# Natural History (Rackham, Jones, & Eichholz)/Book 5

A translation of Pliny's Natural History.
BOOK V
I. THE Greeks give to Africa the name of Libya, and they call the sea lying in front of it the Libyan Sea. It is bounded by Egypt. No other part of the earth has fewer bays or inlets in its coast, which stretches in a long slanting line from the west. The names of its peoples and towns are absolutely unpronounceable except by the natives; and for the rest, they mostly reside in fortresses.
The list of its countries begins with the two called Mauretania, which down to the time of the emperor Caligula were kingdoms, but by his cruelty were divided into two provinces. The outermost promontory projecting into the ocean is named by the Greeks Ampelusia. Beyond the Straits of Gibraltar there were once the towns of Lissa and Cotte; but at the present day there is only Tangier, which was originally founded by Antaeus and subsequently entitled Traducta Julia by the emperor Claudius when he established a colony there. It is 30 miles distant from the town of Baelon in Baetica, where the passage across is shortest. On the Atlantic coast 25 miles from Tangier is Julia Constantia Zulil, a colony of Augustus, which is exempt from the government of the native kings and included under the jurisdiction of Baetica. Thirty-five miles from Zulil is Lixus, made a colony by the emperor Claudius, about which the most marvellous legends are told by the old writers: this was the site of the palace of Antaeus and the scene of his combat with Hercules, and here were the gardens of the Ladies of the West. As a matter of fact an arm of the sea stretches inland here with a winding channel which, as people nowadays explain the story, had some resemblance to a guardian serpent; it embraces within it an island which, although the neighbouring district is considerably elevated, is nevertheless the only portion not flooded by the tides. On the island there also rises an altar of Hercules, but of the famous grove in the story that bore the golden fruit nothing else except some wild olive trees. No doubt less wonder may be felt at the portentous falsehoods of Greece put about concerning these serpents and the river Lixus by people who reflect that our own countrymen, and these quite recently, have reported little less miraculous stories about the same matters, stating that this city is exceedingly powerful and greater than Great Carthage ever was, and moreover that it is situated in a line with Carthage and at an almost immeasurable distance from Tangier, and all the other details swallowed so greedily by Cornelius Nepos.
In the interior, 40 miles from Lixus, is another colony of Augustus, Babba, called Julia. On The Plains, and 75 miles further, a third, Banasa, which has the surname of Valentia. Thirty-five miles from Banasa is the town of Volubile, which is at the same distance from the coasts of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. On the shore, 50 miles from Lixus, is the river Sebou, flowing by the colony of Banasa, a fine river available for navigation. The same number of miles from the Sebou is the town of Sallee, situated on the river of the same name; this town is on the very edge of the desert, and is beset by herds of elephants, but much more seriously harried by the Autololes tribe, through whose territory lies the road to Mount Atlas, which is the subject of much the most marvellous stories of all the mountains in Africa. It is reported to rise into the sky out of the middle of the sands, a rugged eminence covered with crags on the side facing towards the coast of the Ocean to which it has given its name, but shaded by dense woods and watered by gushing springs on the side facing Africa, where fruits of all kinds spring up of their own accord with such luxuriance that pleasure never lacks satisfaction. It is said that in the daytime none of its inhabitants are seen, and that all is silent with a terrifying silence like that of the desert, so that a speechless awe creeps into the hearts of those who approach it, and also a dread of the peak that soars above the clouds and reaches the neighbourhood of the moon's orb; also that at night this peak flashes with frequent fires and swarms with the wanton gambols of Goat-Pans and Satyrs, and echoes with the music of flutes and pipes and the sound of drums and cymbals. These stories have been published by celebrated authors, in addition to the labours performed in this region by Hercules and Perseus. It is an immense distance away, across unexplored country.
There were also once extant some notes of the Carthaginian commander Hanno, who at the most flourishing period of the Punic state was ordered to explore the circuit of Africa. It is Hanno whom the majority of the Greek and Roman writers have followed in the accounts that they have published of a number of cities founded by him there of which no memory or trace exists, not to speak of other fabulous stories.
Scipio Aemilianus, during his command in Africa, placed a fleet of vessels at the service of the historian Polybius for the purpose of making a voyage of discovery in that part of the world. After sailing round the coast, Polybius reported that beyond Mount Atlas in a westerly direction there are forests teeming with the wild animals that Africa engenders. Agrippa says that to the river Anatis is a distance of 496 miles, and from the Anatis to Linus 205 miles; that Linus is 112 miles from the Straits of Gibraltar and that then come the gulf called Sagigi Bay, the town on Cape Mulelacha, the rivers Sebou and Sallee, the port of Mazagan 224 miles from Linus, then Capo Blanco, the port of Safi, the Gaetulian Free State, the river Tensift, the Velatiti and Masati tribes, the river Mogador, and the river Sous, in which crocodiles are found. Then, he states, a gulf 616 miles across is enclosed by the promontory of the Atlas chain projecting westward, called Cape Ger. After this the river Assa, beyond which is the Aethiopiau tribe of the Perorsi, and in their rear the Pharusii. Adjoining these in the interior are the Gaetulian Darae, and on the coast the Aethiopian Daratitae and the river Non, which is full of crocodiles and hippopotamuses. From the Non runs a line of mountains extending right to the peak of which the Greek name is, as we shall state, the Chariot of the Gods. The distance from this peak to Cape Roxo he gives as a voyage of ten days and nights; and in the middle of this space he places Mount Atlas, which all other authorities give as situated at the farthest point of Mauretania.
The first occasion on which the armed forces of Rome fought in Mauretania was in the principate of Claudius, when King Ptolemy had been put to death by Caligula and his freedman Aedemon was seeking to avenge him; and it is an accepted fact that our troops went as far as Mount Atlas in pursuit of the routed natives. And not only were the ex-consuls and generals drawn from the senate who commanded in that campaign able to boast of having penetrated the Atlas range, but this distinction was also shared by the Knights of Rome who subsequently governed the country. The province contains, as we have said, five Roman colonies, and, to judge by common report, the place might well be thought to be easily accessible; but upon trial this criterion is discovered to be for the most part exceedingly fallacious, because persons of high position, although not inclined to search for the truth, are ashamed of ignorance and consequently are not reluctant to tell falsehoods, as credulity is never more easily let down than when a false statement is attested by an authority of weight. For my own part I am less surprised that some things are outside the knowledge of gentlemen of the equestrian order, some of whom indeed nowadays actually get into the senate, than that anything should be unknown to luxury, which acts as an extremely great and powerful stimulus, inasmuch as forests are ransacked for ivory and citrus-wood and all the rocks of Gaetulia explored for the murex and for purple. The natives, however, inform us that on the coast 150 miles from the Sallee is the River Asana, which is a tidal river but which is notable for its harbour; and then the river which they call the Fat, and 200 miles from it, after crossing a river named Ivor, the Diris rangethat is agreed to be the native name for the Atlas; and that in the neighbourhood are traces of the land having formerly been inhabitedremains of vineyards and palm-groves.
Suetonius Paulinus, who was consul in our own times, was the first Roman commander who actually crossed the Atlas range and advanced a distance of many miles beyond it. His report as to its remarkable altitude agrees with that of all the other authorities, but he also states that the regions at the base of the range are filled with dense and lofty forests of trees of an unknown kind, with very tall trunks remarkable for their glossy timber free from knots, and foliage like that of the cypress except for its oppressive scent, the leaves being covered with a thin downy floss, so that with the aid of art a dress-material like that obtained from the silk-worm can be made from them. The summit (the report continued) is covered with deep snowdrifts even in summer. Ten days' march brought him to this point and beyond it to the river called the Ger, across deserts covered with black dust occasionally broken by projections of rock that looked as if they had been burnt, a region rendered uninhabitable by its heat, although it was winter time when he explored it. He states that the neighbouring forests swarm with every kind of elephant and snake, and are inhabited by a tribe called the Canarii, owing to the fact that they have their diet in common with the canine race and share with it the flesh of wild animals.
It is well ascertained that the next people are the Aethiopian tribe called the Perorsi. Juba, the father of Ptolemy, who was the first ruler to hold sway over both the Mauretanias, and who is even more distinguished for his renown as a student than for his royal sovereignty, has published similar facts about Mount Atlas, and has stated in addition that a plant grows there called the euphorbia, named after his doctor who discovered it; in a volume devoted solely to the subject of this plant he sings the praises of its milky juice in very remarkable terms, stating it to be an aid to clear sight and an antidote against snakebite and poisons of all kinds.This is enough, or more than enough, about Mount Atlas.
The province of Tangier is 170 miles in length. It contains the following tribes: the Moors (from whom it takes its name of Mauretania), by many writers called the Maurusii, were formerly the leading race, but they have been thinned by wars and are now reduced to a few families. The next race to this was previously that of the. Masaesyli, but this has been wiped out in a similar manner. The country is now occupied by the Gaetulian tribes, the Baniurae and the Free State, by far the most powerful of them all, and the Nesimi, who were formerly a section of the Autoteles, but have split off from them and formed a separate tribe of their own in the direction of the Aethiopians. The province itself produces elephants in its mountainous district on the eastern side and also on Mount Ceuta and the range of peaks called the Seven Brothers from their similarity of height; these mountains join on to Mount Ceuta and overlook the Straits of Gibraltar. At the Seven Brothers begins the coast of the Mediterranean, and next come the navigable river Bedia and the site of a former town of the same name, the river Gomera, also navigable for vessels, the town and harbour of Safi, and the navigable river Maluia. Opposite to Malaga in Spain is situated the town of Aresgol, the capital of King Syphax, where we reach the second Mauretania for these regions for a long time took the names of their kings. Further Mauretania being called the Land of Bogut and similarly the present Caesariensis the Land of Bocchus. After Aresgol come the port called from its size Great Harbour, a town with Roman citizenship; the river Mulucha, the frontier between the Land of Bocchus and the Masaesyli; Quiza Xenitana ('Alienville'); Arzen, a town with Latin rights, three miles from the sea; Tenez, a colony of Augustus, where the Second Legion was settled, and Gunugu, likewise a colony of the same emperor and the settlement of a praetorian cohort; Cape Mestagan, and on it the famous town of Caasarea previously called Jol, the capital of King Juba, to which colonial rights were granted by his late Majesty Claudius; New Town, founded as a settlement of veteran troops, and Tipasa, granted Latin rights by the same emperor's orders, and also Icosium given the same privilege by the emperor Vespasian; Rusguniae, a colony of Augustus, Rusucurium, given the honour of citizenship by Claudius, Rusazus, a colony of Augustus, Saldae, a colony of the same, Igilgili likewise; the town of Zucca, situated on the sea and the river Ampsaga. In the interior is the colony of Augusta, also called Sucehabar, and likewise Tubusuptu, the independent cities of Timici and Tigavae, the rivers Sardaval, Ayes and Nabar, the Macurebi tribe, the river Usar, and the Nababes tribe. From the river Ampsaga to Caesarea is 322 miles. The length of the two Mauretanias is 1038 miles and the breadth 467 miles.
