Chapter VIII: Book VI (3)

Below the Eulæus is Elymais,[589] upon the coast adjoining to Persis, and extending from the river Orates[590] to Charax, a distance of two hundred and forty miles. Its towns are Seleucia[591] and Socrate,[592] upon Mount Casyrus. The shore which lies in front of this district is, as we have already stated, rendered inaccessible by mud,[593] the rivers Brixa and Ortacea bringing down vast quantities of slime from the interior,—Elymais itself being so marshy that it is impossible to reach Persis that way, unless by going completely round: it is also greatly infested with serpents, which are brought down by the waters of these rivers. That part of it which is the most inaccessible of all, bears the name of Characene, from Charax,[594] the frontier city of the kingdoms of Arabia. Of this place we will now make mention, after first stating the opinions of M. Agrippa in relation to this subject. That author informs us that Media, Parthia, and Persis, are bounded on the east by the Indus, on the west by the Tigris, on the north by Taurus and Caucasus, and on the south by the Red Sea; that the length of these countries is thirteen hundred and twenty miles, and the breadth eight hundred and forty; and that, in addition to these, there is Mesopotamia, which, taken by itself, is bounded on the east by the Tigris, on the west by the Euphrates, on the north by the chain of Taurus, and on the south by the Persian Sea, being eight hundred miles in length, and three hundred and sixty in breadth.

Charax is a city situate at the furthest extremity of the Arabian Gulf, at which begins the more prominent portion of Arabia Felix:[595] it is built on an artificial elevation, having the Tigris on the right, and the Eulæus on the left, and lies on a piece of ground three miles in extent, just between the confluence of those streams. It was first founded by Alexander the Great, with colonists from the royal city of Durine, which was then destroyed, and such of his soldiers as were invalided and left behind. By his order it was to be called Alexandria, and a borough called Pella, from his native place, was to be peopled solely by Macedonians; the city, however, was destroyed by inundations of the rivers. Antiochus,[596] the fifth king of Syria, afterwards rebuilt this place and called it by his own name; and on its being again destroyed, Pasines, the son of Saggonadacus, and king of the neighbouring Arabians, whom Juba has incorrectly described as a satrap of king Antiochus, restored it, and raised embankments for its protection, calling it after himself. These embankments extended in length a distance of nearly three miles, in breadth a little less. It stood at first at a distance of ten stadia from the shore, and even had a harbour[597] of its own. But according to Juba, it is fifty miles from the sea; and at the present day, the ambassadors from Arabia, and our own merchants who have visited the place, say that it stands at a distance of one hundred and twenty miles from the sea-shore. Indeed, in no part of the world have alluvial deposits been formed more rapidly by the rivers, and to a greater extent than here; and it is only a matter of surprise that the tides, which run to a considerable distance beyond this city, do not carry them back again. At this place was born Dionysius,[598] the most recent author of a description of the world; he was sent by the late emperor Augustus to gather all necessary information in the East, when his eldest[599] son was about to set out for Armenia to take the command against the Parthians and Arabians.

The fact has not escaped me, nor indeed have I forgotten, that at the beginning of this work[600] I have remarked that each author appeared to be most accurate in the description of his own country; still, while I am speaking of these parts of the world, I prefer to follow the discoveries made by the Roman arms, and the description given by king Juba, in his work dedicated to Caius Cæsar above-mentioned, on the subject of the same expedition against Arabia.

CHAP. 32. (28.)—ARABIA.

Arabia, inferior to no country throughout the whole world, is of immense extent, running downwards, as we have previously stated,[601] from Mount Amanus, over against Cilicia and Commagene; many of the Arabian nations having been removed to those countries by Tigranes the Great,[602] while others again have migrated of their own accord to the shores of our sea[603] and the coast of Egypt, as we have already mentioned.[604] The Nubei[605] have even penetrated as far as Mount Libanus in the middle of Syria; in their turn they are bounded by the Ramisi, these by the Taranei, and these again by the Patami.

As for Arabia itself, it is a peninsula, running out between the Red and the Persian Seas; and it is by a kind of design, apparently on the part of nature, that it is surrounded by the sea in such a manner as to resemble very much the form and size[606] of Italy, there being no difference either in the climate of the two countries, as they lie in the same latitudes.[607] This, too, renders it equally fertile with the countries of Italy. We have already mentioned[608] its peoples, which extend from our sea as far as the deserts of Palmyrene, and we shall now proceed to a description of the remainder. The Scenitæ, as we have already stated,[609] border upon the Nomades and the tribes that ravage the territories of Chaldæa, being themselves of wandering habits, and receiving their name from the tents which constitute their dwellings; these are made of goats’ hair, and they pitch them wherever they please. Next after them are the Nabatæi, who have a city called Petra,[610] which lies in a deep valley, somewhat less than two miles in width, and surrounded by inaccessible mountains, between which a river flows: it is distant from the city of Gaza, on our shores, six hundred miles, and from the Persian Gulf one hundred and thirty-five. At this place two roads meet, the one leading from Syria to Palmyra, and the other from Gaza. On leaving Petra we come to the Omani,[611] who dwell as far as Charax, with their once famous cities which were built by Semiramis, Besannisa and Soractia by name; at the present day they are wildernesses. We next come to a city situate on the banks of the Pasitigris, Fora by name, and subject to the king of Charax: to this place people resort on their road from Petra, and sail thence to Charax, twelve miles distant, with the tide. If you are proceeding by water from the Parthian territories, you come to a village known as Teredon; and below the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris, you have the Chaldæi dwelling on the left side of the river, and the Nomadic tribes of the Scenitæ on the right. Some writers also make mention of two other cities situate at long intervals, as you sail along the Tigris, Barbatia, and then Thumata, distant from Petra, they say, ten days’ sail; our merchants report that these places are subject to the king of Charax. The same writers also state, that Apamea[612] is situate where the overflow of the Euphrates unites with the Tigris; and that when the Parthians meditate an incursion, the inhabitants dam up the river by embankments, and so inundate their country.

