numerous
nations who were leading a savage life, either induced by the rockiness of
their countries, or want of ports, or severity of the cold, or for other reasons
scarcely habitable, have taught the arts of commerce to many who were
formerly in total ignorance, and spread civilization amongst the most
savage. Where the climate is equable and mild, nature herself does much
towards the production of these advantages. As in such favoured regions
every thing inclines to peace, so those which are sterile generate bravery
and a disposition to war. These two races receive mutual advantages from

each other, the one aiding by their arms, the other by their husbandry, arts,
and institutions. Harm must result to both when failing to act in concert, but
the advantage will lie on the side of those accustomed to arms, except in
instances where they are overpowered by multitudes. This continent is very
much favoured in this respect, being interspersed with plains and
mountains, so that every where the foundations of husbandry, civilization,
and hardihood lie side by side. The number of those who cultivate the arts
of peace, is, however, the most numerous, which preponderance over the
whole is mainly due to the influence of the government, first of the Greeks,
and afterwards of the Macedonians and Romans.
Europe has thus within itself resources both for war [and peace]. It is amply
supplied with warriors, and also with men fitted for the labours of
agriculture, and the life of the towns. It is likewise distinguished for
producing in perfection those fruits of the earth necessary to life, and all the
useful metals. Perfumes and precious stones must be imported from abroad,
but as far as the comfort of life is concerned, the want or the possession of
these can make no difference. The country likewise abounds in cattle, while
of wild beasts the number is but small. Such is the general nature of this
continent.
27. We will now describe separately the various countries into which it is
divided. The first of these on the west is Iberia, which resembles the hide of
an ox [spread out]; the eastern portions, which correspond to the neck,
adjoining the neighbouring country of Gaul. The two countries are divided
on this side by the chain of mountains called the Pyrenees; on all its other
sides it is surrounded by sea; on the south, as far as the Pillars, by Our Sea;
and thence to the northern extremity of the Pyrenees by the Atlantic. The
greatest length of this country is about 6000 stadia, its breadth 5000.867
28. East of this is Keltica, which extends as far as the Rhine. Its northern
side is washed by the entire of the British Channel, for this island lies
opposite and parallel to it throughout, extending as much as 5000 stadia in
length. Its eastern side is bounded by the river Rhine, whose stream runs
parallel with the Pyrenees; and its southern side commencing from the
Rhine, [is bounded] partly by the Alps, and partly by Our Sea; where what
is called the Galatic Gulf868 runs in, and on this are situated the far-famed
cities of Marseilles and Narbonne. Right opposite to the Gulf on the other

side of the land, lies another Gulf, called by the same name, Galatic,869
looking towards the north and Britain. It is here that the breadth of Keltica
is the narrowest, being contracted into an isthmus less than 3000 stadia, but
more than 2000. Within this region there is a mountain ridge, named Mount
Cemmenus,870 which runs nearly at right angles to the Pyrenees, and
terminates in the central plains of Keltica.871 The Alps, which are a very
lofty range of mountains, form a curved line, the convex side of which is
turned towards the plains of Keltica, mentioned before, and Mount
Cemmenus, and the concave towards Liguria872 and Italy.
The Alps are inhabited by numerous nations, but all Keltic with the
exception of the Ligurians, and these, though of a different race, closely
resemble them in their manner of life. They inhabit that portion of the Alps
which is next the Apennines, and also a part of the Apennines themselves.
This latter mountain ridge traverses the whole length of Italy from north to
south, and terminates at the Strait of Sicily.
29. The first parts of Italy are the plains situated under the Alps, as far as the
recess of the Adriatic and the neighbouring places.873 The parts beyond
form a narrow and long slip, resembling a peninsula, traversed, as I have
said, throughout its length by the Apennines; its length is 7000 stadia, but
its breadth is very unequal. The seas which form the peninsula of Italy are,
the Tyrrhenian, which commences from the Ligurian, the Ausonian, and the
Adriatic.874
30. After Italy and Keltica, the remainder of Europe extends towards the
east, and is divided into two by the Danube. This river flows from west to
east, and discharges itself into the Euxine Sea, leaving on its left the entire
of Germany commencing from the Rhine, as well as the whole of the Getæ,
the Tyrigetæ, the Bastarnæ, and the Sauromatæ, as far as the river Don, and
the Lake Mæotis,875 on its right being the whole of Thrace and Illyria,876
and in fine the rest of Greece.
Fronting Europe lie the islands which we have mentioned. Without the
Pillars, Gadeira,877 the Cassiterides,878 and the Britannic Isles. Within the
Pillars are the Gymnesian Islands,879 the other little islands of the
Phœnicians,880 the Marseillais, and the Ligurians; those fronting Italy as far

as the islands of Æolus and Sicily, and the whole of those881 along Epirus
and Greece, as far as Macedonia and the Thracian Chersonesus.

31. From the Don and the Mæotis882 commences [Asia] on this side the
Taurus; beyond these is [Asia] beyond the Taurus. For since this continent is
divided into two by the chain of the Taurus, which extends from the
extremities of Pamphylia to the shores of the Eastern Sea,883 inhabited by
the Indians and neighbouring Scythians, the Greeks naturally called that
part of the continent situated north of these mountains [Asia] on this side
the Taurus, and that on the south [Asia] beyond the Taurus. Consequently
the parts adjacent to the Mæotis and Don are on this side the Taurus. The
first of these is the territory between the Caspian Sea and the Euxine,
bounded on one side884 by the Don, the Exterior Ocean,885 and the Sea of
Hyrcania; on the other886 by the Isthmus where it is narrowest from the
recess of the Euxine to the Caspian.
Secondly, but still on this side the Taurus, are the countries above the Sea of
Hyrcania as far as the Indians and Scythians, who dwell along the said
sea887 and Mount Imaus. These countries are possessed on the one side by
the Mæotæ,888 and the people dwelling between the Sea of Hyrcania and
the Euxine as far as the Caucasus, the Iberians889 and Albanians,890 viz. the
Sauromatians, Scythians,891 Achæans, Zygi, and Heniochi: on the other side
beyond the Sea of Hyrcania,892 by the Scythians,893 Hyrcanians, Parthians,
Bactrians, Sogdians, and the other nations of India farther towards the
north. To the south, partly by the Sea of Hyrcania, and partly by the whole
isthmus which separates this sea from the Euxine, is situated the greater part
of Armenia, Colchis,894 the whole of Cappadocia895 as far as the Euxine,
and the Tibaranic nations.896 Further [west] is the country designated on
this side the Halys,897 containing on the side of the Euxine and Propontis
the Paphlagonians, Bithynians, Mysians, and Phrygia on the Hellespont,
which comprehends the Troad; and on the side of the Ægæan and adjacent
seas Æolia, Ionia, Caria, and Lycia. Inland is the Phrygia which contains
that portion of Gallo-Græcia styled Galatia, Phrygia Epictetus,898 the
Lycaonians, and the Lydians.

32. Next these on this side the Taurus are the mountaineers of Paropamisus,
and various tribes of Parthians, Medes, Armenians, Cilicians, with “the
Lycaonians,”899 and Pisidians.900 After these mountaineers come the people
dwelling beyond the Taurus. First amongst these is India, a nation greater
and more flourishing than any other; they extend as far as the Eastern
Sea901 and the southern part of the Atlantic. In the most southerly part of
this sea opposite to India is situated the island of Taprobana,902 which is not
less than Britain. Beyond India to the west, and leaving the mountains [of
the Taurus] on the right, is a vast region, miserably inhabited, on account of
the sterility of its soil, by men of different races, who are absolutely in a
savage state. They are named Arians, and extend from the mountains to
Gedrosia and Carmania.903 Beyond these towards the sea are the
Persians,904 the Susians,905 and the Babylonians,906 situated along the
Persian Gulf, besides several smaller neighbouring states. On the side of the
mountains and amidst the mountains are the Parthians, the Medes, the
Armenians, and the nations adjoining these, together with Mesopotamia.907
Beyond Mesopotamia are the countries on this side the Euphrates; viz. the
whole of Arabia Felix, bounded by the entire Arabian and Persian Gulfs,
together with the country of the Scenitæ and Phylarchi, who are situated
along the Euphrates and in Syria. Beyond the Arabian Gulf and as far as the
Nile dwell the Ethiopians908 and Arabians,909 and next these the Egyptians,
Syrians, and Cilicians,910 both those styled Trachiotæ and others besides,
and last of all the Pamphylians.911
33. After Asia comes Libya, which adjoins Egypt and Ethiopia. The coast
next us, from Alexandria almost to the Pillars, is in a straight line, with the
exception of the Syrtes, the sinuosities of some moderately sized bays, and
the projection of the promontories by which they are formed. The side next
the ocean from Ethiopia up to a certain point is almost parallel to the
former; but after this the southern portions become narrowed into a sharp
peak, extending a little beyond the Pillars of Hercules, and giving to the
country something the figure of a trapezium. Its appearance, both by the
accounts of other writers, and also the description given to ourselves by
Cnæus Piso, who was governor of this province, is that of a panther’s skin,
being dotted over with habitations surrounded by parched and desert land:
these habitations the Egyptians call Auases.912 This continent offers besides

several other peculiarities, which may be said to divide it into three distinct
portions. Most of the coast next us is very fertile, more especially about the
Cyrenaic and the parts about Carthage, as far as Maurusia and the Pillars of
Hercules.913 Next the ocean it is likewise tolerably fitted for the habitation
of man; but not so the centre of the country, which produces silphium;914
this for the most part is barren, rugged, and sandy; and the same is the case
with regard to the whole of Asia lying under the same right line which
traverses Ethiopia, the Troglodytic,915 Arabia, and the part of Gedrosia
occupied by the Ichthyophagi.916 The people inhabiting Libya are for the
most part unknown to us, as it has rarely been entered, either by armies or
adventurers. But few of its inhabitants from the farther parts come amongst
us, and their accounts are both incomplete and not to be relied on. The sum
of what they say is as follows. Those which are most southern are called
Ethiopians.917 North of these the principal nations are the Garamantes, the
Pharusians, and the Nigritæ.918 Still farther north are the Gætuli. Close to
the sea, and adjoining it next Egypt, and as far as the Cyrenaic, dwell the
Marmaridæ.919 Above920 the Cyrenaic and the Syrtes921 are the Psylli and
Nasamones,922 and certain of the Gætuli; and after them the Asbystæ923 and
Byzacii,924 as far as Carthage. Carthage is vast. Adjoining it are the
Numidæ;925 of these people the tribes best known to us are called the
Masylies and the Masæsylii. The most westerly are the Maurusians.926 The
whole land, from Carthage to the Pillars of Hercules, is fertile. Nevertheless
it abounds in wild beasts no less than the interior; and it does not seem
improbable that the cause why the name of Nomades,927 or Wanderers, was
bestowed on certain of these people originated in their not being able
anciently to devote themselves to husbandry on account of the wild beasts.
At the present day, when they are well skilled in hunting, and are besides
assisted by the Romans in their rage for the spectacle of fights with beasts,
they are both masters of the beasts and of husbandry. This finishes what we
have to say on the continents.

34. It now remains for us to speak of the climata.928 Of these too we shall
give but a general description, commencing with those lines which we have
denominated elementary, namely, those which determine the greatest length
and breadth of the [habitable earth], but especially its breadth.

To enter fully into this subject is the duty of astronomers. This has been
done by Hipparchus, who has noted down (as he says) the differences of the
heavenly appearances for every degree of that quarter of the globe in which
our habitable earth is situated, namely, from the equator to the north pole.
What is beyond our habitable earth it is not however the business of the
geographer to consider. Nor yet even in regard to the various parts of the
habitable earth must too minute and numerous differences be noticed, since
to the man of the world they are perplexing; it will suffice to give the most
striking and simple of the statements of Hipparchus. Assuming, as he does
himself after the assertion of Eratosthenes, that the circumference of the
earth is 252,000 stadia, the differences of the [celestial] phenomena will not
be great for each [degree] within the limits between which the habitable
earth is contained. Supposing we cut the grand circle of the earth into 360
divisions, each of these divisions will consist of 700 stadia. This is the
calculation adopted by [Hipparchus] to fix the distances, which [as we said]
should be taken under the before-mentioned meridian of Meroe. He
commences at the regions situated under the equator, and stopping from
time to time at every 700 stadia along the whole length of the meridian
above mentioned, proceeds to describe the celestial phenomena as they
appear from each. But the equator is not the place for us to start from. For
even if there be there a habitable region, as some suppose, it forms a
habitable earth to itself, a narrow slip enclosed by the regions uninhabitable
on account of the heat; and can be no part of our habitable earth. Now the
geographer should attend to none but our own habitable earth, which is
confined by certain boundaries; on the south by the parallel which passes
over the Cinnamon Country;929 on the north by that which passes over
Ierna.930 But keeping in mind the scheme of our geography, we have no
occasion to mark all the places comprehended within this distance, nor yet
all the celestial phenomena. We must however commence, as Hipparchus
does, with the southern regions.
35. He tells us that the people who dwell under the parallel of the Cinnamon
Country, which he places at 3000 stadia south of Meroe,931 and 8800
[north] of the equator, live nearly at equal distances between the equator
and the summer tropic which passes by Syene; for Syene is 5000 stadia
[north] of Meroe. They are the first932 for whom the whole [constellation]

of the Lesser Bear is comprised within the Artic Circle, and to whom it is
always visible. For the bright and most southern star, at the tip of the tail, is
here contained within the Arctic Circle, and appears to touch the horizon.

The Arabian Gulf lies eastward parallel to the said meridian. Its egress933
into the Exterior Ocean is [in the same latitude as] the Cinnamon Country,
the place where anciently they used to hunt the elephants. The parallel of
the Cinnamon Country on the one side934 passes a little south of Taprobana,
or perhaps over its southern extremity; and on the other side935 over the
most southern parts of Libya.936

36. At Meroe and Ptolemais937 in the Troglodytic the longest day consists
of thirteen equinoctial hours. These cities are at nearly equal distances
between the equator and Alexandria, the preponderance on the side of the
equator being only 1800 stadia. The parallel of Meroe passes on one side938
over unknown countries, and on the other939 over the extremities of
India.940 At Syene, and at Berenice, which is situated on the Arabian Gulf
and in the Troglodytic, at the summer solstice the sun is vertical, and the
longest day consists of thirteen equinoctial hours and a half, and the whole
of the Greater Bear appears within the Arctic Circle, with the exception of
his thighs, the tip of his tail, and one of the stars composing his body. The
parallel of Syene traverses on one side941 the portion of Gedrosia occupied
by the Ichthyophagi, and India; and on the other side942 the countries
situated south of Cyrene by rather less than 5000 stadia.
37. In all the countries situated between the tropic and the equatorial circle,
the shadows fall [alternately] on either side, north and south. In those which
are north of Syene and beyond the summer tropic the shadows at mid-day
fall to the north. The former are called amphiscii, the latter heteroscii. There
is also another method of determining what places are under the tropic,
which we spoke of in our observations on the zones. The soil is sandy, arid,
and produces nothing but silphium, while more to the south the land is well
irrigated and fertile.
38. In the countries situated about 400 stadia south of the parallel of
Alexandria and Cyrene, where the longest day consists of fourteen
equinoctial hours, Arcturus passes the zenith, slightly declining towards the

south. At Alexandria at the time of the equinox the proportion which the
gnomon bears to the shadow is as five to seven.943 Thus they are south of
Carthage 1300 stadia, that is, admitting that in Carthage at the time of the
equinox the proportion which the gnomon bears to the shadow is as eleven
to seven. This parallel on the one side944 passes by Cyrene and the regions
900 stadia south of Carthage as far as the midst of Maurusia;945 and on the
other side946 through Egypt,947 Cœlosyria, Upper Syria, Babylonia,
Susiana,948 Persia,949 Carmania,950 Upper Gedrosia,951 and India.
39. At Ptolemais in Phœnicia,952 and at Sidon953 and Tyre,954 the longest
day consists of fourteen hours and a quarter. These cities are north of
Alexandria by about 1600 stadia, and north of Carthage about 700. In the
Peloponnesus, and about the middle of Rhodes, at Xanthus955 in Lycia, or a
little to the south of this place, and at 400 stadia south of Syracuse,956 the
longest day consists of fourteen and a half equinoctial hours. These places
are distant from Alexandria 3640 stadia.... This parallel, according to
Eratosthenes, passes through Caria, Lycaonia, Cataonia, Media, the Caspian
Gates, and India next the Caucasus.957

40. In the parts of the Troad next Alexandria958 in Amphipolis,959 Apollonia
in Epirus,960 the countries just south of Rome and north of Neapolis, the
longest day consists of fifteen hours. This parallel is distant from that of
Alexandria in Egypt 7000 stadia to the north, above 28,800 stadia north of
the equator, and 3400 stadia from the parallel of Rhodes; it is south of
Byzantium, Nicæa,961 and Marseilles 1500 stadia. The parallel of
Lysimachia962 is a little to the north, and according to Eratosthenes passes
through Mysia,963 Paphlagonia, Sinope,964 Hyrcania,965 and Bactra.966
41. About Byzantium the longest day consists of fifteen and a quarter
equinoctial hours; the proportion borne by the gnomon to the shadow at the
summer solstice, is as 120 to 42, minus one-fifth. These places are
distant967 from the middle of Rhodes about 4900 stadia, and 30,300 from
the equator. Sailing into the Euxine and advancing 1400 stadia to the north,
the longest day is found to consist of fifteen and a half equinoctial hours.
These places are equi-distant between the pole and equatorial circle; the
arctic circle is at their zenith, the star in the neck of Cassiopeia is within this

circle, the star forming the right elbow of Perseus being a little more to the
north.
42. In regions 3800 stadia north of Byzantium the longest day consists of
sixteen equinoctial hours; the constellation Cassiopeia being brought within
the arctic circle. These regions are situated around [the mouth of] the
Dnieper and the southern parts of the Mæotis, at a distance from the equator
of 34,100 stadia; and the northern part of the horizon during almost all the
summer nights is illuminated by the light of the sun; a certain degree of
light continuing from sunset to sunrise. For the summer tropic is distant
from the horizon only the half and the twelfth part of a sign968 [of the
zodiac], and this therefore is the greatest distance of the sun below the
horizon at midnight. With us when the sun is at this distance from the
horizon before sunrise and after sunset, the atmosphere is enlightened to the
east and west respectively. In the winter the sun when at the highest is nine
cubits above the horizon.969 These places, according to Eratosthenes, are
distant from Meroe rather more than 23,000 stadia,970 for he says that [from
the parallel of Meroe] to the Hellespont971 there are 18,000 stadia, and
thence to the Dnieper 5000 more. In regions distant 6300 stadia from
Byzantium, and north of the Mæotis, the sun during the winter time is,
when highest, six cubits [above the horizon]. The longest day consists of
seventeen hours.
43. The countries beyond this which border upon the regions uninhabitable
on account of their cold, have no interest to the geographer. He who desires
to learn about them, and the celestial phenomena which Hipparchus has
described, but which we pass over as being too much in detail for our
present undertaking, must seek for them in that author. The statements of
Posidonius concerning the periscii, the amphiscii, and the heteroscii are
likewise too detailed. Still we must touch on these points sufficiently to
explain his view, and to point out how far such matters are serviceable in
geography, and how far not. The terms made use of refer to the shadows
cast from the sun. The sun appears to the senses to describe a circle parallel
to that of the earth.972 Of those people for whom each revolution of the
earth produces a day and a night, the sun being carried first over, then
under, the earth, some are denominated amphiscii, others heteroscii. The
amphiscii are the inhabitants of countries in which when a gnomon is

placed perpendicularly on a plane surface, the shadow which it casts at mid-
day, falls first to one side then to the other, as the sun illumines first this
side, then that. This however only occurs in places situated between the
tropics. The heteroscii are those amongst whom the shadow always falls to
the north, as with us; or to the south, as amongst those who inhabit the other
temperate zone. This occurs in all those regions where the arctic circle is
less than the tropic. Where however it becomes the same as or greater than
the tropic, this shows the commencement of the periscii, who extend thence
to the pole. In regions where the sun remains above the horizon during an
entire revolution of the earth, the shadow must evidently have turned in a
complete circle round the gnomon. On this account he named them periscii.
However they have nought to do with geography, inasmuch as the regions
are not habitable on account of the cold, as we stated in our review of
Pytheas. Nor is there any use in determining the size of this uninhabitable
region, [it is enough to have established] that those countries, having the
tropic for their arctic circle, are situated beneath the circle which is
described by the pole of the zodiac973 in the [diurnal] revolution of the
earth, and that the distance between the equator and the tropic equals four-
sixtieths of the great circle [of the earth].