II. At the river Ampsaga begins Numidia, a country rendered famous by the name of Masinissa. The Greeks called it Metagonitis, and they named its people the Nomads, from their custom of frequently changing their pasturage, carrying their maptdia, that is their homes, about the country on waggons. The towns are Chollum and Sgigada, and in the interior about 48 miles from the latter the colony of Cirta, called Cirta of the Sitianii and another colony further inland, Sicca, and the free town of King's Bulla. On the coast are Tagodet, King's Hippo, the river Mafragg, and the town of Tabraca, which has Roman citizenship. The boundary of Numidia is the river Zaina. The country produces nothing remarkable beside the Numidian marble and wild beasts.
III. Beyond the Zaina is the district of Zeugitana and the region properly to be called Africa. Three promontories run out into the sea, White Cape and then Cape Farina facing Sardinia and Cape Bon facing Sicily; these form two baysthe Bay of Hippo next the town called Hippo Dirutus, in Greek Diarrhytus, which name is due to its irrigation channels, and adjacent to this, further from the coast, Theudalis, a town exempt from tribute; and then Cape Farina, and on the second bay Utica, which has the rights of Roman citizenship; it is famous as the scene of the death of Cato. Then there is the river Merjerdah, the place called the Camp of Cornelius, the colony of Carthage on the site of Great Carthage, the colony of Maxula, the towns of Carpi, Misua and Clypea, the last a free town on Cape Mercury, where are also the free towns Kurbah and Nabal.
Then comes another section of Africa proper. The inhabitants of Byzacium are called Libyphoenicians, Byzacium being the name given to a region measuring 250 miles round, a district of exceptional fertility, the soil paying the farmers interest at the rate of a hundredfold. Here are the free towns of Lempta, Sousa, Monastir, Demas, and then Taineh, Ayes, Mahometa, Cabs and Sabart on the edge of the Lesser Syrtis; from the Ampsaga to this point the length of Numidia and Africa is 580 miles and the breadth so far as ascertained 200 miles. The part that we have called Africa is divided into two provinces, the Old and the New; the division between these, as agreed between the younger Scipio and the Kings, is a dyke running right through to the town of Taineh, which is 216 miles from Carthage.
IV. The third gulf is divided into two bays, which are rendered formidable by the shallow tidal waters of the two Syrtes. The distance between the nearest Syrtis, which is the smaller of the two, and Carthage is said by Polybius to be 300 miles; and he gives its width across as 100 miles and its circuit as 300 miles. There is however also a way to it by land, that can be found by observation of the stars, across a desert abandoned to the sand and swarming with serpents. Next come forests filled with a multitude of wild beasts, and further inland desolate haunts of elephants, and then a vast desert, and beyond it the Garamantes tribe, at a distance of twelve days' journey from Aujelah. Beyond these was formerly the Psylli tribe, and beyond them Lake Lynxama, surrounded by desert. Aulelah itself is situated almost in the middle, at an equal distance on either side from the Ethiopia that stretches westward and from the region lying between the two Syrtes. But by the coast between the two Syrtes it is 250 miles; here are the independent city of Oea, the river Cinyps and the district of that name, the towns of Neapolis, Taphra, Habrotonum and the second Leptis, called Great Leptis. Then comes the Greater Syrtis, measuring 625 miles round and 312 wide at the entrance, near which dwells the race of the Cisippades. At the end of this Gulf was once the Coast of the Lotus-eaters, the people called by some the Machroae, extending to the Altars of the Philaenithese are formed of heaps of sand. After these, not far from the shore of the mainland, there is a vast swamp into which flows the river Tritonis, the name of which it bears; Callimachus calls it the Lake of Pallas. He places it on the nearer side of the Lesser Syrtis, but many writers put it between the two Syrtes. The promontory shutting in the Greater. Syrtis is called Cape Trajuni; beyond it is the province of Cyrene.
Between the river Ampsaga and this boundary Africa contains 516 peoples that accept allegiance to Rome. These include six colonies, Uthina and Thuburbi, in addition to those already mentioned; 15 towns with Roman citizenship, among which in the interior must be mentioned those of Absurae,
Abutucum, Aborium, Canopicum, Chimavis, Simittuum, Thunusidum, Thuburnicum, Thinidrumum, Tibiga, the two towns called Ucita, the Greater and the Lesser, and Vaga; one town with Latin rights, Uzalita; one tributary town at the Camp of Cornelius; 30 free towns, of which must be mentioned in the interior the towns of Acholhta, Accarita, Avina, Abzirita, Canopita, Mehzita, Matera, Salaphita, Tusdrita, Tiphica, Tunisa, Theuda, Tagesa, Tiga, Ulusubrita, a second Vaga, Viga and Zama. Of the remaining number most can rightly be entitled not merely cities but also tribes, for instance the Natabudes, Capsitani, Musulami, Sabarbares, Massyli, Nicives, Vamacures, Cinithi, Musuni, Marchubi, and the whole of Gaetulia as far as the river Quorra, which separates Africa from Ethiopia.
V. Notable places in the district of Cyrenaica (the Greek name of which is the Land of the Five Cities) are the Oracle of Ammon, which is 400 miles from the city of Cyrene, the Fountain of the Sun, and especially five cities, Benghazi, Arsinoe, Tolmeita, Marsa Sousah and Cyrene itself. Benghazi is situated at the tip of the horn of the Syrtis; it was formerly called the City of the Ladies of the West, mentioned above, as the myths of Greece is often change their locality; and in front of the town not far away is the river Leton, with a sacred grove, reputed to be the site of the gardens of the Ladies of the West. Benghazi is 375 miles from Leptis; and Arsinoe is 43 miles from Benghazi, commonly called Teuchira, and then 22 miles further Ptolemais, the old name of which was Barce; then 40 miles on the cape of Ras Sem projects into the Cretan Sea, 350 miles distant from Cape Matapan in Laconia and 225 miles from Crete itself. After the cape of Ras Sem is Cyrene, 11 miles from the sea, from Ras Sem to the harbour of Cyrene being 24 miles and to Ras El Tin 88 miles, from which it is 216 miles to the Canyon. The inhabitants of this coast are the Marmaridae, reaching almost all the way from the region of El Bareton to the Greater Syrtis; after these are the Acrauceles and then on the edge of the Syrtis the Nasamones, formerly called by the Greeks Mesammones by reason of their locality, the word meaning `in the middle of the sands'. The territory of Cyrene for a breadth of 15 miles from the coast is thought to be good even for growing trees, but for the same space further inland to grow only corn, and afterwards over a strip 30 miles wide and 250 miles long nothing but silphium.
After the Nasamones, we come to the dwellings of the Asbytae and Macae; and beyond them, twelve days' journey from the Greater Syrtis, the Amantes. These also are surrounded by sands in the western direction, but nevertheless they find water without difficulty at a depth of about three feet, as the district receives the overflow of the waters of Mauretania. They build their houses of blocks of salt quarried out of their mountains like stone. From these it is a journey of 7 days in a south-westerly quarter to the Cave-dwellers, with whom our only intercourse is the trade in the precious stone imported from Ethiopia which we call the carbuncle. Before reaching them, in the direction of the African desert stated already to be beyond the Lesser Syrtis, is Fezzan, where we have subjugated the Fezzan tribe and the cities of Mellulen and Zala, as well as Gadamez in the direction of Sabrata. After these a long range stretches from east to west which our people from its nature call the Black Mountain, as it has the appearance of having suffered from fire, or else of being scorched by the reflection of the sun. Beyond this mountain range is the desert, and then a town of the Garamantes called Thelgae, and also Bedir (near which there is a spring of which the water is boiling hot from midday to midnight and then freezing cold for the same number of hours until midday) and Garama, the celebrated capital of the Garamantes: all of which places have been subdued by the arms of Rome, being conquered by Cornelius Balbus, who was given a triumphthe only foreigner ever so honouredand citizen rights, since, although a native of Cadiz, he together with his great-uncle, Balbus, was presented with our citizenship. There is also this remarkable circumstance, that our writers have handed down the names of the towns mentioned above as having been taken by him, and have stated that in his own triumphal procession beside Cydamum and Garama were carried the names and images of all the other races and cities, which went in this order: the town of Tibesti, the Niteris tribe, the town of Milgis Gemella, the tribe or town of Febabo, the tribe of the Enipi, the town of Thuben, the mountain known as the Black Mountain, the towns called Nitibrum and Rapsa, the Im-Zera tribe, the town of Om-El-Abid, the river Tessava, the town of Sava, the Tamiagi tribe, the town of Boin, the town of Winega, the river Dasibari; then a series of towns, Baracum, Buluba, Alasit, Oalsa, Balla, Missolat, Cizania; and Mount Goriano, its effigy preceded by an inscription that it was a place where precious stones were produced.
Hitherto it has been impossible to open up the road to the Garamantes country, because brigands of that race fill up the wells with sandthese do not need to be dug very deep if you are aided by a knowledge of the localities. In the last war waged with the people of Oea, at the beginning of the principate of Vespasian, a short route of only four days was discovered, which is known as By the Head of the Rock. The last place in Cyrenaica is called the Canyon, a town and a suddenly descending valley. The length of Cyrenaic Africa from the Lesser Syrtis to this boundary is 1060 miles, and the breadth, so far as ascertained, 810 miles.
VI. The district that follows is called Libya Mareotis; it borders upon Egypt. It is occupied by the Marmarides, the Adyrmachidae, and then the Mareotae. The distance between the Canyon and Paraetonium is 86 miles. Between them in the interior of this district is Apis, a place famous in the Egyptian religion. The distance from Apis to Paraetonium is 62 miles, and from Paraetonium to Alexandria 200 miles. The district is 169 miles in breadth. Eratosthenes gives the distance by land from Cyrenae to Alexandria as 525 miles. Agrippa made the length of the whole of Africa from the Atlantic, including Lower Egypt, 300 miles; Polybius and Eratosthenes, who are deemed extremely careful writers, made the distance from the Ocean to Great Carthage 1100 miles, and from Great Carthage to the nearest mouth of the Nile, Canopus, 1628 miles; Isidorus makes the distance from Tangier to Canopus 3599 miles, but Artemidorus makes it 40 miles less than Isidorus.