We will now proceed to describe the coast after leaving Charax,[613] which was first explored by order of king Epiphanes. We first come to the place where the mouth of the Euphrates formerly existed, the river Salsus,[614] and the Promontory of Chaldone,[615] from which spot, the sea along the coast, for an extent of fifty miles,[616] bears more the aspect of a series of whirlpools than of ordinary sea; the river Achenus, and then a desert tract for a space of one hundred miles, until we come to the island of Ichara; the gulf of Capeus, on the shores of which dwell the Gaulopes and the Chateni, and then the gulf of Gerra.[617] Here we find the city of Gerra, five miles in circumference, with towers built of square blocks of salt. Fifty miles from the coast, lying in the interior, is the region of Attene, and opposite to Gerra is the island of Tylos,[618] as many miles distant from the shore; it is famous for the vast number of its pearls, and has a town of the same name; in its vicinity there is a smaller island,[619] distant from a promontory on the larger one twelve miles and a half. They say that beyond this large islands may be seen, upon which no one has ever landed: the circumference of the smaller island is one hundred and twelve miles and a half, and it is more than that distance from the Persian coast, being accessible by only one narrow channel. We then come to the island of Asclie, and the nations of the Nocheti, the Zurazi, the Borgodi, the Catharrei, the Nomades, and then the river Cynos.[620] Beyond this, the navigation is impracticable on that side,[621] according to Juba, on account of the rocks; and he has omitted all mention of Batrasave,[622] a town of the Omani, and of the city of Omana,[623] which former writers have made out to be a famous port of Carmania;[624] as also of Homna and Attana, towns which at the present day, our merchants say, are by far the most famous ones in the Persian Sea. Passing the river Cynos,[625] there is a mountain, Juba says, that bears marks of the action of fire; also, the nation of the Epimaranitæ, then a nation of Ichthyophagi, and then a desert island, and the nation of the Bathymi. We then come to the Eblitæan Mountains, the island of Omoënus, the port of Mochorbe, the islands of Etaxalos and Inchobrice, and the nation of the Cadæi. There are many islands also that have no name, but the better known ones are Isura, Rhinnea, and another still nearer the shore, upon which there are some stone pillars with an inscription in unknown characters. There are also the port of Gobœa, the desert islands called Bragæ, the nation of the Thaludæi, the region of Dabanegoris, Mount Orsa, with a harbour, the gulf of Duatus, with numerous islands, Mount Tricoryphos,[626] the region of Cardaleon, and the islands called Solanades, Cachinna, and that of the Ichthyophagi. We then find the Clari, the shore of Mamæum, on which there are gold mines, the region of Canauna, the nations of the Apitami and the Casani, the island of Devade, the fountain of Coralis, the Carphati, the islands of Calaëu and Amnamethus, and the nation of the Darræ. Also, the island of Chelonitis,[627] numerous islands of Ichthyophagi, the deserts of Odanda, Basa, many islands of the Sabæi, the rivers Thanar and Amnume, the islands of Dorice, and the fountains of Daulotos and Dora. We find also the islands of Pteros, Labatanis, Coboris, and Sambrachate, with a town of the same name[628] on the mainland. Lying to the south are a great number of islands, the largest of which is Camari; also the river Musecros, and the port of Laupas. We then come to the Sabæi, a nation of Scenitæ,[629] with numerous islands, and the city of Acila,[630] which is their mart, and from which persons embark for India. We next come to the region of Amithoscutta, Damnia, the Greater and the Lesser Mizi, and the Drimati. The promontory of the Naumachæi, over against Carmania, is distant from it fifty miles. A wonderful circumstance is said to have happened here; Numenius, who was made governor of Mesena by king Antiochus, while fighting against the Persians, defeated them at sea, and at low water, by land, with an army of cavalry, on the same day; in memory of which event he erected a twofold trophy on the same spot, in honour of Jupiter and Neptune.[631]

Opposite to this place, in the main sea, lies the island of Ogyris,[632] famous for being the burial-place of king Erythras;[633] it is distant from the mainland one hundred and twenty miles, being one hundred and twelve in circumference. No less famous is another island, called Dioscoridu,[634] and lying in the Azanian Sea;[635] it is distant two hundred and eighty miles from the extreme point of the Promontory of Syagrus.[636]