BOOK III.

SPAIN.

CHAPTER I.

1. Having thus given a general view of Geography, it will now be proper to
describe each separate country in detail, as we engaged to do. We fancy that
the method which we have adopted in the division of our subject, up to this
point, has been correct; and we now recommence with Europe and the
various countries into which it is divided, on the same principles as
formerly, and induced by the same reasons.
2. The first division of this continent towards the west is Iberia, as we
before stated. The greater part of this country is but little fitted for
habitation; consisting chiefly of mountains, woods, and plains covered with
a light meagre soil, the irrigation of which is likewise uncertain. The part
next the north, which borders on the ocean, is extremely cold, and besides
its rugged character, has no communication or intercourse with other
[countries], and thus to dwell there is attended with peculiar hardship. Such
is the character of this portion; on the other hand, almost the whole of the
south is fertile, especially what is beyond the Pillars [of Hercules]. This
however will be shown more in detail, but we must first describe the figure
and extent [of the country].
3. In shape it resembles a hide stretched out in length from west to east, the
forepart974 towards the east, its breadth being from north to south. Its length
is about 6000 stadia; the greatest breadth is 5000; while there are parts
considerably less than 3000, particularly in the vicinity of the Pyrenees,
which form the eastern side. This chain of mountains stretches without
interruption from north to south,975 and divides Keltica976 from Iberia. The
breadth both of Keltica and Iberia is irregular, the narrowest part in both of
them from the Mediterranean to the [Atlantic] Ocean being near the

Pyrenees, particularly on either side of that chain; this gives rise to gulfs
both on the side of the Ocean, and also of the Mediterranean; the largest of
these are denominated the Keltic or Galatic Gulfs,977 and they render the
[Keltic] Isthmus narrower than that of Iberia.978 The Pyrenees form the
eastern side of Iberia, and the Mediterranean the southern from the
Pyrenees to the Pillars of Hercules, thence the exterior [ocean]979 as far as
the Sacred Promontory.980 The third or western side runs nearly parallel to
the Pyrenees from the Sacred Promontory to the promontory of the Artabri,
called [Cape] Nerium.981 The fourth side extends hence to the northern
extremity of the Pyrenees.
*Note. The pages of Casaubon’s edition of 1620 are given to facilitate
reference to various editions and translations of Strabo.
4. We will now commence our detailed account, beginning from the Sacred
Promontory. This is the most western point not only of Europe, but of the
whole habitable earth. For the habitable earth is bounded to the west by two
continents, namely, the extremities of Europe and Libya, 982 which are
inhabited respectively by the Iberians and the Maurusians.983 But the
Iberian extremity, at the promontory984 we have mentioned, juts out beyond
the other as much as 1500 stadia.985 The region adjacent to this cape they
call in the Latin tongue Cuneum, 986 which signifies a wedge. The
promontory which projects into the sea, Artemidorus (who states that he has
himself been at the place) compares to a ship; three little islands, [he says,]
each having a small harbour, contribute to give it this form; the former
island resembling the beak of the ship, and the two latter the beams on each
side of the ship’s bows. [He adds] that there is no temple of Hercules shown
there, as Ephorus falsely states, nor yet any altar [to him] nor to any other
divinity; but in many parts there are three or four stones placed together,
which are turned by all travellers who arrive there, in accordance with a
certain local custom, and are changed in position by such as turn them
incorrectly.987 It is not lawful to offer sacrifice there, nor yet to approach
the place during the night, for it is said that then the gods take up their
abode at the place. Those who go thither to view it stay at a neighbouring
village over-night, and proceed to the place on the morrow, carrying water
with them, as there is none to be procured there.

5. It is quite possible that these things are so, and we ought not to disbelieve
them. Not so however with regard to the other common and vulgar reports;
for Posidonius tells us the common people say that in the countries next the
ocean the sun appears larger as he sets, and makes a noise resembling the
sound of hot metal in cold water, as though the sea were hissing as the sun
was submerged in its depths. The statement [of Artemidorus] is also false,
that night follows immediately on the setting of the sun: it does not follow
immediately, although certainly the interval is short, as in other great seas.
For when he sets behind mountains the agency of the false light continues
the day for a long period; over the sea the twilight is shorter, still darkness
does not immediately supervene. The same thing may be remarked in large
plains. The image of the sun is enlarged on the seas at its rising as well as at
its setting, because at these times a larger mass of exhalations rises from the
humid element; and the eye looking through these exhalations, sees images
refracted into larger forms, as observed through tubes. The same thing
happens when the setting sun or moon is seen through a dry and thin cloud,
when those bodies likewise appear reddish.988 Posidonius tells us that,
having himself passed thirty days at Gades,989 during which time he
carefully observed the setting of the sun, he is convinced of the falsity of
Artemidorus’s account. This latter writer tells us, that at the time of its
setting the sun appears a hundred times larger than its ordinary size, and
that night immediately succeeds. If we attend to his account, we cannot
believe that he himself remarked this phenomenon at the Sacred
Promontory,990 for he tells us that no one can approach during the night;
therefore they cannot approach at sunset, since night immediately
supervenes thereupon. Neither did he observe it from any other part of the
coast washed by the ocean, for Gades is upon the ocean, and both
Posidonius and many others testify that there such is not the case.
6. The sea-coast next the Sacred Promontory forms on one side the
commencement of the western coast of Spain as far as the outlet of the river
Tagus; and on the other forms the southern coast as far as the outlet of
another river, named the Guadiana.991 Both of these rivers descend from the
eastern parts [of Spain]; but the former, which is much larger than the other,
pursues a straight course towards the west, while the Guadiana bends its
course towards the south.992 They enclose an extent of country peopled for
the most part by Kelts and certain Lusitanians,993 whom the Romans caused

to settle here from the opposite side of the Tagus. Higher up, the country is
inhabited by the Carpetani,994 the Oretani,995 and a large number of
Vettones.996 This district is moderately fertile, but that which is beyond it to
the east and south, does not give place in superiority to any part of the
habitable earth with which it may be compared, in the excellence of its
productions both of land and sea. This is the country through which the
river Guadalquiver997 flows. This river takes its rise from the same parts as
the Guadiana998 and the Tagus, and is between these two in size.999 Like the
Guadiana, the commencement of its course flows towards the west, but it
afterwards turns to the south, and discharges itself at the same side of the
coast as that river.
From this river(998) the country has received the name of Bætica; it is
called Turdetania by the inhabitants, who are themselves denominated
Turdetani, and Turduli. Some think these two names refer to one nation,
while others believe that they designate two distinct people. Of this latter
opinion is Polybius, who imagines that the Turduli dwell more to the north
than the Turdetani. At the present day however there does not appear to be
any distinction between them. These people are esteemed to be the most
intelligent of all the Iberians; they have an alphabet, and possess ancient
writings, poems, and metrical laws six thousand years old, as they say. The
other Iberians are likewise furnished with an alphabet, although not of the
same form, nor do they speak the same language. Their country,1000 which
is on this side the Guadiana, extends eastward as far as Oretania,1001 and
southward along the sea-coast from the outlets of the Guadiana to the
Pillars [of Hercules]. But it is necessary that I should enter into further
particulars concerning this and the neighbouring places, in order to illustrate
their excellence and fertility.
7. Between this coast, where the Guadalquiver and Guadiana discharge
themselves, and the extremities of Maurusia, the Atlantic Ocean forms the
strait at the Pillars [of Hercules] by which it is connected with the
Mediterranean. Here is situated Calpe,1002 the mountain of the Iberians who
are denominated Bastetani, by others Bastuli. Its circumference is not large,
but it is so high and steep as to resemble an island in the distance. Sailing
from the Mediterranean into the Atlantic, it is left on the right hand. At a
distance of 40 stadia from this [mountain] is the considerable and ancient

city of Carteia, formerly a marine arsenal of the Iberians. Some assert that it
was founded by Hercules; of this number is Timosthenes,1003 who tells us it
was anciently called Heraclæa, and that vast walls and ship-sheds are still
shown.

8. Next to these is Mellaria,1004 where they make salted provisions. After
this the city and river1005 of Belo. Here the merchandise and salted
provisions for Tingis in Maurusia are principally shipped. There was a city
named Zelis1006 near to Tingis, but the Romans transferred it to the opposite
coast [of Spain], and having placed there in addition some of the inhabitants
of Tingis, and sent over also some of their own people, they then gave to the
city the name of Julia Joza.1007 Beyond this is Gadeira,1008 an island
separated from Turdetania by a narrow strait, and distant from Calpe about
750 stadia, or, as others say, 800. This island has nothing to distinguish it
above others, but owing to the boldness of its people in their expeditions by
sea, and their friendship with the Romans, has attained to that pitch of good
fortune, that although situated at the farthest extremities of the earth, it
possesses a greater celebrity than any other island. But we will describe it
when we come to speak of the other islands.

9. Next after [Cadiz] is the port of Menestheus,1009 and the estuary near to
Asta and Nebrissa.1010 These estuaries are valleys filled by the sea during
its flood-tides, up which you may sail into the interior, and to the cities built
on them, in the same way as you sail up a river. Immediately after are the
two outlets of the Guadalquiver.1011 The island embraced by these mouths
has a coast of a hundred stadia, or rather more according to others.
Hereabouts is the Oracle of Menestheus,1012 and the tower of Cæpio,1013
built upon a rock and washed on all sides by the sea. This is an admirable
work, resembling the Pharos, and constructed for the safety of vessels. For
the mud carried out by the river forms shallows, and sunken rocks are also
scattered before it, so that a beacon was greatly needed. Thence sailing up
the river is the city of Ebura,1014 and the temple of Phosphorus,1015 which
they call Lux Dubia.1016 You then pass up the other estuaries; and after
these the river Guadiana, which has also two mouths,1017 up either of which
you may sail. Lastly, beyond is the Sacred Promontory,1018 distant from
Gadeira1019 less than 2000 stadia. Some say that from the Sacred

Promontory to the mouth of the Guadiana there are 60 miles; thence to the
mouth of the Guadalquiver 100; and from this latter place to Gadeira 70.

CHAPTER II.

1. Turdetania lies above the coast on this side the Guadiana,1020 and is
intersected by the river Guadalquiver.1021 It is bounded on the west and
north by the river Guadiana; on the east by certain of the Carpetani and the
Oretani; on the south by those of the Bastetani who inhabit the narrow slip
of coast between Calpe and Gadeira, and by the sea beyond as far as the
Guadiana. The Bastetani whom I have mentioned, together with the people
on the other side the Guadiana, and many of the places adjacent, belong to
Turdetania. The size of this country in its length and breadth does not
exceed two thousand stadia, still it contains a vast number of towns; two
hundred, it is said. Those best known are situated on the rivers, estuaries,
and sea; but the two which have acquired the greatest name and importance
are, Corduba, founded by Marcellus,1022 and the city of the Gaditanians.1023
The latter for its naval importance, and its alliance with the Romans; and
the former on account of its fertility and extent, a considerable portion of
the Guadalquiver flowing by it; in addition to this it has been from its
commencement inhabited by picked men, whether natives or Romans; and
it was the first colony planted by the Romans in these parts.

After this city and that of the Gaditanians, Hispalis1024 is the most noted.
This also is a Roman colony. Commerce is still carried on here, although at
the present moment the city of Bætis1025 though not so finely built, is
outshining it, on account of the honour it has received from the soldiers of
Cæsar taking up their quarters there.

2. After these are Italica,1026 and Ilipa,1027 situated on the Guadalquiver;
farther on are Astygis,1028 Carmo,1029 and Obulco; and besides these
Munda,1030 Ategua, Urso,1031 Tukkis,1032 Julia,1033 and Ægua, where the
sons of Pompey were defeated. None of these places are far from Corduba.
Munda is in some sort regarded as the metropolis of the whole district. This

place is distant from Carteia 14001034 stadia, and it was here that Cnæus
fled after his defeat, and sailing thence landed on a rocky height
overlooking the sea, where he was murdered. His brother Sextus, having
escaped from Corduba, after carrying on the war for a short time in Spain,
caused a revolt in Sicily. Flying thence into Asia he was seized at
Miletus1035 by the generals1036 of Antony, and executed. Amongst the Kelts
the most famous place is Conistorgis.1037 Upon the estuaries is Asta,1038 in
which the Gaditani mostly hold their assemblies; it is opposite the sea-port
of the island, at a distance of not more than 100 stadia.
3. A vast number of people dwell along the Guadalquiver; and you may sail
up it almost 1200 stadia from the sea to Corduba, and the places a little
higher up. The banks and little islets of this river are cultivated with the
greatest diligence. The eye is also delighted with groves and gardens, which
in this district are met with in the highest perfection. As far as Ispalis, which
is a distance of not less than 500 stadia, the river is navigable for ships1039
of considerable size; but for the cities higher up, as far as Ilipas, smaller
vessels are employed, and thence to Corduba river-boats. These are now
constructed of planks joined together, but they were formerly made out of a
single trunk. Above this to Castlon the river is no longer navigable. A chain
of mountains, rich in metal, runs parallel to the Guadalquiver,1040
approaching the river sometimes more, sometimes less, towards the north.
There is much silver found in the parts about Ilipas and Sisapo, both in that
which is called the old town and the new. There are copper and gold about
the Cotinæ.1041 These mountains are on the left as you sail up the river; on
the right there is a vast and elevated plain, fertile, full of large trees, and
containing excellent pasturage. The Guadiana1042 is likewise navigable, but
not for vessels equally large, nor yet so far up. It is also bordered by
mountains containing metal, and extends as far as the Tagus. Districts
which contain metals must, of necessity, be rugged and poor,1043 as indeed
are those adjoining Carpetania, and still more those next the Keltiberians.
The same is the case with Bæturia, the plains of which, bordering on the
Guadiana, are arid.
4. Turdetania, on the other hand, is marvellously fertile, and abounds in
every species of produce. The value of its productions is doubled by means

of exportation, the surplus products finding a ready sale amongst the
numerous ship-owners. This results from its rivers and estuaries, which, as
we have said, resemble rivers, and by which you may sail from the sea to
the inland towns, not only in small, but even in large-sized skiffs. For the
whole country above the coast, and situated between the Sacred
Promontory1044 and the Pillars, consists of an extended plain. Here in many
places are hollows running inland from the sea, which resemble
moderately-sized ravines or the beds of rivers, and extend for many stadia.
These are filled by the approach of the sea at high tide, and may be
navigated as easily, or even more so than rivers. They are navigated much
the same as rivers; the sea, meeting with no obstacle, enters like the flow of
a river at flood-tide. The sea comes in here with greater force than in the
other places; for being forced from the wide ocean into the narrow
strait,1045 formed by the coast of Maurusia and Iberia, it experiences recoils,
and thus is borne full into the retiring parts of the land. Some of these
shallows are left dry as the tide ebbs, while others are never destitute of
water; others again contain islands, of this kind are the estuaries between
the Sacred Promontory1046 and the Pillars, where the tide comes in with
more violence than at other places. Such a tide is of considerable advantage
to sailors, since it makes the estuaries both fuller and more spacious,
frequently swelling them to a breadth of eight1047 stadia, so that the whole
land, so to speak, is rendered navigable, thus giving wonderful facility both
for the export and import of merchandise. Nevertheless there is some
inconvenience. For in the navigation of the rivers, the sailors run
considerable danger both in ascending and descending, owing to the
violence with which the flood-tide encounters the current of the stream as it
flows down. The ebb-tides are likewise the cause of much damage in these
estuaries, for resulting as they do from the same cause as the flood-tides,
they are frequently so rapid as to leave the vessel on dry land; and herds in
passing over to the islands that are in these estuaries are sometimes
drowned [in the passage] and sometimes surprised in the islands, and
endeavouring to cross back again to the continent, are unable, and perish in
the attempt. They say that certain of the cattle, having narrowly observed
what takes place, wait till the sea has retired, and then cross over to the
mainland.