VII. These seas do not contain very many islands. The most famous is Zerba, 25 miles long and 22 miles broad, called by Eratosthenes Lotus Eaters' Island. It has two towns, Meninx on the side of Africa and Thoar on the other side, the island itself lying off the promontory on the right-hand side of the Lesser Syrtis, at a distance of a mile and a half away. A hundred miles from Zerba and lying off the left-hand promontory is the island of Cercina, with the free city of the same name; it is 25 miles long and measures half that distance across where it is widest, but not more than 5 miles across at its end; and joined to it by a bridge is the extremely small island of Cercinitis, which looks towards Carthage. About 50 miles from these is Lopadusa, 6 miles long; then come Gaulos and Galata, the soil of the latter having the property of killing scorpions, that pest of Africa. It is also said that scorpions cannot live at Clupea, opposite to which lies Pantellaria with its town. Opposite the Gulf of Carthage lie the two Aegimoeroi; but the Altars, which are more truly rocks than islands, are chiefly between Sicily and Sardinia. Some authorities state that even the Altars were formerly inhabited but that their level has sunk.
VIII. In the interior circuit of Africa towards the south and beyond the Gaetulians, after an inter- mediate strip of desert, the first inhabitants of all are the Egyptian Libyans, and then the people called in Greek the White Ethiopians. Beyond these are the Ethiopian clans of the Nigritae, named after the river which has been mentioned, the Pharusian Gymnetes, and then bordering on the Ocean the Perorsi whom we have spoken of at the frontier of Mauretania. Eastward of all of these there are vast uninhabited regions spreading as far as the Garamantes and Augilae and the Cave-dwellersthe most reliable opinion being that of those who place two Ethiopias beyond the African desert, and especially Homer, who tells us that the Ethiopians are divided into two sections, the eastward and the westward.
The river Niger has the same nature as the Nile: it produces reeds and papyrus, and the same animals, and it rises at the same seasons of the year. Its source is between the Ethiopic tribes of the Tarraelii and the Oechalicae; the town of the latter is Magium. In the middle of the desert some place the Atlas tribe, and next to them the half-animal Goat-Pans and the Blemmyae and Gamphasantes and Satyrs and Strapfoots.
The Atlas tribe have fallen below the level of human civilization, if we can believe what is said; for they do not address one another by any names, and when they behold the rising and setting sun, they utter awful curses against it as the cause of disaster to themselves and their fields, and when they are asleep they do not have dreams like the rest of mankind. The Cave-dwellers hollow out caverns, which are their dwellings; they live on the flesh of snakes, and they have no voice, but only make squeaking noises, being entirely devoid of intercourse by speech. The Garamantes do not practise marriage but live with their women promiscuously. The Augilae only worship the powers of the lower world. The Gamphasantes go naked, do not engage in battle, and hold no intercourse with any foreigner. The Blemmyae are reported to have no heads, their mouth and eyes being attached to their chests. The Satyrs have nothing of ordinary humanity about them except human shape. The form of the Goat-Pans is that which is commonly shown in pictures of them. The Strapfoots are people with feet like leather thongs, whose nature it is to crawl instead of walking. The Pharusi, originally a Persian people, are said to have accompanied Hercules on his journey to the Ladies of the West. Nothing more occurs to us to record about Africa.
IX. Joining on to Africa is Asia, the extent of which from the Canopic mouth of the Nile to the mouth of the Black Sea is given by Timosthenes as 2638 miles; Eratosthenes gives the distance from the mouth of the Black Sea to the mouth of the Sea of Azov as 1545 miles; and Artemidorus and Isidorus give the whole extent of Asia including Egypt as far as the river Don as 5013 miles. It possesses several seas, named after the tribes on their shores, for which reason they will be mentioned together.
The inhabited country next to Africa is Egypt, which stretches southward into the interior to where the Ethiopians border it in the rear. The boundaries of its lower part are formed by the two branches of the Nile embracing it on the right and on the left, the Canopic mouth separating it from Africa and the Pelusiac from Asia, with a space of 170 miles between the two mouths. This has caused some authorities to class Egypt as an island, because the Nile divides in such a manner as to produce a piece of land shaped like a triangle; and consequently many have called Egypt by the name of the Greek letter Delta. The distance from the point where the single channel first splits into branches to the Canopic mouth is 146 miles and to the Pelusiac mouth 156 miles.
The uppermost part of Egypt, marching with Ethiopia, is called the Thebaid. It is divided into prefectures of towns, called 'nomes'the Ombite, Apollonopolite, Hermonthite, Thinite, Phaturite, Coptite, Tentyrite, Diospolite, Antaeopolite, Aphroditopolite and Lycopolite nomes. The nomes belonging to the district in the neighbourhood of Pelusium are the Pharbaethite, Bubastite, Sethroite and Tanite. The remaining nomes are called the Arabic, Hammoniac (on the way to the oracle of Jupiter Ammon), Oxyrhynchite, Leontopolite, Athribite, Cynopolite, Hermopolite, Xoite, Mendesian, Sebennyte, Cabasite, Latopolite, Heliopolite, Vrosopite, Panopolite, Busirite, Onuphite, Saite, Ptenethus, Ptemphus, Naucratite, Metellite, Gynaecopolite, Menelaitethese forming the region of Alexandria; and likewise Mareotis belonging to Libya. The Heracleopolite nome is on an island of the Nile measuring 50 miles long, on which is also the town called the City of Hercules. There are two nomes called the Arsinoite; these and the Memphite extend to the apex of the Delta, adjacent to which on the side of Africa are the two Oasite nomes. Certain authorities alter some out of these names and substitute other nomes, for instance the Heropolite and Crocodilopolite. Between the Arsinoite and Memphite nomes there was once a lake measuring 250, or according to Mucianus's account 450, miles round, and 250 feet deep, an artificial sheet of water, called the Lake of Moeris after the king who made it. Its site is 62 miles from Memphis, the former citadel of the kings of Egypt, and from Memphis it is 12 days' journey to the Oracle of Ammon and 15 days' journey to the place where the Nile divides and forms what we have called the Delta.
X. The sources from which the Nile rises have not been ascertained, proceeding as it does through scorching deserts for an enormously long distance and only having been explored by unarmed investigators, without the wars that have discovered all other countries; but so far as King Juba was able to ascertain, it has its origin in a mountain of lower Mauretania not far from the Ocean, and immediately forms a stagnant lake called Nilldes. Fish found in this lake are the alabeta, coracinus and silurus; also a crocodile was brought from it by Juba to prove his theory, and placed as a votive offering in the temple of Isis at Caesarea, where it is on view today. Moreover it has been observed that the Nile rises in proportion to excessive falls of snow or rain in Mauretania. Issuing from this lake the river disdains to flow through arid deserts of sand, and for a distance of several days' journey it hides underground but afterwards it bursts out in another larger lake in the territory of the Masaesyles clan of Mauretania Caesariensis, and so to speak makes a survey of the communities of mankind, proving its identity by having the same fauna. Sinking again into the sand of the desert it hides for another space of 20 days' journey till it reaches the nearest Ethiopians, and when it has once more become aware of man's proximity it leaps out in a fountain, probably the one called the Black Spring. From this point it forms the boundary line between Africa and Ethiopia, and though the riverside is not immediately inhabited, it teems with wild beasts and animal life and produces forests; and where the river cuts through the middle of Ethiopia it has the name of Astapus, which in the native language means water issuing from the shades below. It strews about such a countless number of islands, and some of them of such vast size, that in spite of its very rapid flow it nevertheless only flies past them in a course of five days, and not shorter; while making the circuit of the most famous of these islands, Meroe, the left-hand channel is called Astobores, that is 'branch of water coming out of the shades,' and the right-hand channel Astusapes, which means 'side branch.' It is not called Nile until its waters are again reconciled and have united in a single stream, and even then for some miles it still has the name of Girls which it had previously. Its name in Homer is Aegyptus over its whole course, and with other writers it is the Triton. Every now and then it impinges on islands, which are so many incitements spurring it forward on its way, till finally it is shut in by mountains, its flow being nowhere more rapid; and it is borne on with hurrying waters to the place in Ethiopia called in Greek the Downcrash, where at its last cataract, owing to the enormous noise it seems not to run but to riot between the rocks that bar its way. Afterwards it is gentle, the violence of its waters having been broken and subdued, and also it is somewhat fatigued by the distance it has raced, and it belches out, by many mouths it is true, into the Egyptian Sea. For a certain part of the year however its volume greatly increases and it roams abroad over the whole of Egypt and inundates the land with a fertilising flood.
Various explanations of this rising of the river have been given; but the most probable are either the backwash caused by what are called in Greek the Annual Winds, which blow in the opposite direction to the current at that period of the year, the sea outside being driven into the mouths of the river, or the summer rains of Ethiopia which are due to the same Annual Winds bringing clouds from the rest of the world to Egypt. The mathematician Timaeus produced a very recondite theorythat the source of the Nile is a spring called Phiala, and that the river buries itself in burrows underground and breathes forth vapour owing to the steaming hot rocks among which it hides itself; but that as the sun at the period in question comes nearer the river water is drawn out by the force of the heat and rises up and overflows, and withdraws itself to avoid being swallowed up. This, he says, begins to occur at the rising of the Dog-star, when the sun is entering the sign of the Lion, the sun standing in a vertical line above the spring, at which season in that region shadows entirely disappearthough the general opinion on the contrary is that the flow of the Nile is more copious when the sun is departing towards the north, which happens when it is in the Crab and the Lion, and that consequently the river is dried up less then; and again when the sun returns to Capricorn and towards the south pole its waters are absorbed and its volume consequently reduced. But if anybody is inclined to accept the possibility of Timaeus's explanation that the waters of the river are drawn out of the earth, there is the fact that in these regions absence of shadows goes on continuously at this season. The Nile begins to rise at the next new moon after midsummer, the rise being gradual and moderate while the sun is passing through the Crab and at its greatest height when it is in the Lion; and when in Virgo it begins to fall by the same degrees as it rose. It subsides entirely within its banks, according to the account given by Herodotus, on the hundredth day, when the sun is in the Scales. The view has been held that it is unlawful for kings or rulers to sail on the Nile when it is rising. Its degrees of increase are detected by means of wells marked with a scale. An average rise is one of 24 feet. A smaller volume of water does not irrigate all localities, and a larger one by retiring too slowly retards agriculture; and the latter uses up the time for sowing because of the moisture of the soil, while the former gives no time for sowing because the soil is parched. The province takes careful note of both extremes: in a rise of 18 feet it senses famine, and even at one of 194 feet it begins to feel hungry, but 21 feet brings cheerfulness, 224 feet complete confidence and 24 feet delight. The largest rise up to date was one of 27 feet in the principate of Claudius, and the smallest 74 feet in the year of the war of Pharsalus, as if the river were attempting to avert the murder of Pompey by a sort of portent. When the rise comes to a standstill, the floodgates are opened and irrigation begins; and each strip of land is sown as the flood relinquishes it. It may be added that the Nile is the only river that emits no exhalations.