The remaining places and nations on the mainland, lying still to the south, are the Ausaritæ, to whose country it is seven days’ journey among the mountains, the nations of the Larendani and the Catabani, and the Gebanitæ, who occupy a great number of towns, the largest of which are Nagia, and Thomna with sixty-five temples, a number which fully bespeaks its size. We then come to a promontory, from which to the mainland of the Troglodytæ it is fifty miles, and then the Thoani, the Actæi, the Chatramotitæ, the Tonabei, the Antidalei, the Lexianæ, the Agræi, the Cerbani, and the Sabæi,[637] the best known of all the tribes of Arabia, on account of their frankincense; these nations extend from sea to sea.[638] The towns which belong to them on the Red Sea are Marane, Marma, Corolia, and Sabatha; and in the interior, Nascus, Cardava, Carnus, and Thomala, from which they bring down their spices for exportation. One portion of this nation is the Atramitæ,[639] whose capital, Sabota, has sixty temples within its walls. But the royal city of all these nations is Mariaba;[640] it lies upon a bay, ninety-four miles in extent, and filled with islands that produce perfumes. Lying in the interior, and joining up to the Atramitæ, are the Minæi; the Elamitæ[641] dwell on the sea-shore, in a city from which they take their name. Next to these are the Chaculatæ; then the town of Sibi, by the Greeks called Apate;[642] the Arsi, the Codani, the Vadei, who dwell in a large town, the Barasasæi, the Lechieni, and the island of Sygaros,[643] into the interior of which no dogs are admitted, and so being exposed on the sea-shore, they wander about there and are left to die. We then come to a gulf which runs far into the interior, upon which are situate the Læenitæ, who have given to it their name; also their royal city of Agra,[644] and upon the gulf that of Læana, or as some call it Ælana;[645] indeed, by some of our writers this has been called the Ælanitic Gulf, and by others again, the Ælenitic; Artemidorus calls it the Alenitic, and Juba the Lænitic. The circumference of Arabia, measured from Charax to Læana, is said to be four thousand six hundred and sixty-six miles, but Juba thinks that it is somewhat less than four thousand. Its widest part is at the north, between the cities of Heroopolis and Charax. We will now mention the remaining places and peoples of the interior of Arabia.

Up to the Nabatæi[646] the ancients joined the Thimanei; at present they have next to them the Taveni, and then the Suelleni, the Arraceni,[647] and the Areni,[648] whose town is the centre of all the commerce of these parts. Next come the Hemnatæ, the Aualitæ, the towns of Domata and Hegra, the Tamudæi,[649] with the town of Badanatha, the Carrei, with the town of Cariati,[650] the Achoali, with the town of Foth, and the Minæi, who derive their origin, it is supposed,[651] from Minos, king of Crete, and of whom the Carmæi are a tribe. Next comes a town, fourteen miles distant, called Marippa, and belonging to the Palamaces, a place by no means to be overlooked, and then Carnon. The Rhadamæi also—these too are supposed to derive their origin[652] from Rhadamanthus, the brother of Minos—the Homeritæ,[653] with their city of Masala,[654] the Hamirei, the Gedranitæ, the Amphyræ, the Ilisanitæ, the Bachilitæ, the Samnæi, the Amitæi, with the towns of Nessa[655] and Cennesseris, the Zamareni, with the towns of Sagiatta and Canthace, the Bacascami, the town of Riphearma, the name by which they call barley, the Autei, the Ethravi, the Cyrei and the Mathatæi, the Helmodenes, with the town of Ebode, the Agacturi, dwelling in the mountains, with a town twenty miles distant, in which is a fountain called Ænuscabales,[656] which signifies “the town of the camels.” Ampelome[657] also, a Milesian colony, the town of Athrida, the Calingii, whose city is called Mariva,[658] and signifies “the lord of all men;” the towns of Palon and Murannimal, near a river by which it is thought that the Euphrates discharges itself, the nations of the Agrei and the Ammonii, the town of Athenæ, the Caunaravi, a name which signifies “most rich in herds,” the Coranitæ, the Œsani, and the Choani.[659] Here were also formerly the Greek towns of Arethusa, Larisa, and Chalcis, which have been destroyed in various wars.

Ælius Gallus,[660] a member of the Equestrian order, is the sole person who has hitherto carried the Roman arms into these lands, for Caius Cæsar, the son[661] of Augustus, only had a distant view of Arabia. In his expedition, Gallus destroyed the following towns, the names of which are not given by the authors who had written before his time, Negrana, Nestum, Nesca, Masugum, Caminacum, Labecia, and Mariva[662] above-mentioned, six miles in circumference, as also Caripeta, the furthest point of his expedition. He brought back with him the following discoveries—that the Nomades[663] live upon milk and the flesh of wild beasts, and that the other nations, like the Indians, extract a sort of wine from the palm-tree, and oil from sesame.[664] He says that the most numerous of these tribes are the Homeritæ and the Minæi, that their lands are fruitful in palms and shrubs, and that their chief wealth is centred in their flocks. We also learn from the same source that the Cerbani and the Agræi excel in arms, but more particularly the Chatramotitæ;[665] that the territories of the Carrei are the most extensive and most fertile; but that the Sabæi are the richest of all in the great abundance of their spice-bearing groves, their mines of gold,[666] their streams for irrigation, and their ample produce of honey and wax. Of their perfumes we shall have to treat more at large in the Book devoted to that subject.[667] The Arabs either wear the mitra,[668] or else go with their hair unshorn, while the beard is shaved, except upon the upper lip: some tribes, however, leave even the beard unshaved. A singular thing too, one half of these almost innumerable tribes live by the pursuits of commerce, the other half by rapine: take them all in all, they are the richest nations in the world, seeing that such vast wealth flows in upon them from both the Roman and the Parthian Empires; for they sell the produce of the sea or of their forests, while they purchase nothing whatever in return.

CHAP. 33.—THE GULFS OF THE RED SEA.

We will now trace the rest of the coast that lies opposite to that of Arabia. Timosthenes has estimated the length of the whole gulf at four days’ sail, and the breadth at two, making the Straits[669] to be seven miles and a half in width. Eratosthenes says that the length of the shore from the mouth of the gulf is thirteen hundred miles on each side, while Artemidorus states that the length on the Arabian side is seventeen hundred and fifty miles, (29.) and that along the Troglodytic coast, to Ptolemais, the distance is eleven hundred and thirty-seven and a half. Agrippa, however, maintains that there is no difference whatever in the length of the two sides, and makes it seventeen hundred and twenty-two miles. Most writers mention the length as being four hundred and seventy-five miles, and make the Straits to face the south-east, being twelve miles wide according to some, fifteen according to others.