5. The men [of the country], being well acquainted with the nature of these
places, and that the estuaries would very well answer the same purpose as
rivers, founded cities and other settlements along them the same as along
rivers. Of this number are Asta, Nebrissa,1048 Onoba,1049 Ossonoba,
Mænoba, besides many others. The canals which have been cut in various
directions are also found useful in the traffic which is carried on between
place and place, both amongst the people themselves and with foreigners.
The conflux of water at the flood-tides is also valuable, as rendering
navigable the isthmuses which separate the different pieces of water, thus
making it possible to ferry over from the rivers into the estuaries, and from
the estuaries into the rivers. Their trade is wholly carried on with Italy and
Rome. The navigation is excellent as far as the Pillars, (excepting perhaps
some little difficulties at the Strait,) and equally so on the Mediterranean,
where the voyages are very calm, especially to those who keep the high
seas. This is a great advantage to merchant-vessels. The winds on the high
seas blow regularly; and peace reigns there now, the pirates having been put
down, so that in every respect the voyage is facile. Posidonius tells us he
observed the singular phenomenon in his journey from Iberia,1050 that in
this sea, as far as the Gulf of Sardinia, the south-east1051 winds blow
periodically. And on this account he strove in vain for three whole months
to reach Italy, being driven about by the winds against the Gymnesian
islands,1052 Sardinia, and the opposite coasts of Libya.
6. Large quantities of corn and wine are exported from Turdetania, besides
much oil, which is of the first quality;1053 also wax, honey, pitch, large
quantities of the kermes-berry,1054 and vermilion not inferior to that of
Sinope.1055 The country furnishes the timber for their ship-building. They
have likewise mineral salt, and not a few salt streams. A considerable
quantity of salted fish is exported, not only from hence, but also from the
remainder of the coast beyond the Pillars, equal to that of Pontus. Formerly
they exported large quantities of garments, but they now send the
[unmanufactured] wool, which is superior even to that of the Coraxi,1056
and remarkable for its beauty. Rams for the purpose of covering fetch a
talent. The stuffs manufactured by the Saltiatæ1057 are of incomparable
texture. There is a super-abundance of cattle, and a great variety of game:
while, on the other hand, of destructive animals there are scarcely any, with

the exception of certain little hares which burrow in the ground, and are
called by some leberides.1058 These creatures destroy both seeds and trees
by gnawing their roots. They are met with throughout almost the whole of
Iberia,1059 and extend to Marseilles, infesting likewise the islands. It is said
that formerly the inhabitants of the Gymnesian islands1060 sent a deputation
to the Romans soliciting that a new land might be given them, as they were
quite driven out of their country by these animals, being no longer able to
stand against their vast multitudes.1061 It is possible that people should be
obliged to have recourse to such an expedient for help in waging war in so
great an extremity, which however but seldom happens, and is a plague
produced by some pestilential state of the atmosphere, which at other times
has produced serpents and rats in like abundance; but for the ordinary
increase of these little hares, many ways of hunting have been devised,
amongst others by wild cats from Africa,1062 trained for the purpose.
Having muzzled these, they turn them into the holes, when they either drag
out the animals they find there with their claws, or compel them to fly to the
surface of the earth, where they are taken by people standing by for that
purpose. The large amount of the exports from Turdetania is evinced by the
size and number of their ships. Merchant-vessels of the greatest size sail
thence to Dicæarchia1063 and Ostia, a Roman port; they are in number
nearly equal to those which arrive from Libya.
7. Such is the wealth of the inland part of Turdetania, and its maritime
portions are found fully to equal it in the richness of their sea-productions.
In fact, oysters and every variety of shell-fish, remarkable both for their
number and size, are found along the whole of the exterior sea, but here in
particular. It is probable that the flow and ebb tides, which are particularly
strong here, contribute both to their quantity and size, on account of the
great number of pools and standing waters which they form.1064 The same
is the case with regard to all kinds of cetacea, narwhals, whales, and
physeteri,1065 which when they blow [up the water from their snouts]
appear to observers from a distance to resemble a cloud shaped like a
column. The congers are quite monstrous, far surpassing in size those of our
[sea];1066 so are the lampreys, and many other fish of the same kind. It is
said that in Carteia there are kerukæ1067 and cuttle-fish which would
contain as much as ten cotylæ.1068 In the parts more exterior there are

lampreys and congers weighing 80 minæ,1069 and polypes a talent,1070 also
teuthidæ1071 two cubits in length, with other fish in proportion. Shoals of
rich fat thunny are driven hither from the sea-coast beyond. They feed on
the fruit of a species of stunted oak, which grows at the bottom of the sea,
and produces very large acorns. The same oaks grow in large numbers
throughout the land of Iberia, their roots are of the same size as those of the
full-grown oak, although the tree itself never attains the height of a low
shrub. So great is the quantity of fruit which it produces, that at the season
when they are ripe, the whole coast on either side of the Pillars is covered
with acorns which have been thrown up by the tides: the quantity however
is always less on this side the Pillars [than on the other]. Polybius states that
these acorns are ejected [by the sea] as far as [the shores of] Latium, unless,
he adds, Sardo1072 and the neighbouring districts also produce them. The
thunny-fish become gradually thinner, owing to the failure of their food, as
they approach the Pillars from the outer sea. This fish, in fact, may be
regarded as a kind of sea-hog, being fond of the acorn, and growing
marvellously fat upon it; and whenever acorns are abundant, thunny-fish are
abundant likewise.

8. Of the various riches of the aforenamed country,1073 not the least is its
wealth in metals: this every one will particularly esteem and admire. Of
metals, in fact, the whole country of the Iberians is full, although it is not
equally fertile and flourishing throughout, especially in those parts where
the metals most abound. It is seldom that any place is blessed with both
these advantages, and likewise seldom that the different kinds of metals
abound in one small territory. Turdetania, however, and the surrounding
districts surpass so entirely in this respect, that however you may wish,
words cannot convey their excellence. Gold, silver, copper, and iron, equal
in amount and of similar quality, not having been hitherto discovered in any
other part of the world.1074 Gold is not only dug from the mines, but
likewise collected; sand containing gold being washed down by the rivers
and torrents. It is frequently met with in arid districts, but here the gold is
not visible to the sight, whereas in those which are overflowed the grains of
gold are seen glittering. On this account they cause water to flow over the
arid places in order to make the grains shine; they also dig pits, and make
use of other contrivances for washing the sand, and separating the gold
from it; so that at the present day more gold is procured by washing than by

digging it from the mines. The Galatæ affirm that the mines along the
Kemmenus mountains1075 and their side of the Pyrenees are superior; but
most people prefer those on this side. They say that sometimes amongst the
grains of gold lumps have been found weighing half a pound, these they
call palæ; they need but little refining.1076 They also say that in splitting
open stones they find small lumps, resembling paps. And that when they
have melted the gold, and purified it by means of a kind of aluminous earth,
the residue left is electrum. This, which contains a mixture of silver and
gold, being again subjected to the fire, the silver is separated and the gold
left [pure]; for this metal is easily dissipated and fat,1077 and on this account
gold is most easily melted by straw, the flame of which is soft, and bearing
a similarity [to the gold], causes it easily to dissolve: whereas coal, besides
wasting a great deal, melts it too much by reason of its vehemence, and
carries it off [in vapour]. In the beds of the rivers the sand is either collected
and washed in boats close by, or else a pit is dug to which the earth is
carried and there washed. The furnaces for silver are constructed lofty, in
order that the vapour, which is dense and pestilent, may be raised and
carried off. Certain of the copper mines are called gold mines, which would
seem to show that formerly gold was dug from them.
9. Posidonius, in praising the amount and excellence of the metals, cannot
refrain from his accustomed rhetoric, and becomes quite enthusiastic in
exaggeration. He tells us we are not to disbelieve the fable, that formerly
the forests having been set on fire, the earth, which was loaded with silver
and gold, melted, and threw up these metals to the surface, forasmuch as
every mountain and wooded hill seemed to be heaped up with money by a
lavish fortune. Altogether (he remarks) any one seeing these places, could
only describe them as the inexhaustible treasuries of nature, or the unfailing
exchequer of some potentate; for not only, he tells us, is this land rich itself,
but riches abound beneath it. So that amongst these people the
subterraneous regions should not be regarded as the realms of Pluto, but of
Plutus. Such is the flourished style in which he speaks on this subject, that
you would fancy his turgid language had been dug from a mine itself.
Discoursing on the diligence of the miners, he applies to them the remark
[of Demetrius] of Phalaris, who, speaking of the silver mines of Attica, said
that the men there dug with as much energy as if they thought they could
grub up Plutus himself. He compares with these the activity and diligence

of the Turdetani, who are in the habit of cutting tortuous and deep tunnels,
and draining the streams which they frequently encounter by means of
Egyptian screws.1078 As for the rest,1079 they are quite different from the
Attic miners, whose mining (he remarks) may be justly compared to that
enigma,1080 What I have taken up I have not kept, and what I have got I
have thrown away. Whereas the Turdetanians make a good profit, since a
fourth part of the ore which they extract from the copper mines is [pure]
copper, while from the silver mines one person has taken as much as a
Eubœan talent. He says that tin is not found upon the surface, as authors
commonly relate, but that it is dug up; and that it is produced both in places
among the barbarians who dwell beyond the Lusitanians and in the islands
Cassiterides; and that from the Britannic Islands it is carried to Marseilles.
Amongst the Artabri,1081 who are the last of the Lusitanians towards the
north and west, he tells us that the earth is powdered with silver, tin, and
white gold, that is, mixed with silver, the earth having been brought down
by the rivers: this the women scrape up with spades, and wash in sieves,
woven after the fashion of baskets. Such is the substance of what
[Posidonius] tells us concerning the mines [of Iberia].

10. Polybius, speaking of the silver mines of New Carthage,1082 tells us that
they are extremely large, distant from the city about 20 stadia, and occupy a
circuit of 400 stadia, that there are 40,000 men regularly engaged in them,
and that they yield daily to the Roman people [a revenue of] 25,000
drachmæ. The rest of the process I pass over, as it is too long, but as for the
silver ore collected, he tells us that it is broken up, and sifted through sieves
over water; that what remains is to be again broken, and the water having
been strained off, it is to be sifted and broken a third time. The dregs which
remain after the fifth time are to be melted, and the lead being poured off,
the silver is obtained pure. These silver mines still exist; however they are
no longer the property of the state, neither these nor those elsewhere, but
are possessed by private individuals. The gold mines, on the contrary,
nearly all belong to the state. Both at Castlon1083 and other places there are
singular lead mines worked. They contain a small proportion of silver, but
not sufficient to pay for the expense of refining.
11. Not far from Castlon is the mountain in which they report that the
[river] Guadalquiver1084 takes its rise. They call it silver mountain on

account of the silver mines which it contains.1085 Polybius asserts that both
the Guadiana1086 and this river have their sources in Keltiberia,
notwithstanding they are separated from each other by a distance of 900
stadia;1087 [this we are to attribute to] the Keltiberians having increased in
power, and having consequently conferred their name on the surrounding
country. It appears the ancients knew the Guadalquiver under the name of
the Tartessus, and Gades1088 with the neighbouring islands under that of
Erythia; and it is thought that we should understand in this sense the words
of Stesichorus1089 concerning the pastoral poet Geryon, that he was born
“almost opposite to the renowned Erythia, in a rocky cave near to the
abundant springs of the silver-bedded river Tartessus.” They say that on the
piece of land enclosed between the two outlets of this river there formerly
stood a city named, like the river, Tartessus, and that the district was called
Tartessis, which the Turduli now inhabit. Eratosthenes likewise tells us that
the [country] near to Calpe1090 was called Tartessis, and also Erythia the
Fortunate Island. This Artemidorus contradicts, and says that it is as false as
his other statements, that the Sacred Promontory1091 is distant from
Gades1092 five days’ sail, when in fact they are [distant from each other] not
more than 1700 stadia.1093 Likewise that the tide ceased at this point,
whereas it passes round the whole circuit of the habitable earth. That it is
easier to pass from the northern parts of Iberia into Keltica,1094 than to
proceed thither by sea; with many other things which he asserted on the
faith of that charlatan Pytheas.
12. Our poet [Homer] being very explicit, and possessing great experience,
gives one cause to believe that he was not unfamiliar with these localities.
Of this any one may be convinced who will examine carefully what has
been written on these points, both the incorrect [comments], and likewise
those which are better and more truthful. One amongst these incorrect ideas
is, that he considered [Tartessis] to be the farthest country towards the west,
where, as he himself expresses it,
The radiant sun in ocean sank,
Drawing night after him o’er all the earth.1095

Now, since it is evident that night is ominous, and near to Hades, and Hades
to Tartarus, it seems probable that [Homer], having heard of Tartessus, took

thence the name of Tartarus to distinguish the farthest of the places beneath
the earth, also embellishing it with fable in virtue of the poetic licence. In
the same way, knowing that the Cimmerians dwelt in northern and dismal
territories near to the Bosphorus, he located them in the vicinity of Hades;
perhaps also on account of the common hatred of the Ionians against this
people. For they say that in the time of Homer, or a little before, the
Cimmerians made an incursion as far as Æolia and Ionia. Always drawing
his fables from certain real facts, his Planetæ1096 are modelled on the
Cyaneæ. He describes them as dangerous rocks, as they tell us the
Cyaneæan rocks are, [and] on which account [in fact] they are called
Symplegades.1097 He adds to this [the account of] Jason’s navigating
through the midst of them. The Straits of the Pillars1098 and Sicily,1099
likewise, suggested to him the fable of the Planetæ. Thus, even according to
the worst comments, from the fiction of Tartarus any one might gather that
Homer was acquainted with the regions about Tartessus.
13. Of these facts, notwithstanding, there are better proofs. For instance, the
expeditions of Hercules and the Phœnicians to this country were evidence
to him of the wealth and luxury of the people. They fell so entirely under
the dominion of the Phœnicians, that at the present day almost the whole of
the cities of Turdetania and the neighbouring places are inhabited by them.
It also seems to me that the expedition of Ulysses hither, as it took place
and was recorded, was the foundation both of his Odyssey and Iliad, which
he framed upon facts collected into a poem, and embellished as usual with
poetical mythology. It is not only in Italy, Sicily, and a few other places that
vestiges of these [events] occur; even in Iberia a city is shown named
Ulyssea,1100 also a temple of Minerva, and a myriad other traces both of the
wandering of Ulysses and also of other survivors of the Trojan war, which
was equally fatal to the vanquished and those who took Troy. These latter in
fact gained a Cadmean victory,1101 for their homes were destroyed, and the
portion of booty which fell to each was exceedingly minute. Consequently
not only those who had survived the perils [of their country], but the Greeks
as well, betook themselves to piracy, the former because they had been
pillaged of every thing; the latter, on account of the shame which each one
anticipated to himself:

“The shame
That must attend us, after absence long
Returning unsuccessful, who can bear?”1102

In the same way is related the wandering of Æneas, of Antenor, and of the
Heneti; likewise of Diomedes, of Menelaus, of Ulysses,1103 and of many
others. Hence the poet, knowing of similar expeditions to the extremities of
Iberia, and having heard of its wealth and other excellencies, (which the
Phœnicians had made known,) feigned this to be the region of the Blessed,
and the Plain of Elysium, where Proteus informs Menelaus that he is to
depart to:
“But far hence the gods
Will send thee to Elysium, and the earth’s
Extremest bounds; there Rhadamanthus dwells,
The golden-haired, and there the human kind
Enjoy the easiest life; no snow is there,
No biting winter, and no drenching shower,
But zephyr always gently from the sea
Breathes on them to refresh the happy race.”1104

Now the purity of the air, and the gentle breathing of the zephyr, are both
applicable to this country, as well as the softness of the climate, its position
in the west, and its place at the extremities of the earth, where, as we have
said, he feigned that Hades was. By coupling Rhadamanthus with it, he
signifies that the place was near to Minos, of whom he says,
“There saw I Minos, offspring famed of Jove;
His golden sceptre in his hand, he sat
Judge of the dead.”1105

Similar to these are the fables related by later poets; such, for instance, as
the expeditions after the oxen of Geryon, and the golden apples of the
Hesperides, the Islands of the Blessed1106 they speak of, which we know are
still pointed out to us not far distant from the extremities of Maurusia, and
opposite to Gades.
14. I repeat that the Phœnicians were the discoverers [of these countries],
for they possessed the better part of Iberia and Libya before the time of
Homer, and continued masters of those places until their empire was
overthrown by the Romans. This also is an evidence of the wealth of Iberia:
in the expedition of the Carthaginians under Barcas,1107 they found,

according to historians, that the people of Turdetania used silver goblets1108
and casks. One might guess too that it was on account of this great opulence
that the men of the country, and their chiefs in particular, were styled long-
lived. Wherefore Anacreon thus sings,
“Neither would I desire the horn of Amalthea, nor to reign over Tartessus one hundred and fifty
years.”

Herodotus too has preserved the name of the king, whom he calls
Arganthonius.1109 The passage of Anacreon must therefore either be
understood [of this king], or some other like him; or else more generally
thus, “nor to reign for a lengthened period in Tartessus.” Some writers1110
are of opinion that Tartessus is the present Carteia.
15. The Turdetani not only enjoy a salubrious climate but their manners are
polished and urbane, as also are those of the people of Keltica, by reason of
their vicinity [to the Turdetani], or, according to Polybius, on account of
their being of the same stock, but not to so great a degree, for they live for
the most part scattered in villages. The Turdetani, on the other hand,
especially those who dwell about the Guadalquiver,1111 have so entirely
adopted the Roman mode of life, as even to have forgotten their own
language. They have for the most part become Latins,1112 and received
Roman colonists; so that a short time only is wanted before they will be all
Romans. The very names of many of the towns at present, such as Pax
Augusta1113 amongst the Keltici, Augusta-Emerita1114 amongst the Turduli,
Cæsar-Augusta1115 amongst the Keltiberians and certain other colonies, are
proof of the change of manners I have spoken of. Those of the Iberians who
adopt these new modes of life are styled togati. Amongst their number are
the Keltiberians, who formerly were regarded as the most uncivilized of
them all. So much for these.

CHAPTER III.