It first comes within the territory of Egypt at the Ethiopian frontier, at Assuanthat is the name of the peninsula a mile in circuit in which, on the Arabian side, the Camp is situated and off which lie the four islands of Philae, 600 miles from the place where the Nile splits into two channelsthe point at which, as we have said, the island called the Delta begins. This is the distance given by Artemidorus, who also states that the island formerly contained 250 towns; Juba, however, gives the distance as 400 miles. Aristocreon says that the distance from Elephantis to the sea is 750 milesElephantis is an inhabited island 4 miles below the last cataract and 16 above Assuan; it is the extreme limit of navigation in Egypt, being 585 miles from Alexandriaso far out in their calculations have the above-named authors been. Elephantis is the point of rendezvous for Ethiopian vessels, which are made collapsible for the purpose of portage on reaching the cataracts.
XI. In addition to boasting its other glories of the cities past Egypt can claim the distinction of having had Egypt in the reign of King Amasis 20,000 cities; and even now it contains a very large number, although of no importance. However, the City of Apollo is notable, as is also the City of Leucothea and the Great City of Zeus, also called Thebes, renowned for the fame of its hundred gates, Coptos the market near the Nile for Indian and Arabian merchandise, and also the Town of Venus and the Town of Jove and Tentyris, below which is Abydos, famous for the palace of Memnon and the temple of Osiris, in the interior of Libya 7 miles from the river. Then Ptolemais and Panopolis and another Town of Venus, and on the Libyan side Lycon, where the Province of Thebes is bounded by a mountain range. Beyond this are the Towns of Mercury, and of the Alabastri, the Town of Dogs, and the Town of Hercules mentioned above. Then Arsinoe's Town and Memphis already mentioned, between which and the Arsinoite district on the Libyan side are the towers called pyramids, and on Lake Moeris the Labyrinth, in the construction of which no timber was used with the masonry, and the town of the Criali. There is one place besides in the interior and bordering on the Arabian frontier which is of great renown; Heliopolis.
But justice requires that praise shall be bestowed on Alexandria, built by Alexander the Great on the coast of the Egyptian Sea on the side of Africa, 12 miles from the Canopic mouth and adjoining Lake Mariout; The site was previously named Rhacotes. It was laid out by the architect Dinochares, who is famous for his talent in a variety of ways; it covered an area spreading 15 miles in the shape of a Macedonian soldier's cape, with indentations in its circumference and projecting corners on the right and left side; while at the same time a fifth of the site was devoted to the King's palace. Lake Mariout, which lies on the south side of the city, carries traffic from the interior by means of a canal from the Canopic mouth of the Nile; also it includes a considerable number of islands, being 30 miles across and 250 miles in circumference, according to Claudius Caesar. Others make it 40 schoeni [4 or 5 miles] long and reckon 150 miles, and they give the same figure for the breadth.
There are also many considerable towns in the region of the lower parts of the Nile, especially those that have given their names to the mouths of the flyer, thongh not all of these are named after townsfor we find that there are twelve of them, besides four more that the natives call 'false mouths'but the seven best known are the Canopic mouth nearest to Alexandria and then the Bolbitine, Sebennytic, Phatnitic, Mendesic, Tanitic, and last the Pelusiac.
Besides the towns that give their names to the mouths there are Butos, Pharbaethos, Leontopolis, Athribis, the Town of Isis, Busiris, Cynopolis, Aphrodite's Town, Sais, and Naucratis, after which some people give the name of Naucratitic to the mouth called by others the Heracleotic, and mention it instead of the Canopic mouth which is next to it.
XII. Beyond the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile is Arabia, extending to the Red Sea and to the Arabia known by the surname of Happy and famous for its perfumes and its wealth. This bears the names of the Cattabanes, Esbonitae and Scenitae tribes of Arabs; its soil is barren except where it adjoins the frontier of Syria, and its only remarkable feature is the El Kas mountain. The Arabian tribe of the Canchlei adjoin those mentioned on the east and that of the Cedrei on the south, and both of these in their turn adjoin the Nabataei. The two gulfs of the Red Sea where it converges on Egypt are called the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Akaba; between the two towns of Akaba and Guzzah, which is on the Mediterranean, there is a space of 150 miles. Agrippa says that the distance from Pelusium across the desert to the town of Ardscherud on the Red Sea is 125 miles: so small a distance in that region separates two such different regions of the world!
XIII. The next country on the coast is Syria, formerly the greatest of lands. It had a great many divisions with different names, the part adjacent to Arabia being formerly called Palestine, and Judaea, and Hollow Syria, then Phoenicia and the more inland part Damascena, and that still further south Babylonia as well as Mesopotamia between the Euphrates and the Tigris, the district beyond Mount Taurus Sophene, that on this side of Sophene Commagene, that beyond Armenia Adiabene, which was previously called Assyria, and the part touching Cilicia Antiochia. Its length between Cilicia and Arabia is 470 miles and its breadth from Seleukeh Pieria to Bridgetown on the Euphrates 175 miles. Those who divide the country into smaller parts hold the view that Phoenicia is surrounded by Syria, and that the order isthe seacoast of Syria of which Idumaea and Judaca are a part, then Phoenicia, then Syria. The whole of the sea lying off the coast is called the Phoenician Sea. The Phoenician race itself has the great distinction of having invented the alphabet and the sciences of astronomy, navigation and strategy.
XLV. After Pelusium come the Camp of Chabrias, Mount El Kas the temple of Jupiter Casius, and the tomb of Pompey the Great. At Ras Straki, 65 miles from Pelusium, is the frontier of Arabia. Then begins Idumaea, and Palestine at the point where the Serbonian Lake comes into view. This lake is recorded by some writers as having measuxed 150 miles roundHerodotus gave it as reaching the foot of Mount El Kas; but it is now an inconsiderable fen. There are the towns of El-Arish and inland Refah, Gaza and inland Anthedon, and Mount Argaris. Further along the coast is the region of Samaria, the free town Ascalon, Ashdod, the two towns named Iamnea, one of them inland; and the Phoenician city of Joppa. This is said to have existed before the flood; it is situated on a hill, and in front of it is a rock on which they point out marks made by the chains with which Andromeda was fettered; here there is a cult of the legendary goddess Ceto. Next Apollonia, and the Tower of Strato, otherwise Caesarea, founded by King Herod, but now the colony called Prima Flavia established by the Emperor Vespasian; this is the frontier of Palestine, 189 miles from the confines of Arabia. After this comes Phoenicia, and inland Samaria; the towns are Naplous, formerly called Mamortha, Sebustieh on a mountain, and on a loftier mountain Gamala.
XV. Beyond Idumaea and Samaria stretches the wide expanse of Judaea. The part of Judaea adjoining Syria is called Galilee, and that next to Arabia and Egypt Peraea. Peraea is covered with rugged mountains, and is separated from the other parts of Judaea by the river Jordan. The rest of Judaea is divided into ten Local Government Areas in the following order: the district of Jericho, which has numerous palm-groves and springs of water, and those of Emmaus, Lydda, Joppa, Accrabim, Juffia, Timnath-Serah, Bethlebaoth, the Hills, the district that formerly contained Jerusalem, by far the most famous city of the East and not of Judaea only, and Herodium with the celebrated town of the same name.
The source of the river Jordan is the spring of Panias from which Caesarea described later takes its second name. It is a delightful stream, winding about so far as the conformation of the locality allows, and putting itself at the service of the people who dwell on its banks, as though moving with reluctance towards that gloomy lake, the Dead Sea, which ultimately swallows it up, its much-praised waters mingling with the pestilential waters of the lake and being lost. For this reason at the first opportunity afforded by the formation of the valleys it widens out into a lake usually called the Sea of Gennesareth. This is 16 miles long and 6 broad, and is skirted by the pleasant towns of Bethsaida and Hippo on the east, El Kereh on the south (the name of which place some people also give to the lake), and Tabariah with its salubrious hot springs on the west. The only product of the Dead Sea is bitumen, the Greek word for which gives it its Greek name, Asphaltites. The bodies of animals do not sink in its waters, even bulls and camels floating; this has given rise to the report that nothing at all can sink in it. It is more than 100 miles long, and fully 75 miles broad at the broadest part but only 6 miles at the narrowest. On the east it is faced by Arabia of the Nomads, and on the south by Machaerus, at one time next to Jerusalem the most important fortress in Judaea. On the same side there is a hot spring possessing medicinal value, the name of which, Callirrho, itself proclaims the celebrity of its waters.
On the west side of the Dead Sea, but out of range of the noxious exhalations of the coast, is the solitary tribe of the Essenes, which is remarkable beyond all the other tribes in the whole world, as it has no women and has renounced all sexual desire, has no money, and has only palm-trees for company. Day by day the throng of refugees is recruited to an equal number by numerous accessions of persons tired of life and driven thither by the waves of fortune to adopt their manners. Thus through thousands of ages (incredible to relate) a race in which no one is born lives on for ever: so prolific for their advantage is other men's weariness of life!
Lying below the Essenes was formerly the town of Engedi, second only to Jerusalem in the fertility of its land and in its groves of palm-trees, but now like Jerusalem a heap of ashes. Next comes Masada, a fortress on a rock, itself also not far from the Dead Sea. This is the limit of Judaea.
XVI. Adjoining Judaea on the side of Syria is the region of Decapolis, so called from the number of its towns, though not all writers keep to the same towns in the list; most however include Damascus, with its fertile water-meadows that drain the river Chrysorrho, Philadelphia, Raphana (all these three withdrawn towards Arabia), Scythopolis (formerly Nysa, after Father Liber's nurse, whom he buried there) where a colony of Scythians are settled; Gadara, past which flows the river Yarmak; Hippo mentioned already, Dion, Pella rich with its waters, Galasa, Canatha. Between and around these cities run tetrarchies, each of them equal to a kingdom, and they are incorporated into kingdomsTrachonitis, Panias (in which is Caesarea with the spring mentioned above), Abila, Area, Ampeloessa and Gabe.
XVII. From this point we must go back to the coast and to Phoenicia. There was formerly a town called Crocodilon, and there is still a river of that name; and the cities of Dora and Sycamini, of which only the memory exists. Then comes Cape Carmel, and on a mountain the town of the same name, formerly called Acbatana. Next are Getta, Geba, and the river Pacida or Belus, which covers its narrow bank with sand of a kind used for making glass; the river itself flows out of the marsh of Cendebia at the foot of Mount Carmel. Close to this river is Ptolemais, a colony of the Emperor Claudius, formerly called Acce; and then the town of Ach-Zib, and the White Cape. Next Tyre, once an island separated from the mainland by a very deep sea-channel 700 yards wide, but now joined to it by the works constructed by Alexander when besieging the place, and formerly famous as the mother-city from which sprang the cities of Leptis, Utica and the great rival of Rome's empire in coveting world-sovereignty, Carthage, and also Cadiz, which she founded outside the confines of the world; but the entire renown of Tyre now consists in a shell-fish and a purple dye! The circumference of the city, including Old Tyre on the coast, measures 19 miles, the actual town covering 2 miles. Next are Zarephath and Bird-town, and the mother-city of Thebes in Boeotia, Sidon, where glass is made.