The localities of this region are as follow: On passing the Ælanitic Gulf there is another gulf, by the Arabians called Sœa, upon which is situate the city of Heroön.[670] The town of Cambysu[671] also stood here formerly, between the Neli and the Marchades, Cambyses having established there the invalids of his army. We then come to the nation of the Tyri, and the port of the Danei, from which place an attempt has been made to form a navigable canal to the river Nile, at the spot where it enters the Delta previously mentioned,[672] the distance between the river and the Red Sea being sixty-two miles. This was contemplated first of all by Sesostris,[673] king of Egypt, afterwards by Darius, king of the Persians, and still later by Ptolemy II.,[674] who also made a canal, one hundred feet in width and forty deep, extending a distance of thirty-seven miles and a half, as far as the Bitter Springs.[675] He was deterred from proceeding any further with this work by apprehensions of an inundation, upon finding that the Red Sea was three cubits higher than the land in the interior of Egypt. Some writers, however, do not allege this as the cause, but say that his reason was, a fear lest, in consequence of introducing the sea, the water of the Nile might be spoilt, that being the only source from which the Egyptians obtain water for drinking. Be this as it may, the whole of the journey from the Egyptian Sea is usually performed by land one of the three following ways:—Either from Pelusium across the sands, in doing which the only method of finding the way is by means of reeds fixed in the earth, the wind immediately effacing all traces of footsteps: by the route which begins two miles beyond Mount Casius, and at a distance of sixty miles enters the road from Pelusium, adjoining to which road the Arabian tribe of the Autei dwell; or else by a third route, which leads from Gerrum, and which they call Adipsos,[676] passing through the same Arabians, and shorter by nearly sixty miles, but running over rugged mountains and through a district destitute of water. All these roads lead to Arsinoë,[677] a city founded in honour of his sister’s name, upon the Gulf of Carandra, by Ptolemy Philadelphus, who was the first to explore Troglodytice, and called the river which flows before Arsinoë by the name of Ptolemæus. After this comes the little town of Enum, by some writers mentioned as Philotera; next to which are the Abasæi, a nation sprung from intermarriages with the Troglodytæ, then some wild Arabian tribes, the islands of Sapirine and Scytala, and after these, deserts as far as Myoshormon, where we find the fountain of Tatnos, Mount Æas, the island of Iambe, and numerous harbours. Berenice also, is here situate, so called after the name of the mother of Philadelphus, and to which there is a road from Coptos, as we have previously stated;[678] then the Arabian Autei, and the Zebadei.

CHAP. 34.—TROGLODYTICE.

Troglodytice comes next, by the ancients called Midoë, and by some Michoë; here is Mount Pentedactylos, some islands called Stenæ Deiræ,[679] the Halonnesi,[680] a group of islands not less in number, Cardamine, and Topazos,[681] which last has given its name to the precious stone so called. The gulf is full of islands; those known as Mareu are supplied with fresh water, those called Erenos, are without it; these were ruled by governors[682] appointed by the kings. In the interior are the Candei, also called Ophiophagi, a people in the habit of eating serpents; there is no region in existence more productive of them.

Juba, who appears to have investigated all these matters with the greatest diligence, has omitted, in his description of these regions—unless, indeed, it be an error in the copying—another place called Berenice and surnamed Panchrysos,[683] as also a third surnamed Epidires,[684] and remarkable for the peculiarity of its site; for it lies on a long projecting neck of land, at the spot where the Straits at the mouth of the Red Sea separate the coast of Africa from Arabia by a distance of seven miles only: here too is the island of Cytis,[685] which also produces the topaz.

Beyond this are forests, in which is Ptolemais,[686] built by Philadelphus for the chase of the elephant, and thence called Epitheras,[687] situate near Lake Monoleus. This is the same region that has been already mentioned by us in the Second Book,[688] and in which, during forty-five days before the summer solstice and for as many after, there is no shadow at the sixth hour, and during the other hours of the day it falls to the south; while at other times it falls to the north; whereas at the Berenice of which we first[689] made mention, on the day of the summer solstice the shadow totally disappears at the sixth hour, but no other unusual phænomenon is observed. That place is situate at a distance of six hundred and two miles from Ptolemais, which has thus become the subject of a remarkable theory, and has promoted the exercise of a spirit of the most profound investigation; for it was at this spot that the extent of the earth was first ascertained, it being the fact that Erastosthenes, beginning at this place by the accurate calculation of the length of the shadow, was enabled to determine with exactness the dimensions of the earth.

After passing this place we come to the Azanian[690] Sea, a promontory by some writers called Hispalus, Lake Mandalum, and the island of Colocasitis, with many others lying out in the main sea, upon which multitudes of turtles are found. We then come to the town of Suche, the island of Daphnidis,[691] and the town of the Adulitæ,[692] a place founded by Egyptian runaway slaves. This is the principal mart for the Troglodytæ, as also for the people of Æthiopia: it is distant from Ptolemais five days’ sail. To this place they bring ivory in large quantities, horns of the rhinoceros, hides of the hippopotamus, tortoise-shell, sphingiæ,[693] and slaves. Beyond the Æthiopian Aroteræ are the islands known by the name of Aliæu,[694] as also those of Bacchias, Antibacchias, and Stratioton. After passing these, on the coast of Æthiopia, there is a gulf which remains unexplored still; a circumstance the more to be wondered at, seeing that merchants have pursued their investigations to a greater distance than this. We then come to a promontory, upon which there is a spring called Cucios,[695] much resorted to by mariners. Beyond it is the Port of Isis, distant ten days’ rowing from the town of the Adulitæ: myrrh is brought to this port by the Troglodytæ. The two islands before the harbour are called Pseudepylæ,[696] and those in it, the same in number, are known as Pylæ;[697] upon one of these there are some stone columns inscribed with unknown characters. Beyond these is the Gulf of Abalites, the island of Diodorus,[698] and other desert islands; also, on the mainland, a succession of deserts, and then the town of Gaza, and the promontory and port of Mossylum,[699] to the latter of which cinnamon is brought for exportation: it was thus far that Sesostris led[700] his army.