1. Starting again from the Sacred Promontory,1116 and continuing along the
other side of the coast, we come to the gulf near the Tagus, afterwards Cape

Barbarium,1117 and near to this the outlets of the Tagus, which may be
reached by sailing in a straight course for a distance of 10 stadia.1118 Here
are estuaries, one of them more than 400 stadia from the said tower, on a
part of which Laccæa is situated.1119 The breadth of the mouth of the Tagus
is about 20 stadia, its depth is so great as to be capable of navigation by
vessels of the greatest burden. At the flood-tide the Tagus forms two
estuaries in the plains which lie above it, so that the plain is inundated and
rendered navigable for a distance of 150 stadia. In the upper estuary an
island is formed about 30 stadia in length, and nearly equal in breadth,
which is fertile, and has excellent vines. The island lies near to Moro,1120 a
city happily situated on a mountain close to the river, and about 500 stadia
from the sea. The country surrounding it is very fine, and the ascent [of the
Tagus] for a considerable way practicable for vessels of a large size, the
remainder is performed in river-boats. Above Moro it is navigable for a yet
longer distance. Brutus, surnamed the Gallician, made use of this city as a
military station, when fighting against the Lusitanians, whom he subdued.
On the sides of the river he fortified Olysipo, in order that the passage up
the river and the carriage of necessaries might be preserved unimpeded.
These therefore are the finest cities near the Tagus. The river contains much
fish, and is full of oysters. It takes its rise amongst the Keltiberians, and
flows through the [country of the] Vettones, Carpetani, and Lusitani,
towards the west;1121 to a certain distance it runs parallel with the
Guadiana1122 and Guadalquiver,1123 but parts from them as they decline
towards the southern coast.
2. Of those who dwell above the aforesaid mountains, the Oretani are the
most southern, extending in part as far as the sea-coast on this side the
Pillars. Next these towards the north are the Carpetani, then the Vettones
and Vaccæi, through whose [country] the Douro1124 flows as it passes
Acontia,1125 a city of the Vaccæi. The Gallicians are the last, and inhabit for
the most part a mountainous country: on this account they were the most
difficult to subdue, and furnished his surname to the conqueror of the
Lusitanians; in fact, at the present day the greater part of the Lusitanians are
beginning to call themselves Gallicians. The finest cities of Oretania are
Castulo1126 and Oria.1127

3. North of the Tagus is Lusitania, the principal of the nations of Iberia, and
the one which has most frequently encountered the arms of the Romans. On
the southern side this country is bounded by the Tagus, on the west and
north by the ocean, on the east by the well-known nations of the Carpetani,
the Vettones, the Vaccæi, the Gallicians, and by others not worthy to be
mentioned on account of their insignificance and obscurity. On the other
hand, certain historians of the present day give the name of Lusitanians to
all of these nations.
To the east the Gallicians border on the nation of the Asturians and
Keltiberians, the others [border] on the Keltiberians. In length Lusitania is
30001128 stadia; its breadth, which is comprised between the eastern side
and the opposite sea-coast, is much less. The eastern part is mountainous
and rugged, while the country beyond, as far as the sea, consists entirely of
plains, with the exception of a few inconsiderable mountains. On this
account Posidonius remarks that Aristotle was not correct in supposing that
the ebb and flow of the tide was occasioned by the sea-coast of Iberia and
Maurusia.1129 For Aristotle asserted that the tides of the sea were caused by
the extremities of the land being mountainous and rugged, and therefore
both receiving the wave violently and also casting it back. Whereas
Posidonius truly remarks that they are for the most part low and sandy.
4. The country which we are describing is fertile, and irrigated by rivers
both large and small, all of which flow from the eastern parts parallel with
the Tagus: most of them are navigable and full of gold dust. After the Tagus,
the most noted rivers are the Mondego1130 and the Vouga,1131 which are
navigable but for a short distance. After these is the Douro,1132 which flows
from afar by Numantia,1133 and many other colonies of the Keltiberians and
Vaccæi; it is capable of being navigated in large vessels for a distance of
nearly 800 stadia. Besides these there are other rivers, after which is the
[river] of Lethe, which some call the Limæa,1134 others the Belio,1135 it
likewise rises amongst the Keltiberians and Vaccæi. After this is the Bænis,
(some call it the Minius,1136) by far the largest river of Lusitania,1137 being
navigable for a distance of 800 stadia. Posidonius says this too rises
amongst the Cantabrians.1138 An island1139 lies before its outlet, and two
moles affording anchorage for vessels. A natural advantage [of this country]
well deserving of commendation is, that the banks of the rivers are so lofty

as to be capable of containing the entirety of the water raised by the high
tides of the sea, without either being overfilled, or overflowing the plains.
This was the limit of Brutus’s expedition. Beyond there are many other
rivers parallel to those I have named.
5. The Artabri are the last of the people [on this coast]. They inhabit the
promontory called Nerium,1140 which is the boundary [of Iberia] on its
western and northern sides. Around it dwell the Keltici, a kindred race to
those who are situated along the Guadiana.1141 They say that these latter,
together with the Turduli, having undertaken an expedition thither,
quarrelled after they had crossed the river Lima,1142 and, besides the
sedition, their leader having also died, they remained scattered there, and
from this circumstance the river was called the Lethe.1143 The Artabri have
besides many cities established round the Gulf, which mariners and those
familiar with the places designate as the Port of the Artabri. At the present
day the Artabri are denominated the Arotrebæ. About thirty1144 different
nations occupy the country between the Tagus and the Artabri.
Notwithstanding the fertility of the country in corn, cattle, gold, silver, and
numerous other similar productions, the majority of its inhabitants,
neglecting to gain their subsistence from the ground, passed their lives in
pillage and continual warfare, both between themselves and their
neighbours, whom they used to cross the Tagus [to plunder]. To this the
Romans at length put a stop by subduing them, and changing many of their
cities into villages, besides colonizing some of them better. The
mountaineers, as was natural, were the first to commence this lawless mode
of life: for living but scantily, and possessing little, they coveted the goods
of others, who being obliged to repulse them, of necessity relinquished their
proper employments, and instead of pursuing agriculture took up arms.
Thus it happened that their country, being neglected, became barren
notwithstanding its natural advantages, and inhabited by bandits.
6. The Lusitanians are reported to be clever in laying ambushes, sharp, swift
of foot, light,1145 and easily disciplined as soldiers. The small shield they
make use of is two feet in diameter, its outer surface concave, and
suspended by leather thongs; it neither has rings nor handles. They have in
addition1146 a poignard or dagger. Their corselets are for the most part made
of linen; a few have chain-coats and helmets with triple crests, but the

others use helmets composed of sinews. The infantry wear greaves, each
man is furnished with a number of javelins; some also use spears pointed
with brass. They report that some of those who dwell near to the river
Douro1147 imitate the Lacedæmonians in anointing their bodies with oil,
using hot air-baths made of heated stones, bathing in cold water, and taking
but one tidy and frugal meal a day. The Lusitanians are frequent in the
performance of sacrifice; they examine the entrails, but without cutting
them out of the body; they also examine the veins of the side, and practise
augury by the touch. They likewise divine by the entrails of captive
enemies, whom they first cover with a military cloak, and when stricken
under the entrails by the haruspex, they draw their first auguries from the
fall [of the victim]. They cut off the right hands of their prisoners, and
consecrate them to the gods.
7. All the mountaineers are frugal, their beverage is water, they sleep on the
ground, and wear a profuse quantity of long hair after the fashion of
women, which they bind around the forehead when they go to battle.1148
They subsist principally on the flesh of the goat, which animal they
sacrifice to Mars, as also prisoners taken in war, and horses. They likewise
offer hecatombs of each kind after the manner of the Greeks, described by
Pindar,
“To sacrifice a hundred of every [species].”1149

They practise gymnastic exercises,1150 both as heavy-armed soldiers, and
cavalry, also boxing, running, skirmishing, and fighting in bands. For two-
thirds of the year the mountaineers feed on the acorn, which they dry,
bruise, and afterwards grind and make into a kind of bread, which may be
stored up for a long period. They also use beer; wine is very scarce, and
what is made they speedily consume in feasting with their relatives. In place
of oil they use butter. Their meals they take sitting, on seats put up round
the walls, and they take place on these according to their age and rank. The
supper is carried round, and whilst drinking they dance to the sound of the
flute and trumpet, springing up and sinking upon the knees.1151
In Bastetania the women dance promiscuously with the men, each holding
the other’s hand. They all dress in black, the majority of them in cloaks
called saga, in which they sleep on beds of straw. They make use of wooden

vessels like the Kelts. The women wear dresses and embroidered garments.
Instead of money, those who dwell far in the interior exchange
merchandise, or give pieces of silver cut off from plates of that metal.
Those condemned to death are executed by stoning; parricides are put to
death without the frontiers or the cities. They marry according to the
customs of the Greeks.1152 Their sick they expose upon the highways, the
same way as the Egyptians1153 did anciently, in the hope that some one who
has experienced the malady may be able to give them advice. Up to the time
of [the expedition of] Brutus they made use of vessels constructed of skins
for crossing the lagoons formed by the tides; they now have them formed
out of the single trunk of a tree, but these are scarce. Their salt is purple, but
becomes white by pounding. The life of the mountaineers is such as I have
described, I mean those bordering the northern side of Iberia, the Gallicians,
the Asturians, and the Cantabrians,1154 as far as the Vascons1155 and the
Pyrenees. The mode of life amongst all these is similar. But I am reluctant
to fill my page with their names, and would fain escape the disagreeable
task of writing them, unless perchance the Pleutauri, the Bardyetæ, the
Allotriges,1156 and other names still worse and more out of the way than
these might be grateful to the ear of some one.
8. The rough and savage manners of these people is not alone owing to their
wars, but likewise to their isolated position, it being a long distance to reach
them, whether by sea or land. Thus the difficulty of communication has
deprived them both of generosity of manners and of courtesy. At the present
time, however, they suffer less from this both on account of their being at
peace and the intermixture of Romans. Wherever these [influences] are not
so much experienced people are harsher and more savage. It is probable that
this ruggedness of character is increased by the barrenness of the mountains
and some of the places which they inhabit. At the present day, as I have
remarked, all warfare is put an end to, Augustus Cæsar having subdued the
Cantabrians1157 and the neighbouring nations, amongst whom the system of
pillage was mainly carried on in our day. So that at the present time, instead
of plundering the allies of the Romans, the Coniaci and those who dwell by
the sources of the Ebro,1158 with the exception of the Tuisi,1159 bear arms
for the Romans. Tiberius, who succeeded Augustus Cæsar, carried out his
intention of placing a military force of three legions in these parts, by which

means he has not only preserved peace, but introduced amongst some of
them a civil polity.

CHAPTER IV.

1. What remains [to be described] of Iberia, is the sea-coast of the
Mediterranean from the Pillars to the Pyrenees, and the whole of the inland
country which lies above. The breadth of this is irregular, its length a little
above 4000 stadia. It has been remarked that the sea-coast1160 is above 2000
stadia, and they say that from Mount Calpe,1161 which is near the Pillars, to
New Carthage,1162 there are 2200 stadia. This coast is inhabited by the
Bastetani, also called the Bastuli, and in part by the Oretani. Thence1163 to
the Ebro the distance is nearly as great. This [region] is inhabited by the
Edetani. On this side the Ebro to the Pyrenees and the Trophies of Pompey
there are 1600 stadia. It is peopled by a small portion of the Edetani, and the
rest by a people named the Indicetes, divided into four cantons.
2. Commencing our particular description from Calpe, there is [first] the
mountain-chain of Bastetania and the the Oretani. This is covered with thick
woods and gigantic trees, and separates the sea-coast from the interior. In
many places it also contains gold and other mines. The first city along the
coast is Malaca,1164 which is about as far distant from Calpe as Calpe is
from Gades.1165 It is a market for the nomade tribes from the opposite
coast, and there are great stores of salt-fish there. Some suppose it to be the
same as Mænaca, which tradition reports to be the farthest west of the cities
of the Phocæi; but this is not the case, for Mænaca, which was situated at a
greater distance from Calpe, is in ruins, and preserves traces of having been
a Grecian city, whereas Malaca is nearer, and Phœnician in its
configuration. Next in order is the city of the Exitani,1166 from which the
salted fish1167 bearing that name takes its appellation.
3. After these comes Abdera,1168 founded likewise by the Phœnicians.
Above these places, in the mountains, the city of Ulyssea1169 is shown,
containing a temple to Minerva, according to the testimony of Posidonius,

Artemidorus, and Asclepiades the Myrlean,1170 a man who taught literature
in Turdetania, and published a description of the nations dwelling there. He
says that in the temple of Minerva were hung up spears and prows of
vessels, monuments of the wanderings of Ulysses. That some of those who
followed Teucer in his expedition settled among the Gallicians;1171 and that
two cities were there, the one called Hellenes,1172 the other Amphilochi; but
Amphilochus1173 having died, his followers wandered into the interior. He
adds, that it is said, that some of the followers of Hercules, and certain also
of the inhabitants of Messene, settled in Iberia. Both he and others assert
that a portion of Cantabria was occupied by Laconians. Here is the city
named Opsicella,1174 founded by Ocela,1175 who passed into Italy with
Antenor and his children. Some believe the account of the merchants of
Gades, asserted by Artemidorus, that in Libya there are people living above
Maurusia, near to the Western Ethiopians, named Lotophagi, because they
feed on the leaves and root of the lotus1176 without wanting to drink; for
they possess [no drink], being without water. These people they say extend
as far as the regions above Cyrene. There are others also called Lotophagi,
who inhabit Meninx,1177 one of the islands situated opposite the Lesser
Syrtes.1178
4. No one should be surprised that the poet, in his fiction descriptive of the
wanderings of Ulysses, should have located the majority of the scenes
which he narrates without the Pillars, in the Atlantic. For historical events
of a similar character did actually occur near to the places, so that the other
circumstances which he feigned did not make his fiction incredible; nor
[should any one be surprised] if certain persons, putting faith in the
historical accuracy and extensive knowledge of the poet, should have
attempted to explain the poem of Homer on scientific principles; a
proceeding undertaken by Crates of Mallos,1179 and some others. On the
other hand, there have been those who have treated the undertaking of
Homer so contemptuously, as not only to deny any such knowledge to the
poet, as though he were a ditcher or reaper, but have stigmatized as fools
those who commented on his writings. And not one either of the
grammarians, or of those skilled in the mathematics, has dared to undertake
their defence, or to set right any mistakes in what they have advanced, or
any thing else; although it seems to me possible both to prove correct much

that they have said, and also to set right other points, especially where they
have been misled by putting faith in Pytheas, who was ignorant of the
countries situated along the ocean, both to the west and north. But we must
let these matters pass, as they require a particular and lengthened
discussion.
5. The settlement of the Grecians amongst these barbarous nations may be
regarded as the result of the division of these latter into small tribes and
sovereignties, having on account of their moroseness no union amongst
themselves, and therefore powerless against attacks from without. This
moroseness is remarkably prevalent amongst the Iberians, who are besides
crafty in their manner, devoid of sincerity, insidious, and predatory in their
mode of life; they are bold in little adventures, but never undertake any
thing of magnitude, inasmuch as they have never formed any extended
power or confederacy. If they had had but the will to assist each other,
neither could the Carthaginians by making an incursion have so easily
deprived them of the greater part of their country, nor before them the
Tyrians, then the Kelts, now called the Keltiberians and Berones, nor after
these the brigand Viriathus, and Sertorius,1180 nor any others who desired
power. On this account the Romans, having carried the war into Iberia, lost
much time by reason of the number of different sovereignties, having to
conquer first one, then another; in fact, it occupied nearly two centuries, or
even longer, before they had subdued the whole.—I return to my
description.

6. After Abdera1181 is New Carthage,1182 founded by Asdrubal, who
succeeded Barcas, the father of Hannibal. It is by far the most powerful city
of this country, being impregnable, and furnished with a noble wall,
harbours, and a lake, besides the silver mines already mentioned. The places
in the vicinity have an abundance of salted fish, and it is besides the great
emporium of the sea merchandise for the interior, and likewise for the
merchandise from the interior for exportation. About midway along the
coast between this city and the Ebro, we meet with the outlet of the river
Xucar,1183 and a city bearing the same name.1184 It rises in a mountain
belonging to the chain which overlooks Malaca,1185 and the regions around
Carthage, and may be forded on foot; it is nearly parallel to the Ebro, but
not quite so far distant from Carthage as from the Ebro. Between the Xucar

and Carthage are three small towns of the people of Marseilles, not far from
the river. Of these the best known is Hemeroscopium.1186 On the
promontory there is a temple to Diana of Ephesus, held in great veneration.
Sertorius used it as an arsenal, convenient to the sea, both on account of its
being fortified and fitted for piratical uses, and because it is visible from a
great distance to vessels approaching. It is called Dianium,1187 from Diana.
Near to it are some fine iron-works, and two small islands, Planesia1188 and
Plumbaria,1189 with a sea-water lake lying above, of 400 stadia in
circumference. Next is the island of Hercules, near to Carthage, and called
Scombraria,1190 on account of the mackerel taken there, from which the
finest garum1191 is made. It is distant 24 stadia from Carthage. On the other
side of the Xucar, going towards the outlet of the Ebro, is Saguntum,
founded by the Zacynthians. The destruction of this city by Hannibal,
contrary to his treaties with the Romans, kindled the second Punic war.
Near to it are the cities of Cherronesus,1192 Oleastrum, and Cartalia, and the
colony of Dertossa,1193 on the very passage of the Ebro. The Ebro takes its
source amongst the Cantabrians; it flows through an extended plain towards
the south, running parallel with the Pyrenees.
7. The first city between the windings of the Ebro and the extremities of the
Pyrenees, near to where the Trophies of Pompey are erected, is Tarraco;1194
it has no harbour, but is situated on a bay, and possessed of many other
advantages. At the present day it is as well peopled as Carthage;1195 for it is
admirably suited for the stay of the prefects,1196 and is as it were the
metropolis, not only of [the country lying] on this side the Ebro, but also of
a great part of what lies beyond. The near vicinity of the Gymnesian
Islands,1197 and Ebusus,1198 which are all of considerable importance, are
sufficient to inform one of the felicitous position of the city. Eratosthenes
tells us that it has a roadstead, but Artemidorus contradicts this, and affirms
that it scarcely possesses an anchorage.
8. The whole coast from the Pillars up to this place wants harbours, but all
the way from here to Emporium,1199 the countries of the Leëtani, the
Lartolæetæ, and others, are both furnished with excellent harbours and
fertile. Emporium was founded by the people of Marseilles, and is about
40001200 stadia distant from the Pyrenees, and the confines of Iberia and

Keltica. This is a very fine region, and possesses good ports. Here also is
Rhodope,1201 a small town of the Emporitæ, but some say it was founded
by the Rhodians. Both here and in Emporium they reverence the Ephesian
Diana. The cause of this we will explain when we come to speak of
Massalia.1202 In former times the Emporitæ dwelt on a small island
opposite, now called the old city, but at the present day they inhabit the
mainland. The city is double, being divided by a wall, for in past times
some of the Indiceti dwelt close by, who, although they had a separate
polity to themselves, desired, for the sake of safety, to be shut in by a
common enclosure with the Grecians; but at the same time that this
enclosure should be two-fold, being divided through its middle by a wall. In
time, however, they came to have but one government, a mixture of
Barbarian and Grecian laws; a result which has taken place in many other
[states].