Behind Sidon begins Mount Lebanon, a chain extending as far as Zimyra in the district called Hollow Syria, a distance of nearly 190 miles. Facing Lebanon, with a valley between, stretches the equally long range of Counter-Lebanon, which was formerly connected with Lebanon by a wall. Behind Counter-Lebanon inland is the region of the Ten Cities, and with it the tetrarchies already mentioned, and the whole of the wide expanse of Palestine; while on the coast, below Mount Lebanon, are the river Magoras, the colony of Beyrout called Julia Felix, Lion's Town, the river Lycus, Palaebyblos, the river Adonis, the towns of Jebeil, Batrun, Gazis, Trieris, Calamos; Tarablis, inhabited by people from Tyre, Sidon and Ruad; Ortosa, the river Eleutheros, the towns of Zimyra and Marathos; and facing them the seven-furlong town and island of Ruad, 330 yards from the mainland; the region in which the mountain ranges above mentioned terminate; and beyond some intervening plains Mount Bargylus.
XVIII. At this point Phoenicia ends and Syria begins again. There are the towns of Tartus, Banias, Bolde and Djebeleh; the cape on which the free town of Latakia is situated; and Dipolis, Heraclea, Charadrus and Posidium. Then the cape of Antiochian Syria, and inland the city of Antioch itself, which is a free town and is called 'Antioch Near Daphne,' and which is separated from Daphne by the river Orontes; while on the cape is the free town of Seleukeh, called Pieria. Above Seleukeh is a mountain having the same name as the other one, Casius, which is so extremely lofty that in the fourth quarter of the night it commands a view of the sun rising through the darkness, so presenting to the observer if he merely turns round a view of day and night simultaneously. The winding route to the summit measures 19 miles, the perpendicular height of the mountain being 4 miles. On the coast is the river Orontes, which rises between Lebanon and Counter-Lebanon, near Baalbec. The towns are Rhosos,and behind it the pass called the Gates Mount Taurus,and on the coast the town of of Syria, in between the Rhosos Mountains and Myriandros, and Mount Alma-Dagh, on which is the town of Bomitae. This mountain separates Cilicia from Syria.
XIX. Now let us speak of the places inland. Hollow Syria contains the town of Kulat el Mudik, separated by the river Marsyas from the tetrarchy of the Nosairis; Bambyx, which is also named the Holy City, but which the Syrians call Maboghere the monstrous goddess Atargatis, the Greek name for whom is Derceto, is worshipped; the place called Chalcis on Belus, which gives its name to the region of Chalcidene, a most fertile part of Syria; and then, belonging to Cyrrestica, Cyrrus and the Gazetae, Gindareni and Gabeni; the two tetrarchies called Granucomatitae; the Hemeseni, the Hylatae, the Ituraei tribe and a branch of them called the Baethaemi; the Mariamnitani; the tetrarchy called Mammisea; Paradise, Pagrae, Penelenitae; two places called Seleucia in addition to the place of that name already mentioned, Seleucia on the Euphrates and Seleucia on Belus; and the Tardytenses. The remainder of Syria (excepting the parts that will be spoken of with the Euphrates) contains the Arbethusii, the Berocenses, the Epiphanenses on the Orontes, the Laodiceans on Lebanon, the Leucadii and the Larisaei, besides seventeen tetrarchies divided into kingdoms and bearing barbarian names.
XX. A description of the Euphrates also will come most suitably at this place. It rises in Caranitis, prefecture of Greater Armenia, as has been stated by two of the persons who have seen it nearest to its sourceDomitius Corbulo putting its source in Mount Aga and Licinius Mucianus at the roots of a mountain the name of which he gives as Capotes, twelve miles above Zimara. Near its source the river is called Pyxurates. Its course divides first the Derzene region of Armenia and then the Anaetic from Cappadocia. Dascusa is 75 miles from Zimara; and from Dascusa the river is navigable to Sartona, a distance of 50 miles, to Mehtene in Cappadocia 24 miles, and to Elegea in Armenia 10 miles, receiving the tributary streams Lycus, Arsania and Arsanus. At Elegea it encounters Mount Taurus, which however does not bar its passage although forming an extremely powerful barrier 12 miles broad. The river is called the Omma where it forces its way into the range, and later, where it emerges, the Euphrates; beyond the range also it is full of rocks and has a violent current. From this point it forms the frontier between the district of Arabia called the country of the Orroei on the left and Commagene on the right, its breadth being three cables' length, although even where it forces its passage through the Taurus range it permits of a bridge. At Claudiopolis in Cappadocia it directs its course towards the west; and there for the first time in this combat Mount Taurus carries the stream out of its course, and though conquered and cleft in twain gains the victory in another manner by breaking its career and forcing it to take a southerly direction. Thus this duel of nature becomes a drawn battle, the river reaching the goal of its choice but the mountain preventing it from reaching it by the course of its choice. After passing the Cataracts the stream is again navigable; and 40 miles from this point is Samosata the capital of Commagene.
XXI. Arabia above mentioned contains the towns Edessa, which was formerly called Antiochia, Callirrhoe, named from its spring, and Carrhae, famous for the defeat of Crassus there. Adjoining it is the prefecture of Mesopotamia, which derives its origin from the Assyrians and in which are the towns of Anthemusia and Nicephorium. Then comes the Arab tribe called the Praetavi, whose capital is Singara. Below Samosata, on the Syrian side, the river Marsyas flows into the Euphrates. At Cingilla the territory of Commagene ends and state of the Imenei begins. The towns washed by the river are Epiphania and Antioch (called Antioch on the Euphrates), and also Bridgetown, 72 miles from Samosata, famous as a place where the Euphrates can be crossed, Apamea on the opposite bank being joined to it by a bridge constructed by Seleucus, the founder of both towns. The people contiguous to Mesopotamia are called the Rhoali. In Syria are the town of Europus and the town formerly called Thapsacus and now Amphipolis, and an Arab tribe of Scenitae. So the river flows on to the place named Sara, where it takes a turn to the east and leaves the Syrian desert of Palmyra which stretches right on to the city of Petra and the region called Arabia Felix.
Palmyra is a city famous for its situation, for the richness of its soil and for its agreeable springs; its fields are surrounded on every side by a vast circuit of sand, and it is as it were isolated by Nature from the world, having a destiny of its own between the two mighty empires of Rome and Parthia, and at the first moment of a quarrel between them always attracting the attention of both sides. It is 337 miles distant from Parthian Seleucia, generally known as Seleucia on the Tigris, 203 miles from the nearest part of the Syrian coast, and 27 miles less from Damascus.
Below the Desert of Palmyra is the district of Stelendena, and Holy City, Beroea and Chalcis already mentioned. Beyond Palmyra also a part of this desert is claimed by Hemesa, and a part by Elatium, which is half as far as Damascus is from Petrae. Quite near to Sura is the Parthian town of Philiscum on the Euphrates; from Philiscum to Seleucia is a voyage of ten days, and about the same to Babylon. At a paint 594 miles from Bridgetown, the Euphrates divides round the village of Massice, the left branch passing through Seleucia itself into Mesopotamia and falling into the Tigris as it flows round that city, while the right-hand channel makes for Babylon, the former capital of Chaldea, and passing through the middle of it, and also through the city called Mothris, spreads out into marshes. Like the Nile, the Euphrates also increases in volume at fixed periods with little variation, and floods Mesopotamia when the sun has reached the 20th degree of the Crab; but when the sun has passed through the Lion and entered Virgo it begins to sink, and when the sun is in the 29th degree of Virgo it returns to its channel entirely.
XXII. But let us return to the coast of Syria, adjoining which is Cilicia. Here are the river Diaphanes, Mount Crocodile, the Gates of Mount Alma-Dagh, the rivers Androcus, Pinarus and Lycus, the Gulf of Issos, the town of Issos, likewise Alexandria, the river Chlorus, the free town of Aegaeae, the river Pyramus, the Gates of Cilicia, the towns of Mallos and Magirsos and in the interior Tarsus, the Aleian Plains, the towns of Casyponis, Mopsos (a free town on the river Pyramus), Tyros, Zephyrium and Anchfale; and the rivers Saros and Cydnos, the latter cutting through the free city of Tarsus at a great distance from the sea; the district of Celenderitis with its town, the place Nymphaeum, Soloi of Cilicia now Pompeiopolis, Adana, Cibyra, Pinare, Pedalie, Ale, Selinus, Arsinoe, Iotape, Dorion, and on the coast Corycos, there being a town and harbour and cave of the same name. Then the river Calycadnus, Cape Sarpedon, the towns of Holmoe and Myle, and the promontory and town of Venus, a short distance from which lies the island of Cyprus. On the mainland are the towns of Mysanda, Anemurium and Coracesium and the river Melas, the former boundary of Cilicia. Places worthy of mention in the interior are Anazarbeni (the present Caesarea), Augusta, Castabala, Epiphania (previously called Oeniandos), Eleusa, Iconium, and beyond the river Calycadnus Selencia, called Seleucia Tracheotis, a city moved from the seashore, where it used to be called Hermia. Besides these there are in the interior the rivers Liparis, Bombos and Paradisus, and Mount Imbarus.
XXIII. All the authorities have made Pamphylia join on to Cilicia, overlooking the people of Isauria. The inland towns of Isauria are Isaura, Clibanus and Lalasis; it runs down to the sea over against Anemurium above mentioned. Similarly all who have written on the same subject have ignored the tribe of the Omanades bordering on Isauria, whose town of Omana is in the interior. There are 44 other fortresses lying hidden among rugged valleys.
XXIV. The crest of the mountains is occupied by the Pisidians, formerly called the Solymi, to whom belong the colony of Caesarea also named Antioch and the towns of Oroanda and Sagalessos.
XXV. The Pisidians are bordered by Lycaonia, included in the jurisdiction of the province of Asia, which is also the centre for the peoples of Philomelium Tymbrium, Leucolithium, Pelta and Tyriacum. To that jurisdiction is also assigned a tetrarchy that forms part of Lycaonia in the division adjoining Galatia, consisting of 14 states, the most famous city being Iconium. Notable places belonging to Lycaonia itself are Thebasa on Mount Taurus and Ida on the frontier between Galatia and Cappadocia. At the side of Lycaonia, beyond Pamphylia, come the Milyae, a tribe of Thracian descent; their town is Aryeanda.
XXVI. Pamphylia was previously called Mopsopia. The Pamphylian Sea joins on to the Sea of Cilicia. Pamphylia includes the towns of Side and, on the mountain, Aspendus, Plantanistns and Perga, Cape Leueolla and Mount Sardemisus; its rivers are the Eurymedon flowing past Aspendus and the Catarrhactes on which are Lyrnessus and Oibia and Phaselis, the last place on the coast.