Some writers place even beyond this, upon the shore, one town of Æthiopia, called Baricaza. Juba will have it that at the Promontory of Mossylum[701] the Atlantic Sea begins, and that with a north-west wind[702] we may sail past his native country, the Mauritanias, and arrive at Gades. We ought not on this occasion to curtail any portion of the opinions so expressed by him. He says that after we pass the promontory of the Indians,[703] known as Lepteacra, and by others called Drepanum, the distance, in a straight line, beyond the island of Exusta and Malichu, is fifteen hundred miles; from thence to a place called Sceneos two hundred and twenty-five; and from thence to the island of Adanu one hundred and fifty miles; so that the distance to the open sea[704] is altogether eighteen hundred and seventy-five miles. All the other writers, however, are of opinion that, in consequence of the intensity of the sun’s heat, this sea is not navigable; added to which, commerce is greatly exposed to the depredations of a piratical tribe of Arabians called Ascitæ,[705] who dwell upon the islands: placing two inflated skins of oxen beneath a raft of wood, they ply their piratical vocation with the aid of poisoned arrows. We learn also from the same author that some nations of the Troglodytæ have the name of Therothoæ,[706] being so called from their skill in hunting. They are remarkable for their swiftness, he says, just as the Ichthyophagi are, who can swim like the animals whose element is the sea. He speaks also of the Bangeni, the Gangoræ, the Chalybes, the Xoxinæ, the Sirechæ, the Daremæ, and the Domazames. Juba states, too, that the inhabitants who dwell on the banks of the Nile from Syene as far as Meroë, are not a people of Æthiopia, but Arabians; and that the city of the Sun, which we have mentioned[707] as situate not far from Memphis, in our description of Egypt, was founded by Arabians. There are some writers who take away the further bank of the Nile from Æthiopia,[708] and unite it to Africa;[709] and they people its sides with tribes attracted thither by its water. We shall leave these matters, however, to the option of each, to form his opinion on them, and shall now proceed to mention the towns on each side[710] in the order in which they are given.

CHAP. 35.—ÆTHIOPIA.

On leaving Syene,[711] and taking first the Arabian side, we find the nation of the Catadupi, then the Syenitæ, and the town of Tacompsos,[712] by some called Thatice, as also Aramasos, Sesamos, Sanduma, Masindomacam, Arabeta and Boggia, Leupitorga, Tantarene, Mecindita, Noa, Gloploa, Gystate, Megada, Lea, Renni, Nups, Direa, Patiga, Bacata, Dumana, Rhadata, at which place a golden cat was worshipped as a god, Boron, in the interior, and Mallos, near Meroë; this is the account given by Bion.

Juba, however, gives another account; he says that there is a city on Mount Megatichos,[713] which lies between Egypt and Æthiopia, by the Arabians known as Myrson, after which come Tacompsos, Aramus, Sesamos, Pide, Mamuda, Orambis, situate near a stream of bitumen, Amodita, Prosda, Parenta, Mama, Tesatta, Gallas, Zoton, Graucome, Emeus, the Pidibotæ, the Hebdomecontacometæ,[714] Nomades, who dwell in tents, Cyste, Macadagale, Proaprimis, Nups, Detrelis, Patis, the Ganbreves, the Magasnei, Segasmala, Crandala, Denna, Cadeuma, Thena, Batta, Alana, Mascoa, the Scammi, Hora, situate on an island, and then Abala, Androgalis, Sesecre, the Malli, and Agole.

On the African side[715] we find mentioned, either what is another place with the same name of Tacompsos, or else a part of the one before-mentioned, and after it Moggore, Sæa, Edos, Plenariæ, Pinnis, Magassa, Buma, Linthuma, Spintum, Sydop, the Censi, Pindicitora, Acug, Orsum, Sansa, Maumarum, Urbim, the town of Molum, by the Greeks called Hypaton,[716] Pagoarca, Zmanes, at which point elephants begin to be found, the Mambli, Berressa, and Acetuma; there was formerly a town also called Epis, over against Meroë, which had, however, been destroyed before Bion wrote.

These are the names of places given as far as Meroë; but at the present day hardly any of them on either side of the river are in existence; at all events, the prætorian troops that were sent by the Emperor Nero[717] under the command of a tribune, for the purposes of enquiry, when, among his other wars, he was contemplating an expedition against Æthiopia, brought back word that they had met with nothing but deserts on their route. The Roman arms also penetrated into these regions in the time of the late Emperor Augustus, under the command of P. Petronius,[718] a man of Equestrian rank, and prefect of Egypt. That general took the following cities, the only ones we now find mentioned there, in the following order; Pselcis,[719] Primis, Abuncis, Phthuris, Cambusis, Atteva, and Stadasis, where the river Nile, as it thunders down the precipices, has quite deprived the inhabitants of the power of hearing: he also sacked the town of Napata.[720] The extreme distance to which he penetrated beyond Syene was nine hundred and seventy miles; but still, it was not the Roman arms that rendered these regions a desert. Æthiopia, in its turn gaining the mastery, and then again reduced to servitude, was at last worn out by its continual wars with Egypt, having been a famous and powerful country even at the time of the Trojan war, when Memnon[721] was its king; it is also very evident from the fabulous stories about Andromeda,[722] that it ruled over Syria in the time of king Cepheus, and that its sway extended as far as the shores of our sea.