9. A river1203 flows near to it, which has its sources in the Pyrenees; its
outlet forms a port for the Emporitæ, who are skilful workers in flax. Of the
interior of their country some parts are fertile, others covered with spartum,
a rush which flourishes in marshes, and is entirely useless: they call this the
Junc Plain. There are some who inhabit the Pyrenean mountains as far as
the Trophies of Pompey, on the route which leads from Italy into Ulterior
Iberia,1204 and particularly into Bætica. This road runs sometimes close to
the sea, sometimes at a distance therefrom, particularly in the western parts.
From the Trophies of Pompey it leads to Tarraco,1205 through the Junc
Plain, the Betteres,1206 and the plain called in the Latin tongue [the plain] of
Marathon, on account of the quantity of fennel growing there. From Tarraco
[the road runs] towards the passage of the Ebro at the city of Dertossa;1207
from thence having traversed the city of Saguntum,1208 and Setabis,1209 it
follows a course more and more distant from the sea, till it approaches the
Plain of Spartarium, which signifies the Plain of Rushes. This is a vast arid
plain, producing the species of rush from which cords are made, and which
are exported to all parts, but particularly to Italy.1210 Formerly the road
passed on through the midst of the plain, and [the city of] Egelastæ,1211
which was both difficult and long, but they have now constructed a new
road close to the sea, which merely touches upon the Plain of Rushes, and
leads to the same places as the former, [viz.] Castlon,1212 and Obulco,1213

through which runs the road to Corduba and Gades,1214 the two greatest
emporia [of Iberia]. Obulco is distant about 300 stadia from Corduba.
Historians report that Cæsar came from Rome to Obulco, and to his army
there, within the space of twenty-seven days, when about to fight the battle
of Munda.1215
10. Such is the whole sea-coast from the Pillars to the confines of the
Iberians and Kelts. The interior of the country lying above, and included
between the mountains of the Pyrenees and the northern side [of Iberia], as
far as the Astures, is principally divided by two mountain chains; the one of
these is parallel to the Pyrenees, and takes its commencement from the
country of the Cantabri, terminating at the Mediterranean. This is called the
Idubeda.1216 The second, springing from the middle [of this first], runs
towards the west, inclining however to the south and the sea-coast towards
the Pillars. At the commencement it consists of bare hills, but after
traversing the Plain of Spartarium, falls in with the forest lying above
Carthage,1217 and the regions round Malaca.1218 It is named Orospeda.1219
The river Ebro flows between the Pyrenees and Idubeda, and parallel to
both these mountains. It is fed by the rivers and other waters carried down
from [the mountains]. Situated on the Ebro is the city of Cæsar Augusta,1220
and the colony of Celsa,1221 where there is a stone bridge across the river.
This country is inhabited by many nations, the best known being that of the
Jaccetani.1222 Commencing at the foot of the Pyrenees, it widens out into
the plains, and reaches to the districts around Ilerda1223 and Osca,1224
[cities] of the Ilergetes not far distant from the Ebro. It was in these cities,
and in Calaguris,1225 a city of the Gascons, as well as those of Tarraco1226
and Hemeroscopium,1227 situated on the coast, that Sertorius sustained the
last efforts of the war, after being ejected from the country of the
Keltiberians. He died at Osca, and it was near to Ilerda that Afranius and
Petreius, Pompey’s generals, were afterwards defeated by divus1228 Cæsar.
Herda is distant 160 stadia from the Ebro, which is on its west, about 460
from Tarraco, which is on the south, and 540 from Osca, which lies to the
north.1229 Passing through these places from Tarraco to the extremities of
the Vascons who dwell by the ocean, near Pompelon1230 and the city of
Œaso1231 situated on the ocean, the route extends 2400 stadia, to the very
frontiers of Aquitaine and Iberia. It was in the country of the Jaccetani that

Sertorius fought against Pompey, and here afterwards Sextus, Pompey’s
son, fought against the generals of Cæsar. The nation of the Vascons, in
which is Pompelon, or Pompey’s city, lies north of Jaccetania.
11. The side of the Pyrenees next Iberia is covered with forests containing
numerous kinds of trees and evergreens, whilst the side next Keltica is bare:
in the midst [the mountains] enclose valleys admirably fitted for the
habitation of man. These are mainly possessed by the Kerretani, a people of
the Iberians. The hams they cure are excellent, fully equal to those of the
Cantabrians,1232 and they realize no inconsiderable profit to the inhabitants.
12. Immediately after passing Idubeda, you enter on Keltiberia, a large and
irregular country. It is for the most part rugged, and watered by rivers, being
traversed by the Guadiana,1233 the Tagus, and many other of the rivers
which flow into the western sea, but have their sources in Keltiberia. Of
their number is the Douro, which flows by Numantia1234 and Serguntia. The
Guadalquiver1235 rises in Orospeda, and after passing through Oretania,
enters Bætica. The Berones inhabit the districts north of the Keltiberians,
and are neighbours of the Conish Cantabrians. They likewise had their
origin in the Keltic expedition. Their city is Varia,1236 situated near to the
passage of the Ebro. They are adjacent to the Bardyitæ, now called the
Bardyli.1237 To the west [of the Keltiberians] are certain of the Astures,
Gallicians, and Vaccæi, besides Vettones and Carpetani. On the south are
the Oretani, and the other inhabitants of Orospeda, both Bastetani and
Edetani,1238 and to the east is Idubeda.
13. Of the four divisions into which the Keltiberians are separated, the most
powerful are the Aruaci, situated to the east and south, near to the Carpetani
and the sources of the Tagus. Their most renowned city is Numantia. They
showed their valour in the war of twenty years, waged by the Keltiberians
against the Romans; for many armies of the Romans, together with their
generals, were destroyed; and in the end the Numantians, besieged within
their city, endured the famine with constancy, till, reduced to a very small
number, they were compelled to surrender the place. The Lusones are also
situated to the east, and likewise border on the sources of the Tagus. Segeda
and Pallantia1239 are cities of the Aru>aci. Numantia is distant from Cæsar
Augusta,1240 situated as we have said upon the Ebro, about 800 stadia. Near

to Segobriga and Bilbilis,1241 likewise cities of the Keltiberians, was fought
the battle between Metellus and Sertorius. Polybius, describing the people
and countries of the Vaccæi and Keltiberians, enumerates Segesama1242 and
Intercatia amongst their other cities. Posidonius tells us that Marcus
Marcellus exacted of Keltiberia a tribute of 600 talents, which proves that
the Keltiberians were a numerous and wealthy people, notwithstanding the
little fertility of their country. Polybius narrates that Tiberius Gracchus
destroyed 300 cities of the Keltiberians. This Posidonius ridicules, and
asserts that to flatter Gracchus, Polybius described as cities the towers such
as are exhibited in the triumphal processions.1243 This is not incredible; for
both generals and historians easily fall into this species of deception, by
exaggerating their doings. Those who assert that Iberia contained more than
a thousand cities, seem to me to have been carried away in a similar
manner, and to have denominated as cities what were merely large villages;
since, from its very nature, this country is incapable of maintaining so many
cities, on account of its sterility, wildness, and its out-of-the-way position.
Nor, with the exception of those who dwell along the shores of the
Mediterranean, is any such statement confirmed by the mode of life or
actions of the inhabitants. The inhabitants of the villages, who constitute the
majority of the Iberians, are quite uncivilized. Even the cities cannot very
easily refine the manners [of their inhabitants], as the neighbouring woods
are full of robbers, waiting only an opportunity to inflict injury on the
citizens.
14. Beyond the Keltiberians to the south are the inhabitants of Orospeda
and the country about the Xucar,1244 the Sidetani,1245 [who extend] as far as
Carthage,1246 and the Bastetani and Oretani, [who extend] almost as far as
Malaca.1247
15. All the Iberians, so to speak, were peltastæ, furnished with light arms
for the purposes of robbery, and, as we described the Lusitanians, using the
javelin, the sling, and the sword. They have some cavalry interspersed
amongst the foot-soldiers, the horses are trained to traverse the mountains,
and to sink down on their knees at the word of command, in case of
necessity. Iberia produces abundance of antelopes and wild horses. In many
places the lakes are stocked. They have fowl, swans, and birds of similar
kind, and vast numbers of bustards. Beavers are found in the rivers, but the

castor does not possess the same virtue as that from the Euxine,1248 the drug
from that place having peculiar properties of its own, as is the case in many
other instances. Thus Posidonius tells us that the Cyprian copper alone
produces the cadmian stone, copperas-water, and oxide of copper. He
likewise informs us of the singular fact, that in Iberia the crows are not
black; and that the horses of Keltiberia which are spotted, lose that colour
when they pass into Ulterior Iberia. He compares them to the Parthian
horses, for indeed they are superior to all other breeds, both in fleetness and
their ease in speedy travelling.
16. Iberia produces a large quantity of roots used in dyeing. In olives, vines,
figs, and every kind of similar fruit-trees, the Iberian coast next the
Mediterranean abounds, they are likewise plentiful beyond. Of the coasts
next the ocean, that towards the north is destitute of them, on account of the
cold, and the remaining portion generally on account of the apathy of the
men, and because they do not lead a civilized life, but pass their days in
poverty, only acting on the animal impulse, and living most corruptly. They
do not attend to ease or luxury, unless any one considers it can add to the
happiness of their lives to wash themselves and their wives in stale urine
kept in tanks, and to rinse their teeth with it, which they say is the custom
both with the Cantabrians and their neighbours.1249 This practice, as well as
that of sleeping on the ground, is common both among the Iberians and
Kelts. Some say that the Gallicians are atheists, but that the Keltiberians,
and their neighbours to the north, [sacrifice] to a nameless god, every full
moon, at night, before their doors, the whole family passing the night in
dancing and festival. The Vettones, the first time they came to a Roman
camp, and saw certain of the officers walking up and down the roads for the
mere pleasure of walking, supposed that they were mad, and offered to
show them the way to their tents. For they thought, when not fighting, one
should remain quietly seated at ease.1250
17. What Artemidorus relates concerning the adornment of certain of their
women, must likewise be attributed to their barbarous customs. He says that
they wear iron collars having crows fixed to them which bend over the
head, and fall forward considerably over the forehead. When they wish they
draw their veil over these crows, so as to shade the whole face: this they
consider an ornament. Others wear a tympanium1251 surrounding the

occiput, and fitting tight to the head as far as the ears, turning over [and
increasing] little by little in height and breadth. Others again make bald the
front of the head, in order to display the forehead to greater advantage.
Some twist their flowing hair round a small style, a foot high, and
afterwards cover it with a black veil. Of singularities like these many have
been observed and recorded as to all the Iberian nations in common, but
particularly those towards the north, not only concerning their bravery, but
likewise their cruelty and brutal madness. For in the war against the
Cantabrians, mothers have slain their children sooner than suffer them to be
captured; and a young boy, having obtained a sword, slew, at the command
of his father, both his parents and brothers, who had been made prisoners
and were bound, and a woman those who had been taken together with her.
A man being invited by a party of drunken [soldiers] to their feast, threw
himself into a fire. These feelings are common both to the Keltic, Thracian,
and Scythian nations, as well as the valour not only of their men, but
likewise of their women. These till the ground,1252 and after parturition,
having put their husbands instead of themselves to bed, they wait upon
them. Frequently in their employment they wash and swathe their infants,
sitting down by some stream. Posidonius tells us that in Liguria, his host
Charmoleon, a man who came from Marseilles, related to him, that having
hired some men and women to dig his land, one of the women was seized
with the pains of labour, and going to a little distance from where they were
at work, she brought forth, and returned immediately to her work, for fear
she might lose her pay. He observed that she was evidently working in
considerable pain, but was not aware of the cause till towards evening,
when he ascertained it, and sent her away, having given her her wages. She
then carried her infant to a small spring, and having washed it, wrapped it
up in as good swaddling clothes as she could get, and made the best of her
way home.
18. Another practice, not restricted to the Iberians alone, is for two to mount
on one horse, so that in the event of a conflict, one may be there to fight on
foot. Neither are they the only sufferers in being tormented with vast
swarms of mice, from which pestilential diseases have frequently ensued.
This occurred to the Romans in Cantabria, so that they caused it to be
proclaimed, that whoever would catch the mice should receive rewards
according to the number taken, and [even with this] they were scarcely

preserved, as they were suffering besides from want of corn and other
necessaries, it being difficult to get supplies of corn from Aquitaine on
account of the rugged nature of the country. It is a proof of the ferocity of
the Cantabrians, that a number of them having been taken prisoners and
fixed to the cross, they chanted songs of triumph. Instances such as these
are proofs of the ferocity of their manners. There are others which, although
not showing them to be polished, are certainly not brutish. For example,
amongst the Cantabrians, the men give dowries to their wives, and the
daughters are left heirs, but they procure wives for their brothers. These
things indicate a degree of power in the woman, although they are no proof
of advanced civilization.1253 It is also a custom with the Iberians to furnish
themselves with a poison, which kills without pain, and which they procure
from a herb resembling parsley. This they hold in readiness in case of
misfortune, and to devote themselves for those whose cause they have
joined, thus dying for their sake.1254
19. Some, as I have said, state that this country is separated into four
divisions; others, into five. It is not easy to state any thing precisely on
these points, both on account of the changes which the places have
undergone, and by reason of their obscurity. In well-known and notable
countries both the migrations are known, and the divisions of the land, and
the changes of their names, and every thing else of the same kind. Such
matters being the common topics with everybody, and especially with the
Greeks, who are more talkative than any other people. But in barbarous and
out-of-the-way countries, and such as are cut up into small divisions, and lie
scattered, the remembrance of such occurrences is not nearly so certain, nor
yet so full. If these countries are far removed from the Greeks [our]
ignorance is increased. For although the Roman historians imitate the
Greeks, they fall far short of them. What they relate is taken from the
Greeks, very little being the result of their own ardour in acquiring
information. So that whenever any thing has been omitted by the former
there is not much supplied by the latter. Add to this, that the names most
celebrated are generally Grecian. Formerly the name of Iberia was given to
the whole country between the Rhone and the isthmus formed by the two
Galatic gulfs; whereas now they make the Pyrenees its boundary, and call it
indifferently Iberia or Hispania; others have restricted Iberia to the country
on this side the Ebro.1255 Still earlier it bore the name of the Igletes,1256

who inhabited but a small district, according to Asclepiades the Myrlean.
The Romans call the whole indifferently Iberia and Hispania, but designate
one portion of it Ulterior, and the other Citerior. However, at different
periods they have divided it differently, according to its political aspect at
various times.
20. At the present time some of the provinces having been assigned to the
people and senate of the Romans, and the others to the emperor, Bætica
appertains to the people, and a prætor has been sent into the country, having
under him a quæstor and a lieutenant. Its eastern boundary has been fixed
near to Castlon.1257 The remainder belongs to the emperor, who deputes
two lieutenants, a prætor, and a consul. The prætor with a lieutenant
administers justice amongst the Lusitanians, who are situated next Bætica,
and extend as far as the outlets of the river Douro, for at the present time
this district is called Lusitania by the inhabitants. Here is [the city of]
Augusta Emerita.1258 What remains, which is [indeed] the greater part of
Iberia, is governed by the consul, who has under him a respectable force,
consisting of about three legions, with three lieutenants, one of whom with
two legions guards the whole country north of the Douro, the inhabitants of
which formerly were styled Lusitanians, but are now called Gallicians. The
northern mountains, together with the Asturian and Cantabrian, border on
these. The river Melsus1259 flows through the country of the Asturians, and
at a little distance is the city of Noïga,1260 close to an estuary formed by the
ocean, which separates the Asturians from the Cantabrians. The second
lieutenant with the remaining legion governs the adjoining district as far as
the Pyrenees. The third oversees the midland district, and governs the cities
inhabited by the togati, whom we have before alluded to as inclined to
peace, and who have adopted the refined manners and mode of life of the
Italians, together with the toga. These are the Keltiberians, and those who
dwell on either side of the Ebro, as far as the sea-coast. The consul passes
the winter in the maritime districts, mostly administering justice either in
[the city of] Carthage,1261 or Tarraco.1262 During the summer he travels
through the country, observing whatever may need reform. There are also
the procurators of the emperor, men of the equestrian rank, who distribute
the pay to the soldiers for their maintenance.

CHAPTER V.