XXVII. Adjoining Pamphylia are the Sea of Lycia and the Lycian tribe, at the point where Mount Taurus coming from the Eastern shores forms the Chelidonian Promontory as a boundary between vast bays. It is itself an immense range, and holds the balance between a countless number of tribes; its right-hand side, where it first rises out of the Indian Ocean, faces north, and its left-hand side faces south; it also stretches westward, and would divide Asia in two at the middle, were it not that in dominating the land it encounters the opposition of seas. It therefore recoils in a northerly direction, and forming a curve starts on an immense route, Nature as it were designedly throwing seas in its way at intervals, here the Phoenician Sea, here the Black Sea, there the Caspian and the Hyrcanian, and opposite to them the Sea of Azov. Consequently owing to their impact the mountain twists about between these obstacles, and nevertheless sinuously emerging victorious reaches the kindred ranges of the Ripaean Mountains. The range is designated by a number of names, receiving new ones at each point in its advance: its first portion is called Imaus, then Emodus, Paropanisus, Circius, Cambades, Pariades, Choatras, Oreges, Oroandes, Niphates, Taurus, and where it overtops even itself, Caucasus, while where it occasionally throws out arms as if trying to invade the sea, it becomes Sarpedon, Coracesius, Cragus, and once again Taurus; and even where it gapes open and makes a passage for mankind, nevertheless claiming for itself an unbroken continuity by giving to these passes the name of Gates: in one place they are called the Armenian Gates, in another the Caspian, and in another the Cilician. Moreover when it has been cut short in its career, retiring also from the sea, it fills itself on tither side with the names of numerous races, on the right-hand side being called the Hyrcanian Mountain and the Caspian, and on the left the Parihedrian, Moschian, Amazonian, Coraxian, Scythian; whereas in Greek it is called throughout the whole of its course the Ceraunian Mountain.
XXVIII. In Lycia therefore after leaving the promontory of Mount Taurus we have the town of Simena, Mount Chimaera, which sends forth flames at night, and the city-state of Hephaestium, which also has a mountain range that is often on fire. The town of Olympus stood here, and there are now the mountain villages of Gagae, Corydalla and Rhodiopolis, and near the sea Limyra with the river of which the Arycandus is a tributary, and Mount Masicitus, the city-state of Andria, Myra, the towns of Aperiae and Antiphellos formerly called Habesos, and in a corner Phellos. Then comes Pyrrha, and also Xanthus 15 miles from the sea, and the river of the same name; and then Patara, previously Pataros, and Sidyma on its mountain, and Cape Cragus. Beyond Cape Cragus is a bay as large as the one before; here are Pinara and Telmessus, the frontier town of Lycia. Lycia formerly contained 70 towns, but now it has 36; of these the most famous besides those mentioned above are Canas, Candyba the site of the famous grove of Eunia, Podalia, Choma past which flows the Aedesa, Cyaneae, Ascandiandalis, Amelas, Noscopium, Tlos, Telandrus. It includes also in its interior Cabalia, with its three cities, Oenianda, Balbura and Bubon. After Telmessus begins the Asiatic or Carpathian Sea, and Asia properly so called. Agrippa divided this country into two parts. One of these he enclosed on the east by Phrygia and Lyeaonia, on the west by the Aegean Sea, on the south by the Egyptian Sea, and on the north by Paphlagonia; the length of this part he made 470 miles and the breadth 320 miles. The other half he bounded on the east by Lesser Armenia, on the west by Phrygia, Lycaonia and Pamphylia, on the north by the Province of Pontus and on the south by the Pamphylian Sea, making it 575 miles long and 325 miles broad.
XXIX. On the adjoining coast is Caria and then Ionia and beyond it Aeolis. Caria entirely surrounds Doris, encircling it right down to the sea on both sides. In Caria are Cape Pedalium and the river Glaucus, with its tributary the Telmedius, the towns of Daedala and Crya, the latter a settlement of refugees, the river Axon, and the town of Calynda. The river Indus, rising in the mountains of the Cibyratae, receives as tributaries 60 streams that are constantly flowing and more than 100 mountain torrents. There is the free town of Caunos, and then Pyrnos, Port Cressa, from which the island of Rhodes is 20 miles distant, the place Loryma, the towns of Tisanusa, Paridon and Larymna, Thymnias Bay, Cape Aphrodisias, the town of Hydas, Schoenus Bay, and the district of Bubassus; there was formerly a town Acanthus, otherwise named Dulopolis. On a promontory stand the free city of Cnidus, Triopia, and then Pegusa, also called Stadia. After Pegusa begins Doris.
But before we go on it may be as well to describe the back parts of Caria and the jurisdictions of the interior. One of these is called Cibyratica; the actual town of Cibyra belongs to Phrygia, and is the centre for 25 city-states, the most famous being the city of Laodicea. Laodicea is on the river Lycus, its sides being washed by the Asopus and the Caprus; its original name was the City of Zeus, and it was afterwards called Rhoas. The rest of the peoples belonging to the same jurisdiction whom it may not be amiss to mention are the Hydrelitae, Themisones and Hierapolitae. Another centre has received its name from Synnas; it is the centre for the Lycaones, Appiani, Corpeni, Dorylaei, Midaei, Julienses and 15 other peoples of no note. A third jurisdiction centres at Apamea, previously called Celaenae, and then Cybotos; Apamea is situated at the foot of Mount Signia, with the rivers Marsyas, Obrima and Orba, tributaries of the Maeander, flowing round it; the Marsyas here emerges from underground, and buries itself again a little later. Aulocrene is the place where Marsyas had a contest in flute-playing with Apollo: it is the name given to a gorge 10 miles from Apamea, on the way to Phrygia. Out of this jurisdiction it would be proper to name the Metropolitae, Dionysopohtae, Euphorbeni, Acmonenses, Pelteni and Silbiani; and there are nine remaining tribes of no note.
On the Gulf of Doris are Leucopolis, Hamaxitos, Eleus, Etene; then there are the Carian towns of Pitaium, Eutane and Halicarnassus. To the jurisdiction of Halicarnassus six towns were assigned by Alexander the Great, Theangela, Side, Medmassa, Uranium, Pedasum and Telmisum; the last is situated between two bays, those of Ceramus and Iasus. Next we come to Myndus and the former site of Old Myndus, Nariandos, Neapolis, Caryanda, the free town Termera, Bargylia and Iasus, the town that gives its name to the bay. Caria is especially distinguished for the famous list of places in its interior, for here are Mylasa, a free town, and Antiochia which occupies the sites of the former towns, of Symmaethus and Cranaos; it is now surrounded by the rivers Maeander and Orsinus. This region formerly also contained Maeandropolis; in it are Eumema on the river Cludrus, the river Glaueus, the town of Lysias, and Orthosia, the district of Berecynthus, Nysa, and Trails also called Euanthia and Seleucia and Antiochia. It is washed by the river Eudon and the Thebais flows through it; some record that a race of Pygmies formerly lived in it. There are also Thydonos, Pyrrha, Eurome, Heraclea, Amyzon, the free town of Alabanda which has given its name to this jurisdiction, the free town of Stratonicea, Hynidos, Ceramus, Troezene and Phorontis. At a greater distance but resorting to the same centre for jurisdiction are the Orthronienses, Alidienses, Euhippini, Xystiani, Hydissenses, Apolloniatae, Trapezopolitae and Aphrodisienses, a free people. Besides these places there are Coscinus and Harpasa, the latter on the river Harpasus, which also passes the site of the former town of Trallicon.
XXX. Lydia, bathed by the ever-returning sinuosities of the river Maeander, extends above Ionia; it is bordered by Phrygia to the east and Mysia to the north, and with its southern portion it embraces Caria. It was previously called Maeonria. It is specially famous for the city of Sardis, situated on the vine-clad side of Mount Tmolus, the former name of which was Timolus. From Tmolus flows the Pactolus, also called the Chrysorrhoas, and the source of the Tarnus; and the city-state of Sardis itself, which is famous for the Gygaean Lake, used to be called Hyde by the people of Maeonia. This jurisdiction is now called the district of Sardis, and besides the people before-named it is the centre for the Macedonian Cadieni, the Philadelphini, and the Maeonii themselves who are situated on the river Cogamus at the foot of Mount Tmolus, the Tripolltani, also called Antoniopolitaetheir territory is washed by the river Maeanderthe Apollonihieritae, the Mysotimolitae and other people of no note.
XXXI. At the Gulf of Iasus Ionia begins. It has a winding coast, with a rather large number of bays. The first is the Royal Bay, then the cape and town of Posideum, and the shrine once called the oracle of the Branchidae, now that of Didymaean Apollo, 4 miles from the coast; and 24 miles from it. Miletus, the capital of Ionia, which formerly bore the names of Lelegeis and Pityusa and Anactoria, the mother of over 90 cities scattered over all the seas; nor must she be robbed of her claim to Cadmus as her citizen, the author who originated composition in prose. From the mountain lake of Aulocrene rises the river Maeander, which washes a large number of cities and is replenished by frequent tributaries; its windings are so tortuous that it is often believed to turn and flow backwards. It first wanders through the region of Apamea, afterwards that of Eumenia, and then the plains of Hyrgale, and finally the country of Caria, its tranquil waters irrigating all these regions with mud of a most fertilising quality; and it glides gently into the sea a mile and a quarter from Miletus. Next comes Mount Latmus, the towns of Heraclea belonging to the mountain so designated in the Carian dialect, Myus which is recorded to have been first founded by Ionian emigrants from Athens, Naulochum, and Priene. At the part of the coast called Troglea is the river Gessus. The district is sacred with all Ionians, and is consequently called Panionia. Next there was formerly a town founded by refugeesas its name Phygela indicatesand another called Marathesium. Above these places is Magnesia, distinguished by the name of Magnesia on Maeander, an offshoot from Magnesia in Thessaly; it is 15 miles from Ephesus, and 3 miles more from Tralles. It previously had the names of Thessaloche and Androlitia. Being situated on the coast it has appropriated the Derasides islands from the sea. Inland also is Thyatira, washed by the Lycus; once it was called Pelopian or Euhippian Thyatira.
On the coast again is Matium, and Ephesus built by the Amazons, previously designated by many namesthat of Alope at the time of the Trojan War, later Ortygia and Amorge; it was also called Smyrna Trachia and Haemonion and Ptelea. It is built on the slope of Mount Pion, and is watered by the Cayster, which rises in the Cilbian range and brings down the waters of many streams, and also drains the Pegasaean Marsh, an overflow of the river Phyrites. From these comes a quantity of mud which advances the coastline and has now joined The island of Syrie on to the mainland by the flats interposed. In the city of Ephesus is the spring called Callippia, and a temple of Diana surrounded by two streams, both called Selinus, coming from different directions.