In a similar manner, also, there have been conflicting accounts as to the extent of this country: first by Dalion, who travelled a considerable distance beyond Meroë, and after him by Aristocreon and Basilis, as well as the younger Simonides, who made a stay of five years at Meroë,[723] when he wrote his account of Æthiopia. Timosthenes, however, the commander of the fleets of Philadelphus, without giving any other estimate as to the distance, says that Meroë is sixty days’ journey from Syene; while Eratosthenes states that the distance is six hundred and twenty-five miles, and Artemidorus six hundred. Sebosus says that from the extreme point of Egypt, the distance to Meroë is sixteen hundred and seventy-five miles, while the other writers last mentioned make it twelve hundred and fifty. All these differences, however, have since been settled; for the persons sent by Nero for the purposes of discovery have reported that the distance from Syene to Meroë is eight hundred and seventy-one miles, the following being the items. From Syene to Hiera Sycaminos[724] they make to be fifty-four miles, from thence to Tama seventy-two, to the country of the Evonymitæ,[725] the first region of Æthiopia, one hundred and twenty, to Acina fifty-four, to Pittara twenty-five, and to Tergedus one hundred and six. They state also that the island of Gagaudes lies at an equal distance from Syene and Meroë, and that it is at this place that the bird called the parrot was first seen; while at another island called Articula, the animal known as the sphingium[726] was first discovered by them, and after passing Tergedus, the cynocephalus.[727] The distance from thence to Napata is eighty miles, that little town being the only one of all of them that now survives. From thence to the island of Meroë the distance is three hundred and sixty miles. They also state that the grass in the vicinity of Meroë becomes of a greener and fresher colour, and that there is some slight appearance of forests, as also traces of the rhinoceros and elephant. They reported also that the city of Meroë stands at a distance of seventy miles from the first entrance of the island of Meroë, and that close to it is another island, Tadu by name, which forms a harbour facing those who enter the right hand channel of the river. The buildings in the city, they said, were but few in number, and they stated that a female, whose name was Candace, ruled over the district, that name having passed from queen to queen for many years. They related also that there was a temple of Jupiter Hammon there, held in great veneration, besides smaller shrines erected in honour of him throughout all the country. In addition to these particulars, they were informed that in the days of the Æthiopian dominion, the island of Meroë enjoyed great renown, and that, according to tradition, it was in the habit of maintaining two hundred thousand armed men, and four thousand artisans. The kings of Æthiopia are said even at the present day to be forty-five in number.

(30.) The whole of this country has successively had the names of Ætheria,[728] Atlantia, and last of all, Æthiopia, from Æthiops, the son of Vulcan. It is not at all surprising that towards the extremity of this region the men and animals assume a monstrous form, when we consider the changeableness and volubility of fire, the heat of which is the great agent in imparting various forms and shapes to bodies. Indeed, it is reported that in the interior, on the eastern side, there is a people that have no noses, the whole face presenting a plane surface; that others again are destitute of the upper lip, and others are without tongues. Others again, have the mouth grown together, and being destitute of nostrils, breathe through one passage only, imbibing their drink through it by means of the hollow stalk of the oat, which there grows spontaneously and supplies them with its grain for food. Some of these nations have to employ gestures by nodding the head and moving the limbs, instead of speech. Others again were unacquainted with the use of fire before the time of Ptolemy Lathyrus, king of Egypt. Some writers have also stated that there is a nation of Pygmies, which dwells among the marshes in which the river Nile takes its rise; while on the coast of Æthiopia, where we paused,[729] there is a range of mountains, of a red colour, which have the appearance of being always burning.

All the country, after we pass Meroë, is bounded by the Troglodytæ and the Red Sea, it being three days’ journey from Napata to the shores of that sea; throughout the whole of this district the rain water is carefully preserved at several places, while the country that lies between is extremely productive of gold. The parts beyond this are inhabited by the Adabuli, a nation of Æthiopia; and here, over against Meroë, are the Megabarri,[730] by some writers called the Adiabari; they occupy the city of Apollo; some of them, however, are Nomades, living on the flesh of elephants. Opposite to them, on the African side, dwell the Macrobii,[731] and then again, beyond the Megabarri, there are the Memnones and the Dabeli, and, at a distance of twenty days’ journey, the Critensi. Beyond these are the Dochi, and then the Gymnetes, who always go naked; and after them the Andetæ, the Mothitæ, the Mesaches, and the Ipsodoræ, who are of a black tint, but stain the body all over with a kind of red earth. On the African side again there are the Medimni, and then a nation of Nomades, who live on the milk of the cynocephalus, and then the Aladi and the Syrbotæ,[732] which last are said to be eight cubits in height.

Aristocreon informs us that on the Libyan side, at a distance of five days’ journey from Meroë, is the town of Tolles, and then at a further distance of twelve days’ journey, Esar, a town founded by the Egyptians who fled from Psammetichus;[733] he states also that they dwelt there for a period of three hundred years, and that opposite, on the Arabian side, there is a town of theirs called Daron.[734] The town, however, which he calls Esar, is by Bion called Sape, who says that the name means “the strangers:” their capital being Sembobitis, situate on an island, and a third place of theirs, Sinat in Arabia. Between the mountains and the river Nile are the Simbarri, the Palugges, and, on the mountains themselves, the Asachæ, who are divided into numerous peoples; they are said to be distant five days’ journey from the sea, and to procure their subsistence by the chase of the elephant. An island in the Nile, which belongs to the Semberritæ, is governed by a queen; beyond it are the Æthiopian Nubei,[735] at a distance of eight days’ journey: their town is Tenupsis, situate on the Nile. There are the Sesambri also, a people among whom all the quadrupeds are without ears, the very elephants even. On the African side are the Tonobari, the Ptoenphæ, a people who have a dog for their king, and divine from his movements what are his commands; the Auruspi, who have a town at a considerable distance from the Nile, and then the Archisarmi, the Phaliges, the Marigerri, and the Casmari.