1. Of the islands which are situated in front of Iberia, two named the
Pityussæ, and two the Gymnasiæ, (also called the Baleares,) are situated on
the sea-coast between Tarraco and [the river] Xucar, on which
Saguntum1263 is built. The Pityussæ are situated farther in the high seas and
more to the west than the Gymnasiæ. One of the Pityussæ is called
Ebusus,1264 having a city of the same name. This island is 400 stadia in
circumference, and nearly equal in its breadth and length. The other,
[named] Ophiussa, is situated near to this, but is desert, and much smaller.
The larger1265 of the Gymnasiæ contains two cities, Palma,1266 and
Polentia;1267 the latter lying towards the east, the former towards the west.
The length of this island is scarcely less than 600 stadia, its breadth 200;
although Artemidorus asserts it is twice this size both in breadth and
length.1268 The smaller island1269 is about [2]70 stadia distant from
Polentia; in size it is far surpassed by the larger island, but in excellence it is
by no means inferior, for both of them are very fertile, and furnished with
harbours. At the mouths of these however there are rocks rising but a little
out of the water, which renders attention necessary in entering them. The
fertility of these places inclines the inhabitants to peace, as also the people
of Ebusus. But certain malefactors, though few in number, having
associated with the pirates in those seas, they all got a bad name, and
Metellus, surnamed Balearicus, marched against them. He it was who built
the cities. But owing to the great fertility of the country, these people have
always had enemies plotting against them. Although naturally disposed to
peace, they bear the reputation of being most excellent slingers, which art
they have been proficient in since the time that the Phœnicians possessed
the islands. It is said that these1270 were the first who introduced amongst
the men [of the Baleares] the custom of wearing tunics with wide borders.
They were accustomed to go into battle naked, having a shield covered with
goat-skin in their hand, and a javelin hardened by fire at the point, very
rarely with an iron tip, and wearing round the head three slings of black
rush,1271 hair, or sinew. The long sling they use for hitting at far distances,
the short one for near marks, and the middle one for those between. From
childhood they were so thoroughly practised in the use of slings, that bread
was never distributed to the children till they had won it by the sling.1272 On

this account Metellus, when he was approaching the islands, spread pelts
over the decks, as a shelter from the slings. He introduced [into the country]
3000 Roman colonists from Spain.
2. In addition to the fruitfulness of the land, noxious animals are rarely to be
met with. Even the rabbits, they say, were not indigenous, but that a male
and female having been introduced by some one from the opposite
continent, from thence the whole stock sprung, which formerly was so great
a nuisance that even houses and trees were overturned, [being undermined]
by their warrens, and the inhabitants were compelled, as we have related, to
resort for refuge to the Romans. However, at the present day the facility
with which these animals are taken, prevents them from doing injury,
consequently those who possess land cultivate it with advantage. These
[islands] are on this side of what are called the Pillars of Hercules.
3. Near to them are two small islands, one of which is called the Island of
Juno: some call these the Pillars. Beyond the Pillars is Gades,1273
concerning which all that we have hitherto remarked is, that it is distant
from Calpe1274 about 750 stadia, and is situated near to the outlet of the
Guadalquiver.1275 Notwithstanding there is much can be said about it. For
its inhabitants equip the greatest number of ships, and the largest in size,
both for our sea,1276 and the exterior [ocean], although the island they
inhabit is by no means large, nor yet do they possess much of the mainland,
nor are masters of other islands. They dwell for the most part on the sea,
only a few staying at home or passing their time in Rome. Still, in amount
of population, their city does not seem to be surpassed by any with the
exception of Rome. I have heard that in a census taken within our own
times, there were enumerated five hundred citizens of Gades of the
equestrian order, a number equalled by none of the Italian cities excepting
that of the Patavini.1277 However, notwithstanding their vast number, its
inhabitants possess an island, in length1278 not much above 100 stadia, and
in some places only one stadium in breadth. Originally the city in which
they dwelt was extremely small, but Balbus1279 the Gaditanian, who
received the honours of a triumph, added another to it which they call the
New Town. These two form the city of Didyme,1280 which is not above
twenty stadia in circumference. In it, however, they are not pressed for
room, because few live at home, the majority passing their lives on the sea,

some too dwelling on the opposite continent, and particularly on a little
island adjacent on account of its excellence. They have such a liking for this
place as almost to have made it a rival city to Didyme. However, few in
comparison inhabit either this or the sea-port which Balbus constructed for
them on the opposite continent. Their city is situated in the western parts of
the island. Near to it is the temple of Saturn, which terminates [Gades to the
west], and is opposite the smaller island. The temple of Hercules is on the
other side, to the east, where the island approaches nearest to the mainland,
being only separated therefrom by a strait of a stadium [in breadth].1281
They say that this temple is twelve miles from the city, thus making the
number of miles and the number of [Hercules’] labours equal: but this is too
great, being almost equal to the length of the island. Now the length of the
island runs from west to east.
4. Pherecydes appears to have given to Gades the name of Erythia, the
locality of the myths concerning Geryon: others suppose it to have been the
island situated near to this city, and separated from it by a strait of merely
one stadium. This they do on account of the excellence of its pasturage. For
the milk of the cattle which feed there does not yield any whey, and they are
obliged to mix it with large quantities of water when they make cheese on
account of its richness. After fifty days the beasts [pasturing there] would be
choked unless they were let blood. The pasturage of the country is dry, but
it fattens wonderfully: and it is thought that from this the myth concerning
the oxen of Geryon took its rise. The whole sea-shore however is possessed
in common.1282
5. Concerning the foundation of Gades, the Gaditanians report that a certain
oracle commanded the Tyrians to found a colony by the Pillars of Hercules.
Those who were sent out for the purpose of exploring, when they had
arrived at the strait by Calpe, imagined that the capes which form the strait
were the boundaries of the habitable earth, as well as of the expedition of
Hercules, and consequently they were what the oracle termed the Pillars.
They landed on the inside of the straits, at a place where the city of the
Exitani now stands. Here they offered sacrifices, which however not being
favourable, they returned. After a time others were sent, who advanced
about 15001283 stadia beyond the strait, to an island consecrated to
Hercules, and lying opposite to Onoba, a city of Iberia: considering that

here were the Pillars, they sacrificed to the god, but the sacrifices being
again unfavourable, they returned home. In the third voyage they reached
Gades, and founded the temple in the eastern part of the island, and the city
in the west. On this account some consider that the capes in the strait are the
Pillars, others suppose Gades, while others again believe that they lie still
farther, beyond Gades. There are also some who think that the Pillars are
Calpe,1284 and the mountain of Libya which is opposite, named Abilyx,1285
and situated, according to Eratosthenes, amongst the Metagonians, a
wandering race. Others fancy that they are two small islands near to the
former, one of which is named the Island of Juno. Artemidorus speaks both
of the Island of Juno and the temple there, but makes no mention either of
mount Abilyx, or the nation of the Metagonians.1286 Some have transported
hither the Planctæ and the Symplegades, supposing them to be the Pillars,
which Pindar calls the Gates of Gades, when he says that they were the
farthest limits at which Hercules arrived.1287 Dicæarchus, Eratosthenes, and
Polybius, with most of the Grecians, represent the Pillars as being close to
the strait, while the Iberians and Libyans place them at Gades, alleging that
there is nothing at all resembling pillars close by the strait. Others pretend
that they are the pillars of brass eight cubits high in the temple of Hercules
at Gades, on which is inscribed the cost of erecting that edifice; and that the
sailors coming there on the completion of their voyage and sacrificing to
Hercules, rendered the place so famous that it came to be regarded as the
termination of the land and sea. Posidonius thinks this view the most
probable of all, and looks upon the oracle and the several expeditions as a
Phœnician invention.1288 As for the expeditions, what matters it whether
any one should vehemently deny or credit the account, as neither the one
nor the other would be inconsistent with reason: but the assertion that
neither the little islands, nor yet the mountains, bear much resemblance to
pillars, and that we should seek for pillars, strictly so called, [set up] either
as the termination of the habitable earth, or of the expedition of Hercules,
has at all events some reason in it; it being an ancient usage to set up such
boundary marks. As for instance the small column which the inhabitants of
Rhegium1289 erected by the Strait of Sicily, which is indeed a little tower;
and the tower called after Pelorus, which is situated opposite to this small
column; also the structures called altars1290 of the Philæni, about midway in
the land between the Syrtes; likewise it is recorded, that a certain pillar was

formerly erected on the Isthmus of Corinth, which the Ionians who took
possession of Attica and Megaris when they were driven out of the
Peloponnesus, and those who settled in the Peloponnesus, set up in
common, and inscribed on the side next Megaris,

“This is no longer Peloponnesus, but Ionia;”

and on the opposite,
“This is Peloponnesus, not Ionia.”

Alexander too erected altars as boundaries of his Indian campaign in those
parts of the Indies he arrived at, which were situated farthest towards the
east, in imitation of Hercules and Bacchus.1291 That this custom existed,
then, cannot be doubted.
6. It is probable that the places themselves took the same name [as the
monuments], especially after time had destroyed the boundary marks which
had been placed there. For instance, at the present day the altars of the
Philæni no longer exist, but the place itself bears that designation. Similarly
they say that in India neither the pillars of Hercules or Bacchus are to be
seen, nevertheless certain localities being described and pointed out to the
Macedonians, they believed that those places were the pillars in which they
discovered any trace either of the adventures of Bacchus or Hercules. In the
instance before us, it is not improbable that they who first [visited these
regions], set up boundary marks fashioned by the hand of man, such as
altars, towers, and pillars, in the most remarkable situations, to indicate the
farthest distance they had reached, (and straits, the surrounding mountains,
and little islands, are indubitably the most remarkable situations for
pointing out the termination or commencement of places,) and that after
these human monuments had decayed, their names descended to the places
[where they had stood]; whether that were the little islands or the capes
forming the strait. This latter point it would not be easy now to determine;
the name would suit either place, as they both bear some resemblance to
pillars; I say bear some resemblance, because they are placed in such
situations as might well indicate boundaries. Now this strait is styled a
mouth, as well as many others, but the mouth is at the beginning to those
sailing into the strait, and to those who are quitting it at the end. The little
islands at the mouth having a contour easy to describe, and being
remarkable, one might not improperly compare to pillars. In like manner the
mountains overlooking the strait are prominent, resembling columns or
pillars. So too Pindar might very justly have said, “The Gaditanian Gates,”
if he had in mind the pillars at the mouth; for these mouths are very similar

to gates. On the other hand, Gades is not in a position to indicate an
extremity, but is situated about the middle of a long coast forming a kind of
gulf. The supposition that the pillars of the temple of Hercules in Gades are
intended, appears to me still less probable. It seems most likely that the
name was originally conferred not by merchants, but generals, its celebrity
afterwards became universal, as was the case with the Indian pillars.
Besides, the inscription recorded refutes this idea, since it contains no
religious dedication, but a mere list of expenses; whereas the pillars of
Hercules should have been a record of the hero’s wonderful deeds, not of
Phœnician expenditure.
7. Polybius relates that there is a spring within the temple of Hercules at
Gades, having a descent of a few steps to fresh water, which is affected in a
manner the reverse of the sea-tides, subsiding at the flow of the tide, and
springing at the ebb. He assigns as the cause of this phenomenon, that air
rises from the interior to the surface of the earth; when this surface is
covered by the waves, at the rising of the sea, the air is deprived of its
ordinary vents, and returns to the interior, stopping up the passages of the
spring, and causing a want of water, but when the surface is again laid bare,
the air having a direct exit liberates the channels which feed the spring, so
that it gushes freely. Artemidorus rejects this explanation, and substitutes
one of his own, recording at the same time the opinion of the historian
Silanus; but neither one or other of their views seems to me worth relating,
since both he and Silanus were ignorant in regard to these matters.
Posidonius asserts that the entire account is false, and adds that there are
two wells in the temple of Hercules, and a third in the city. That the smaller
of the two in the temple of Hercules, if drawn from frequently, will become
for a time exhausted, but that on ceasing to draw from it, it fills again: while
in regard to the larger, it may be drawn from during the whole day; that it is
true it becomes lower, like all other wells, but that it fills again during the
night when drawing ceases. [He adds] that the ebb tide frequently
happening to occur during the period of its re-filling, gave rise to the
groundless belief of the inhabitants as to its being affected in an opposite
manner [to the tides of the ocean]. However it is not only related by him
that it is a commonly believed fact, but we have received it from tradition as
much referred to amongst paradoxes.1292 We have likewise heard that there
are wells both within the city and also in the gardens without, but that on

account of the inferiority of this water, tanks are generally constructed
throughout the city for the supply of water: whether likewise any of these
reservoirs give any signs of being affected in an opposite manner to the
tides, we know not. If such be the case, the causes thereof should be
received as amongst phenomena hard to be explained. It is likely that
Polybius may have assigned the proper reason; but it is also likely that
certain of the channels of the springs being damped outside become
relaxed, and so let the water run out into the surrounding land, instead of
forcing it along its ancient passage to the spring; and there will of course be
moisture when the tide overflows.1293 But if, as Athenodorus asserts, the
ebb and flow resemble the inspiration and expiration of the breath, it is
possible that some of the currents of water which naturally have an efflux
on to the surface of the earth, through various channels, the mouths of
which we denominate springs and fountains, are by other channels drawn
towards the depths of the sea, and raise it, so as to produce a flood-tide;
when the expiration is sufficient, they leave off the course in which they are
then flowing, and again revert to their former direction, when that again
takes a change.1294
8. I cannot tell how it is that Posidonius, who describes the Phœnicians as
sagacious in other things, should here attribute to them folly rather than
shrewdness. The sun completes his revolution in the space of a day and
night, being a portion of the time beneath the earth, and a portion of the
time shining upon it. Now he asserts that the motion of the sea corresponds
with the revolution of the heavenly bodies, and experiences a diurnal,
monthly, and annual change, in strict accordance with the changes of the
moon. For [he continues] when the moon is elevated one sign of the
zodiac1295 above the horizon, the sea begins sensibly to swell and cover the
shores, until she has attained her meridian; but when that satellite begins to
decline, the sea again retires by degrees, until the moon wants merely one
sign of the zodiac from setting; it then remains stationary until the moon has
set, and also descended one sign of the zodiac below the horizon, when it
again rises until she has attained her meridian below the earth; it then retires
again until the moon is within one sign of the zodiac of her rising above the
horizon, when it remains stationary until the moon has risen one sign of the
zodiac above the earth, and then begins to rise as before. Such he describes
to be the diurnal revolution. In respect to the monthly revolution, [he says]

that the spring-tides occur at the time of the new moon, when they decrease
until the first quarter; they then increase until full moon, when they again
decrease until the last quarter, after which they increase till the new moon;
[he adds] that these increases ought to be understood both of their duration
and speed. In regard to the annual revolution, he says that he learned from
the statements of the Gaditanians, that both the ebb and flow tides were at
their extremes at the summer solstice: and that hence he conjectured that
they decreased until the [autumnal] equinox; then increased till the winter
solstice; then decreased again until the vernal equinox; and [finally]
increased until the summer solstice. But since these revolutions occur twice
in the four-and-twenty hours, the sea rising twice and receding twice, and
that regularly every day and night, how is it that the filling and failing of the
well do not frequently occur during the ebb and flow of the tide? or if it be
allowed that this does often occur, why does it not do so in the same
proportion? and if it does so in the same proportion, how comes it that the
Gaditanians are not competent to observe what is of daily occurrence, while
they are nevertheless competent to the observing of revolutions which occur
but once in the year. That Posidonius himself credited these reports is
evident from his own conjecture respecting the decrease and increase [of
the sea] from solstice to solstice. However, it is not likely, being an
observant people, that they should be ignorant of what actually occurred,
whilst giving credit to imaginary phenomena.
9. Posidonius tells us that Seleucus, a native of the country next the
Erythræan Sea,1296 states that the regularity and irregularity of the ebb and
flow of the sea follow the different positions of the moon in the zodiac; that
when she is in the equinoctial signs the tides are regular, but that when she
is in the signs next the tropics, the tides are irregular both in their height and
force; and that for the remaining signs the irregularity is greater or less,
according as they are more or less removed from the signs before
mentioned. Posidonius adds, that during the summer solstice and whilst the
moon was full, he himself passed many days in the temple of Hercules at
Gades, but could not observe any thing of these annual irregularities.
However, about the new moon of the same month he observed at Ilipa1297 a
great change in the reflux of the water of the Guadalquiver, as compared
with previous flood-tides, in which the water did not rise half as high as the
banks, and that then the water poured in so copiously, that the soldiers there

dipped their supply without difficulty, although Ilipa is about 700 stadia
from the sea. He says, that the plains next the sea were covered by the tides
to a distance of 301298 stadia, and to such a depth as to form islands, while
the basement of the temple in the enclosure dedicated to Hercules, and the
top of the mole in front of the harbour of Gades, were not covered higher
than 10 cubits, as observed by actual soundings; but if any one should add
the double of that for the occasional risings of the tide which occur,
[neither] thus would he be able to estimate the violence with which the full
force of the high tide rushes over the plains. Posidonius informs us that this
violence [of the tide] is common to all the coasts of Spain on the
Atlantic,1299 but what he relates concerning the Ebro is unusual and
peculiar to itself, for he says that it sometimes overflows after continued
north winds, although there may have been neither rains nor snows. The
cause of this [he supposes] to be the lake through which the Ebro flows, its
waters being driven by the winds into the current of the river.1300
10. The same writer mentions a tree at Gades, which had boughs reaching
to the ground; its sword-shaped leaves often measuring a cubit long, and
four fingers broad. Also that about Carthagena there was a tree whose
thorns produced a bark from which most beautiful stuffs were woven. As
for the tree [he saw] at Gades, we ourselves have observed a similar in
Egypt, so far as the inclination of the boughs is concerned, but with a
differently shaped leaf, and producing no fruit, which according to him the
other did. In Cappadocia there are stuffs made from thorns, but it is not a
tree which produces the thorn from which the bark is taken, but a low plant;
he also tells us of a tree at Gades, from which if a branch be broken off a
milk will flow, and if the root be cut a red fluid runs. Thus much for Gades.
11. The Cassiterides are ten in number, and lie near each other in the ocean
towards the north from the haven of the Artabri. One of them is desert, but
the others are inhabited by men in black cloaks, clad in tunics reaching to
the feet, girt about the breast, and walking with staves, thus resembling the
Furies we see in tragic representations.1301 They subsist by their cattle,
leading for the most part a wandering life. Of the metals they have tin and
lead; which with skins they barter with the merchants for earthenware, salt,
and brazen vessels. Formerly the Phœnicians alone carried on this traffic
from Gades, concealing the passage from every one; and when the Romans

followed a certain ship-master, that they also might find the market, the
ship-master of jealousy purposely ran his vessel upon a shoal, leading on
those who followed him into the same destructive disaster; he himself
escaped by means of a fragment of the ship, and received from the state the
value of the cargo he had lost. The Romans nevertheless by frequent efforts
discovered the passage, and as soon as Publius Crassus, passing over to
them, perceived that the metals were dug out at a little depth, and that the
men were peaceably disposed, he declared it to those who already wished to
traffic in this sea for profit, although the passage was longer than that to
Britain.1302 Thus far concerning Iberia and the adjacent islands.

BOOK IV.

GAUL.

SUMMARY.
The Fourth Book contains a description of the regions about Gaul, Spain, and the Alps on this side,
towards Italy. Likewise of Britain, and of certain islands in the ocean which are habitable,
together with the country of the barbarians, and the nations dwelling beyond the Danube.

CHAPTER I.