After leaving Ephesus there is another Matium, which belongs to Colophon, and Colophon itself lying more inland, on the river Halesus. Then the temple of Clarian Apollo, Lebedosformerly there was also the town of NotiumCape Cyrenaeum, and Mount Mimas which projects 150 miles into the sea and slopes down into the plains adjoining. It was here that Alexander the Great had given orders for a canal 7 miles long to be cut across the level ground in question so as to join the two bays and to make an island of Erythrae with Mimas. Near Erythrae were formerly the towns of Pteleon, Hulos and Dorion, and there is now the river Aleon, Corynaeum the promontory of Mimas, Clazomenae, and Parthenie and Hippi, which were called the Chytrophoria when they were islands; these Alexander also ordered to be joined to the mainland by a causeway a quarter of a mile in length. Places in the interior that exist no longer were Daphnus and Hermesta and Sipylum previously called Tantalis, the capital of Maeonia, situated where there is now the marsh named Sale; Archaeopolis which replaced Sipylus has also perished, and later Colpe which replaced Archaeopolis and Libade which replaced Colpe.
On returning thence to the coast, at a distance of 12 miles we come to Smyrna, founded by an Amazon and restored by Alexander; it is refreshed by the river Meles which rises not far off. The mast famous mountains of Asia mostly lie in this district: Mastusia behind Smyrna and Termes, joining on to the roots of Olympus, ends, and is followed by Mount Draco, Draco by Tmolus, Tmolus by Cadmus, and that range by Taurus. After Smyrna the river Hermus forms level plains to which it gives its name. It rises at the Phrygian city-state of Dorylaus, and has many tributary rivers, among them the Phryx which forms the frontier between the race to which it gives its name and Caria, and the Hyllus and the Gryos, themselves also augmented by the rivers of Phrygia, Mysia and Lydia. At the mouth of the Hennus there was once the town of Temnos, and now at the end of the bay are the rocks called the Ants, the town of Leucae on a headland that was formerly an island, and Phocaea, the frontier town of Ionia. The jurisdiction of Smyrna is also the centre resorted to by a large part of Aeolia which will now be described, and also by the Macedonians called Hyrcani and the Magnesians from Sipylus. But Ephesus, the other great luminary of Asia, is the centre for the Caesarienses, Metropolitae, Upper and Lower Cilbiani, Mysomacedones, Mastaurenses, Briullitae, Hypaepeni and Dioshieritae.
XXXII. Next is Aeolis, once called Mysia, and Troas lying on the coast of the Dardanelles. Here after passing Phocaea we come to Port Ascanius, and then to the place where once stood Larisa and where now are Cyme, Myrina which styles itself Sebastopolis, and inland Aegaeae, Itale, Posidea, New Wall, Temnos. On the coast are the river Titanus and the city-state named after it, and also once there was Grynia, now only a harbour, formerly an island that had been joined to the mainland; the town of Elaea and the river Caicus coming from Mysia; the town of Pitane; the river Canaitis. Canae has disappeared, as have Lysimachea, Atarnea, Carene, Cisthene, Cilla, Cocyhum, Thebe, Astyre, Chrysa, Palaescepsis, Gergith, Neandros; but there still exist the city-state of Perperene, the district of Heracleotes, the town of Coryphas, the rivers Grylios and Ollius, the district of Aphrodisias which was formerly Politice Orgas, the district of Scepsis, and the river Evenus, on the banks of which stood Lyrnesus and Miletos, both now in ruins. In this region is Mount Ida, and on the coast Adramytteos, formerly called Pedasus, which has given its name to the bay and to the jurisdiction, and the rivers Astron, Cormalos, Crianos, Alabastros, and Holy River coming from Mount Ida; inland are Mount Gargara and the town of the same name. On the coast again are Antandros previously called Edonis, then Cimmeris, and Assos, which is the same as Apollonia; and formerly there was also the town of Palamedium. Then Cape Lectum which marks the frontier between the Aeolid and the Troad; also there was once the city-state of Polymedia, and Chrysa and another Larisa: the temple of Znintheus still stands. Colone inland has disappeared. Adramytteos is resorted to for legal business by the people of Apollonia on the river Rhyndaeus, the Eresi, Miletopolitae, Poemaneni, Macedonian Asculacae, Polichnaei, Pionitae, the Cilician Mandacandeni, the Mysian peoples known as the Abretteni and the Hellespontii, and others of no note.
XXXIII. The first place in the Troad is Hamaxitus, then come Cebrenia, and then Troas itself, formerly called Antigonia and now Alexandria, a Roman colony; the town of Nee; the navigable river Scamander; and on a promontory was formerly the town of Sigeum. Then the Harbour of the Achaeans, into which flows the Xanthus united with the Simois, and the Palaescamander, which previously forms a marsh. Of the rest of the places celebrated in Homer, Rhesus, Heptaporus, Caresus, Rhodius, no traces remain; and the Granicus flows by a different route into the Sea of Marmara. However there is even now the small city-state of Scamander, and 4 miles from its harbour Ilium, a town exempt from tribute, the scene of all the famous story. Outside the bay, are the Rhoetean coasts, occupied by the towns of Rhoeteum, Dardanium and Arisbe. Formerly there was also the town of Achilleon, founded near to the tomb of Achilles by the people of Mitylene and afterwards rebuilt by the Athenians, where the fleet of Achilles was stationed at Sigeum; and also there once was Aeantion, founded by the Rhodians on the other horn of the bay, which is the place where Ajax was buried, at a distance of 3 miles from Sigeum, and from the actual place where his fleet was stationed. Inland behind Aeolis and a part of the Troad is the district called Teuthrania, inhabited in ancient times by the Mysiansthis is where the river Caicus already mentioned rises; Teuthrania was in a considerable independent clan, even when the whole district bore the name of Mysia. Places in Teuthrania are Pioniae, Andera, Idale, Stabulum, Conisium, Teium, Balce, Tiare, Teuthranie, Sarnaca, Haliseme, Lycide, Parthenium, Cambre, Oxyopiun, Lygdamum, Apollonia, and by far the most famous place in Asia, Pergamum, which is traversed by the river Selinus and bordered by the river Cetius, flowing down from Mount Pindasus. Not far away is Elaea, which we mentioned, on the coast. The jurisdiction of this district is called the Pergamene, and it is the centre for the Thyatireni, Mossyni, Mygdones, Bregmeni, Hierocometae, Perpereni, Tiareni, Hierolo-phienses, Hermocapelitae, Attalenses, Panteenses, Apollonidienses and other city-states of no note. At a distance of 8 miles from Rhoeteum is the small town of Dardanium. Eighteen miles from it is Cape Trapeza, from which point the Dardanelles start. A list of Asiatic races now extinct given by Eratosthenes includes the Solymi, Leleges, Bebryces, Colycantii and Tripsedi; Isidore gives the Arienei and the Capreatae at the place where Apamea stands, founded by King Seleucus, between Cilicia, Cappadocia, Cataonia and Armenia. Apamea was originally called Damea because it had subdued some extremely fierce tribes.
XXXIV. Of the islands off the coast of Asia the first is at the Canopic mouth of the Nile, and takes its name, it is said, from Menelaus's helmsman Canopus. The second, called Pharos, joined by a bridge to Alexandria, was settled by the Dictator Caesar; it was formerly a day's sail from Egypt, but now it carries a lighthouse to direct the course of vessels at night; for owing to the treacherous shoals Alexandria can be reached by only three channels of the sea, those of Steganus, Posideum and Taurus. Then in the Phoenician Sea off Joppa lies Paria, the whole of which is a townit is said to have been the place where Andromeda was exposed to the monsterand Arados, mentioned already; between which and the mainland, according to Mucianus, fresh water is brought up from a spring at the bottom of the sea, which is 75 feet deep, by means of a leather pipe.
XXXV. The Pampliylian Sea contains some islands of no note. The Cilician Sea has five of considerable size, among them Cyprus, which lies east and west off the coasts of Cilicia and Syria; it was formerly the seat of nine kingdoms. Its circumference is given by Timosthenes as measuring 427 miles and by Isidore as 375 ruiles. Its length between the two capes of Clidae and Acamas, the latter at its west end, is given by Artemidorus as 1624 and by Timosthenes as 200 miles. According to Philonides it was previously called Acamantis, according to Xenagoras Cerastis and Aspelia and Amathusia and Macada, and according to Astynomus Cryptos and Colinias. It contains 15 towns, New and Old Paphos, Curias, Citium, Corinaeum, Salamis, Amathus, Lapethos, Soloe, Tamasos, Epidaurus, Chytri, Arsinoe, Carpasium and Golgoe; and formerly there were also Cinyria, Mareum and Idalium. It is 50 miles from Anemurius in Cilicia; the sea lying between is called the Cilician Aulon. In the same neighbourhood is the island of Eleusa, and the four Clides off the cape facing Syria, and again off a second headland Stiria, and towards New Faphos Hiera and Cepia, and towards Salamis the Salaminiae. In the Lycian Sea are Illyris, Telendos, Attelebussa, the three barren Cyprian islands and Dionysia, formerly called Charaeta; then opposite to Cape Taurus, the Chelidonian islands, the same in number, fraught with disaster for passing vessels. Next to these the Pactyae with the town of Leucolla, Lasia, Nymphais, Maeris and Megista, the city-state on which has ceased to exist; and then a number of islands of no note. But opposite to Chimaera are Dolichiste, Choerogylion, Crambusa, Rhoge, the eight called the Xenagora islands, the two called Daedaleon, and the three called Cryeon; Strongyle, and opposite Sidyma Antiochi and towards the river Glaucus Lagussa, Macris, Didymae, Helbo, Scope, Aspis and Telandria (the town on which has ceased to exist) and nearest to Mount Caunus Rhodussa.
XXXVI. But the most beautiful is the free island of Rhodes, which measures 125, or, if we prefer to believe Isidore, 103 miles round, and which contains the cities of Lindus, Camirus and Ialysus, and now that of Rhodes. Its distance from Alexandria in Egypt is 583 miles according to Isidore, 468 according to Eratosthenes, 500 according to Mucianus; and it is 176 miles from Cyprus. It was previously called Ophiussa, Asteria, Aethria, Trinacrie, Corymbia, Poeeessa, Atabyria after its king, and subsequently Macaria and Oloessa. Islands belonging to the Rhodians are Carpathus which has given its name to the Carpathian Sea, Casos, formerly Achne, Nisyros, previously called Porphyris, 15 miles distant from Cnidus, and in the same neighbourhood lying between Rhodes and Cnidus, Syrne. Syrne measures 37 miles in circumference; it provides the welcome of eight harbours. Other islands in the neighbourhood of Rhodes besides those mentioned are Cyclopis, Teganon, Cordylusa, the four Diabatae, Hymos, Chalce with its town, Teutlusa, Narthecusa, Dimastos, Progne, and in the direction of Cnidus Cisserusa, Therionarcia, Calydne with the three towns of Notium, Nisyrus and Mendeterus, and the town of Ceramus on Arconnesus. Off the coast of Caria are the Argiae, a group of twenty islands, and Hyetusa, Lepsia and Leros. But the most famous island in this gulf is that of Cos, which is 15 miles distant from Halicarnassus and 100 miles in circumference; it is generally believed to have been called Merope, but according to Staphylus its former name was Cea and according to Dionysius Meropis and later Nymphaea. On Cos is Mount Prion; and the island of Nisyros, formerly called Porphyris, is believed to have been severed from Cos. Next to Cos we come to Caryanda with its town; and not far from Halicarnassus, Pidossus. In the Ceramic Bay are Priaponesus, Hipponesus, Pserema, Lampsa, Aemyndus, Passala, Crusa, Pyrrhaeciusa, Sepiusa, Melano, and at only a small distance from the mainland the island named Cinaedopolis, because certain persons of disgraceful character were deposited there by Alexander the Great.