Bion makes mention also of some other towns situate on islands, the whole distance being twenty days’ journey from Sembobitis to Meroë; a town in an adjoining island, under the queen of the Semberritæ, with another called Asara, and another, in a second island, called Darde. The name of a third island is Medoë, upon which is the town of Asel, and a fourth is called Garodes, with a town upon it of the same name. Passing thence along the banks of the Nile, are the towns of Navi, Modunda, Andatis, Secundum, Colligat, Secande, Navectabe, Cumi, Agrospi, Ægipa, Candrogari, Araba, and Summara.[736]

Beyond is the region of Sirbitum, at which the mountains terminate,[737] and which by some writers is said to contain the maritime Æthiopians, the Nisacæthæ, and the Nisyti, a word which signifies “men with three or four eyes,”—not that the people really have that conformation, but because they are remarkable for the unerring aim of their arrows. On that side of the Nile which extends along the borders of the Southern Ocean beyond the Greater Syrtes,[738] Dalion says that the people, who use rain-water only, are called the Cisori, and that the other nations are the Longompori, distant five days’ journey from the Œcalices, the Usibalci, the Isbeli, the Perusii, the Ballii, and the Cispii, the rest being deserts, and inhabited by the tribes of fable only. In a more westerly direction are the Nigroæ, whose king has only one eye, and that in the forehead, the Agriophagi,[739] who live principally on the flesh of panthers and lions, the Pamphagi,[740] who will eat anything, the Anthropophagi, who live on human flesh, the Cynamolgi,[741] a people with the heads of dogs, the Artabatitæ, who have four feet, and wander about after the manner of wild beasts; and, after them, the Hesperiæ and the Perorsi, whom we have already spoken[742] of as dwelling on the confines of Mauritania. Some tribes, too, of the Æthiopians subsist on nothing but locusts,[743] which are smoke-dried and salted as their provision for the year; these people do not live beyond their fortieth year.

M. Agrippa was of opinion that the length[744] of the whole country of the Æthiopians, including the Red Sea, was two thousand one hundred and seventy miles, and its breadth, including Upper Egypt, twelve hundred and ninety-seven. Some authors again have made the following divisions of its length; from Meroë to Sirbitum eleven days’ sail, from Sirbitum to the Dabelli fifteen days’, and from them to the Æthiopian Ocean six days’ journey. It is agreed by most authors, that the distance altogether, from the ocean[745] to Meroë, is six hundred and twenty-five miles, and from Meroë to Syene, that which we have already mentioned. Æthiopia lies from south-east to south-west. Situate as it is, in a southern hemisphere, forests of ebony are to be seen of the brightest verdure; and in the midst of these regions there is a mountain of immense height, which overhangs the sea, and emits a perpetual flame. By the Greeks this mountain is called Theon Ochema,[746] and at a distance of four days’ sail from it is a promontory, known as Hesperu Ceras,[747] upon the confines of Africa, and close to the Hesperiæ, an Æthiopian nation. There are some writers who affirm that in these regions there are hills of a moderate height, which afford a pleasant shade from the groves with which they are clad, and are the haunts of Ægipans[748] and Satyrs.

CHAP. 36. (31.)—ISLANDS OF THE ÆTHIOPIAN SEA.

We learn from Ephorus, as well as Eudoxus and Timosthenes, that there are great numbers of islands scattered all over this sea; Clitarchus says that king Alexander was informed of an island so rich that the inhabitants gave a talent of gold for a horse, and of another[749] upon which there was found a sacred mountain, shaded with a grove, the trees of which emitted odours of wondrous sweetness; this last was situate over against the Persian Gulf. Cerne[750] is the name of an island situate opposite to Æthiopia, the size of which has not been ascertained, nor yet its distance from the main land: it is said that its inhabitants are exclusively Æthiopians. Ephorus states that those who sail from the Red Sea into the Æthiopian Ocean cannot get beyond the Columnæ[751] there, some little islands so called. Polybius says that Cerne is situate at the extremity of Mauritania, over against Mount Atlas, and at a distance of eight stadia from the land; while Cornelius Nepos states that it lies very nearly in the same meridian as Carthage, at a distance from the mainland of ten miles, and that it is not more than two miles in circumference. It is said also that there is another island situate over against Mount Atlas, being itself known by the name of Atlantis.[752] Five days’ sail beyond it there are deserts, as far as the Æthiopian Hesperiæ and the promontory, which we have mentioned as being called Hesperu Ceras, a point at which the face of the land first takes a turn towards the west and the Atlantic Sea. Facing this promontory are also said to be the islands called the Gorgades,[753] the former abodes of the Gorgons, two days’ sail from the mainland, according to Xenophon of Lampsacus. Hanno, a general of the Carthaginians, penetrated as far as these regions, and brought back an account that the bodies of the women were covered with hair, but that the men, through their swiftness of foot, made their escape; in proof of which singularity in their skin, and as evidence of a fact so miraculous, he placed the skins[754] of two of these females in the temple of Juno, which were to be seen there until the capture of Carthage. Beyond these even, are said to be the two islands of the Hesperides; but so uncertain are all the accounts relative to this subject, that Statius Sebosus says that it is forty days’ sail, past the coast of the Atlas range, from the islands of the Gorgons to those of the Hesperides, and one day’s sail from these to the Hesperu Ceras. Nor have we any more certain information relative to the islands of Mauritania. We only know, as a fact well-ascertained, that some few were discovered by Juba over against the country of the Autololes, upon which he established a manufactory of Gætulian purple.[755]

CHAP. 37. (32.)—THE FORTUNATE ISLANDS.