1. Next in order [after Iberia] comes Keltica beyond the Alps,1303 the
configuration and size of which has been already mentioned in a general
manner; we are now to describe it more particularly. Some divide it into the
three nations of the Aquitani, Belgæ, and Keltæ.1304 Of these the Aquitani
differ completely from the other nations, not only in their language but in
their figure, which resembles more that of the Iberians than the Galatæ. The
others are Galatæ in countenance, although they do not all speak the same
language, but some make a slight difference in their speech; neither is their
polity and mode of life exactly the same. These writers give the name of
Aquitani and Keltæ to the dwellers near the Pyrenees, which are bounded
by the Cevennes. For it has been stated that this Keltica is bounded on the
west by the mountains of the Pyrenees, which extend to either sea, both the
Mediterranean and the ocean; on the east by the Rhine, which is parallel to
the Pyrenees; on the north by the ocean, from the northern extremities of
the Pyrenees to the mouths of the Rhine; on the south by the sea of
Marseilles, and Narbonne, and by the Alps from Liguria to the sources of
the Rhine. The Cevennes lie at right angles to the Pyrenees, and traverse the
plains for about 2000 stadia, terminating in the middle near Lugdunum.1305
They call those people Aquitani who inhabit the northern portions of the
Pyrenees, and the Cevennes extending as far as the ocean, and bounded by
the river Garonne; and Keltæ, those who dwell on the other side of the
Garonne, towards the sea of Marseilles and Narbonne, and touching a
portion of the Alpine chain. This is the division adopted by divus Cæsar in

his Commentaries.1306 But Augustus Cæsar, when dividing the country into
four parts, united the Keltæ to the Narbonnaise; the Aquitani he preserved
the same as Julius Cæsar, but added thereto fourteen other nations of those
who dwelt between the Garonne and the river Loire,1307 and dividing the
rest into two parts, the one extending to the upper districts of the Rhine he
made dependent upon Lugdunum, the other [he assigned] to the Belgæ.
However, it is the duty of the Geographer to describe the physical divisions
of each country, and those which result from diversity of nations, when they
seem worthy of notice; as to the limits which princes, induced by a policy
which circumstances dictate, have variously imposed, it will be sufficient
for him to notice them summarily, leaving others to furnish particular
details.
2. The whole of this country is irrigated by rivers descending from the Alps,
the Cevennes, and the Pyrenees, some of which discharge themselves into
the ocean, others into the Mediterranean. The districts through which they
flow are mostly plains interspersed with hills, and having navigable
streams. The course of these rivers is so happily disposed in relation to each
other, that you may traffic from one sea to the other,1308 carrying the
merchandise only a small distance, and that easily, across the plains; but for
the most part by the rivers, ascending some, and descending others. The
Rhone is pre-eminent in this respect, both because it communicates with
many other rivers, and also because it flows into the Mediterranean, which,
as we have said, is superior to the ocean,1309 and likewise passes through
the richest provinces of Gaul. The whole of the Narbonnaise produces the
same fruits as Italy. As we advance towards the north, and the mountains of
the Cevennes, the plantations of the olive and fig disappear, but the others
remain. Likewise the vine, as you proceed northward, does not easily
mature its fruit. The entire of the remaining country produces in abundance
corn, millet, acorns, and mast of all kinds. No part of it lies waste except
that which is taken up in marshes and woods, and even this is inhabited.
The cause of this, however, is rather a dense population than the industry of
the inhabitants. For the women there are both very prolific and excellent
nurses, while the men devote themselves rather to war than husbandry.
However, their arms being now laid aside, they are compelled to engage in
agriculture. These remarks apply generally to the whole of Transalpine
Keltica. We must now describe particularly each of the four divisions,

which hitherto we have only mentioned in a summary manner. And, first, of
the Narbonnaise.
3. The configuration of this country resembles a parallelogram, the western
side of which is traced by the Pyrenees, the north by the Cevennes; as for
the other two sides, the south is bounded by the sea between the Pyrenees
and Marseilles, and the east partly by the Alps,1310 and partly by a line
drawn perpendicularly from these mountains to the foot of the Cevennes,
which extend towards the Rhone, and form a right angle with the aforesaid
perpendicular drawn from the Alps. To the southern side of this
parallelogram we must add the sea-coast inhabited by the Massilienses1311
and Salyes,1312 as far as the country of the Ligurians, the confines of Italy,
and the river Var. This river, as we have said before,1313 is the boundary of
the Narbonnaise and Italy. It is but small in summer, but in winter swells to
a breadth of seven stadia. From thence the coast extends to the temple of the
Pyrenæan Venus,1314 which is the boundary between this province and
Iberia. Some, however, assert that the spot where the Trophies of Pompey
stand is the boundary between Iberia and Keltica. From thence to Narbonne
is 63 miles; from Narbonne to Nemausus,1315 88; from Nemausus through
Ugernum1316 and Tarusco, to the hot waters called Sextiæ1317 near
Marseilles, 53;1318 from thence to Antipolis and the river Var, 73; making in
the total 277 miles. Some set down the distance from the temple of Venus to
the Var at 2600 stadia; while others increase this number by 200 stadia; for
there are different opinions as to these distances. As for the other road,
which traverses the [countries of the] Vocontii1319 and Cottius,1320 from
Nemausus1321 to Ugernum and Tarusco, the route is common; from thence
[it branches off in two directions], one through Druentia and Caballio,1322
to the frontiers of the Vocontii and the commencement of the ascent of the
Alps, which is 63 miles; the other is reckoned at 99 miles from the same
point to the other extremity of the Vocontii, bordering on the state of
Cottius, as far as the village of Ebrodunum.1323 The distance is said to be
the same by the route through the village of Brigantium,1324
Scingomagus,1325 and the passage of the Alps to Ocelum,1326 which is the
limit of the country of Cottius. However, it is considered to be Italy from
Scingomagus. And Ocelum is 28 miles beyond this.

4. Marseilles, founded by the Phocæans,1327 is built in a stony region. Its
harbour lies beneath a rock, which is shaped like a theatre, and looks
towards the south. It is well surrounded with walls, as well as the whole
city, which is of considerable size. Within the citadel are placed the
Ephesium and the temple of the Delphian Apollo. This latter temple is
common to all the Ionians; the Ephesium is the temple consecrated to Diana
of Ephesus. They say that when the Phocæans were about to quit their
country, an oracle commanded them to take from Diana of Ephesus a
conductor for their voyage. On arriving at Ephesus they therefore inquired
how they might be able to obtain from the goddess what was enjoined them.
The goddess appeared in a dream to Aristarcha, one of the most honourable
women of the city, and commanded her to accompany the Phocæans, and to
take with her a plan of the temple and statues.1328 These things being
performed, and the colony being settled, the Phocæans built a temple, and
evinced their great respect for Aristarcha by making her priestess. All the
colonies [sent out from Marseilles] hold this goddess in peculiar reverence,
preserving both the shape of the image [of the goddess], and also every rite
observed in the metropolis.
5. The Massilians live under a well-regulated aristocracy. They have a
council composed of 600 persons called timuchi,1329 who enjoy this dignity
for life. Fifteen of these preside over the council, and have the management
of current affairs; these fifteen are in their turn presided over by three of
their number, in whom rests the principal authority; and these again by one.
No one can become a timuchus who has not children, and who has not been
a citizen for three generations.1330 Their laws, which are the same as those
of the Ionians, they expound in public. Their country abounds in olives and
vines, but on account of its ruggedness the wheat is poor. Consequently
they trust more to the resources of the sea than of the land, and avail
themselves in preference of their excellent position for commerce.
Nevertheless they have been enabled by the power of perseverance to take
in some of the surrounding plains, and also to found cities: of this number
are the cities they founded in Iberia as a rampart against the Iberians, in
which they introduced the worship of Diana of Ephesus, as practised in
their fatherland, with the Grecian mode of sacrifice. In this number too are
Rhoa1331 [and] Agatha,1332 [built for defence] against the barbarians
dwelling around the river Rhone; also Tauroentium,1333 Olbia,1334

Antipolis1335 and Nicæa,1336 [built as a rampart] against the nation of the
Salyes and the Ligurians who inhabit the Alps. They1337 possess likewise
dry docks and armouries. Formerly they had an abundance of vessels, arms,
and machines, both for the purposes of navigation and for besieging towns;
by means of which they defended themselves against the barbarians, and
likewise obtained the alliance of the Romans, to whom they rendered many
important services; the Romans in their turn assisting in their
aggrandizement. Sextius, who defeated the Salyes, founded, not far from
Marseilles, a city1338 which was named after him and the hot waters, some
of which they say have lost their heat.1339 Here he established a Roman
garrison, and drove from the sea-coast which leads from Marseilles to Italy
the barbarians, whom the Massilians were not able to keep back entirely.
However, all he accomplished by this was to compel the barbarians to keep
at a distance of twelve stadia from those parts of the coast which possessed
good harbours, and at a distance of eight stadia where it was rugged. The
land which they thus abandoned, he presented to the Massilians. In their
city are laid up heaps of booty taken in naval engagements against those
who disputed the sea unjustly. Formerly they enjoyed singular good fortune,
as well in other matters as also in their amity with the Romans. Of this
[amity] we find numerous signs, amongst others the statue of Diana which
the Romans dedicated on the Aventine mount, of the same figure as that of
the Massilians. Their prosperity has in a great measure decayed since the
war of Pompey against Cæsar, in which they sided with the vanquished
party. Nevertheless some traces of their ancient industry may still be seen
amongst the inhabitants, especially the making of engines of war and ship-
building. Still as the surrounding barbarians, now that they are under the
dominion of the Romans, become daily more civilized, and leave the
occupation of war for the business of towns and agriculture, there is no
longer the same attention paid by the inhabitants of Marseilles to these
objects. The aspect of the city at the present day is a proof of this. For all
those who profess to be men of taste, turn to the study of elocution and
philosophy. Thus this city for some little time back has become a school for
the barbarians, and has communicated to the Galatæ such a taste for Greek
literature, that they even draw contracts on the Grecian model. While at the
present day it so entices the noblest of the Romans, that those desirous of
studying resort thither in preference to Athens. These the Galatæ observing,
and being at leisure on account of the peace, readily devote themselves to

similar pursuits, and that not merely individuals, but the public generally;
professors of the arts and sciences, and likewise of medicine, being
employed not only by private persons, but by towns for common
instruction. Of the wisdom of the Massilians and the simplicity of their life,
the following will not be thought an insignificant proof. The largest dowry
amongst them consists of one hundred gold pieces, with five for dress, and
five more for golden ornaments. More than this is not lawful. Cæsar and his
successors treated with moderation the offences of which they were guilty
during the war, in consideration of their former friendship; and have
preserved to the state the right of governing according to its ancient laws.
So that neither Marseilles nor the cities dependent on it are under
submission to the governors sent [into the Narbonnaise]. So much for
Marseilles.
6. The mountains of the Salyes incline gently from west to north in
proportion as they retire from the sea. The coast runs west, and extending a
short distance, about 100 stadia, from Marseilles, it begins to assume the
character of a gulf at a considerable promontory near to certain stone
quarries, and extending to the Aphrodisium, the headland which terminates
the Pyrenees,1340 forms the Galatic Gulf,1341 which is also called the Gulf
of Marseilles: it is double, for in its circuit Mount Setium1342 stands out
together with the island of Blascon,1343 which is situated close to it, and
separates the two gulfs. The larger of these is properly designated the
Galatic Gulf, into which the Rhone discharges itself; the smaller is on the
coast of Narbonne, and extends as far as the Pyrenees. Narbonne is situated
above the outlets of the Aude1344 and the lake of Narbonne.1345 It is the
principal commercial city on this coast. On the Rhone is Arelate,1346 a city
and emporium of considerable traffic. The distance between these two cities
is nearly equal to that which separates them from the aforesaid
promontories, namely, Narbonne from the Aphrodisium, and Arelate from
the cape of Marseilles. There are other rivers besides which flow on either
side of Narbonne, some from the Cevennes, others from the Pyrenees.
Along these rivers are situated cities having but little commerce, and that in
small vessels. The rivers which proceed from the Pyrenees, are the Tet1347
and the Tech;1348 two cities1349 are built on them, which bear respectively
the same name as the rivers. There is a lake near to Ruscino,1350 and a little

above the sea a marshy district full of salt-springs, which supplies “dug
mullets,” for whoever digs two or three feet and plunges a trident into the
muddy water, will be sure to take the fish, which are worthy of
consideration on account of their size; they are nourished in the mud like
eels. Such are the rivers which flow from the Pyrenees between Narbonne
and the promontory on which is built the temple of Venus. On the other side
of Narbonne the following rivers descend from the Cevennes into the sea.
The Aude,1351 the Orbe,1352 and the Rauraris.1353 On one of these1354 is
situated the strong city of Bætera,1355 near to Narbonne; on the other
Agatha,1356 founded by the people of Marseilles.
7. Of one marvel of this sea-coast, namely the “dug mullets,” we have
already spoken; we will now mention another, even more surprising.
Between Marseilles and the outlets of the Rhone there is a circular plain,
about 100 stadia distant from the sea, and about 100 stadia in diameter. It
has received the name of the Stony Plain, from the circumstance of its being
covered with stones the size of the fist, from beneath which an abundant
herbage springs up for the pasturage of cattle. In the midst of it are water,
salt-springs, and salt. The whole both of this district and that above it is
exposed to the wind, but in this plain the black north,1357 a violent and
horrible wind, rages especially: for they say that sometimes the stones are
swept and rolled along, and men hurled from their carriages and stripped
both of their arms and garments by the force of the tempest. Aristotle tells
us that these stones being cast up by the earthquakes designated brastai,1358
and falling on the surface of the earth, roll into the hollow places of the
districts; but Posidonius, that the place was formerly a lake, which being
congealed during a violent agitation, became divided into numerous stones,
like river pebbles or the stones by the sea-shore, which they resemble both
as to smoothness, size, and appearance. Such are the causes assigned by
these two [writers]; however, neither of their opinions is credible,1359 for
these stones could neither have thus accumulated of themselves, nor yet
have been formed by congealed moisture, but necessarily from the
fragments of large stones shattered by frequent convulsions. Æschylus
having, however, learnt of the difficulty of accounting for it, or having been
so informed by another, has explained it away as a myth. He makes
Prometheus utter the following, whilst directing Hercules the road from the
Caucasus to the Hesperides:

“There you will come to the undaunted army of the Ligurians, where, resistless though you be, sure
am I you will not worst them in battle; for it is fated that there your darts shall fail you; nor will you
be able to take up a stone from the ground, since the country consists of soft mould; but Jupiter,
beholding your distress, will compassionate you, and overshadowing the earth with a cloud, he will
cause it to hail round stones, which you hurling against the Ligurian army, will soon put them to
flight!”1360

Posidonius asks, would it not have been better to have rained down these
stones upon the Ligurians themselves, and thus have destroyed them all,
than to make Hercules in need of so many stones? As for the number, they
were necessary against so vast a multitude; so that in this respect the writer
of the myth seems to me deserving of more credit than he who would refute
it. Further, the poet, in describing it as fated, secures himself against such
fault-finding. For if you dispute Providence and Destiny, you can find many
similar things both in human affairs and nature, that you would suppose
might be much better performed in this or that way; as for instance, that
Egypt should have plenty of rain of its own, without being irrigated from
the land of Ethiopia. That it would have been much better if Paris had
suffered shipwreck on his voyage to Sparta, instead of expiating his
offences after having carried off Helen, and having been the cause of so
great destruction both amongst the Greeks and Barbarians. Euripides
attributes this to Jupiter:
“Father Jupiter, willing evil to the Trojans and suffering to the Greeks, decreed such things.”

8. As to the mouths of the Rhone, Polybius asserts that there are but two,
and blames Timæus1361 for saying five. Artemidorus says that there are
three. Afterwards Marius, observing that the mouth was becoming stopped
up and difficult of entrance on account of the deposits of mud, caused a new
channel to be dug, which received the greater part of the river into it.1362
This he gave to the people of Marseilles in recompense for their services in
the war against the Ambrones and Toygeni.1363 This canal became to them a
source of much revenue, as they levied a toll from all those who sailed up
or down it: notwithstanding, the entrance [to the river] still continues
difficult to navigate, on account of its great impetuosity, its deposits, and
the [general] flatness of the country, so that in foul weather you cannot
clearly discern the land even when quite close. On this account the people
of Marseilles, who wished by all means to inhabit the country, set up towers
as beacons; they have even erected a temple to Diana of Ephesus on a piece

of the land, which the mouths of the rivers have formed into an island.
Above the outlets of the Rhone is a salt-lake which they call
Stomalimnè.1364 It abounds in shell and other fish. There are some who
enumerate this amongst the mouths of the Rhone, especially those who say
that it has seven1365 mouths. But in this they are quite mistaken; for there is
a mountain between, which separates the lake from the river. Such then is
the disposition and extent of the coast from the Pyrenees to Marseilles.
9. The [coast] which extends from this [last city] to the river Var, and the
Ligurians who dwell near it, contains the Massilian cities of
Tauroentium,1366 Olbia,1367 Antipolis,1368 Nicæa,1369 and the sea-port of
Augustus Cæsar, called Forum Julium,1370 which is situated between Olbia
and Antipolis, and distant from Marseilles about 600 stadia. The Var is
between Antipolis and Nicæa; distant from the one about 20 stadia, from the
other about 60; so that according to the boundary now marked Nicæa
belongs to Italy, although it is a city of the people of Marseilles, for they
built these cities [as a defence] against the barbarians who dwelt higher up
the country, in order to maintain the sea free, as the barbarians possessed
the land. For this [region] is mountainous and fortified by nature, leaving
however a considerable extent of plain country near Marseilles; but as you
proceed towards the east the country is so hemmed in by the mountains, as
scarcely to leave a sufficient road for passage by the sea-shore. The former
districts are inhabited by the Salyes,1371 the latter by the Ligurians, who
border on Italy, of whom we shall speak afterwards. It should here be
mentioned, that although Antipolis is situated in the Narbonnaise, and
Nicæa in Italy, this latter is dependent on Marseilles, and forms part of that
province; while Antipolis is ranked amongst the Italian cities, and freed
from the government of the Marseillese by a judgment given against them.
10. Lying off this narrow pass along the coast, as you commence your
journey from Marseilles, are the Stœchades islands.1372 Three of these are
considerable, and two small. They are cultivated by the people of
Marseilles. Anciently they contained a garrison, placed here to defend them
from the attacks of pirates, for they have good ports. After the Stœchades
come [the islands of] Planasia1373 and Lero,1374 both of them inhabited. In
Lero, which lies opposite to Antipolis, is a temple erected to the hero Lero.
There are other small islands not worth mentioning, some of them before