XXXVII. Off the coast of Ionia are Aegeae and Corseae, and Icarus previously mentioned, Lade, formerly called Late, and among some islands of no importance the two Camelitae near Miletus, the three Trogiliae near Mycala, Phulios, Argennos, Sandalios, and the free island of Samos, which measures 87, or according to Isidore, 100 miles in circumference. Aristotle records that it was first called Parthenia, afterwards Dryusa, and then Anthemusa; Aristocritus adds the names Melamphyllus, and later Cyparissia, others Parthenoarrhusa and Stephane. Samos contains the rivers Imbrasus, Chesius and Hibiethes, the springs Gigartho and Leucothea, and Mount Cercetius. Adjacent islands are Ilhypara, Nymphaea and Achillea.
XXXVIII. Ninety-four miles from Samos is the equally famous free island of Chios with its town. This island Ephorus designates by its ancient name of Aethalia, while Metrodorus and Cleobulus call it Chia after the nymph Chione, though some say that name is derived from the Greek word for snow. Other names for it are Macris and Pityusa. It contains Mount Pelinnaeus, in which Chian marble is quarried. Its circumference amounts to 125 miles, according to old accounts, but Isidore adds 9 miles to that figure. It is situated between Samos and Lesbos and directly opposite to Erythrae. Neighbouring islands are Tellusa, by other writers called Daphnusa, Oenusa, Elaphitis, Euryanassa and Arginusa with its town. These islands bring us to the neighbourhood of Ephesus, where are also those called the Islands of Pisistratus, Anthinae, Myonnesus, Diarrheusa (the towns on both these islands have disappeared), Pordoselene with its town, Cerciae, Halone, Commone, Illetia, Lepria, Aethre, Sphaeria, Procusae, Bolbulae, Pheate, Priapos, Syce, Melane, Aenare, Sidusa, Pele, Drymusa, Anhydros, Scopclos, Sycussa, Marathusa, Psile, Perirrheusa, and many others of no note. Out at sea is the famous island of Teos with its town, 71 miles from Chios and the same distance from Erythrae. Near Smyrna are the Peristerides, Carteria, Alopece, Elaeusa, Bacchina, Pystira, Crommyonnesos, Megale. Off the Troad are Ascaniae, the three Plateae, then Larniae, the two Plitaniae, Plate, Scopelos, Getone, Arthedon, Coele, Lagusae, Didymae.
XXXIX. The most famous island is Lesbos, 65 miles from Chios; it was formerly called Himerte and Lasia, Pelasgia, Aegira, Aethiope and Macaria. It had nine noteworthy towns: of these Pyrrha has been swallowed up by the sea, Arisbe destroyed by earthquake and Antissa absorbed by Methymna, which itself lies near nine cities of Asia, along a coastline of 37 miles. Agamede and Hiera have also ceased to exist; but there remain Eresos, Pyrrhaa and the free city of Mytilene, which has been powerful for 1500 years. The circuit of the whole island measures 168 miles according to Isidore and 195 miles according to old authorities. The mountains on Lesbos are Lepetyrnnus, Ordymnus, Macistus, Creone and Olympus. It is 7 miles distant from the nearest point of the mainland. Adjacent islands are Sandalium and the five Leucae, which include Cydonea with its hot spring; four miles from Aege are the Arginussae and then Phellusa and Pedna. Outside the Dardanelles and opposite the coast of Sigeum lies Tenedos, also called Leucophrys and Phoenice and Lyrnesos; it is 56 miles from Lesbos and 12 from Sigeum.
XL. Here the current of the Dardanelles becomes stronger, and comes into collision with the sea, undermining the bar with its eddies until it separates Asia from Europe. We have already given the name of the promontory here as Trapeza. Ten miles from it is the town of Abydus, where the strait is only 7 furlongs wide; then the town of Percote, and Lampsacus formerly called Pityusa, the colony of Parium, called by Homer Adrastia, the town of Priapos, the river Aesepus, Zelia, and the Sea of Mannara (the name given to the Straits where the sea widens out), the river Oranicus and the harbour of Artace, where there once was a town. Beyond is the island which Alexander joined to the mainland and on which is the Milesian town of Cyzicus, formerly called Arctonnesus and Dolionis and Didymis; above it is Mount Didymus. Then the towns of Placia, Ariace and Scylace, and in their rear the mountain called the Mysian Olympus and the city-state of Olympena. The rivers are the Horisius and the Rhyndacus, formerly called the Lycus: this rises in the marsh of Artynia near Miletopolis, and into it flow the Macestos and several other rivers; it forms the boundary between Asia and Bithynia. This district was formerly named Cronia, then Thessalis, and then Malianda and Strymonis; its inhabitants were called by Homer the Halizones, as the tribe is 'girdled by the sea.' It once had a vast city named Atussa, and it now includes twelve city-states, among them Gordiu Come otherwise called Juliopolis, and on the coast Dascylos. Then there is the river Gelbes, and inland the town of Helgas, also called Germanicopolis, another name for it being Boos Coete; as also Apamea now known as Myrlea of the Colophonii; and the river Echeleos which in early times was the frontier of the Troad, and at which Mysia began. Afterwards the bay in which are the river Ascanius, the town of Bryalion, the rivers Hylas and Cios, with the town also named Cios, formerly a trading station for the neighbouring district of Phrygia, founded by the people of Miletus but on a site formerly known as Ascania of Phrygia: consequently this is as suitable a place as any other to speak about Phrygia.
XLI. Phrygia lies behind Troas and the peoples already mentioned between Cape Lectum and the river Echeleus. On its northern side it marches with Galatia, on its southern side with Lycaonia, Pisidia and Mygdonia, and on the east it extends to Cappadocia. Its most famous towns beside the ones already mentioned are Aneyra, Andria, Celaenae, Cobossae, Carina, Cotyaion, Ceraine, Coniuni and Midaiuni. Some authorities say that the Mysians, Phrygians and Bithynians take their names from three parties of immigrants who crossed over from Europe, the Moesi, Brygi and Thyni.
XLII. At the same time it seems proper to speak also about Galatia, which lies above Phrygia and holds lands that for the most part were taken from that country, as was Gordium, its former capital. This district is occupied by Gallic settlers called the Tolistobogii, Voturi and Ambitouti, and those occupying the Maeonian and Paphlagonian region are the Trogmi. Along the north and east of Galatia stretches Cappadocia, the most fertile part of which has been occupied by the Tectosages and Toutobodiaci. These are the races that inhabit the country; the peoples and tetrarchies into which they are divided number 195 in all. The towns are Ancyra belonging to the Tectosages, Tavium to the Trogini and Pisinus to the Tolistobogii. Noteworthy people besides these are the Actalenses, Alassenses, Comenses, Didienses, Hierorenses, Lystreni, Neapolitani, Oeandenses, Seleucenses, Sebasteni, Timoniacenses and Thebaseni. Galatia also touches on Cabalia in Pamphylia and the Milyae about Bans; also on Cyllanicum and the district of Oroanda in Pisidia, and Obizene which is part of Lycaonia. The rivers in it beside those already mentioned are the Sakarya and the Gallus; from the latter the priests of the Mother of the Gods take their name.
XLIII. Now we give the remainder of the places on this coast. Inland from Cios, in Bithynia, is Prusa, at the foot of Olympus, founded by Hannibalfrom there to Nicaea is 25 miles, Lake Ascanias coming in betweenthen, on the innermost bay of the lake, Nicaea, which was formerly called Olbia, and Prusias; then a second place also named Prusias at the foot of Mount Hypius. Places that exist no longer are Pythopolis, Parthenopolis and Coryphanta. On the coast are the rivers Aesius, Bryazon, Plataneus, Areus, Aesyrus and Geodos, another name for which is Chrysorrhoas, and the headland on which formerly the town of Megarice stood: owing to which the gulf used to have the name of Craspedites, because that town was a sort of tassel on its fringe. There was also formerly the town of Astacus, owing to which the gulf in question was also called Astacus Bay. Also there was a town called Libyssa at the place where there is now only the tomb of Hannibal; and also at the far extremity of the bay stands the famous city of Bithynian Nicomedia. Cape Leucatas which shuts in Astacus Bay is 37 miles from Nicomedia; and then the coastlines come together again, forming narrows that extend as far as the Straits of Constantinople. On these narrows are the free city of Calchadon, previously called Procerastis, 62 miles from Nicodemia, then Colpusa, afterwards Bhnd Men's Towna name implying that its founders did not know how to choose a site, Byzantium a site so much more attractive in every respect being less than a mile away! Inland in Bithynia are the colony of Apamea, Agrippenses, Juliopolitae and Bithynion. The rivers are the Syriurn, Laphias, Pharnacias, Alces, Serinis, Lilaeus, Scopius and Hieros, which forms the frontier between Bithynia and Galatia. Beyond Calchadon formerly stood Chrysopolis. Then Nicopohs, from which comes the name still given to the bay containing Port of Amycus; then Cape Naulochum, Hestiae and Neptune's Temple. Then come the Straits of Constantinople, the channel half a mile wide which again separates Asia from Europe, 12 miles from Calchadon. Then the mouth of the Straits, 8 miles wide, where once stood the town of Spiropolis. The whole of the coast is inhabited by the Thynians and the interior by the Bithynians. This is the end of Asia and of the 282 peoples who can be counted between the frontier of Lycia and this point. The length of the Dardanelles and the Sea of Marmara to the Straits of Constantinople we stated above as 239 miles, and the distance from Calchadon to Sigeum is given by Isidore as 322 miles.
XLIV. The islands in the Marmara are, Elaphonnesus off Cyzicus, from which is obtained the Cyzicus marbleit is also called Neuris and Proconnesusand then Ophiussa, Acanthus, Phoebe, Scopelos, Porphyrione, Halone with its town, Delphacie, Polydora and Artacaeon with its town. Also off Nicomedia is Demonnesus, and also beyond Heraclea and off Bithynia Thynias, the native name of which is Bithynia. There is also Antiochia, and off the mouth of the Rhyndacus Besbicos, an island 18 miles in circumference; and also Elaea and the two Rhodusae, Erebinthote, Megale, Chalcitis and Pityodes.