There are some authors who think that beyond these are the Fortunate Islands,[756] and some others; the number of which Sebosus gives, as well as the distances, informing us that Junonia[757] is an island seven hundred and fifty miles distant from Gades. He states also that Pluvialia[758] and Capraria[759] are the same distance from Junonia, to the west; and that in Pluvialia the only fresh water to be obtained is rain water. He then states that at a distance of two hundred and fifty miles from these, opposite the left of Mauritania, and situate in the direction of the sun at the eighth hour, are the Fortunate Islands,[760] one of which, from its undulating surface, has the name of Invallis,[761] and another that of Planasia,[762] from the peculiarity[763] of its appearance. He states also that the circumference of Invallis is three hundred miles, and that trees grow to a height of one hundred and fourteen feet.

Relative to the Fortunate Islands, Juba has ascertained the following facts: that they are situate to the south in nearly a due westerly direction, and at a distance from the Purple Islands of six hundred and twenty-five miles, the sailing being made for two hundred and fifty miles due west, and then three hundred and seventy-five towards the east.[764] He states that the first is called Ombrios,[765] and that it presents no traces of buildings whatever; that among the mountains there is a lake, and some trees,[766] which bear a strong resemblance to giant fennel, and from which water is extracted; that drawn from those that are black is of a bitter taste, but that produced by the white ones is agreeable and good for drinking. He states also that a second island has the name of Junonia, but that it contains nothing beyond a small temple of stone: also that in its vicinity there is another, but smaller, island[767] of the same name, and then another called Capraria, which is infested by multitudes of huge lizards. According to the same author, in sight of these islands is Ninguaria,[768] which has received that name from its perpetual snows; this island abounds also in fogs. The one next to it is Canaria;[769] it contains vast multitudes of dogs of very large size, two of which were brought home to Juba: there are some traces of buildings to be seen here. While all these islands abound in fruit and birds of every kind, this one produces in great numbers the date palm which bears the caryota, also pine nuts. Honey too abounds here, and in the rivers papyrus, and the fish called silurus,[770] are found. These islands, however, are greatly annoyed by the putrefying bodies of monsters, which are constantly thrown up by the sea.

CHAP. 38.—THE COMPARATIVE DISTANCES OF PLACES ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH.

Having now fully described the earth, both without[771] as well as within, it seems only proper that we should succinctly state the length and breadth of its various seas.

(33.) Polybius has stated, that in a straight line from the Straits of Gades to the mouth of the Mæotis, it is a distance of three thousand four hundred and thirty-seven miles and a half, and that, starting from the same point,[772] the distance in a straight line to Sicily is twelve hundred and fifty miles, from thence to Crete three hundred and seventy-five, to Rhodes one hundred and eighty-seven and a half, to the Chelidonian Islands the same distance, to Cyprus two hundred and twenty-five, and from thence to Seleucia Pieria, in Syria, one hundred and fifteen miles: the sum of all which distances amounts to two thousand three hundred and forty miles. Agrippa estimates this same distance, in a straight line from the Straits of Gades to the Gulf of Issus, at three thousand three hundred and forty miles; in which computation, however, I am not certain that there is not some error in the figures, seeing that the same author has stated that the distance from the Straits of Sicily to Alexandria is thirteen hundred and fifty miles. Taking the whole length of the sea-line throughout the gulfs above-mentioned, and beginning at the same point,[773] he makes it ten thousand and fifty-eight miles; to which number Artemidorus has added seven hundred and fifty-six: the same author, including in his calculation the shores of the Mæotis, makes the whole distance seventeen thousand three hundred and ninety miles. Such is the measurement given by men who have penetrated into distant countries, unaided by force of arms, and have, with a boldness that exhibits itself in the times of peace even, challenged, as it were, Fortune herself.

I shall now proceed to compare the dimensions of the various parts of the earth, however great the difficulties which may arise from the discrepancy of the accounts given by various authors: the most convenient method, however, will be that of adding the breadth to the length.[774] Following this mode of reckoning, the dimensions of Europe will be eight thousand two hundred and ninety-four miles; of Africa, to adopt a mean between all the various accounts given by authors, the length is three thousand seven hundred and ninety-four miles, while the breadth, so far as it is inhabited, in no part exceeds two hundred and fifty miles.[775] But, as Agrippa, including its deserts, makes it from Cyrenaica, a part of it, to the country of the Garamantes, so far as was then known, a further distance of nine hundred and ten miles, the entire length, added together, will make a distance of four thousand six hundred and eight miles. The length of Asia is generally admitted[776] to be six thousand three hundred and seventy-five miles, and the breadth, which ought, properly, to be reckoned from the Æthiopian Sea to Alexandria,[777] near the river Nile, so as to run through Meroë and Syene, is eighteen hundred and seventy-five. It appears then that Europe is greater than Asia, by a little less than one half of Asia, and greater than Africa by as much again of Africa and one-sixth. If all these sums are added together, it will be clearly seen that Europe is one-third, and a little more than one-eighth part of one-third, Asia one-fourth and one-fourteenth part of one-fourth, and Africa, one-fifth and one-sixtieth part of one-fifth of the whole earth.[778]

CHAP. 39.—DIVISION OF THE EARTH INTO PARALLELS AND SHADOWS OF EQUAL LENGTH.