Marseilles, others before the rest of the coast which I have been describing.
As to the harbours, those of the sea-port [of Forum-Julium]1375 and
Marseilles are considerable, the others are but middling. Of this latter class
is the port Oxybius,1376 so named from the Oxybian Ligurians.—This
concludes what we have to say of this coast.
11. The country above this is bounded principally by the surrounding
mountains and rivers. Of these the Rhone is the most remarkable, being
both the largest, and capable of being navigated farther than any of the
others, and also receiving into it a greater number of tributaries; of these we
must speak in order. Commencing at Marseilles, and proceeding to the
country between the Alps and the Rhone, to the river Durance, dwell the
Salyes for a space of 500 stadia. From thence you proceed in a ferry-boat to
the city of Caballio;1377 beyond this the whole country belongs to the
Cavari as far as the junction of the Isère with the Rhone; it is here too that
the Cevennes approach the Rhone. From the Durance to this point is a
distance of 700 stadia.1378 The Salyes occupy the plains and mountains
above these. The Vocontii, Tricorii, Iconii, and Medylli, lie above the
Cavari.1379 Between the Durance and the Isère there are other rivers which
flow from the Alps into the Rhone; two of these, after having flowed round
the city of the Cavari, discharge themselves by a common outlet into the
Rhone. The Sulgas,1380 which is the third, mixes with the Rhone near the
city of Vindalum,1381 where Cnæus Ænobarbus in a decisive engagement
routed many myriads of the Kelts. Between these are the cities of
Avenio,1382 Arausio,1383 and Aëria,1384 which latter, remarks Artemidorus,
is rightly named aërial, being situated in a very lofty position. The whole of
this country consists of plains abounding in pasturage, excepting on the
route from Aëria to Avenio, where there are narrow defiles and woods to
traverse. It was at the point where the river Isère and the Rhone unite near
the Cevennes, that Quintus Fabius Maximus Æmilianus,1385 with scarcely
30,000 men, cut to pieces 200,000 Kelts.1386 Here he erected a white stone
as a trophy, and two temples, one to Mars, and the other to Hercules. From
the Isère to Vienne, the metropolis of the Allobroges, situated on the Rhone,
the distance is 320 stadia. Lugdunum1387 is a little above Vienne at the
confluence of the Saone1388 and the Rhone. The distance by land [from this
latter city] to Lugdunum, passing through the country of the Allobroges, is

about 200 stadia, and rather more by water. Formerly the Allobroges
engaged in war, their armies consisting of many myriads; they now occupy
themselves in cultivating the plains and valleys of the Alps. They dwell
generally in villages, the most notable of them inhabiting Vienne, which
was merely a village, although called the metropolis of their nation; they
have now improved and embellished it as a city; it is situated on the Rhone.
So full and rapid is the descent of this river from the Alps, that the flow of
its waters through Lake Leman may be distinguished for many stadia.
Having descended into the plains of the countries of the Allobroges, and
Segusii, it falls into the Saone, near to Lugdunum, a city of the Segusii.1389
The Saone rises in the Alps,1390 and separates the Sequani, the Ædui, and
the Lincasii.1391 It afterwards receives the Doubs, a navigable river which
rises in the same mountains,1392 still however preserving its own name, and
consisting of the two, mingles with the Rhone. The Rhone in like manner
preserves its name, and flows on to Vienne. At their rise these three rivers
flow towards the north, then in a westerly direction, afterwards uniting into
one they take another turn and flow towards the south, and having received
other rivers, they flow in this direction to the sea. Such is the country
situated between the Alps and the Rhone.
12. The main part of the country on the other side of the Rhone is inhabited
by the Volcæ, surnamed Arecomisci. Their naval station is Narbonne, which
may justly be called the emporium of all Gaul, as it far surpasses every
other in the multitude of those who resort1393 to it. The Volcæ border on the
Rhone, the Salyes and Cavari being opposite to them on the other side of
the river. However, the name of the Cavari has so obtained, that all the
barbarians inhabiting near now go by that designation; nay, even those who
are no longer barbarians, but follow the Roman customs, both in their
speech and mode of life, and some of those even who have adopted the
Roman polity. Between the Arecomisci and the Pyrenees there are some
other small and insignificant nations. Nemausus1394 is the metropolis of the
Arecomisci; though far inferior to Narbonne both as to its commerce, and
the number of foreigners attracted thither, it surpasses that city in the
number of its citizens; for it has under its dominion four and twenty
different villages all well inhabited, and by the same people, who pay
tribute; it likewise enjoys the rights of the Latin towns, so that in Nemausus
you meet with Roman citizens who have obtained the honours of the ædile

and quæstorship, wherefore this nation is not subject to the orders issued by
the prætors from Rome. The city is situated on the road from Iberia to Italy;
this road is very good in the summer, but muddy and overflowed by the
rivers during winter and spring. Some of these streams are crossed in ferry-
boats, and others by means of bridges constructed either of wood or stone.
The inundations which destroy the roads are caused by the winter torrents,
which sometimes pour down from the Alps even in summer-time after the
melting of the snows. To perform the route before mentioned, the shortest
way is, as we have said, across the territory of the Vocontii direct to the
Alps; the other, along the coast of Marseilles and Liguria, is longer,
although it offers an easier passage into Italy, as the mountains are lower.
Nemausus is about 100 stadia distant from the Rhone, situated opposite to
the small town of Tarascon, and about 720 stadia from Narbonne. The
Tectosages,1395 and certain others whom we shall mention afterwards,
border on the range of the Cevennes, and inhabit its southern side as far as
the promontory of the Volcæ. Respecting all the others we will speak
hereafter.
13. But the Tectosages dwell near to the Pyrenees, bordering for a small
space the northern side of the Cevennes;1396 the land they inhabit is rich in
gold. It appears that formerly they were so powerful and numerous, that
dissensions having arisen amongst them, they drove a vast multitude of
their number from their homes; and that these men associating with others
of different nations took possession of Phrygia, next to Cappadocia, and the
Paphlagonians. Of this those who are now called the Tectosages afford us
proof, for [Phrygia contains] three nations, one of them dwelling near to the
city of Ancyra,1397 being called the Tectosages; the remaining two, the
Trocmi and Tolistobogii.1398 The resemblance these nations bear to the
Tectosages is evidence of their having immigrated from Keltica, though we
are unable to say from which district they came, as there does not appear to
be any people at the present time bearing the name of Trocmi or
Tolistobogii, who inhabit either beyond the Alps, the Alps themselves, or on
this side the Alps. It would seem that continual emigration has drained them
completely from their native country, a circumstance which has occurred to
many other nations, as some say that the Brennus, who led an expedition to
Delphi,1399 was a leader of the Prausi; but we are unable to say where the
Prausi formerly inhabited. It is said that the Tectosages took part in the

expedition to Delphi, and that the treasures found in the city of Toulouse by
the Roman general Cæpio formed a portion of the booty gained there,
which was afterwards increased by offerings which the citizens made from
their own property, and consecrated in order to conciliate the god.1400 And
that it was for daring to touch these that Cæpio terminated so miserably his
existence, being driven from his country as a plunderer of the temples of the
gods, and leaving behind him his daughters, who, as Timagenes informs us,
having been wickedly violated, perished miserably. However, the account
given by Posidonius is the more credible. He tells us that the wealth found
in Toulouse amounted to somewhere about 15,000 talents, a part of which
was hidden in the chapels, and the remainder in the sacred lakes, and that it
was not coined [money], but gold and silver in bullion. But at this time the
temple of Delphi was emptied of these treasures, having been pillaged by
the Phocæans at the period of the Sacred war; and supposing any to have
been left, it would have been distributed amongst many. Nor is it probable
that the Tectosages returned home, since they came off miserably after
leaving Delphi, and owing to their dissensions were scattered here and there
throughout the country; there is much more likelihood in the statement
made by Posidonius and many others, that the country abounding in gold,
and the inhabitants being superstitious, and not living expensively, they hid
their treasures in many different places, the lakes in particular affording
them a hiding-place for depositing their gold and silver bullion. When the
Romans obtained possession of the country they put up these lakes to public
sale, and many of the purchasers found therein solid masses of silver. In
Toulouse there was a sacred temple, held in great reverence by the
inhabitants of the surrounding country, and on this account loaded with
riches, inasmuch as there were many who offered gifts, and no one dared to
touch them.
14. Toulouse is situated upon the narrowest part of the isthmus which
separates the ocean from the sea of Narbonne; the breadth of the [isthmus],
according to Posidonius, being less than 3000 stadia. The perfect similarity
maintained throughout this country both in respect to its rivers, and to the
exterior and interior sea,1401 appears to us worthy of especial notice, as we
have said before. This, on reflection, will prove to be one main cause of the
excellence of this country, since the inhabitants are enabled mutually to
communicate, and to procure from each other the necessaries of life; this is

peculiarly the case at the present time, when on account of their leisure
from war they are devoting themselves to agriculture and the pursuits of
social life. In this we are persuaded that we behold the work of Providence;
such a disposition of these regions not resulting from chance, but from the
thought of some [intelligence]. The Rhone, for instance, is navigable to a
considerable distance for vessels of heavy burden, which it is capable of
transmitting through various districts of the country by means of other
rivers which fall into it, and are likewise fitted for the navigation of large
vessels. To the Rhone succeeds the Saone,1402 and into this latter river falls
the Doubs; thence the merchandise is carried by land to the river Seine;
whence it is transported to the ocean and the [countries of the] Lexovii and
Caleti,1403 the distance thence to Britain being less than a day’s journey.
The navigation of the Rhone being difficult on account of the rapidity of its
current, the merchants prefer to transport in waggons certain of their wares,
which are destined for the Arverni,1404 and the river Loire,1405
notwithstanding the vicinity of the Rhone in some places, but the road being
level and the distance not far, (about 800 stadia,) they do not make use of
water carriage on account of the facility of the transport by land, from
thence the merchandise is easily conveyed by the Loire. This river flows
from the Cevennes into the ocean. From Narbonne the voyage to the
Aude1406 is short, but the journey by land to the river Garonne longer, being
as much as 700 or 800 stadia. The Garonne likewise flows into the ocean.
Such is what we have to say concerning the inhabitants of the Narbonnaise,
who were formerly named Kelts. In my opinion the celebrity of the Kelts
induced the Grecians to confer that name on the whole of the Galatæ; the
vicinity of the Massilians may also have had something to do with it.1407

CHAPTER II.

1. We must now speak of the Aquitani and the fourteen Galatic nations
pertaining to them, situated between the Garonne and the Loire, some of
which extend to the river Rhone and the plains of the Narbonnaise.
Generally speaking, the Aquitani may be said to differ from the Galatic
race, both as to form of body and language, resembling more nearly the

Iberians. They are bounded by the Garonne, and dwell between this river
and the Pyrenees. There are above twenty nations which bear the name of
Aquitani, small and obscure, the major part of them dwelling by the ocean,
and the remainder in the interior and by the extremities of the Cevennes, as
far as the Tectosages. This district, however, being too small, they added to
it the territory between the Garonne and the Loire. These rivers are nearly
parallel with the Pyrenees, and form with them two parallelograms,
bounded on the remaining sides by the ocean and the mountains of the
Cevennes.1408 Both of these rivers are navigable for a distance of about
2000 stadia.1409 The Garonne, after being augmented by three other
rivers,1410 discharges itself into the [ocean] between the [country] of the
Bituriges, surnamed the Vivisci,1411 and that of the Santoni;1412 both of
them Gallic nations.
The Bituriges are the only foreign people who dwell among the Aquitani
without forming a part of them. Their emporium is Burdegala,1413 situated
on a creek formed by the outlets of the river. The Loire discharges itself
between the Pictones and the Namnetæ.1414 Formerly there was an
emporium on this river named Corbilon, mentioned by Polybius when
speaking of the fictions of Pytheas. “The Marseillese, [says he,] when
interrogated by Scipio1415 at their meeting, had nothing to tell about Britain
worth mentioning, nor yet had the people of the Narbonnaise, nor those of
Corbilon; notwithstanding these were the two principal cities of the district,
Pytheas alone dared to forge so many lies [concerning that island].”
Mediolanium1416 is the capital of the Santoni. The part of Aquitaine next
the ocean is for the most part sandy and meagre, producing millet, but
barren of all other fruits. Here is the gulf which, with that on the coast of
Narbonne, forms the isthmus. Both these gulfs1417 go by the name of the
Galatic gulf. The former gulf belongs to the Tarbelli.1418 These people
possess the richest gold mines; masses of gold as big as the fist can contain,
and requiring hardly any purifying, being found in diggings scarcely
beneath the surface of the earth, the remainder consisting of dust and lumps,
which likewise require but little working. In the interior and mountainous
parts [of Aquitaine] the soil is superior; for instance, in the district near the
Pyrenees belonging to the Convenæ,1419 which name signifies people
assembled from different countries to dwell in one place. Here is the city of

Lugdunum,1420 and the hot springs of the Onesii,1421 which are most
excellent for drinking. The country of the Auscii1422 likewise is fine.
2. The nations between the Garonne and the Loire annexed to the Aquitani,
are the Elui,1423 who commence at the Rhone. After these the Vellæi,1424
who were formerly comprehended amongst the Arverni,1425 but now form a
people to themselves. After these Arverni come the Lemovices,1426 and
Petrocorii,1427 and after them the Nitiobriges,(1428) the Cadurci,(1428) and
the Bituriges,(1428) surnamed Cubi. Along the ocean we meet with the
Santoni, and Pictones,1428 the former dwelling by the Garonne, as we have
stated, and the latter by the Loire. The Ruteni and the Gabales1429 are in the
vicinity of the Narbonnaise. The Petrocorii and Bituriges-Cubi possess
excellent iron-works, the Cadurci linen-factories, and the Ruteni silver-
mines: the Gabales likewise possess silver-mines. On certain amongst the
Aquitani the Romans have conferred the rights of Latin cities; such for
instance as the Auscii, and the Convenæ.
3. The Arverni are situated along the Loire. Nemossus, their metropolis, is
built on the same river.1430 This river having flowed past Genabum,1431 an
emporium of the Carnutes,1432 situated about the middle of its course,
discharges itself into the ocean. A great proof of the former power of the
Arverni, is the fact of the frequent wars which they sustained against the
Romans, sometimes with armies of 200,000 men, and sometimes with
double that number, which was the amount of their force when they fought
against divus Cæsar under the command of Vercingetorix.1433 Before this
they had brought 200,000 men against Maximus Æmilianus, and the same
number against Domitius Ænobarbus. Their battles with Cæsar took place,
one in Gergovia,1434 a city of the Arverni situated on a lofty mountain, the
birth-place of Vercingetorix; the other, near to Alesia,1435 a city of the
Mandubii, who border on the Arverni; this city is likewise situated on a
high hill, surrounded by mountains, and between two rivers. Here the war
was terminated by the capture of their leader. The battle with Maximus
Æmilianus was fought near the confluence of the Isère and the Rhone, at
the point where the mountains of the Cevennes approach the latter river.
That with Domitius was fought lower down at the confluence of the
Sulgas1436 and the Rhone. The Arverni extended their dominion as far as

Narbonne and the borders of Marseilles, and exercised authority over the
nations as far as the Pyrenees, the ocean, and the Rhine. Luerius,1437 the
father of Bituitus who fought against Maximus and Domitius, is said to
have been so distinguished by his riches and luxury, that to give a proof of
his opulence to his friends, he caused himself to be dragged across a plain
in a car, whilst he scattered gold and silver coin in every direction for those
who followed him to gather up.

CHAPTER III.

1. Next in order after Aquitaine and the Narbonnaise, is that portion [of
Gaul] extending as far as the Rhine from the river Loire, and the Rhone,
where it passes by Lugdunum:1438 in its descent from its source. The upper
regions of this district from the sources of the Rhine and Rhone, nearly to
the middle of the plains, pertain to Lugdunum; the remainder, with the
regions next the ocean, is comprised in another division which belongs to
the Belgæ. We will describe the two together.

2. Lugdunum itself, situated on1439 a hill, at the confluence of the Saone1440
and the Rhone, belongs to the Romans. It is the most populous city after
Narbonne. It carries on a great commerce, and the Roman prefects here coin
both gold and silver money. Before this city, at the confluence of the rivers,
is situated the temple dedicated by all the Galatæ in common to Cæsar
Augustus. The altar is splendid, and has inscribed on it the names of sixty
people, and images of them, one for each, and also another great altar.1441
This is the principal city of the nation of the Segusiani who lie between the
Rhone and the Doubs.1442 The other nations who extend to the Rhine, are
bounded in part by the Doubs, and in part by the Saone. These two rivers, as
said before, descend from the Alps, and, falling into one stream, flow into
the Rhone. There is likewise another river which has its sources in the Alps,
and is named the Seine.1443 It flows parallel with the Rhine, through a
nation bearing the same name as itself,1444 and so into the ocean. The
Sequani are bounded on the east by the Rhine, and on the opposite side by

the Saone. It is from them that the Romans procure the finest salted-pork.
Between the Doubs and Saone dwells the nation of the Ædui, who possess
the city of Cabyllinum,1445 situated on the Saone and the fortress of
Bibracte.1446 The Ædui1447 are said to be related to the Romans, and they
were the first to enter into friendship and alliance with them. On the other
side of the Saone dwell the Sequani, who have for long been at enmity with
the Romans and Ædui, having frequently allied themselves with the
Germans in their incursions into Italy. It was then that they proved their
strength, for united to them the Germans were powerful, but when
separated, weak. As for the Ædui, their alliance with the Romans naturally
rendered them the enemies of the Sequani,1448 but the enmity was increased
by their contests concerning the river which divides them, each nation
claiming the Saone exclusively for themselves, and likewise the tolls on
vessels passing. However, at the present time, the whole of it is under the
dominion of the Romans.
3. The first of all the nations dwelling on the Rhine are the Helvetii,
amongst whom are the sources of that river in Mount Adula,1449 which
forms part of the Alps. From this mountain, but in an opposite direction,
likewise proceeds the Adda, which flows towards Cisalpine Gaul, and fills
lake Larius,1450 near to which stands [the city of] Como; thence it
discharges itself into the Po, of which we shall speak afterwards. The Rhine
also flows into vast marshes and a great lake,1451 which borders on the
Rhæti and Vindelici,1452 who dwell partly in the Alps, and partly beyond the
Alps. Asinius says that the length of this river is 6000 stadia, but such is not
the case, for taken in a straight line it does not much exceed half that length,
and 1000 stadia is quite sufficient to allow for its sinuosities. In fact this
river is so rapid that it is difficult to throw bridges across it, although after
its descent from the mountains it is borne the remainder of the way through
level plains; now how could it maintain its rapidity and vehemence, if in
addition to this level channel, we suppose it also to have long and frequent
tortuosities? Asinius likewise asserts that this river has two mouths, and
blames those who say that it has more.1453 This river and the Seine embrace
within their tortuosities a certain extent of country, which however is not
considerable. They both flow from south to north. Britain lies opposite to
them; but nearest to the Rhine, from which you may see Kent, which is the